Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1907-09-27
CHATTER l.

CID vas very tired. All that leng
1une day. since Tins harsh, Come,
ogt via ye" had reused her to daily
Toll. until now, wearied and disconso-
lqia. size had orept, barefoot. up the
tack -eafrs to her room, not one no
mc1's rest O. one kiaIy U t
been hers
r..aw in the che living room Of
Tins Place lae men were grouped
plag1 atas. and the medley oil thcr
aahs. tAe.r laughter, the thump CT
eae0 IS on the bare table, and the
IN cent odor cf pipes reached her
ua ,aa Eoor cracks. Outside tie
hr.Hgs twinkled above the slow-~pn-
ming river and along the stump-dotted
hillside Close by, a few pigs dozed
co1tentedly in their rudely construct
ed sly
A servant to those scarce fit for
servants a mental at the beck and call
of all Tins Place, and laboring with
the men in the fields, Chip a girl of
almost 1G, felt her soul revolt at the
filth, the brutality, the coarse exist
ence of those whose slave she was.
And what group they were,
First, Tim Conner, the owner and
master of this oasis in the Wilderness.
60 miles from the nearest settlement;
his brother Mike, as coarse; their
wives and half dozen children who
played with the pigs, squealed as often
for food and were left to grow up the
same way; and Pierre Lubec, the hired
man, completed the score.
There was another transient resi-
dent here, an old Indian named To
nah, who came with the snow, and
deserted his hut below on the river
bank when spring unlocked that
stream.
Two occasional visitors also came
here both even more Objectionable to
Chip than Tim and his family. One
was her father, known TO her to be an
outlaw and escaped murderer in hid
ing; the other a half-breed named
Folduc, but known as One-Eyed Pete
trapper and hunter whose abode was
a log cabin on the Fox Hole, ten miles
away His face was horribly SCARED
by Wildcats claws; one eye-Socket
was empty; his lips, chin, and pcotrui-
ing teeth We're always tobacco st~ire3,
For three months now, he had made
weekly calls at Tins Place, n pursuit
Of Chip His wooing, rs might be eX-
pected had heen persistent leeriNs
at her with his one sinister eye, ct
repeated innuendoes aud insinuations
Of lasciViOus nature, scarce understood
by her, with now and then attempted
familiarity. These advances had met
with much the same reception once
accorded him by the wildcat.
Both these visitors We're now with
| the group below, That fact was of no
interest to Chip. except IN connection
with more pertinent one-a long con
| ference she had observed batwoc2
them that dGy. What IT ives about,
she could not guess, and vet some
queer intuition told her that it con
cerNed her, Ord'asri'y, she would
have sought sleep II her toN-onIags
bog; now She crouched on the floor,
l5,t as
|r IN hour the game and its med
ley q sounds continued; then cessa-
lion, the tramp of heavily shod feet,
the light extinguished, and finally
silence A few u.nutes of this. and
then The sound Of whispered converse,
low vet distinct, reached Chip from
oo.s5s Cautiously SIZE orert to her
q @if vou one hunerd dollars now,
fer rs sal" Pete was sayinE, an one
ha2rl more when you fotch her"
PITS ,Aree hundred down, I've told
ye. on we don't do business" was her
isthsr's answer, in almost q hiss.
pain Ike lluiie piercing her
he7s came to Chip.
Pet s'pose she run away?" came in
P5.s voice
What so niles 10 a settlement?
You NEST he a damn fool"
IAN if she no mind me?"
Wal thrash her then; she's yours"
"HHt ! no glf So much" parleyed
Pee, Il gif YOU one-feefty now, an
one hunerd when she come"
You'll give what I say, and be
quick about it, or III take her out to-
morrow, and you'll never see her
9s@lA, so Iork over
And you fotch her tomorrow"
Yes, I told you" And so the bar
gain was concluded.
Only moment more, while Chip sat
numb and dazed, then came the sound
OF footsteps, Gsethe two men separated,
and then silence over Tins Place.
And yet what q horror for Chip!
sod like a horse or a pig to this worse
man disgusting halfbreed, and on the
morrow to be talen-no, dragged-to
ne halfbraed's hut by her hated IA
Tier.
Hardly conscious of the real intent
ana object Of ,his purchase, she vet
Understood it dimly Life here was
pad enoueh-it was coarse, unloyed,
even althy and vet hard IS it WIS il
was thousand times better thaa
s-~~ Nh sab 81 CWulr