Cheyenne Wells record., 1922-05-18

moment he paused in the Kitchen nc
o,,,,d hear his old mother potterlhg
ohont overhead In his bedroom. she
COS doing the work his wife ought 10
do. What a fool he had been 10 lhui!
Evelyn Robertson! Instead OF .'s
fortune he had expected. he was tieu
hand and foot without money or won'
an. He thought of the radiant SQUAT
fer girl who had just left MIN. ivy
vears ago womanhood had not dawned
upon Polly Hopkins, but today he
| pndertoned an oath and went OUT !"
the barn.
Polly Hopkins ran down the lane as
fast as her legs could carry her. IhS
milk was safe In the bucket. ana she
had scarcely reached the railroad
tracks before she had decided not 10
mention Oscars vicious demand upon
her. II she told Daddy Hopkins. ne
would do some harm to Bennett. ana
there would be no more eggs and milk
for Granny and Jerry. II she spoke
of 1t to Evelyn. there was no telling
what the girl would do.
The tangle-halred sQuatter girl was
the daughter Of Jeremiah Hopkins. the
mayor of the Silent City. the leader OF
all those who lived In the rows of huts
that ran along the Lehigh Valley
tracks and on down the lakeside.
Uncouth and ignorant were Jere-
miah and his kind, and visitors who
came to the little city Of Ithaca agreed
with the towns inhabitants that 1t
was a shame the law allowed such
blot as the Silent City upon the nat
ural beauty of Cayuga and Its majes-
tic Surroundings.
Ponysp stood shivering. her troubled
gaze searching the lake for q boat.
Daddy Hopkins had gone away early
with Wee Jerry. and she always wor.
ried a little when they were out. Yet
she knew that the only way to get
the bread, beans and bacon for the
family was for Daddy Hopkins to
defy the law and drag his nets when
ever the game wardens were not
about. Without the lake and Its hid
den food. 1t would be desolate world
indeed.
Wee Jerry was Polly's fve-year-old
brother. and long before he could
walk, he had chosen his fathers big
shoulders upon which to beat his way
through an unfriendly and often hun.
CRY world. But this same world which
had wizened Jerry had given to Polly
wild beauty, body strong and as
plant as a marsh reed.
With a sigh Pollyop turned to the
house. The door was shut against the
storm. and a thin curl Of smoke
twisted upward from the toppling
chimney. losing Itself In the baby
leaves Of the willows. The little lines
that had traced the troubled brow
vanished at the sight of slab Of
wood over the door. On 1t was paint
ed in crude letters: "If your heart it
loving and kind come right In. II II
amt, scoot or" Pollyop and Granny
Hope had worked long time to make
this sign, and even longer to nail II
up.
"ItIl help the Silent City folks
Granny" she had said. Especially
II I smile lot at EN-"
She flung open the door and wen,
In, closing It behind her. In one cor
ner CT the kitchen. an old woman. sc
old that no squatter could remember
her other than aged. sat near the
stove. About her shoulders was Q
shawl. and Its edges were held to-
gether with clawlIke fingers.
Munching on bit Of hay at the
wood-bcx was a lean goat, an old
friend of Polly Hopkins. Long ago
she had found him, lost In the wilder.
ness Of the Storm country. and had
brought him to the Silent City.
The shanty consisted OF three rooms.
Back Of the kitchen Daddy Hopkins
slept. and In the miserable coop-hole
where Polly had once stored rubbish
Granny Hope stretched out her weary
bones at night. Polly's bed ranged
the kitchen wall, and the room had
but bench. two old chairs and a
three-legged table to Offer in rude hos
pitulity.
II wheedled a little milk from Os-
car, Granny" said the girl. "Goddy.
but he's gettin' stingy!'
She put down the pail. went to the
stove and thrust n piece Of wood into
it.
"Woods as wet as hell" she COM
planned. almost as II she had spoken
to herself.
The old woman stirred and lifted
her withered lids.
Hell amt wet" she muttered. "It's
dry an warm-hot. I mean," and she
shivered, drawing nearer the fire.
"'Tain't like this lakeside"
Granny Hope had been In the Hop
kins' shack since the first winter snow.
| Her own hut stood on little point
| about quarter of mile away. In It
she had lived alone ever since her hus-
band had gone down In the Big Blow,
storm that was tradition In the
settlement, and which only the Oldest
Inhabitants of the Silent (ytv co,,,d