The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1922-03-17

"Well, | know 1t; of course l know
it, retorted Evelyn, %resenting the
censure In the others tones but I've
got to be free. I'm so frantic, I don't
much care how. That's the way Os.
cars got to help me Anyway make
him understand he's got to wait; he
must be quiet and not bother me. Then
come tonight, and let me know what
he says. VIII you. Polly?"
The squatter girl nodded. She would
rather have been switched than see Os-
car Bennett again.
yep" she assented. "I1l hunt him
up late this afternoon and then hus-
tie right over to you. ! got to go now p
For some moments after Evelyn
left her, Polly watched the slim fig
ure on the path to the woods. Then
she suddenly remembered Marcus Mac
Kenzie and without q backward
glance hurried swiftly toward the
south.
Meantime three squatters from the
Silent City were in the Bad Mans
%ravine, dressing the fish they had net
/ leu llt nISUl DclOIts OnC tnOlllbuc
man was seated on a fiat rock, his bare
feet almost touching the water as II
hurried by to TIE lake. On his Shout
ders, with his legs wound tightly
around the mans neck, sat a small
boy, little more than a baby. He was
shivering with cold. and. as the spring
rain shot its drops upon his face. he
lifted a small hand and brushed them
away. Seemingly oblivlous of the
weight against his swarthy head, the
man picked up a fish and contemplated
1t with a scowl. Then he proceeded to
clean 1t deftly.
The silence was u%nbroken for a long
ter. the gruesome running of the
knives over the fish scales and a little
whimper. now and then. from the child
astride the mans neck.
IL heard in town." broke forth Lye
Braeger, that Old Marc MacKenzie's
comm home. Here's where us squat
tiers get hi flung at us good and
plenty"
jeremiah Hopkins stopped his work
and frowned at the speaker.
He'd best be a-lookin' out for his
self" he muttered. "Mebbe he'll get a
taste of the hot place If he does any
struttin' around the Silent City"
"Mebbe," repeated Larry Bishop,
and no more. Marcus Mackenzie.
handsome, SNUG and rich, had been the
instrument that had moved the hands
of the law to swing open the prison
doors and shove Larry Bishop inside
just when his young wife needed him
most.
Once in sight of the roaring water.
rushing in torrents from the Bad Mans
Polly sent out a peculiar little
trill and the hoarse answer of a
mans voice mingled with its echo as
1t struck the enormous, up-roaring
rock slabs.
Polly's heart bounded and lost its
heavy weight of fear. Daddy Hop
kins had responded ponderously to her
first call. In another moment she was
crawling up the Jagged sides of the
deep gulf. AS she came up to them.
Hopkins companions waved her a
greeting, but stopped their work at
me sight of her sober face.
"What's up, lassie?" demanded Hop
xins. "You amt seen a ghost, have
'ou?"
"Worser'n that, Daddy" she replied.
Much worser'n thatl Old Mares
home, an / heard him say he's goin'
root us squatters out of the Silent
.
A brute-like glare flashed into Lar {
v Bishops eyes. {
"Did he, now. brat?" he muttered, ]
aking up his knife and looking at II. !
Polly squatted down beside her faith |
slipping one hand under his arm.
he other she gave to the child, who I
1t eagerly. +
"Did he. now?" zane in repetition s
rom Bishops throat. I
"Yep." asserted Pollyop, with an
mphatic bob Of her head. IAN | come
D tell you all you'd best be a-lookin' s
ut for i'm. Daddy, he says you're n
ne worst man In the settlement, but 4
verybody knows he's a liar" a
lie q pest De iOOklH Out lot HIS w \
lde." Hopkins shot back like a flash s
7 steel. II amt in any mind to stand II
Iuch of his CUFF. the dirty duffer." t,
Withdrawing her arm from her faith (,
IS. she leaned her chin OF her hand.
wanted to urge them not to worry II
10 much, to tell them of the other "
rich like old Marc, who had ex- S,
'essed in tender tones a kindly in
rest in their welfare. Somehow, s,
ough, the words would not come. The n,
,aceful figure did not fit in with the
cret understanding that expressed IL o,
II In the frowning. furtive glances ia
at passed from n to the other of hi
r men-folks. h,
Hes awful. powerful strong" she
injured I'm answer to the look she "
d intercepted. AN powerful rich :" n,
IAN moneys what makes the mare 81
- struck In I've Braeger. IN
'Sure, so it's" ans vered Polly. "But br
int everything in the world. l got rs
amy Hopes word for that. An
a knows "A lOf ahOrf love Granny lT