This book was digitized by Microsoft Corporation in cooperation witt) Corneii Universn^Libraries, 2007. You may use and print ttiis copy i^imited quantity for your personai purposes, but mS^jnot distribute or provide access to it (or modified qrfi^rtiai versions of it) for revenue-generating or othenommerciai purposes. Digitized by Microsoft® Cornell University Library The original of tliis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archiY,ey£rg|^d^tails^u31924021725613 Digitized by Microsoft® All books are subject to recall after two weeks. Olin/Kroch Library DATE DUE ftUi^^y &^T "^ bigmzed by VlicrosoffSi PRINTED IN U.S.A. r I Lovingly Dedicate this Book to LIL and ARTHUR MILLER Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® \- THE SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY BY GRACE MILLER WHITE AUTHOR OF TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY, ROSE O' PARADISE, Etc. :iLLUSTRATEDiBY LUCIUS W. HITCHCOCK NE:W YORK GROSSET& DUN LAP PUBLISHERS a i. fn. ir O: . -^f ".'/.;, Copyrieht, Iflie. bi! Woman's World. Copyright, 1917, by Woman's World. Copyright, 1917, by The H. K. Fly Company, PS Digitized by Microsoft® CONTENTS Chaptee Page I. The Squatter Folk 9 II. The Coming of Andy Bishop 16 III. Tessibel Meets Waldstricker . 25 IV. Tess and Frederick 33 V. A Gossip With "Satisfied" 38 VI. Waldstricker Makes a Proposal 44 VII. Waldstricker and Mother MoU 53 VIII. Tessibel's Marriage 58 IX. The Musicale 64 X. A Victim of Circumstances 72 XI. Frederick Intimidated 80 XII. Making Ready for the Warden. 86 XIII. Sandy Proposes to Tess 94 XIV. The Warden's Coming. 99 XV. The Search 105 XVI. Tessibel's Secret 112 XVII. Tessibel's Prayer 124 XVIII. A Letter 131 XIX. Its Answer 137 XX. Madelene Complains to Ebenezer 144 XXI. The End of the Honeymoon 149 XXII. The Repudiation 152 XXIII. The Quarrel 159 XXIV. Waldstricker Interferes 164 XXV. The Summons 168 XXVI. The Churching 171 XXVII. Daddy Skinner's Death 182 Digitized by Microsoft® CONTENTS— CoNTiNtJED Chaptee Page XXVIII. Young Discovers Andy 189 XXIX. The Vigil 195 XXX. Sandy Comes to Grief 202 XXXI. Waldstricker's Threat 207 XXXII. Helen's Message 211 XXXIII. Hands Stronger ThanWaldstricker's-.215 XXXIV. Love Air Everywhere the Hull Time-222 XXXV. Boy Skinner 227 XXXVI. Deforrest Decides 232 XXXVII. The New Home 238 XXXVIII. Dinner at Waldstricker's 244- XXXIX. Father and Son 250 XL. Husband and Wiie 256 XLI. Tessibel's Discovery 261 XLII. A Man's Arm at the Window 266 XLIIL Sandy's Job 271 XLIV. Sandy's Visit 276 XLV. Andy Vindicated 1 ....279 XLVI. Sandy's Courting 286 XLVII. Waldstricker's Anger 294 XLVIII. The Sins of the Parents 302 XLIX. Tessibel and Elsie 311 L. Tessibel's Vision 321 ' LI. The Christmas Guest 328 LIL The Stom\ 334. LIII. The Happy Day 339 Digitized by Microsoft® ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE. "I cast the first stone," he said swiftly Frontispiece "I will," gritted Waldstricker, in spite of himself in- terested in the old woman's revelations 30 "I was wonderin' little one, when you say your pray- ers, if you'd pipe one for me?" Ill "Hush!" he cried, "Haven't you any heart?" 157 Digitized by Microsoft® y Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER I The SauATTEK Folk The lazy warmth of a May afternoon, the spring following Orn Skinner's release from Auburn Prison, was reflected in the attitudes of three men lounging on the shore in front of "Satisfied" Longman's shack. At their feet, the waters of Cayuga Lake dimpled under the rays of the western sun. Like a strip of burnished silver, the inlet wound its way through the swamp from the elevators and railroad stations near the foot of south hill. Across the lake rose the precipitous slopes of East Hill, tapestried in green, etched here and there by stretches of winding white road, and crowned by the buildings on the campus of Cornell Uni- versity. Stretched from the foot of State Street on ieither side of the Lehigh Valley track lay the Silent jCity, its northern end spreading several miles up the west shore of the Lake. Its inhabitants were canalers, fishermen and hunters, uneducated, rough and supersti- tious. They built their little huts in the simplest man- ner out of packing boxes and rough lumber and roofed them with pieces of tin and sheet iron. Squatters they were appropriately named, because they paid no atten- tion to land titles, but stuck their shacks wherever fancy indicated or convenience dictated. The people of the Silent City slept by day and went very quietly about their work under the cover of darkness, for the game laws compelled the fishermen to pull their nets at night, and the farmers' chickens were more easily caught, his fruit more easily picked when the sun was warming China. Summers, their lives were comparatively free from hardships. Fish were plentiful and easy to take; the 9 Digitized by Microsoft® JO SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY squatter women picked flowers and berries in the woods and sold them in the city and the men worked occasion- ally, as the fit struck them. But the winters were bit- ter and cruel. The country-side, buried deep in snow, made travel difficult. When the mercury shrank tim- idly into the bulb and fierce winds howled down the lake, the SUent City seemed, indeed, the Storm Country. "I were up to the Graves' place yesterday, helping Professor Young," said Jake Brewer, the youngest and most active of the three men. "Never had no use fer that duffer. Dominie Graves, - myself," answered Longman. The speaker turned a t serious face to the third member of the party. "Ner you nuther, eh, Orn.?" Orn Skinner was an enormous man, some six and a half feet tall. Two gi-eat humps on his shoulders ac- centuated the breadth and thickness of his chest while they tended to conceal the length of his arms. A few months before he'd been in the death house at Auburn. Through the efforts of Deforrest Young, the dean of the Law College at Cornell, he'd been pardoned and sent home. The gigantic squatter removed his pipe from his mouth and smoothed the thready white beard, strag- gling over his chin. "Nope, I hated 'im," he muttered. "He done me dirt 'nough. If it hadn't been fer Tess an' Lawyer Young, he'd a hung me sure." "Ye didn't git the deed to yer shack land afore he died, did ye, Orn.?" interrupted "Satisfied" Longman. "Tessibel told ma the preacher promised it to ye." A moody expression settled in Skinner's eyes. "So he did promise it," he explained. "He writ Tess a letter. He said as how he were sorry for his meanness an' would , give me the deed. But he didn't !" A shrill voice calling his name brought "Satisfied" '4 Longman to his feet, and he hobbled away toward the shack. " 'Pears like 'Satisfied' ain't got much strength any more," said Skinner. "He ain't been worth much of g,nythin' sence I got back." ^^^Him_an'JIa Lon^||V^. M^ a lot sence Myry THE SQUATTER FOLK 11 an' Ezry died," agreed Jake. "An' no wonder ! Them two didn't amount to much to my way o' thinkin', but their pa an' ma set considerable store by 'em . . . Ben Letts were a bad 'un, too. It used to make me plumb ugly to see 'im botherin' Tess when ye was shet up, Orn, an' him all the time the daddy of Myry's brat." "Yep, Ben were bad," agreed Skinner. "I were sure -he done the shootin', but 'tweren't till Ezry swore he saw 'im that the lawyer could prove I didn't do it. But Tess says Myry loved Ben. Women air queer critters, ain't they.?" "Myry sure was," assented Brewer, thoughtfully. "In spite of Ezry's tellin' her, Ben'd most drowned him, an' done the killin' they was goin' to hang you fer, up she gits an' takes the brat an' goes off with Ben. It were the worst storm of the year. No wonder him, Myryr an' their brat all was drowned." Longman, coming out of the shack, overheard the last remark. The other two fell silent. After he'd sat down again, he dissipated their embarrassment by saying, "But Tess says Myry air happy now 'cause she air got Ben. Fer myself, I dunno, though. But, if Myry air satisfied, me an' ma air satisfied, too." The other two nodded in solemn sympathy. After a moment, Jake took out his pipe and filled it. Hold- ing the lighted match above the bowl, he glanced at Skinner. "Where air Tess?" he asked. "She air up to Young's. He air learnin' her book stuff, an' his sister air nelpin' the brat sing. It air astonishin' how the brat takes to it. Jest like a duck to water." "Tess air awful smart," sighed Longman, "an' she air awful good, too. She sings fer ma 'most every day. I heard her only yesterday, somethin' 'bout New Jerusylem. Ma loves Tessibel's singin'." Then, for perhaps the space of three minutes, they lapsed into silence. At length, Jake Brewer spoke, "Be ye goin' to let her marry the Student tfraves, Qm?" he asked^ Digitized by Microsoft® 12 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "I dunno," Skinner muttered, "but I know this much, I don't like high born pups like him hangin' 'round my girl. 'Tain't fittin' an' I told Tess so !" Orn knocked the ashes out of his pipe and rose slowly. "Guess I'll be moseyin' 'long, pals," he smiled. "The brat'll be back 'fore long." "Wait a minute, Orn," Longman broke in. "Ma's got some pork an' beans she wants to send up to Mother Moll. She thought, mebbe, Tess'd take 'em to 'er." "Sure, 'Satisfied,' I'll take 'em home an' the brat'll take 'em up the ravine next time she goes to the pro- fessor's." "Mother Moll were the only one of us all," Jake told Skinner, while Longman was in the shack, *'what stood by Tess. She allers says Tess air a goin' to surprise us all. She says as how the brat'll be rich an' have a fine home. I dunno — ^but old Moll do tell the future right good when she looks in the pot." "She told the brat I were comin' home from Auburn," added Skinner, "when it looked certain I were goin' to hang." Longman came out of the shack with a pan in his hands. "Yep," he corroborated. "An' she told ma years • ago she'd lose her brats in a storm. Old Moll air a Wise woman, all right." The dish of beans in his hand, the Bible-backed fish- erman directed his steps toward his own home, some distance away beyond the ragged rocks. The old squatter walked slowly. His health had broken in prison and his strength seemed hardly suffi-' , cient to move the big body. The path, an outcropping ledge of the precipitous cliff, was very narrow because of the unusually nigh level of the water in the lake. Picking his way slowly, he considered reminiscently the events which had almost destroyed him. He recalled the long years of monotonous existence in the shack, the hard nights pulling the nets and the varied scrapes Tess had tumbled into. Then, sud- denly, came the shooting of the game keeper, his own arrest, trial and dteg*p«!tfciHdJ'crc^M white glare of hate- THE SQUATTER FOLK 13 ful publicity had been thrown, without warning, upon him and his motherless brat. He'd been torn away from his quiet haunts at the lake side and shut up in the narrow confines of a fetid cell. The enforced sepa- ration from his daughter, at the critical period be- tween girl and womanhood, had left her alone in the shanty and exposed her to countless perils and hard- ships. Unmitigated calamities, especially the long' imprisonment, they had seemed at the time, but the event proved otherwise. Friends had arisen and helped him establish his inno- cence and win his pardon. The responsibilities thrown upon the squatter girl had been met with love and courage and had disciplined her high temper and awak- ened her ambition. The dirt and disorder that had formerly obtained in the shack had disappeared. Her housewifely arts had transformed the hut into a com- fortable home, rough to be sure, small and inadequate, but immaculate and satisfactory. The shanty stood on a little point of land projecting into the lake. Huge weeping wUlows shrouded it from the sun in summer. They mourned and murmured of the past, when the breezes of morning and evening stirred their whispering leaves. Their bare limbs thrashed and pounded the tin roof when the storm winds tore down the lake. In front and to one side, Tessibel's new privet hedge shone a dark, dusky green, and the flower beds were beginning to show orderly life through the blackish mold. The shack itself was rather more pretentious than most of the squatter shanties. It had two rooms and was thoroughly battened against the storms. , Coming into the path, Orn met his daughter and went with her to the house. The greatest change the year had brought was in the girl herself. She had ripened into the early maturity common to the squatter woman. She was no longer the red-haired tatterdemalion who had romped over the rocks and quarreled with the boys of the Silent City. Her tom-boy days, amid the ceaseless struggles against the hardships of the Storm Country, gave to her slender body stre]^t|i^^^d Jent^to it poise and grace. 14 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY Bright brown eyes lighted by loving intelligence illum- ined her face, tanned by sun and wind, but very sweet and winsome, especially when the curving red lips melted into a smUe. A profusion of burnished red curls, falling about her shoulders almost to her hips, completed the vivid picture. Tess of the Storm Coun- try, the animate expression of the joy and beauty of _ the lake side in spring, was the boast of the Silent City.f » * * * Late that same night, Tessibel lay asleep in the front room of the shanty. Four miles to the south, Ithaca, too, slept, — the wholesome sleep of a small country , town, while Cayuga Lake gleamed and glistened in the moonlight, as if fairies were tumbling it with powdered fingers. Above both town and span of water, Cornell University loomed darkly on the nill, the natural sky- line sharply cut by its towers and spires. An unusual sound awakened her. She lifted her lids and glanced about drowsily, then propped herself on one elbow. Her sleep-laden eyes fell upon the white light slanting across the rough shanty floor. Sud- denly, like a dark ghost, a shadow darted into it — the shadow of a human head. At the first glimpse at it, Tessibel looked cautiously toward the window, and there, as in a frame, was a face — a man's face. Tess dropped on her pillow. For possibly two minutes, she lay quietly waiting, while the shadow moved curiously to and fro on th** floor. Twice the head disappeared, and as suddenly returned, poised a moment, then, like an image moving across a screen, was gone. Instantly Tess sat straight up in bed./ Perhaps one of the squatters needed her. She crept to the floor, yawning, tiptoed to the door, and unbarred it. Without pausing to cover her feet, she stepped outside, the fresh scent of May blossoms sweeping sweet to her nostrils. The warm night^wind, full of elusive odors, brushed her face like thready cobwebs, that broke at her touch, only to caress her anew. Midnight held no fear for Tessibel, for she loved every living creature, those traveling by day being no dearer than those flying by night. She felt no deeper thrills for the briglit-wineed birds singing in the sun digitized By Microsoft® ° ° THE SQUATTER FOLK 1^ than for yonder owl who screeched at her, now, from the weeping willow tree. After picking her way to the front of the shanty, she made a tour of the house and encircled the mud cellar, calling softly the while. No one appeared; no voice, either of friend or stranger, answered the per- osuasive importunity of Tessibel. But, after she was jagain in the doorway, she heard north of the shanty the _ crackling of twigs as if some stealthy animal were crawling over them. If there were an intruder, he'd ;; gone, and the girl, satisfied, went back into the house ^' and once more lay down to sleep. When she woke again, Daddy Skinner was moving softly near the stove, kindling the fire, and Tessibel lay in languid silence. She watched him yearningly until he felt her gaze and looked at her. His twisted smile of greeting brought an exclamation of love from the girl. All the inhabitants of the Silent City knew this crippled old man could play on the emotions of his lovely young daughter as the morning sun plays upon the sensibilities of the lark. How she adored him, in spite of his great humps and his now hobbling legs ! Soon, her father went to the lake for a pail of water, and she sprang from the cot and dressed hastily. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER II The Coming op Andy Bishop Latee in the forenoon, when Tessibel returned home from an errand to Kennedys', she found Daddy Skinner on the bench at the side of the shanty, one horny hand clutching the bowl of a pipe in which the ashes were dead. It took but one sharp glance from the red- brown eyes for Tess to note that his face was white, ' almost grey ; she saw, too, with a quiver of loving sym- pathy, that his lower lip hung away from his dark teeth as though he suffered. She sprang toward him, and dropped to her knees, at his side. "Daddy Skinner !" she exclaimed. "Daddy Skinner, ye're sick ! Ye're sick, darlin' ! . . . TeU me, Daddy, what air the matter? Tell Tessibel." She laid her hand tenderly on his chest. His heart was beating a heavy tattoo against the blue gingham shirt. "Ye hurt here?" she queried breathlessly. The pipe dropped to the soft sand, and Skinner's crooked fingers fell upon the profusion of red curls. Then he slowly tilted up her face, "Yep, I hurt in there !" he muttered brokenly. And as ashen and more ashen grew the wrinkled old (Countenance, Tessibel cried out sharply in protest. "Why, Daddy, what d'ye mean by yer heart's hurtin' ye? . . . What do ye mean. Daddy? . » . I thought the doctor'd fixed yer heart so it wouldn't pain ye no more." The man considered the appealing young face an in- stant. "I want to talk to ye about somethin','* said he, presently, "and I know ye'U never teU anythin' Daddy teUs ye," With a little shake of her head that set the tawny 'curls a-tremble, Tessibel squatted back on her feet. 1^ Digitized by Microsoft® THE COMING OF ANDY BISHOP. 17 " 'Course I won't tell nobody, but if ye've got a pain in yer heart, daddy, the doctor — " "I don't need no doctor, brat. I jest — ^jest got to talk to ye, that air aU." A slender girlish figure cuddled between Daddy Skin- ner's knees, and warm young lips met his. Never had Tess seen him look just that way, not even when he had been taken from her to prison. The expression on his ,' face was hopeless, forlornly hopeless, and to wait until he began to speak took all the patience the eager girl- soul could muster. "Brat, dear," he sighed at length, "I ain't needin' • to teU ye again what I went through in Auburn, hev I?" Brown eyes, frightened and fascinated, sought and found the faded greys. " 'Course not, Daddy Skinner ! But what fer air ye talkin' about Auburn Prison? Ye promised me. Daddy, ye'd forgit all about them days, an' now; what're ye rememberin' 'em fer?" Skinner's face blanched, and drops of sweat formed in the spaces behind his ears and trickled in little streams down his neck. "I got to remember 'em, child," he groaned. "What fer I want to know? Ye'd best make a hustle an' tell me or, in a minute, I'll be gettin' awful mad." The pleading, sorrowful face belied the threat, and a pair of red lips touched Skinner's hand between al- most every word. ■ "Do ye bring to mind my tellin' ye about any of the fellers up there, Tessibel?" came at length from the man's shaking lips. Tess stroked his arm lovingly. "Sure, Daddy, I remember 'bout lots of 'em, an' how good they be, an' how kind, an' how none of 'em be guilty." "Ye bet none of 'em be guilty," muttered Daddy Skinner. "Nobody air ever guilty who gets in jail. . . . Folks be mostly guilty that air out o' prison to my mind." I "That air true, Daddy Skinner," she assented, smil- .inff. "Sure it air true, but it ain't iio fiood reason fer ° Digitized by Microsoft® J8 SECRET OP THE STORM COUNTRY you to be yappin' 'bout Auburn, air it?. . . . Now git that look out of yer eyes, an' tell Tessibel what air troublin' ye!" But Daddy Skinner's grave old face still kept its set expression. The haunted look, born in his eyes in the Ithaca Jail, had returned after aU these happy months. tTess was frantic with apprehension and dread. i "Ye know weU's ye're born. Daddy, nobody can hurt 'ye," she told him strenuously. "Ye've got Tessibel, and ye've got — " She was about to say, "Frederick," but substituted, "Professor Young." The girl lovingly slipped her fingers over her father's heavy hand and drew it from her curls. "Ye'fe goin' to peel it off to me now, ain't ye?" she coaxed. "Let's go inside the shanty," said the fisherman, in a thick voice. With the door closed and barred, the father and daughter sat for some time in troubled silence. "I asked if ye remembered some of my pals in Auburn Prison, an' ye said ye did, didn't ye, Tessibel?" asked Skinner, suddenly. Tess gave an impatient twist of her shoulders. "An' I told ye I did. Daddy," she replied. " 'Course I do. I ain't never forgot nobody who were good to you, honey." "An' ye're pretty well satisfied, ain't ye, brat, most , of 'em there air innercent ?" "Ye bet. Daddy darlin', I air that!" "Well, what if one of them men who were good to yer old father'd come an,' ask ye to do somethin' for I'im?" With an upward movement of her head, Tessibel ecrambled to her feet. "Why, I'd help 'im!" she cried in one short, quick breath. "I'd help 'im; 'course I would." "An' ye'd always keep it a secret?" "Keep what a secret?" Daddy Skinner's face grew furtive with fear. "Why — ^well now, s'posin' Andy Bishop — ye remem- ber Andy, the little man I told ye about, the weenty, little dwarf who squatted near Glenwood?" CngitHed by Microsoft® THE COMING OF ANDY BISHOP 1^ Tess nodded, and the fisherman went on, hesitant. "He — were accused — of murderin' — " "Waldstricker — Ebenezer Waldstricker's father?" interjected Tess. "Sure, I remember!" Her eyes widened in anxiety. "Andy were sent up there fer all his life, weren't he? An' weren't he the one Sandy Letts swore agin? . . . 'Satisfied' Longman says Waldstricker give Sandy money for tellin' the jury what he did." "Like as not," answered Skinner. "Anyhow, Bishop were there fer life! He air been there five years a in- nercent man. . . . My God, Auburn fer five years!" The last four words were wailed forth, the look of hopeless horror deepening in his old eyes. Then h? threw back his shoulders and spoke directly to Tess. "Well, what if he skipped out o' jail, an' what if he'd come here an' say, 'Kid, 'cause what I done fer yer dad, now you do somethin' fer me !' " Tess was trembling with excitement as she stood be- fore her father. The generosity of her loving nature instinctively responded to his apparent need. She was instantly eager to show her love and loyalty. "I'd do it, Daddy !" she exploded. "I'd do it quick !" *'But what if — if — ^if — if — it made ye lots of trouble an' — an' — mebbe some of yer friends — if they found it out — ^wouldn't think 'twere right?" A queer, obstinate expression lived a moment in the girl's eyes. Then she smiled. "I ain't got no friends who'd say it were wrong to help somebody what'd helped my darlin' old daddy." Skinner bent his heavy brows in a troubled frowDJ over stern eyes. \ "But ye couldn't tell yer friends about it, kid," he cautioned. A mist shone around the girl's thick lashes. "Daddy, ye know I never blat things I hadn't ought to Slide yer arms 'round yer brat's neck, look 'er straight in the eye, an' tell 'er 'bout Andy ; an' if she can help, she sure will." A noise in the vicinity of the cot gave Tessibel an in- voluntary start. She turned her head slowly and saw two feet protrudii^ljopg^T^der J^erbed. Clinging to 20 SECRET OF THE 3T0RM COUNTRY; Daddy Skinner, she watched, with widening lids, a dwarfed figure crawl slowly into full view, and Tess found herself staring into a pair of beautiful, boyish, blue eyes. A slow smile broke over the dwarf's face. "Yer brat's the right sort, Orn," he cried, in the sweetest tenor voice Tess ever heard. "Ye don't need to make her promise no more Her word air good's God's law." "So it air, Andy," replied Orn. "Tessibel, this air my friend, Andy Bishop, an' he were a good pal, as good as any man ever had." For one single, tensely-strung moment, Tessibel con- templated the ugly little figure and the upraised, ap- pealing face. Then as a sudden sense of protection spurred her to immediate action, she sent back a wel- coming smile. Two or three quick steps took her to the dwarf's side. "I air going' to help ye, Andy," she announced brokenly. "Ye was in prison fer life, wasn't ye, huh.'"' "Yep, an' — an' I broke out, kid An' I ain't able to tell how I done it." "Oh, never mind that!" soothed Tessibel. "Ye was lookin' in the window last night, wasn't ye.'"' The dwarf rolled his eyes at the squatter, then back to the girl. "Yep, that were me, but I didn't do no murder, brat ; that air the main thing an' Sandy Letts lied when he told the jury I done it." "He said as how ye gunned Ebenezer Waldstricker's father, eh?" Tess interrupted. "Eb air the richest man in Ithaca, an' him an' his sister air been to Europe, but they come back early in the spring. I see 'em every Sunday at Hayt's when I go there to sing. He air goin' to marry Mr. Young's sister, Helen, an' he air gittin' some pink peach when he gets her, ye can bet on that." "But he'll get me by my neck if he can," lamented the dwarf, in despair. "Waldstricker air a mean duffer — a mighty mean duffer." "He air awful religious," reflected Tess, soberly. "I Is'posed he were awful good." i. Digitized by Microsoft® THE COMING OF ANDY BISHOP 21 The dwarf made a gesture of disgust with his hand. "Well, good or bad, I never killed his daddy," he re- turned. "I saw Owen Bennett when he done it, but him an' Sandy socked it off on me. I got life an' Owen got ten years There ain't no makin' him own up he done it, air there, Orn?" ^ "Nope," mumbled the fisherman. "Most men won't/ take life sentence by confessin' when by keepin' still' they c'n git off with ten years." "Mr. Waldstricker air a awful big, handsome lookin' man," asserted Tess, thoughtfully. "Folks says he air good to the poor, too. He air the biggest, fattest, ele- - gantest elder in our church." Andy flipped his fingers in the air and summed up what he thought of the last statement in five words. "Shucks! That fer the church," mocked he. "It air just like Sandy Letts to lie about ye," re- marked Tess, changing the subject abruptly. "There [ain't a hatefuller man in the Silent City 'n him. He makes a pile of money, though Once last fall he dragged the lake fer two students an' got a thousand apiece fer handin' 'em over to their folks, dead." "He'd git five thousand fer handin' me over to Wald- stricker, alive," replied Andy, solemnly. "I wouldn't a gone up if 't 'adn't been fer him. He can lie f aster'n a horse can trot." Heaving a deep sigh, Orn turned to his daughter. "What we goin' to do with my pal, Tess.'"' he asked. "He's got to keep out of sight of folks Eb Waldstricker's five thousand bucks fer gettin' 'im back to Auburn will be settin' men like Sandy flyin' all over I the state." I The dwarf shivered from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. "I don't want 'em to git me," he whimpered disconso- lately. "Ye won't let 'em git me, will ye, Orn? . . . Will ye, kid.?" Tess cheered the dwarf's despairing mood by a re- assuring smile and confident nods of the shining curls. "Nope," she promptly promised. And, "Nope," repeated Orn,' grimly. "Git back un- der the bed, now,^J4|9^^,^^2feminute Sandy might 22 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY be comin' in. Ye can't depend on that squatter. He'd steal the pennies off'n his dead mammy's eyes." As was her habit when thinking, Tess threaded hei? fingers through several red curls, while her eyes fol- lowed Andy Bishop crawling feet first under her cot. "I bet ye didn't do nothin' wicked, ye poor little shaver," she remarked. I "Bet I didn't do no Waldstricker murder," answered 'the dwarf. "I know where I can hide 'im," she then said, with a satisfied smile. "I'll fix up the garret fer 'im. 'Tain't very big, but no one but me ever goes up there. You, there, under the bed, ye ain't 'fraid of bats or owls, air ye?" "Nope," came forth a sweet voice. "I ain't 'fraid of nothin' nor nobody but Ed Waldstricker and Sandy Letts." Tess giggled in glee. "Well, they nuther one of 'em gits in my garret if I see 'em first," said she, "an' the owls air as tame as cats, an' '11 be company when ye're lonely nights. Deacon air the speckled one an' he loves every inch of Daddy an' me. If ye're good to 'im, he'll love you, too, Andy." Turning to her father, "The person what'U help Andy air Professor Young, I bet." Daddy Skinner's face fell perceptibly, and two long lines marked off the sides of his nose. "Who's he?" came from under the bed in a stifled breath. "He air a awful nice man," explained Tess. "He lives in Graves' old place on the hill, an' he learns me new things out of books every day His sis- ter's teachin' me to sew, too. I told ye she air goin' to marry — " "Tessibel," interrupted Skinner, gravely fearful. "Ye said jest now Waldstricker were a goin' to marry Young's sister. That makes them two families kinda like one. Ye bet Young'd stand by his sister's man. .... See? Besides that. Young air a lawyer, an' if ye tell 'im about Andy, it'll sure be 'is duty to pinch 'im an' put 'im back where he were." "He helped you once. Daddy !" the girl rebuked him. Digitized by Microsoft® THE COMING OF ANDY BISHOP 23 "But I were in jail all the time, don't ye see the dif- ference, brat? .... Till 'twere proved Ben Letts done the murder, I were kept in j ail, too, an' they'll put Andy back if ye say anythin' to Young 'bout it." "They sure will," came the dwarf's sobbing tones. Tessibel sighed. "Well, us uns '11 have to keep our clacks shut 'bout 'is bein' here, then," she acquiesced, "an' — an' — Andy'U have to keep in the garret tiU the man in Auburn coughs up, that air all, huh? .... He can come down sometimes when it air a rainin' hard or dark nights when there ain't nobody around, an' — an' — darlin', ye can offen chat with 'im when I air outside watchin' fer folks. . . . Now, can't ye, Daddy?" The young speaker went close to her father, smiling. She wanted to chase that hunted look from his eyes, to make him feel a little more secure about his prison friend. "Please don't be lookin' like that, sweety," she pleaded. "Ye're just like ye was goin' dead I teU ye nobody'U hurt the poor little feller in the gar- ret .... I'U see to that I'll fix it up all comfy fer 'im." With this idea of future protection for the little man, Tessibel began to reconstruct the shanty. Dark curtains were hung at the square little windows, for it was quite a daily occurrence for Sandy Letts to peek through them before entering the door. Tessibel didn't wish to shut out the sunshine and moonbeams, but then there was Andy Bishop to think of, and Andy already had a warmer place in the squatter girl's heart than even the sun or moon. Tessibel was beginning tof love him, not only because he'd been a friend to Daddy, but on his own account, because he was a soul in tor- ment and needed her. It took quite three hours to arrange the garret for the dwarf's occupancy. There were many pieces of fishing tackle to be sorted and hung in the kitchen rafters. The nuts that had been spread out on the floor to dry, now had to be gathered into sacks and stored in the mud cellar. The cobwebs must come down, and a cotton tick fiUedyjjrj^^^^y Jj^ggJ^traw to be put in the 24. SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY garret. It was about three o'clock when Tessibel ush- ered the little man up the ladder and displayed the clean attic. " 'Tain't high 'nough fer me to stand up in," she told him, "but ye'll get along all right, an' I air goin' to fix ye somethin' so ye can see to read Can ye read?" "Sure, I can read." Andy's voice rang with pride. "My ma, she's dead now, she learned me how, she did !" "Then I'll get ye lots of books," replied Tess, "an' ye'd best always keep hid less'n I let ye down, 'cause Sandy might catch onto yer bein' here. Waldstricker's money'U set loose a lot of sneaks like him lookin' fer yej" Late that afternoon the dwarf ate his first meal in the garret, and Tessibel and Orn Skinner ate theirs at the table, but the conversation of the father and daugh- ter intermingled now and then with a soft statement or a question from above, and there was happiness in the Skinner hut. As soon as they finished supper, Tess went to the foot of the ladder and called softly. "I air goin' to tell ye somethin', Andy, — ^ye listenin'?" "Yep, brat. Sure, I air listenin'." "I air a goin' somewheres to find out somethin'," an- nounced the girl mysteriously. "Mebbe when I get back I'll tell ye what ye'll like to hear Ye'U stay hid, won't ye.'"' ''Sure so," agreed Andy. After bending to kiss her father affectionately, the girl said to him, "Now, Daddy, I air goin' out a little while, an' you two be awful careful how loud ye talk Some- body might hear ye!" And for a short moment after the girl had gone there was silence in the shack. Then a prolonged sigh drifted from the garret. "My God, Orn, but she air a fine young thing fer yei to be fatherin', huh.? Ain't she?" Andy's voice, though but little more than a whisper, expressed his wonder and admiration. "God's best," muttered Orn, and once more they lapsed into the companionable silence of good friends. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER in Tessibel Meets Waldsteickeb The shanty door closed behind Tessibel, and her hand still on the knob, she hesitated a moment before 'starting for Mother Moll's. The girl had kept her f promise of the year before, for every week she had caught and cleaned a mess of fish and carried them up the ravine to the woman's shanty. But today, Tess wanted to consult the seeress about Andy. She believed implicitly in the fortune-pot. Hadn't the old, old hag told her, long ago, when Daddy Skinner was in prison, that the state couldn't hurt him, and other things, too? Turning into the lane up the hill, she met Sandy Letts carrying his drag and a great coil of rope. "Hello, kid," he greeted her. "How air yer Daddy ?" He eased his load to the ground and straightened up, slowly stretched his mighty arms, and shrugged the stiffness out of his powerful shoulders. Sandy and his burden filled most of the path. Tess, desiring to avoid contact with him, stopped a few paces away. "Daddy ain't so well these days, Sandy," she an- swered. "His heart hurts 'im." "Ain't that too bad?" the man sympathized. "But, then, brat, yer daddy ain't so young as he were once. Reckon he air not long fer this world. When yer ]Daddy croaks, what'U you do, Tess? Ye'U need a home. Ye ought to be gettin' a man." The squatter'd stepped forward directly in front of her while he was urging his suit. "My daddy ain't old an' he ain't goln' to die, uther," flared Tess, an angry light in her brown eyes. Oh, how she loathed and hated this fellow who blocked her way ! "You shan't say such things about my daddy ! I don't want any man but 'im." Noting his unshaven cheeks, loose hanging lips, the lips and his large irregular teeth discolored with tobacco, the girl drew back with a Digitized bylmcrosoft® 26 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY! gesture of instinctive repulsion. "I wouldn't take you anyway." Instead of answering her, the squatter placed his great hands upon her shoulders, and holding her thus at arm's length, looked down at her. Her straight young figure, glowing face, and :flaming eyes Under the ruddy aureole of her hair made a picture of grace, beauty and passion that would have fasciaated a more' fastidious observer than Sandy Letts. "God, girl, but ye air a beauty!" he cried, enrap- tured. Tessibel's struggles to get away from the grip of the heavy hands aroused the evil passions of the man's na- ture into insistent activity. "Here, brat, give yer man a kiss," he commanded, and at the words, his hands slipped from her shoulders, and his strong arms began to close around her body. His face was so close she had to force her hand in between his lips and hers. Then she made a desperate strug- gle. Rearing the red head backward, she succeeded only in freeing herself partially. "You let m^ go, you Sandy !" she cried out sharply. "I'll tell my Daddy on you. Let me go !" Then she went at him, kicking his shins with her feet, poking him with her knees, and gouging his eyes and digging his face with her nails. As' well might Sandy try to make love to a cornered wildcat. He threw her from him, and Tess, springing up, uninjured, raced up the hill. Sandy's words, broken"*by fierce oaths, over- took her, "You just wait! I'll tame ye yet, ye devilish brat, « ye !" ' At the top of the lane, Tess stopped to get breath. The familiar sounds of the early summer evening as.- sailed her ears. The narrow lake shone in the clear j light of the dying day like a broad strip of silver set in i the bosom of the hills. Her eyes rejoiced in its calm beauty, and a feeling of peace and security grew in her thought. Tess was about to cross the ravine when a step be- hind her caused her to turn. Ebenezer Waldstricker, riding whip in haj^^^tj^fii^fffig^^^gf^owavd her. At his TESSIBEL MEETS WALDSTRICKER 27 unexpected appearance, the blood fled from her face, leaving her quite pale and trembling. This was the man who was seeking Andy Bishop as at one time Dom- inie Graves had sought her father. How lordly he seemed, looking down upon her unsmilingly from his great height. Arrogantly he surveyed her from head to foot. "You're the little church singer, aren't you.^" he questioned after a while. Tess noticed with fascination that one corner of his mouth curled up as if smiling, while the other was rigid- ly drawn down. She'd never seen an expression just like that before. "Yep," she murmured, dropping her lids. "Where are you going?" asked the man, tersely. Tess glanced about. She wanted to turn and run, anywhere to escape from the brilliant dark eyes and the unmatched lips. "I were goin' to see Mother Moll," she stammered, slowly. "She lives over there in the gully." She hesi- tated, pointing to Moll's shack. "Sometimes she reads out of the fortune-pot fer me." Waldstricker glanced first at the little hut, then back at Tess. "You don't mean you have faith in witchcraft?" he ejaculated, incredulously. "Why, girl, that's positive- ly against the Bible commandments." "Air it? Well I swan!" She nodded her head as though digesting a new idea. "Anyway, Mother Moll always tells me the truth. She can see things comin' years and years." . Waldstricker contemplated the grave young face for (an instant, noting involuntarily the abundance and 'beauty of the wind-blown hair. He turned about on J the path. J "I shall go with you," he said. Her desire to forbid the proposed visit, struggling with her awe of the powerful man at her side, confused her. She couldn't think clearly. She twisted her fin- gers into her red curls. "I'd ruther ye wouldn't," she explained. "Ma Moll hates strangers worser'n she does the old nick !" ^ ° Digitized -by Microsoft® 28 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY Waldstricfeer ignored the girl's speech except that the frown deepened on his brow. "Nevertheless I'm going," he returned, sternly. "I can't realize that God-fearing men and women have such iniquity among them. Come on ; I'U go with you !" Tess would gladly have deferred her visit until an- other day, and returned home, but she feared he'd fol- low her there. Here was a man of whom she was hearti- ly afraid, and as she dared not defy him, she obediently walked across the gully bridge, and hurried along the path. Then she paused, looting at Mother Moll's shack, snuggled in a jut in the ravine. It was quite close now. Tess knew the witch was at home, for a thin line oi\ smoke drifted zig-zag from the toppling chimney. She looked back and found Waldstricker eyeing herl She noted both corners of his lips were down .now. "I came from Ithaca purposely to see you and your father," said he. Tess was so startled she took two sudden steps back- ward. "My daddy ain't very well !" she exclaimed, nervously. "He don't like strange folks comin' around. Daddy don't." Waldstricker shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "However, I must see him," he responded. Tessibel felt a surging anger against this man. He had the same imperious bearing she remembered in Dominie Graves. "What fer? What d'ye want to see Daddy fer.'" Her voice was compelling. "About a matter that may make him a lot of money," jthe man explained, pompously. "When may I come?" She considered a moment before replying. This put a different face on the matter. "Could ye come tomorrow?" she demanded finally. "Yes, at two, then. TeU your father, please." "All right," muttered Tess. Waldstricker's whip cut a cluster of wild flowers and nipped clean the stems of their upraised heads. "Oh!" cried Tess, sharply, hurt to the quick. As if reading her thoughts, he retorted. Digitized by Microsoft® TESSIBEL MEETS WALDSTRICKER 29 "A flower hasn't a soul, so what does it matter?" Tess turned tear-dimmed eyes from him to Mother Moll's shack. Shocked at his brutality, his arrogant cruelty to the flowers she cherished so tenderly left her dumb. That his statement was false, she knew. To her the flowers expressed Love's sweetness and beauty, but she couldn't explain her faith to this haughty, dic-< tatorial millionaire at her side. She was aU of a tremble as she mounted the narrow shanty steps. An aged voice croaked, "Come in," in response to her knock. Before pulling the latch string, Tessibel paused and said to Waldstricker, "Wait a minute ! I'U go first, an' tell Mother Moll you're here." She crossed the threshold and saw the old woman swaying to and fro in a wooden rocker. "It air Tessibel, Mother MoU," she said gently. "I want to see what's in the pot." Mother Moll smiled a withered, joyous smile. "Come in, my pretty," she clacked. "Yer Moll's allers glad to see yer shinin' eyes. Come in, my love." Tess advanced into the kitchen. "That duffer Waldstricker's come along with me," she told her in a low tone. The old woman struggled to her feet with the aid of her cane. Her watery eyes glared at the tall man in the doorway, and he as angruy stared back at her. The woman hobbled two steps forward. "If ye've come for me to tell ye somethin', it won't ,be nothin' very pleasant," she growled at him. "Git me the pot, brat, dear !" Tessibel went to the grate and lifted the iron kettle from the fire. It was steaming hot, and she brought it over, placing it at the woman's feet. "Set down," the hag commanded Waldstricker. "I'll teil ye what's doin' in the pot, an' then git out ! I hate ye!" Waldstricker, with the peculiar down twist of his mouth, glanced darkly at Tessibel, but the girl's unre- sponsive, serious face turned his attention again to the ^•jl(.