The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1909-06-17
CHAPTER xrIr-continned.
By F. l. Pattee

INA ~ sNNf- NNNr2S 800 80 y 0DDN
Its good. There'lI be revenge,-for
she loves him; she looked into his eyes.
and she cannot sleep. Ha. ha, IA All,
what's this? An old man?--with white
hair2--oh, there's but one way,--re-
venge. ha, hal revenge! ~reyengei"
@Oh. don'ti Please don't Gran'mawi
Don't do anything. i want to go.-But,
oh. It's father L come about. You won't
houch him. will you? He's kind and
good and jolly IL you don't cross him.
He'd do anything for me. but he can't
be crossed. 1t isn't his fault; he was
made SO. But you haven't any idea
now set he is. He's a man of iron, and
he's set against--him, and he's going
no ruin him. n he can do it--and i
want YOU TO make him stop-hating
him. oh. Q can, can't you, Gram
NAV ~
.And then she'll look in her cap,-the
cap she wore In the rain, and she'll
hnd a hair,-a grey hair-an old mans
hair Automatically Rose looked into
hhe cap which she held in her hand.
1t was her fathers a which she had
taken on account of the storm. In the
lcrown vas a thick grey hair. She had
pt In her fingers before she was aware
tOf what she was doing.
Here, give ii to mel" The command
WAS like a hiss.
For the first time she saw the wom-
ans eyes. Piercing and snaky they
n NGiE HIAA0u LuAA# uDOh % aAAA AON O
foot away. The eaPerness mi glitter
bn them were wholly animal. Rose ex-
hended her hand, powerless to do other
wise. The creature took the hair and
with IL the handkerchief which Rose
had bound about the scratch received
hn the thorns. There was blood In the
lcenter.
"Oh, Gran'maw-' But the eyes
or the woman, fastened full upon her,
took away her powers OF speech. She
could only gasp and hold herself rigid.
Walt for me-" The command had In
1T almost hypnotic power, Then with
IA feeble movement the bowed figure
gathered itself together with the aid
lof a long staff and arose to its feet.
tThen. taking the andle In it's shaky
hand. IL hobbled to a door at the n
Eof the room.
a"Oh, Grammar, you won't harm any
l~body,-you won't harm father? Prom
hse me, Grammar. You won't do any
thing bad. will you, Gran'maw?" The
door closed upon her appeal. a
She turned about In a tremor. The
room wal now in darkness, a for
THE Goals in the fireplace. Everything
WAS silent. She had an impulse to fee
from the uncanny house headlong, nor
stop until she was In her w room,
lbnt She was powerless to move The
AFFAIR had touched her deeper thar she
knew.
TO her the affair was unspeakably
lawful for. despite her good sense. she
had. deep below all, more than a trace
Tor the valley superstition. Grammar
iMiller had ever in her imagination been
N fearful parsonage. The nurses Of
;her childhood were responsible, and
her neighbors who had whispered wild
tales OF the power" and even her
rather, who in most ways was q true
!son of the valley.
Beyond the fireplace Poppy Miller,
asleep now al nodding almost out
jof his chair, but recovering himself
leach time at the critical instant. She
watched him for a moment with a
strange fascination. Suddenly some
thing caused her to glance up n she
started as she had never before in her
hife. and gave a nervous scream.
why, why, Iona! You here2 /
didn't hea you
Here's a chair. Don't stand" She
pushed a Kitchen rocker in her direc-
kion.
sOh, Iona. do you know about it?
lEhe isn't going to harm papa, is She
sOr anybody? You won't let her, will
Vou?s
shell do what she'll do" The girl
took a low seat before the glover of
the Goals n began to stroke q cat
that had come noiselessly from the
harkness. q.
But what do you think, Iona 2"
"Gran'maw'l help you," she answered
evasiyeIy. IT'S coming right"
But how can 1t? I've thought 1t all
over and over. Father won't give in
and if he don't, It'll kill me-"
Better one than two" The low
spnrrirlg or the cat resounded through
abe room in the silence.
What do you mean" she asked,
turning quickly.
Nothing. Your be happy; you
haven't IN trouble. II wish to God
you did know what trouble was for
Just one day" There was a strange
squirt OF bitterness In the tone.
why, Lonal" She cast a swift look
at the girl. 'What--what do you mean,
Iona? ~
There's something wrong. Tell
me, Iona" Impulsively she crossed
over to her and laid her hand on her
arm. There was no reply.
svFell me, Iona" she whispered. For
a single instant the girl looked eagerly
up at Rose, but she dropped her glance
,Rs quickly,
TITS nothing" she said carelessly,
ARISING with a quick movement and
Throwing more wood on the Goals.
"B5.t, Lona--'
nHark! Sh-h-h-h-hi" The door
iopened and Grammar Miller hobbled
;out. With almost painful effort she
5regained her seat by the fireplace.
sLoney'' she wheezed.
Instantly tie girl sprang forward,
,gcoopcd up in the pipe bowl a hot coal,
and placed the pipe in her hand. Then,
for what seemed to Rose like an hour,
there was silence save for the a
modIc puffs. Rose studied the weird
figure eagerly. 1t was much bowed,
she noted, and the face had the leath-'
cry appearance which characterizes
very dark people In extreme old age.
The cheekbones were prominent, the
eyes deeply sunken in the sockets, and
the hair, despite her seeming great age,
scarcely touched with grey. The ST.
hence at length became uncomfortable.
tGran'maw.' the girl began shakily.
what have you done? What is 1t?
Tell mo about IL. What are you going
no do? It's nothing bad, is 1t? Tell
me. Gran'maw.' Again there was ST.
,Ience, broken suddenly by the woman's
voice, this time with a touch of excite
iment In IL. +. .-.
gAh. look, It's death-death-death
a! Ha, ha, ha! See him. Look! see
there, His eyes are wide open. see
the purple I'm his face. All, revengeI
s.nyan0pt rayanRnt-ha ha hnln