The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1905-06-22

srrang our or the open office door and
ran down the street throwing up little
arcs of dry, sandy loan after each broad,
scraping shoe-sole until he disappeared
In the crowds that still closer and closer
drew to each other and grew and blocked
M all the thoroughfares of Sandtown till
not even q reinforcing team from tho
very uttermost end Of the Overcoat road
dared attempt a passage, but stopped and
hitched farther and farther out.
She sat ald listened t9 the 10y buzz
of voices in the streets and in the court
house, and heard here and there louder
tones, and occasionally a wild yell and
then shout of laughter that indicated
some ludicrous accident to somebody by
somebody else.
Then all at once there was complete
diminuendo as if all the voices had sud-
denly and steadily slipped away to the
westward, and out of hearing. And then
she saw a two-horse wagon drive away
from her fathers door, with number
Of people in it. She had not seen the
wagon drive up. She had not been look
ing that way. But there was something
ominous in the driving away of that par
ticular wagon, that was now far out on
the Overcoat road, toward the little rail-
road station. She watched it with parted
lips and widening eyes until it had hid
den itself in the clouds of drifting, light,
sandy loan that perpetually rose up and
settled down upon the grayed surface of
all the jimson leaves and the oak and
the maple and walnut foliage, that bore
their burdens of earth in patient assur-
ance of the rain that must come and
wash them clean and bright again.
And then out of the hush, the finished
diminuendo of this general assembly of
the makers of public opinion for this Sec
ton of the Wabash country, there drove
strange and unknown two-horse car
riage, with a driver, whose figure COM
ing within the field Of her distracted and
unfixed vision instantly caught and con-
centrated her gaze. Beyond a doubt it
was Mr.. Mason, this time in broad day
light, driving toward her through the
crowd, and going eastward as to the rail-
way station. He would stop when he
should see her! And there were others
in the carriage-one fine, dignified look
ing gentleman. Was he Mr.. Huntley?
She stood in the door and even stepped
down into the sand outside in order to
make sure that Mr.. Mason would see
her. He had doubtless repented Of his
determination to keep Prof. Huntley
away from her; and now he would make
all necessary and possible amends for all
his ungraciousness.
If so she could very, very freely, nay
even joyously forgive him. And that
much the more readily because Of the
fact that since so many people, In fact,
practically the whole community, had
Joined as with one voice in denouncing
and threatening Mr. Mason, she had turn
ed about and engaged, passively at first,
and dr then actively, n AIs defense :.
the people of Sandtown that was half
so unfair, unjust and cruel as what he
had done to her? Compared with her
wrongs, theirs were matter of nothing.
If she could afford to become his COM
panion, could anybody in all Redden
township afford to say aught against
him?
AS they drove rapidly nearer, she was
conscious of something altered about his
look, she could not tell precisely what.
But it was something that gave him q
totally different air, some way! Before,
he had been thoughtful, respectful, al
most subservient in all his actions in her
presence.
Always watchful, respectful, and con-
siderate, at all events, with q manifest
anxiety to please her. An anxiety SO
manifest that perhaps it had tended to
prevent her from being pleased with him
at all. Now he had something of the
cold, hard, naughty look of the man who
Is directing a great many men who are
under" him in every sense of the word
She saw this so plainly in that brief
time in which the powerful horses were
walking through the heavy-pulling dry
sand of the Overcoat road, that she COM
pared this with his former bearing and
felt that there was q loss-almost an un-
comfortable loss.
And all these impressions and ref1ec-
tons were redoubied and reduplicated,
and intensified, when to her utter surprise
and unending modification the carriage
did not stop, and the driver, Mr.. Mason,
passed with only a cold and formed in
clination of his head toward her!
She fairly sunk down upon the Office
door sill with feeling of shame, sur
prise, almost angry resentment! She
looked after the carriage as the new
paint on its wheels glittered in the sun.
She saw them whirl the light sand up
into little settling clouds, and she felt
absolutely like screaming at the very top
of her voice and starting in a wild chase
after the rapidly disappearing vehicle.
So engrossed was she with these feel
ipgs and reflections that she was un-
aware of the approach of DR.. May along
with "Coonrod' Redden, and constant
ly increasing posse of followers.
'Lizzy, you I'm your mother better git
into my cairge, un Lum will drive you
down to my house. Hits no use uh
nlekun a furse bout things at CANT be
hept. Yur pap's jist plum, slap dab
crazy. Un we've jist started i'm to the
assle-um. That assle-um is jist the plast
fur i'm. He'll git k'yored right away
eff they's airy a k'yore fur i'm. They
sont Billy Beaseley over to that assle-um
bout thee-four weeks ago. wasn't it, Doc?
I'm by gum; he's back at home now with
more saince un e had before he went
Yur pap ull git tuck k'yur Nv, Lizzy. Me
TN Joe Ellet un Bill Shipley ull 90 over
to-morry W day after, un see to i'm. That
was that ornerry hee-hawun IN whim-
whammun Teller, Mason, at druv a past
jist now, boysi / h-yurn at he's h-yur
to bid in all ar moggijis. I've jist sont
him partickler nodus at he'll be hosst up
eff he puts his nose enside a this town
the next thee-four weeks, by gum!
CHAPTER x.
The rain had put off its coming until
every broad black-oreen glossy fin son