}j^ Digitized by Microsoft® m SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY ll^ ■'You're a wicked old woman," he said grimly. "The county should care for such as you." But Mother Moll did not catch his words. She was crooning over the pot inarticulately. The seams in the skin around her eyes netted together, almost closing the flaming red lids. Through the narrow slits she was following the steam as it rose and disappeared in the air. Then slowly her finger began to trace shadow i outlines in and about the pot. "Mister, I see ye crowin' like a barnyard cock," she croaked, "and ye think ye're awful smart and awful rich. An' so ye be, but some day — " She stopped, sank back, then looked again into the steaming kettle. "I see a wee leetle man like this — " She raised the cane beside her, and Waldstricker, startled, leaned nearer the ragged grey head. "I see ye huntin' the leetle man — like a dog hunts a rat." "Yes, yes !" from Waldstricker, "and what else, wo- man?" Lowering her stick again to the floor. Mother MoU rested her weight upon its crooked handle and for a' time muttered over the pot with raven hoarseness. "Ye think ye're smart, but ye ain't as smart as ye think ye air. The leetle man sets on yer head — " The hag paused, cracked forth a gurgling scream, then proceeded. "He sets on yer head and lays on yer heart, an' with all yer money, ye can't find 'im." "I will !" gritted Waldstricker through his teeth, now, in spite of himself, intensely interested in the old wo- man's revelations. "Ye won't," rapped out the seeress. "Not till it air| too late. I see — ^I see — " Lifting one hand, the bonyf old finger made rapid gyrations above the pot. ^ "What do you see?" burst forth the man impa- tiently, "Hair," cried Mother Moll, swaying nearer him, "hair stranglin' yer throat till ye can't speak, curls weavin' round yer neck like a hangman's rope." Waldstricker glanced backward at the squatter girl. She stood in rigid silence, listening intently. Her hair, copper-colored in the light from the window at her side, framed in its shinii^/aaiitisMfcffai^Brapt and absorbed. TESSIBEL MEETS WALDSTRICKER 31 Waldstricker leaned forward again, the better to see the rising steam wraiths. "I see all ye love best sufferin'." Letting the cane fall clattering to the floor, Mother Moll continued, doubled-fists outstretched to the man before her. "I see the shadow of shame gathering about ye, I see a girl — a little girl — ^yer sister — holdin' out her hands pleadin' to some other man — " Again the aged voice "trailed into that chattering laugh. "An' I air seein' somethin' else." The old woman rubbed the palms of her horny hands together and pitched forward on her toes. She lifted her shaking, wizened face and thrust it so near the man that he drew back with a rough ej ac- ulation. Then smiling a wide, toothless smile, she laid her finger on her lips. Drawing it away again, she mumbled. "Hair stranglin' 'em both, same as you, long curls like snakes stranglin' all of ye. God! what hair!" Waldstrickler, with flashing eyes, suddenly got to his feet. "Come out of here," he ordered Tess, roughly. "That hateful hag! The hateful wicked old woman!" A wild, exultant yell left Mother Moll's lips. "Yep, get out o' here !" she shrieked. "Get out quick, both of ye! Yer lives'U twine like this, an' this, an' this." Tensely she locked together her bony fingers. *'An' hair'll strangle ye, wretched man, an' may ye never breathe a fine breath after it touches yer proud throat !" Moved by a kind of superstitious horror of the prophecies of the old witch, Waldstricker pushed her roughly aside, seized Tess by the arm and dragged her out of the house. On the path he let her go and stood transfixed, as though the length and abundance of the red curls, falling in disordered confusion to her hips, fascinated him. Then he lifted his great shoulders, and a tense breath slipped through his teeth. "What an awful old woman !" he flung out disgusted. "If there's any power in law or money, I'll root her out of that shanty as I will the rest of her tribe." Tess was thoroughly frightened. His ruthless rough- ness hurt her and his threats against Mother Moll and the squatters terE^dbd%iM/cr^«8ild he try and root g3 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY Daddy Skinner and herself from their shanty? No, he couldn't ! He couldn't ! Neither would his long, power- ful hands place their grip upon the life of the dwarf. Mother Moll had said so, and she believed — oh, how she believed it ! Waldstricker started to speak again, but unable to , bear longer the cruel corner-curl of his lips, Tess of thcj Storm Country turned and fled swift-footed away to- ward the lake. The man watched the flying figure bounding along toward the span of blue water. Then with another flip of his whip, which struck the heads from the flower stems, he wheeled about and walked Rwif tly up the hill. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER IV Tess and Feedeeick Tessibel left Waldstricker with but one idea buzzing in her active brain; to reach Daddy Skinner — to tell him all that had just happened. She fled around the mud cellar and opened the door with swift-coming breath. When she entered the kitchen, her father was seated on her cot. He raised his eyes and greeted her. "Daddy," panted the girl, closing the door, "I jest seen Waldstricker an' he air a comin' down here tomor- row. I don't know what he wants, but Andy mustn't come out of the garret, not fer anythin'. An', Daddy !" She paused with a sudden sob, "He says he air a goin' to root Mother Moll off'n her place. But don't let 'im turn us out of our shanty, will ye. Daddy?" "Nope," answered Skinner, grimly. "I ain't held it all these years to let it go now fer a duffer like him." "An', Daddy dear," blurted Tess, "Mother Moll told old Waldstricker's fortune out of the pot, an' she says as how he ain't never goin' to git Andy back to Auburn till it air too late, even if he uses up all the money he air got. What d'ye think o' that?" A little groan came from the garret. It no sooner fell on Tessibel's ears than she scurried, nimble-footed, up the ladder. Poking her head through the hole- in the ceiling, she peered around. It was very dark, and even straining her eyes, she could see nothing. "Andy !" she whispered. "Andy, dear !" "I air here, kid," murmured the dwarf from a dark corner. "Don't be worrin'," encouraged Tess, softly. "I air begun to love ye, Andy, an' you bet nobody durst touch ye. Whatever ye hear, be mum. Daddy and me'U take care of ye, an' God will too." Later she left the shanty in deep thought, and by the time she had wended her way to the ragged rocks to Digitized by'mTcrosoft® 34 SECRET OF THE STORM COUJNTRX meet Frederick Graves, she had uttered many tense little prayers for the suffering dwarf in her attic. These rocks VftTe a bower of delight to the sentimental , girl. It was here in the gloom that in every expression of nature Tess heard Frederick' t; voice ; his clear tones came swiftly on the wings of the wind, in the sonorous ' clap of the chimes as they spread their chant over the lake. She was now seated on a broad, grey rock-slab, bend- ing slightly forward, listening for her lover's step. "Frederick!" she breathed in delight as a tall form loomed from the shadowy path. In another moment she felt herself gathered into strong arms, and for a while the boy and giil were silent in their mutual happiness. The lake-side was quiet I except for the sound of the tumbling '.,'aves and the in- termittent rumble of a train on the tracks above. Now and then, far back in the forest, an owl whoo- whooed in croaking tones, and in a nearby tree a family of baby birds twittered continuously in their sleep. All the daisies in the meadows, all ^he nodding butter- cups in the fields, seemed to be blossoming in Tessibel's heart at one time. She was in Frederick's arms, and the wjiole world could offer her nothing more. "Tessibel, my little love," began Frederick, between caresses, "you remember what I begged you to consent to early in the spring?" Tess made a movement to sit up. "Ye mean — .'"' she stammered, confused. Frederick drew her close. , "I want you to marry me right away," he murmured, ' entreatingly. The words were whispered in passionate sighing out of the darkness into her ear. Tess drew back a little. I "Right away?" she repeated, gulping. "What do ye mean by right away, darlin'? . . . Now?" Again strong arms evidenced strong affection, "Yes — ^now," answered Frederick, earnestly. "You must ! You must ! . . . I can't be happy unless you do— Oh, Tessibel ! Won't you, Tess ?" Never had anything thrilled her as his halting insist- ence. Digitized by Microsoft® TESS AND FREDERICK 35 "An' Daddy Skinner — air he to know?" she stam- mered, chokingly. "No, no!" "An' — ^yer mother?" "Well, not — ^not quite yet, dear." Two slender hands covered a scarlet face, and tears trickled between tense fingers. "Then I can't!" Tess caught her breath in a sob. *'I jest can't ! Oh, why couldirt Daddy know — an' yer mother, too?" Frederick strained her against his breast. "Because they can't — ^not yet," he whispered. "Not a soul must know. Just you and I, darling. It'll be all right, dear, and I need you more and more — every The deepening tones in his voice frightened, while they thrilled her. She pressed him back to look into his eyes, but even through the growing gloom she could see the blue-veined lids were closed. "Frederick," she murtnured, drawing her face back- ward. "Frederick, let me tell ye somethin'. Every- body had ought to know when a girl gets married. Oh, they ought to know;, so they ought. Daddy Skinner an' yer mother, too." Then of a sudden she was attacked by a strange tug- ging in her own heart. She tried to free herself from his arms, but her resistance only made him the more determined to bend her to his wish. She had always been submissive, and he'd worshiped her for her wo- manly acquiescence to his will. Trembling fingers forced her face upward and hot lips sought and found hers. She shivered under the strong masculine, /pressure. "Now listen to me, my love," he continued between fierce kisses. "Come with me tomorrow night, and we'll get married and — and — " Tess was trying heroically to hold to the principle she knew was right, even though her heart directed otherwise. "Not less'n I tell Daddy," she breathed back. Her low denial served only to lock Frederick's arms more tightly aroug^-^ej.^^ ^.^^^^^^ 36 SECRET OFTTHE STORM COUNTRY, "You've got to come and you mustn't tell him, either," he urged. "You mustn't !" - . Succeeding at last in releasing herself, Tessibel sighed. She wanted to be firm with him, to impress lovingly upon him her reason for refusing him; but when he reached forth and folded her again in his arms, that fine firmness gave way. She burst into wild weep- ing, holding him close as he held her, trying through 'broken sobs to tell him what was burdening her heart. "It air like this, dear," she wailed, dismally. "Oh, I want to marry ye more'n anything, but I've never de- ceived Daddy a bit in all my life. I never done nothin' less'n I told 'im, and. Oh, I want to teU him, Frederick ! I do want to tell 'im !" Frederick hadn't anticipated this resistance on Tes- sibel's part. "Tess," he said, almost angrily, "I wouldn't ask you to do anything wrong." Then softening, he pleaded accusingly, "You don't love me well enough to be iny T/ife." "It'd be wicked," whispered Tess, falteringly. "It would be right!" cried Frederick, in quick con- tradiction. "Tess, you wiU, you will!" The red curls shook slowly a mute negation. "I don't believe you love me at all," groaned Fred- erick. Then. taking a long breath, "You want rne to be unhappy, I know you do." She lay limply in his arms whUe through the sensitive, honest mind raced all the objections against his desire. There were his powerful friends — ^his coUege — ^his — "Yer mother — don't want ye to marry me," she cried,' suffering. (' "I know it," returned Frederick, promptly. "StUl a man can't always plea,se his mother. Why, darling, what kind of a world would this be if mothers picked out their sons' wives? A poor place! I can tell you." "But yer mother air awful good and loves ye just like Daddy loves me," argued Tessibel, "an' when ye don't do right, everything goes wrong. If Daddy Skin- ner ain't to know — " "No? anybody else," cut in the boy, growing moody Digitized by Microsoft® TESS AND FREDERICK 37 after his sharp retort. "I won't have any one know about it. Tessibel, I want this more than anything else in the world. I love you — ^I love you, and you love me. Then why not? You do love me, don't you?" "That air why — ^I do what — ^ye want me to, I s'pose." And as the halting words fell from her lips, the stu- dent crushed her to him. ( "I want you, dear," he breathed warm in her ear, "and it won't have to be a secret over a year, not much over a year, darling, and I'll ^I'll Oh ! You will, Tessibel? You will?" "Frederick!" she acquiesced, weakly. "Oh, Fred- erick darlin' !" And for some time after her sudden consent, they sat on the rocks close in spirit — close in thrilling nearness. Perhaps twenty minutes later, Tess drew from the boy's arms. "Daddy air callin' me," she said, softly. And she went back to the shanty with the words, "I'm goin' to be married tomorrow," ringing in her heart. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER V A Gossip With "Satisfied" The next day, directly after the midday meal, Tes- sibel went to see Mrs. Longman, whose triple tragedy had made the woman an invalid, with broken nerves and useless hands. Every few days since the drown- ing of Myra Longman and Ben Letts and the baby, the squatter girl had carried to the sick woman some little offering to gladden her lonely existence. As Tess walked along the rocks, the image of Frederick Graves Sersistently pervaded her thoughts. Before the going own of another sun he would be her husband. Of course, just now she couldn't leave Daddy Skinner and Andy Bishop, but by the time Frederick had a home ready, Andy would be free from the charge of murder, and Daddy would live with them. Tess never paused on the rocks between her home and the Longman shanty that she did not think of Myra, and thinking of Myra brought the vision of Teola Graves. A lonely little heart twist followed for the dead baby who had been born in her hut. This day she did not hesitate as long as usual. She must return ;fl[uickly to Daddy Skinner and help keep guard over ;Andy Bishop. Waldstricker was coming at two o'clock ! Rounding the lake point, on which stood the hut of her squatter friends, she spied "Satisfied" seated on the bench near the doorway. Tess waved her hand, and th« old fisherman signaled in return. "Ma thought ye'd be comin' soon, brat," was Long- man's greeting. "I air brung her some salt-risin' bread," Tess an- nounced, sitting down beside the fisherman. Longman moved his pipe to one corner of his mouth. "It air good o' ye, Tess," he thanked her, puiSng. "Me an' ma air lonesome — me an' ma air." Tessibel touched him with affectionate assurance. 38 Digitized by Microsoft® A GOSSIP WITH "SATISFIED" 39 "I love ye, an' Mammy Longman, too," she smiled. "I air glad to bring somethin' when I can." For a few moments they sat quietly, the man smoking his pipe. Then he slowly knocked the ashes from its bowl, giving it a final rap in the hoUow of his hand. "Every day me an' ma miss Myry an' Ezry more," said he, stolidly. "Us uns just plumb lately made up, our minds both them kids was too good to live, but us'; uns'd be awful satisfied to know if they air happy." ^ Tessibel brightened. She flashed a radiant; smile at the sad-faced man. "Sure, they be happy !" she ejaculated. "Everybody air happy in Heaven ; Ben Letts air a singin' 'round the throne jest the same's the rest of 'em air." In open disbelief Longman slowly shook his head. "Myry never could sing — Myry couldn't," he an- swered, moodily, and his voice sank on the last two words. Tess knew that, too, for she had heard the young mother try many times to quiet the brat with the uneven, discordant tones of her voice; but she knew, too, the great difference between Heaven and earth. She gazed out over the lake dreamily. "But ye see, 'Satisfied' darlin' — " she began. "An' once, when Ben were soused," interrupted Long- man, hoarsely, "I heard 'im singin', 'Did ye ever go into an Irishman's shanty?' It were more like a frog croakin' than a man singin'." "But folks don't never get soused in Heaven," Tes- sibel imparted, reverently, "an' they got a mess o' angels up there — " She looked upward, a solemn expression on her young face — "angels what Jesus keeps jest to learn folks how to sing. The brat's singin' too, as much as a little kid can, 'Satisfied'." She edged a little nearer and slipped an arm around the fisherman's shoulders. "It air just like this, honey, down here there air such a lot of work jest to get fish an' beans. Up in Heaven they don't do nothin' but dance arovmd the throne an' sing all day. So everybody's got to learn how or he wouldn't have nothin' to do." "WeU, I swan !" ^sitealeiebeii/5f&»*fefied," smiling wryly. 40 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "Will je tell ma about it like ye did me, Tessie? Ma air been worryin' fearin' Myry weren't comf'table." Tess bobbed her curly head. "I'll tell 'er in a minute," she assured him; "but, 'Satisfied,' I were a goin' to ask ye somethin'." Longman nodded. "An' I were goin' to ask you somethin' too, brat," he said. "How air the singin' ^oin' in church.?" Tessibel sparkled like the morning dew. "Oh, it air goin' fine, 'Satisfied.' I love it more'n more. Miss Young helps me with my songs an' she's learnin' me to sew, too. Why, I git my five dollars every Sunday jest as reg'lar as Sunday comes. I ain't never kn^w how far a fiver could go afore. We won't be needin' nothin' this winter. Daddy and me won't, dear." She gave a delicious giggle to which Longman added a chuckle. "That air good, brat," he replied. "There ain't nothin' like home comfort in this world." "An' ye see, 'Satisfied,' I ain't lettin' my Daddy fish much now, only 'nough fer us an' fer Professor Young an' Ma Moll. ... Daddy ain't very well." "He air geltin' old," sighed Longman, taking up his pipe. "No, he ain't," contradicted Tessibel, quickly. "He air got somethin' the matter with 'is heart. Mr. Young had a doctor fer him, an' he says he mustn't work. Now I got my singin' he don't have to. . . . Why, 'Satis- fied,' I air savin' 'nough raoney to get a new bed an* a overcoat for Daddy. A bran new overcoat, too! Nothin' second-hand, ye bet ! He ain't goin' to git no cold this winter, bless 'im !" Longman allowed one of his thin arms to fall around the straight young figure. "That air nice, Tessie," he returned admiringly. "Ye be a pert brat, you be !" Tess paused a moment or two. " 'Satisfied,' " she hesitated, going back mentally to her former unspoken query, "do ye know the Wald- strickers.'"' V Longman nodde^^.^^^^ ^^ ^.^^^^^^ A GOSSIP WITH "SATISFIED" 41 "I knowed the old man who was murdered — ^young Eb's father. Made some stir in town when he got shot!" "Eb's been home quite a while now," observed Tess thoughtfully. Longman's head and shoulders moved several times in affirmation. "So ma read out'n the paper," he then said, "an' Bishop's lit out from the coop, too, ain't he? . . . Funny how he done it! . . . Bigger men'n him stay there all their days. . . . They'll find 'im, though, them prison folks wiU, poor little duffer!" Tess caught the sympathy in the squatter's voice. "I air hopin' they don't," she sighed quickly. An inquisitive, almost furtive expression shot into the fisherman's face. "When ye goin' to git married, Tess?" he hesitated. Tessibel shook her red curls, flushing. "Oh, I ain't knowin' jest the time yet," she parried. "Ye know, 'Satisfied,'—" "Don't ye ever see much of the student nowadays, eh?" the squatter cut in. Because of its sudden palpitation, Tess laid her hand over her heart. Oh, if she could only tell her old friend that that very night she'd belong to Fred- erick forever! Passion leapt alive into her eyes, and her cheeks flushed. "I air a lovin' him, 'Satisfied,' " she murmured. Longman made a nervous movement with one hand and shook his head. "Tess, I been goin' to tell ye somethin' fer a long time," he stammered, almost inaudibly. "Ye won't ^it miffed with a old friend, will ye?" "Sure not, 'Satisfied'," asserted Tess, gently. "It air 'bout Student Graves," explained Longman, A glint of gold flashed from under her lowered lids and a slow, deep scarlet ran in waves upward from her, chin. "What 'bout the student?" she demanded, dropping again to the bench and placing the basket at her feet. The squatter looked down. It was hard to say what he must with the^gffiBJg4aMfefSSb«©nfidently questioning. 42 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "He air a goin' round with a nuther girl," he barked presently. "I been hearin' an' so air ma — " Tessibel rose, startled, and once more took up the basket. Some gossiping tongue had been reviling her dear one. "It air a big lie, 'Satisfied'," she uttered breath- lessly. "I don't want to hear nothin' against 'im uther. What tongue told ye that only wanted to- make ye feel sad fer me." She paused, then turned, but whirled back. "When ye love a person an' love 'im hard, lies told about 'im don't set well. Ye know they don't, Daddy Longman." "Sure, I know it," replied the squatter, in quick- spoken sympathy. "Only ma and me thought" as how ye ought to know the things we heard." Tess was standing rigid, gazing stormily defiant into the weather-beaten old face. Wasn't she going to be married to the student that night! And how many, many times Frederick had told her he loved but her; that no other woman could ever take her place! "I ain't goin' to believe it, if the hull hellish world tells me so," she flashed forth tempestuously. "Now I air goin' to give the bread to Mammy Longman, 'Satisfied'." Longman stayed her with a word. "Ye ain't mad at me, brat, be je?" Tess stretched forth impetuous fingers. "Nope, only I love the student, that air all! An', 'Satisfied,' I air a cussed brat to be swearin' when Fred- erick says as how it air wicked. I keep forgettin' when I git mad." The squatter sighed, making a quick shake of his , head and several weird clicks with his tongue. Mood- ily he watched the bounding youthful figure until it disappeared through the shanty doorway. Fully ten minutes passed before Tess reappeared. "Ma were satisfied with the bread, eh, brat?" asked Longman, in a cuddling tone. "Ain't she likin' it, honey?" Tessibel choked suddenly. . There was something in the quavering tone§'?i5Flli^<$fS'^ffSfifrman, of the lonely. A GOSSIP WITH "SATISFIED" 43 bereaved old man, that saddened her loving heart. She went to him and touched him impulsively. "Yep, she liked it, 'Satisfied'," she murmured, "an' I told 'er all about the singin' in Heaven. She hadn't thought Ben Letts might be there with Myry an' the brat. . . . Most folks ain't knowin' how awful long .the forgivin' arm of Jesus air." ^ And kissing the old squatter once more, Tessibel started homeward. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER VI Waldsteickek Makes a Pkoposal While Tess was making her call at Longman's, Helen Young was entertaining her fiance, Ebenezer Waldstricker. "I shall never be satisfied until Bishop is back in Auburn, Helen," said he, snipping the end from a long cigar. The girl held up her needle and deftly shot the thread through the eye of it. "He's sure to be, dear," she soothed. "Here's De- f orrest !" She hesitated, laid down her work and stood up. Professor Young shook hands with Waldstricker as his sister went to his side smilingly. "Ebenezer wants me to go down to Skinner's with him," she explained. "Won't you come along, too, Forrie.?" The lawyer threw an interrogative glance at the churchman. "Certainly," he answered. "Why? Anything par- ticular?" The question was asked of Waldstricker, who lifted his shoulder with a long breath. .^ "Yes," he replied. "I've a little plan to get hold of Bishop! I'm certain sooner or later he'll land back here among his own people. If I can whet their appe-i tites with money, they'll turn him over the moment he appears." "No doubt," observed Young. "But the Skinners—! What have the Skinners to do with him?" Waldstricker thought a moment, inhaling the smoke the while. "The girl, Tessibel, who sings at church might be of great assistance to me," he said presently. "How?" interjected Def orrest. Digitized byiJlJlicrosoft® WALDSTRICKER MAKES A PROPOSAL iS. "Why, she goes among the squatters daily and would be likely to know if Bishop sneaked into any of their huts. If I can interest her in the reward — ^I've an idea she'll be of service to me." "Perhaps," responded Young, in a meditative man- ner. Waldstrlcker looked at Helen smilingly. "I think I started to give you an account of what happened yesterday," he said. "Did I teU you I came to see you, dear?" I Helen sat down and resumed her work. "Yes, Ebenezer, but I was out!" she smilingly nod- ded. "I'm so sorry. If I'd known, I wouldn't have gone to town !" "It didn't matter at all." Then he laughed, color- ing a little. "Of course, I always hate missing you." A loving look passed between the two, and Wald- stricker proceeded, "But as long as I was here, I thought I'd speak to Skinner. On the way down the hill I met his daughter coming up. Rather startling personality, that girl! But she's woefully ignorant!" "She hasn't had much chance, poor little thing," ex- cused Helen. "She really has a beautiful voice, though." "So I've noticed on Sundays." "And she studies every minute," Professor Young thrust in, "and is so eager to learn; she's advanced amazingly !" He laughed in a reminiscent manner. i "One day," he proceeded, much amused, "she ran up the hill after me. I didn't notice her until she was at my side, all out of breath. 'Well, some little girl's been running,' I said." "I want to learn things," she panted. "Then I asked, 'What things."" and she answered, *0h, all about readin' and writin' and the things big rich folks know. If I had books, I'd learn 'em too.'' . . . Naturally I bought the books." "Naturally," laughed Waldstricker. "Well, I stopped to ask where she was going and if her father was at home. Then she told me that she was on her way to a seeress. Mother Moll, she called her, wasn't it.?" Digitized by Microsoft® ^6 SECRET OF THE STORM COUJNTKl "Yes," assented Young, nodding his head. "The old woman lives on the north side of the gully." Waldstricker bent forward and pursued. "I went into the hut with the girl." He stopped and his lip took an upward curve. "The old hag tells fortunes from a pot, a steaming pot full of boiling water, I think." Here he turned suddenly on Deforrest. "That's got ' to stop, Young. It's against the Bible, prophesying and the like." "She's really a harmless old thing, though," replied the lawyer sententiously, "and every squatter on Ca- yuga Lake loves her. Believe me, Eb, she's absolutely harmless." "Not harmless if she's disobeying God's law," con- tradicted Waldstricker, seriously. "Isn't there some way by which she can be turned out of the shack?" Deforrest shook his head. "Not that I know of as long as she holds her squatter rights. Her people take care of her, and she tells their fortunes to pay for food." He broke off the explanation, only to take it up again, "No, there isn't any way to oust her. Fred- erick Graves' father tried to get the Skinners off, but failed." "Oh, I didn't know," observed Waldstricker. "I must have been away at the time." He drew out his watch and looked at it. "Shall we go on down, Helen? It's a little early. I told the girl I'd come at two, but a half an hour doesn't matter. ... I can't rest until I get hold of that dwarf." During the interval in which Helen went for her gar- den hat, Waldstricker said to Deforrest, "I may need you. Young, in this Bishop case. I'm privileged to call upon you, of course?" "I'll do anything I can, Ebenezer," agreed Young. So it happened that when Tess rounded the mud cellar, she glanced up the hill and saw the three making their way leisurely toward the lake. She gave one bound and literally hurled herself through the shanty door into the kitchen. "Walderstricker air comin!" she hissed through her. Digitized by Microsoft® WAJL13STRICKER MAKES A PROPOSAL 47j teeth in quivering excitement. "Scoot under the tick, Andy! An', Daddy, get on my cot, an' don't say no word less'n they ask ye something face to face. . . . Let me do the talkin'." She had no more than settled her father on the cot' and heard the last of the dwarf's burrowing in the attic when a long shadow fell across the threshold. Stepping •forward, she met Deforrest Young, who held out his hand to her. She greeted her friend with a dubious smile, and tak- ing his hand, bowed awkwardly to his sister. In her confusion she ignored Waldstricker entirely. Their presence in the squatter's hut was so portentous and the time for the preparations to receive them so short, Tessibel's wits almost deserted her. "Come in, all of ye," she stammered, at last, and stepped backward across the uneven kitchen floor to- ward the cot at the further side of the room. Then she placed chairs for them, and when all were seated, settled herself on the floor near Daddy Skinner, and shaking her curls back from her face, looked with grave brown eyes from one to the other of the ominous group. "I'm very glad to see you, Tessibel," said Helen graciously. "I air awful glad to see you, too, Ma'am," returned Tess, stUl embarrassed. Miss Young smiled toward Ebenezer, then back at the girl. "You remember Mr. Waldstricker, don't you, Tess, ,dear?" Tessibel allowed her gaze to rest on the elder. Of course she remembered him. What did he desire of Daddy Skinner!* That was all she wanted to know. "Yep," she answered, more calmly. "I remember 'im, sure I do ! He — " Waldstricker interrupted her with a quick interroga- tion. "We had a little meeting yesterday, didn't we, Miss Tessibel? You didn't wait for me to tell you what I wanted." He delivered this most affably, and Tess counted him very handsome, indeed, when both corners Digitized by Microsoft® 48 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY of his mouth went up, but she knew that other trick of those lips. Not knowing how to explain her flight, she kept silent. Deforrest noted the shadow that clouded the lovely face and ascribed it to embarrass- ment. Thinking to put her at her ease, he asked, "Have you been studying today, my dear.?" "Well I guess I have !" The girl sent him a radiant^ grateful smile. "I studies every day, an' air learnin'' my Daddy a lot of things now, ain't I, Daddy.?" She looked backward at the man on the cot as she asked the last question. "Yep," affirmed Skinner, faintly. "Daddy air sick," she explained. "You'll be excusin' 'im if he don't talk. I'U do aU the gabbin' if ye don't mind." Tessibel had regained her self-control. She knew that Waldstricker's presence meant danger to her loved ones. Daddy and Andy Bishop. In their defense, eager to hinder him, her quick thought sought his purpose in coming to the shack. Could it be about Mother Moll, she wondered. She would ask him. Looking up at Waldstricker, she addressed him timidly, "I hope, sir, ye ain't mad at Mother Moll any more ?"" Waldstricker, intent upon his idea of interesting her in the search for his father's murderer, waived her ques- tion aside. He would attend to the witch and her fan- tastic mummeries later. "Never mind the old woman now," he began pom- pously. "I came here today on purpose ot see you about another matter." Why, yesterday he had said he wanted to talk t» Daddy ; now today he wanted to speak to her. She sat ' up a little straighter, each shoulder carrying its load of red curls, the ends of which lay in a bronze tangle. "I'd do anything I could," she answered shyly, a- lovely red dyeing her face. "I knew you would! Mr. Young has told me how anxious you are to learn and to improve your condi- tion. . . . Isn't that so.?" Tess nodded, looking from the speaker to Deforrest,, who threw her his ever-ready smile. Her gaze returned to the churchman a^Azhtb^aaiissiad, ^?n . > m -: \ C*- -^';;-^-._. "' ^ /-^ ^^^ I m ^^^ ^^,. J pr^ jMMM. ■llfe».^'^^^^. ' ' ,:> ;■ »-- •^il ^^ ^ ■':¥* %^^^^S3ti(^i iiK , .. — ' / V} m iSn^Sn^^^^^^^^^^^HI^^^^^^^ m^ ^ i^;*^- |fe^^' ^-r-:^^^^s SBmHHKszi. '.j ' ■ ' = 'f BP»P^* :;; ^:,„ ' y'/^:msm^ WiMfpr0) ff®< ^ ■ -■--v;i«jfc:is*i',-n ■/;:-^ ■■;■ „,:;!i-*<«««»^''T:/;'^<(r'- '? ^ ;■ § hi u o u H ffl O o K H w w (J s H en a ij a >^ u H H Digitized by Microsoft® WALDSTRICKER MAKES A PROPOSAL 49 "Now, I've a plan which, if it succeeds, will give you lots of money! You could do almost anything you'd want to then." Tess didn't move, only stared back at the handsome, swarthy face incredulously. "I couldn't earn much," she ventured, gulping. "I get five bucks every Sunday fer singin' at the church, but—" "Oh, I don't mean a few dollars," Waldstricker told her. "I was talking about a lot — thousands." Daddy Skinner straightened out on the cot and Tess tried to swallow, but couldn't. She knew now that he referred to the reward for Andy, "Lordy massy !" she got out at last, huskily. Deforrest Young coughed, and Waldstricker's hand went quickly to his face. "I'll explain about it," he said, "and then you can decide if you wish to do it." "All right," replied Tess, leaning her chin on hei; hand. "Gowan an' blat it out." "I suppose you know my good old father was mur-* dered," the visitor asked her after a slight period of silence on his part. Andy and what he had told her about the brawl icj the saloon raced through Tessibel's mind. "I heard 'bout it," she replied, nodding. "And you've heard, too, probably, the man who mur- dered him escaped from Auburn a little while ago.'"' Tess wanted to say "No," but she feared a long ex- planation would follow which might trouble Daddy and the wee man in the garret, so she acquiesced by bowing her head. "I guess he were the man Daddy were talkin' 'bout, weren't he, Daddy?" She turned toward her father, but his red lids were closed, and he was breathing heavily. "Daddy goes to sleep awful easy!" she excused to all three. Then she told Waldstricker, "Yep, Daddy said the man broke out o' jail." The man she spoke to looked keenly at her. "The officers feel pretty sure he'll make his way down the lake side," he explained, "eventually landing among his own people," Digitized by Microsoft® 50 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY A flash of the brown eyes and a quick stiifening of the supple body under the red curls expressed the girl's resentment at the slur implied in the speaker's state- ment. "Among us squatters, I s'pose ye mean?" demanded Tess, belligerently. "Yes," nodded the elder, with a contemptuous smile ■at the angry young face. ■' Tess hated that tone in people's voices when they talked about squatters. "And I was wondering if you wouldn't like to earn the reward offered for Bishop's capture," Waldstricker finished abruptly. Tessibel's foresight had discounted the effect of this announcement. To save Andy, she must deceive Wald- stricker and persuade him to leave the search of the Silent City in her hands. Her brown eyes were bright with her purpose ; she smiled slowly up at him showing every white tooth. "You bet I would !" she exclaimed, shaking her curls as she tossed her head. "How much air it, huh ?" "Five thousand dollars," replied Waldstricker. "Jeedy!" gasped Tess. "That air a pile of money. I bet I earn it! . . . What'd ye bet?" She turned impetuously to Deforrest Young, and he laughed. "I hope you may !" was all he said. Tess was all eagerness now, her cheeks flaming and her eyes dancing. "But I wouldn't know the man if I seen 'im in any of the squatter's huts, huh?" She flung this at Waldstricker, more of a question than a statement. "He's a dwarf," he answered immediately, "and very small — like this. Sandy Letts knows him and is looking for him, too." At his statement, Tessibel's quick imagination pic- tured Sandy's brutal face and greedy eyes, and for a moment her flaming courage almost faltered. "If a dwarf sneaks down here," she observed with a sweep of her hand toward the door, "I'd get 'im easy. I know everybody." Digitized by Microsoft® WALDSTRICKER MAKES A PROPOSAL 51 "But would I have to halve up with Sandy, eh?" she continued, as though struck with a new thought. "Not unless Sandy helped you find him," Ebenezer replied genially. "You could do as you pleased about that." "Oh, Sandy couldn't help me, not a bit," Tess argued earnestly. "Sandy ain't liked any too well 'round here." "Well, manage it as you choose." Waldstricker smiled at his success with the girl. "I don't care for Sandy myself," he continued. "All I want is to get Andy Bishop." His face hardened with hate as he pronounced th<; dwarf's name. Tess put her hands under the curls over each shoalder and drew them together beneath her chin. "Five thousand dollars!" she ruminated. "I'd have a bully time a spendin' it, wouldn't I? . . . I'd buy my Daddy a new overcoat every day fer a year, an' I'd git 'im four new beds — one fer every corner of this here sitchen, an' I'd git 'im a flannel shirt thick as a board to keep the pains from 'is bones. . . . Then, I'd buy me a cow an' a calf an' a horse an' a little baby ^ig an' a few cats an' a lot of dogs, an' I'd let all the squatter brats play in my flower garden — " Helen broke off this chatter with an amused laugh. "Then mebbe I'd go to school a while," Tess kept on, ''an' learn myself a lot out o' books, an' after that I'd take singin' lessons an' I'd sing to everybody what asked me — Then mebbe — " She dropped back for lack of words. "I wonder if that'd take the hull of the five thousand." Waldstricker stood up. "You've got the right idea of spending money," hyj , laughed. "And now, young lady, we'U leave you, and ' if you hear that this dwarf is in any of your friends' huts, you let me know, and I'll come right down." "Sure," said Tess, heartily. "Ye bet I will." Scrambling to her feet, she lifted the ruddy curls and flung them back on her shoulders. To Ebenezer, watch- ing her, came like a haunting memory the witch's cry, "Hair, stranglin' ye — God, what hair!" But he dismissed the suggestion easily and turned %0 Helen, smiling. Digitized by Microsoft® 52 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTR-J: "Why not bring Miss Skinner to the next musicale and have her sing? . . . Wouldn't you like that, Tess?" "I'd get scared stiff," gasped Tessibel, terrified. "But, Tess, dear," Helen thrust in, "I'd teach you the songs, and — " ^ The girl was looking down upon her dress, her face gathering a deep red. ' Miss Young divined what was going on in the girlish ' mind. I "And I'd help you make a new dress," she went on. ^ "A hull lot of money folks'd be there, eh?" Tess demanded. Oh, how afraid she always was of a crowd of those — different people ! Her words directed Waldstricker's attention to the contrast between this squatter girl in the bare shack and the fashionable folk who'd throng his spacious drawing room. "Well, a few," he answered, "but you come along with Miss Young just the same, will you?" Tessibel took the outstretched hand awkwardly enough and as quickly dropped it and began to fumble with her own fingers. She looked down at the floor while she traced a line on it with her toe. "Mebbe," she replied in a very subdued voice. She stood in the door and watched them walk slowly up the hill. Then she turned back into the kitchen. "My God, brat !" sobbed a voice through the hole in the ceiling. "Wasn't that a nice list of beautiful things ye was goin' to buy? Oh, kid, I air bettin' Waldstricker , gits me." Tess chuckled low, as she turned her face upward. "Andy," she said, "ye needn't be worryin' 'bout me an' Jesus handin' ye over to that old elder. Why, Him an' me air goin' to stick to you like pitch to a nigger." She turned to go, but hearing a sigh, took four steps up the ladder and finished, "Why, honey, Waldstricker air got as much chance a ketchin' you as a tallow dog has chasin' an asbestos cat through hell." Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER VII Waldsteickee and Mothek Moll "Defoekest is so interested in the little Skinner girl,'' , Helen Young explained to Ebenezer Waldstricker when they were alone after supper. "Ever since he helped to get her father out of Auburn, he's done aU he could for her." "He's a philanthropist at heart, I imagine," remarked Ebenezer, agreeably. "Yes, and so good to everybody. Dear Forrie! I wish he'd meet the right woman and marry her. He'd be so happy in a home of his own. When I think of leaving him alone — " The tender face flushed crimson, and happy eyes dropped under the man's bright gaze. He reached over and took a slender hand in his. "But you're not sorry you're coming with me*, are you, dear?" he chided gently, and Helen lifted her head with a glad cry. "Oh, no, no, darling! . . . I'm the happiest woman in the world !" "And I'll keep you so," replied Ebenezer, in earnest. "I was thinking, though," observed Helen, after a moment, "that Deforrest might come with us if he hasn't made other arrangements." Waldstricker contemplatively kissed each pink finger of the small hand he held, then pressed his lips to the soft palm. "I should like very much to have him, Helen," said he. "I'm very proud of your brother, you know." "You can't make me happier than to praise him," she ismiled. For several minutes no more was said. Then Wald- stricker spoke as though thinking aloud, "I wonder if that little Skinner girl will be of any assistance in the matter of locating Bishop.'"' Digitized birmcrosoft® '§_4! SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "Perhaps," replied Helen. "She seemed very eager to get the money ! Don't you think so?" "Yes, I think she did, but I've been wondering if she's trustworthy. Is she, Helen?" Miss Young made a hasty afBrmation. "Yes, indeed, she's more than that!" she exclaimed. "She wouldn't deceive any one she loves for anything in the world, so Def orrest tells me." "I sincerely hope so," sighed Ebenezer. "I've quite set my heart on her helping me. Money is no object in a matter like this." "Of course not," murmured Helen, sympathetically. "Letts also is doing some good work," Ebenezer con- tinued. "He's been through nearly every hut on the Rhine." Helen shivered. "I can't tolerate that man around," she replied. "Once in a whUe he comes here to see Deforrest or to sell something, and I can't get him away quickly enough." "He's a good spy, though. That's all I want. He and the Skinner girl ought to produce that dwarf be- tween them." "I hope so for your sake, dear," murmured Helen. Waldstricker took out his watch and glanced at it hurriedly. "It's time for me to go, sweetheart," said he. "I want to get home before dark. Come as far as the lane with me— =-do !" "The twilight is lovely, isn't it?" whispered the girl, when they were traversing the pear orchard. "Made more lovely because of you," replied Wald- '^tricker, sentimentally. "How romantic you are tonight, dearest!" Helen laughed. They had turned slowly up the hUl, when suddenly Helen stopped and slipped her hand into Ebenezer's arm. "There is that old woman you heard read from the fortune pot !" she exclaimed. "Let's step one side until she's passed us? She rarely lets a person go by with- out speaking." JValdstricker tl&§iffziiB)Mkihm^ arrogantly. WALDSTRICKER AND MOTHER MOLL 55 "I'm not afraid of the hag," he replied pompously. Together they advanced up the hill. Mother Moll, leaning on her cane, crept slowly down toward them. When her faded, nearsighted eyes caught sight of tht two approaching figures, she halted in the middle of the road until they were almost upon her. She stared at Waldstricker fully fifteen seconds, while he looked steadily back at her. Then her withered lips spread wide in a sneering, cackling laugh. "So he air aready been settin' on yer head an' layiu' on yer heart, mister," she greeted him, "the leetle man like this, huh, ain't he?" She shook her cane at the tall man and clacked at him again. Helen was conscious that at Moll's insults, Ebenezer's anger was rising by the minute. She was herself greatly moved by a kind of superstitious awe of the old woman's cryptic utterances. But seeking to avoid any further unpleasantness, she smiled in a friendly manner and asked, , "How do you do. Mother Moll?" The hag thrust forward her face and raised one with- ered arm, "I air fine, young lady," she screamed, crooking her fingers at the girl, "an' feel finer'n you can do this day, or ye'U ever with him." She pointed her cane at the scowling, dark-faced man; and slowly bobbed her head back to Helen. "Yer life'U draw out long an' ter- rible, till ye'U wish ye hadn't never seen 'im. He'll set up a knot hole an' drag ye livin' through it. Then he'll turn yer heart inside out an' haul ye oack again." She paused, while Waldstricker's face grew darker and darker. The frown on his brow roused Helen to/ action. "Let's go on, dear," she whispered. "Don't pay any attention to her foolish talk." "Not yet," returned Waldstricker, ominously. "Not Moll laughed discordantly, shaking her head until the wisps of gray hair fell in strings about her face. "He knows I ain't done tellin' ye what'U happen if ye line yer life with his'n," she croaked. "Lady, he air wicked, awful wicked/g< < P o o Id Id n ^; o Ed o pi c u p- Digitized by Microsoft® THE SEARCH 111 amusement in his tones. He stretched forth his hand, reaching down to the girl on the cot. "Now, don't hold nothing against me, kiddie, for comin' here, will ye? Just shake hands with a feller and say it's all right, eh?" Tessibel lifted the owl high in the air and opened ^her fingers. There was a small ghostly flutter and in another instant Deacon had disappeared into the gar- ret. She gave the warden both her hands, and for the little minute Burnett stood by the bed holding them in his and assuring her of his good wiU, Tessibel sent up a prayer of thanksgiving. Her little Andy, Daddy Skinner's friend, was saved! When Burnett reached the door, he looked back at her. The girl's lips were parted in a brilliant, farewell smUe. • He whirled about and came toward her again. "Kid," he said huskily, "I'm a hard-headed old cuss, harder'n brass tacks. I been made so by just such men as Andy Bishop — " He paused, and during his short hesitation, pregnant with meaning,, Tessibel kept her eyes on him. "I was wonderin', little one," he fin- ished, shame-faced, "when you say your prayers, if you'd pipe one for me. I need it, so help me God, I do." In another moment he was at the door, and in re- sponse to the hasty glance he sent her, Tess flung him a misty, loving smile. "Sure, sir, sure I will," she called, "an' thank ye for bein' so kind." Burnett strode out; Tessibel rolled off the dwarf's body to one side of the cot, and Andy gave an audible grunt. "I air gee-danged glad that air over," sighed Tess. And as she lay very still, the warden's hearty voice came floating to her. "That's a mighty fine girl you got, Skinner." Tess also heard her father's husky reply. "Bet yer life, she air. . . . Good day to ye, sir."