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Show I Storm CountryPolpT I by Grace Miller White 1 I Copyright by Little, Brown & Co. MARCUS MACKENZIE. fl oyNOI'SIS.-Occupylne a dllapt- dated shack In the Bllcnt City, HI riuttr settlement near Ithaca, B New Tork, Polly Honklna Urea with her father, imall Jerry, and an old B woman, Oranny Hope. On an ad- B latent farm, Oacar Bennett, proa- ixroui farmer, la a neighbor. He MB ti itcretly married to Evelyn nob- BB trtion, supposedly wealthy girl of BB their neighborhood. Polly alone MB know" their aecret Oacnr la a MB thoroughgoing villain. He la tired g of bla wife and haa hlfl eye on the MB prtttr aquatter Rlrl, with her radl- MB ant eyes and her tumbling curia. BB And of ourae Polly would fight MB Uke a ulUcat If Oacar to much aa BM laid nan 4a on her. B 1 ' Tm" B (,'HaPTER I Continued. MB 2 MB one day Polly hnd found hcr'sWk In MB id, nnd, as she had M the forlorn MB Mil; Coot home, bo did she 'bring B fifinny Hope, never realizing (hat In B be tottering old figure she -was en BB itwtilnlng nn angel unawares. All she BM ntfitw was tlmt Grannya UootlJess -lie, ber cheerful words -df Move and B ilsdllness, made (he sun -rililno bright BB 'Wind the meager food more filling. BB Darlnc the winter, Mrs. II ope lind BB tscouraged the gtrl 'to ren. At first MB lilt bad been difficult, fdr the shanty MB (oBtalned nothing 'but Mh6 tattered BB Bible the old womun hull brought with BB Ut. Over nhd over 'folly had rend MB tb miseries f Dob the patient, the MB loot lamentatlan-'df .orcmlnh, who nl Nfl trail put her In mind of Daddy Hop MB aim; and she also knew by heart the Hj ttory of the crucifixion of Jesus, who, BJ to the Wide wild, was tho best roan BJ that bad ever walked tho globe. BJ Bo had those winter days of close J companionship with tho woman who HJ kad lived long-oHd-'Suffcred much, and J tho now was almost ready to on to H larger experiences, brought out In BJ Toll; Ilujiklns t greater capacity for HJ loTtng. "The aqunttere called her Tolljop, tho 1ove-lnsa," and some tle Tolly of the sun." Granny HP explained this by Baying: "They J, ll love you, Poll, an' It's out of your ,Bj ci bt they get the. feelln' of Joy j they see ye." Bj '"row behind tho wood-box near tereibe goat stood, Poilyop took up u Tenderly she bent and placed l upon the goat's horny head. j Henhe touched Granny Hope. Tbe woman lifted her lids and tailed t the girl. "What's the matter, love-lass?" she tosrmured. Trn goln' out, Granny," replied B j. -It Daddy comes, tell 'ltn ril U back la a while." Into the rain she went, her bare feet orrjlag ,cr swiftly over the ragged j ncka, her curls gathered under her mm like a warm glistening hood. Wlen later she appeared In front of ! ty' her Bingham skirt was apjmrt.wJth rusty pans and old pieces B'ua. She plnccd them on the door -BK'nil looklmr 'oslmtlngly at the fllow.ec, wem . tp the house. M,11 P'-K '''i took a pair of her B ' rouseM mid clambered Into B"" ,.ook,nB l,er out of sight Si .""J" "P trouser legs, for uT-f "nkl"s wos much tnUer than ?.,, Polly thru8t ,,nndful ot t-T i " tt B--csQuo looking girl jf7 ? Jn,l,utos 'o'er was flatten H?0"1 ltv Pans and tho old bits of ' "Pon the atone. J -t was finished, she gnth BTr 7m u-1 mv,. ax In hand, climbed Bw r? N'w trpo and onto the Ken i ' ,UoPWn would be glad W ne cawe homo nnd found the K t.v I"'1 mm- T,,en 8h0 beKnn Sa... .? '""Werlns tho pieces of UMT grille hoOos through which the -Mirli ?DB,eU -n'ln a while she illMnd,,kJ,,K.(J.tOat on her atom 5? iuJlor. crocks. !rL!S.J,,ie 'lma mended the last J44,'e 'ieard the ound of horses' ,'iiMVtti tne"'a vo,cos- Wlth tho fear itt.'Tcm,,a' torouclied close MKL' a."a ,Uke ftmo .Mshtencd Ktoti .tod ,t0 ,t,,e ,8"--e ot - m rL1,'qa s' were 'two ww. One Kd?f?l,.to know ih lu" rann S ah,i '""wuo face had ast KS!" ;er t,,e City. MP WwSf' ! iWd beca ror ye"" ii? 