Show lb n L Z y 0 4 17 ika grace tray tone F 0 1 7 py ar ll 11 r an m a CHAPTER XV continued 17 with tier her eyes on the agonized face she drew gently at the corners of the rag ag stuffed into evelyns mouth when it came out evelyn gave aye a deep groan and nd tier her cramped jaws settled rigidly im coln to feed you now said polly there aint no hurry cause we sot got all night then some minutes passed in silence while the alie squatter girl bit by bit forced the pap between mrs mae Ken benzies teeth now drink the water she urged grimly its warm an got sugar in it As it if in a trance she got up tip an and d placed the cup on the table she put a stick of wood into the stove and turning caught evelyns eyes upon her then slie she sat down and considered the unhappy girl who had been delivered up to the justice of the storm country neither of them spoke one of them was was praying dully to lier herself alf and polly Il was recounting mentally till nil the lie evil deeds of evelyn end and her haughty hubband mareus marcus mackenzie it was necessary to keep daddys daddes 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 undertaken der taken you aint coln to die till I 1 tell you something miss she broke forth finally it aint news to you on but I 1 just got to make you understand why im you in III the lake weakness kept evelyn from answering cpr eyes rolled vp tip toward oe t c shanty root roof then shut at the thou thought h t of the ley icy waters of cayuga 1 I cant hurt your wicked man copt ln in through you went on Poll yop we squatters are goin to learn him a lesson he wont forget as long iong as hes in this world you can bet your boots on that I 1 As if in support of the terrible words the shanty shook rattling the laos loosened ened bits of tin on the rout roof at the ghastly sound evelyn began to cry 1 I know just how your mabll feel continued Poll yop a bitter smile distorting her lips into a grimace of pin pain an so does larry bishop larrys woman an baby died when old mure marc sent jim him up to auburn an the best of me cracked when lie he grabbed jerry right out of my arms both girls sobbed loudly then pol poi hyop cleared tier lier throat and wiped tier lier face an your man railroaded ray my daddy to auburn she gasped after pl something on him lie he do an all you every one of you knew it lier her olce rose to a high pitched ns as she remembered the last lak scene in the county jail od it awful the she cried an you she leaned over and grasped evelyns arm you could a let me go to auburn it if a tried but you arum arf then then you said eald you give me that dress youre all liars an an sneaks you money folks be iler her hand reached out anil and touched the ax as but she withdrew it as it if an adder hall been under tier lier fingers she alas as not yet able to do the deed which slie site had longed to do and thought would ile 10 a joy iler her licad lead so ged for vrna annl and again came cabrae jeremiahh Jeremia hs vt pang face before tier her if a seen my daddy in the ithaca jail debbe oud be able ii think talat int im goin to do Is all right yep till oil right 1 she rasped then she went on hoarsely faltering lis is slie she s lie described the horrors that all her loved ones nuns had bad gone through her volee voice choked and became silent as sit sh thought thoua it of robert slie she could not force let her tongue to say a word about abou leini ier her heart throbbed bitterly as Us its purne name came to her lips Nu money ricy she whispered brokenly lifting her head did you hear your man say elly money to us its squatters as if publik pay tor for lorryn woman auman an all jerry nn my daddy you heard you lle lyns licad head sag sagged ed forward aud and a passed over tier lier face as tier her 1 acs cs cio i d site she loot pil as if slie she hall had wed polly hopkins hall seen death enter the silent city binany a time find and lwi hei hearl beart sl lings tightened are you gune she questioned in a hissing Nih lil isper sier the other oilier girls lids lifted titled slowly und mid never had seen such tip ap in human eyes lu in all tier her life not zt tt from the blue lips ard riad oh Poll yop im so erald it t die I 1 don dont know how holy I 1 oh bod belp help me a tx so sick daddy wert weite briick anek too shot bacu back poll on an jerry a turned turne up his toos by tl timi aint heard a word rom ailin since he was I 1 took ook away hebbe I 1 could a been litin if you 1 inarae your colsia believe I 1 wre ere 1 I aweau u juul a U I 1 1 brou vou know about babies fin an how cunnin an ail sweet they are youre as wicked ns as h 1 I 1 Itha call be better off when youre food for the fishes im glad your mabll live though lordy how I 1 laughed when lie busted into the shanty and there was you right beside me I 1 hull it a good joke on old marc hare the speaker hold held E evelyns stare I 1 the chestnut ekes ees glittering as the question was fairly split out 1 11 I cant die Polly groaned eye lyn her head drooping against the cot oh poly dear listen please polly rea reached breathed thed out for the ex ax dont you dare polly dear me site she gritted gritter convulsively or ill hit you with talal god I 1 jesus came from bet between evelyns evelyn chattering teeth boeth no dont pick it up tip I 