Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1909-06-18
CHAPTER xrrI-continued

fL. 49, y RNf y 80 w. - AAaN opOAf
IT'S good. There'l be reyenge,-for
she loves him; she looked into his eyes,
and she cannot sleep. Ha. ha, hal All,
what's this? An old man ?-with white
hairs-oh, there's but one way,-re-
venge, liza, hal revenge! r~evenge!"
~Oh, don'ti Please don't Grammar!
Don't do anything. / want TO go.-But,
oh, it's father ! come about. You won't
touch him, will you? He's kline and
good and jolly If you don't cross him.
He'd 90 anything for me, but he can't
be crossed. 1t isn't his fault; he was
made so. But you haven't any idea
how set he is. He's a man of iron. and
he's set against-him, and he's going
TO ruin him, and he can do it-and /
want you to make him s~top-hating
him. Oh, you can, can't you, Gran
nav"
And then she'll look Ia her cap.-the
cap she wore In the rain, n she'll
find a hair,-a grey hair-an old mans
hair" Automatically Rose looked into
the cap which she held In her hand,
1T was her fathers cap which she had
taken on account OF the storm. In the
crown was a thick grey hair. She had
1T In her fingers before she was aware
OF what she was doing.
Here, give 1t 10 mel" The command
was like a hiss.
For the first time she saw the wom-
49, ~ We = LIN RAAoR1 lazy
were liked full upon hers, n not a
o o away The eagerness and glitter
in them were wholly animal. Rose ex-
tended 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
In the thorns. There was blood In the
center.
"Oh, Gran'maw--' But the eyes
of the woman, fastened full upon her,
took away her powers of speech. She
could only gasp and hold herself rigid.
Wait for me-" The command had In
At almost hypnotic power. Then with
a feeble movement the bowed figure
gathered itself together with the aid
or a long stan and arose TO Its feet.
Then, taking the candle in It's shaky
hand, il hobbled 10 a door at the end
of the room.
'Oh. Grammar, you won't harm any
body.-you Won't harm father? Prom
Use me, Grammar. You won't do any
thing bad, will you, Gran'maw 2" The
door closed upon her appeal.
She turned about IN a tremor. The
room was now in darkness, W for
the Goals in the fireplace. Everything
was silent. She had an impulse to flee
from the uncanny house headlong, nor
stop until she was In her own room,
but she was powerless to move. The
alldii idQ tOuNAlSQ Icb urtpSi IMAM oIlc
knew.
TO her the affair was unspeak ably
awful, for, despite her good sense. she
had. deep below all. more than a trace
of the valley superstition. Grammar
Miller had ever in her imagination been
a fearful parsonage. The nurses OF
her childhood were responsible, and
her n%eighbors who had whispered wild
tales OF the power II even her
father, who IN most a was a rue
son Of the valley.
Beyond the fireplace Poppy Miller.
asleep now, was nodding almost out
of his chair, but recovering himself
each time at the critical instant. She
watched him for a moment with a
strange fascination. Suddenly some
thing caused her to glance up and she
started as she had never before in her
life. and gave a nervous scream.
Why. why, Iona! You here? /
didn't hear you"
Here's a chair. Don't stand" She
pushed a kitchen rocker in her direc-
lion.
oh. Iona, do you know about IT?
She isn't going to harm papa, is She
or anybody? You won't let her, will
YOU
rshe'n do what she'I do The girl
took a low seat before the glover OF
the Goals and began 70 stroke a cat
that had come noiselessly from the
darkness.
but what do you think, Lona?"
"Gran'mawn help you" she answered
ryasively. Its coming right"
But how can IL? I've thought il all
over and over. Father won't give in,-
and If he don't. it'll kill me-
Better one than two The low
purring OF the cat resounded through
the room in the silence.
ssxNfhn4 Al yn,t rfNann' Ghn asked
turning quickly.
haven't any trouble l wish to Cod
you did know what trouble was for
Just one day" There was a strange
squirt OF bitterness In the tone.
nj the girl. "What--what do you mean,
Lona?'
Nothing
.sThere's something wrong. Tell
me. Iona Impulsively h crossed
over 10 her and laid her hand On her
arm. There vas no reply.
e'feI me, Iona" she whispered. For
a single instant the girl looked eagerly
zap al Rose, but she dropped her glance
us nothing" she said carelessly,
arising with a quick movement and
throwing more wood on the Goals.
But. Lona
"Harki Sh-h-h-h-hiD The door
opened and Grammar Miller hobbled
out With almost painful effort she
regained her seat by the fireplace.
>I1oney.' she wheezed.
Instantly the girl sprang forward,
scooped up In the pipe bowl q hot coal,
and placed the pipe in her hand. Then,
for what seemed 70 Rose like an hour,
there was silence save for the spas
modic puffs. Rose studied the weird
figure eagerly. 1t was much bowed,
she noted. and the face had the leath-
cry appearance which characterize
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.
lence az length became uncomfortable
"Gran'maw.'' the girl began shakily
what have you done? What Is 1t
Tell me about II. What are you going
to dor It's nothing bad, Is it, Tel
me. GRAMMAR" Again there was ST.
lence. broken suddenly by the wonaan's
voice, this time. with q touch OF excite
meBt IN II.
"Ah, look, It's dcath-death-deati
~ Ha. ha hal See him. Look. SCI
there. His eyes are wide open Se'
the purple in his face Ah. revenge
~revengel revenget-ha, ha, hal,
.s0h, Eran'maw. what Is IL? Tell me
Ouick. What have you done?" Agar
Rose kneeled lmpuisively, but ther'