Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1903-12-16

silence in the house, as if corpse
were near. The children were put
to bed, and soon the old man and
old woman followed. Then Mandy
pulled her stool over to the open
window and looked out into the
night. She placed her elbows or
the sill and rested her chin in her
hands. The moon came creeping
up from behind a distant hill and
shed its soft light over the farm.
Still Mandy gazed out into the
night. Her face seemed as void of
expression as the black oaks in the
yard. The cold, hard stare was d.
rected toward the road, and there it
rested immovably. The hours pass
ed slowly. The moon crept on and
on until it was almost directly over
the house. The loud snoring Of the
old folks, the occasional cough of
one of the children, the chirp of a
cricket and the croak Of a frog
we're the only sounds which dis
turbed the almost perfect quiet.
"Twan't no harm nOhOw," she
said to herself. ether law amt no
right to put yer in Jail fur maxim
money er whisky" And the moon
Travelled on. "IIc did it, that thar
Dobson." And again she relapsed
into silence.
Soon she arose and shook herself,
as if to throw off the chill of the
night air. She lighted the dip Of
tallow and placed it on chair; then
she reached up over the door and
took long rifle down from its rest
ing place on pair of tree forks.
She extracted the charge with a
long rod, wiped the gun clean and
reloaded it; then she placed it back
where she found it, removed her
faded calico dress and went to bed.
Her loud breathing soon told that
she was asleep.
In the morning she performed
her household duties as if nothing
had happened. No word was spo-
ken of Eph except by the oldest boy,
who asked once when "pop II be
back" No one answered him. The
sun came out again in all its fierce
ness. The children began their play
and the old people their talk. When
all were busy Mandy took the old
rifle down from the rack over the
door. She shouldered the weapon
with the strength and sleight of
strong man and started off down
the road. She seemed in a hurry,
for she took long strides like a man.
Her body swayed in tune to her
step, either from the weight of the
gun or from habit.
She passed several persons with
the usual salutation, "MOrnin' J!
She looked neither to the left nor
to the right. Finally she reached
Il ianv where tho h"-.vi b,.-i--- -i.i.s
ed the road. She walked more care
fully then. She peered into "A field
through an opening, but did not
seem satisfied, for she continued her
walking. She stopped again short
ly and looked through the bushes.
In the field, about twenty PAGES dis
tant, was a man patiently hoeing
his corn. She poked the rifle
through the bushes just as the sol
itary laborer Strengthened up, took
off his hat and wiped the perspira-
ton from his face with his shirt
sleeve. She glanced along the bar
rel of the gun. There was a sharp
report, and the man fell over in
furrow. The blood flowed from
hole in his temple.
Then Mandy replaced the gun on
her shoulder. She walked off down
the road without word. When
she arrived at her home she put the
rifle in its resting place and went
about her duties.
In the afternoon the rumble Of a
road wagon was heard below the
house. 1t came nearer. All went
to the door to see who it was. The
wagon stopped before the house.
All knew the driver. 1t was Bill
Bucker, the constable, AS he climb
ed over the fence all in the house
started out to meet him.
MANDY, want yer ter go with
me fur Their shootin' of Dobson."
The woman's face was as immoy-
able as it had been when she sat at
the window the night before. Eph's
father and mother and the children
looked at her fixedly.
"All right, Bill; I'll go with yer"
And with this she climbed into the
wagon.
"Zach," she said to the oldest
child, "yer 90 over to yer Aunt
Minerals an tell her to cum round
an look after yer ALL" The wagon
ratified down the road, and the chill
dren and old people looked after it.
The Doctor Stopped Laughing.
81 heard a story of physician
the other day" said man from
abroad. ale was physician of
Provence, and one morning, stop |