Cheraw chronicle. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, 1914-08-27

1t more than once - II
that day. and the U81l
reiteration had n H
told on the mans
nerves, already @S
strained to the
breaking point by weeks Of enervating
dry heat.
He had looked across the table with
a look in his eyes hers could not
bear.
"Will-you-shut-up!"
She had sat stunned for a NJ nloment,
and then. choking down dry sob.
said:
I'm sorry, Dick. You've heen so
worried. It's been terribl le-this
year"
His face did not soften, and. he
laughed harshly.
Eyes, this year and last, a nd the
year before that, and all the rest Of
the years to come probably He
stood up abruptly. I'm ding to
town."
She noticed the slight stooI Of the
boyish shoulders and the listldss drag
Of his feet and then she tur1ed and
looked out across the baking fields,
where the crowding rows o1 gray
green corn dropped as II the heat
were heavy and bearing them down.
The child that lay on the bed tossed
and walled fretfully: After she had
soothed 1t back into an unea5y slum.
ber, she commenced to CLEAR the
table, working swiftly to ease dhe con.
striction in her breast.
When her fingers touched tie fine
ly-chiseled edges Of the cut-glal mRC-
bowl that, stood so incongruoQs
their homely wara she
Ahts1eSaa4Aa AaAs1d
bare touch had awakened. T.
HE travels the fastest Who travels
alone"
His mother had said it-th& same
who had given them the sugar kbowl-
said 1t in her presence when skhe and
Dick had gone to tell her tfteir re-
solve, that they were going to pc mar.
ried.
Placing the ironing-board acr oss the
backs Of two chairs, she lifted the
iron from the stove and tested II with
moistened finger. The light breeze
that stirred the curtains felt &ool on
her damp brow, but she did npt look
up to see the green haze.
Neither did she note the far-oif hum.
like the hum Of bees when they gath
er at the home hive at nigh tfall-a
hum that grew louder, and sw4lled In
volume till 1t sounded like the rumble
of thousand busy looms ilouder,
louder.
An eery note sang through IL; loud.
er and higher, and louder and higher
like the increasing roar Of advancing
war.
The shrieks Of the child seem ed fee
BILE and impotent In the face of the
roar, as she seized 1t up and plunged
head down into the swirling dust ort.
side.
For a moment she was but b play.
thing of the storm that whirle her
skirts above her head and blind ed her
She was hurtled along until she stum-
bled and fell to her knees on q mound
of earth, which with a heart.leap Of
Joy she recognized as the storm house.
Then the door yielded, crashed down
over their heads, and from pande-
monium she stepped into peace.
Long she sat with wide.stretchGd
eyes staring into the darkness Of their
refuge, until things began to take on
a dim. ghostly shape, and even the
dirt wall opposite came into view.
The mutter was dying lower and
lower, and the whine was stilled,
when suddenly there came a clear,
sharp tap on the tin door OF their
refuge. She caught her breath and
strained to hear. Yes. there was an
other, and two, three, four, until It
sounded like the preliminary rattle
and then the full rolling Of a drum.
The woman breathed in deeply, au.
dibly, and then she screamed:
"Baby!-the rain!-the rain!"
Swiftly she rushed up the four steps
and pushed back the trap-door, half
sobbing, half laughing crazily. She
lifted her arms and let the water
stream down her upturned face. as II
she were drinking 1t in along with
the thirsty earth.
1t was salvation to her life that had
been so near ruin that very day, for
1t was salvation to the corn wherein
lay their hopes, and with a glad heart
she turned to watch the torrents pour.
ing on their fields.
1t crept into her face, into her eyes,
until she could no longer bear to look,
and turned. There lay the house In q
ludicrous mass, one beam erect, like
a man lying on his side, his foot in
the air.
She did not hear the mad splashlng
of horse down the road, where her
husband, bareheaded. came galloping
wildly through the rain. a terrible
fear in his eyes.
He did not notice the fields. nor
even the house. but when he saw her
standing there disconsolate. his. eyes
lighted up with a great Joy, and the
look of terror fed. Swiftly he came
up to her.
Dick" she cried. "Oh, Dick. look
at the corn" but he opened his arms
and stilled her against his breast
The corn? What do care for the
corE?" And he kissed her again and
again.