Middletown transcript., 1922-02-11

won't always be married to my lady
Robertson. mind you. Pollyop."
The blood had left his face. He
was quite white and stern,. and by this
time Polly was on the porch.
""Taint so easy to get unmarried
as tits to get married." she told him.
"An' me! I'm just Daddy Hopkins
brat, an I don't want any kisses hut
his'n. I'd let Jerry's tongue go twist
for milk before I'd pay for 1t with
with"
Oscar sprang at her. She was so
tantalizingly beautiful, SO aluring even
. her grOtesque attire that for the
moment he forgot he had reason to
fear her.
"Ill kiss you, anyway" he snarled,
but Polly, fleet-footed and afraid. shot
from the porch and reached the lane,
the milk dashing against the cover of
the pail.
With shrug of his shoulders he
turned back into the house. For the
moment he paused in the kitchen; he
could hear his old mother potterng
about overhead In his bedroom. She
was doing the work his wife ought to
do! What fool he had been to marry
Evelyn Robertson! Instead of the
fortune he had expected, he was tied
hand and foot without money or wOm-
an. He thought of the radiant squat
ter girl who had just left him. Two
years agO womanhood had not dawned
upon Polly Hopkins, but today He
undertoned an oath and went out to
| the barn.
Polly Hopkins ran down the lane as
fast as her legs could carry her. The
milk was safe In the bucket, and she
had scarcely reached the railroad
tracks before she had decided not to
mention Oscars vicious demand upon
her. If she told Daddy Hopkins, he
would do some harm to Bennett, and
there would be no more eggs and milk
for Granny and Jerry If she spoke
of 1t to Evelyn, there was no telling
what the girl would do.
The tangle-haired 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 il
was a shame the law allowed such q
blot as the Silent City upon the nat
ural beauty of Cayuga and its majes
tic surroundings.
Pollyop stood shivering, her troubled
gaze searching the lake for a boat
Daddy Hopkins had gone away early
with Wee Jerry, and she always wor
ried little when they were out. Ye
she knew that the only way to ge
the bread. beans and bacon for thu
family was for Daddy Hopkins tc
defy the law and drag his nets when
ever the game wardens were no
, about. Without the lake and it's hid
den food, it would be desolate worlt
indeed.
Wee Jerry was Polly's five-year-o -ol,
brother, and long before he could
walk, he had chosen his fathers BIZ
shoulders upon which to beat his wa.
through an unfriendly and often hun
cry world. But this same world whicl
had wizened Jerry had given to Poll
q wild beauty. n body strong and a
plant as marsh reed
With sigh Pollyop turned to tn
house. The door was shut against tn
storm, and thin curl of smok
chimney, losing itself in the bab
leaves of the willows The little line
] that had traced the troubled bro,
vanished at the eight of slab @
wood over the door On it was pain
ed in crude letters: "If your heart
loving and kind come right in. If
amt, scoot Off" oollyop and Cram
Hope had worked long time to max
\ this sign, and even longer to nail
4 up.
] "Itm help the Silent City folk
| Granny" she had said. especial.
] IL smile lot at en-
! She flung open the door and wer
! in, closing it behind her. In one co
| ncr CT the kitchen, an old woman, $
! old that no squatter could remembt
7 her other than aged. sat near ii
stove. About her shoulders was
shawl, and its edges were held t
gether with clawlike fingers.
e Munching on bit Of hay at II
i wood-boX was n lean goat, an ol
e friend of Polly Hopkins. Long ae
J. she had found him, lost in the Wide
d ness of the Storm country. and ha
brought him to the Silent City.
d The shanty consisted of three room
a Back of the kitchen Daddy HopkiT
d slept, and in the miserable coop-ho
IS where Polly had once stored rubbis
5, Granny Hope stretched out her veal
IT bones at night. Polly's bed range
c the kitchen wall. and the room hi
e but bench, two old chairs and
three-legged table to offer in rude ho
t. pitality.
II wheedled little milk from O
. car, Granny" said the girl. "Godd
: but he's settin' stingy"
:. She put down the pail. went to Il
stove and thrust piece Of wood in
it.
- "Wood's as wet as hell" she col