Omaha daily bee., 1918-12-13
CHAPTER XIII.

hnedd the FOREST was Scared by
yellow wound. The bearers set
their burden down beside it, glanc-
ing at each other with relief. Across
the heap of earth Bobby saw the
waiting excavation. In. his ears
vibrated the memory Of the harsh
voice:
ITS deep enough"
Another voice droned. 1t was
sift and unctuous. 1t seemed to
take pleasure in the terrible words
it loosed to stray eternally through
the. decaying forest.
Bobby glanced at bent stones,
strangled by the underbrush; at
other slabs, cracked and brown,
which lay prone, half covered by
creeping vines. The tones OF the
clergyman were no longer revolt
ing in his ears. He scarcely heard
them. He imagined a fantasy. He
pictured the inhabitants of these
forgotten, narrow houses straying
to the great dwelling where they
had lived, furnishing this one,
bringing him. to suffer with them
the degradation of their neglect. So
Robinson became less important
in his mind. Through such fancies
the ordeal was made bearable.
A wind sprang up, rafting
through the trees and disturbing
the vines on the fallen stones. Later,
he thought, it would snow, and he
shivered for those left helpless to
sleep in the sad forest.
The dark-clothed men strained at
ropes MOVE They glanced at Kath-
crime and Bobby as at those most
to be impressed by their skill. They
lowered Silas Blackburn's grimly
shaped casing into the sorrel pit. 1t
passed from Bobby's sight. The two
roughly dressed labourers came
from the thicket where they had
hidden, and with their spades ap-
preached the grave. The sound
from whose imminence Bobby had
shrunk ratified in his ears. The
yellow earth cut across the stormy
twilight of the cemetery and scat
tered in the trench. After "a time
the response lost its metallic petu-
lance.
Katherine pulled at Bobby's hand.
He started and glanced up. One of
the black-clothed men was speaking
to him with a professional gentle
ness:
you needn't wait, Mr.. Black
burn. Everything is finished"
He saw now that Robinson stood
across the grave, still staring at
him. The professional mourner
smiled sympathetically and moved
away. Katherine, Robinson, the
two grave diggers, and Bobby alone
were left of the little company; and
Bobby, staring back at the district
attorney, took sombre pride in
facing it out until even the men
with the spades had gone. The Or
deal, he reflected. had lost its
poignancy. His mind was intent on
the empty trappings he, had wit
messed. He wondered if there was,
after all, no justice against his
grandfather in this unkempt burial.
The place might have something to
tell him. If it could only make him
believe that beyond the inevitable
fact nothing mattered. If he were
sure of that it would offer a way
out at the worst; perhaps the hap
piest exit for Katherine's sake.
Then Doctor Groom returned.
His huge hairy figure dominated
the cemetery. His infused eyes,
beneath the thick black brows, were
far-seeing. They seemed to pene-
trate Bobby's thought. Then they
glanced at the excavation, appear
ing to intimate that Silas Black
burns earthly blanket could hide
nothing from the closed eyes it
sheltered. At his age he faced the
near approach of that inevitable
fact, and he didn't hesitate to look
beyond. Bobby knew what Ora
ham had meant when he said that
Groom had brought the ghosts back
with him. 1t was as if the ceme-
terry had recalled the old doctor to
answer his presumptuous question.
There's no use your staying here"
The resonance of the deep voice
Jared through the woods. The
broad shoulders twitched. One of
the hairy hands made a half circle.
II hope you'll clean this up, my
boy. You ought to replace the