1 dont 1 oh 1 I want a ant to tell aou ou something ig polly then flit firc ahead polly grumbled sullenly site she iohd ew her fingers from tile the ax handle aad aia d leaned tier her chin in tile the palm of tier her hand evelyn up and bent forward her eyes swimming with tears polly she gasped Poll roii yop in the summer gods going to send we me a little baby oh pollyl polly l the squatter girl scrambled up its as the speaker dropped back terrified at the exultant fire in the brown eyes find and the awful smile that crept across pol lys face glory be to god in the seyl she cried two of you be belon longIn gln to old marc coln with one swipe of the ax as 11 she wheeled around and paced the length of the shanty old 1 marcs baby old mares woman roth both to go out of ills his life fo or everl reverl and by tier hands liers hers polly Il hands she lifted them up those slender brown bronn fingers and looked at them against the crindle candlelight light lut but a few months ago they had been lie hie most willing miling fingers in all the county 1 hut but tonight mares marcs baby evelyns baby like a hive of bees the joy of dissipating si the home of marcus mackenzie buzzed through tier her brain no sound came from the girl on the floor for evelyn mackenzie had given up all hope the quitt ter girl was crazy no human being could entertain such a ghastly purpose and be in its his right mind I 1 presently she called pollys hollys name faintly and then again because polly gave aye her no heed beed she cried louder Poll yop my feet hurt sol I 1 cant bear it polly paused lentiel against the wall an and glared at tier im glad they to do that she muttered you rant cant hurt any anywhere here too much to suit me inc then something gave way behind tier and wheeling around she found herself stil ring into tile the fuce face of the greatest mother in the ilie world daddys daddes dut du t copied coat coal which hidden the picture all the past weeks lay at her feet As she looked tile the glure glare left pollys hollys eyes the serious face that had onee once smiled at her the alie smile that lind hern been n benediction for herself and duddy flop kinq wn was there no longer bonger rather was there an expression of sorrow heath death rested in the nurses arms but from tier her whole reverent attitude the sense of protection swept out nt it II then suddenly she heard a mans voice it seemed to drift into tile the but bill through every crevice and errick cruel and youre the littlest mother in the world came plainly to tier her like one struck slip slie stood rooted to the spot evelyn mackenzie over there against tile hie bod bed failed faded fi from om her ber mind old mares marcs imaged face vent away as if it hall never beci seeded ed tier her vision over ond and over tile the delightful it light ful words robert hubert hall spoken to tier her rushed into tier her ears cars and stamped lied themselves in golden lie flie on oil tier her memory 1 I love you polly fouche 1 I her like a caress and youre my little girl fell upon tier like the tender hand ot of granny hopes cs god tile the greatest mother in tile the world N whispered 0 POI Iolli IOlI all and then something hard aud and hateful within i thill tier broke and tle flood tides of love came pouring in As when a dani bursis tile hie pent up waters sweep away a all 11 tile the accumulated rubbish in the hie old channels so als mas the squatter girls heart cleansed of every unlovely emotion enio tion to her uplifted vision tile the greatest mother in III the world smiled again in benediction benedicti oR and beyond her dim in the background appeal appeared ed it a wrinkled toothless smile and polly heard granny hopes withered lips saying loves l oves the III hull III thing brat just love an love an keep on lovin full ot or ane ten kenderest derest compassion turned swiftly slid and nt at the sight of tier flashing radiant fatle fate uvelyn evelyn fainted toppled forward and rolled almost under the bed the squatter girl bounded to her side tier her frantic fingers tearing loose the ropes that larry and lye braeger tied had made secure around evelyns body they tell fell away leaving the girl but a 9 little heap on the floor tears henrs streamed oner 0 er tier her dark lashes as gathered the limp head of evelyn mackenzie into tier her arms and lien she prated as granny hope had taught tier her to pray our rather which art in heaven the rest of till petition slipped from tier her mind ana am she quoted with chattering teeth tim the lord Is my shepherd I 1 shall oat wa want nt iler her strong arms lifted evelyn tid end as site she rolled over on tile the cot pilly hopkins stood up tip and cried underneath old marcs blares are your everlasting arms god dearl CHAPTER XVI on clin you sp spank to me Poll voice was as tenner tender as when slie she had repeated heavenly promises to the sad ones of tile the silent city and had taught them that love was ever present evolyn evelyn gazed fit at her electrified the brown eyes were softly luminous th the e lips which only a little while ago were strained and blue now were scarlet and fraught with sympathy what nonder fu thing had happened pol had taken the rope off tier her feet and hands site she could wriggle a little although tier her