The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-09-23
CHAPTER 7

NcN led the way-a great gaun
man, with long, long legs, a stoop IN
his shoulders and a swaying movement
OF his body and arms as be walked, as
II he had a load on his back and long
way to go; man with a black fell Oh
the back OF his hands, a dark beard
growing high upon his cheek bones
and a great bush Of iron gray hair
sticking out all round his head, and q
forelOck hanging down over his eye.
One could see nothing OF his features
but long red nose and deep-set, beady
eyes His fustan jacket was worn
to rags at the elbows-and so was
mine, as for that-split in the seams
between the shoulders with the con-
slant strain of the laboring arms. Once
upon q time his top boots had been
black, but now they were all the same
yellow clay color with the trousers that
were tucked into them, and just as
badly In need Of repair.
I followed with Van Hoeck. He held
my arm, not for support, but for guild
ance, because he was stone blind. He
was thirty or thereabouts, l believe;
but he looked twenty years older than
!, who am now but twenty-six. Though
he was Dutch by birth, he looked like
an Aslatic, being a small, dark Jew,
with all the chara cteristics Of his peo-
pie; while ], with my fair skin, light
hair, and large frame, am pretty true
in appearance to my northern race. He
was better dressed than any OF us,
for though he had accompanied us, and
roughed il so far as board and lodging
were concerned, he had taken only a
financial part in the enterprise, bis
blindness naturally debarring him from
laborlous part. His clothes retained
something Of their original appearance.
Albeit he had worn them day after day
for eighteen months, at the least;
whereas mine, what with exposure 10
the sun, the sweat Of work, rough
usage, and the strange devices en-.
ployed In repairing them, were scarcely
recognizable as Christian clothing. His
face gave more sign OF strain and ia
tigue than either the Judges or mine,
which might well be, seeing how great
a relief to the mind physical labor is.
There was furrow between his
brows, deep lines descending from the
Inner angle of the eyes, pinched look
about the nostrils and feshless cheeks,
that gave fearful strenuous eager
ness to the weird expression Of his
face. And that expression was weird,
nay, even repulsive, though his fea-
lures were not ill-shaped and it was
chiefly due to the peculiarity Of his
eyes Most people of dark complexion,
like his, have dark iris TO the eye, but
his was of steely gray, and was the
more noticeable because there was the
Iris and nothing else; there was no
bNpll-nothing but that gray patch
lgon the yeIlowish ball Of the eye. He
kept his eyes open when his mind was
preoccupied often when he was sit
ting near me while / worked l have
changed my position that l might not
see those ghastly eyes wide open to
the African sun, yet unconscious of its
glare. There was something terrible
in his blindness.
Our rear was brought up by the
"Kld." The name by constant use
and familiarity had long ceased to be
slangy to my ear.
Poor little Lola! She was the rag
gedest and most dsreputablc OF the lot,
though ii was not for that reason she
walked behind US; indeed, had she sus-
pected that TO follow implied inferiority
she would have marched ahead OF her
own father. That was her character.
The child wore n ragged red flannel
petticoat. q camisole that had once
been white, and n colored handkerchief
tied loosely round her neck. She had
q string Of Colored beads upon her
wrist, but neither hat on her head nor
shoe on her foot Her purple black
hair grew low down on her temple,
and broke into curls over the ears at
the nape of the neck and wherever il
was uncontrolled; il was matted to-
gether in thick, loose pleat that fell
down TO her waist. and tied at the end
with n strip of red flannel torn from
her petticoat. She had the prettiest
little hands and feet, dark olive skin,
large but beautifully shaped mouth
with the finest teeth have ever seen
and pair of glorious black eyes, full
of audacity, and betraying only toe
faithfully her wild and ungovernablC
disposition. Properly dressed land
washed she might have passed for a
Spanish princess; in ber present coudi.
tion there was no mistaking her fol
anything but the self-willed little saw
age she was.
The Kid had given us deal o.
trouble-had we foreseen how much
do not think Van Hoeck or | would
have put in that postscript 10 tn,
agreement which her father, tn,
Judge, induced US to subscribe.
''The Kid has eyes in her head for 4
see with" the Judge said. in urginl
her claim rpon our future considera
ton. "end she kin use 'em as well as n
in lookin' fo- stones. end likewise
bein' female, she kin cook our meal
for Us; she k.1 wash our shuts, en-,
she kin sew US up, and keep us mic
end tidy" Whether she was capabl
of helping Us in .hese matters canno
say; all I know is that she didn
"What kin yen expectT asked he
father. in extenuation, "her mothe
was the darier Of greaser. end ]
amt the Kids fault IL she's got grease
blood in her"
We came ~ with the Judge az N
dock gates. where he stopped TO n,