American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1922-03-24
D. He Thought Of the redl

uIdertoned an oath and went ont 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 NOS to
mention Oscars vicious demand upon
her. II 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 1t
was a shame the law allowed such a
blot as the Silent City upon the nat
ural beauty of Cayuga and It's majes-
tic surroundings.
Pollyop stood shivering, her troubled
gaze searching the lake for a boat.
Daddy Hopkins had gone AVA 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 it's hid
den food, 1t would be a desolate world
indeed.
Wee Jerry was Polly's fi~ve-year-old
brother, and long before he could
walk, he had chosen his fathers big
shoulders upon which to beat his way
through an u%nfriendly and often hum
CRY world. But this same world which
had wizened Jerry had given to Polly
a wild beauty, a 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 topping
chimney, losing itself In the baby
leaves of the willows. The little lines
that had traced the troubled brow
vanished at the sight of a slab Of
wood over the door. On 1t was paint
ed in crude letters: "If your heart is
loving and kind come right In. II 1t
amt, scoot off," Pollyop and Grumpy
Hope had worked a long time to ma Ike
this sign, and even longer to nail It
up.
'Itn help the Silent City folks,
Granny" she had said. Especially,
If l smile a lot at EN-
She flung open the door and went
in, closing it behind her. In one cor
ner CT the kitchen, an old woman, so
old that no squatter could remember
her other than aged, sat near the
stove. About her shoulders was a
shawl, and its edges were held to-
gether with clawlike fingers.
Munching on a bit Of hay Mt the
wood-box was a lean goat, an old
friend Of Polly Hopkins. LoAg age
ahe had found him, lest Ia 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 ono stored rubbish
Granny Hope stretched out her weary
bones at night. Polly's bed ranged
the kitchen wall, and the had
but a bench, two old chairs and a
threelegged table to offer in rude hos
pitality.
81 wheedled a little milk from Os-
car, Granny" said the girl. ~Goddy,
but he's gettin' stingyi |"
She put down the pail, went to the
Ii.
woods as wet as hell" she com
planned, almost as II she had spoken
20 herself.
The old woman stirred and lifted
ler withered lids.
Hell amt wet" she muttered. Its
Try an warm-hot. / mean" and she
shivered, drawing nearer the fire.
'Tai,i't like this lakeside"
granny hope ms Deen IN the HOP
Eins' shack since the first winter snow.
Her own hut stood OF a little point
about a quarter of a mile away. In 1t
she had lived alone ever since her hus-
band had gone down in the Big Blow,
a storm that was a tradition in the
settlement, and which only the oldest
inhabitants of the Silent City could
remember.
One day Polly had found her sick in
bed. and, as she had led the forlorn
billy goat home, so did she bring
Granny Hope, never realizing that in
the ~tottering old figure she was en-
, tertaining an angel W All she
knew was that Granny's toothless
; smile, her cheerful words of love and
kindliness, made the sun shine bright