Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1922-07-06
CHAPTER xV-continued.

rag Stuueu INTO EVeiyn mOuIH. WHEN
1t came out, Evelyn gave deep groan
and her cramped jaws settled rlgldly.
"Tm goin' to feed you now" said
Polly. "There amt no hurry. cause
we got ali night"
Then some minutes passed in silence
while the squatter girl. bit by bit,
forced the pap between Mrs. Mac
Kennels teeth.
"Now drink the water" she urged
grlmly. "It's warm an got sugar in
L."
AS II In a trance, she got up and
placed the cup on the table. She put
q stick of wood into the stove and,
turning, caught Evelyn's eyes upon
her. Then she sat down and consid-
cred the unhappy girl who had been
delivered up to the justice of the
Storm country.
Neither Of them spoke. One of them
was praying duly to herself, and Polly
Hopkins was recounting mentally all
the evil deeds of Evelyn and her
naughty husband, Marcus Mackenzie
1t was necessary to keep Daddy's grief
ever before her mind and listen with
the ears Of her tortured spirit to
Jerrys shrieks to be able to keep on
with the gruesome thing she had un-
dertaken.
"You amt goin' to die till tell you
something, Miss" she broke forth, final
~. 1T amt news to you, but / just
got to make you understand why I'm
putting you In the lake"
Weakness kept Evelyn from answer
ing. Her eyes rolled up toward the
shanty roof, then shut at the thought
of the icy waters Of Cayuga.
II can't hurt your wicked man 'cept-
in through YOU" went on PollyOp. 1--WE
squatters are goin' to learn him les
son he won't forget as long as he's in
this world. You can bet your boots
on that !"
AS If in support Of the terrible
words, the shanty shook, rafting the
lOosened bits of tin on the roof. At the
CHASTITY sound Evelyn began to cry.
81 know just how your man'll feel,
continued Pollyop, bitter smile dis
torting her lips into grimace of pain,
"an' so does Larry Bishop. Larry's
woman an baby died when Old Marc
sent him up to Auburn, an the best of
me cracked when he grabbed Jerry
right out of my arms"
Both girls sobbed loudly. Then Pol
Iyop cleared her throat and wiped her
face.
AN your man railroaded my daddy
to Auburn" she gasped, "after plantin'
something on him he didn't do; an
you, every one of you, knew it,"
Her voice rose to a high-pitched
scream as she remembered the last
scene in the county JAIL
God, wasn't it awful?" she cried.
"An' you" She leaned over and
grasped Evelyn's arm. you could "a
let me go to Auburn If you'd "a tried,
but you didn't. An then-then you
said you didn't give me that dress.
You're all liars-an'-an'-s you
money folks be-"
Her hand reached out and. touched
the ak, but she withdrew 1t as If an
adder had been under her fingers. She
was not yet able to do the deed which
she had longed to do and thought
would be a JOY. Her head sagged for
ward, and again came Jeremiah's
weeping face before her.
"If you'd "a seen my daddy in the
ithaca Jail, mebbe you'd be able to
think what I'm goin' to do is all right.
Yep all right" she rasped.
Then she went on hoarsely,. faltering
as she described the horrors that all
her loved ones had gone through. Her
voice choked and became silent as she
thought of Robert. She could not force
her tongue to say word about him.
although her heart thrObbed bitterly as
his name came to her lips.
"Money she whispered brokenly,
lifting her head. "Did you hear your
man say money to us. squatters as II
cash'd pay for Larry's woman an Jer-
~ an my daddy2 You heard, didn't
your
Evelyn's head sagged forward, and
a spasm passed over her face as her
eyes closed. She looked as If she had
, died. Polly Hopkins had seen death
enter the Silent City many time; and
her heart-strings frightened.
"Are you goneT she questioned In q
kissing whisper.
The other girls lids lifted slowly
and never had Pollyop seen such an
expression in human eyes in all her
life.
"Not yet" cropped from the blue
lips, "and-and-Oh POIlyOp, I'm Sc
afraid to die. don't know howl Oh
God, help me; feel 50 sick.T
Daddy were sick, too" shot back
Polly, IAN Jerry's turned up his toes
by this tImeI / amt heard word
from him since he was took away
Mebbe could a seen him Il you
hadn't made your cousin believe ! were
Arle sNAAsD.l VIA S.SOu know