Mexico weekly ledger., 1922-09-07

- E0NE N-At
cruel words.
"we got ser just after dark" he con-
tinued. woefuIIy. shes been tied up
in my shack ever since"
Good 'nough for 'erl" gasped Polly.
~tensely. rolling her hands In her apron.
AN she yelled so hard you could've
heard her near to Ithaca. Poll" moaned
Larry. ME an Lye gagged 'er."
Holy smutr fell from Pollyop. as
the picture his words had made burned
itself across her mind.
Her mans been gone all day to
Cortland" continued the squatter In a
monotone. "Lye found out Old Miss
Robertson's been tryin' to reach hold
Of him."
"Hope she don'tr interjected Polly.
"Not till we get done with his woman.
Are you goln' to tote her over heref"
The man nodded.
"Don't dare to till later, when the
sQuatters is In bed" he answered.
slapplng on his cap. tiff you
change your mind, Poll, come along
over; an I'll cut 'er loose an let 'er
co."
A harsh sound, something like q
chuckle of malicious satisfaction,
slipped through PolIy's lips and stopped
the man at the door.
"That amt no ways likely, Larry"
she said huskily. Bring 'er here, an
when I'm done with her, she'll have
TO be took"
She caught Bishop by the arm.
whirling him around.
"An' listen, Larry" she continued
with cruel emphasis, IAN all the time
keep r~ememberin' how Betty walled
her life into the grave, an'-an' that
Old Marc done It."
Overcome by the words she had
thrown at him so deliberately, Bishop
flung away, and the girl, quaking at
what was about to happen, heard him
running along the shore toward his
shack.
1t seemed to Polly Hopkins that
every minute was an hour long, and
every second filed with intolerable
anxiety. Would the s~oft-hearted Larry
repent and surrender the prize she
longed to get her fingers on? II
In extreme nervousness she went
from one thing to another, never fin
ishing what she began. She paced the
hut floor until she was dripping wet
with apprehensiveness. She had no
means of knowing when Lye and
Larry would come; so she dared not
stir from the shack.
Many times she showed aside the
window blind and locked out. But
the world outside was wrapped In a
white silence. She could not even
glimpse the peaked roof Of a fisher
mans hut, for between her and the
Silent City was a flowing curtain Of
snow, the flakes falling like feathers
from an open bag.
Larry would keep his word, she told
herself over and over. She was glad
1t was such a night The better could
the squatters carry out their death
plan.
Unnoticed by the girl, the wood
burned to embers in the stove, and the
hut grew colder by degrees. In one
Of her half hours Of measuring the
shanty's length, she halted, breathing
on her frost-bitten fingers. She drew
abeut her shoulders the blanket which
had covered Wee Jerry in his hut
days.
H. Her mind brought back TO the baby
away on IN some unknown place, she
cried weakly as she r~eplenished the
fire. Had the wicked ones of the
earth made Jerry forget Daddy Hop
kins who up in Auburn was ignorant
OF his w~hereabouts7 Many. times Polly
had taken up her pencil TO write him
Of the child, but It always dropped
from her fingers before 1t reached the
paper. Daddy could NOT do anything;
and she would not add to his heavy
burden.
She was at the stove, her cold, stiff
fingers spread over 1t. when the sound
of footsteps outside sent her headlong
to the door. Appallingly terrified. she
dragged 1t open.
Then, In d~eadening silence, Lye
Braeger and Larry Bishop carried q
large bundle through the doorway and
threw 1t down on Polly's bed.
Heavylidded. the girl gaxed upon Ii.
her eyes widening in Joy, JOY at the
thought of Old Mares misery; 10Y at
the thought OF getting even. The
frightfnl emotion that surged through
her bore relation only by contrast to
the delights of a few months back,
when her willing legs had trotted the
country ever to help every q that
needed her. 1t wasn't the same Polly
at all. This Polly lifted her foot and
kicked the bundle none too lightly.
1--WE had q h--l Of a time gettin' Ter
here, Poll" grcwled Lye Braeger.
Outside it's like II q million crazy
devils was howlin' over the hills. But
we brought Ter Just the samei Now
do what you like with FER, bratir
White teeth cleaned through the
maniacal smile that parted the girls
lips. At lasti She had not lived
through interminabie days for moth
ingi
"Scoot out, youl" she ordered, wav-
ing her hand at them, "an' keep a
watch about till / get done T"
Braeger made for the door az II
anxious to be gone; but Larry Bishop
held to the spot where he stood.
"She's q woman, Folly Hopkins, \ he
muttered, his eyes turning from the
cot to the rigid girl, III she Is OLD
Mares wife. He's home too. 80 Lye