'rs- ISyn dur",K had i ,!'"' Work "JM-ttad, his Jong MP cii . " reache1 bacl- k ' Mri im ,i plPk nwar mo " Mr'bltn "" ,r,80 Ktes be MP te a. Wl8slo"i-tfl dealre to u-ot a 1 a h,, s,,e knew there MP 4 nn .rt ,n aU t,,c Bllout City ha th7 hl8 nan,e-BT'nun'. nan,e-BT'nun'. .Cn"8,,t n B'lmpso of the Vu J i,." ani- r--Kot her twor ! It ,!1Ba.c f''7'10- In I-,,nc" " B! ver . ' wen n,n"y soldiers .Cf-Ion i, no llko 3IacKenzIes fl)B j"". and, as his horse B "" '"to better view, the frown faded from pothw. i n strange UttJ,. tl.rl.l tho btCty of th elenrcut foature,, ,e Z, uiml mouth and the smooth, tanned S nrcu MncKen-.le .S,' rnphlly and though Polly coft "Hut you can't turn a lot of folks ou of their homes, ,,. ranJ k ee, rich voice. "Where under the fcenven would they go If you lUllr "Anywhere they d-n please" snarled MncKenxlo contemp ouy. "If they ,. nll dead, they'd be bet ter off, nnd Ithacn too." Polly's linml tightened on the ax handle To let It fly straight Into the fnee of the haughty Itlmcnn would have been satisfaction Indeed I "Have you tried to buy them out?-asked out?-asked the other. "No, and I don't Intend to," was the sharp retort. ''They'll 0 ,.-,. . ruuke them go. that's all. I've been too Wsy for the last two years to make much of a dent among them, but, now I'm home for good, I mean to clear them off." An outward gesture of the ofllcer's hand told Polly he was not In sympathy with SlacKcnale's threat. "Vou can't Judge of the sltua tlon, nob." Marcus went on, "bemuse you've been gone for years. I.velyn enn tell you what they are, though." The speaker wheeled his horse and pointed his riding whip straight at the Hopkins' shanty; and Polly's curly head drew quickly back. "One of the worst of them lives there i" she heard plainly, "He's sort of a mayor of the settlement. Jeremiah Jere-miah Hopkins 1 And such a tribe as that hut holds enn't be found any- It Was a Grotesque Looking Girl Who a Few Minute Later Was Flatten. Ing Out the Pans and the Old Bits of Tin Upon the Stone. where elm In this county. A worthless, worth-less, tangle-haired girl and a Ixty half In the grne, and I heard only this morning they're harboring n ling by tho name of Unite. They live like pigs, too." "The poor thing haven't much of a chance to live otherwise, have they, Marc?" The quesllon evidently re quired no answer, "wen, wnni no you think of that?" he went on. Then he read aloud: '"If your heart Is loving and kind, come tight In. If It ain't, scoot nfr.' Why, thM's beautiful!" Tho wnrm, velvety brown the rich man's threats had made a hard glare was brought back to Polly's eyes by these words. She could have hugged the speaker as hard as she sometimes did Dnddy Hopkins I "Itubblsh 1" sneered MncKonzle. "Perfect rot I Your aunt was saying this morning that the Hopkins girl Is ns odd as sho Is filthy. The very Idea of hnvlng a thing like that hung up I" Polly snw the younger man reach out and touch the speaker with a gloved hand. "Love Isn't rubbish, wherever you find It, old chap!" he exclaimed. "It gives even a squctter shack a glimpse of heaven. You ought to help these jieoplc, Marc. Give them a chance; nmkp something of them, and they won't bother yon." Hunting tears filled Polly's eyes, jo hear dim spenk In sympathy with her flshenuen friends touched her deeply. And lie dad spoken of love In the same way Granny Hope did. too. Poilyop had never Imagined Old Mores kind ever thought of the meek-the lowly-and lowly-and the hungry. Far above tho world, up In the hkles hejond Ihe clouili. vhere the Idue was, right alongside th, crucified Savior, Polly Hopkins placed this new friend of the Silent City. Her thoughts were Interrupted by MarKenrlc spenkliut. , "They're pigs, n0h, i tP you .. ', e re,,e,ed roughly, d what I brought J ou down here today for " nn?,y '.St th0 rost of 1,ls sentence. lack and yet farther back she slipped over he roof. She had never heard anything so dreadful as this. In fact, she had always quite liked pigs, but she had never thought of comparing lie shanty or Granny Hope nnd Daddy. Hopkins to a barnyard and Its occu pnntR. She heard the men ride nwny; and once more she sat up. Ily raising her body n little, she could see them walk-i'g walk-i'g their horses along the rood that led Its crooked way through tho let tlemcnt, Mackenzie, straight, thlck-set figure fig-ure made her shudder, but the slim, bojlsh one beside him brought u queer little thrill to her heart. "He's a beautiful angel himself," the murmured, and taking up the ax, she sllpited down the tree and dropped lo the wet ground. Granny