Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1904-01-30
D0BS0N DID. IT


in that part of Livingston county
where the farms are red and gully
washed, where the cornstalks are
thin and sickly looking and burn
yellow in the sun almost as soon as
they are green. He was strong and
rugged, this sturdy farmer, with his
big, bony hands and nut brown, lean
cheeks.
At a grindstone at the rear of
the house stood an old man grind
ing away at an ak. His hair was
snowy white. His wide brimmed
straw hat, with its shoestring band,
did not conceal the deep wrinkles
on his face. His hickory shirt was
torn and faded, and the skin looked
blstered through the rents. He
rested once in awhile and tested the
edge of his AK with his thumb. This
was Eph's father. 4 woman almost
lis old and long past the age Of work
sat on stone in shady spot
watching the grinding of the ak
and remarking in a cracked voice
the chances for crop.
A tall, angular woman of perhaps
forty, though she looked much old
or, came to the door. Her calico
dress was soiled and torn. 4 pair
of Eph's boots with great patches
of rawhide and with the heels run
over peeped out from under her
tucked up dress. Her face was hard
and pinched. The sallow color con-
trasted strongly with the dark, al
most black blue Of her gown, and
when the sleeves were rolled to the
elbows her arms were brown. One
bony hand clutched a dishrag, which
she held against the side of the
door as she shaded her eyes with
the other. She was looking at her
husband as he worked across the red
clay field.
The clatter of u horses hoofs OH
the hard and gravel washed road
was heard. Her eyes were turned
in the direction of the rapidly ap-
preaching rider. A half dozen chill
dren, the eldest "a boy of ten, came
from a gully near by, where they
had been playing, also attracted by
the sounds. All moved around to
the front of the house. TO the sur
prise of all, the stranger pulled up
at the fence.
"Eph Parks live here" he asked.
"Yep; that's him over there in
the field" answered the woman,
The stranger dismounted. tied ,ne
bride rein to the rail fence and
started across the field toward Eph.
The children instinctivcly clustered
AROUND theii mother and tugged
unconsciOasly at her dress. She
smacked them right and left impul-
sively. She was watching the stran-
ger. The man finally reached Eph,
and the Two had a parley for several
minutes. When they started towaru
the house the stranger had hold of
Eph's arm. Eph's parents and his
wife and children were all standing
close together when the pair reached
the house.
Mandy, this 'ere's goye'ment
ossifer, and he's cum ter take me
way ter Jail fur maxim them dollars.
'Twan't no harm nohow-le'stwise
Pm a church member yet"
Hurry up, hurry up" said the
detective. Il want to get to the
station in time to catch the night
train"
'1row long will yer be gone,
Eph:" said his wife. His aged par
ents stood with their mouths open.
They did not understand it at all.
'Doan know" answered Eph as
the handouts were adjusted to his
wrists.
Then the men climbed over the
fence. The stranger got on his
horse and told Eph to walk along
in front of him. He also said that
any attempt on Eph's part to run
would cost him his life. There was
no handshaking, no tears. The men
moved off down the scorching hot
road, leaving the group standing as
it had stood al first, together. The
old man and old woman looked at
Mandy appealingly, but Mandy
watched her husband and the stran-
ger disappear in the woods. She
stood there in the sun with her head
uncovered long after they had
moved out of her sight. The old
man and woman went back to the
rear of the house, and the children
finally resumed their playing. Still
she stood there, looking. Pie sun
continued its travelling and finally
dropped behind the woods in which
her husband had disappeared.
eyes," she murmured, "that
there's Jim Dobson's work. He tole
on Eph."
She shook her head several times,
looked down the road once again
and then passed into the house.
She prepared the scanty meal with
out worl. There was a strange
silence in the house, as if a corpse
were near. The children were put
to bed, AMI 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 on
the sill and rested her chin in her