Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-01-30
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Copyight BO&sMerin Company \MNEMEnaM
ESTABLISHED 1865.
CHAPTER XXI.
At the Church Door.

than anything else, raped softly; at
the same time he affected to squint
through the keyhole.
Supper served, Missy" he an
nounced, then he turned no less than
seven handsprings in the upper hall
and slid down the balustrade to the
floor He was far from being model
house servant.
His descent was witnessed by the
butler. Now in his own youth Big
Steve with as fair field had cut SIM
liar capers, yet he was impelled by
his sense of duty to do for his grand
son what his own father had so often
done for him, and in no perfunctory
manner 1t was only the sound or
Betty's door opening and closing that
stayed his hand as he was making
choice of a soft and vulnerable spot
to which he should apply 1t. Little
Steve slid under the outstretched arm
that .menaced him and fed to the
dining-room.
Betty came slowly down the stairs.
Four hours since JEFF had ridden
away with the letter. Already there
had come to her moments when she
would have given much could she have
recalled II, when she knew with dread
certainty that whatever her feeling
for Charley. it was not love; moments
when she realized that she had been
cruelty driven by circumstances into
a situation that offered no escape.
"Mas'r Tom he say he won't come
in to supper. Missy: he low he's pow
erful busy, gittin' ready to go to Mem
phis in the mo'ning," explained Steve.
as he followed Betty into the dining
room.
His mistress nodded indifferently as
she seated herself at the table; she
was glad to be alone just then; she
was in no mood to carry on the usual
sluggish conversation with Tom: her
own thoughts absorbed her-more and
more they became terrifying things
to her.
She ate her supper with Big Steve
standing behind her chair and little
Steve balancing himself first on one
foot and then on the other near the
door. Little Steve's head was on a
level with the chair rail and but for
the rolling whites of his eyes he was
no more than black shadow against
the walnut wainscotting; he formed
ing-room and the remote kitchen.
Betty suspected that most of the
platters journeyed down the long cor
ridor deftly perched on top of his
woolly head. She frequently detected
him with greasy or sticky fingers,
which while it argued a serious breach
of trust also served TO indicate his
favorite dishes. These two servitors
were aware that their mistress was
laboring under some unusual stress OF
emotion. In its presence big Steve,
who. with the slightest encourage
ment. became a medium through
which the odds and ends of plantation
gossip reached Betty's ears, held him
self to silence; while little Steve
ceased to shift his weight from foot to
foot. the very dearth of speech fixed
his attention.
The long French windows. their
curtains drawn. stood open. All day
a hot September sun had beaten upon
the earth. but with the fall of twi-
light a soft wind had sprung up and
the candles in their sconces flared at
its touch. 1t came out of wide soli-
tudes laden with the familiar night
sounds 1t gave Betty a sense of vast
unused spaces, of Belle Plain clinging
on the edge of an engulfing wilder
ness. of her own loneliness. She need
ed Charley as much as he seemed to
think he needed her. The life she had
been living had become suddenly i'm
possible of continuance; that 1t had
ever been possible was because of
Charley: she knew this now as she
had never known 1t before.
Her thoughts dealt with the past
In her one great grief, her mothers
death. it had been Charley who had
sustained and comforted her. She was
conscious of a choking sense of graft
tude as she recalled his patient ten
derness at that time, the sympathy
and understanding he had shown; II
was something never to be forgotten
Unrest presently sent her from the
house. She wandered down to the
terrace Before her was the wide
sweep of the swampy fore-shore. and
beyond. just beginning to silver In the
moonlight, the bend OF the river grow
ing out Of the black void. With her
eyes on the river and her hands
clasped loosely she watched the dis
tant line of the Arkansas coast grow
up against the sky; she realized that
he moon was rising on Betty Malroy
for the last time.
She liked Charley; she needed
some one to take care of her and hel
belongings, and he needed her. 1t was
best for them both that she should
marry him. True she might have
gone back to Judith Ferris: that
would have been one solution Of hel
difficulties Why hadn't she thought
of doing this before? OF course, Char
lev would have followed her east
Charley met the ordinary duties anC
responsibilities of his position some
what reckleSsly; it was only where
she was concerned that he became pa
tiently determined.
Il suppose the end would have beer
the same there as here" thought Bet
~.
moment later she found herself
wondering If Charley had told Car
rington yet: certainly the Kentuckiar
would not remain at Thicket Poin
when he knew. She was sure she
wished him TO leave not Thicket Poin
merely. but the neighborhood. Sh'
did not wish to see him again-nO
see him again She found herseE
ranaatInp the words over and over