Hope straightened up as Polly entered the kitchen. Swiftly the girl crawled out of her father's trousers and tossed back her curls. "What's the matter, pretty brat?" : 'he woman drowsily. ,ut to find Daddy," replied Polly, -. olce shaking. "Old Marc's back an' he's after us squatters a-flyln', an', Granny " She paused, her face softened, and she smiled. "Yep, honey!" prompted Mrs. Hope. "Old Marc had a beautiful migcl with him," went on the girl, -an' ho likes us squatters. He stood right up to that rotten Mackenzie. I heard him, I did." She crossed to the old woman's side. "Uve's able to send a augel slapbang down to this old earth to help us, huh, Granny Hope?" "Yep, sure sure, honey-girl," mur mured Granny, and once more her head bobbed foTward, and she slept. Polly Hopkins crept out of the hut and tqted awy along tho shore toward Had Alan's ravine. CHAPTER II. About the time 'Polly Hopkins began lo .repair the imack 'roof, Eveljn Itob ortson came Into the room where her mother nut reading. The girl was dressed to go out nnd was drawing a ipnlnof gloves over 'her ringed fingers. "Where ure you going, Eve?" In' quired the ludy. ".It seems to me that you're running out altogether too much. There's your piano I You haven't practiced In montha Now don't blame me, Kve, If, when Marcus usks.you to pluy, you fall Hat." A dull red ran Into the girl's cheeks, but she made no reply as sho smoothed the wrinkles from her gloves. "The good Lord knows," continued the mother Irritably, "that I've kept at jou enough. Now Marc and ltobert are home, how are you going to entertain enter-tain them? Men demand so much." The experiences of the past two years had taught Evelyn that lesson. It had been demand, demand nnd more demanding ever Mnce, on girlish Impulse, Im-pulse, she had secretly married Oscar llennutt. "And you heard what Marcus said last night about the Silent City folks." went on Airs. Itobertson. "What jou want of that Hopkins glrJ I don't understand. un-derstand. Marcus says her father Is the most dangerous mini among the lot -of them, and the girl hercelf Is queer." "Oil, dou't talk about the squatters till the time," cried Evelyn. "1 hate lite sery sound of the word. Wlmt'M Polly IIpklnH, anyway? . . . Now Marcus Is home " "Darling," tho mother Interrupted eagerly, "It has always leen my 1kini that you und Marc would grow to care for each other. He Is so rich and w handsome! Now, Isn't her A groan almoat leapt from Evelyn's lips. What u fool she had heeti ! Mere she was married to a man she loathed, a man she was ashamed of I The realization that another lunn, rich, good-looking uud In every way desirable, desira-ble, had turned his serious eyes upon her, nlmoet made her blurt out the whole story to her mother; but having hav-ing kept silent so long, she dnred not fpeak now, All through the night she had tossed and turned, hunting some way to get Oscar Ilennett out of her life without Marcus Mackenzie know, lug an) thing about It. She dared not go to Oscar himself; Polly Hopkins was the only hope she had. All Ilennett Ilen-nett cured for was money. He was as tired of her as she was of him. Perhaps Per-haps he would go away quietly and set her free If she gave him money enough. Would her mother give It to her? ".Mother, do you honestly want me to marry Marc?" she asked. tremhlliiK. Mrs. Itobertson caught at tho o-. Hung hand. "I do, I do Indeed, darling," she answered. an-swered. "And he'll nsk you too. I'm sure. Perhaps not today or tomorrow, for bo's Just renewing his ucqualnt-nn-'j with you. Ily the wuy he looked last sight I could tell he was consld- erlng H " A handkerchief dropped from Eve-1 lyn'a fingers, and she stooped to pick It up. "If I lead Marcus on," she suggested, suggest-ed, rising, "and and get him to ask me to marry him, will you give me any sum of money I want?" Her voice shook with emotion, and her young face seemed suddenly old and haggard. Mrs. Robertson had never seen her daughter lu such state. "Sit down a minute, Evelyn," sh commanded. "Now tell roe what you want money for. I know very well that you haven't spent what I've allowed al-lowed you upon yourself. That's why I've refused you so much Intely. No more secrets or mystery I 1 want the facts. Now tell me this minute." The girl dropped Into a chair and burled her face In her hands. "I can't," she whispered. Por some time she remained In the same attitude, while her mother studied her silently. At length the girl lifted herself erect. "I can't explain," she broke out, "nnd 1 suppose you're thinking nil kinds of thing. 