^ Shortly after, the anxious listeners in the shanty heard the click of the horse's shoes and the rumble of the departing wheels on the stones amid the wagon's creaking complaints against the steepness of the hill. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XVI Tessibel's Secret Tessisel Skinner had been married to Frederick Graves for six long' weeks! She had become somewhat/ accustomed to the deception practiced on Daddy Skin-T ner, and Frederick was constantly allaying her fears and misgivings by telling her* that she belonged to him now; that she was his darling, his joy, the better part of ' his life. Many times he assured her between kisses that ■• it wouldn't be necessary to keep the marriage secret long. Each day, each hour, each minute, the girl-wife basked in the thought of her young husband's love. She unfolded the hidden beauties of her nature to him as spontaneously as the opening flower responds to the genial warmth of the rising sun. Early one morning Tessibel arose, a new light shining in her eyes. Because Daddy Skinner was still abed, she started to the shore for water. It was a glad, shin- ing, diamond-studded earth that greeted the view of the expectant girl ; there was wonderful stillness everywhere, and for some minutes she stood contemplating the scene before her. South from the Hog Hole to the northern curve at Lansing, the lake was dappled, its surface broken here and there by little capfuls of breeze, which dimpled in the light, while the smooth spots reflected, the blazing glory of the morning sun. The leaves of' the weeping willow tree swept the rapt, upraised face, and Tess drew down about her head and shoulders one of the thickest branches. These century-old trees were really a vital part of her life — old loves to Tessibel, loves that had kept watch over her since the day of her birth in the shanty. A brilliant flam<^ flooded her face. . . Frederick stood with her in spirit nearness. What she would tell him that evening would be whispered so low that not evea the nesting birds could hear. She imagined the tender- 112 Digitized by Microsoft® ' TESSIBEL'S SECRET 113 ness with which he'd clasp her in his arms, and thrilled, visualizing the darkening of his eyes. Tessibel was painting pictures — her exalted soul running the gamut of joy. What a wonder-world it was ! What a glad, peaceful, new day, her first real day of living — the beginning of life itself ; Frederick's life and her life ! Now, of courses he would tell his mother they were married — would* take her to Daddy Skinner, and — and — She could plan no farther just then. Her whole being was God- lifted. Even the waves lapping at her feet seemed to speak the language of a world to come. She dipped the pail into the lake slowly, filling it with water. Then with a last sweeping glance over the golden-tinted waves, she returned to the shanty. Daddy Skinner by this time was seated in his chair, his grey face wearing an expression of misery. "Ye air sicker this morning, honey, huh.'"' asked Tess anxiously, lifting the pail to the table. "Yep, br&t, awful sick, but mebbe I'll feel better after a while." "Yer coffee'll be ready quicker'n scat, dear," said the girl. "Flop on my bed an' stretch out a minute. Tessibel'll get her daddy's breakfast." Five minutes later she had fried the fish and made the coffee. "I air goin' to give Daddy his eatin's first, Andy," she called up through the hole in the ceiling. "All right ; sure, do, kid," assented the dwarf. • ••••" Daddy Skinner gradually felt better, and during the morning Tessibel's youthful spirits rose by leaps and^ bounds. All through the day she warbled out her hap- piness, lovingly bantering the two crippled men. Thus the minutes crept on to eventide, to that hour on the ragged rocks with Frederick. She left the shanty early, that she might commune ' uiidisturbed for a time with her dear wild world.' Through the gloaming the dull sound of the cow bells came distinctly from Kennedy's farm. The roosters were crowing a last good-night to the sun. The mon- strous shadows of W^f^ffi9^^trees were going to 114 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY sleep in the earth for another night. While the day- light was fading, the girl sat relaxed against the rocks, her unfathomable eyes contemplating the purple- spanned lake. She had drifted into a reverie. . . bliss- fully dreaming, with Frederick the foremost figure of her dreams. The solemn descent of night ever signified 'the mystery of his love to her. Now, from the fullness of her unalloyed joy, she glanced up at the sky and blessed the whole world. In imagination she deciphered the words the stars were forming. Stretched from pole to pole, they lettered the heavens with the wonders of infinitude. In a diadem of gold, "God is love" was written ; from the unsearchable north to the south where in their turn the slender rimming clouds sent it on to the world beyond. "God is love," whispered the sway- ing trees, and "God is love" came softly to the ear of the sensitive girl, as an echo is flung back from the! rocks and is sent home to its maker. And even as Tess dreamed, the passion stars in their invisible courses bent toward her. Impulsively she lifted her arms upward toward those twinkling participants of her secret, emblems of the immeasurable glory of her love for Frederick. By a simple turn, she could sea the tree of her old-time fancies, the familiar figure in the tall pine, with swaying, majestic head and beckon- ing arms. At that moment, she perceived Frederick making his way along the ragged rocks. She could hear her heart's blood pulsing madly, striking at her wrists, throbbing at her temples, making a race the length of her quiver- ing body. Now, she could see him plainly in the dim flight, and a smile deepened the dimple at each corner ,oi her mouth. An indefinable shyness kept her from running to him to tell her glad tidings. But what made him walk so slowly and with hanging head? It wasn't like Frederick. Something unusual had happened or he would not lag so in coming to her. She was even more mystified at the peculiarity of his greeting. With nerves as tautly drawn as fiddle strings, she remained very still. In his own time he would tell her all about it. She lifted her arms, but Frederick, imheeding, sank to the rocks beside her. She Digitized by Microsoft® TESSIBEL'S SECRET 115 laid her hand on his, expressing her love to him by the simple contact. "Don't!" he said shortly. He drew away from the caressing fingers impatiently. "I've come to tell you something." "Well, here I air," answered Tess, quietly. There was an exquisite tenderness in the young voice." In the white light of the early evening Tessibel could see Frederick's brows fiercely drawn together. Prob- ably his mother was worse and that accounted for the change in him. She became instantly aU devotion. "Air ye goin' to tell me about it, honey.?" she en- treated softly. "It'll make ye feel better. . . . Tell Tessibel." He turned away, and moved nervously until his shoulders were fitted into a rock cavity; then, he dropped his head back with a prolonged sigh. It was even more difficult than he had imagined. "Of course I needn't tell you . . . that I love you, need I, Tess?" he stammered, after a while. He could not assure her too many times of his af- fection. She leaned against him, adoring, wrapped in the delight of his love as a water lily is wrapped in its green sepals. "I know it, dearest!" she murmured, much moved. "Ye tell me that every day. But what else air ye — " "You'll forgive me, and not be . . . too unhappy?" Frederick interrupted her anxiously. Unhappy, while her whole being was transfused with ecstacy ! Unhappy, when his life and hers intermingled in one glad, glorious song of inseparable unity ! There never could be a diminution of her joy. Frederick loved, her ! That was enough. "There ain't nothin' I wouldn't forgive," she vowed, misty-eyed. "But, Tess, I feel as though you won't forgive me this," sighed Frederick. "But if you'll promise me — " "I do — ^I wiU," she interjected, sitting up. "Why, of course, I'd forgive ye anything." Frederick dared not look at her. Even in the twi- light he could feel her eyes searching his face for an esplanatioa. •^ Digitized by Microsoft® 116 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "I need you to help me, Tessibel," he said at length. Help him! Hadn't she ever been ready to help him? He had but to ask her. She droppe3 her head against his arm again. "Tell Tessibel," she urged, smiling. One slender, girlish arm slipped lovingly about him. A set of small fingers took his cold hand in a firm grasp. "Tess loves ye, dear," came soothingly. "Now tell 'er, an' then ye'U be happier." Shame rose rampant in the boy's breast. "I can't do it," he muttered under his breath. But he knew all the time he would. The events of yes- terday, culminating with Waldstricker's brilliant offer, closed every other path. He groaned, catching his lips tensely between his teeth. Some one had to suffer, but the sacrifice must not touch his mother nor estrange the Waldstrickers. That Madelene would be wronged by his action gave him little concern. But at that mo- ment to hurt the girl at his side; oh, how he hated the bitter necessity! Conscious of the despicable part he was playing, but having really decided, he drpw him- self from the girl's arms. To gain a little more time, he thrust his fingers several times through his damp hair. "Tess," he hesitated, "you've promised you'd never tell about our being married." An encouraging touch turned the boy's twitching face to hers. "An' I ain't never goin' to till ye let me," she as- serted soothingly. "Ye ain't lettin' that worry ye, darlin', eh?" She encouraged him to answer by the tender cadence on the end of her question. "No, no, Tess !" Then desperately, "Oh, in God's name, how am I ever going to get it out?" Tessibel became suddenly terror-stricken. It must be something very serious to force from him such lan- guage in such heart-rending tones. She shivered nerv- ously. "You mustn't think for a moment, Tess," the boy burst forth, with renewed courage, "that I don't Iowa you! I shall love you always, always." Digitized by Microsoft® TESSIBEL'S SECRET 111 "Always," echoed Tess, reassured. If Frederick loved her, nothing else mattered. Perhaps his mother was — Her thought snapped in two at an ejaculation from Frederick. "And what I do is because — weU, because — I must," he stammered. "You understand that, don't you, sweetheart.?" "Sure," agreed Tess, puzzled. "And nothing will ever be changed between you and me — " "Nothin' can ever hurt us, Frederick," she inter- rupted quickly. And Tess believed this to be the eternal truth. Faith the size of a grain of mustard seed had piloted her through severe storms. Since Daddy Skinner had been restored to her, that faith had grown to the size of the mountain itself. "I won't let it," went on the student, swiftly. "Neither must you. You must trust me — you must believe! No, don't put your arms around my neck till I've finished! . . . And then, oh, my little girl, I shan't let you ouf of my arms, ever ! ever !" Greatly moved, he suddenly reached forth and drew her unresistingly to him, smothering her hair, her eyes with kisses, clinging to her, as if he would never, never let her go. Her heart beat wildly against his . . . And she loved him more than all the world, and loved God more be- cause of him. But he released her almost immediately, and Tessibel sank back, sighing. She was no longer nervously eager to divulge her secret. She waited almost mechanically ,| as one waits for an advancing joy — as a hungry man watches abundant preparation for the appeasing of his hunger. Hearing him groan, she turned troubled eyes up to his. "Daddy always says for to tell bad things quick!" But this only served to call forth another deep breath of misery. After a lapse of what seemed ages to the waiting girl, Frederick gathered courage, and began, _ "Tess, I've told you how very iU my mother is, haven't I ?" Digitized by Microsoft® 118 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "Yes, an' I air awful sorrj, dearie," she murmured. The compassion he aroused subdued her voice to a whisper. And she's asked me to do something for her and I've — got to do it, Tessibel," faltered Frederick. "Sure ye have," Tess agreed. "I didn't decide to do it, honey," — Frederick was 'avoiding the vital part, — "until I saw how I could 'not let it make any difference to us. It won't make any difference, dear heart!" And Tess, already living in some distant day with full heart and fuU arms, breathed. "No, darlin', no difference to us . . . 'Course not!" "Oh, I'm glad, so glad to hear you say that!" said Frederick, relief in his voice. "It won't be so dreadful, my sweet, if you trust me. And it won't be, long — perhaps a year, perhaps two years — " Tessibel's muscles grew suddenly rigid. "Years, ye say.'"' she repeated, stupefied. "What years? Why years?" The resigned and submissive Tess changed instantly to an intense, resolute woman, with compelling, fear- clouded ieyes. Frederick, alarmed, hastened to explain. "You remember Madelene Waldstricker, don't you?" Did she remember Madelene Waldstricker? Would she ever forget that one night when he had treated her, his own wife, as though she were a stranger? "Sure, I remember 'er," she admitted, flushing. "What about 'er?" Before replying, Frederick snatched her hand and KlSSP.fl it } "My mother ... Oh, Tessibel, it'll be all right — " He paused, then finished despairingly, "My mother wants me to marry her !" Tess caught the picture his words suggested; then recoiled as if death in monstrous guise had appeared before her, open-armed. Incredulous horror leapt alive in her eyes. He had said, "My mother wants me- to marry Madelene Waldstricker." But even though his mother had demanded it, he couldn't! He wouldn't. . . . But he'd said he must ! Tess clenched her hands until the nails pressed into Digitized by Microsoft® TESSIBEL'S SECRET 119 the flesh of her palms. Her throat refused to yield a speaking voice, out something screamed aloud within her as if a giant hand had clutched and torn her soul. "But ye air married to me," she got out at last, piteously. Frederick put his arms about her. "I know it, girlie dear! . . . I'm not denying that, but no one knows it but us, just you and me, and I'm afraid . . I've got to do . . this . . . Mother . . ," "Oh, God, no !" shuddered Tess. Oh, he couldn't mean to desert her now when she needed him so — needed him more than she had even in those days when the shadow of the hateful rope hung over her beloved father; even when Teola's child had been thrust upon her, and Ben Letts had daily menaced her desolate life. She was still for so long a time Frederick feared she'd fainted. "Tess !" he spoke sharply. "What?" But it didn't sound like Tessibel's voice answering. "Will you hear me out, dearest?" he pleaded. "Oh, won't you listen to me?" Surely she was listening intently. He had never spoken when she had not given loving heed, if she were within the sound of his voice. Frederick attempted to raise her face to his, but with a pathetic little word of protest, she slipped from his arms, and fell face' downward to the rocks. The tortured boy would rather have had her scream, strike at him, anything, than sink into that accusing, forlorn prostration ! ( ^parate you and m e. It can't ! I swear not to let it !" -^' this minute; hear him unsay that awful thing. Whyj he couldn't belong to Madelene Waldstricker ! Like a deer, Tess sped along the rocks in the direction of the lane. A night bird brushed a slender wing against her curls as he shot by her. To him she paid no heed save to swerve a little. Wildly, twice, three times she cried, "Frederick!" An owl hooted a mocking response from the willow tree nearby. "Frederick! Frederick!" rang through the night, out over the lake, unanswered. He was gone! The realization of this brought the girl crouching, shivering to the shore, where her feet were lapped by the incoming waves. And there she lay, until as in a dream, a be- wildered dream, she heard Daddy Skinner's voice calling her. By a supreme effort she gathered her senses to- gether. "I air comin'. Daddy." She stumbled through the night back to the shanty, her secret locked in her breast. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XVII Tessibel's Peayee Foe four lingering days, hour after hour, 'I'ess of the Storm Country waited for Frederick. Ht had promised to return, and so each day when her house- hold duties were completed, she hastened to the ragged rocks at the edge of the forest. But her eager hope passed into sick apprehension as the lingering twilights of successive evenings deepened into the darkness of night and he did not come. Tess grew paler and more dejected, so that even Daddy Skinner's fading sight ' remarked it. "Ain't feelin' quite pert, be ye, brat.'"' he inquired. Tessibel started nervously ... It was habitual now if any one spoke to her quickly. "I ain't sick, daddy," she assured him. "I guess it air the hot day makin' me tired." "Nuif to bake the hair off a cast iron pup," observed Andy, from the garret hole. "I'll bet it air some waim up there, pal," sympa- thized Orn. *'Ye bet yer neck," agreed Andy cheerfully. Then Tessibel hopefully started for the rocks in search of the sunshine which had left her life with Frederick four days before. ***** Deforrest Young, too, had noticed the change in his little friend . . . had observed her extreme nervousness i and unusual shyness when she recited her lessons. To- , day, moreover, she had not appeared at all. Late that afternoon he called at the Skinner home to find the reason. Daddy Skinner occupied his customary seat on the bench in front of the shack, watching with listless, dull eyes the restless waves. He greeted the professor with his twisted smile, as the latter called to him from the Digitized bf-Wbrosoft® TESSIBEL'S PRAYER 125 ""Where's Tessibel?" asked Young, after they had remarked upon the weather and the health of themselves and their friends. "Well, I don't know just where she air gone," re- plied Orn, "but seems to me's if she went oif toward the rocks. Shall I call her, eh?" "No, no! I'll go look for her," answered the pro- fessor. He found her sitting pensively on the rocks, her hand resting on the head of Kennedy's brindle bulldog, and in the moment he stood there gazing at the girl, hQ felt unaccountably saddened. When Tess became conscious of his presence, she gave him a shadowy, fleeting smile, which vanished almost before it had fully appeared. Her eyes were heavy and dim with unshed tears, and she was as pale as the mist clouds that drifted slowly across the sky and away over the eastern hills. Perhaps it was the melancholy of that smile appealing to his deep love that made Pro- fessor Young hurry toward her, holding out his hands. Pete greeted him with a welcoming whine, wagging his whole body, in default of the tail he had lost. "Your father said you were here, child," Young said in a low voice. May I sit down?" Tess acquiesced by a nod of her head, and he settled himself comfortably on the rock. Crouching down on the other side of her, Pete put his head in the girl's, lap. Her hands rested upon his broad back, while the man played with him, pulling and poking his heavy jowls and hanging lips, and the dog uttered delightea growls at the attention. "I'm afraid my little girl hasn't been quite well of late," Young began presently. The red-brown eyes fell and a flushed, lovely face bent beneath a shower of bronze curls. "Has she?" he queried again, with tender sympathy. Lower and lower bent the auburn head until the man could no longer see the troubled face. "I knew there was something wrong with my little pupU," said he softly. "Now tell me about it." "I can't," whispered Tessibel. "I ain't able." Oh, if she only could ! At that moment it seemed that; Digitized by Microsoft® J36 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY all of her troubles would take wing if this thoughtful^ solemn-eyed friend shared the burden of her heart. When she lifted her face again and repeated, "I can't tell," Def orrest Young placed his fingers under her chin and kept his eyes steadily upon her until the trans- parent lids drooped and the long lashes rested on her cheeks. • "Is it something you'll tell me some time?" he asked. Tessibel shuddered, and made no reply, although there was a slight negative shake of her head. "Then I'U ask you another question, Tess dear," insisted Young. "Isn't there something I can do to help you?" Tessibel shook her head, a violent blush suffusing her face. Tears gathered thickly in the brown eyes. To see her thus was agony. . . . His great love sought to share and bear her suffering, yet he could not force her confidence. "I'm going to exact one promise from you," he con- tinued, much moved. "I'll be awful glad to promise what I can," she mur- mured humbly. "Then it's this." Compassion for her abject misery was expressed in the very tones of his deep voice. "If at any time in the future you need me , . . for any- thing, no matter what, will you — will you come to me and tell me? Will you let me help you?" Impetuous appreciation of his sincerity caused Tess/ to touch his arm. "Nobody were ever so good to me in all the world," she said brokenly. Never had Deforrest Young so keenly desired the right to care for her as he did then. The impulse to take her in his arms, to tell her, as he had once, that he loved her, almost unnerved him; but he could not. Tess seemed of late to have grown away from him, to be no longer the light-hearted child she had been, even in that dark time when her father was in prison. "You haven't promised me yet, Tessibel," he insisted seriously. "I promise . . . sure!" said Tess, swallowing hard. In the silence that followed, Pete, as though con- Digitized by Microsoft® TESSIBEL'S PRAYER 127 "scious that all was not well with his adored mistress, rose on his haunches, and tried to kiss her face. The dog's sympathy was sweet. She wanted Frederick so badly! Oh, she thought, if she dared ask Deforrestdi She would! She could not bear another night of this, uncertainty, this suspense. "I air wishin' to ask ye somethin'," she stammered. "Don't tell anybody, will ye?" "Certainly not," declared Young, quickly. "Do ye — do ye happen to know where — the student Graves air — to-day?" Young considered the long curls falling over each shoulder and the anxious eyes. She was staring fixedly at him. Was the student somehow connected with her present distress? Frederick's marked attention of late to Madelene Waldstricker was, he supposed, generally known. He had not seen him with Tess for a long time. He had concluded the young man's interest in the squatter girl had passed. Was it possible that Tess still cared for him? "Well, that's hard to tell," he told her presently, looking out over the lake. "But if they've had good luck, I suppose the young people are quite well on their way to Paris by now. The ceremony, one of those hasty affairs, was performed yesterday. They took the night train to New York. Tessibel's breath caught in her throat. . . . The heavens seemed to tumble into the lake . . . An awful booming sounded in her ears. She grew limp, sick at heart, . . . dizzy, but she made no outcry, only, un- . conscious of its pain, bit her lip until it bled. The hope she had nursed, that he would not do this awful thing was lost. Pete stirred uneasily. Restrained by Tessibel's hand on his head, he laid down again making whining noises in his throat, inarticulate expressions of his love for the suffering girl. "Didn't you know he was going to marry Miss Wald- stricker?" asked Young. "Yep, — I knew," whispered Tess, when she could breathe, "but — tell me — about it." "There's not much to tell," explained the Professor, Digitized by Microsoft® 128 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY reluctant to distress her. "It seems the young lady didn't want a large wedding and did want to start- abroad immediately, so they had a private affair ■- — no one present but the relatives." Tess made an effort to control herself. "Graves wf n't go back to college any more," went on Young. "He's going into business with his brother-' in-law, Mr. Waldstricker. I understand when they re- turn from abroad they will live with my sister the rest of the winter." There was no response from the drooping little figure at his side. Tess was thinking of the winter without Frederick. She sickened as she pictured him away off in that for- eign land. It seemed he must be at the very end of the world. It bewildered her to think of his being with another woman than herself. She could not think of them as married — He was her husband. She was silent so long that Young spoke to her softly. "ShaU I take you home, my dear?" Numb and dazed, she sat dumbly enduring the hurt. "Nope, I air goin' to stay here awhile." 'Twas only a trembling breath that wafted the man his answer. Young hesitated. Then rising he walked away along the rocks, leaving Tess and the brindle dog amid the falling shadows. Spent with emotion, the squatter girl heard the re- treating footsteps of her friend die away in the twilight. Then she pushed the dog gently from her lap and laid herself down upon the rocks and pillowed her aching head upon his body. Gradually the tender melancholy of the dying day- touched her mood with subtle sympathy and soothed her troubled spirit. Rapt in rueful revery, she followed mechanically the flight of a flock of birds. Like swift shadows flitting over the water, they dipped and winged upward and away, out of her vision. Frederick had gone from her life almost as com- pletely and as suddenly as those birds had disappeared from her sight. How mercilessly short had been her days of happiness, those days threaded and inter- threaded with hewigitii^lscbii^^Mcwm^ TESSIBEL'S PRAYER 129' The sun had set and the purples and reds were fading from the fleecy clouds in the eastern sky. The gloaming grew in caressing cadences up from the limpid lake to the ragged rocks. The night winds blew gently down the hUl side, the swaying leaves were whispering "hush, hush," and the surface of the lake, shimmering in the mellow light of the rising moon, was flecked here and there into silvery sparkles. The airs of evening flut- tered the ringlets upon her forehead and enveloped her hot body in cooling comfort. Responsive to the quiet beauty about her, the turmoil of her thoughts subsided. The snarp anguish which had at first stunned her was becoming but a dull ache, permitting her to think con- nectedly. This place and this hour held the most vital asso- ciations of her young life. Here in the gathering gloom, Frederick had wooed and won her, and had spent with her many of the too few hours of her wedded bliss. Upon such another evening, she had made him the promises that had led to her only deceptions of Daddy Skinner, and here, four short days ago, her husband had murdered her joy. Reflecting upon her plight, its hopelessness well nigh overwhehned her. Through the utter desolution of her life rang the haunting words of the Cantata she'd heard sung last Eastertide in the Big Ithaca Church. "Oh, was there ever loneliness like this?" Over and over the melody repeated itself, insistently recalling the Master's agony in the garden, and lifting her thoughts slowly upward away from herself to His ultimate triumph and glory. Betrayed and deserted by the man that loved her, she fixed her attention instinctively upon the Divine Love "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turn- ing" and sought courage from the words of Him "who spake as never man spake." His command, "Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you," came to her tortured heart, a healing inspiration. Immediately she got to her feet. The dog, tired of the enforced inactivity, jumped up and ran to and fro on the rocks, barki^e.^^ jW^^d^^^en her husband up 130 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY to another woman — he had said it was all she could do for him. But she loved him and her love rejoiced in giving. Pete, puzzled that the girl did not join him in his play as usual, came back and stood in front of her and looked up into her face. She turned to the old pine tree, her familiar friend, and extended her arms to the God of her exalted faith. "Goddy, dear, goodest Goddy," she prayed, "bless my Frederick wherever he air — an' — help Tessibel to die — in — in the spring," Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XVIH A Letteb. A GREAT deal had happened dunng the three weeks Frederick had been gone. Helen Young had married, Ebenezer Waldstricker, and they had been away now nearly two weeks on their honeymoon. Deforrest Young, too, had spent most of the time out of Ithaca. Tessibel Skinner heard from him frequently, and through his good letters, she had been able to keep up her studies. One Monday morning while Tess was doing the simple chores around the shack, she had the door open to admit the vagrant breezes of the summer day. Andy, as his custom was on such occasions, lay quietly upon the attic floor, secure from the observation of any chance passer-by. Stepping to the door to shake her dust rag, Tess saw Jake Brewer coming up the path. "Hello, Jake," she called, a little loudly to warn Andy, "how air ye?" "Pretty tol'able, thank ye, Tess," Brewer answered politely, "how air you, and how's yer pa?" "Daddy's pretty bad this mornin'," she told him, a reluctant smile appearing for a moment at the corners of her mouth. "Pshaw! Tessie, ye don't tell me. It air the heat, ain't it? But Tess, I air got somethin' for you," he sniggered. "Bet ye can't guess what it air." "Sure, I can't, Jake." The girl tried to match his I cheerful manner. She wished she might greet her squatter friends as of yore, but her heart was sad and lay stonelike in her breast. Of late, Jake had been very kind, running many errands for her. Daddy Skinner was a favorite with the inhabitants of the Sflent City, and now that he was so ill, all the other squatters did what they could for his sorrowing daughter. 131 Digitized by Microsoft® J32 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY; "Come in, Jake," invited Tess. "Mebbe Daddj'd like to see ye . . . He ain't up yet . . . Wait a minute .... I'll ask 'im!" Jake stayed her with a chuckle and a beckoning motion of his forefinger. "First I'Tl'^giye ye what I brung ye, Tess," he said, whUe he fumbled in his pocket. "Here ! Look ! It air a letter with a big ship up ia the corner of it « . . , Ain't it cute?" Tessibel held out a trembling hand for the square envelope Brewer preferred her. How many times within the past weeks had she visualized a ship as it took its rapid way to the other side of the world! How many times had she seen her husband with Madelene Wald-# Strieker on that pictured steamer! Now here it was before her very eyes, more stately even than her mind had portrayed it. She stared at the letter, her face going very white. "Ye don't seem to be tickled, brat," said the squatter, grinning. "I air, though, Jake," she replied, "awful tickled .... Come on in an' see Daddy!" She slipped the letter into her pocket and led the way to the back room. She bent over the bed and roused her father. "Jake air here to see ye, Daddy," she said. "Sit down, Jake ! He can't talk very loud, but ye can see he air awfid. glad to have ye here .... Daddy dear, Jake Brewer air tryin' to shake hands with ye." Orn's great hand lifted slowly. "Glad to see ye, Jake," he mumbled. "I ain't the best this mornin' !" "Ye'll get better with the goin' of the warm weather," consoled Jake. "These days be hot now for the weUest of us." "Yep," murmured Daddy Skinner, drowsily. Tessibel left the two men alone, and went back to the kitchen. Her throat was filled with longing, her lips drawn a little closer together. She sat down near the door, looking out upon the lake. She dared not open the letter then, not until Jake had gone and Daddy was asleep. Digitized by Microsoft® A LETTER 133 Brewer came out quietly, his cheerful manner sub- dued somewhat. Tess got to her feet. She tried to smile, but the serious expression on the squatter's face brought her quickly to his side. "Jake," she murmured, quick-breathed, "ye think he air awful sick, eh?" Brewer shifted his gaze out through the door. The sight of the girl's pleading face hurt him. "He ain't real pert; that air a fact," was his reply. "We air doin' everythin' we can think of," Tess told him. "Mr. Young's doctor comes awful often, an' he says Daddy air got heart trouble." "He do seem to have a hard time breathin'," answered Jake, trying to be cheerful; "but if I was you, Tessie, I woulmi't worry. He'll be gettin' weU. He air stronger'n a horse." Tess wanted to believe her father was better. She couldn't allow her mind to take any other view of it. "He air always been right rugged," she said, nodding, "an' if his heart'd only stop beatin' so hard — " She hesitated and touched Brewer's arm. "Thank ye fer bringin' my letter," she interrupted herself irrelevantly. "That air all right, Tess," smiled Brewer. "Ye see when I go to the Postoffice fer our mail, I ask fer your'n an' fer Longman's, an' I most allers get some fer one or t'other. . . . Nice day, eh, ain't it?" "Yep," affirmed Tess, dully. She bade the fisherman good-bye and stood watching him take his way along the lakeside until he had disappeared. When she turned she caught sight of Andy's glisten- ing eyes looking at her. "Jake air a good feller, ain't he, brat?" he asked. Tess came directly under the ceiling hole. "Yep, he sure air," she answered. "Andy, I air a feelln' so bad to-day. WiU ye listen for Daddy if I go out a spell?" "Course I will, go long," he urged. "Close the door when ye go out. I'll keep my ears open." Tess walked slowly along the lake shore path, her head drooping wearily. She knew the letter in her pocket was from '^}i§^i(^-Mic'iS£bfk^^^ opened it even 134 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY before Andy's loving eyes, or in the presence of any other person, would have been, in her opinion, a desecration. Against the high gray shoulder of a ragged rock, she sat down pensively. It was here she and Frederick had spent so many happy hours and, now, alone, she ,had come to read his ktter. She took it slowly from her pocket, studied the picture of the ship in the corner, and whispered over and over the name under it. It seemed almost impossible to tear it open. What had he told her? She pressed the envelope to her lips. Her darling's hands had touched it, his fingers had written her name upon it. Ripping it slowly along the edge, she took out the contents, and there fluttered to the rock a yellow backed bUl. Tess picked it up and ex- amined it carefully. Frederick had sent Tier some money. Tess laid it down again and placed a small stone upon it. Then she took up the letter. For a few seconds her eyes misted so profusely she could not read. She dashed the back of her hand across her lids, choking down hard sobs that rose insistently. When she could control her emotions enough to read, she fixed her eyes upon the first words: "My own darling :" Crunching the paper between her fingers, she dropped her head and wept wildly for several minutes. She wanted Frederick then as she had never wanted a soul in all the living world. "I am here alone in the writing room," Tess read on, wiping her eyes. "Oh, Tessibel, when I think of you there without me, I go almost mad! What I've done seems the very worst thing in the world, and it grows worse as the hours go by. Forgive me, my darling. I dared not come back after that night; I was afraid some one would see me and tell my mother or some of the Waldstrickers. Tessibel, if I could only jump into the sea and get back tc you, I should be the happiest fellow in the world. I love you more and more, and I'm perfectly miserable without you." Her fingers on her lips, and her eyes on the letter, '^■'^ ■^'^t soitlj. Ob, how she loved him, too, heit husband. Digitized by Microsoft® A LETTER 135 "I won't stay away very long, my dearest," the letter continued. "I'm coming back to you and shall never leave you again. I'm sending you some money which I want you to use, and I'll send more very soon. This win make you comfortable for a little while." Tess picked up the bUl and looked at it once more. Then she put it down again and went on reading the letter. "I shall always love you better than any one else in the world, Tessibel . . . when I return we shall be to- gether most of the time. I shall, I hope, get over my fear of Ebenezer Waldstricker. I'm studying in my mind a way to make it possible for us to have a home together, of which no one shall know. Believe that I love you .... always and always, my darling. Your Frederick." Tess lifted her head with a long-drawn sigh. But there was something more to read, a line or two tacked on the end of the letter. "P. S. My darling, I want you to burn this ! I fear some one might get hold of it. F." After reading over and over the letter, until she had almost learned it by heart, she went back to the shanty, to do as Frederick had bidden her. Kissing the pages again and again and weeping softly so as not to disturb Andy, Tess burned the letter. That night when Daddy Skinner was sleeping, his laboring breath heard plainly through the shanty, a red-brown head bent over the kitchen table. Around the flickering light fluttered the summer moths, and once in a whUe one of Tessibel's beloved night things dashed in at the window, took a zigzag course about the lamp, and flew out again into the shadowy weeping willows. A long, sobbing sigh from the girl brought the dwarf's eager face to the hole in the ceiling. "Air ye sick, brat?" he whispered. Tess lifted her eyes from the table. "Nope, Andy, I were thinkin', that's all," she aaswered, low-toned. Digitized by Microsoft® J36 SECRET OF THE STOKM CUUJNTJtY, And perhaps fifteen minutes later, when she had written a name on several envelopes and had torn them up in seeming disapproval, Andy ventured again. "Ye act awful sad, brat dear. Can't ye tell me about it?" Tessibel rose to her feet, the gleam of the night light radiating upon the red-brown of her eyes. She swal- ■^lowed the lump in her throat before she could speak. "I air a little sad, Andy dear," she murmured. "What were ye doin', honey?" asked the dwarf. Without answering at that moment, Tess took up the envelope she'd sealed. Two steps took her to the mantel, where she placed the letter against the clock, standing a minute to gaze at it. The next instant she explained to the little man leaning above her. "I were writin' a little, Andy, darlin'." Then she went softly into Daddy Skinner's room and (closed the door. