The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1915-04-29
. TIL nm MI
MARY MIDTHORNE
GEORGE BARR M~cCUTCHEoN.
Author of -Graastark." -Truxton King etc.
@ .-aa tE Copyright. rHl. BY Dodd. Mead a Co.
I'LL IAl MI

oS ~ Ills hTulS "CEO VI hOhs a
fought him. / tried to get away. l tried
to scream He had not kissed me since
we were little children, and oh, 1t was
SO different He said he'd kill me IL l
didn't keep still. But / wouldn't keep
still. / was SO afraid Of him. / thought
l should die. At ast 1 got away from
him and ran out Of the He fol-
lowed and caught me in the hall. l
was SO weak. so dreadfuly scared ]
could hardly stand, but l tried to beat
him off. He was holding me tight
and kissing me-Ohl Obi" She closed
her ayes before going on. His breath
was so hot, SO awful with cigarets. l
was suffocating. l couldn't breathe.
He kept saying, over n over again.
that 1t would be all right and that l
must W. tell. Then the hall door
didn't see her. at first. but I knew
something had happened. for he sud
denly let go Of me. / heard him say
a horrid word, under his breath. When
l saw Aunt Rena 1 flew to her n
tried to tell her what had happened. l
begged her not to let him come a
me. But-Eric! Ericl"
She stopped short, her hands
clenched. He was trembling like a leaf,
and his Jaws was working like that
Of an animal. Veins stood out In his
forehead. He was seeing things red.
Eric" she moaned, Aunt Rena
wouldn't listen to me. She turned on
me and pushed me away. calling me a
'hussy.' q 'wretch,-Oh. worse than
that! / couldn't mako her understand.
1 couldn't make her believe that I was
everything dreadful. She said l vas
leading Chetwynd into-to do wicked.
low things. oh. I can't tell you all she
said. / was so stunned, SO helpless, /
Il couldn't believe It was really true.
When I begged him to tell her the
truth. he only gTinned and told me to
shut up and take my medicine He
was through with me. I couldn't trifle
with him. That's what he said. Eric.
And she believed him. She called him
her poor boy. her angel-Oh, I shall
" live through this. Eric. I want
to die,
Eric could not utter a word, His lips
moved, but only hoarse, inarticulate
sounds came forth. She waited awhile,
then went On, drearily.
Aunt Rena wanted to turn me out
into the street, but he objected to that.
He said ! was not altogether to blame.
In a sneering sort OF way. he made out
as II he were willing to take all the
biame. She called him noble, gallant,
sell -sacrificingl You should have
heard her. In the library he got her
to promise not to say q word to Uncle
Horace about It. II I left the house. he
said. lie would go. too. It scared her.
She said 1t was best to keep IT all to
ourselves. I was to be given another
chance And ! was locked in my room
because / said / would run away. She
kept me there all afternoon, all through
the storm. until Mrs. Presbrey came to
talk to me. l."
Her brother. leaped to his feet, glar-
ing about like a wild beast.
Damn him! Damn her!" he cried
furtously. I'll beat her brains Quit"
He started toward the gate, stagger-
ing blindly. Mary sped after him.
grasping his arm in frantic alarm.
Let 20 Of mel" he snarled. do
you suppose that cur. can treat you
as he did and not pay for It? I'll kill
him!" '' ...
You must be sensible! Listen to
me. Eric, dear. Listenl Don't say
such things. For my sakeI"
He's not ht to live! I've always
hated him. 1t would serve Aunt Rena
right, II I were to kill her angel, her
darling. Let go. Mary! Just think Of
what he did to you"
But she chung to him in desperation.
murmuring over and yer again
must mo- killthim. Thou shalt not kill
Thou shalt not kill"
What good does II do to preach %
he cried angrily. Nobody pays n
attention to the 10 commandments
nowadays. Why should ~"
II do, Eric. / am not going to be
what they say I'll be. Why should
you? Why should you commit muir
der2 Do you want old Presbrey to say
I told you So when he goes to see
you in the goal? Do you want to be
hung, as that man was in Ridgely
county, The one they always tell YOU
about7 oh. ! shouldn't have told you
what Chetwynd did to me. I wouldn't
have told Q II I'd thought you'd take
1t like this"
The boys struggles and ranting
ceased abruptly. A pallor spread over
his face. The words murder" hung"
'Presbrey," ran together in his brain,
creating q tumble out Of which a cold,
deathly calmness emerged. His mind
began to work in an entirely different
direction. Somehow. inexplicable to
him. a strange s~ubtleness, a sharp
cunning. took the place OF blind rage
how near he had been to doing the
very thing that would have proved
their estimate of him eyen to their
own cost. To Mary's amazement, he
broke in upon her renewed pleadings
with a hoarse. unnatural laugh.
IL Dc a nOrrlDl0 joke on
them II / did commit murder, with
Chetwynd as my victim? Good heavens,
how Uncle Horace would look! He'd
have to be surprised at that And
Aunt Rena would have something to
talk about all the rest of her life. And
say! Old Presbrey and Julia! They'd
just die of shame to think that they
hadn't let me go my own way long ago,
SOS / might have killed someone else
before I got Chetwynd."
Eric" she cried in distress. how
strangely you talk" u
He grasped her by the hand, moved
by an impulse to run wildly. Come
on" he shouted. I've got to do some
thing. I've got to wear 1t off. Let's
runl Let's run to Stone Wall"
Stone Wall was the name given to a
rocky stretch OF coast beyond Tod
vile, a secret and unlovely place where
the surf peat with in~cessant roars or
signs, as the case might be, always
pounding. A resting place for gulls,
.abhorred by man. useles and scorned
as a place unfinished by the Creator.
Thither Jared all those who sought
solitude for reflection. all those who
contemplated suicide. or those who
pursued Love when il was least timid.
Hours afterward, Mary and Eric
came away from the. moss covered
rocks Of Stone Wall. and slowly made
their way through the dense thickets
and across sweet meadows. back to the
hated little gate in the Blagden gar
dan wall ThaU Wora naI I'm and utra N Ua1y