The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1909-01-02
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boy had crossed the sill and a second
was being aided to mount, when the
man outside tried and then ratified
the door
Margaret was ready to faint with
| terror now, but she set her teeth.
| The children must be got out Of the
| way.
The man outside was quiet mo-
ment Then suddenly a crushing
weight was thrown against the door,
and the socket of the bolt gave way
with a snap as if the heavy iron were
a brittle stick. With a crash the
door opened and swung back, and the
big, red-haired, blanket-coated ruff
fan stumbled into the room.
Margarets heart seemed to stop
beating. She sank back against the
wall, with her hands pressed fiat upon
the wainscoting, as if she hoped for
| hiding as we'll as for support. Then
her resolution returned, and with it
! the instinct Of strategy
| Watch for a chance to get out,
| and run and tell your fathers" she
said to the huddled boys about her
| Then she walked slowly across the
room toward the river-man Her
| knees seemed ready to sink under
her, but she held herself with des-
| perate determination to do what she
could to pacify or outwit this ugly
! giant.
| Red Ed stood in the middle of the
floor. looking about him. His brows
were drawn down till they Swallowed
| his eyes heavily, and he looked out
from under them gloomily
| What do you WANT" asked Mar
garet. with an effort to overcome the
| huskiness in her throat
| Red Ed moved a slow step toward
her He seemed in a mischievous
| mood. A flicker Of a grin passed
over his lips Then he shambled
heavily forward with the uncertainty
Of drunk enness.
AS the man came forward, the girl
slowly retired, earnestly hoping and
praying that the little boys would
make good their escape: but sudden
ly, as her retreat became apparent,
appreh ension seized one of the little
fellows, and he screamed in an agony
Of terror
The cry was too much for the girl
At the moment she was standing be-
fore the stove, in which she had kept
a fire burning all through the cold
day. On the top lid of the heater
little kettle was still simmering, with
faint wisps OF steam ascending from
its spout. What seemed to Margaret
the crisis of her danger had come,
and the scream Of the child behind
her gave her the one spur to action
which she needed to make her reck-
less in desperation. She saw the
steam rising from the kettle, and in
stantly recognizing the weapon ready
to hand, she seized it and faced the
river-man with wild eyes
Don't you dare come another
step!" she cried. GO away from
here, If you don't I'll scald you."
Thy loggers eyes widened at the
threat and his lips lost their grin.
He stepped toward her, as if to snatch
the Kettle from her hand, but Mar
garet was too quick for MIN. Her
threat had been no Jest, and in a mo-
ment she made good her word.
She seized the kettle by it's steam
ing spout, swept the cover Gathering
to the floor, and then with furious
energy dashed the boiling water
straight in the face Of her assailant.
Red Ed roared aloud, but stopped
in his tracks, blinded, choking, cruel
ly burned. Then the biting pain and
the fear Of another fiery baptism
quenched even his wild spirit of mis-
chief, and he turned with a mad
plunge for the door
Little Jimmy Crawford brought
his father, with a ouble-barreled
shotgun, to the schoolhouse within
five minutes after Red Ed had gone.
They found Margaret trying to COM
fort the frightened little boys, al
though she herself seemed more in
need of such care than they, for
now that the danger was gone, they
quieted quickly, while to Margaret
the nervous shock had been severe.
Moreover, one of the girls hands had
been very badly burned by the
splash of the scalding water with
which she had beaten off her enemy.
She was taken home to Mrs. Craw-
ford, however, and after an hours
rest, a cup Of tea and sundry band
agings Of her hand in wet soda and
soft linen, she felt little better.
She lay on Mrs. Crawford's parlor
sofa as the dark of night slowly set
tied down over the country. She was
striving to control her nervousness,