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XIX Its Answer While Tessibel Skinner, lonely and despondent, was grieving in the squatter country, Frederick Graves arrived in Paris with his young wife. There had been for him but few hours since that last evening upon the ragged rocks, during which Tessibel's face had not haunted him, the brown eyes, sometimes smiling, more frequently shadowed with tears. Impotent remorse possessed his days and fiUed his wakeful nights with anguish. At such times when life seemed intolerable, the thought of the comfort he had supplied for his mother and sister was balm to his troubled soul. He regretted, too, that he had not gone to the squatter settlement to see Tess again before his mar- riage to Madelene. He had thought, then, that the sight of her pleading pain would be more than he could bear. He had already vowed to himself over and over with clenched teeth that he woxild stay but a short time away from America. He must see Tess. He did not worry over her keeping the secret of their clandestine marriage .... he had implicit confidence in her promise. Madelene's keen enjoyment in displaying the many sights, already familiar to her, bored him to distraction, and they had been in France but a few days before she discovered his indifference to the wonders which seemed of such importance to her. On the way over she had jioticed his spells of abstraction. She had seen how quickly the shadows descended upon her husband's face when it was in repose. With an intuition character- istically feminine, she concluded rightly that Frederick's interest was not in her, that his attention was really concentrated upon something quite apart from his wife and their honeymoon. She determined to find out the reason. One morning, breakfasting in their charming room, 137 Digitized by Microsoft® 138 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY Madelene started a bright conversation, which Fred- erick met with but a chilly response. "What's the matter with you, Fred?" she demanded curiously. "You haven't spoken a pleasant word for two days." A faint smile sketched itself about the corners of Frederick's lips. "Aren't you stretching that a little, my dear.""' he evaded half-playfully. "Well, perhaps a wee bit," laughed Madelene, rue- fully. "But honestly, dear, you look' as if you'd lost your last friend instead of being on your — honey- moon." She sprang up, rounded the table and perched daintily on the arm of his chair. "I do want to make you happy, darling," she urged. "What's the trouble.?" Frederick made a slightly impatient gesture with one shoulder. "I'm happy enough, Madelene ! But it's this beastly weather! I suppose that's the reason I feel so lacka- daisical. If you don't mind, I don't believe I'll go out to-day." Madelene uttered a little cry of disappointment. "Now, I am vexed!" she pouted prettily. "Oh, then I'll go with you, of course," Frederick hastily cut in. "It doesn't make any difference to me." The young wife felt an impulse to anger. "But it ought to make a difference, Fred dear," she pointed out to him. "Why, you make me feel so small ... so insignificant. ... I don't want to drag you about if you don't want to go." Absorbed in his self-centered mediations, his wife's sightseeing excursions seemed to him a perfect nuisance. "I didn't mean to hurt you, dear," he apologized hur- riedly. Madelene got up and went to the window and gazed down upon the street. "I know what we'll do," she stated, dancing back to the table. "Let's go to some guiet, cool place for a week or two. I hate Paris m the hot weather, anyway. And it'll be fun to be by. ourselves Digitized by Microsoft® ITS ANSWER 139 . . . and we'll haAse long walks. . . . Would you like that?" The dark wave of blood surging into Frederick's temples made her look curiously at him. Why should he be embarrassed at such a suggestion? "As you please, my dear," he interrupted her thought. Madelene sighed. He did look ill. It might be the hot weather, but he had such a strange, detached man- ner most of the time ... as if he were far away ... or she was. Her mind was busy with the prob- lem. She could not eat. Frederick, too, was but toying with his breakfast. He was wondering just what Madelene was planning to do in the country. It would be even harder for nim there than in the city. With Tessibel's face always between them, he could not make a lover's love to her anywhere. An hour or so later, while Frederick had gone to smoke under the trees, his wife stood critically study- ing her reflection in the glass . . . with but few mis- givings. She was pretty, surely so, and very rich! What more could a man want? In the coolness of the country, Frederick would be better. He would lose his moroseness and give his undivided attention to her. She would make all the arrangements for the change without disturbing him. He should not be bothered a little bit; and Madelene grew quite happy again with the thought of having Frederick all to herself in some romantic country spot. She summoned her maid, and for a while with the aid of the hotel officials, she sought for a place near Paris, ,yet far enough away to escape its harrassing heat and noises. By night Madelene had decided upon a farm near the village of Epernon. "We can get in to the city to shop, Marie," she told her maid. "But Mr. Graves simply can't stand the hot weather in town." "He does look sick and worried, ma'am, doesn't he?" agreed the maid. Twenty-four hours later Frederick and Madelene pere settled in a pretty villa nestled at the edge of the Digitkhd by Microsoft® 140 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY forest. Nature in its noblest expression surrounded them. At the going down of the sun, Madelene stood beside her husband on the porch, and pressed her cheek fondly against his shoulder. "It's so beautiful, isn't it, dear?" she whispered coax- ingly. Out of his wife's words and the gentle gloaming, came a deadly sense of loneliness. A shiver shook Frederick from head to foot. His only answer was an ejaculated afSrmative in a hoarse voice. The weird sighing of the trees took him back to Ithaca, back to the ragged rocks ... to Tessibel. For a moment he was so agonized that tears stung his lids to a deep hurt. If in noisy Paris he had been carried in spirit to the squatter country, where a girl stood and gazed at him with red-brown eyes, how much more did she haunt him in the quiet spot where the leaves sang the same old tunes they sang in her world, where the wind played among them as it did in the Silent City! Now and then from yonder clump of trees a bird twittered; an owl screeched from the tall tree at the right, and farther on a brook chanted its purling song like Tes- sibel's brook under the mudcellar. Oh, his dear little girl! His Tess of the Storm Country! If in those olden days he had desired her, now that desire was a hundred times more poignant. In all his willful life he had never suffered like this. Tess with her cling- ing arms, her sweet, winning ways ! He sighed a deep, long sigh. Yet soon he would hear something from her. He had written her, . , .had sent her money for the necessities of her simple life . . . his heart throbbed at the thought of a letter from her. Madelene's conversation he had not heard, and it was not until she spoke directly to him that he remem- bered her presence. "Don't you think so, Fred?" she was asking. He heaved another sigh as he left Ithaca and came back to France after that flight of fancy. "Don't I think what? I really didn't hear what you said, Madelene," he admitted guiltily. Madelene experienced a hot flash of indignation. "Do you mean to say you've allowed me to talk all *^ Digitize! iy Microsoft® ITS ANSWER 141 this time and you haven't heard a word I've said?" she demanded in a thin, rasping voice. "I'm sorry," murmured Frederick. "Pardon." Then the girl lapsed into a sulky silence, and Fred- erick, too sick at heart, too indifferent to her likes and dislikes to care, did not encourage her to repeat what she had said. It was perhaps a week later when young Mrs. Graves felt her first real jealousy. In the happiness of her hasty marriage, she had almost forgotten the story . told her by the gossips of Ithaca. It was only when ' her husband's eyes were encircled and darkened by a far-away expression that Tess entered her mind. But even then, after a glance in the mirror, she dismissed the little singer contemptuously. One morning just before breakfast, they were stand- ing under the trees. On Frederick's face was that dreary look of discontent. Madelene contemplated him steadily. She had watched and studied, but had not yet solved the problem that occupied her mind. Was the squatter girl the obstacle.'' she wondered. It didn't seem possible. Frederick was so fastidious. Wliy, the girl could scarcely speak a word of good English ! But it would do no harm to make sure. She decided to speak to her husband of Tessibel Skiuner. But how? Frederick owed her some consideration, and Madelene deeply desired he should be more attentive to her. Sud- denly she laughed aloud. Frederick turned, the cloud partially lifting from his eyes. "A happy thought, I dare say?" he inquired. "Not very," answered Madelene flippantly. "I was wondering how long it would take that Skinner girl to earn enough money to pay for a trip like this." Had a bomb gone off in his face, Frederick couldn't have been more appalled. His brows drew together in a dark frown ; his face grew livid and tensely lined. Madelene noted the effect of her words. Her suspic- ion was confirmed, — the problem solved! It was the squatter girl who stood between her and her husband ! "I forbid you," said Frederick in a low, angry voice, "ever to mention that name again." ^ Digitized by Microsoft® 142 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY Then he whirled about and walked away through the trees. In alarm, Madelene sped after him. "Frederick !" she implored. "I'm awfully sorry I said that. ... I didn't mean to hurt you." He shook her from his arm. "Very well," he replied savagely, "but just please don't speak of her again." Tears blinded the girl's vision. . . . An enraged , feeling rose in her heart. Never in all her spoiled life had any one spoken to her in such a way. If Eben- ezer had been there, Frederick would never have dared! By this time, having stood mute for several seconds, •. she was thoroughly indigna,nt. This was her first real conflict with Frederick, and she began to feel ill as well as incensed. "It's dreadfully disagreeable of you to get angry over a little thing like that," she said impetuously. "One would think you loved that girl and not me. I was told lots of times you were crazy about her, but of course, — " She hesitated now. She wanted to say cruel things about the squatter girl back in Ithaca, but she dared not. She was overwrought with anger, but her hus- band's threatening face forced her to silence. "Are you determined to keep harping on a subject I wish to forget.'"' His words carried an ominous meaning, which quickened her already -awakened jeal- ousy. Determined to probe the matter to the bottom she demanded, "Why should you wish to forget her? Does she dis- turb your memory as much as that?" "Perhaps," replied Frederick gloomily. , He saw the danger involved in the discussion andl curbed his tongue. Then he left her and walked quickly into the house. Madelene followed, angry and rebellious, and found him seated at the table, white- faced, with the morning mail unnoticed before him. Still enraged, she glanced over the letters indifferently. "They're all for me with the exception of one," she said sulkily, "and it's an Ithaca letter. . . .May I open it?" Frederick took it from her and looked at the envel- Digitized by Microsoft® ITS ANSWER 143 ope. His name was staring back at him as if every cramped letter were an accusing eye, and the writing was in the hand of Tessibel Skinner ! He studied it a minute. . . . "You have mail of your own to read, my dear," he said quite kindly. "Let's have breakfast." When during the morning Frederick found a moment to himself, he took from his pocket the letter that had been searing through his clothing to his heart. Gaz- ing upon it, he shook as if he had the ague. Tremb- ling hands held it up to the light. Several times he turned it over. What had Tess written to him ? Had she told him, as he had her, that she loved him better than all the rest of the world? He uttered a desperate ejaculation and stretched out his arms. If he could have spanned the world that separated them, he would have dragged her to him by the terrible force of his desire. Again he turned the letter over. Something kept him from ripping it open. He longed to delay the happiness of reading it, and while he waited, he lifted it to his lips and passionately kissed the crude writing. It ran up hill a little, but that only made him smile and love it the more. It brought memories of past joys, memories of Tessibel's endeavor to learn. Poor little child ! Suddenly he slipped the paper knife into the envelope and slowly dragged it across the top. . . . Then he inserted his fingers and pulled out — the bill he had sent her. In a sudden pas- sion he looked frantically into the empty envelope. . . . Nothing! . . . Absolute emptiness! The money fluttered from his hand to the floor, where it lay like a sentient thing, staring back as if mocking him. He stood half-blindly gazing upon it. When he looked more closely, he stooped and picked it up. There written across its yellow back was the one little line, "Darlin', I air a prayin' for you every day. Tessi- bel." In a storm of remorse, he collapsed to the floor with his face in his hands. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XX Madelene Complains to Ebenezee "Read that letter; then you'll see why I'm angry," said Ebenezer Waldstricker to Helen one morning after, he had frowningly perused a letter from Madelene. "Her last two have had a touch of this thing in them, too. If I find—" He stopped because his wife had dropped her eyes and begun to read. "Dear Eb:— "Your letters have come along one after another, but they haven't made me feel happier. I do dislike to act as if I were telling tales ; but I'm so miserable, and you're the only one in the world I can call on in my dis- tress. You will forgive me, I know, dear Ebenezer. We've been here now such a long time, that I really fed as if we ought to come home, but I simply dread it more and more as I think of it. "You can't imagine how doleful Fred is, and I know it's the Skinner girl who's causing it." Helen uttered an anxious exclamation. She knew her husband's dislike of the squatters. Her quick glance at his face called from his stern lips the cold question, "Have you finished?" "No." _ _ ( "Then do !" he snarled, opening and closing his hands impatiently. "You may ask me what proof I have," Helen read on, a slight pucker between her brows, "and I wiU say this : Fred has two or three times called me by her name, nearly dying of embarrassment when I asked him to account for it. Then once in his sleep he called out quite sharply, 'Tessibel!' He flies into all kinds of rages when I ask him questions about her. He won't admit he's ever cared anything for her — ^* ,y Digitized by Microsoft® MADELENE COMPLAINS 14S Helen looked up again and paused momentarily. "Well, Ebenezer, he used to like Tessibel !" Waldstricker waved his hand angrily. "What's past is past!" he roared. "And now he's got to treat my sister decently, or I'll know the reason why. . . . The young pup ! Why, here I've given him the chance of his life! . . . But finish the letter!" Helen sighed as she again allowed her eyes to res^ on the page in her hand. "But I feel sure his interest in her isn't because of what she did for his sister," Madelene's letter continued. "Will you take some pains to find out aU you can for me, Eb dear? It might be well for you to see her your- self, and perhaps you could make her admit something. I don't want you to worry about me, though. If I can make Fred act like a human being, I'll be happy enough. Tell Helen I shall bring her a lot of pretties from Paris, and will be awfully glad to see you both. Love to aU. Madelene." "P. S. Perhaps you can make that girl tell you whether she's had a letter from Fred or not, and make her give it to you if you can. I think he's written her, but he says not." "I'm very sorry about it," Helen murmured. She laid the letter on the table and looked across at the dark-faced man opposite, "but really I don't think Tess cares for him at all now. Def orrest has repeatedly said she never speaks of him, and that as far as he can make out, she has quite forgotten him." "I'll make it my business to find out," muttered Waldstricker. "If I discover she has any hold on that; young — " "rniey may just 've been romantic," excused Helen. "Why don't you ask Def orrest to find out for you.^"' Ebenezer shook his head. "I'm going down first myself," said he. Helen rose and went to her husband's side. Her eyes were misty with unshed tears. She so desired Ebenezer to be himself again. She felt a little rebel- lious when she considered Madelene's turning her peace- ful home into such a turmoil. "You won't be^t^ro^^^^Jer^dear?" she pleaded. 146 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "I'll treat her as she deserves," snapped Wald- stricker. . . . "If Deforrest weren't so stubborn and hadn't rented Graves' place for the next four years, I'd do my best to oust the Skinners from that property. . . . One thing is certain, the old witch has got to go." Helen sighed, exasperated. Her husband's face was crimson and the cords in his neck as rigid as taut ropes. t "Ebenezer dear, why will you get yourself into such a state of excitement over a set of people who'll never come into your life at all?" she begged of him. There was gentle reproof in her tones. Ebenezer glanced at her sharply. "Never come into my life at all !" he repeated. "Does this look as if they never came into my life, eh?" He leaned over and tapped Madelene's letter. "Am I go- ing to see my sister — " "Madelene is probably mistaken," interjected Helen, hopefully. "It'U be better for the squatter girl if she is," an- swered Ebenezer, whirling and going out. Now it happened that Tessibel was standing outside the cottage clipping her hedge when she heard the sound of horses' hoofs coming down the lane. She stepped to the shanty door, gave the sound which warned Andy of a stranger's approach, and was back again when Waldstricker's great black horse came in sight. Opposite her, he drew his steed to a standstill and bowed curtly. Tess had never seen his lips so sternly set, not even when he had dragged her from Mother Moll's hut. She made no move to go to him. "I came to speak to you. Miss Skinner," he called. "Come here?" Then Tessibel went a few steps nearer, without lay- ing down her shears. Looking up into his face, she asked, "What do ye want, Mr. Waldstricker?" It was hard for Waldstricker to tell just what he did want when that pair of red-brown eyes were gazing at him. "I think I'll dismount," he said suddenly. Throwing one leg over the broad back of the horse, he slipped to the ground. The bridle over his arm, he Digitized by Microsoft® MADELENE COMPLAINS 14T walked toward the girl until she was standing but a step away. "You haven't any news of Bishop for me, I suppose?" he asked. Tess grew suddenly intuitive. Immediately she knew he had not come to ask her about Andy. She shook her head, her tongue cleaving to the roof of her mouth. / "Have you done anything to locate him.'"' persisted' Waldstricker. He was feeling his way to bring in the other matter, and looking more closely at the girl, he reluctantly ad- mitted to himself she was beautiful. "My daddy's been awful sick," said Tess. quickly. *'I ain't much time to do anything but take care of 'im an' sing in the church." Waldstricker was not interested in the sick squatter, so he gave no sign of sympathy. Rather, he wanted to come to the crucial point immediately, but Tess was so unapproachable that he remained quiet a few embar- rassing moments to think of the right thing to say. "You must be a little lonely now Mr. Graves is mar- ried," he stated presently. Tessibel grew deathly pale, and took one backward step. Had he come to talk of Frederick.'' Had he found out the secret she had kept religiously so many weeks? "Mr. Graves ?" she repeated, and then again m almost a whisper, "Mr. Graves?" It was the first time in ever so long she'd pronounced that loved name aloud. "Yes," said Waldstricker, darkly, "and I came down today to see the letters you've received from him." Tess lifted her head and looked him straight in the eyes. Did he know she had had that one precious letter? Who'd told him about it? But she couldn't give it to him, — it was burned. Neither would she admit receiving it. "What letters ?" she asked, when she could speak. "Those Mr. Graves sent you _ from France !" responded Waldstricker, in very decided tones. Tess thought quickljr. Frederick had told her he was afraid of Waldstricker. So was she! He was the man who had been instrumental in taking her hus- Digitized by Microsoft® 148 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY band away from her. She felt a cold rage growing into active life within her. How dared he come here. She was looking at him so steadily that the power- ful churchman lowered his eyes, and for a moment pretended to be arranging the horse's bridle. Then, he centered his bold, black eyes upon her until her ' nerves tingled. "I wish to see what he's written you," he repeated, ' this time rather lamely. "I ain't got any letters," Tess told him. i "Haven't you received any from him.-"' demanded - Waldstricker. The girl shook her head so decidedly that her curls vibrated to the very ends. It was as though every bit of her loving body would shield the dear one way off in France from this compelling, mesmeric man. Waldstricker felt she was not telling the truth. He grew enraged, the blood flying purple to his face. "I said I wanted you to give them to me," he repeated emphatically, going nearer her. "An' I says as how I didn't have none," evaded Tess, growing angrier by the minute. "An' if I did, I wouldn't give 'em to you. 'Tain't none of yer business if I get letters, Fll have ye know!" She took several backward steps toward the shanty. Her rising tem- per stirred up the impudence she used in her conflicts with the rude fishermen. "Jump on yer horse an' trot home," she finished tauntingly. Waldstricker's mingled surprise and anger showed in , his exclamation. What an impertinent little huzzy she was ! In his heart he believed Madelene was right, but the defiant squatter girl baffled him. He would go home more than ever satisfied Tess Skinner was keeping from him something about his young brother- in-law. He mounted his horse, his muscles working with rage. "I'll make you confess sooner or later," he muttered ominously, "or I'll know the reason why." "Scoot!" was all Tess said, and she waved her hand and snapped the pruning shears together derisively. Waldstricker whirled his horse up the lane, and strik- ing the animal with a spur, bounded away. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XXI The End of the Honeymoon Helen Waldsteicker walked nervously up and down the library. Many times during the past hour she had gone to the window and stared out into the night. It was almost impossible to read or work with her mind in such a state of perturbation. Every sound caused her to lay aside her book. She was wait- ing for Ebenezer to return from the station with Madelene and Frederick. Helen dreaded the home-coming of the newly married pair. Ebenezer was aU upset over the letters his sister had written him from abroad, and as Deforrest was obliged to be away so much, she had spent many hours of mental worry by herself. The sound of a carriage took her into the hall, where she stood until Ebenezer threw open the door. The first sight of her young sister-in-law showed Mrs. Waldstricker that the girl was not at all con- tented and happy. Madelene's face was pale, but not more so than Frederick's. Ebenezer looked like a thunder cloud. Helen, with her usual tact and sweet- ness greeted the young people in a sisterly manner. "I'm so glad to have you both back," she purred, kissing first one, then the other. "Now, dear," — to Madelene, "come along up with me and get off your wraps and then we'll have dinner." The two women went upstairs together in silence, , and it was not until Helen had closed the door and Madelene had removed her wraps that Mrs. .Graves turned upon her brother's wife. "I suppose you noticed from Ebbie's letters that I've been awfully unhappy?" "Yes," admitted Helen, "but I was in hopes it had passed over." "It's worse now than it was before," answered 149 Digitized by Microsoft® 150 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY Madelene, "I'm perfectly certain he doesn't care for me — " "Then why did he marry you?" interrupted Helen. "For my money! That's why!" Helen's answering ejaculation brought a short, bit- ter laugh from the girl, "Oh, no, dear," protested Mrs. Waldstricker. "You must be mistaken. I'm positive, he's an honorable young man." Madelene flung herself impatiently into a chair, "Sit down," she said. "Don't stand up! . . . Oh, I'm so tired! It seems years since we left France. And Fred's been like a death's house all the time, I <;an't for the life of me see why he should act the way he does. Why, Helen, he goes days without as much as ever starting to speak to me. If he talks at all, I simply have to drag the words from him," "That's dreadful," sympathized Helen, "but perhaps he isn't well, dear. Why don't you get him to see a doctor.''" Madelene shrugged her shoulders disdainfully. "It's not a doctor he wants, it's that Skinner girl, I can see that plainly enough," Helen dropped on the arm of the girl's chair and slipped her arm around her neck, "Well, now you're home," she soothed, "Ebenezer'll help you if he can, and I know Deforrest wiU, I'm perfectly certain though, Tessibel Skinner would do nothing to make Frederick swerve from his loyalty to you," "Do you know whether Eb went down there to see .ler?" asked the girl, wearily. "I think he did. He asked Tess for Frederick's let- ^ters, but she said she hadn't received any from himt And really, I don't believe she did, for she tells every- thing to Deforrest and she'd tell him that, I'm sure.'* Madelene shook her head incredulously. "I feel perfectly positive he wrote her," she asserted. "Well, perhaps ! — " said Helen. Then they were silent a few moments, "I suppose you haven't guessed something I have to tell you," stammered Helen, presently. Digitized by Microsoft® THE END OF THE HONEYMOON 151 Madelene turned her eyes upon her sister-in-law. Then she smiled. "Helen, dearest, aren't you glad about it?" Helen blushed and radiated a smile. "Yes, very, and so is Ebenezer! We both feel as if we have much to be thankful for — and now if you were only happy — " "Oh, Helen, I know I've upset Ebbie a whole lot, — but who else could I go to? . , . Do tell me when — " "In May, dear," whispered Helen. "I wish you were as happy as I. . . . But there's the dinner bell. Let's go down." When they entered the dining room, Ebenezer was standing alone, his back to the grate. "Did you say anything to him, Eb?" demanded Madelene. "Certainly, child, but he insists he scarcely knows her. He rehearsed the trouble his sister had before she died—" "Oh, he's told me that, too," interjected Madelene, tartly, "but that wouldn't make him mix her name up with mine, would it, and make him get mad every time I mention her?" "He seems to be very much incensed that any one should accuse him of caring for her," observed Eben- ezer. "And Madelene — " Helen went quickly to her sister-in-law. "Dear," she interrupted her husband, "if I were you„ I wouldn't say anything more about it to Frederick until you're certain. . . . Here he comes, now. Da be pleasant to him, both of you." But in spite of Helen's good offices, the first dinner at home was anything but a happy one for the young couple. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XXII The Repudiation A WEEK after the arrival of Frederick and Madelene Graves in Ithaca, Tessibel Skinner sat sewing near the kitchen stove and talking to Andy Bishop in the shanty- garret. Outside the wind gusted over the lake, the snow birds making shrill, protesting twitters against the coming blizzard. "You ain't mournin' 'bout somethin', kiddie, be ye?" whispered the dwarf from the hole in the ceiling. "A little," she confessed, glancing up at the dwarf, while she knotted the thread, "I air jest thinking how awful it air fer Daddy to sleep so hard. That medicine he takes must be awful strong." "So it air, brat, but he don't suffer," comforted Andy. "Get back, Andy," warned Tess, getting up. "Some one air walkin' in the lane." She could hear the steps plainly, now. Whoever it was paused in front of the shack. When the knock came, she placed her sewing on the chair. With a glance at the attic, she walked forward and took down the bar. The opening door reveakd Frederick Graves standing in the falling snow. "I've come back, Tess," he breathed brokenly. I The girl staggered back speechless to the middle of 'the room. Dismayed eyes sought Frederick's, eloquent- ly demanding a reason for his coming. The boy fol' lowed her swiftly in and closed the door. How ill she looked! God, could it have been his own conduct that had made Tessibel so fragile! He had promised to love and cherish her forever. The thought that he could revivify her by the very strength of his overflow- ing love took him forward a step. Tess looked help- lessly about and retreated a little." "Daddy's sick," she murmured. 152 Digitized by Microsoft® "hush!" he cried, "haven't you any heart?" Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® THE REPUDIATION 163 *Tm sorry. I'm very sorry, dear, ... I had to see you, Tessibel," cried Frederick, passionately. "I hurried back from abroad because of you, my darling <, . . Oh, Tess dear — " Tessibel made a dissenting gesture. "Please go away," said she, in agitation. "Go away, please." Instead of obeying her, the boy came nearer. "I can't go !" he answered hoarsely, running his fingers through his thick hair. "I've suffered horribly for what I've done. . . . Tess, don't make me suffer any more — Oh, darling, please understand — " "I air understandin'," interrupted Tess, steadying herself. "Ye can't do nothin' now. . . . Won't ye please go.'"' "No," replied Frederick, setting his teeth sharply. "No, I won't! I came to tell you what I want you to do." Tessibel sank into the chair, her legs refusing to hold her up any longer. Frederick was looking down at her sorrowfully. How could he ever have left her.'' His excuse about his mother's needing money now seemed small and unimportant. How like a glorious golden mantle her curls encompassed her! A spas- modic desire to twine them again around his fingers gripped him. He wanted to take her in his arms, to love her, to be loved in return, as she had loved him on the ragged rocks. How beautiful she was — yet how frail and worn! It seemed as if the ice that had warped and frozen his heart to 'a hard, unresponsive mass, during the months with Madelene, was melting 'in the presence of the girl he loved. His soul had 'thirsted for the sight of her, his arms yearned to hold ' and press her close. He stood a moment undecided, then suddenly bent forward and drew her forcibly to him. Groaning deeply, he dropped his hot lips upon her neck, and Tessibel started back as if he'd stung her. "If you lobk at me so cold and white, Tess," he moaned, "I shall— I'U—" Then he sought for her lips and found them, kissing her stormily until. she felt a ke^ sense of terror and 154 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY physical pain. His passionate insistence carried her completely out of" herself for the instant. "Tess, Tess!" he murmured, "nothing matters now! Don't send me away from you again, sweet." Tess lay in his arms, mute and unresponsive. "Say one little kind word to me, Tess," he implored again, brokenly. But Tess couldn't speak. She felt her tongue burn as if infinitesimal sparks had touched each groove upon it. She could not stay in his arms ! Before tjie world he belonged to another woman. She pushed him away, drew herself from his embrace, and sat down again. Her action brought a fierce ejaculation from the boy's lips. When Frederick ordered his horse that morning, Madelene had slipped her hand into his. "May I go with you, dear?" she begged. "Do order my horse, too, won't you?" He colored to the roots of his hair and shrugged his shoulders impatiently. "I'd rather go by myself," he returned so curtly that Madelene bit her lips to keep back the tears. Stung with jealousy, the young wife watched her husband ride out under the bare trees to the road be- yond. Then she ordered her own horse, and dressed herself quickly. Affairs between the young couple had reached a crucial point. Madelene's suspicions of Frederick were unusually active. She had it clearly in mind that he had gone to the Skinner hut. All the distance to the lake her face burned. She knew well enough she was doing something unpardonable, but how could she stay calmly at home when stinging jealousy goaded her to action? She cantered past Kennedy's farm and on down the hill, her thoughts in a turmoil. If Frederick were not with the squatter girl, how happy she'd be! She hadn't formulated an excuse for Tessibel if she found her suspicions incorrect. She'd have to tell her some- thing reasonable. Ah, she would pretend she'd come about the church singing. Beyond and below the lake lay grey and somber, •^ Digitized by Microsoft® THE REPUDIATION 166 shadowed by the winter sky. The wind stung her face and tweaked her fingers through her warm gloves. Directly in front of the Young house, she reined in her horse and contemplated it. How much had happened since she had married Frederick, and Ebenezer had married Helen Young — ^how much to her and to him! Frederick's conduct had destroyed her illusions about marriage. She could be supremely happy if he ■ would treat her a little more as if she were his wife, more as the husbands of her friends treated them. She rode on again slowly until through the willow trees she saw the smoke curling upward from the chimney of the Skinner shanty. Her heart beat furiously when she slipped from her horse and tied him to a fence post. Intuitively, she felt she'd find her husband with Tessibel Skinner. She walked the rest of the way down the hill, stopped before the hut and looked it over. All without lay dressed in its winter garb, and the small house, save for the smoke, appeared uninhabited. Then as a human sound from a tomb, came Fred- erick's voice. Madelene staggered back. She real- ized that not for one single instant had she doubted she would find her husband there. And he was there! She'd heard his voice passionately insisting something. Red fire flashed in front of her eyes. Without thought of consequences, she flung open the door and stood on the threshold, breathless and crim- son, in all her indignant wifehood. Frederick stood near the chair in which sat Tessibel. In one single moment Madelene sent an appraising glance over the girl huddled in the wooden rocker — a woman's glance, mercilessly discovering her condition. Then her blaz- ing eyes came back to Frederick. He had not spoken at her appearance-~-he had^^ly reeled backward a few steps. "You see I followed you," said Madelene in cold, metallic tones. "I knew you were coming here when you left home." Tessibel got up slowly, went forward, and closed the door. Once more the man she loved had brought humiliation upon ^^^^ ^^ Microsoft® 156 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY! "He were just a goin' to go!" she whispered, and she went back and dropped into her chair. "Oh, he was, eh?" Madelene laughed harshly. "It's very good of you to let him go. I'U give you to under- stand my husband — " She made a rapid step toward Tess, whose head w«,nt up instantly. The red-brown eyes battled an instant' with the blue, stopping Madelene's progress. Fred- erick, stung to action, reached forth and grasped his wife's arm, "Madelene!" he exclaimed. His tone brought flash- ing eyes upon him. "You think I'm going to stand tamely by and watch you come here to see her? . . . You both think I'm a fool, I suppose. Well, I'm not such a fool as I look !" Defiantly, the speaker surveyed her husband up and Sown. "I knew very well you intended coming here. That's why I asked — ^you to take me today and why I — ^followed you. I've had hard work to make myself believe you'd leave me for — " Her scintillating look swept again over Tess from head to foot. Her eyes drew down at the corners; so did her lips. It dawned dazedly on Tess how much Madelene looked like her brother. Then, suddenly Mrs. Graves laughed, a note of triumph riding in her tones. She faced Frederick and throwing out both hands, disdainfully, at the squatter girl huddled in the chair, cried, "My God, look at her! If you've any eyes, you'll see . . ." and turning upon Tessibel, "Were you trying to pass ofF on my husband a spurious — " The scorn in the contemptuous tones of the shrill voice stung like ,'a whip lash. • ' The appeal gathering slowly in Tess' eyes was but a dumb response to the other woman's taunting, bitter words. She could not have spoken had her life been at stake. She crouched down in terrified shame. Then like a flash the meaning of his wife's words rushed over the almost stupefied man ! God ! and he had not known! Tessibel, m her new light of coming motherhood, cowered before him like a stricken thing. He sprang forward during Madelene's hesitation and *^ ° Digitized by^icrosoft® THE REPUDIATION 157 grasped his wife's arm again. He was so furiously angry his tightening fingers brought a cry of pain from her. "Hush!" he cried peremptorily. "Hush! . . . You're crazy! . . . Ha\en't you any heart? . . . You've gone mad!" Madelene shook off his hand. "Yes, I'm mad. half c^azy. And you've made -ne o. Ever since I married you, you've had this girl in your mind mo'-ningj acoE and night. . . . Now I know :'t?. Oh, whaf - fool I was! I — I suppose possibly the next thinj,- we'll know you'll be claiming the — :'' Fred-r^ck shook her roughly. "I said to stop it," he gritted. "Come away this minute * Madelene crying now, was struggling to pull herself from Frederick's grasp. "I want to ialk to that woman before I go," she Bcreamed in desperation. "Let me go, Fred! I will speak to her." "You'll not if I can help it," answered Frederick. **Come out of here, I say!" By main strength he was drawing his wife toward the door. Tess was staring at them as if they were creatures from another world. "I'm sorry," Frederick said directly over Madelene's bead to her. "Dreadfully sorry." "Sorry!" shrieked Madelene. "Sorry for such a woman! Look what you've done to me, both of you!" She wrenched herself from the strong fingers and flung back to the squatter girl. "I want to know if my hus- band is the father — " Frederick had hold of her once more. The anger iti his white face was terrible to see. "If you speak to her again," he said murderously* «1'11— I'll— '* "I suppose you'll kill me," shrilled his wife. "Well, go ahead! The only way you'll ever get her will be when I'm dead!" Then she thrust her white working face close to his. "If she won't speak, will yovL? You're my husband, and I find you here with this—* Jhis— -! ( » e Are you the father of her baby?" Digitized b/IVIicrosoft® 158 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "No," said Frederick, dropping his eyes. "No, of course not!" Tessibel bent her head to receive the last brutal stroke he had to give. She moved but uttered no sound. "Well, do you love her then?" demanded Madelene. And Frederick, not daring to look at Tess, repeated, "No, of course not. . . . Don't be a fool!" "Then, what do you want of him, girl?" Madelene cried hoarsely to Tessibel. "You've heard what he said." Tess thought she was going to die. All the awful . hurt which had lain dormant for so many weeks rose up with ten thousand times the vigor. It was as if Heaven had belched out flames to consume her, and she knew there was no escape from this thing that had come upon her. Frederick had not only repudiated his love for her, but his baby too. She threw back her curls with a proud gesture. "I don't want 'im," she said straight to Madelene, *Take 'im away an' don't let 'im come here any more." When Madelene started to speak again, Frederick shoved her from the hut into the gray day. He turned once and looked at Tess. She was just where he'd left her, her eyes brimmed with sorrow and her teeth locked lightly together. Then the door banged shut and she was alone in the kitchen. A little later she heard as in a dream the sound of horses' hoofs retreating far up the lajie. Then all the powers of darkness closed in about her, and malicious elfin voices chattered her shame in her ears. Frederick had repudiated her and his child andl had gone I Tess staggered forward, and a few minutes afterward, when Andy slipped down the ladder, he found her curled up on the cot insensible, her face shrouded in red curls. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XXIII The QuAEEEii When Frederick Graves closed the door of the Skin- jner hut, he wheeled furiously upon his young wife. ' "Come home," he said gruffly. "You've done enough harm for today." "If I've done more than you have," retorfed Mad- elene, tartly, "then I'm some little harm maker !" Suf- fering intensely from jealousy, she whirled about, cry- ing, "That's what's been the matter with you all the time we've been abroad ! And I know very well Tessibel Skinner sent for you to come home." "That's a lie," interrupted Frederick, fiercely. Madelene paused in her ascent of the hill lane. "What made you come down here today, then, if you didn't want to see her yourself?" Frederick was sUent. He hated scenes like this. If he spoke his real mind, he'd plunge himself into hot water at once. And he was always careful not to do that. Silence at the present moment was better than speech. Besides, his late contact with Tessibel Skin- ner had left him aquiver. Oh, how he loved her! Every nerve in his body called out for sight of his be- loved. He would have gone back to the shack if he'd dared. "Where did you leave your horse.?" snapped Mad- lelene, when they'd nearly reached her own. "In the lower stable at my father's old place, — over P there." "I'll help you mount and then get my horse," said he. "Do you wish to ride on without me.'"' Mrs. Graves made a dissenting gesture. "No, of course, I don't. I want you to cwme with me directly. I won't let you out of my sight so near that girl. I think it's perfectly outrageous! I some- how believe you lied to me about — " 159 Digitized by Microsoft® 160 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "Keep your opinions to yourself," growled Fred- erick. "I've no wish to hear them." Madelene was about to put her foot into the stirrup. Instead, she stood while fresh tears gathered under her lids. "Frederick, you're cruel and awfully ugly to me," she said plaintively. "How can you do such things after all the money I've given you?" Frederick expressed his feeling by a cynical little laugh. "Perhaps if you didn't throw up your confounded benevolence so often, I might show more gratitude," he snapped back. Then he lifted her to the saddle, gave her the bridle, and walked beside her to the barn. His thoughts were busy untU, when they reached home, the silence between them was appalling. Thank- ful to be a few minutes by himself, the young man went away to stable the horses and his wife entered the house. Madelene found her brother sitting before the grate fire. Helen looked up and smiled at her sweetly. "Come and get warm, dear," she said. "You've had a long ride, haven't you? . . . Why, what's the matter, Madelene?" Mrs. Graves dropped into a chair. "I'm so awfully unhappy," she cried, "and Freder- ick's as mean as he can be. ... I hate that Skinner girl!" Mrs. Waldstricker dropped her work into her lap. Ebenezer looked at his sister critically. "What's she done to you now?" he asked, without/ waiting for his wife to speak. Madelene flung up an angry, flushed face. *'She's done enough! I hate her and always shall. She sent for Frederick to come down there — and he went—" "Are you sure?" asked Mrs. Waldstricker, in a shocked voice. "Of course I'm sure ! I'm not in the habit of saying things I'm not sure of, Helen. I might have known when people told me he was in love with that squatter at was true. Digitized by Microsoft® THE QUARREL 161 Her loud, angry voice reached Frederick as he en- tered the room. The frown deepened on his brow. He looked at his brother-in-law for a minute. He never remembered being so angry before. "Madelene has told a direct falsehood when she says Tessibel Skinner sent for me," he said. "She did not !"