The Portland daily press., 1898-02-24
Continued

the lounge. Her strong, harsh face
melted to degree of softness one would
have thought impossible to its scanned
and time worn surface. She pressed one
of her wrinkled hands upon the brow of
the woman who was still nursing to
her. Her strident voice dropped into a
lullaby of tender soothing.
"Sleep, my child, sleep. Nanny
won't let them harm hair of your
precious head nor they shall not take
you away from her. Sleep an dream
happy dreams" =
Under the hypnotic influence of the
old orone's voice and manipulations the
weary lids dropped, and the woman on
the lounge lay as still as a beautiful
statue.
CHOW, then," said Savanna, rising
stif1y from her knees and facing Jessica
defantly, flet US hear all you've got to
say. She will sleep on for some time.
She is tired. Her an me took a long
walk this afternoon. We walked to the
graveyard. Nobody ever goes nigh it.
The fools! Afraid of the quiet ones, that
is done pesterin anybody, an followin
after the Twin ones, that is full Of evil
devicesl Now, what brought you pryin
here?"
Jessica lifted one hand commandingly.
"Let US understand each other at
Dnce, old woman. You have contrived
to make every one around you afraid of
you. am not, nor need you hope to
make me SO. While my father is away
I am the nominal head Of this planta-
ton, and yeu may as well recognize the
fact sooner as later. You will do my
bidding OF you will leave this place. y
s'Leave this place-leave the house
that the madam gave me for my very
own? Leave it at the biddin of a-of
a-a"-
She was choking with rage, and the
effect of her passion was to make her
lapse into that untranslatable dialect
which had SO bewildered Jessica on the
first occasion Of their meeting. She al
lowed her to rave on for a few mo-
ments. Then she said with decision:
Listen to me, Savanna. Buster will
do not good in this case. am going to
remove my fathers sister to her own
home. This is no place for her. -
81 grant you that, I grant you that,
little missy''-her manner became sud-
denly abject in it's supplication-"but
don't take her away from her old mann
my. Mine is the only face, the only
voice in all this big world that means
anything to her. No, this amt no place
for lady raised like her, but look-I've
fetched the things out Of her own room
at the house by the hardest. I've stole
them piece by piece, but they were hers,
an nobody ever went into her room; SO
they amt never been missed
ST will make her comfortable and
happy in her old place." said Jessica
confidently.
"You make her happy-you?" with
whitening scorn.
"And when she wakes up wish you
to tell her''-
Savanna spread lowering arms above
the sleeping form.
'tI'll tell her nothin. She is mine.
She is been more mine than anybody
else's ever since her proud mother found
out she wasn't goin to be credit to
her in society. Iwere her nanny when
she were a putin little baby. She
would put her soft baby arms around
this yellow neck as lovin as if it were
the neck of lady. She loved me better
than she did her grand lady mother.
Oh, she were stiff necked one, was my
old Madam Bascom was her maid be-
fore she made me nurse this one.
know all the ms an outs of the life
that has been lived in that proud old
house you calls yourself the head of.
She were proud one. Lucifer an all
his fallen angels weren't no prouder.
When her own flesh an blood hurt her
pride, she trampled it underfoot with
out a groan.
"What my grandmother was has no
bearing on this case. She is gone. There
is no family pride to be hurt by the re-
turn of this poor wreck. Ny aunt must
be removed tomorrow to her own
home"
''To be fouted an jeered at by the
folks? I know them sassy yard folks.
She weren't always as bad as she is
now. She just were little weak here'
touching her own turbaned head
"after that long sickness. But it. S what
she's gone through with. 1t would have
unsettled stronger brain than Sam
sons You wouldn't take her away
from her old nanny, missy? You
amt got that hard a heart. The heart
sickness will take her again, an Sa-
wanna is the only one can comfort her. p"
II mean that you shall go with her. "
"Me go up to the big house to live?
Me go back there, where the old madam
and me had it out for her treatment Of
that child? Her ha'nt would follow me
from room to room"
my grandmother must have been
kind to you. She gave you this house TO
live IN all your life, you say"
Eyes, she done that; she done that.
I've got the deeds in my pocket now.
I've carried them in a leather wallet
ever since she give them to me, but
sometimes folks is scared into doin
things. DON'T YOU know they is? Love