Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1909-11-18
JUDITH In
MACKFORD'S ENTRY
B Y C r A CE RHY S
Copyright. by J. 3. Lippincott Co..

Copyright. by ]. B. Lippincott Coz
Judith was walking home through
the Gartra meadows. a markell basket
of yellow daffodils upon her arm.
She paused in the middle OF the
meadow and setting down her basket
at her feet, stood to look about her.
The check shawl had fallen back from
her head and there was still light
enough abroad to illuminate her pale.
smoothly cut face and the coiled
bronze of her hair.
Her unconscious attitude was a
strange one for so young a girl-her
head thrown up. with her nostrils
wide arched and both hands clutching
the bosom of her old drab gown.
Then she started over the field once
more, crossed a stile. then through a
wood and over a stone wall and a bit
down a rutty road to her GRANDPA
Tiers cabin.
lie was sitting in his usual place by
the fire. little. weakened. old man.
with a broken-spouted teapot held
firmly between his knees.
"Ye're a long while comm" be said
to her. Put them trash outside for
the night and get the tay."
Judith threw of her shawl and went
obediently about her tasks. When
her back was turned the old man hid
the teapot in a hole in the wall.
Judith" said he as he mumbled his
bread, what does Miss McCraw want
for the body?"
Five shillings." answered Judith.
Holy Powersi" said the old man.
rocking himself, "whereTl I get all
that to lend We? But yen not disre-
member to pay me back. honey. and
the 10 shillin's week as well?"
No. grandada." said Judith alb
sently.
Presently he set about dragging a
greatly tattered letter from his
breaches pocket.
Thirty shillin's a week at the
flower sellin'," said he. Saints above.
it's fortune. 1t was wonderful kind
of yer old aunt's niece to think Of We,
Judith" he went on, peering down at
the scrawled paper by the light of the
fire.
MACKFORD'S ENTRY,
Soho.
London
Thatn be a grand place. Parks and
palaces, no less; and the lord mayor
and queen ridin' in gold coach all to
their selves. Them's the kind of things
ven be SEEM of mornin'! It's a
lady yen be m no time. Judith. But
you won't forget the 10 shillin's a
week for yer grandada. or maybe Is,
will We now. agra?"
Fifteen, il We like. grandada," said
the girl, lifting her brooding head.
But what at all will ye do by your.
self when I'm gone? I'd rather go to
me grave than be goin' among strang-
ers as I am"
''Whisht with yer talkin'," said he.
Don't tell ye it's a lady yen be?
Get up out of that at wanst and go
feed the>little pig"
At nine o'clock the old man climbed
up to his sleeping-loft. heaped with
his queer old mans treasures, and Ju-
dith was free to go to her little room,
where she had slept every night for
20 innocent years. 1t was carefully
neat; the patchwork-quilted bed was
poor and clean; the earthen floor was
fresh swept; at the foot OF the wood
en- bed stood a table spread with GRO
Chef work on which was placed Ju-
dith's mass-book and three small white
plaster images of Christ, the Virgin
and ST. Joseph. Beside the image Of
the virgin was a little cup OF late
snowdrops.
Judith stood before the table with
clasped, quivering hands. Her whole
nature. wild. reserved and shy. was
protesting against this sudden uproot.
ing forced upon her by an old mans
covetousness. No blossoming plant
torn up violently by the roots could
have felt more surprising pang than
she. as she stood there, her bosom
heaving. her long. supple fingers
wreathing in and out.
She did not want to be a lady. or
10 stand behind a counter in a shop
in a grand street. like Miss Pandy.
who sold calico and groceries in Tras-
ma town. Wood and field morning
and night. the changing winds and her
liberty and her long prayers in the
quiet, that was all she wanted. The
faces of strangers had always been a
terror to her.
1t was late when at last, worn out
by the passion of the day, she lay
down on her bed. to sleep for the last
time in the deep stiffness of her ma
tive place.
~
r 1t was a gusty April evening when
sJudith stood uncertainty at the corner