Mexico weekly ledger., 1922-12-28

4 $500 1S@ 1850 =
will KIN myself II you do not let him
60
Stepho hesitated q moment, craft
ngh' With anger. Then craft won;
be would stroll up to the Beth
paE, tation and make an end Of
the Gciseral and Drace that night.
~AIl right" he snarled. HE can go.
But let him never come back here
or He drew the back Of his dirk
across his own throat In a significant
gesture. Then with Tony he lifted
Drace into his canoe; and the young
man. still dazed from the blow, feebly
made his way out Of the swamp.
When he had passed from sight, Ma
dine dropped her knife and sank to the
ground sobbing. Old Stepho turued
sayagely upon her.
"You liarl You shewolfI / would
kill you, but I promise you to the man
Boyce. An now there come something
that I tell you. In you there is not the
blood Of Stepho Ia Vltte. But you
never shall know your name. You she
wolf"
He thrust himself toward her, his
fangs cleaning in his merciless mouth.
but without iinching she now laughed
In his face.
"Oh, you make me so thankful that
I I'M not your child. You hang his
father and would murder himI But he
will be gone; and II you kill me, 1t
makes no matter. And you think j
will stay here and let the man come to
marry mel l will"
He seized her, and Tony ran in to
help. She fought with the dirk, but
they wrenched 1t from her hand, held
her helpless, dragged her into her
room and she lay for a time On the
floor while she heard them fastening
her in her prison. 1t vas nov dark.
She got up, went to the window and
found that heavy bars had been nailed
across it. She lighted her lamp and
with a pencil began to write a note to
BRACE, praying in her heart that she
might find some way to send it to him.
Little she slept and in the dawn she
was at the window, the vines all of
them gone. She heard footsteps near.
and she tried to look out to discover
who 1t might be, but she could gaze
neither to the right nor the left, so
closely was she mewed. She spoke,
softly, louder and then there drew the
darkened form of a man, Batoche, an
old frog-hunter whom once before she
had employed. a,v
~ am here to borrow the m%ushkrat-
spear for the one day, for mine he was
broke; but they are still asleep"
Come closer, good Batoche, and lis
ten to me. Take this note to Monsieur
Drace, at General Bethpage's house
quick, with no one to see you, and I
will give you q diamond when you
come back
"Giye me the note, an 1 be there
soon.'
She gave him the note, and he has
tened away. She stood at the door,
wondering why she had not heard her
father stirring about. Once she
thought she heard him call Tony. Al
ter a long time Tony came, and she
heard them together as they went out.
Then all was silent.
" Sick in mind and body, Draee made
his way back to Bethpage. He made
himself as presentahlet as possible be-
fore be entered the house; fortunately,
too, the attention. Of Tycie and the
General wal at that moment conferred
on Colonel Josh, who had stopped of
to pay them a call-and who showed
establishment when asked to walk out
to dinner, though he yielded with as
tonishing alacrity to the pressure Of
the Generals hand upon his arm. He
was busy with a helping Of late mus
tard greens and hogs iowl, when Tycie
inquired:
"And how is dear LucyT
Madam" said Josh, II am grieved
to impart to you a distressful piece Of
news. She is soon to be married to a
man named Sylvan"
"Oh, Tn SO sorry, Colonel JOSH"
MADAM, 1t is a calamity. Luke
SpivanI"
"What's the matter with himT" the
General inquired. "Isn't broke, is her"
General, the mar has money. But
| do you know what his calling is? I
shall enllghten you, sir. This fellow is
a dealer in oysters, the-the excres-
cence Of the sea, you might say. And
not only that, but he deals in crawfish
as well, back-crawling crawfish, sir.
/ offered her my heart and my home.
1 told her that I would devote my life
to her, and from week to week she
put me of. But when this fellow
Sylvan asked her, I understand she ac-
copied him at a Jump, SIR. And now
I advise him to keep out Of my way"
! "oysters and crawfish, chi" said the
General, winking at BRACE.
"Those were my words, General
not only oysters but crawfish. / would
not have believed 1t II she had not as
sured me with her own lips, lips that
will please pardon my nearness to
profanity"
Tycie's sympathy went out to old
Josh. haloed him : and with her eyes
she begged the General to drop the
subject, but 1t vas sweeter to him
than any sugar q grained In his
mill.
After dinner they were In the par.
Tor when they saw a yagabond equip
age stop at the gate, an old carry-alI
drawn BY q staggering horse. driven
by a ragged negro. There was one