flesh hurt dreadfully when slie she ti tried ted it prompted by the attempted movement dropped to tier her arieti and beggin to chafe the injured ankles im coln oln to give you back to your man she said quaking iut but you got to swear to him I 1 swiped you an not any squatter men ilk ilki I jail tile nip forever debbe but I 1 dont enre care about that I 1 loie lobe larry an lye braeger too much to haul baul cri cm into this then tier her face fell beside mrs mae diac Keti and she wept hysterically evelyns fl fingers ingers clutched at the chestnut curls Poll yop oh polly darling this was all sho she could for she too was weeping even more cuore wildly alla than the other 1 in the presence of such divine tinsel unselfishness fishiness fish ness the petals petal of her withered soul seemed to lift and open as slie she groped for a broader understanding granny hope learned me a lot of than ti lings s came up to evelyn brokenly sh she e always said granny hope did q 1 j I 1 I 1 for X N I 1 kr A 1 I ov karl I 1 il 01 X 31 im afraid of everybody gasped evelyn that alint loie loe was stronger n hate an all I 1 must just play pi ay jour mail be so wicked to us squatters the brown broun head rolled back and ami forth lu in consuming agony dont polly darling I 1 lelyu be begged 9 ed dont its till nil light now and my husband NN will I 1 I 1 I 1 polly sat up tip brushing back damp from tier her brow lie ile wont vont do bothin not liln to help bap me inc she shot out bothin Not No liln thin at all first I 1 know him bet battern tern iou do then next I 1 ask ash him cause deause cause ini im that bad I 1 ought to be without my daddy dopkins lop kins art an my iny jerry baby tier her volee voice tobe in fit wild appeal hut but god dear clear liow how hillh I 1 itjin ant em ein oil liow how I 1 willit want em eln the words cut into evelyns henrt with the keenness of physical pain only a little while before site hall louil lood alone at the lie brink of the glave had been no hoile that tl the lie sur munier would bilig a helpless wee nee thing tu to hold hot bior close to Mil Maici ells is but now non tier her thou thoughts gats li hilled filed so gloat was tier lier falth in polly hopkins that E ilie i lie knew to in it a little while slie site would lie ie brick lu la tier lier luib hub bands bandi arius the attack of weeping mer 0 er Iol top aiosi and beat again into pap lite liard hard hi bread end find and hot water tills this time sli she tool took all tile hie sugar left in if the I 1 e cut lioard iward daddy would not ile be home for over two years and anby jerry pro probably never and six she alie nt be in the shanty long groaning she whipped the spoon so ao fiercely Iter cely that hat wine of tile the contents of the cup splashed on the floor it aint very toothsome site hiie said coming back bach to tile cot but the huts buts eold cold nn an you need a lot of bip q ini im coln now an ail get your man you get this hot hoi pap into your stoin jet irli while iro im gone evelyn waved the lie cup away holding out a taking hand 1 I dont v aaa you to go 90 without me please Plea ae dont site cried rol yop leave me cie here alone im terribly scared I 1 I 1 the grave young squatter bontem plated tier her tor for the space of twenty seconds perhaps youre afraid of the ns fishermen hermen aint you miss slie she asked ake d well youve got a right to be larrys different from the rest though he was as willin in up to this night to chop off your head us its me du but t larrys be hearts arts soft and kind larrys larrye Is im afraid of everybody gasped evelyn Ever everybody body but you polly pleaise Ile pl iise etise take me with you or orlet oriel me die stay till morning A slight shake of poll head brought evelyn to a sitting position but pain racked bones and nerves laid tier lier back again there interjected tile other girl you can see how hard be to gei get you through the snow to your maa ma house die before you got there im blest if you no I 1 got to go 90 alone miss noting tile the fear in mrs Macken mackenzie mackenziee eyes she bent over tle cot will you believe sol something im go in to tell you evet eve she said in a wheedling tone surely I 1 will polly answered evelyn wiping tier her eyes but im so afraid so awfully afraid no lie replied impetuously an as I 1 said you got a right to be scared of the squatters why only tills ibis afternoon I 1 hated you an old mare marc ns as hard as the rest of the silent city folks more inore hebbel but B ut but what I 1 was really coln to tell you Is this it if I 1 lug jug you along with me you wont have no baby in the summer gods truth im tellin you too evelyn lowered her lids and a painful flush mounted to tier her hair youre the little thing aint you demanded polly tier her voice vibrant with emotion now be a big woman an stay while im gone will you ill promise to hustle for all im worth I 1 mrs mackenziee Macken timid glance ran ground the room 1 I suppose so she whimpered but what if some of your people came tier here she shuddered and went on hurriedly polly ti Atre you going to say to marcus 1 I dont know yet num rumbled blea polly op but ill bring him back oh I 1 got it say MI ill stick you away in granny hopes liapes coop hole no squat berd think to go in there ev |