1 can't help It If you do. You'll hnve to give me the money I need, If you want me to marry Marc. There's no 'ifs'.nnd 'amis' about that. If jou'll glvo me the money" she faltered, fal-tered, wiped her lips and concluded slowly, "I'll marry Marcus Mackenzie." Macken-zie." "You must bo crazy, Eve," Mrs. Itobertson Itob-ertson said In a cold voice, "to talk to me like thnt. If you have any secrets from me, It's time you told them." "Well?" shot from Evelyn sharply, "suppose I have? It's my secret, Isa't It? Are you going to help me or not, (hat's the question." It was evident to Mrs. Itobertson that the situation was not to bo trifled with. In n twinkling her daughter had changed from a meek nnd timid girl to nn aggressive woman. To try to bully her any more would be a mere waste of effort. "Heavens," she began, "this a n pretty how' to do, I must soy. I can't Imagine why you should want Money. It doesn't make much difference, any way. There nro more reasons than one why you-can't get It from me." "What ure they?" fell from tho glrl'a lips. "The first Is," returned tho mother, tartly, "I don't like being held up In this high-handed manner by my own dnughter." She paused; nnd Evelyn cnught her breath. If that wcro all, she would row and rage until she got what she wanted. Motlrer nnd dnughter were itarlng at one another, each demanding an explanation. ex-planation. Evelyn did not Intend to make any I Mrs. Robertson weakened before the stccly-bluc In the girl's eyes. unt me mam reason Is," she went on, "1 haven't got It. I don't own this house, hot nor " Evelyn sprang to her feet and con fronted tier mother. Her face was drawn Into cruel lines, nnd her hnntls were gripped spnsmodlcolly. "You lie," she burst forth. "You've always lied to me about money." A Wtter smile drew down tho corners cor-ners of the older woman's mouth. She knew how true the nccusatlon was. "Well, this time," she answered. "I'm telling you the simple truth. I not only do not own this house, but" "Then who does own It?" Interject-d Interject-d the girl, "Your cousin, Robert Perclvnl," vns tho quick response; "nnd he's supplied nil the money we have used. No perhaps you won't try to get something some-thing out of me I hnven't got," "Mother I" cried the girl, In agony. "I told you, Eve, thnt you should know the truth," Mrs. Robertson con-tinned. con-tinned. "You've usked for It, and here It Is. When . Robert's father and mother died, I came here to take care of him. I had nothing then and hnve nothing now. You were only n baby, and I've nUvnys kept tho facts from you. 'When Robert went to wnr, he arranged that If lie didn't come back, I should have the home nnd enough money to keep us." Evelyn's eyes w Idened. Of a surely this was the truth. "Then we aren't rich?" she demanded demand-ed huskily, "No, thnt we're not!" responded the lady, "nnd what's more, wo nro de pendent upon Robert for everything." AVIth n quick gesture Evelyn caught her mother's arm, despair changing the lines on her face. "Oh, you needn't be so theatrical, my dear," said the woman. "Robert's never given mo the slightest reason to feel he thought us a burden. I'm quite like his mother, as I should be. Tho only thing necessary Is that you should feather your own nest before Rob makes up hts mind to get married. I know very well you've turned down many n young man In Ithaca. Now your chance has come. Marc Mackenzie's Mac-kenzie's rich. He loves you" Without waiting to hear anything more. Evelyn ran out of the room. Mrs. Robertson sank back with a sigh', partly of relief that at last Evelyn knew Just the situation they were In, pnrtly of anxiety as to her daughttr's secret. isr "Bob I Then the aoldUr in tho uniform waa Evelyn's couttol" (TO IIK CONT1NUKU.) Real Consideration. "Yassuh, mnh Sambo am n perfect gemmum, even If we-r"" cot into n kput now nn agin. Y. h. -.yah, hits me where it shows . Owl. |