The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1916-06-27

I'm tLiun Il. a!ii L|:;..e sure mere III
harm coo!0 to uan Page Through this
l.icht'S week Md Mr. Lan@don says,
quick Ike. What do You mean SO |
! told him and tile doctor. and Mr.. Lang
don was all fer comm wi me. but the
doctor wouldna let him. 'Dinna fash
yerSel.' said, when saw the doctor
was richt. III gae fast. and if there
is need fer you III come richt back
And the doctor said. You're all worn
out, Philip. You've got to have some
rest. Be sensible So | went back
alone
AT what hour did you reach the
! home of Miss Page
II dinna ken the exact hour, but it
were aboot daylight. and cude see
quite ways ahead of me-"
win you tell u.s. please. what you
saw when you approached the Page
house,?
Slowly one great hand clinched itself
into a knotted fist. and the muscles Of
/ his jaw tightened. and across those
/ who sat between, the gray eyes Of the
! Scotchman and the tear-dimmed eyes
Of Mrs. Page met in a mute commun-
! ion of terrible memories. Then, slowly,
with a new tone Of suppressed excite
ment lending a thrill to his voice he
said:
when got ME enough to see the
hoose, | cude see great black splotch
in front of it, that l made oot to be
men. Then | cude hear shouts: Come
oot, Dan Page, we've summat to say
to your So 1 didna drive right oop
to the place. 1 stoppit in the road and
crepit through the wood at the back
and, hiding under the hedge, got oop
to the rear. Then l wrote on a wee
scrap Of paper, I've news Of Mary
and 1 come to bring help Then l
tappit on window, till saw Mrs.
Page peerin' oot-and held up the
paper.
AFTER a minute or so she unlatchit
the back door and slippit in. oh,
Mr.. MacPherson,' says the puir lady,
cryin', is my girl safe? And says,
Safe and sound asleep And she says,
Thank Cod Then I heerd another
voice sayin', Annie, Annie-who is it?
Don't let them get me-oh, my God.
i don't let them get mel! And saw
that Dan Page was hidin' behind her,
clingin' to her skirts like scared
bairn. His face were all drawn and
twistit like. and his mouth was slob-
BERN, and he kept cryin', 4 was drunk
Il was drunk! You tell them, Annie
You tell themr At that she says like
one speakin to a child, There, there,
Dan-you're safer And then there
came an awfu' cry from ootside:
Come oot, Dan Page-or We'll smoke
ye oot like the beast that ye are!' At
that Mrs. Page began to sob and says,
! oh, what shall 1 do? What shall |
do! They will ma talk to me-and
I they'll burn oor hoose, they'll burn oor
hoose. Oh, if Philip were only here"
"'Dinna greet l said, I'll get him,
but he nun ha' time. Let Dan Page
90 upstairs and talk to them from a
window
"'Oh. Dan,' says the puir lady, Dan
will you do that? Tell them you
didn't mean to hurt Mary or-or me-
J No, no. he whimpered, I can't, l
can'tr But l grabbit him by the arm
and pulled him to his feet. BE a man.
l cried. and 1 shookit him. BE man
and get you upstairs
You'd be safe in the cupola. Dan.'
says Mrs. Page. ri stay with you
and this kind man will go for Philip
But he kept sayin', No, no. and l
could hear the others bangin' at the
door and l dared not stay. so slippit
oot the way l came and went off for
Mr.. Langdon."
Mrs. Page, whose anxiety to be near
Mary had kept her from returning to
| the witness room. shuddered at the
memories that Macpherson was con-
juring up out of the past The soft
ness which time has lent the tragedy
of that chill winter morning was
stripped off, exposing the old horrible
wound, and she could feel again those
cropping fingers, icy cold, clutching at
her as she strove to drag Dan Page
up stairs towards the cupola.
She could hear his voice, now thick
with drink. now athrill with terrible
fear-as he pleaded with her to hide
him and to save him. She had been
mercfuily numb with the horror of it
then; consumed only with the desire
to hold those men at bay long enough
for Macpherson to bring help. and it
was that desire which gave her the
strength to drag the heavy bulk Of her
husband up the two flights Of stairs
into the little cupola at the top.
She could feel again the sting Of the
cold dawn wind against her face as she
stepped out on the platform of rough
boards and dropped the inert figure Of
| her husband at her feet
Then with all the eloquence Of her
/ rroo+ foor cho ho2 r1na6o6 with tho