The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1908-10-03
Nellie
Got q Man
(coDyright.)

lief"
Mrs. Chunn waited impatiently for
an answer. her potato knife poised in
air. She was sallow lath of wom-
an, dry and hard. with piercing little
black eyes that bored like gimlets
Efficiency of management was the
dominant note Of the widow. She
ruled like an autocrat. a kindly one
II people submitted gracefully, but
firm one In any event. Three de-
ceased husbands had endured her
sway not unhappily.
Just now the gimlet eyes were
turned on the slim, fair girl who sat
Smelling peas on the porch steps at
her feet. Nellie stirred uneasily, as
under compulsion. but offered no an
swer In words. From her childhood
she had been much given to silence,
an unconscious refuge from the com
monplace world of Cache Bayou that
misunderstood her Of necessity.
Her stepmother repeated the ques-
ton with exactly the same infection
rs before.
Don't yo'. please" implored the
girl, the color sweeping into her face.
Then. as II feeling the futility Of pro-
test, she added. II cayn't NAV. Yo'
know / amt hathaway"
II reckon 20 kin II yo' try. You-all
air turned 10 now. Do yo' low nevah
to marryf Trouble is, you-all air so
meachin' an touch-me-not. Hit don't
do to be dumb's wild hawg the whole
enjurin' time when men folks is
round. 70 got to brisk up an be
peart."
The widows experience entitled her
to speak with authority. "Gittin' a
man" had become almost habit with
her. It spoke volumes for her efi-
cheney that men naturally gravitated
her way, despite her lack OF feminine
graces.
The eyes OF the slim, young thing
looked wistfully across the slash to
the bayou beyond. A poignant shame
flooded her. the sense of sacred
things profaned. Oh. II only her
mother had lived, the girl mother who
had died at her birth! Surely she
would have understood! Or even the
4ulOt oiOW-bPOCCnCQ idtnOf WnO Hdu
petted and "muched" her in secret
Since his death, ten years before. she
had been terribly alone. She had only
Jed--Jed Wilson, her stepmothers
boy, the magnificent big brother of her
youth, who could do everything well
and yet condescended to like her and
be her comrade. But Jed was in far
owawf Toxoo onpa,ubora ond had haan
for four years.
$50 jes' natchelly makes up my
mind to help yo'. low to do by you
all like yo own NAV would Air yo
near through with them peas? l want
'em done right spank at IL. Nose
Hughey's a-comin' to dinner"
Nellie turned startled face on her
.stepmother. Her lips parted for
speech. but the protest died unyoiced.
What she had feared had come at last.
A kind of terror surged through her.
She was being prepared for the inev-
liable. II Mrs. Chunn had set her
Iron will on her marrying Hughey
there would be no escape for her. Yet
she knew she would rather die.
Hughey's narrow little shifting eyes
gloated on the girls dainty youth
while he ate voraciously Of the food
before him. A wolf were as fit to be
mated with lamb as the long-jawed.
yellow-toothed usurer's cunning with
her fine maiden reserve. Even to
Melie's stepmother his outstanding
merit was the 40 acres Of rich cotton
land he owned.
Nellie waited on him with pad
himself she slipped away and fed to
the hickory lead at the edge Of the
bayou. What could she do? How
could she escape the net which en-
meshed herf To whom could she
turn for helpf Her throat ached with
the intensity of the passion of despair
that swept her.
Jed would have known what to do.
Jed would have saved her. But he
was thousand miles away on some
unknown ranch His mothers dom
ineering temper had driven him away
from home In anger. They had heard
OF him just once In the four years.
That was when the editor of their
country paper. stopping at Mrs.
Chunn's over night had mentioned
that her SON was still one Of the sub
scribers to the Beebee Bee.
Her boy was the one weak spot In
Mr.. Chunn's vinflexfble. krmor of Au-
tocracy. To have him home again
she would willingly have made him
an exception % her own rule. though
she never admitted II even to herself.
It was to Jed's strength that the
girls weakness went nutter!ng out in
her hour Of need. He would have un-
derstood, as nobody else could. The
fndolent mastsrful force Of him would
have won her battle for her. But
without him-fear rose In her throat
and choked her.
Texas was . big country and far
away. The paper man from Beebee
had said that. But he had said. too,
that he sent his paper to Jed. II 80.
he must know where he was living. In
the midst Of the desert OF her despair
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