/ "But I found him in her shanty, Ebenezer dear," thrust in Madelene, "and she's a wicked, little huzzy." "Hush!" cried Frederick, white-lipped. "I won't hush, so there!" screamed his wife. "1 won't! I won't! . . . And, Ebenezer, she's bad, she is ! She's going to have a — " Frederick wheeled around desperately. Madelene was placing him at the extreme of his endurance. Hu- man nature could bear no more. "Oh, my God, such a woman!" he exclaimed. "There, you see!" gasped Madelene. "He won't lis- ten to a thing against her, and he's been acting as guilty as he could all the way home. . . , No wonder I don't believe a word he says !" Mrs. Waldstricker picked up her work, folded it, an! hfeayt of our sinning sister here present and soften it, making her obedient to these thy servants, to whom Thou hast committed the government of thy church." Why! What had he said? "Sinning sister . . . here present." Why, they were all men but her ! The pastor finished his prayer with a resounding "Amen," "in which the elders joined reverently. Confused, Tes- sibel sat back in the pew, puzzled and frightened. "I have before me here on my desk," Griggs an- nounced, "a letter from Deforrest Young. In answer to a letter from the church, asking him to be with us this, afternoon, he has requested that Brother Ebenezer Waldstricker be instructed to vote in his name. ... I do so instruct you, Brother Waldstricker." Ebenezer moved in his seat as if in consent. "It's a 3elicate matter which we have to consider," observed the minister, looking from pale face to pale face. Tessibel glanced at the speaker. He, too, was ashen in the dim afternoon light. "Come to the point, please," commanded Wald- stricker, curtly. The minister bowed his head in silent prayer. "Tessibel Skinner," he said, "I ask you to stand Up." The girl got up obediently, but sank down again, her trembling legs refused to support her. She did not, ho'wever, turn her startled brown eyes from her pastor's face. "It is charged against you, Tessibel Skinner," he read from a paper before him, "that you have broken the laws of God and violated the discipline of this church ; that you, an unmarried woman, are now preg- nant. Are you guQty or not guilty ?" As the accusing voice ceased, the stern eyes of the dark-faced men, who had watched her closely during the reading, seemed to pierce her through and through, ... to lay bare her most intimate secrets. What should she say? She wasn't unmarried, as the pastor had charged, but the rest was true. Without Frederick's consent, she couldn't explain; she couldn't deny the charge. Surely, Frederick would stand forth arid defend her now. She listened intently for a sound Digitized by Microsoft® 174 SECRET OF THE STORM COXJNTRY from him. She dared not turn toward him, for fear she might break her promise by some look or word. But nothing except the storm-sounds disturbed the silence of the little church. Frederick had failed her again ! Unable alike to plead guilty or not guilty, she sat head bowed and eyes downcast before her judges. Waldstricker broke the appalling hush. *'Speak up, girl," he ordered harshly. "You'r« guilty, aren't you.'"' The forlorn child struggled to her feet and raised her eyes to the speaker's face. "Oh, sirs, don't ask me 'bout it," she begged with outstretched hands. "I can't tell ye nothing 'bout it 'cept ... I air goin' to have a baby in the spring." Waldstricker glanced significantly at the other elders who nodded in acquiescence. Then he turned to the minister, still in the pulpit. "It is enough," he decided sternly. "She has con- ,^f€;ssed her sin." ^■^Dropping again into the pew, Tessibel cast a quick glance toward Frederick, who stared set-faced out into the storm. "We find, Tessibel Skinner," continued the minister, as though reciting a carefully rehearsed speech, "you have sinned grievously. Your silence convicts you. You are no longer worthy of membership in this church, of commiinion with Christian people. But it is not right that you should suffer alone. For your soul's welfare and in the interest of justice, I ask you the name of th^ man — " , Tess got up again and faced them . . . disgraced/ and outcast might be, but she must be loyal to her promise. "Don't ask me that, sir," she pleaded, bewildered, flinging a terrified glance toward the door. "I air goin' now, an'U never come no more, but don't ask me to say nothin', please." She turned into the aisle as Griggs stepped from the platform. She directed an appealing glance toward him that cut the man's heart through like a knife. *'I want to go," she repeated. "Please !" Digitized by Microsoft® THE CHURCHING 176 *'Not yet," broke in Waldstricker, grim-jawed, "It's the duty of this church to teach you a lesson if it can." Tess looked helplessly at the row of stern men. What did they intend to do to her? Oh, if they'd but let her go back to Daddy Skinner! "Please let me go home to my daddy," she pleaded faintly. "I'll never come no more, but I can't — ^I can't talk." Waldstricker walked toward her menacingly. "You've got to talk," he gritted, grasping her arm. "You've simply got to answer what the pastor just asked you." Tess flashed him a look of abhorrence. Oh, how she hated this man! ... It seemed to her that he killed for the sake of killing . . . tortured for the pure joy of it. She set her teeth hard on her under lip, shaking his hand from her arm. "I won't talk !" she cried. "You let go of me ! See? You touch me again an' — an' — I'll — I'll — " She paused for some fitting threat. Would no one help her? No, not a friendly face met her searching gaze. If she could get to the door — out into the snow, under God's gr^y sky ! But as if divining her intention, the elders gathered in an accusing squad in front of her. Frederick remained in his chair by the window, appar- ently oblivious to the tragedy being enacted in his presence. "I wish ye'd let me go home to my Daddy Skinner," she prayed again. Her curls fell in a cluster over either shoulder as she ^ank to her knees in the aisle. Waldstricker whirled upon Griggs. "Make her tell us what we must know," he insisted, "or by the God that rules this house, I'll have her sent to some place where incorrigible girls go!" Incorrigible girls ! He had said incorrigible girls of her, Tessibel Skinner, who obeyed even a glance from any one she loved. Desperately, she made a direct ap- peal to him. "My daddy's near dead, Mr. Waldstricker. Please don't send me away from him, not yet — ^not ^ust yet." "Then answer what we ask of you, child,'' imtsTJected digitized by Microsoft® 176 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY the minister. "I think Brother Waldstricker has some c[uestions to ask you." Waldstricker drew a paper from his pocket. "How old are you, Tessibel Skinner?" he demanded. "Over half past sixteen," whispered the girl's white lips. She was over half past sixteen. There was no harm in telling that. It wouldn't hurt Frederick for the church people to know her age, "Are you a member of this church.?" Tessibel lifted her head. "Ye all know I air." "Then answer this," shouted Eb. "Who is the mani that made you unfit for decent people to speak to?" The wobegone face hid its crimson tide in two quiv- ering hands. The end of the shining red curls swept the floor. Frederick made no sound. "Who is he?" insisted Waldstricker once more. "I can't tell," moaned the girl. "I'll make you tell," he threatened, infuriated. "I won't!" reiterated Tess, raising her head. "I can't." Madelene's sad, tearful face flashed through Wald- stricker's mind with the suspicions she had aroused against Frederick. Like an angry horse, his nostrils lifted and sniffed the air. Fury against this girl rode in his heart. "You needn't tell us the man's name," he taunted triumphantly. "We already know it." XTp struggled Tess to her feet and thrust back the tawny curls feverishly. If they knew, then Frederick had told them. "And you've got to marry him," Waldstricker's , hoarse voice came to her ears. Why, she was married to him! . . . that long ago night. If he had told them anything, why had he not told them all? She dared not look around, but waited breathlessly. "We've decided," Ebenezer proceeded, "that if you iconsent to our plans, you will suffer no further disgrace. You can go away with your husband and have your home — " Tess grew dizzy ^.^^.^^.tmi^with joy. She had. THE CHURCHING 177. been given back her husband, her Frederick! Wald- stricker had used the word "home." A home with — • with — His voice broke in upon her dreams brusquely, creating grotesque figures in her brain. What was he saying? She turned dilating eyes toward him. "Lysander Letts! Lysander Letts!" Walds,tricker shouted again. The door at the side of the pulpit swung open and Sandy slouched in and came forward. "Here's your woman," the elder continued, looking from Tess to the squatter. "Take her, and may God forgive you both for the sin you've committed." Tess stood rigidly waiting. She didn't turn her head toward the oncoming man; rather she centered a pro- longed gaze upon her persecutor. When she felt some one pause at her side, she moved away, still without speaking. "Parson Griggs, marry the man and woman," roared Waldstricker. Excitedly he tossed the damp hair from his forehead, his cheek muscles working involuntarily. His scheme was near its fruition. Tessibel Skinner was almost married. Already Ebenezer could see, in his mind's eye, how happy Madelene would be when he brought her the news. The big, dark-faced squatter was standing beside the red-headed girl, and Silander Griggs was hurriedly hunting through a book for the marriage ceremony. "Make it short," gritted Waldstricker to the min- ister. Tess stood as if she had died standing, her face de- void of blood even to the lips. Misery, deep and unut- terable, rested upon the white face. When she raised her eyes and saw Letts at her side, and Griggs with an open book in front of her, she wheeled away without a word. I "Marry him I" cried Waldstricker. "No," said Tess. "Letts,'take hold of her hand," commanded the elder. Sandy, rage working alive in his eyes, tried to obey the churchman. But the girl took another step away. "Gimme yer han^li^v^jl^S^^. J78 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY All he wanted was to get the squatter girl into his pos^session. He had not forgotten the threats he had made in other days, and in another hour, he would wring from her the name he wanted. "No," said Tess again. "You mean you're not going to marry Mr. Letts.-"' asked Griggs. Tessibel caught her breath, swayed, but shook her head. "No, I ain't goin' to marry 'im," she answered. Marry Sandy Letts, a man she hated ! Of course she "■ couldn't ! . . . She was already married. She couldn't commit such a sin as that, not e'ven if — if — She turned a little and glanced in the direction of Fred- erick, but dropped her eyes before they found him. Waldstricker grew intense with suspense, and a sud- den determination to test his and Madelene's suspicions came over him. "Frederick," he cried, "come here and help us force this huzzy to marry the man who betrayed" her !" Frederick rose from his chair as though to obey, and in turning, looked squarely into the girl's eyes. "My Grod, Eb, I can't !" he protested, his voice thick with horror. "Let her go, Eb ! For God's sake, man, you can't marry her against her will! Let her go!" He sank down, and rested his head on his arms upon the chair back, his shoulders shaking violently. The minister came to Tessibel's side. He placed a pitying hand on her head, facing his elders. "Let her go home, brethren," he entreated. "You can't make her do this thing if she refuses, and the . . . business can go on without her." "She's a wicked girl," snorted Ebenezer, with a bit- ''ter twist of his lips. "I say to let her go," repeated Griggs. "And I say she shall be punished," Waldstricker flared from the minister to the elders and then rested is gaze on Frederick, who was by this time sobbing in great gulps. Pastor Griggs considered his parishioner's angry face. Griggs was young and stood in awe of some members of his §,9I^WdMm^^^ "^°^^ °* *"' ^''* THE CHURCHING 1?9 the sight of the girl in such anguish overcame his tim- idity, and he cried: "Let him that is without sin among you first cast a stone at her." Tessibel sank sobbing to the floor, and her pastor stood by her side, hand uplifted, waiting. Then over Ebenezer's countenance flashed a look of self-righteous fanaticism, which made large the pupils of his dark eyes and inflamed his swarthy skin deepest crimson. He strode to the stove, picked from the scut- tle a ragged chunk of coal, and when he turned again, he had changed from red to white. Crazed, he took two steps toward the kneeling girl. "I can cast the first stone," he said swiftly. He lifted his arm and before any man could stay his hand, something whirled through the intervening space and struck the kneeling squatter girl. High pan- demonium broke loose. Voices, some censorious, some »pproving, contended. ''I have first case a sione dt her," cried Waldstricker, above the din. "Let others follow if they dare!" Tessibel crouched lower to the floor, a bleeding wound in her neck. She had made no outcry when the missile met and lacerated her flesh. Dully, she wondered if they intended to kill her, and for a moment a sicken- ing dread took possession of her when she thought of Daddy and Andy. She was growing faint and dizzy, but struggled to her feet as Griggs took her arm. He led her through the Chapel aisle, pushing aside the other men. At the door, Tess caught one glimpse of Sandy Letts' dark, passionate face. "Go home," the minister said hoarsely; "and may God forgive us all." How Tessibel found her way home, she could never afterwards teU. Spent by the struggle with the storm, she staggered into the shanty. It took almost the last atom of her strength to close the door against the howling blizzard. Leaning against the wall, she looked up and saw Andy staring at her from the hole in the ceiling, his fingers on his lips. Digitized by Microsoft® 180 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTR'S: "It were awful cold under the bed," he told her. "Yei; Daddy air asleep, so I came up here to keep warm !" When he noticed the girl's unusual appearance. He scurried down the ladder, waddled across the kitchen, and stood in front of his friend. , "What air the matter, brat.?" he quivered. Solicitous, he helped her into a chair near the fire 'and took oif her hat and coat. The blood from the ,'neck wound had made crimson blotches on her white waist. "Ye're hurt, honey," he cried, alarmed. "How'd it happen?" "I air hurt a little," said she, faintly. "Fetch me some water, dear, an' don't — don't tell Daddy !" "Get on the cot, kid," said he, "an' I'll put up the bar." In another moment he was leaning over her. He brushed back the tousled hair from the girl's forehead, and pulled away the long curls seeped with blood. "I air yer friend, brat," he whispered. "Tell me 'bout it." Tessibel had to confide in somebody. "I'U get a rag first an' wipe ye off," said the dwarf. *'My, but ye did get a cut, didn't ye? ... What did it?" Gently he began to wash away the crimson stain from her face and neck. "Somebody hit ye?" he demanded presently. "Yep." "AVho? . . . Who dared do it?" The dwarf? ,face darkened with rage. "Where were the brute that done it.?" "Andy," sobbed Tess, "I air goin' to teU ye some- thin' ; ye may think I air awful wicked, but — but — Andy, don't teU Daddy, but in the spring I air goin' to — "Yep, I know, Tess," he murmured. "I heard the woman yeUin' at ye the uther day way through my blankets. But 'tain't nothin' to cry over. God'll bless ye, brat, and God'll bless — ^it!" Her sobbing slowly subsided, and in halting words Tess told the dwarf the story of the afternoon's dread- ful experience. Digitized by Microsoft® THE CHURCHING 181; "And, Andy, it were awful. Mr. Griggs wanted to let me go home, but the uther men wouldn't, an' then the minister says like Jesus did to the men who were goin' to stone the poor woman, 'Let him that ain't a sinner throw the first stone,' an' Waldstricker picked up a great hunk o' coal and hit me with it. Do ye suppose he air so awful good an' I air so awful wicked he had a right to strike me?" "Sure he didn't, Tess," Andy comforted. "Course not!" The willows moaned their weird song to the night, the wind shrieked in battling anger over the tin on the roof, while the snowflakes came against the window like Sale eyes looking in upon the squatter girl and the warf on his knees beside the cot bed. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XXVn Daddy Skinnee's Death It was Saturday evening, three days after Tessibd Skinner had been churched from Hayt's Chapel. The night wind called forth moaning complaints from the willow trees. The rasping of their bare limbs against the tin roof of the cottage did not disturb Daddy Skin- ner struggling for breath in the room below. All the familiar night-noises kept a death vigil with the squat- ter girl. A sound outside made her lift her head. Kennedy's brindle bull was scratching to come in. She rose, went to the door and opened it. Pete ambled over the threshold and curled down by the stove. "Any thin' the matter, brat?" whispered Andy. "No, I were lettin' in the dog," explained Tess, re- suming her seat beside Daddy Skinner who was 'stretched, dying, on her cot. She had moved him from the back room into the warm kitchen, and at that mo- ment he was sleeping restlessly. The sight of his work- ing face brought a quick hand to Tessibel's lips, and her white teeth set deeply into the upraised knuckles to help stifle the groans. Every trouble of her own sank into insignificance before the calamity facing her. Many times Tess had viewed death afar oif, but not until the past three days had it threatened her own loved ones. In that hour she was experiencing the extremity of sorrow, and each aching nerve in her body seemed to possess a stabbing volition of its own, for again and again the torturing points stung her flesh like whips. For three long days she had managed somehow, to uphold the dear, dying father. No word had come from Deforrest Young, and Tess felt sure he had returned twenty-four hours before. Perhaps Waldstricker had robbed her of her dearest friend. Bitterly pained, the girl realized what the loss would mean to her. Yet she 182 Digitized by Microsoft® DADDY SKINNER'S DEATH 183 had no censure in her heart for Deforrest Yqung; in- deed no bitterness for Frederick Graves; only a deep, deep gratitude to the one, and a great, overwhelming love for the other. And while thinking of what an empty void her life was becoming, Tess saw her father's head turn and his lids lift heavily. "Daddy !" she murmured, but if he heard, he did not heed. He was gazing steadily at something over and beyond her head, and then he smiled at it. In supersti- ' tious dread, the squatter girl glanced where the faded eyes were directed. What had he seen.'' A face, per- haps, or the passing shade that always haunted a squatter shanty when some one was dying, but then, many times she, too, had seen faces in the rafters up there among the dry nets. "My pretty brat," were the words that brought her startled eyes back to her father. Her throat filling with heavy sobs, she went over and kissed him stormily. The horny, stifP fingers gathered a few of her red curls and drew them slowly upward until parched lips touched them, while tears stole from under withered lids, and Tess cried out in sharp anguish. "Daddy Skinner, I can't live without ye!" she moaned, cupping his face with her hands. "Take Tess- ibel with ye; take 'er, please!" She cuddled at his side, lifted one of his heavy arms and put it around her in pleading anguish. Just then it seemed as if it would put off the approach of death if she insisted on staying within the hroad grasp of Daddy Skinner's arms. She was wiping away his tears, tenderly touching the dying face with faltering fingers. "I saw yer ma," choked Skinner thickly, and ho smiled again. Tess turned her head, a dreadful sinking in her soul. Her mother's face, then, was what Daddy had seen away off up there among the rafters. The mother who had died so long ago had come after her dear one. Drawing one tense set of fingers backward across her cheek, Tess stood up quickly. Perhaps — perhaps — She threw a g'lance at the ceiling. Daddy Skinner tad seen her mother. They were going away together. Digitized by Microsoft® 184 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY If they would but take her with them! She turned unsteadily to go she knew not where, but the sound of her father's voice brought her quickly back. "Brat," he faltered, "lean down — I want to tell ye somethin'." Tess bent her ear close to the thick blue lips. "I air here, Daddy ! Tess air here," she mourned. Long, laboring breaths moved the red curls hanging about the girl's rigid face. "I said as how I air here. Daddy," she murmured again, touching him. But Daddy Skinner was once more gazing into the dark rafters, his jaws apart, the greyness of death settling about his mouth. "Daddy ! Daddy !" screamed Tess. "Don't look likq that! Don't go away — oh. Daddy, please! . . .TVady! Andy!" The dwarf slipped down the ladder, and dropped at the side of the bed. The dog roused from his nap by the stove was already there, nuzzling his tawny head against his distressed friend, while he made inarticulate sounds of sympathy in his deep throat. "Pal Skinner !" Andy cried, white with apprehension. "Give us a word, old horse." Placing his hand upon Pete's collar, the dwarf drew him, with a word of command, to the floor beside him. The dying fisherman looked from his prison friend to his daughter. He lifted a limp hand, and it rested upon the girl's bowed head. The other he dropped heavUy on Andy Bishop's shoulder. It was as if he were giving to them both his parting benediction. In mechanical sequence the dwarf counted the dying man's mouth open and shut five times before the struggling voice came forth. "I were goin' to say somethin' to ye, Tess," he then gasped, moistening his lips. "Gimme a — drink — of water." Andy held the cup while Orn drank. He struggled to swallow, belching forth hot breath. "When I air gone, brat dear," he articulated huskily, "stay in the shanty an' take care of Andy till there ain't no more danger fer 'im. Ye'U promise me, Tess?" Digitized tiy Microsoft® DADDY SKINNER'S DEATH 18Sf She enclosed his hand in hers and held it to her lips. "I were a wantin' to go with you and Mummy, Daddy," she sobbed. "I air always lonely in the shanty without ye — ^but if ye say, 'Stay with Andy,' then I stays." "That air what I says, brat, darlin'," panted Skin- ner. Then for many minutes he was lost in the terrible struggle of strong life against the grip of death. Tess wound her arms about his neck and lifted the great head to her breast. She stared at his changing face as at an advancing ghost. He seemed to be slipping slowly into the great be- yond, and she was powerless to hold him back. How many times had Daddy Skinner spoken of dy- ing! How many times had she heard him agree with Andy that death was better than life any day ! Sut at those times she had beaten back the muttered words of her father and the dwarf. Ah, in those days, death had been far away, kept off by happiness unsurpassed ! "It air hard fer some folks to die," wailed the fisher- man. "An' so easy fer uthers. Me — now me — Ohj God, oh, brat-love, let me go ! I hurt so ! I hurt awful — ^let me go !" The heart of the tortured, sobbing girl seemed to be bursting from its pain and suspense. Her beloved father wanted to go away — to follow the wraith mother beckoning from the rafters. How could she open her arms and allow him to leave her alone in the shanty ! "Help me, brat-love," sighed Daddy Skinner once more. "Help yer old sick daddy!" Help him! How could she? Hitherto Tessibel's faith had loyally responded to every demand upon her. But she couldn't help her daddy die! She knew not how! Then, as if drawn by some invisible power, her eyes lifted, piercing the shadows among the time-dried nets. And there, for one small moment, she saw — she saw a face, a young, girlish face, infinitely sweet, smil- ing down upon her. "It air the Mummy !" she cried, her voice vibrant with love. "I air goin' to help 'im, darlin'." Digitized byWicrosoft® J86 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY Buoyantly her mind gripped the old-tiine faith, the redoubtable faith that had opened wide Auburn Prison, that had restored to her arms this same adored father. She had helped him then — and oh, to help him now ! His great cry, "God, Tessibel, let me be goin'!" rang in her ears. Her gaze was glued to his face. Terror and pain were strangling his throat until his eyes grew death-dark in the struggle. Tessibel lifted her ashen' face, wildly working in entreaty. Oh, for a little faith ! Faith the size of a grain of mustard seed I And Daddy Skinner would be gone to that place beyond the clouds and the blue, where suffering is not. Did he, could he, believe? Did she, could she, believe, too? Then in a blinding flash, she remembered the mysterious dawning of her own faith. Enduring sublime suffering, she bent once more and drew her father's heavy head to her breast. "Daddy ! Darlin' old, good Daddy, look at yer dear brat, an' listen to 'er." "I air a listenin', my girl," he said between set teeth. She put her head directly in line with her father's vision. "Look at me, Daddy," she craved tremulously, "an' listen to me. Can't ye remember how ye came back from Auburn like the innercent man ye were ?" "Yep," whispered Skinner. " 'Twere the Christ on the cross helped ye. Daddy. Ye air wishin' to go away now with my mummy, huh?" "Yep," groaned Skinner. "God, aw kind, merciful God, let me go !" Tess laid him gently back on the pillow. A bright light flashed into her soul. The red in her eyes turning almost to black. "Then go, my darlin'! Go, Daddy," she moaned, rising and looking upward. *'Take 'im, Mummy, little love-mummy, take 'im back to Heaven with ye." Inspired by that smiling face in the rafters, Tessibel opened her lips and began to sing, "Rescue the Perlshin'; Care for the Dyin'." It was a glorious strain that echoed and reechoed aroiind and around the shanty kitchen. It gathered within its heavenly power the moaning of the wind and Digitized by Microsoft® DADDY SKINNER'S DEATH 18T the haunting noises of the tin-rusted roof. Even the weeping willows, bowing their mournful heads in sympa- thy, could no longed be heard in their endless chant. Strangely stirred, Pete struggled up, disregarding the dwarf's desire to detain him. He placed his fore- feet on the edge of the bed, lifting his head to the girl's shoulder. Responsive to the pressure of his body, she threw her arm around him. Gravely the golden eyes ;of the great dog regarded his suffering master on the cot as the tender melody of the song continued to fill the shanty. Tessibel ever afterwards remembered Daddy Skinner's eyes as for those last few moments he lay looking at her. They were kindly, tender, smUrng, as he watched her lips moving in the song he'd always loved to hear her sing. He seemed to realize that she was singing him into the very presence of the Savior of the world — into the presence of Him who was leading Tessibel Skinner and her squatter father through their garden of Geth- semane. "Rescue the Perishin'; Care for the Dyin'." On and on she sang, and on and on the dying mai> gropingly felt his way to Eternity. Sometimes he smiled at her; sometimes at the wraith in the rafters. But- not for one moment did the voice of the little singer cease its insistent cry for a complete rescue. The dwarf was silent, his shining face reflecting the peace and security of which the squatter girl sang. "Rescue the Perishm'; Care for the Dyin'." The beautiful voice did not falter. Suddenly the f)owerful lungs of the fisherman gathered in one long, ast breath, and when it came forth to meet Tessibel's song, the broad shoulders dropped back, the chest re- ceded, the smile faded from the gray eyes — and Daddy Skinner was dead. He had died listening to those appealing, melodious words, "Rescue the Perishin'; Care for the Dyin'.'' That sudden collapsing change in the gaunt figure seemed to freeze t^|,;^gg^;f^39^Tessibel's lips. Her 188 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY voice trailed to a limp wail, as if an icy hand had caught her throat. Silence succeeded silence. Even the storm seemed for an instant to stiU. its raging roar, then Pete threw back his head and howled his grief. As his resonant cries filled the shack and mingled with the turmoil of the elements, Tess clung to the dog, staring with horrified eyes at the huge beloved form crushed and crumpled upon the cot. Death had come and gone. The mystery in the shadowy rafters had taken Daddy Skinner away. The dwarf raised his head and looked at Tess. Slowly , he leaned over and pressed his lips to Om Skinner's s^ brow, and as he rose, he lifted the girl's rigid arm from the tawny back and seized the dog by Sie collar to quiet him. Then came one of those unthinkable, weird cries, a nightmarish cry from the girl's throat, and — as God tempereth the wind to the shorn lamb, so in Divine pity he covered Tess of the Storm Country with mental , oblivion. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XXVin Young Discovers Andy During the minutes Daddy Skinner lay grappling iwith death, Ebenezer Waldstricker sat in his handsome drawing room with an open Bible on his knee, talking to his wife. "I've explained to you time and time agakcf Helen," jaid he impatiently, "why I struck her an£t I'm not sorry I did it." "It seems awful, though," replied his wife, ^8'eetively. Waldstricker frowned into the wistful face. "Why awful when the Bible ordered me to do it.'' I've given you the Master's own words to veiitf it. Didn't he say, 'Let the man without sin first ca:^t a stone?'" Mrs. Waldstricker raised her eyes to her husbar.d's face. "But Ebenezer — " "There's no argument, my dear," the man inter- nipted. "I tell you I know whereof I speak. It came to me like a flash on Wednesday in the church . . . I had to show the world a man — a man without sin." Helen stared back at him in amazement. Her hus- band had never before expressed himself in quite such bombastic terms, and, oh, dear, she knew he was good ; but for any human being to claim to be without sin! She'd never heard of such a thing. "But, dearest," she argued pleadingly and partly /rising, "are you sure.'"' "I have no doubt about it," interpolated Ebenezer, striking his chest emphatically. "As I said, I know whereof I speak." Helen sank down again. "I'm glad you can explain it, dear," she murmured dubiously. "It'll be easier for you to make Deforrest understand about it when he comes. He's so wrapped 189 Digitized by Microsoft® 190 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY up in that girl. ... He'll be here in a few minutes, I think, if the train's on time." "I'll make him understand all right," answered Ebenezer. The words had scarcely left his lips before both husband and wife heard the approach of sleighbells. "He's coming now," said Mrs. Waldstricker, and shq rose and started to the window. "Sit down and don't look as if you were going to die," her husband commanded. "But perhaps you'eJ better go to your room while I'm explaming the thing to him." When Deforrest Young opened the door and walked in, his face was wreathed in smiles. "Well, hello, everybody," he cried heartily. "It's aa awful night," Ebenezer rose and extended his hand. "So 'tis," he agreed, Helen went forward quickly and helped slip the snow- covered coat from Deforrest's shoulders. At the same time she lifted her lips for a kiss. How she adored this brother of hers, and how anxiously she desired he should be satisfied with Ebenezer's account of the church pro- ceedings. ^ "I'm lucky to be home for Sunday," remarked De- forrest. "I was afraid the case wouldn't close before day after tomorrow. But the jury came in last night, and everything was quickly closed up." "We read about it in the paper," said his sister sympathetically. "It must have been a harrowing thing to go through." I. "It certainly was! But the acquittal helped. The" Woman is very young and without friends, and I was glad to get it for her." "But she's bad !" cut in Waldstricker. "Every paper said she was guilty." "But the jury pronounced her innocent," exclaimed the lawyer, "so that puts an end to the argument !" Ebenezer fingered the leaves of the book he held. "I've the happenings of a week to tell you, Defor- rest," he stated deliberately, as if dismissing the former subject. Digitized by Microsoft® YOUNG DISCOVERS ANDY 191 Professor Young bent down and slipped oif his over- shoes. "I'm awfully tired, old chap," said he. "Won't they keep till morning.? I'd like a bite to eat, and then — then bed." He smiled at his sister. "How about some- thing to eat, sis, dear?" "Helen, go see about supper for your brother," ordered Ebenezer. Mrs. Waldstricker, seemingly glad to escape, left the room quickly. "Fire ahead, Eb," said Young. "I suppose I might as well hear it now as any time." "You sent Parson Griggs a letter for me to vote in your name?" "Of course," responded Young. "I knew Helen was interested in the Christmas festival, and I thought you'd do as well as I." "And so I did, brother," replied Ebenezer, pompous- ly, "and your vote turned the tide into the channel God wanted it. Some members allowed their himian feelings to run away with 'em." Ebenezer's mysterious words suddenly awakened De- forrest's interest. "Has something out of the ordinary occurred?" he queried. "Yes," assured Eb, "but I've attended to it all right!" Professor Young sighed. "That's good ! There, now, I'll sit by the grate and warm up while you tell me about it." He dropped into a large chair, and extended his feet to the cheerful blaze. Waldstricker paused before mak- ing his explanation. At length: "We put a member out of the church last Wednes- day," said he, steadily. Deforrest Young turned completely around and stared at his brother-in-law. "Put a member out of the church!" he repeated, thunder-struck. "Why church a member? . . . That is out of the ordinary, I should say. What'd he do?" "It wasn't a man, 'twas a woman." "Well, for God's sake!" Deforrest's voice was low, ' Digitized by Microsoft® 192 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY! deep, and filled with disgust. "I hope you men didn't make a mess of yourselves. . . . What happened? . . . Some girl kissed her sweetheart under the pine trees ?" The elder glanced over the top of his brother-in-law's head. "'Worse than that !" said he. "Much worse than that ! . . . We churched a Magdalene!" It took an appreciable length of time for Young's tall figure to rise from the chair. He turned around and stood with his back to the fire. "I didn't know we had a Magdalene in the church," he commented drily, and then more impetuously, "Oh, Lord, why don't you spit it out and not beat all around the bush telling me?" There was something about Ebenezer's slow manner of approaching the point that made Young impatient. In the meantime his mind was rapidly running over the women in the Hayt's congregation. Waldstricker got up, too, drawing his big frame to its full height. "We churched — Well, the fact is, — We churched Tessibel Skinner." When the name fell upon Deforrest Young's ears, every muscle in his body became rigid, making him taller by inches. "Tessibel Skinner?" he repeated mechanically, as if he'd heard awry. "Did you say Tessibel Skinner?" Waldstricker took a long breath. Deforrest was re- ceiving the action of the church with better grace than he had anticipated. "Yes, Tessibel Skinner!" he repeated. "She's witl child." In the awful minute after the torturing words had fallen from the other man's lips, Deforrest Young felt as if he must tear the lie from the speaker's throat. For it was a lie ! God I What a lie ! A lie told against Heaven's best — the best girl in all the world. Without a word, he reached for his overcoat. "What're you going to do?" demanded Ebenezer, a little perturbed. "You needn't see her. . . . She's been justly dealt with.". Digitized by Microsoft® YOUNG DISCOVERS ANDY 198 There was no answer from the tall lawyer. Only one thing was in Deforrest Young's mind — to go to Tessi- bel Skinner. He gave no thought to the wild night, no care for his own fatigue and hunger. Disdaining an- other glance at Ebenezer, he whirled to go. Helen's pale face appearing in the doorway made him pause. "Deforrest," she quivered. "Deforrest, dear, oh, don't go out tonight! Stay and let Ebenezer tell you about it, do please! The church has done all it could — it must be all right if the church did it, Forrie." Then Young's wrath broke loose. . . . "All right? All right?" he thundered. "The church has done all it can, eh? Well, by God!" He turned a livid face from one to the other. "What a cursed out- rage !" Waldstricker cried out, horrified. "Man, man, what are you saying ! ... How dare you provoke the wrath of God! . . . How dare you question the decision of the church I Besides, I tell you she's a Magdalene. She's been justly punished. I attended to it myself." Then Young saw clearly that the church action had but expressed his brother-in-law's will. He knew his implacable hatred of the squatters and particularly of Tessibel. He recognized that revenge had prompted him. Pushing the protesting elder aside, he ejaculated: "You pious hypocrite! Get out of my way," and was gone. The bitter winter wind nipped at Young as he strode down the steps and battled his way to the stables. Waldstricker's words were pounding at his brain like a hammer. What had they done to Tess? He remem- bered Ebenezer had said that his vote — his own dele- gated vote — had turned the tide against his pretty He had no mercy for the stumbling horse as he spurred down the long drive, into the public thorough- fare, and thence to the shore road. When he came opposite to his own closed, uninhabited house, he could see by straining his eyes the dusky shadow of the willow trees shrouding the Skinner home. A glimmer of li^f/zifei»jaigifi$io^om the curtained 194 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY window of the hut. With desperate haste he tied his horse to the fence post. He could scarcely stop to spread over the animal the blanket he'd brought for the purpose. Then as he waded through the snow and rounded the mud cellar a dog's mournful howling, pierced and punctuated by a girl's shriU, heart-broken cry, fell upon his startled ears. In another minute he had flung him- self against the shanty door and forced it open. Ken- nedy's bulldog greeted him, growling, and beyond him, stretched out upon the body of her dead father, lay Tess. Hovering over her, chattering, was Andy Bishop, the dwarf, the condemned murderer of Ebenezer Wald- stricker, Sr. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XXIX The Vigil Dtjking Professor Young's instant of hesitation on the threshold, the wind gusted sheets of snow into the Skinner shanty. Quieting the dog by a low-spoken word, Deforrest stepped in and closed the door against the storm. The acrid smoke drawn from the stove by the back-draft, fiUed the room, — a choking cloud. Andy stared at the intruder for an instant, and then turned again to the girl lying unconscious upon the body of her father. Young's vision comprehended the whole tragedy. He pulled off his cap and gloves and shook the snow from his shoulders. Advanced to the bedside, a glance sat- isfied him that the squatter was dead and that Tess had fainted. He had recognized the dwarf the minute he saw him, and heartsick with apprehension, he won- dered what he was doing there. "Get up," said he. "Let me look at her." The dwarf moved aside hesitatingly. "Air she dead, too?" he whimpered. "Bring me some water," commanded Young. Andy went to the pail, dipped a portion of water into a small basin, and waddled back with it. "Her daddy air dead," he offered. "Ye can see he air dead." "Yes!" nodded Young, taking the dish. He did not speak again until Tess groaned, and opened her eyes. She made a half struggle to sit up, and Young lifted her to her feet. "Lean on me," he said gently. Tess stared at him, incredulously. He had come after all ! Relief crumpled her up in his arms. "Daddy air dead," she whispered. "Yes, dear," soothed Young. "There, lean your head •jn my shoulder, poor little broken baby." 195 Digitized by Microsoft® 196 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY His tones were so tender, so soft ! They went to the heart of the stricken dwarf, and like a hurt child he burst into tears. Professor Young turned and looked at him. "Don't do that," he said huskily. "Sit down — don't cry!" Without moving from her position, Tess said, "Andy, Andy, dear, git on up in the garret a few minutes, will .ye?" The dwarf crept to the ladder, and Deforrest let him go. A dozen questions leapt to the lawyer's lips at the same time, but the girl against his breast looked so desperately ill he had no heart to ply them. Tess lifted her lids heavily. "Ye won't tell nobody he air here?" she gulped. "How long has he been here?" asked Young, instead of answering her question. "Ever since spring," sighed Tessibel. "Was he here that day when Mr. Waldstricker and my sister — " "Yep." The girl's whisper was very low. "And when Burnett came too, I suppose?" "Yep, I hid 'im. . . . Daddy loved 'im. Daddy She began to cry softly. Her confession had taken her mind back to the huge figure on the bed. "I wanted to go with Daddy," she sobbed. "I didn't know — I thought I couldn't live without 'im." Stooping, Deforrest gathered the mourning little one into his arms, and seating himself in the big rocker, pressed his cheek against her hair in sympathy. Pa- tiently he waited, holding her thus while the mercy of her flowing tears dulled the first sharp edge of her grief » Bye and bye the sobs ceased, and a faint, catchy little voice struggled up through the red curls to the man's ears. "Ye air awful good to me, you air. Oh, I needed ye so, and I feared — I feared mebbe ye wasn't never comin' again!" "My dear, my dear," Yoiin^ soothed, much moved. Then he rose and placed her m the chair. "You sit here and tell me about it." Digitized by Microsoft® THE VIGIL 197 Bravely she looked Into the friendly face, a doleful smile quivering on her lips. "The first uiing I want to know," she asked, "what air ye goin' to do 'bout Andy?" Professor Young had anticipated this question. "Until I've had more time to think about it, and until after the funeral anyway, I'll keep your secret," he reassured her kindly. "An' ye won't say anythin' to nobody 'bout 'im till ye talk with me again?" she queried, fearfully. "That's what I mean, Tess," Young answered. "Ye air so good to me, ye air," sighed Tess, satisfied. , "ChUd," began Young a moment later, "can you bear to tell me about it, now?" "About Daddy?" asked Tess, "or about the other The lawyer's nod, responsive to the latter half of her question, reawakened the suffering girl's memory of the horror of the church meeting. "It were so awful," she said after a pregnant pause. "I mean — Mr. Waldstricker — " "What about it? Tell me," Young interrupted, as the gentle voice hesitated. "See . . . this !" she murmured, turning her head. Young's eyes caught the red of the wound on her neck. "He did that! . . . How?" he ejaculated fiercely, "He hit me with a piece of — coal !" answered Tess, sinking back, very white. "No, no; God, no!" he cried desperately. "He couldn't have done that!" "He said I were . . . bad," interrupted Tess, very low. She bowed her head, and the man, stunned, made no move toward her. His muscles seemed powerless, and he had no volition to comfort her. He could not erase from his mind that horrid picture her few direct words had brought before him. "But . . . you air trustin' me !" was the way Tess brought him back to himself. "Then it's true what — wh&t — " His tongue grew parched. "Yep, but trust me, please !" cried Tess. Trust her ! Believe in her with her confession ringing Digitized by Microsoft® ° ^ 198 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY in his ears, God, if he did not love her, it wouldn't be so hard to believe, to trust, to help. But with this fierce jealousy stabbing at his heart, he felt he must know more — all. His mind went back to that time when she had come to him with a child in a basket, and her plea had been the same, "Oh, trust me ! Please trust me!" "If you could only . . . tell me . . . something," he « groaned. "It air true what Mr. Waldstricker hit me fer," bowed Tess, swallowing hard, "but I can't say nothin' 'bout it, I can't ! I ain't able to tell nothin' more'n that !" Young still stood several feet from her. "I must do something to help you," he implored. *'Won't you even tell me when it — it will be, Tessibel ?" Through her tense fingers the girl murmured a stifled "March." March — scarce three months away ! He would have given five years of his life to have had her tell him the truth about this thing that had crushed her. He made a nervous movement with his fingers to his hair. "You are bound by a promise.'"' he demanded sharply. A white, uplifted, pained face was his answer. "You'll tell me some day, if you can," he said, going swiftly to her. "Yes," whispered Tess. And then for a long time nothing was heard in the hut but the winter without, the growls and mutterings of the bulldog in his sleep by .the stove, and a sob now and then from the dwarf in the garret. The healing silence of a common love in the presence of a common grief settled upon the strangely matched couple. The little squatter girl, with her shameful secret, and the great lawyer and teacher, kept solemn vigU over the body of Daddy Skinner. « * * « • I Daddy Skinner was buried. All the arrangement in connection with the obsequies devolved upon Profess|^r Young. It was he who brought the girl back to i^ shanty in her simple, clinging, black gown, and after the carriage had delivered them at the hut door, carried her, almost unconscious, into the house and laid her THE VIGIL 199 fently upon her bed. Then he closed the door and sat own beside her. It was perhaps an hour later when she lifted her eyes appealingly. "I air awful glad ye stayed with me," she choked. "Tess," — Young's voice shook. . . . "Will you let me talk to you a little and not feel I'm intruding upon your sorrows or your secrets?" "Ye wouldn't do anythin' what wasn't right," mur-. mured the girl, under her breath. For some moments he smoothed her burning fore- head. Then he lifted her hand and held it in his. "Tessibel," he began. "What?" "First, tell me about the little man in the garret." "There ain't nothin' much to tell," she responded, shaking her head. "When he got out of Auburn, he come here and asked me an' Daddy to take care of 'im, an' we done it, that air all." "I see, dear — and — and you didn't think the law required you to give him up?" Tess moved her head negatively on the pillow. "Sure not, or I'd a done it long ago; The law — what do I care 'bout the law? ... It air always puttin' inner cent men in jail. That air all the law air fer." "But this man is a murderer," Young tried to ex- plain to her. But Tessibel's gesture, both hands raised, palms out- ward, expressed her dissent. "They said as how Daddy were a murderer, too," she retorted, "but you found out he weren't, didn't ye?" Young, not able to gainsay this, nodded his head. "How long are you going to keep him here?" he asked presently. Tess sent mm a glance pathetically sad and dis- couraged. *'I don't know. The poor little duffer hain't no fHends. He ain't no other place to go where old Eb TO^n't git 'im." Young thought of his brother-in-law. He realized immediately with what joy that stern disciplinarian would snatch the little man back into Auburn prison. Digitized by Microsoft® 200 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY Doubtless, too, he would visit his rage on the girl who'd shielded him. "Ye helped Daddy git out o' jail," Tess whispered. "Couldn't ye keep Andy out?" Deforrest Young turned his face to the ceiling. A pair of gleaming eyes were staring down upon him from the square hole, "Come down here, you," he said peremptorily. Andy slid down the ladder and squatted himself be- side the cot. Young considered the boyish face some time in silence. "What made you kill Waldstricker.''" he demanded. Andy shook his head. "I never done it, mister," he denied positively. "Tell me how it happened ! If I'm going to help you, you must tell me the truth." This wasn't what Young had intended to say at all. "Andy ain't a liar," came from Tess. "Tell me every word," urged Young. The dwarf curled himself into a little ball and began. "Well, us was all in a saloon at the Inlet, an' old Waldstricker, he come in with a nuther man, an' they both got a drink an' t'uther man went out. Me an' Owen Rennet were settin' at the table, . . . Wald- stricker he says somethin' nasty 'bout squatters an' . . . Owen went fer 'im. Waldstricker pulled 'is gun. I knocked it out o' his hand an' Owen grabbed it up offen the floor an' sent a bullet right through Wald- stricker's heart. Then us uns beat it, I mean me an' Owen, an' when they caught us ... he put the shootin' on me. I didn't do it, an' Owen knows I didn't." Young was very quiet during this recital. He was considering the eager, boyish, upraised face. "I hope ye believe me, mister — sir — please do," Andy pleaded. Deforrest Young crossed his legs, smoothed his hair: with one hand, and sat back in his chair. "I think I do," he nodded presently. "Only I am placed in a very peculiar position. By rights I ought to send you back — then help you afterward if I can." Tessibel sat up, her eyes wildly frightened. "Ye couldn't do that!" she cried. Ye couldn't do Digitized by Microsoft® THE VIGIL 201 that! Don't ye remember a day on the rocks, when I was awful sad, an' you said, 'Tess, if ye ever want me to do anything for ye, come and tell me.' Didn't ye say jt?» Young bowed his head. "I air askin' it now," said Tess, throwing out hei: hand. "I air beggin' ye not to send Andy back. Let 'im stay with me. I promised Daddy I'd take care of 'im." "Lie down again and be quiet, child," urged De- f orrest, sadly. "You don't want to make yourself sick. . . . Hush, you mustn't cry! . . . Oh, child dear, will you please stop shaking that way?" He had forgotten that when Tess loved any one, she would battle until her death before she gave him up. "Then don't send little Andy back,- an' I'll be awful good," she pleaded. Young sat for some time, one hand on Tessibel's, the other beating a tatoo on the arm of Daddy's wooden rocker. "I suppose," he said at length, as if speaking to him- self, "I'll be highly criticized if any one finds out about this irregular proceeding. Nevertheless — " He turned to Tess. "I'll go quietly to work and see what I can do. In the meantime, dear chUd, you can't stay here in this house." "But I promised Daddy' I'd take care of Andy here, an' I air goin' to. Him and me can live here all right." Young sighed. There was the same stubborn tone in her voice she had used in those days when her father . was away in prison, and he had argued with her to leave the settlement. "Well, at any rate," he said after a while, "I'll take time to consider it, and then we'U decide something." Ten minutes later he was riding slowly up the hHI, and as the past panoramied across his mind . . . and evolved itself into the present, he shook his head. Tess- ibel had separated him from his family, had made him a stranger to his best friends. Would she now, by hold- ing to Waldstricker's convicted murderer, deprive him of his honor? Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XXX Sandy Comes to Gkief The Skinner home was resting in its winter calm. Daddy Skinner was gone. Andy still crept about the dark garret, and Tessibel passed her days in study, performing the few duties the small shack required. When Deforrest Young had gone away a few days after Daddy's ^funeral, he'd smiled into her eyes and had bidden her to be of good courage. Henceforth, he said, she was to be his charge. She felt a little lighter hearted. It made her happier, too, to think he knew about Andy Bishop and was going to help him. The only person she feared was Sandy Letts. She'd not seen him since that day in the church when he had tried to draw her nearer the minister. Bitterly angry, she knew he must be. That he had delayed his revenge so long seemed to her rather menacing than comforting. Her mind was drifting back over all the events of the past few months, when a shadow passed over the curtain at the window. She stole to the door and placed her ear to the latch. From that position she could plainly hear creeping footsteps crawling closer. With her ear glued to the crack, she listened. There was no sound now of walking. The outsider was listen- ing, too. Suddenly, he knocked heavily. Tess glanced to the garret. The dwarf's face was not in sight. Then the knock came again. "Who air there?" Tegs called, her breath catching. There was no answer, save another knock. Tessibel spoke once more. After a pause, Sandy Letts' voice came gruffly to her. "Open the door, Tess. It air me, Sandy." "What do ye want?" demanded Tess. Sandy growled inarticulately, gave a kick to the door, and rattled the latch. "I want to come in, I said. I air goin' to talk to ye !" 202 Digitized by Microsoft® SANDY COMES TO GRIEF 203 Tessibel thought of Ben Letts and of how he, too, had demanded entrance to her home in just §uch a manner as his cousin was doing now. She glanced about for something with which to protect herself if needed. She wished with all her soul the brindle bull were with her then in the shanty. Sandy gave another rough pull at the latch-string. "Open the door, Tess," he growled again, "or I'll bust it down. Tess knew Sandy would carry out his threat, and, if he broke down the door, his temper would be worse than now. She muttered a prayer to quiet the terror in her heart, and slipped up the bar. Sandy, gun in hand, stepped into the kitchen, and Tess closed the door. "What do ye want, Sandy.'"' she questioned. "I want to talk to ye, what do ye 'spose I want.!"' he flung out, swaggering his shoulders. "Well, sit down," invited Tess, seeking to propitiate. "Ye knowed Daddy was dead, didn't ye, Sandy?" "I can set down without bein' asked," grunted the squatter, dropping into a chair. "Sure I knowed yer pa's flew the coop." "What'd ye want?" Tess asked again after a moment. "I've come to settle with ye for somethin'," said Letts. "I ain't done nothin'," replied Tess. Sandy threw out an angry hand. "Ye have, too, ye have, too ! Didn't I want ye for my woman, and didn't ye go an' — " "I said ye couldn't have me," interrupted the girl. "Folks ain't havin' everythin' they want in this world, Sandy." "Then ye turned me down in the church afore Wald- stricker," went on Sandy. "Ye might 've been glad to marry a decent man after what ye'd done. But ye ups and says, 'I won't!' An' I've come to ask the reason why." Tess walked across the shanty kitchen and sat on the edge of the cot. Sandy followed her with his eyes, his face growing crimson as he gazed at her. "I air here for two things," he continued. "To flnd out the name of that man Waldstricker asked ye 'bout » Digitized by Microsoft® ■204 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY Tessibel's low voice stopped his impudent speech, "I couldn't tell ye that, Sandy, not even if ye killed me," she murmured. "What was t'uther thing?" "I air goin' to take ye away with me fer my woman. But ye needn't think I air goin' to marry ye decent like I would in the church t'uther day, fer I won't." Tessibel, weary and aching, grew cold with fear. She knew the squatter would keep his word, if he could. He would abuse her as Ben had tried to when her father was in Auburn unless help came. Then remembering all the days she had lived and suffered and stiU'd been saved from Sandy and his like, she breathed a deep sigh, ; "I couldn't go with ye, Sandy," she explained. A cruel expression set Sandy's large, sensuous mouth. "Ye'll be glad to go with me when I git done with ye." He placed his gun against the chair and stood up. "First, I want to know what made ye act like that in the church fer. Don't ye know me well 'nough to think I'd get ye sooner or later. Ye knowed yer Daddy couldn't always live in the shack. Ye might better took me while ye could. I would jest have beat ye a bit fer yer cussedness, then mebbe after a while I'd fergive ye. But now — " Tessibel's struggling to her feet broke off the man's volubility. She was so frightened that almost without , thought she circled toward the door. Sandy got up and placed himself directly in front of her. "No, ye don't git out o' here," he sneered, "not till I git through with ye. Jest make up yer mind to that." Sandy was moving toward her, his eyes gleaming with rage. What could she do? She threw a hasty glance about the shanty. She knew Andy was under the straw tick in the garret and could not near the low conversa- tion going on in the kitchen. As if m answer to her agonized prayer, another shadow passed the curtained window. Sandy had not seen it or he would not have thrust forth his great arms and snatched her to him. Tess uttered a scream. In another moment Jake Brewer sprang into the kitchen and was looking from Tessibel to the angry squatter. Sandy pushed the girl roughly on to the cot — took two steps toward Brewer, his manner threatening. Digitized by Microsoft® SANDY COMES TO GRIEF 205 "What ye sneakin' 'bout here fer?" he growled out. Jake grinned slowly. "I allers come in to see Tess," he replied. "What were ye doin', Sandy?" "I air goin' to take Tessibel to be my woman," mut- tered Letts. Jake glanced at the pallid girl. "Oh, well, I swan! So that air it, eh?" "Nope," Tess got out through her chattering teeth. Then aU the pent-up rage in her body broke loose. "I ain't wantin' to be his woman. I want to be let alone ■ in my shack ! Oh, Jake, won't ye make Sandy go away and let me be?" Sandy laughed evilly. "It'd take a bigger man'n Jake," he remarked. Brewer, unruffled, seated himself with the slow manner of a squatter. "I don't say as how I air very big," replied Jake, crossing his legs, "but I guess no man'U take Tess long's she don't want to go, when I air here, Sandy." Letts shook a threatening fist. "Get out o' here, Jake," he growled, going toward the other man. "If ye don't, I'll make it worse fer ye ! Git out, I say!" "Shan't do it. Now, Sandy, I ain't no woman to be 'fraid of you, so just hold yer horses till us uns talk this out. Ye say ye want Tess fer your'n, an' Tess, she don't want ye, now what ye goin' to do?" "I air a goin' to take her jest the same," snarled Letts. But thinking better of placing his hands on the other man, he went to his chair and sat down. Tess, too, drew a little sigh of relief. Then the three sat for several quiet seconds looking from one to the other. At length, Tess broke out. "Sandy said he'd keep away an' wait till he caught Andy Bishop afore he come to git me." Sandy glared at her. "But I told ye if ye had a nuther man hangin' round I'd fix both of ye, an' I'm goin' to keep my word," he snapped back. "Ye can't fix any one but me, Sandy, 'cause ye don't Digitized by Microsoft® 206 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY know nobody else to hurt, do ye," she interrupted him. "It air easy fer a man like me to choke the name out of ye, brat," replied Letts, blinking his eyes at her, "I'd be likin' nothin' better." Jake moved his big boots back and forth several times. "I wouldn't try it if I was you, Sandy," he cautioned^ " 'cause ye know uther folks might be interferin' witt- ye." , Sandy's throat emitted a deep, doglike growl as he clambered to his feet. "I'll do it now, dam ye both," he barked back in ugly defiance. Jake was on his feet before Letts could take a forward step and had placed himself between the big squatter and the girl. m * ^ * * That afternoon when Jake came back to see Tesslbel, she threw a quick question at him. "Air he dead, Jake?" "Lordy, no, Tess, 'course not ! He's tougher'n cow's tripe. . . . Sit down, brat, an' I'll tell ye about it. . . . Don't be shakin' so. It were like this ! I was stoppin' Sandy from tryin' to git ye an' when I pushed 'im back, he kicked his own gun an' got a bullet in his big, fat leg, that air all." "It was awful," cried Tess, wiping away her tears. A slight smUe played around Jake's lips, and showed a few of his dark teeth. "Brat," he chuckled, "Sandy ain't done to his death by no means, an' you didn't have nothin' to do with it, nuther did I,, 'Twere his own cussedness that put that bullet in his leg. There air one blessed thing, he won't be comin' round here for a long time yet botherin' you ; so cheer up, an' be glad ye air a livin'." Then Jake went away, leaving the girl and the little man in the garret, comforted and happier than they had been in many a day. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XXXI Waldsteickee's Threat Something had happened in the house of Wald- 1 Strieker. Since the churching of Tessibel Skinner, 'everything had been topsy turvy. The criticism heaped on Ebenezer for his part in it had only served to make him more arrogant at home and abroad. One morning at breakfast, Frederick being absent, Madelene was alone with Ebenezer and his wife. "Put down your paper a minute, Eb," said Madelene, "wiU you?" Scowling, Waldstricker let the paper rattle to the floor. "What do you want now? ... I can't have a minute's peace. What is it? . . . More money?" "No, nor nothing to do with it, Ebenezer. I want to ask you something, and do be quite frank with me. Does Fred ever go to see that Skinner girl?" The man's heavy brows drew into a straight dark line above his eyes. "He'd better not," he gritted between his teeth. "That isn't the point," answered Madelene. "Does he?" "I don't believe I'd give myself much concern about that if I were you," he said presently. "I understand that man Letts, Sandy Letts, who is working for me on the Bishop matter, still wants to marry her." "Of course she won't as long as Frederick — " Waldstricker interrupted her. "If Frederick does go there, he won't long when Letts finds it out." Madelene's eager glance brought the unmatched lips aslant of each other. "I don't think he'll go often," he repeated. "I'll see to it myself. She can marry Lysander Letts or — " "Or what?" Madelene's elbows came to the table, a 207 Digitized by Microsoft® 208 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY hand on each cheek. "Oh, Ebbie, do tell me! I'm sd miserable about her. I wish she was dead!" "But, Ebenezer," said Helen, "it seems awful for such a refined girl to marry such a man !" The elder's uplifted hand came down on the table with a bang, and higher mounted his proud lip. He ignored his wife's pleading speech, but answered his sister's. "So will Miss Skinner wish she were dead before I'm done with her," said he. "Why?" Waldstricker leaned over the table, looking first at j his wife, then at Madelene. Helen shuddered. How re- lentless he looked when his mouth turned down at both corners ! She had grown so afraid of him of late. "I've an effective way to keep him from her," said he. "Goody!" exclaimed Madelene, and "How, dear.?" asked Helen. The man spoke only two words in a low, husky voice, but each woman heard them. "Good !" gasped Madelene, standing quickly. "How perfectly glorious !" "How perfectly awful !" groaned Helen. "Ebenezer, don't do anything so dreadful." Waldstricker looked across the table with that strange glitter in his eyes. "Helen, must we go over again the same painful ground that women should not mterfere!" Mrs. Waldstricker rose to her feet. "No, Ebenezer, no, no! Only I was thinking of Def orrest !" "Deforrest will not know of it until it's too late," said Waldstricker, rising too. "Does he know of Letts' trying to force her to marry him?" asked Helen. "I've never told him. Possibly the girl has." "I think not," answered Helen, gravdy. "He'd have mentioned It to me, I think !" As her brother passed Madelene, he tweaked her ear. "Just clear your pretty head of further worry, little Digitized by Microsoft® WALDSTRICKER'S THREAT 209 Madelene caught his hand affectionately In hers. "Kiss me, best of good brothers," she smiled. "You've made me perfectly happy! Isn't it dreadful to have to keep teibs on one's husband?" "You won't have to long," Waldstricker assured her. Then he kissed her and followed his wife into the library. Mrs. Waldstricker walked to the window and looked out, her eyes full of tears. "Helen," said Ebenezer, gravely, taking her by the shoulders and turning her face toward him. "You dis- please me very much." The drops hanging on the long lashes fell suddenly. "I'm sorry, dear, but I can't see why you always antagonize Deforrest. You remember how angry he was after that church affair." "Your brother's anger doesn't affect me in the slight- est," returned Ebenezer coldly. "When I see my duty to God, I do it, that's all." "And you're reaUy determined — Oh, Eb dear, for my sake, please — " The husband made an impatient movement. "Helen, how many times have I got to forbid your crying this way. You're always in tears. You'll make yourself sick." "Lately you've been so cross to me," sobbed Helen, burying her face in her handkerchief. Waldstricker put his arm about her. "I don't want to be cross. . . . There! . . . Now lie down here on the divan. . . . I'm going out for an hour or two." Then he put on his cap, took up his riding whip, and; went away to the stables. t A few minutes later Helen Waldstricker sat up straight, and rang the bell. To the servant who ap- peared, she said, "Find Mr. Graves and send him to me immediately." When Frederick received the message, cold chills chased each other up and down his back. Dismayed, he desired to disobey but dared not, besides Helen was the least dangerous of the three. What could she want, he considered queruously. He hadn't had a minute's peace since he came homg^g-^^^^ne^J^s in » state of tears 210 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY nearly all the time ; his brother-in-law, dictatorial, diiB- cult even in his milder moods, seemed secretive and sus- Eicious. As far as he was concerned, he kept from the ouse as much as possible, but this only provoked to a greater degree his young wife's tears and complaints. Only this morning, he had been treated to a spell of hysterics the like of which Madelene had never Before .equalled. His wife would not believe his oft-repeated assertions that he had not been to the Skinner cabin since the day she had surprised him there. Frederick had spoken truly. His fear of his powerful brother-in-law and his own lack of moral courage allowed the days to drift along until now he felt he could not go into the presence of the girl he had thus neglected. He watched until his brother-in-law drove from the stables ^nd disappeared. Then he turned and went into the library. Helen beckoned to him to come near her. "I must tell you something," she breathed. She pointed to a chair near the divan. For a time she talked in an undertone, telling him something which sent the blood flying from the young man's face, and left him faint and sick at heart. And later by an hour, Frederick Graves was walking the railroad tracks toward the Skinner shanty. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XXXn Helen's Message Tessibel Skinner was sitting in the shanty kitchen. She had a book in her lap but her mind was far from her surroundings. Andy had been quiet so long she'd almost forgotten him. Suddenly, his slight cough brought her back to the present. "Ye look awful peeked, brat, dear," he said. "I think ye'd ought to see Young's doctor, hadn't ye?" A vague smile crossed the girl's face, and she snook her head. "No, Andy," she answered, "I don't need no doctor, yet." "I wish ye felt better," sighed the dwarf. "An' the days is gettin' awful blizzardy for ye to go outdoors.'* "But I got to go out, dear, fer wood an' other things. Hark!" She got up swiftly. "There air some one comin'." In another instant the little man had crawled away from the ceiling hole and was under the tick. The garret was as silent as the frozen lake and the kitchen below, where Tess stood in anxious expectation. Tes- sibel, knowing it couldn't be Sandy, put aside her first impulse not to heed the rap. An instant later, she opened the door. That it might be Frederick wa& farthest from her mind, until she saw him standing ' there so thin and tired. Surprised and shocked at see- ing him, the stress of her feeling found her faint. She would have fallen if he had not suddenly seized her. "Tessibel! . . . Tess, darling!" he cried, sharply. Lifting her up, he carried her into the room. She clung to him, crying, her confusion calmed by his caresses. He placed her in a chair and sat down beside her. Suddenly, she sat back in her seat, roused from her revery by mocking memories of her wrongs. "Couldn't ye let me alone?" she breathed hoarsely* 211 Digitized by Microsoft® 212 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY covering her face with her hands. "Ye might a let me be." "I had to come, dear," Frederick told her. "I want you to do something for both our sakes. . . . Oh, Tess, what terrible days have passed since I saw you last!" After a short pause, she dropped both hands and glanced up at him. Then knitting her fingers together, she pressed them hard until they looked like the veined stems of a pale flower. He had come to make another demand of her — and she was so tired — so sick! "I want you to make me a promise, Tessibel," urged Frederick. "I said as how I'd help ye all I could," murmured Tess. "Ye're wantin' me to do somethin' awful hard, huh?" Her soul in her eyes, she looked at him, but his gaze was on the gloves he was twisting back and forth between his fingers. "Ain't ye goin' to tell me?" groaned Tess. She dropped her chin into her hands with a touch- ing gesture of pathos. Frederick bent nearer. "Tess, Mrs. Waldstricker sent me with a message — and you've got to do what I want you to." His strangely persistent reiteration that she should do his will served only to produce another, "Why don't ye tell me, then?" from Tess. "You must do something to save yourself !" he cried. To save herself? What did he mean by saving herself? What did any one intend to do. She'd stayed so alone no one could intrude upon her now. And then, there was Andy, poor forlorn little man! "Is anyone goin' to hurt me?" she faltered, faint and frightened. "Yes, dearest, yes, and you must — " He was on his feet and Tess struggled up, too. 'What've I got to do?" she breathed miserably. "Tess," he groaned, "can't you understand how much I love you ; that I would save you if I could." With uplifted hand, he tried to raise her face to his. "don't!" she cried, pushing him away. "T'sK me what Mrs. Walds|^|^^^^^'|„^ HELEN'S MESSAGE 213 "You've got to do it, dear," urged Frederick, "or they'll take you away." "What do ye mean by takin' me away?" she implored, moving a frightened step backward. "Who's goin' to try to take me any place ?" "Why — why — Mrs. Waldstricker says — " He paused so long Tess could not bear the suspense. "Oh, tell me!" she gasped. "Can't ye see ye air killin' me?" Frederick began again. "Mr. Ebenezer Waldstricker — " Tess swayed on her feet. "What air he goin' to do?" she panted. Had her enemy discovered she was protecting Andy? "He's going to take you to a — a — " stammered Fred- erick. . Tessibel grew faint and dizzy. She uttered a sharp scream. "A reform school!" she cried. "Yes," The blow had fallen at last ! She would be dragged from her home, up before the eyes of the world in all her illness and shame. Then she sank to the floor in abandoned misery. "Oh, Frederick, save me!" she wailed. "Don't let him take me away, and I'll promise never to go outside the shanty. Oh, make him let me stay! Why can't I stay, oh, why can't I?" "Waldstricker says you've got to go," said Fred- erick, sadly. Tess sat up and flung back her curls. "Well, he don't own the hull world, does he Couldn't you, well couldn't you say somethin' to make him let me be?" "I don't know what to say," the boy mumbled. "Couldn't ye tell 'em?" entreated Tess. "Please lis- ten. Couldn't ye — couldn't ye tell Mr. Waldstricker 'bout our little baby — our baby, Frederick?" He refused by a negative gesture of head and hand. "Oh, don't shake your head, Frederick!" cried Tess, frantically. "Please! . . . Please! ... Me an' the baby won't be gM^b^feJo ^^ ! • • • We'U jest 214 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY love ye always an' forever, me an' the baby wiU Ye coxild save us that way! Ye needn't tell 'em anythin' but that!" Suddenly another thought took possession of her. "What else did Mrs. Waldstricker say?" she demanded. "What were ye both wantin' me to do.'"' "Mr. Waldstricker told his wife and my — I mean Madelene — that you'll either be sent away or must marry — marry Lysander Letts." Tess stared at him wildly as though he were going mad. Or was she losing her reason ! What awful thing had he said. Lysander Letts — surely she had not heard straight. "Ye weren't tellin' me what were true, Frederick," she whimpered overwhelmed. "Oh, ye scared me so !" "But I am telling you the truth !" he exclaimed miser- ably. His voice broke. "I can't save you, Tessibel. Waldstricker can do anything he wants. Why — why — Waldstricker's hands're stronger — are stronger than God's." She heard his words as if in a dream. "Stronger'n God's," echoed through the recesses of her brain in fearful mockery. She was lost, engulfed in the hatred of Waldstricker. She saw through the mist over her eyes, Lysander Letts leering menacingly at her. She sat very still and held her breath. If she let it go, her heart would break. "Stronger'n God's," were the only words she remem- bered. Then, if that were true, and Frederick had sai"3 it — then — then, nothing — ^nobody — could take from her this brimming cup of disgrace and destruc- tion. She struggled to her feet, walked to the door and rppened it. Her eyes sought the dejected looking man. "I air askin' ye to go now, please, right now," she said quietly. "Tell Mrs. Waldstricker, I air much obliged." "And haven't you something to say to me, Tess? . . . Oh, God, don't send me away like this !" She laid one hand on her heart. "Only go," she whispered, "an' never, never come again!" Frederick stepped over the threshold, and Tess shut the door behind him. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XXXIII Hands Stkonger Than Waldstricker's Tess stood with swift-coming breath, her back to the door, waiting. Frederick must leave before she daredf speak to Andy. It seemed an eternity ere the sound oi the retreating footsteps died away, and she knew he was gone. Then she started across the room, haltingly. Strange, how difficult it was to walk, and how giddy her head felt ! What was it that had happened? What was going to happen a thousand times worse? Fred- erick's brutality left her bruised and broken. His threats twisted themselves through the tangled tumult of her thoughts and his sinister suggestions stunned and stupefied her. Frederick had come and gone! She remembered that. Her skin still burned where his hot lips had touched her. He had told her he loved her, had begged her to say she loved him! Love? Yes, she had loved him — she did love him, but her love lay low, its struc- ture, like a squatter's hut, she had seen, shattered on the sand by a storm. Tess put a stick of wood in the stove, ana a second later forgot she'd done it. Ebenezer Waldstricker came into her mind vaguely . . . vindictive and violent. Her hand went sud- denly to her face. He was going to send her to a, reform school, going to take her from the shanty for years ! How powerful he was ! Frederick had said Waldstricker's hands were stronger than God's. What strong hands he must have — those hands descending upon her defenseless, desolate life. Andy was peering through the hole. Tessibel col- lapsed into Daddy Skinner's chair. "Brat," he said in a whisper, "I'm comin' down !" Tess mechanically got up and barred the door. 215 Digitized by Microsoft® 216 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY . . . Then she returned to her seat. The dwarf was already squatted beside it, his eyes fastened on the girl in eloquent silence. His chin sank between his knees. Then the two of them sat. . . . The crack- ling of the freshly burning wood and the ticking of thef clock were the only sounds in the room. "I heard what the man said 'bout Waldstricker's hands bein' stronger'n God's," reflected Andy, aloud, presently. Then he raised his body a little from the floor that he might look into the girl's face. "Say, brat, has old Eb got any marks on his hands ?" Tess shook her head, brown eyes sombrous with suffering. "No," she denied. "His hands are big an' white an' long an' soft." Andy pondered a minute. "They ain't no marks of nails on 'em, air there, kid?" he demanded, solemnly. The pursed, hurt lines around Tessibel's mouth softened a little. "No," she murmured wearily, again. "No, Andy." The dwarf reached and took one of the girl's hands. It lay on his own quite limply. "Look at me, brat, dear." The red-brown eyes moved toward the upturned face. "Tessibel, will ye think of this one little thing? The Christ's holdin' his hands over the hull world, givln' everybody peace; you an' me, too, brat-kid. Waldstricker's hands ain't dragged me back to Auburn, an' God's hands has kept me here. . . . You showed me that from the beglnnin', eh, brat? . . . It's sure, ain't it?" He hunched himself nearer her, his face beautiful with faith. "Ain't it true, kid?]' "Sure! Sure, it air true!" faltered Tessibel. "Then if God's hands kept me here in the shanty 'gainst all Waldstrlcker could do, can't they keep you here, huh?" Tessibel's head lifted suddenly. What was Andy saying about hands — ^Waldstricker's and — and — With her free fingers she brushed the dampened curls Digitized by Microsoft® HANDS STRONGER 217 from her forehead. Waldstricker's hands ! Oh, incom- parable memory! How could she have forgotten the hands of the Christ! They had brought Daddy Skin- ner from the shadow of the rope. She had forgotten the power of those hands. . . . Hands of peace — r hands of love! As shadows fade before the majestic advance of the sun, so under the inrush of divine light did the agonized expression fade from Tessibel's eyes. The menacing figure of Waldstricker slipped away like a gliding night-serpent, and Tess got to her feet. "Andy," she breathed, bending over him. "Oh, Andy, darling! Ye're telling me Jesus can keep me from bein' sent to that awful place.'' Ain't that what ye're tryin' to show me?" The dwarf scrambled up, reaching forth his hands. "And he sure can, brat," he made answer. "Wald- stricker can't pull ye out of this hut when God's holdin' ye in." Andy was smiling his rare, boyish smile. A large lump rose in Tessibel's throat. "I air goin' to ask God to hold me here, Andy," she choked brokenly. So when night closed the grey eyes of the winter day, and darkness descended on the Skinner shanty, a red-haired squatter girl and a wee dwarf knelt in the glow of the hut lamp and petitioning lips framed in whispers a simple prayer for their protection. i(& ^ "jp ^ V The next day passed, quiet in the shanty and over the shining span of frozen water. Waldstricker had not come. Tess crept into bed sighing with relief. Andy rolled himself in his blankets and slept. The morning arrived crisply cold, bleaklj'- grey. Tess shivered as she broke the ice for water. Would this day bring Waldstricker.? Then, as that harrow- ing thought flitted through her mind, another exultant, smiling flash took its place. Tessibel's head reared with a proud uplift. No human power could set aside the majestic promise of Heaven that she might stay in the hut. Smilingly, she opened the shanty door and cheerfully answered the dwarf's, "How d'y' do, brat dear?" Digitized by Microsofi® 218 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY But the next few hours were laden with a sense of approaching calamity, that sense which ties the tongue in apprehension. Andy was perched on the ladder while Tess sat just below in the wooden rocker. Suddenly, from far up the lane, the sound of wheels grating on the snow, could be heard plainly. Both man and girl stared white-faced at each other for perhaps thirty seconds. I "They're comin', but they can't take ye. Brat," mut- tered Andy. "You'U stay in this shanty the same 's if you was nailed to the floor." Then, he sought his place under the straw tick, and as nearer and louder came the clatter of the horses hoofs, the more quiet grew the Skinner hut. Tessibel stood in the middle of the kitchen, her hand pressing down the beatings of her heart. Somebody was approaching! There were footsteps on the dry snow! Directly the crunching sound ceased, a loud knock fell on the door. Tessibel lifted the bar, and at her faint, "Come in," the door flung back on its hinges and Ebenezer Waldstricker stepped over the threshold. Another man, seemingly by common consent, waited outside. Waldstricker came to a halt at the sight of the squatter girl. Even in her mourning, and ashen pale, she looked glorious. Her burnished, unmanage- able hair clung like a golden mantle about her. She had lifted heavy lashes and was looking him straight in the face. Ebenezer, suddenly, felt a wild desire to strike, but he dared not touch her, nor dared he go forward one step. Her advancing motherhood crowned her with( unapproachable dignity, and the man muttered an imprecation under his breath. To have her appear in court so austerely lovely would be to lose his case. He had expected she would plead, cry, perhaps scream. What should he say to break that steady calm? He did not know what a day and night of communion with the Infinite had done for the squatter girl. He did not understand that beneath her were everlasting arms, that her life was held in the hollow of a hand more powerful than his own. Digitized by Microsoft® HANDS STRONGER 219 "I believe, my girl," said he, without preliminaries, "I told you when the church took action against you, you'd be sent to some place where girls of your class go, didn't I?" Tess didn't move by so much as a wink. She seemed simply to have grown deaf and dumb. How could she ianswer when she had not heard.'' She was stariag back 'into the man's bold, dark eyes. Her silence was like ,'a spark to his inflammatory temper. "Aren't you going to answer me, Miss?" His rasp- ing voice aroused Tess from her trance. "I didn't hear what you said," she told him, still very calm. "I said," replied Ebenezer, arrogantly, "you're go- ing to be sent to a reform school." "Today?" asked Tess, breathing deeply, now fully possessed of her senses. "Yes, today." Then he remembered Madelene. . . . he had made her a promise. "But I'll help you to get out after a while, if you tell me wko — who Ibrought you to this condition." He threw out both hands disdain- fully toward her. Waldstricker's white hands, hands stronger than God's! Who had dared say it? The girl cast her eyes to the rafters. There, the nets hung in strings and mingled their tassled ends with the dry herbs. There, somewhere, were that other pair of hands upholding her. She lowered her eyes again to the man. "Don't you hear me talkin' to you?" he grated. "I said you were going today — ^but if you tell me — " He bit oif his words, her apparent helplessness sham- ing him to silence. Then the import of what he had said flashed over Tessibel and she swayed backward. This small break in that superb calm brought Wald- stricker forward the step the girl had yielded. "Are you going to tell me?" he demanded again. "Nope," said Tess rigidly, "Air I to go with ye now, this minute?" He inclined his head with a bitter nod. "Yes," he snarled. He strode to the door, and addressed the officer. "Come in! Come in! She's a hardened huzzy. . . , Serve the warrant on her." Digitized by Microsoft® 220 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY Tessibel took the paper but dropped it to the floor without glancing at it. -She didn't care what it con- tained, for minute by minute came the sweet assurance from up there among the nets that God had heard and would answer. The officer was staring at her, askance. He remem- bered distinctly when she had climbed up the ivy on I the county jail to see her father. Then she had been , a child. Now she was a woman. Being a good-hearted man, he hated his task, and a moment later hated it worse than ever. She sent him one pleading, heart- rending glance, then dropped her lids. "Ye couldn't let me stay till after March?" she whispered. "If ye only would — " It had been an effort to say it; an effort to both inclination and voice. It was as if her throat were filled with ashes. . . . nor could she finish the appeal. "You can't stay even one day," thrust in Wald- stricker, "I told you long ago what to expect. . . . Get your things together." Tess made no move to obey. She was waiting for an answer from out of the dry nets, even from far behind the snow clouds where the blue slept. "Get your things on," commanded the man, once more. Oh, yes, she could do that! Putting on her things didn't say she was going. She turned mechanically, took down her coat and scarf. These she put on and went for her rubbers. She stood very near the wall as she bent dizzily to slip them on. All the time her soul was looking upward for the eternal answer, an answer from a power stronger than Waldstricker's. I Then she went slowly to the little box where she kept ''her hat. After brushing her hair back, she pinned it on in front of the mirror. Today — ^well, now she was dressed, ready to go. She turned and came forward. The constable stared from Waldstricker back to her. Was this the girl who had stamped and screamed when Daddy Skinner had been taken to Auburn?" "Are you goin' without any fuss, miss?" he asked dully. "If I go at all," was all Tess said. Digitized by Microsoft® HANDS STRONGER 221 At the door she flung back her head, her eyes search- ing the rafters. Straight as knife cuts hung the broken strings of the unused nets, threaded here and there with wheels of silken cobwebs. Up through these Tessibel stared. Up and up, above the curling of the chimney smoke, up among the stars, up where the hands of love — God's nands, were ever spread in benediction over her own wild, beautiful world. She smiled as if respond- fing to a smile. Waldstricker touching her made her turn suddenly. The cold wind from the door just opened by the officer, swept her hot face. She flashed her eyes past him to the vast open stretches of winter, and there, standing in the lane, smiling directly back at her, was Deforrest Young. God in his own good time had sent her hands stronger than Waldstricker's. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XXXIV Love Aik Evekywheee the Hull Time The moment the red-brown eyes fell upon Professor Young, the pale face of the girl lit with a radiant smile. "Oh, ye've come! . . . God sent ye, didn't He?" At the sight of the tall, commanding lawyer, the officer and his powerful principal stepped each to one side of the patti in front of the house and left Tess standing in the doorway, with trembling arms out- stretched to her approaching friend. Young came directly to her, ignoring his brother-in-law. "My dear," he murmured, snatching her hands, "you needed me! Poor child, you certainly did! "Are you coming in," pausing on the threshold, he spoke to Waldstricker, "or are you going on to Ithaca, Ebenezer.?" A smile passed over the elder's lips. He was secretly much amused at the professor's assumption of auth- ority. "I'm coming in," said he. "I've something to show you." Evidently not impressed by his brother-in-law's statement, Deforrest led the passive girl back from the threshold of the shanty into the kitclien. "Let me take off your wraps, dear child," he said tenderly. Waldstricker's growing amusement found audible expression in a condescending laugh. "Wait a minute, Forrie," he commanded, spreading his feet pompously. "She can't take 'em off. She's coming with us." "And why with you?" Young asked, in simulated surprise. Waldstricker fairly gloated with joy. Never had he felt so righteous and uplifted. By his brother-in- law's actions, he was assured he did not know of the 222 Digitized by Microsoft® LOVE AIR EVERYWHERE 223 warrant for Tessibel Skinner. But the girl's attitude amazed him. To the quiet dignity with which she had submitted to arrest, there had succeeded an air of com- plete detaclmient as though her responsibility, even her interest in the matter, nad wholly ceased. Mutely watching the two strong men, she seemed like some small prey over which fierce forces fought. Young began to remove the hat from her bronze curls. "We're going to take her away," cut in Wald- stricker, putting one hand in his pocket. "Where to?" demanded Young, laying the hat on the table. "To a — to a — " Waldstricker hesitated. The frown on Young's brow deepened. He had paused for the other's explanation, his under lip gathered between his teeth. Then, he laid his hand protectingly on that of the silent, white-faced girl. Tessibel's fingers turned upward and closed over nis, and they stood thus a moment, Waldstricker contem- plating them through half-closed lids, one corner of his mouth superciliously curled. "You haven't told me where you were going to take her," Deforrest insisted. Bitter anger rose in Eb's throat. He had been balked at every turn he'd taken against this red-headed girl, and instead of helping him, Deforrest was aiding her. He did not intend that Madelene should suffer any more, and he imagined his own home life would be more peaceful when Tessibel Skinner was wiped from its horizon. "If you'll have it plain," he cried triumphantly, '"she's going to be sent to a reform school! If ever a girl needed correcting, she does. She's already been ^served with the warrant." Young muttered under his breath. Holding out his hand, he said, "Let me see the warrant." Ebenezer pointed to the paper on the floor where Tess had dropped it. Stoopmg, he picked it up. "Look that over !" he said and handed it to the lawyer. Professor Young J;ook_the paper, and before reading Digitized by Microsoft® 224 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY it, looked reassuringly at Tess with that wide, wL'te- toothed smile of his that always cheered her heart. "Sit down," he told her. "You do look tired, child," With one swift glance at Waldstricker's face, she obeyed him. Deforrest merely glanced at the paper in his hand. "Oh, is that all you have.''" he asked the constable. *'Yes, sir," the officer replied obsequiously. "You're sure you haven't anything else.'"' "Quite sure, sir," was the answer. "That being the case," said Deforrest, quietly, "I'll match it with — ^with this." He drew from his pocket another paper which he tendered the officer. After the man scanned it, he handed it without a word to Waldstricker. The elder in his turn read it through. It was an order from the court recalling the warrant obtained by Ebenezer Waldstricker for Tessibel Skinner's arrest. The con- stable grinned sheepishly at Waldstricker. "I guess that ends my usefulness here," he said, smil- ing admiringly at Professor Young. "Good afternoon, miss ! Goodday, gentlemen !" Waldstricker, murder in his heart, took one stride toward Young, as the door closed behind the depart- ing man. "How'd you find out this was to happen today?" he gritted through his teeth. "I insist upon knowing." "A little bird told me," grinned Professor Young. Then, glancing at Tess, and seeing how white she was, there rose within him a righteous indignation, and he went on, "You might employ your time to better ad- vantage than torturing — " For a moment he didn't know what to call Tessibel., She was no longer a child, no longer a little girl, although she looked deplorably young and sick as she sat huddled in the chair. "Tormenting women," he finished, sharply. "And, Ebenezer, unless you want to make an enemy of me, you better let Tess alone. You can't do anything to harm her, for I won't let you. I may as well tell you, too, that the day after her father's death I constituted myself her guardian, and I'll move Heaven and earth ^ ° Digitized by Microsoft® LOVE AIR EVERYWHERE 225 to prevent any one harming her. Just remember that when you plot against her next time. . . . Now go home and forget there are such people as squatters. . . . You'll be happier, and so will I." "Deforrest," Waldstricker appealed, changing his belligerent tactics, "if you keep this thing up, you'll rue it! You know very well Bishop is hidden some- where in this squatter settlement. I can only get him by rooting his people out one by one; if you'll have that court order rescinded and let me send the girl away, I'll make it possible for you to run for Governor ,, next faU." -C' For one minute, the lawyer surveyed Waldstricker critically. He reached one hand toward Tess. She got to her feet, grasping his fingers with hers. "Ebenezer," Young said with great deliberation, "if I crawled across this girl's body into the Governor's chair, I'd be the basest cur alive. And furthermore, you promise too much ! You can't deliver the goods 1 What ! You name the next Governor ! Why you can't even remove this little squatter girl from her lonely hut !" Waldstricker shrank from the scorn in his brother- in-law's voice, opened the door and strode out. "Tess," Deforrest said, putting an arm around her, "when are you going to let me take you away from such things as this.'' I shudder to think what might have happened if I hadn't come today, and I've got to go away again." Tess smiled up at the big man. Drawing herself erect and lifting her head proudly, she looked into his face, exultantly, full of buoyant joy at the tremend- ous proof of Love's protectmg power in the hour of her great need. "I jest knowed old Eb couldn't get me," she asserted. "Jesus sent ye jest in the nick of time, didn't he, huh?" "But, my dear, listen," Young argued, his love mak- ing him apprehensive. "It's awful for you to be here alone and unprotected. Let me take you away some- where." "I ain't alone," Tess insisted confidently, serene courage resounded in the sweet voice. "Jesus air here Digitized by Microsoft® 226 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY an' He keeps me safe all the time. He got Daddy out of Auburn an' kept Andy an' me in the shanty. Why, He sent you today. I know He won't let nothin' bad happen to me." Untroubled, the brave eyes looked into his, convey- ing a message of courage and perfect peace that some- how uplifted the man's anxious thought to catch a glimpse of her exalted faith. "But you know, Tess," he continued, "you are not so well this winter and you ought to have some one here to look after you." Tess shook her head, the bronze curls twisting and falling over her shoulders and upon the arms embrac- ing her. "No, siree," she answered. "I can't have any one here, on 'count of Andy. Oh, ye mustn't worry 'bout me. I air all right an' will be every minute." "At least, dear," Deforrest insisted, "let me get a doctor and nurse when — ^when — " The brilliant head suddenly bowed itself forward against Young's rough coat. For a moment, her high courage faltered, but not for long. Surely, the same power that had cared for her today would see her through this other trial. "Nope, not any doctor or nurse," she refused. "I'll have Mother Moll. She knows what to do an' she air safe." Withdrawing herself from Young's arms, she took his hand and kissed it. "God sure air good to Tessibel," she murmured. A moment they stood there. Then the lawyer took up his hat and turned to the door. "You know, Tess, I love you and want to help you always." In the doorway, he paused and with bared head heard the girl's parting speech. "Sure, ye're lovin' me an' I air lovin' you, too. I know Mr. Young, love air here an' everywhere the hull time." Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XXXy Boy Skinnee A pale winter moon nestled among the snow clouds in the storm country. The shacks of the squatter settlement were dark and silent, save for a slender little light glimmering from the side of the curtains of the Skinner shanty. Inside, all was quiet. The squatter girl had been in the valley of shadows, and had struggled back from its depths, bringing with her that miracle of miracles, a son, a little son not much bigger than the hand of a man; and, now, pillowed on her arm, very near her heart, lay a small head, a baby's head, covered with soft, damp curls. Mother Moll had come and gone. When the old, old woman had looked down upon the girl, she'd smiled that senile smile of age that split her lips like a knife cut. "Ha ! So it air another brat comin' to the shanty," she shrilled. "Holy Mary! It air the way of the world, the way of woman." And now she'd gone, leaving the boy baby under the coverlet with Tessibel. A weary apathy had settled over the young mother. Strange dreams filled the small room with haunting, tangible things which she could reach out and touch if she dared. The rafters, too, were peopled with faces partly hidden in the dry nets. But she seemed to be staring at something out and beyond — as Daddy Skin- ner, too, had stared that never-to-be-forgotten night. The past months, where the grey days and sun days had all been the same, moved vaguely in silent proces-" sion before her. She had lived through them like a pale ghost indifferent alike to sunshine or shadow, and this night she had drained to the last drop the bitter jcup Frederick Graves had given her to drink. Fred- erick, her husband, her beloved! She thought of him 227 Digitized by Microsoft® 228 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY indifferently. Even his babe at her breast seemed unimportant. She considered them without emotion. But the ghostly faces, hovering among the nets, inter- ested her. Then, distinctly from among them advanced a figure, a dear, familiar figure. Daddy Skinner . . . the same old adorable daddy — ^his shaggy, thready beard hanging over his chest. For one single instant he bent over her, lovingly laid his hand upon the bronze curls and smiled in the way he had of doing before he had gone away with mummy. Tess flung up her hands. "Daddy! Daddy Skinner!" she cried. The movement startled the babe from his sleep. The dwarf, roused by the cries scrambled to the open hole. "Tessibel — Tess," he called brokenly. The girl lifted heavy lids. "Daddy was here, Andy," she wailed in misery. "My own Daddy Skinner. I want to go with him. , . . I can't live any longer without him." "Can I come down, brat.?" begged the dwarf, huskily. "Yep," whispered Tess. "Mother Moll air gone." "I heard 'er when she went," said Andy, and he slipped down the ladder. The babe's shrill cry continued as the dwarf went to the bed. "Yer daddy don't need ye as much as me an' the little feller. Let me take 'im — ^I ain't seen 'im yet, ye know." Andy bent over the cot. Gently he lifted the infant and carried him nearer the lamp's dim rays. He stood gazing intently into the rosy face. Then, he raised a tiny hand and spread first one finger, then each baby fellow out in his own palm. "Why he's real handsome," he decided at last. "Brat, he air the most beautifulest in the world!" - At the last words he turned shining eyes toward Tessibel. She lay gazing, not at Andy or the babe in his arms, but up into and beyond the nets in the rafters, seeking another glimpse _ of her father's dear face. Alarmed by her strange silence, the little man bore his precious burden Ij^cy^tjje^co^and knelt beside the BOY SKINNER 229 passive figure. Holding the baby close, he breathed, "Don't, brat, dear ! Look at me. I been feelin' yer daddy round all day, too. He'll always be near to help you an' the little kid." A pathetic trembling of her lips hushed the flow of his words. "It seems's if I couldn't live, Andy. I dunno how J can, I dunno how!" Her voice trailed away into a plaintive moan. "Let me take hold of yer hand, brat," murmured Andy. "I want to tell ye somethin'." He clasped one of her hands in his, while her free fingers shaded her eyes. "You got three folks standin' by you, kid," continued Andy, earnestly. "Me, Young an' Jesus. While I been alone in the garret, all this time, I been readin' an' a reasonin' out things. Don't ye remember when Mr. Young come that night how he said he didn't blame ye fer nothin' ye'd done?" Beneath the tense fingers, she breathed a simple, "Yes." "An' me — why me — I know yer heart 's if I'd made it, honey, an' Jesus — Air ye listenin', Tess.?" "Sure," assented Tess. "Then I'll tell ye a story. Once a woman loved a man awful much, an' she loved 'im like all women love men folks. An' a hull lot of righteous ones dragged 'er right ftp to Jesus an' says, 'She air a sinner, sir, what'll we do with 'er?' An' he says, 'Go away an' leave 'er with me.' " Tessibel's hand clutched at the fingers holding hers, "An' when he were alone with 'er," went on the dwarf, "an' she were a kneelin' at 'is feet, he jest touched her lovin' like, an' says — " "Don't, Andy, you — ^you hurt me . . ." moaned Tess. "Don't !" "An' I wanted to help ye, sweet," insisted Andy. "But still, I air askin' ye to listen to the rest. Will ye?" Tess acquiesced silently, her hand falling away from her white, drawn face. "An' Jesus says to the woman in baby trouble like Digitized by Microsoft® , 230 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY yours, he says, 'Poor soul, I ain't blamin' ye this day, I ain't!"' The little man's eyes shone with the sublimity of the truth he was imparting, and an uplifted expression of faith settled on his features. The baby whimpered in his arms, and loosening his hold upon the girl's hand, he rose to his feet carefully. Tessibel was crying now, in low caught breaths that wrenched and tore at Andy's heart cruelly. To soothe the chUd, he pattered to and fro upon the shanty floor; and when he began to chant in a low, sweet voice that old, old precious hymn, "Rescue the Perishin' ;" Tess cried out again. Andy Bishop, the dwarf, was impressing upon Tessibel Skinner's heart that mysterious faith she'd known so long, that same sense of God's love which she'd taught him in those days when the dark doors of Auburn Prison yawned wide for him. The state had branded him a murderer, but here, with glistening eyes, he preached the Christ and Him crucified. In the solitude of the garret, he had learned his lesson well ... by the dim attic light, he had studied the story of the forgiveness of sin. Suddenly, he ceased his song, and as he trotted back and forth, swaying the little child in his arms, Tessibel caught murmured words, " 'Nuther do I condemn thee,' said Jesus. "Nuther do I condemn thee," said he. I And in that next pulsing minute through the eyes of her soul, the watching girl saw above the squat dwarf the shadowy image of the smiling Christ, and unspeakable peace descended upon her like a benedic- 'tion. The lines of suffering vanished from about her ^^ursed mouth. The hurt within her heart' gave way to the "still waters." " 'Nuther do I condemn thee,' said Jesus Christ," whispered Andy over the boy's face, and "neither do I condemn thee" sank into the very being of the squat- ter girl as warm rain sinks to the heart of a parched flower. She followed the waddling figure, a gleam of grati- tude beaming in her eyes. Surely, the bread Tessibel Skinner had cast upon the waters of Andy Bishop's Digitized by Microsoft® BOY SKINNER 231 stormy life was returning after many weary days! "Andy," she called. "Andy, dear, bring me my baby." The dwarf laid the sleeping child within its mother's arms. "The man on the cross, your man an' mine, brat," he whispered, "said, 'If ye have burdens, come an' I'll^ rest ye,' Didn't he say it, kid.'"' "Yes, yes, Andy," whispered Tessibel. "Every- thing'U be all right fer — you an' me an' the baby," and she ended, . . . "Get back in the garret an' pray for my brat's daddy, too, Andy. He air needin' it worser'n me an' you." Then the squatter girl turned her face to the wall, drew the baby under the coverlet, and the dwarf scuttled up the ladder. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPPTER XXXVI Defoekest Decides Defokkest Young sat alone in his bachelor apart- ments, which he'd obtained after the quarrel with Wald- stricker over the churching of Tessibel Skinner. He was in Ithaca in response to a letter from Mrs. Wald- stricker, stating that she would meet him in his rooms this afternoon. His mind was busily at work with many problems. For the past week he had had no word from Tessibel Skinner. Her silence was significant. Mischief-mak- ing anxiety, which always pictures the worst side of a situation, tormented him cruelly. He hoped Helen might have news from the shanty by the lakeside. When Mrs. Waldstricker finally appeared, his first impulse was to ask about the squatter girl, but the troubled expression of his sister's face checked the question on his lips. He drew her tenderly into his arms, and attempted to comfort her with reassuring pats and carresses. "You shouldn't have ventured out, dear," he chided. "Sit down here! . . . There! Now tell me what's the matter," "I'm so miserable, Forrie," she wept. "I can't do a thing with Ebenezer. . . . He's in such a state of temper all the time!" "Don't try to talk for a moment, dearest," soothed the lawyer, much moved. "But I must — ^I want to! It seems as if my whole life has been uspet in some unaccountable manner. And it isn't any better since Frederick and Madelene went away. I was in hopes after they'd gone, I might have some peace." "Is it still — " Young's inquiry was broken off by his auditor's exclamation. "Yes, it's Tessibel Skinner! He seems perfectly 232 Digitized by Microsoft® DEFORREST DECIDES 233 possessed about her. I can't understand why, either. I always tell him she's nothing to us. He has even gone so far — Oh, Forrie, dear, tell me it isn't so !" "What isn't so?" asked Deforrest, puzzled. "Ebenezer says — he says you'd marry — " The inquisitor's courage oozed away before she finished her sentence. Her brother turned and strode up and down the room, while Mrs. Waldstricker's eyes, full of ques- tioning anguish, followed his tall figure. "I suppose he said I'd marry Tessibel Skinner. Is that it?" His voice was low, deep and intense. Wheel- ing about he looked across at his sister. She got up from her chair and went to him. Her desire to placate her brother supported her determina- tion to know his precise attitude toward her husband. She placed her hand on his arm and replied hurriedly, "Yes, that's what he said. I told him it was no such thing ; that you did what you could for the lonely child without a thought — " Deforrest's hand closed over the speaker's. "You were mistaken, then," he asserted quietly. "I'd have married Tessibel Skinner long ago, if she'd con- sented." "Forrie, dear, you wouldn't ! You couldn't ! Espec- ially now ! Oh, darling, you're all I've got in the world. . . . Can't you see it would break my heart ?" "You needn't worry about it, sister mine." A sad> shake of his head emphasized his reply. "Tess won't marry me. She knows I love her and want to care for her, but she won't let me. She sticks there in that wretched shanty, alone with her trouble and refuses every offer I make. Her courage is splendid. I love her for it, although I'm torn to pieces with anxiety." "And I never knew," Helen mused. "I thought — I thought it was — just you were charitable and kind." "No, it wasn't that. I've loved her since the first, but she couldn't love me, that's all. Then this awful thing happened." The deepening lines in his face and his twitching lips revealed the intensity of his solici- tude. "Have you heard anything about her?" "Yes. A man by the name of Brewer, one of the squatters, brought me a message." Digitized by Microsoft® 234 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "Yes, yes!" interrupted the man, very impatiently. Helen pressed her face against his arm. She divined the pain he was suiFering. How was she to soften the hurt her answer would inflict, even her loving heart couldn't imagine, "She has a baby boy," she whispered. "God !" groaned Deforrest. "The baby was born a few days ago, and every day the squatter's been at our house, ostensibly to sell some- J thing, but really to tell me about her. ... I saw him this morning, and he says they are both doing nicely. Forrie, don't you think — " There was some' | thing in her brother's stricken face that broke off her question. "Don't I think what, dear?" He got up and resumed his restless pacing up and down. "Oh, I want you to be happy. Couldn't you pos- sibly — forget you've loved her?" "No, I can't," and he came to a standstill in front of her. "I might as well be truthful, dear, as long as you know this much. ... If Tessibel will marry me, I'll take her and the boy — " he choked, paused a few sec- onds and went on, "I'll take them both away fromi Ithaca. It's the only happiness in store for me, and I believe I could make her happy, too." "I can't bear the thought of it," cried Helen, des- parately. "Please don't think I'm meddling, but has she told you anything?" "No. Some one has mistreated the child shaniefullyj but she won't tell anything about it." "Poor little girl !" sighed Mrs. Waldstricker. "How, I wish now I'd done more for her! I might have, you know," The lawyer raised his hand deprecatingly, "What's past, is done with," he answered gloomily. "I don't know how much she'll let me do, but I am going to help her in spite of herself. That shack by the lake is an awful place. I swear I'll give her decent surroundings and a chance to live. . . . I'm going down today." "But, Forrie," his sister objected, "I want you to come home with me to dinner. You haven't been to our Digitized by Microsoft® DEFORREST DECIDES 285 house in a long time, not since the night you came from Binghamton and went off to Skinner's in the storm." "Helen, dear," Young explained, apologetically, "I can't come to your house as long as Ebenezer feels toward me the way he does. You see, don't you.'"' "Oh, I suppose I do, but I just can't stand it. Eb .has acted badly and tried to shoulder it all off on you. 'But can't you overlook it, honey.?" "Why, Helen, how can I? I don't feel any too pleas- ant toward him, and he doesn't want to be friends, either. He pays no attention to my wishes but tries to ride rough shod over me. He regards my interest in Tess as a personal affront. He persecutes her because he thinks he's annoying me. But there, don't cry any more. You'll only make yourself ill ! I think you ought to go home and lie down. You've some one else besides yourself and Eb to think of, dear girl." "I know it," she sobbed, "and I've tried to show Ebenezer how happy we'd be if he'd forget those people down the lake and let you do what you want to. Sometimes I think he's lost his mind. I really don't know what to do." Helen rose from her chair. "Nor do I," replied Young. "But, Deforrest, don't you think if you talked to Ebenezer, he'd see things differently.?" "I'm afraid not," said he, adjusting Mrs. Wald- stricker's furs. "You see, Eb's always had his own way in most things, and I can't take any other position about Tess, and I won't." "I wish you would come home with me," sighed Mrs. Waldstricker, when her brother was tucking the sleigh robe about her. ' "I'm sorry I can't, Helen. You'll hear from me soon," he promised, as the sleigh moved away. Half an hour later found the lawyer astride his horse, his fine face clouded in sorrowful thought. He cantered along the hard packed road. Here he noted the shimmering veil of ice over some brooklet waterfall in a cleft of the hill side. There the precise punctures of a rabbit track dotted the level snow of the woods. Beyond a herd of cattle standing placidly Digitized by Microsoft® 236 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY around a straw-stack blew clouds of vapor from their steaming nostrils. The silent beauty of the hills, glistening in their frosty covering, set off to advantage the silvery sheen of the ice-laden lake. Through the trees, he caught occasional glimpses of East Hill winter-wrapped in its white mantle. Just north of the city shone the resplendence of the ice-cloaked rocks and waterfalls of Fall Creek Gorge, like a massive garniture emblazoned on the mantle's skirt. The unbroken calm of the quiet winter afternoon touched the rider's over- wrought heart and awoke in him a sense of the peace and the dignity of the visible creation. The untrou- bled serenity and repose which all nature presented, soothed his troubled spirit. Something of the unruffled confidence expressed by Tessibel, when he'd last left her, penetrated his revery. Her words, "I know Love's everywhere the hull time," had comforted him many times, and now they came again upon their healing mission. «tlt lICi lit is^ *F *¥* 1? ^ov Tessibel's baby was one week old. This afternoon she lay partially dressed on the cot while Andy was plying his noiseless way about the kitchen. He stopped a moment on the journey to the stove and smiled at the young mother. "I bet he comes today," said he. "You'd better be gettin' that sorrow offen yer face, brat." "I ain't right sorryful, Andy," she answered. "I was jest thinkin' of all the good things Mr. Young air done for me, an' hopin' he'd get you free, too. Mebbe when Spring comes, Andy, you can run in the woods with me !" I "I air prayin' for it every day, kid." "When you ain't afeered of Auburn any more," said the girl, after a moment's silence, *'we'll go away from this shanty, an' mebbe we can both work, That'd be nice, eh, Andy?" "Anything'd be nice if I air with you, an' the baby, brat," he choked. "Oh, you'll stay with us all right," smiled Tessibel. "Daddy left me to take care of you an' I air goin' to do it!" Digitized by Microsoft® DEFORREST DECIDES 23T Conversation lagged for a time. The dwarf poured out a cup of tea, and placed a large slice of bread on a plate with some potatoes and meat. These he took to the bedside. "I don't know what we'd a done without Jake," he observed, drawing his chair to the table. Tess was beginning to eat a late dinner. Between 'bites she smilingly assented. "Jake air a awful good man. . . . Andy, ain't the baby stirrin' on the chair?" The dwarf went to the improvised cradle and care- fully drew away the blanket. "He wants turnin' on 'is other side, that air all." With deft fingers he rolled the baby boy over, placed the sugar rag between the twisting lips, and went back to his dinner. "Jake was tellin' me this morning," she continued, "Sandy Letts got three years and a half in Auburn." "That'll be dreadful for him," the little man responded, thinking of his lonely years in prison. "But body-snatchin' air an awful thing. Reckon he won't try it again when he gets out. . . . Eh, kid?" "At any rate, he won't be after us for a while," she replied, sighing contentedly. "Well, I must slick up a bit," Andy announced pres- ently. "I want to get the shanty fixed. Young'd think I weren't doin' right by ye, if 'taitt't red up, brat." "When I tell him all ye've done," she smiled affection- ately, "I bet he'll' be praisin' ye." Then they were silent until the little mac'd gathered and washed the few dishes. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XXXVn The New Home When Professor Young arrived at the end of the lane near the Skinner's shack, he dismounted, blanketed the horse and hitched him to the fence. The approach to the hut had been shovelled recently and the snow was banked high on either side. He hurried along the path and knocked at the door. A stir in the shanty told the lawyer the dwarf was seeking the attic. After an instant of quiet, he heard Tessibel's voice. "Who air there?" The man's nerves throbbed quick response to the clear young tones that came sure and strong through the shack boards. "It's I, Tessibel," he answered. And at his answer the bar raised from its holder and Young opened the door and stepped in. The change from the brilliant glare of the almost horizontal beams of the declining sun on the sparkling snow to the half-light of the closely curtained room, obscured his vision for a moment. But by the time he'd removed his cap and rebarred the door, he could discern the familiar outlines of the shanty kitchen. He saw Tess, half-risen on the cot. She rested on one elbow and stretched the other arm out to him. Her face, wreathed' in smiles, shone a cordial welcome. When he'd gone to iher and snatched the extended hand in both his own, she bent moist lips and touched the back of the fingers. Her spontaneous joy brought him a sudden hope that tingled through his blood and warmed it. To see her so well, so sparkling and joyous, lifted his burden of anxiety and warmed in him a glow of pro- found thanksgiving. "Tessibel!" he greeted her, relief and yearning com' pressed into the one word. 238 Digitized by Microsoft® THE NEW HOME 239 It was some time before either spoke. In Tessi- bel's heart swelled an affection such as she held for no other person. In Young's, in spite of his self-com- munion on the way, surged the insistent call of the man for his mate, a hopeless longing which might never be satisfied. _ "I'm glad it's over, child," he said softly. "My 1 ister told me — " "I got my baby !" she broke in. "He air over there. Take a peep at 'im." There was no embarrassment in the bright smile she sent him, no sense of shame in showing her friend the dear little being who had come to her out of the Infinite to be worked for and loved. Young smothered a groan but he turned obediently and went to the chair in which the baby was cradled. Folding back the blanket, he gazed at the sleeping infant. Manlike, he was experiencing the passionate wish that this small boy were his own. Jealousy, sud- den and violent, assailed him. Hardly could he re- strain the words of interrogation and denunciation that demanded utterance. The mother's question brought him back to the cot. "He air beautiful, ain't he.-"' she breathed, a misty gleam on her lashes. "Yes," said Young, and he sat down in Daddy Skin- ner's big rocker. "Womdn't ye like to hold him?" Tess hoped he would. "Not yet," replied the lawyer. "I want to know more about him. You must tell me now whose son he jis, and let me help you decide what to do about it. . . . Won't you trust me a little, Tess, dear?" He hitched his chair nearer the cot and looked ear- nestly into the dear, brown eyes she turned fearlessly and unashamed up to his own. "He air mine," Tessibel told him, and a tender smile played about her lips, "but I can't tell ye any more. . . . There ain't nothin' to do about it. It air all right— huh?" "Oh, my dear," sighed the man. "I hoped you'd relieve my mind a little. But — ^but I'U not speak Digitized by Microsoft® 240 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY about it again till you come of your own accord and tell me. . r . I've been thinking about something else, though — " "Air it about Andy?" interrupted Tessibel. Young looked up and discovered a boyish face smil- ing down upon him from the attic. "Come down," he said to the dwarf. Andy descended the ladder and trudged across the floor. . The lawyer stood up and extended his hand. "How are you, Andy?" he enquired pleasantly. "Pretty well, I hope?" Andy snook hands gravely. "Yep, thank ye, professor, I air that," he assented. "'Hope ye're the same." "Andy's been more'n good to me," Tess confided. "Please sit down again, Mr. Young. . . , Set on the floor, Andy!" Obediently the dwarf curled up on the floor and turned eagerly to Young who had resimied his chair. "Ain't Tess got the fine baby?" he queried, and as though not expecting an answer, added, "And she air awful happy." A fugitive smile trembled on Young's face. Awful happy! Awful happy! Was it possible? He looked into Tessibel's joyous eyes and pondered. Yes, she was happy. He could see that ! Happy in a squatter's hut! Happy in the companionship of a condemned murderer, and happy with a nameless child ! His eyes went to the little one on the chair. Yes, the three of them were happy. Tessibel's love was, bound up in Andy and the baby, and the dwarf had| forgotten his own danger to serve the other two. To' help in the same loyal and unselfish way would be his future work. At that moment Deforrest Young buried deep in his heart the passion which hurt like nothing else hurts on earth, and something very like I happiness took its place. He leaned back and crossed his legs. Then he reached into his coat pocket and produced his cigar case. He bent forward and offered it to Andy. "Smoke, Andy?" he queried. Digitized byWcrosoft® THE NEW HOME 241 "Nope, thank ye, sir. Hain't smoked since Pal Skinner got sick. Couldn't smell up the shanty with a pipe, ye see, eh?" When the cigar was glowing and the fragrant smoke drifted in eddying clouds through the kitchen, the smoker rocked a few minutes contemplatively. "I've seen Owen Bennet," he began presently. "He sticks to the story that you did the shooting, Bishopi> but I knew all the time he was lying." "Yep, he lied," interpolated Audy, bobbing his head. "But as long as he won't tell the truth," Young t stated "you're liable to be taken back to Auburn." The dwarf cringed as from a blow. Fear of going back to prison killed the joy in his face instantly, but the speaker's quick assurance straightened the bent shoulders. "But no one knows where you are, and perhaps something can be done to bring a confession from Ben- net. Just at this time, though," looking from the little man to the girl on the cot, "I'm more concerned about your futures." Tess didn't speak. She knew wherein her confi- dence lay and was willing to await her friend's sugges- tion. She sat up, punched the pillow, turned it over, and lay down again. "It's perfectly evident you can't stay here, either one of you," said Young, after a pause, "and if you'll be guided by me — " "We'll do what ye want," murmured Tess, "if ye'll let us stay together an' keep the baby." "Yes, that is my plan," he replied. Andy folded his short legs under him nervously. "We want to stay together, me an' Tess does," he echoed, "an' the baby's awful glad to live with us." Young's lips curled an instant into a smile respons- ive to the quaint statement. "You remember, Tess," he resumed, "I have a lease of the house where Graves used to live." She answered only by a little forward bend of her , head. "My idea is tl^s ^^J'Jl ^^^^enjhe house, and you,. 242 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY Tess, can come there with the baby. You can keep house in a little way for us all." "Ye said Andy could live with — " "Wait," interrupted the lawyer. "There 're two nice rooms on the top floor. You can arrange them for Bishop and he will be as snug as a bug in a rug." A sharp cry of joy broke from the young mother. She sat up straight. She threw back the tangled 'curls, and leaning forward grasped the hand the speaker thrust out to support her. "Oh, what a good, good man!" she rejoiced. "An' '•• me an' the baby'll love ye forever, me an' the baby will." j Tessibel didn't remember she'd made the same prom- ise to another man when she'd begged him in vain to help her. She only knew that Deforrest Young was offering herself and her little child a home, and a safe refuge for Andy Bishop. "It won't be all for you, you understand, chUd," said Deforrest. "Think! I'll have a home, too, and you can study and work." "An' some day when I'm earnin' money, and Andy's free, we'll pay you all back," the girl interjected. "Well, we won't worry about that now! ... As soon as you're well enough, I'll move you all up to the house. To-morrow I'll see that coal and thiugs're sent down from town!" The reply to his oifer was a tighter squeeze from the squatter girl's hand, and a sob froc/ the dwarf. Unable to restrain his joy, the wee man bounded from the floor and fled up the ladder into the garret. For .a time the man and girl in the room below sat silent, land all was quiet in the shanty save the voice of Andy ^Bishop giving forth a thanksgiving such as he had never expressed before. ^fP t|& fljp sP v^ Two weeks later a light filtered through the closed shutters of Young's residence on the hill. The old Graves house creaked in the blustery March gale. The hurtling snow-particles rattled upon the blinds and against the clapboards like small shot. Deforrest Young came out of the house and fought his way Digitized by Microsoft® THE NEW HOME 243 against the blizzard's buffeting down the hill to the Skinner shack. Stumbling, he fell against the door. "It's I, Tess," he shouted. The girl lifted the bar and admitted him. Dressed in her outer wraps, she stood in the kitchen, anxious and expectant. This minute to Tess was the chang- ing point of her life. Young as she was, she under- stood what it would mean to the three of them to leave the shanty, to take up their abode in a real home. "Ye said we was to take the baby first," she greeted , him, reaching for the shawl on a peg in the door post. "Yes, but it's so bad I'll have to take you first, child," the lawyer replied. "Come down, Andy, and after we're gone, bar the door and stand by the boy. . . . I'U come back after you in a few minutes." Then he flung an arm about Tess and drew her into the winter night. Wind-blown and snow-covered. Young almost carried fhe shivering girl up the steps into her new home. How luxurious the comfortable furnishings seemed compared to the poverty of the shack! Young helped her off with her coat and rub- bers. "Get the baby and Andy, quick," she panted. Left alone her imagination followed her champion out under the frost-laden trees into the drifted lane. She knew his call would raise the bar and let him into the shanty. She could see the dwarf's beautiful face smiling his welcome. The thought that Deforrest would wrap up her baby, protect him from the keen blasts, thrilled her. She went to the window in the north room and {)ressed her face to the pane. Ah, yes, there in the ittle path were two figures, one little and one big, struggling through the drifts. Her two friends! Presently, in the arms of the tall figure, she could discern a bundle, a small bundle. She watched them until she heard their steps on the porch. When De- forrest placed the baby in her arms, and she noted Andy's happy face, Tessibel's joy was complete. Digitized by Microsofm CHAPTER XXXVIII DiNNEK AT WaLDSTEICKEk's Theee years and a half had passed since the birth of Tessibel's baby, a period of growth and security for the squatter girl and Andy Bishop. Just before Boy Skinner's birth, Frederick and Madelene had gone to San Francisco. A place had been made for him in Waldstricker's office there and Madelene felt the continent none too wide to put be- tween her husband and the Skinner girl, but her ef- forts to win his affection had been a complete failure. Lysander Letts, convicted of grave robbing, had been sentenced to prison and was still confined at Auburn, During the weeks after Frederick's departure, Ebenezer Waldstricker had been unusually busy. In May, just as the tardy promises of the Storm Country spring, were beginning to be fulfilled by the full leaved glories of early summer, little Elsie Waldstricker was born. A few weeks later, the three of them had left Ithaca for a long period of travel. Mr. Waldstricker had visited all his ousiness friends and correspondents and established many new connections. Proceeding leisurely around the world, they'd returned to Ithaca not long after Elsie's third birthday. During their absence abroad, except for the care-' taker, the great house above Hayt's had been closed. Affairs at the lake side had run along in their usual w^ay. Tessibel had been able to ameliorate the condi- tions of her squatter neighbors and was regarded, by^- the Inhabitants of that end of the Silent City, as their lady bountiful. They put her in a niche by herself. None prouder than they of the evidences of culture and refinement she showed, while with characteristic inde- pendence, they called her "Brat" just as in the days, when she ran bare-legged and dirty on the lake side. 244 Digitized by Microsoft® DINNER AT WALDSTRICKER'S 245 Andy Bishop Aad occupied the room on the top floor of Young's home. He'd devoted himself to the same studies Tess pursued and by greater application had been able to overcome the handicap of the girl's quick- ness and greater natural ability. Not so readily had he learned to speak correctly. The idioms of his boy- hood days still slipped out of his mouth. But no sus- picion of uncouth English marred the girl's speech. Forlorn and abandoned, the Skinner shanty lay moldering under the weeping willows. Summer heat and winter storms had worked their will upon it. Thick grasses and tall weeds had driven out the squat- ter girl's flowers and the hedge had grown into a tangled thicket. The brilliant sun of a hot June morning found no more home-like place than the old Graves house, where Deforrest Young lived with his squatter friends. On the porch stood Tessibel Skinner. The girl's ruddy curls fell in the same profusion as of old and shrouded a smiling, happy face. Professor Young had caught her one day doing up the red hair in a great ball on her head. "Tess, it's a sacrilege," he protested sharply, "like wadding up the petals of a rose or the leaves of a fern. Keep the curls, won't you?" Below, from the pear orchard, came a joyous shout, the free, careless, laughing response to the girl's call. "I'm coming mummy," cried a child's voice. Tess leaned forward, the better to watch the small boy lightly climb the terrace. Her face evinced the i*py which she found in her baby, and in the quiet, appy life under Professor Young's care. She held' out ner hand to the little one. He danced to her side and she bent and kissed him. "Muinmy's boy, oh, mummy's little boy! Didn't I tell you, darling, not to soil your blouse? Uncle De- forrest '11 be here soon." "Boy rolled down the hill," pouted the child. ''^Boy loves to roll down the hill, mummy." His mother kissed him again, diverted by his words, which recalled her own girlhood frolics. Hadn't she many times tumbl^^^i^gn^tii^of^he lane, while Daddj; 246 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY Skinner had stood and watched her indulgently? Her arms about the boy, she allowed her eyes to rest for a moment on the hut at the lake side. Tessibel loved the shanty and always would love it, but more did she love the home in which she now lived. Her fingers played idly with the child's dark curls. All that De- torrest Young had done for her in the past years swept before her mind like a panorama. I How safe he'd made it for Andy! How the little man had improved! How delightful their studies to- gether! They constantly looked forward to that day when they should be able to return to their friend some of the generosity he had shown them. Now he was coming home after an absence of many weeks, and the three were awaiting his arrival. "Run up to Andy, darling," Tess said to the child, "and let him wash your face and hands, and put on another blouse, my pet. Oh, there 're grass stains on this one, too." A trembling, rosy mouth turned up to the speaker. She kissed it quickly and passionately. "Never mind, honey, just run along. Mummy doesn't care. . . . There, kiss me again." Two loving arms went quickly around the mother's neck. "Boy loves his pretty mummy," was whispered in her ear. "And mummy loves her pretty boy. There! Rua along to Andy. I want to gather some flowers for Uncle Forrie." Andy was studying at a table, when the door opened and the dark-faced boy popped into the room. "Mummy says wash Boy's face and put on clean blouse," said he. "Please, Andy. I forgot to say 'please'!" Andy pushed back his chair and waddled to the child. The dwarf was the same ungainly figure that had moved about the hut four years before. His face had lost all its tightly strung misery and his expression was more thoughtful and he seemed more m.anly. Boy was a continual joy to him. The little fellow supplied an outlet for his overflowing love. True, he digitized by Microsoft® DINNER AT WALDSTRICKER'S 247 adored Tessibel, but his care of the little one had drawn them together so intimately that he and the baby boy thoroughly understood each other. He'd have liked to romp with the child under the trees and to row him up and down the quiet span of blue water, but grateful for the love and protection he'd found in Young's home, he seldom permitted his mind; to dwell upon the hardships necessarily incident to his secluded life. Just now a little sense of discourage-' ment touched his thought and clouded his face. While he was washing Boy's chubby fingers, the little one ob- served him closely. "There's tears in your eyes," he burst out suddenly. "What for, Andy?'; "I was just thinkin,' pet." The child thrust his feet apart and flung up an en- treating face. ^ "I don't want you to think if it makes you cry." "All right, sir !" Andy replied promptly, tickling the youngster till he laughed and shouted, "I won't think any more if you don't like it." When Deforrest Young came around the corner of the house, Tessibel was standing on the lower step of the porch, her hands full of flowers. To his adoring eyes, the girl typified the unfolding life of the spring. Strong was she, like the sturdy trees, dainty as the flowers she held in her hands. To his passionate de- sire as unresponsive as the sullen lake on dark days, yet grateful for his kindness as the field flowers to the sun after a hard rain. She was a child with a woman's heart, but the woman's heart closed to him by the secret of Boy's paternity. Her smiling lips greeted him. She dropped the flowers and two arms stole around his neck. Young drew her very close. How dear, how very dear, she had grown in these last studi- ous years! "It seems ages since you went away," she said, and pointing to the flowers, "I hoped to get these all on the table." "My dear," interjected Young, "you're the rarest blossom of them all." Tess was used to his compliments, and she loved DigitizeiTBy Microsoft® -— 248 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY them, as she loved the birds and the friendly sunshine. "For that, sir," she laughed, "you'll have to help me pick 'em up." While they were gathering together the scattered bouquet, they heard a stamping down the stairs. "Boy couldn't hardly stand it tiU you came," smiled Tess, opening the haU door. A small avalanche of concentrated eagerness piled out of the house. "Uncle Forrie! Uncle Forrie!" cried Boy, swarm- ing upon him. "I'm awful glad you're home." jjf ^ ^ ^ ^ "Now, then," said the lawyer after dinner, "I think our little mister here ought to crawl into bed. . . . Well, one more romp, then bye-bye. Eh.?" "One more romp!" screamed the child. His mother carried him away half an hour later, and when she went to Andy's room, she found Young there talking to the dwarf. "I've such a. lot to tell you two," said he. "Now we're all comfy, I'll begin." "Will it please Andy?" asked Tess. Deforrest shook his head. "I'm afraid not! . . . Bennet won't have to stay long in prison and he still insists he didn't do the shoot- ing and that Andy did." The latter groaned, and a shadow feU over Tessi- bel's face. "I wish something could be done," said she. The lawyer considered the end of his cigar. "Well, I can't think of anything right now," he sighed. . . . "I suppose you've heard Lysander Letts ,is out of prison?" Young asked the question as though it amounted to little, but he knew by the sharp cry from the girl and the upward lift of the dwarf's head that they both dreaded Sandy's return to Ithaca. "But I don't want you to worry. I'll send him back if he comes around here." Tess shook her head despondently. "Oh, I hope he'll let me alone!" "I'U see that he does," said the professor, rising and Digitized by Microsoft® DINNER AT WALDSTRICKER'S 249 straightening njp. "Well, I'm going down to write some letters. Cheer up, Andy! Maybe something'Il turn up." "Kid," began Andy, when the lawyer had gone. "I been thinking, we don't have to worry 'bout Sandy Letts. Ye know the lots of times when we didn't have Boy's Uncle Forrie to do things for us, how we prayed for a helpin' hand and got it?" ! "Yes, Andy dear," Tess answered, thoughtfully. "Then let's do it now. Let's get busy prayin' so Sandy can't hurt ye an' I get out of my pickle. ... Huh?" Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XXXIX Father and Son Aftee an absence from his native city of threel years and a half, Frederick Graves was returning to Ithaca, a very sick man. He had learned from Helen's letters to Madelene that Tessibel Skinner had a small son. His brother-in-law's exasperation at Young for giving the squatter girl and her little son a home at the lake had also been reflected in the correspondence. He had been able to glean but the bare outlines of the story, because Ebenezer and Helen had been abroad most of the time, and his impatient spirit chafed to know the intimate particulars of Tessibel's life. Jeal- ousy of Young tormented him. Hopeless brooding over his situation, and Madelene's continual nagging had made him a neurasthenic wreck. Worn by insom- nia and almost starved by a nervous dyspepsia, he could no longer maintain eVen a pretense of usefulness in the business. Madelene, thoroughly disillusioned, herself worn out by his sullen and savage temper, had brought him back to Ithaca, hoping the familiar sights and sounds of the home-land might help him. They arrived one rainy night at the station, where Ebenezer met them with the carriage. He greeted both effusively, and his manner perhaps was more cor- dial because of his brother-in-law's death-stricken face. "You'll buck up now you're home, Fred," he said, after he had kissed his sister and helped them into the carriage. "Maybe, but I doubt it," the invalid replied wearily. "Nonsense, Fred," his wife broke out. "You make me tired. You're always whining. Of course, you're going to get well." Too fatigued to argue, Frederick leaned back upon the cushions. Except for an occasional word, they were silent during the long drive through the rain. 250 Digitized by MicrosoftSi FATHER AND SON 251 Home at last, they found Helen waiting in the great hall. To Madelene, who preceded the men into the house, she looked much older, more dignified. Lines of worry around her €yes and mouth told the girl that her sister-in-law's life with Ebenezer had not been entirely easy. After kissing Madelene, Helen extended her hand to Frederick. "I hope you'll be better soon, Fred," she encouraged. "Our country fare'U put some flesh on your bones. . . . You look after the invalid, Ebenezer, and I'll take Madelene upstairs." The two women walked upstairs together. Wald- stricker gazed after them, pride and joy in his eyes. His wife and his sister reunited brought him a feeling of content. Frederick, fussing with his coat and rub- bers, seemed hardly aware of their going. "I'm glad to have you back, Fred," began Wald- stricker, anxious to express the gratification he felt. "We're glad to get back, of course," Frederick re- sponded coldly. He followed the elder into the library and threw himself on a lounge to rest until dinner. In the room above, Helen helped Madelene off with her things and listened to her chatter about the jour- ney. She could detect a sullen dissatisfaction with Frederick running like a dark thread through the cur- rent of her talk. It was clear to Helen that Madelene had lost her regard for her husband. Apparently, she cared so little that she didn't feel it necessary to hide or explain her feelings. "And, now- I want ha xee ]iit]f> Kl.saV^" /^eja^ Msi^ lene. ''I've neen crazy xo see ner ever since she was .born." I "She's such a darling," smiled Helen, "and is the very joy of her father's heart. . . . Come on in 1 the nursery." For a few seconds Madelene leaned over the sleeping child, a rosy child with thick blonde curls. A keen sense of the emptiness of her own arms stirred in her an envy of the complacent young matron standing at the foot of the little white bed. Perhaps Fred would've been different if they'd had a little one. Digitized by Microsoft® 252 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "I'd love to have a baby," she breathed discontent- edly. "But—" During the significant pause, Helen linked her arm through the speaker's. "Let's go down to dinner,'- she suggested. "You must be famished aftey your long ride." At the table, the conversation touched many mat- ters relating to the happenings in the lives of the long separated families. Madelene plied her knife and fork industriously, and jumped from topic to topic, ex- pressing a lively interest in all the events in Ithaca. t "And your brother, dear.'"' she asked her hostess, i "Is he stiU at the lake place.!"' Helen threw a quick glance at her husband, whose lips sank at the corners, his face coloring to a deep red. When his sister asked the question, the glass from which the elder had been drinking struck the table sharply, as though he wished to emphasize his dis- pleasure. "Yes, he lives there," he broke in. "In your father's old place, Fred. His lease is not up for almost a year." "Helen wrote me he had the Skinner girl and her baby with him," said Mrs. Graves. "Wasn't that a funny thing for him to do, Ebbie.'"' Waldstricker pushed back angrily. "Funny! Funny!" he ejaculated. "It isn't decent, and I've told him so, too." Frederick's face flushed, and he toyed nervously with the silver at the side of his plate. "But, Ebenezer, you don't mean she's living with Iiim, do you?" he faltered, leaning forward. "They live there together. Young and the girl and her — " Ebenezer's anger almost made him forget the conventional respect he owed his wife and sister, " — her son," he concluded lamely. "That's all I know, and it's enough. He's had the best houses in Ithaca closed to him on her account." Indignation at her husband's injustice burnt a red spot in Helen's cheeks and kindled a flame of unusual animation in her placid blue eyes. "You know better, Ebenezer," she retorted. *'For- Digitized by Microsoft® FATHER AND SON 253 lie's given her a father's care, and every one worth while honors him for it." Frederick, kept in his attitude of tense attention by a sudden revival of his jealousy of Young, sighed audibly and settled back in his chair. "I'm glad to hear you say that, Helen," he said earnestly. "Oh, are you, Fred?" cried Madelene. "So your old interest in that girl isn't dead, yet? Well, all I can say is, I am sorry she didn't get you, but I'll bet she's glad, now, she didn't." Waldstricker looked keenly from the speaker to her husband. But Frederick had again put on his mask of apathetic indifference and answered his wife's gibe only by a shrug of his shoulders. Noting her brother's scowling face, she went on maliciously. "You'd better keep away from the lake place, my dear husband, or you'll have both Ebbie and Forrie after you." "Will you have your tea now, Madelene?" Helen was alarmed at the threatened tempest, and hoped to change the subject. "Yes, thanks, dear," and to her brother, "After all, Ebbie, Forrie probably knows his own business best. You know he's quite partial to the squatters and al- ways did things for 'em." Mrs. Waldstricker summoned the servant, and while the dishes were being removed, Ebenezer sat and glow- ered from Frederick, white and distrait, to his wife, who was explaining to Madelene the way she'd made the salad dressing. When the servant had gone, Wald- 'stricker began again. "I'm out of patience with Deforrest! If he'd let me alone, I'd had all the squatters off the lake side before this and probably would have located Bishop." "You've heard nothing of him, Ebbie, I suppose?" asked Madelene. "It does seem queer a dwarf could disappear like that and not a word about him from any part of the world." Waldstricker's powerful hand clenched the teaspoon in his fingers so violently as to bend the handle. "No, I haven't," he growled. "I've a notion he'a Digitized by Microsoft® <54! SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY being harbored by some of the squatters. But I want Deforrest to uaderstand this — " "Oh, let's talk of something else besides squatters," cried Madelene. "Helen, your salad was divine, i . . Tell me, Ebbie, how you enjoy little Elsie. I think she's lovely." "Lovely!" he repeated in a very different tone, •'.Lovely is no word for that child. She's an angel, Isn't she, Helen?" Helen smiled dubiously. ^'An angel, very much spoiled, I fear." "No such thing," argued Waldstricker, glad of an opportunity to air his favorite theory. "Now Helen thinks the child's spoiled because she drops on the floor and kicks and cries until she gets what she wants. I tell her it's human nature, and perfectly right for my child to have her own way. Thank God, there's nothing in the world she can't have." Then looking from Frederick to his sister, he made a heavy attempt to be humorous. "What's the matter of you two? You've been mar- ried longer than Helen and I. When are you going to start your family?" Frederick maintained his pose of bored unconcern and an angry flush mounted to Madelene's face. "You think you're smart, Eb," she retorted. "Fred's all the baby I can look after, and goodness knows he's trouble enough !" ^ "But, now, you're here, dear," Mrs. Waldstricker ex- tended the olive branch again, "we'll help you look after him. ... I do hope the weather'U clear so we can get out. The lake's been simply beautiful this/ summer." "Just after I returned from Europe, I tried to dis- possess Deforrest," Ebenezer told Fred, "but he beat me in court. I wanted to clean up the scandalous mess. I felt he was breaking God's law in harboring a woman of that kind. But I'm only biding my time." His voice sank as he cast his eyes slowly from one to another, at last, fixing them ominously upon his wife. "Biding my time," he growled deeply, laying his nap- kin on the table. Digitized by Microsoft® FATHER AND SON 255 The gloom of his manner spread over the diners like a cloud. Helen's face expressed consternation; Fred- erick's discouragement, and Madelene's impatience. "I must say this is pleasant," snapped Mrs. Graves. "Ebbie, I forbid you to speak of those people again to-night." Helen made a little move as though to rise. In her capacity as peacemaker, it seemed advisable to change the scene of hostilities. "Let's go to the drawing room," she invited, . . . "Fred, don't you think you'd better go to bed.'"' "Yes, I'm aU tired out. I think I will." At the drawing room door, he turned to the stairs. "Good-night, aU," he added, and went slowly up to his room. Reclining in a big chair, Frederick recalled the talk iat the supper table and let his fancy rove in dreams of Tessibel and his son. What a cruel persecutor Ebenezer was ! How Helen had suffered during his outrageous harrangue! The young man ground his teeth. So Ebenezer was but biding his time to do some terrible harm to Tessibel and her little boy, his boy! Frederick breathed deeply, and pressed his hand upon his heart. Would the thing never stop beating that way! Would it never in Qiis world quit that awful hurt when he thought of the squatter country! He undressed hastily and went to bed, nor did he speak when Madelene crept softly in beside him. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XL Husband and Wife The next morning found Frederick Graves more nervous than ever. The weather had cleared. The air, washed by yesterday's downpour, came through the open window sweet to his nostrils. The country-side sparkled in the morning sun and the greens of the woods and fields were deeper and richer; out the beauty of the landscape touched him not. He'd scarcely slept, and when weariness had at last overcome him, his dreams had been filled with visions of a red haired girl, and a sturdy, handsome boy playing about upon the ragged rocks. When he came down to breakfast, Ebenezer told him he'd better see the doctor that day. "You might go while Madelene and I are out this morning," suggested Helen. "Ah," hearing a child's voice in the hall, "here comes my baby!" When the door opened, a little girl of three bounded in. Ebenezer held out his arms and Elsie sprang into them. "Listen to Mrs. Waldstricker," he laughed. "Shq said, 'my baby,' and I say, she's mine. . . . Aren't you my baby, pet?" Helen smiled indulgently. This wee bit of femininity was the one creature who could keep her father amiable from one end of the day to the other. "My girlie wants to eat with daddy?" Ebenezer went on, his face buried in the flaxen hair. "Then she shall." _ "Elsie wants to eat with daddy," parroted the child. "That's why I say she's spoiled," offered Helen, shrugging her shoulders. "Now her place is in the nursery, but what can I do?" "Her place is right here on her father's knee," re- plied Waldstricker, "where I always want her, bless 256 Digitized by Microsoft® HUSBAND AND WIFE 257 During the discussion about the child, Frederick got up from the table and went out of doors. As he left the dining room, he had no definite plan; but no sooner had he walked across the front lawn and taken a view of the long road — the way that led to Tessibel and his boy — than his feet, seemingly of theii" own volition, led him along the grassy path up the hill. If he could only see the two of them without his family knowing! One kiss from his boy, one loving look from Tess, and he felt he could start again to live! To the sick man the distance was considerable, but minute by minute he grew stronger, restored by revivi- fying hope. An hour, only a short hour, only a little distance further and he would be at the lake; in sight of the willow trees around the shack. He went down the hill to the top of the lane. Here Tess had come to him that long ago night he'd married her. Every familiar spot stung him with bitter memories of the squatter girl. He went slowly down and stopped under a great tree opposite the house where he'd lormerly lived. Young had the place now, and Tess lived there and his boy. Ebenezer's insinuations hurt him. His jealousy of De- forresl revived. Remorse for his criminal selfishness burned him, an unquenchable fire. Shaken by conflicting emotions, he went on by the deserted hut under the willows to the lake shore. He'd go out to the ragged rocks and rest, and then he'd try to see Tessibel and the boy. He came to the great gray slab where he'd left Tess the night he told her of Madelene, and sank down in the shade of the overhangiiig rocks. Screened from the blazing sun, his hot skin rejoiced in the coolness of the damp grotto. With unseeing eyes, he glanced out over the glassy mirror of the placid water. Un- heeding, he heard none of the bird-calls, and paid no attention to the intimate little sounds of the lake side. What should he do when at last he saw Tess and the boy? Would he dare claim them.'' Suddenly, something made him sit up straight and listen. It was a child's laugh. He got up and stepped behind the hanging shoulder of the rock and waited. Digitized by Microsoft® 258 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY He looked cautiously around the jutting-rock, and there, racing toward him through the brilliant sunshine, was a little boy, a handsome, sturdy boy, and bounding along beside him, Kennedy's bulldog. Then, instinctively, Frederick knew this was his son.,. He would speak, he must speak ! He stepped from his , hiding place and came face to face with the little fellow 'and his companion. The dog, uttering a great growl, ►crouched on his hind quarters in rage. A stranger' had ventured upon ground belonging to his dear ones, and Pete was demanding, in his doglike way, the reason thereof. j "Pete, Pete," called Frederick, soothingly, and Pete dropped his head and came forword, as if to a friend. The boy stood, feet wide-spread, staring fixedly at this man whom Pete knew and he had never seen before. ' Frederick patted the dog and smiled ingratiatingly at the boy. He was looking down into a pair of dark eyes, eyes like his own, into the grave face of a child asking why he was there. The dog nuzzled the man's hand and fawned upon him, making in his throat little noises of welcome. Frederick held out his other hand. *'Won't you come, too, little boy?" "I can't ! ... Mummy wouldn't like it. I don't know you." "She won't mind, I'm sure," replied Frederick, his heart beating so hard he could hear it. "Pete knows me, and I know your mother. Her name is — is Tessi-i bel. . . . Isn't it.?" The man could scarcely get that beloved name from' (between his lips. "Yes, Tessibel is my mummy," said the boy. "You Jknow my mummy, and my Uncle Forrie?" "Yes," assented Frederick, sitting down. "Come , here and let me tell you all about your mother's beau- " tiful curls." Boy hitched nearer the tall stranger. He was drawn in some unknown way toward this man whose arms were out-held to him. Then, suddenly, he walked straight into them, his eyes still very grave, still very questioning. Digitized by Microsoft® HUSBAND AND WIFE 259 The moment Frederick touched the little one he felt the world was his. He forgot Waldstricker, forgot Madelene, forgot everything, but his elf-like son within his cuddling grasp. He touched his lips to the little face. "Oh, I've wanted to see you so," he murmured. "Why didn't you come, then.'"' demanded Boy. "I was away," said Frederick. "My Uncle Forrie goes away, too. When he came home yesterday, he brought me a beautiful engine — it goes on wheels. I love my Uncle Forrie." "Could you love me, dear?" breathed Frederick. "Yes, oh, yes. I love everybody. God, too. So does Mummy. And Deacon, he's my owl, and An — " Boy's lips closed on the nearly spoken word. He suddenly remembered the daily lessons he'd had from his mother never to mention Andy's name to any one; that, if he did, a big man would come and take his; darling Andy away. No, Boy couldn't stand that. He wouldn't say anything about Andy, not even to this strangely attractive man. "What were you going to say, boy?" petitioned Frederick. "Nothin'. Just nothin'." And the father was satisfied, satisfied not to talk, glad to have his son so heavenly close. The long years of his exile were slipping away. The nerve-racking yearning of tedious days and yet more tedious, sleep- less nights was partially quieted. His son, so long, merely, the pulseless image of his dreams, had become a breathing reality, and the child was the living link, between its mother and himself. The longer he heldf the little one, the more intense grew his desire for Tess.jj At length this demand urged him to ask, "Where's your mother?" "She's home, just up there in that house. She's working." "You haven't any father?" the man queried at last. A lump rose in his throat and choked him. What had ', the child been told about him, he wondered. "Oh, yes, I have somewhere's, but I got another up in the sky, away back in the clouds, Mummy says. Digitized by Microsoft® 260 SECHET OF THE STORM COUNTRY] And he's awful glad when I'm good, and he cries like anything, when I'm bad. So I try to be good, and sometimes I'm gooder'n gold." To hear a name from the child's lips, the name he had dreamed of, was the one thought filling his mind. "Let me be your father.?" he said, his voice breaking. "Sure I wiU," he answered. "There's my mummy, /now !" Around the jutting rocks came Tess. The red curls hung about her shoulders like a vivid velvet mantle, just as Frederick always dreamed of them. But her figure, in her simple morning dress, was fuUer and more womanly. Upon her face was an expression of serenity and peace. Ah! The woman was even more lovely than the girl he'd married, and to the love- hungry man, on the great, gray slab of rock, she was infinitely desirable. "Mummy," shouted the child, joyfully, "I've found a daddy for us. Petey and me found him." , Tess stared at the man, undisguised horror and dis- may written in her eyes. She'd not seen Frederick since that day he'd urged her to marry Sandy Letts to escape Waldstricker, whose hands, he'd described, as stronger'n God's. She'd hardly heard of him after he and Madelene had gone West. She had long ago ceased to feel any desxre for him. Indeed, she scarcely thought of him. During the full happy years since she left the shanty, under the loving tuition of Defor- rest Young, the disgrace this man on the rocks had heaped upon her had covered its claws and lacerated her no more. But, at the sight of him, visions of the past reared themselves in her imaginative mind. Memory, suddenly, flung all the cruelties of his treat- ment of her into a kaleidoscopic jumble, and meddle- some fear presented numerous suggestions of calamity. A moment she stood as if turned to stone. "Come on, come," Boy cried, tugging at her dress. Frederick struggled to his feet, and held out his arms. "Tessibel, oh, my Tess, be kind," he supplicated. But she'd taken the child's hand and without answer- ing, was making her way swiftly backward to the rock- Eath. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XLI Tessibel's Discoveey Fredekick stood for one tense minute watching Tes- sibel hurry over the rocks. Many times he had pictured this interview, • . . even framed the sentences in which he would express his remorse and win her forgiveness. It had never occurred to his brooding thought that the years of absence which had increased his own ardor, might have lessened the squatter girl's regard for him. But the meeting wasn't working out as he'd planned. He'd been almost paralyzed at her coming, speechless except for the few halting words of entreaty. Now, it dawned upon him that she was going away without a word, that she was taking the child with her, and that he might never see either of them again. "Tessibel," he called hoarsely. "Stop, or . . • I'll tell Waldstricker." His words brought Tess to a standstill. The threat filled her with fear, for well she knew the elder's power. Stni keeping hold of Boy's hand, she retraced her steps. "Why did you come here .'"' she asked, fear and dis- taste making her voice cold and hard. "To see you and . . . him." Frederick pointed to the child, who was now hiding behind his mother's skirts. "Well, now you've seen us." Frederick stared at the speaker, his lips pursed with surprise. Was this Tess Skinner, the squatter girl.'' The voice was hers, but its tones were resonant with contempt ! Face and form he recognized, but not the new poise, the dignity of her motherhood. The brown eyes he remembered as lighted by love, now expressed unutterable abhorrence. "Tess, dear Tess," he pleaded, "let me talk to you." Tess stooped over the child, rearranged his little waist, and pushed back the curly hair. 261 Digitized by Microsoft® 262 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "Boy go home now, and mother'!! come directly." She Icissed the bewildered upturned face. The baby couldn't understand what was going on. . . . Mummy seemed sad, and the nice man, who was so white and sick looking, had spoken angrily to his beautiful mother. "I'd rather stay wif you," he lisped. "But Mummy asks Boy to go," said Tess, and to the dog, "Here, Petey, go home with Boy." Placing his hand on the dog's collar, the child turned slowly and unwillingly toward the house. He'd taken but a few halting steps along the rocks before Freder- ick's voice rang out. "Tess, Tessibel, let me hold him . . . kiss him once more. Don't shake your head ! Don't say no ! I've wanted him so all these years. Oh, Tessibel!" Plis pitiful pleading touched the listening girl. At last, face to face with the man whose cowardice and selfishness had brought her so much trouble, her one desire was to escape ... to run away. But he was begging for her to be kind, to allow him to hold her baby! . . . What right had he to kiss him.'' . . . To-be sure, the child was his, too, but — ^but — " "Oh, No! No! I don't want you to!" she cried, protesting. "You can never be anything in his life. "Why don't you let us alone?" Frederick had walked very close to her side by this time, his white face twitching. "I must kiss him once more," he persisted. Tess turned to the loitering child. She could see that at a word of assent from her, Boy would rush into the outstretched arms Frederick held toward him. The mother, with a twist at her heart, recognized the tie which drew together this man and her son. A dreadful fear clutched her. Would Frederick do as he had threatened, hoping that he might thus come in contact with his son? Her mind flew to Deforrest Young. . . . He must never know the name of Boy's father. She could feel the blood coursing madly through her temples, and her head ached dully. Nevertheless, she went back and took hold of the child's hand. Digitized by Microsoft® TESSIBEL'S DISCOVERY 263 "You may kiss the gentleman . . . good-bye," she said in a constrained voice. "The pretty man was goin' to be my faver," said the child, pleadingly. "I want a daddy awful bad." "Yes, yes, I know," Tess returned tremulously. "Now hurry, dear, and then run home." Only too gladly did the child jump away and bound into his father's extended arms. "Mummy says I has to go home," he whispered. While the tall man silently caressed the dark curls of her boy, Tess of the Storm Country endured such pain as she'd never known before. The mutual attraction between the two, so differently related to her, seemed anomalous and impossible. Frederick unwillingly allowed the child to slip to the rocks and after Tess'd started Boy and the dog on their homeward way, she stood before him, her lips quiver- ing. She knew he, too, suffered, and she waited quietly as he dried his eyes and recovered his choking breath. She was sorry he'd come. She'd hoped never to see him again. But, now, she must be assured that he would continue the deception in regard to the past. As anxious as she had once been to have him claim her as his own, to tell the world she belonged to him, she, now, wanted to keep silent. "It was useless for you to come," she chided pres- ently. Frederick made an impetuous movement with his hand. "Oh, no, it wasn't . . . Won't you let me atone, let me make up for all the things I've done . . . and; haven't done? I want — oh, how I want — " "It's too late," interrupted the girl. "Much too late." "But, Tessibel, I know you love me. You can't have forgotten. And I'll make the boy love me. He does now! Didn't you hear him call me father?" "He has no father," she responded coldly. "And I — I haven't any love left for you." The words were low but distinctly spoken, "I don't believe it! ... I won't! . . . You shall love me! ... I won't have you with Young, Digitized by WUcroeoft® — - 264 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY . . . He can see my boy every day ... be with you hour after hour. ... I hate him !" "You hate him !" Tessibel's eyes burned and flashed with indignation. "When you should be grateful, be- cause he's done everything you should've done. . . J You've said all you can. You can't make up to us _. . . the baby and me. . . . Won't you please go.?"! Frederick felt he was losing his reason. The love ,^e'd nursed in secret, the passion that had wasted him away, shook his frail frame. He wouldn't be denied! "God help me, I won't go!" he gritted, the words carrying on his thought. With one sweep of his arras, he encircled Tess in a close embrace. She made frantic efforts to free her- self, but Frederick, strong under the emotion consum- ing hira, only hugged her closer. "Let me go!" Tess almost screamed the words. Then, her voice changed to a tense whisper, hoarse with loathing. "How can . . . oh, how dare you!" But she could not protect her face from the search- ing mouth. Violently, Frederick twisted her around and for one moment his lips fell upon hers. Deep , groans came between the kisses he thrust upon her. A moment later the sound of advancing stSps lifted Frederick's face from hers. Muttering an oath, he threw Tess forcibly from him, for there in the path was Ebenezer Waldstricker, about whose sagging lips played a supercilious smile. "So I was not mistaken," he sneered, looking his brother-in-law full in the face. "If Madelene doesn't care, I do." "Well?" growled Frederick. "You've found me here, now do what you cursed want to, I don't care." "Perhaps you'U care before I finish," said the elder grimly, and he included the girl in his baleful glare. "I think you both will." Tessibel's mind flew to Boy. What could these two men do to her darling? She went forward toward Waldstricker, her eyes raised appealingly to his. "Won't you make Mr. . . . Mr. Graves keep away?" she petitioned. "I don't want him here." Digitized by Microsoft® TESSIBEL'S DISCOVERY 265 "Yes, it looked, when I came around the coftier, as if you didn't want him, miss," scoffed the elder. Then he laughed, and the laugh cut the throbbing girl to the quick. "Very much as if you wanted him to go. . . . Now, then, sir, what's this girl to you?" "I'm nothing to him, Mr. Waldstricker," she asserted, without giving Frederick a chance to speak. Graves still felt that maddening passion, that demand for his own. "She lies," he said in low tones. Tess turned to him passionately. "You know what I say is true. You came here with- out my desiring it ! I don't want anything to do with you. . . . Haven't you both harmed me enough.'' . . . Do I ever come around and hurt you. J" . . . Why don't you tell the truth.?" "All right," he shouted, his irritation at her resis- tance overcoming his fear of the elder. "If you want the truth, here it is. I'm " "Don't ! Don't !" screamed Tess. "All!" hissed Waldstricker's lips like a jet of steam. He'd caught within his powerful net the girl he wanted. He'd bring to light the secret that'd preyed upon his sister's spirits so long. For the squatter girl he felt no pity, for Frederick only contempt. They were both weaklings that he'd sweep away in his pursuit of Young and the squatters. "He's sick," said Tessibel, trying to discount Fred- erick's confession. "Your brother-in-law's sick. You can see that! . . . He thinks . . . why, he's mad!'* "I'm not mad!" Frederick turned upon her fiercely, then back to the big man whose eagerness bent him for- ward. "I'm the father of her boy." The blood left Waldstricker's face, so that it looked like carved marble. "So 'tis so," he got out, "and you admit it, you cur, and you dared to marry my sister.? Now, as God lets me live, you'll both suffer for this, and as for you, Tessi- bel Skinner, look out for that bastard of yours !" The squatter girl uttered a heart-broken cry, and turning, fled around the rocks into the lane and up the ""^' Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XLII A Man's Aem at the Window It seemed to Tess that her feet were leaden, as if shtf could never traverse the distance between the raggedy rocks and the house. The interview with Frederick had been a terrible ordeal, and she was sick with dis- gust from his odious kisses, Waldstricker's untimely appearance and his stinging taunts hurt and frightened her. She knew he would do his worst and that Fred- erick wouldn't or couldn't help it. The desire to get Boy into her arms, to keep him from the men below urged her on. Wildly, she fled through the orchard, crying as she went. "Boy! Mummy's Boy! Where's Mummy's Boy?" Gasping for breath, her voice ejected the words ex- plosively. Exhausted, she sank upon the top step of the porch. The long run up the hill had been almost too much, but in a moment, she lifted herself, still call- ing and panting, and stumbled into the house. "He's upstairs with Andy," said Young, looking up from his book. Then, alarmed by her appearance, he jumped up and hurried to her. "What's the matter, Tess? Tell me." "Where's the baby?" she demanded hysterically, dinging to him. . . . "TeU me where my baby is." Drawing her into an easy chair, Deforrest attempted to quiet her. "Boy's upstairs with Andy. Hush, hush, child !j Don't cry like that! . . . Oh, my little girl! • . .' What is it? ... What's happened? Tell me . . . quick !" But Tess couldn't speak. She only clung to hjg arms, trying to stifle her gasping cries. Just then Boy's clear laugh came pealing down the stairway, a conclusive comfort to his mother's heart. When her extreme agitation had subsided, Professor 266 Digitized by Microsoft® A MAN'S ARM AT THE WINDOW 267 Young sat down and called her to him. As of old, when first he had heard her lessons in his home, she dropped at his feet, resting her curly head against his knee. "Now I want to know what's frightened you," saic? he, softly. The girl made a gesture of refusal. "I can't tell it,'' ((she replied, under her breath. "It's too terrible ! It's 'too awful!" "There's nothing too terrible for me to know," an- swered Young. "What happened while you were out?" "Don't ask me to tell you, Uncle Forrie," pleaded Tess. "I can't! I can't!" "Tessibel," demanded the lawyer, "was it Sandy Letts?" "Oh, no, no, not him !" The man pondered a moment. "Was it—" *'Please don't ask me any more questions." Sne lifted a crimson face. "I was foolish, I suppose, but I thought, I thought the baby — " "Some one threatened Boy! Was that it, Tessibel.'"' he cross-questioned. "Yes." The murmured answer was scarcely audible, "One of the squatters, then?" The red head sank again. This time a decided shake of the shining curls made the denial. Hoping to avoid further examination, the girl tried to rise to her feet, but the questioner's hand pressed her back. "Don't ask me," she entreated. "I'm better now." She tried to smile, but the sweet lips trembled. Young hadn't seen her so stirred in all the years of her residence in his house. He'd been able to hold his love in check while he saw her happy and content, but her present pitiful state broke down the barriers he'd erected and hardly conscious of the change in his atti- tude, he kissed her. Tess drew away sharply. The strange new quality in his caress aroused an answering thrill the length of her body. In that moment she discovered how deeply she loved Deforrest 'S^MBby Microsoft® 268 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "Don't . . , don't kiss me! Never, never kiss me again." What was it she had said? The man felt his heart contract with a shooting pain. "Why, child, I've kissed you since you were a little girl. . . . Why shouldn't I?" "I don't know, I don't know," she faltered. "Some- how it's different, now." Something in her tones, some dejection in the bowed head brought the , man's hand from the shrouding curls. His heart began to live again, to come forth from beneath his stern wiU and make known its own desire. "Tess," his voice tense with emotion, "will you marry me? . . . Will you, Tess?" The girl got to her feet, swaying. Marry him? Her fingers twisted together as her eyes dropped be- fore the expression of his. He, too, was on his feet, holding out his arms. "I'd . . . marry you," she confessed haltingly, "but I can't." "Is it Boy?" demanded Young. "Why, child, don't you know I love him almost as if he were my own?" "I can't," wailed Tess, again. "How I wish I could!" "You saw some one to-day, didn't you, Tessibel?" She nodded affirmatively, but volunteered nothing further. "I must know," cried the man. "Don't you see, child, you've just told me-^ — Tess, look at me." The drooping lids raised slowly. "Tess, when you said you desired to marry me, did you mean — oh, you meant you love me, child dear,! didn't you?" "Yes," she breathed. "Then, can't you see your love for me and mine for ^rou makes it necessary I should know everything? Some one to-day — tell me, dear." i "Waldstricker came down — " Tess paused, but trembled on. "I was talking to — " "Who?" ejaculated Young, fiercely. "Who?" "The baby's father." Digitized by Microsoft® A MAN'S ARM AT THE WINDOW 269 Shocked by her unexpected answer, he dropped into his chair and covered his face wSn his hands. "Don't feel that way," she whispered. "Listen, I'll tell you about it. ... Boy ran to the rocks with Pete, and I went after him. I found him there with — with—" "Oh, Tess," groaned Young. "His father's been away a long time," the girl went on, "and now he's back, and he wanted to see the baby, and then I sent Boy home and Waldstricker came — " "My God ! won't you ever tell me who was there with you?" Boy's mother bowed her head, and through the red hair came two trembling words, just one whispered name that seared the man's heart like flames. "Frederick Graves." Only one long shudder showed the listener's agony. Tess, too, remained quiet, her veins bursting with puls- ing blood. She could not tell him the rest. Freder- ick hadn't told, neither could she. Her promise on the rocks, so many years ago, still bound her. . The lawyer lowered his hands, and the whiteness of his face drew Tessibel to her knees beside him. "I've always made you sad," she murmured. "I'm sorry, forgive me." "Just tell me . . . aU," he insisted. Then she began at the beginning and told him over again how Boy had gone to the rocks with Pete and she went after him. At the part where Frederick had taken her in his arms, she faltered. In the light of the wonderful, new love for Deforrest, she couldn't g© on! "Won't you let me . . . keep the rest?" she im= plored. "No, I will not!" groaned the man. "I will not!" "Then, let me stand up." She got up slowly and stood looking out of the win» dow. "He kissed and kissed me," she said, choking, "and just then Waldstricker came and . . . saw." "Oh, God help me!" the heavy voice pleaded. Tess knelt again. His supplicating cry aroused her < Digitized by Microsoft® 270 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY faith to vivid activity. Deforrest had prayed, "God help me!" and, oh, so differently than the same words used by Frederick a short time previous. He was bearing pain for her. Hadn't she suffered, too, and time and again called into the heart of the Infinite for help? And always at the times needed, it had come. God vould surely help her friend. Tess forgot herself in her ardent desire to comfort him. f "He will help you, dear," she whispered. "He'll al- ways help when you ask Him. Didn't He get Daddy Skinner out of Auburn and He kept Andy with me in the shanty till we came to you.'' Oh, I know He'U help you and me. Uncle Forrie." The loving appellation, taught Boy when first he could lisp, roused the man as perhaps nothing else would have done. The three of them still needed him, needed him more than ever. He was there at their sides like a wall of stone, to defend^ to love and protect. And whatever happened, Tess loved him! He drew her to her feet and smiled a twisted smile into the lovely face. This day had started another epoch in their lives. She had said God would help, and he had learned many lessons from the squatter girl. For the first time in his life he understood some- thing of the overwhelming faith of Tessibel Skinner. Yes, he would be helped! The girl's next words cut off his thought. "Waldstricker said he'd hurt Boy," she said, flush- ing, "but, but—" "But you have faith he can't, haven't you, Tess.?" "Of course!" she nodded. "I know he can't! You remember the day Waldstricker tried to get me andl you came and stopped him, how I told y^u I knew he couldn't," and more softly, "do you remember what I said when you went away that day?" "Yes, indeed, I do, dear! I've often thought of it. 'Love is everywhere, the hull time,' " and, he smiled. Radiantly she told him, "And, now, somehow, I know that Love will let me be all yours some day." Young turned swiftly, and going to the door, swung out without another word, and Tess hurried upstairs to Boy. •' Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XLIII Sandy's Job Tessibel Skinner's flight left Ebenezer Wald- stricker and Graves together on the ragged rocks. ,The bigger man turned and surveyed the other, scorn, anger and disgust struggling for expression in his face. The latter, paying no apparent attention to the enraged elder, leautd against an outcropping gray- rock and fixed his gaze on the lake, noting mechanically the play of sunshme and shadow upon its dazzling bosom. Through the elder's seething mind thoughts tumbled tumultuously. Could this moody, pale-faced man be the same nice young fellow that had married Made- lene.'' How had he dared to marry her, and having done so, what had compelled him, after all this time, to acknowledge the Skinner brat? He walked forward a step or two, coughed and began to speak. Frederick seemed not to hear him. "I said," repeated Waldstricker, "I've discovered what I've suspected for four years." Frederick allowed his eyes to rest an instant on his brother-in-law's dark, passionate face. Then, again, he turned his attention to the lake. "And I don't intend to allow my sister to suffer by this," went on the elder. "I suppose you'll tell her, won't you.'"' questioned the other, foreseeing unpleasant complications and already regretting the rashness that'd betrayed him. "She won't learn it from me," promised Ebenezer. "Nor from me," agreed Frederick. "I've no wish to have a whining woman hanging to my neck." Waldstricker muttered an oath under his breath. "Well, of all the contemptible pups in the world!" he snorted. "Talk of ingratitude! Here's a girl, a good girl, tooi and Madelene's that — " 271 Digitized by Microsoft® 272 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "No one said she wasn't," snapped Graves. "But her goodness doesn't keep her from nagging, my dear Ebenezer." "Shut up!" snarled his opponent, the last atom of his patience exhausted by the speaker's flippant crit- icism. "You cur, you deserve a good thrashing, and I'm going to give it to you, now!" Jumping for him, he lifted his arm to strike, but before the mighty fist descended, Frederick, outworn by his long walk and the excitement of the morning, slumped upon the rocks, a limp form at his assailant's feet. Stunned, the tall man gazed down at the crum- Eled figure, and mechanically lowered his arm. Then, e stooped, examined his fallen foe and stretched him out upon the rocks. Leaving him there, Waldstricker hurried to the lake and filled his hat with water, and returning, bathed the stricken man's face and neck. In a few moments, the faintness passed, and Frederick drew himself to a sitting posture against the rocks. "You great brute! It's like you to strike a sick man," the white lips taunted, as soon as their owner could speak. The slurring words brought a hot blush of shame to Ebenezer's face. "I'm sorry, Fred," he stammered at length. "I was so angry I must've forgotten you're not well. I'm glad I didn't strike you. But what are we going to do> now? ... If we don't tell Madelene, how about the Skinner girl? . . , Won't she make trouble for us?" "No, she won't say anything, I'm sure !" Frederick's voice was low, but positive. "She doesn't want to have anything more to do with me. What she said about - not wanting me was true. She wouldn't stop to speak to me, even, until I threatened to tell you. ... I sup- pose Young's made her so happy she's glad to forget me." "What gets me is how you and Young, decent fel- lows, got mixed up with such a girl," Ebenezer growled meditatively. "If you knew Tess as I do, , . . you'd understand," wailed Frederick. "She's the dearest, bravest, sweetest girl in the world." Digitized by Microsoft® SANDY'S JOB 273 "Bosh ! . . . Now, the question is about getting you home. My buggy's up in the road. Do you think you can walk there.'"' "I guess so." With his brother-in-law's help, Frederick got to his feet. Slowly, leaning on the big man's supporting arm, he made his way, with many pauses for rest, to the waiting vehicle. Waldstricker put his companion into the carriage and unhitched the horse. Instead of getting in beside him, he handed him the reins, saying as he did so, "You can drive all right, can't you? Old Ned knows the way back and will go home if you let him alone. I want to see Young." Before turning away, the speaker chirruped to the horse, which started obediently up the hill toward Ithaca, drawing after him what cowardly selfishness had left of Frederick Graves. The elder walked slowly up the path to Young's house, turning over in his mind to what advantage he could best use his newly acquired knowledge. Coming out of the door hurriedly, Deforrest Young met his brother-in-law face to face as the latter rounded the corner of the house. At the sight of this pompous person, whose meddling threatened so much trouble to his dear ones, the indignation w"hich Tessibel's words had in a measure quieted, flared up anew. He wanted to fight, to pound, and if possible to kill with his hands" the man in front of him. "You'd better come no farther," he said between set teeth. "Just stay where you are! ... I shan't be responsible for my acts if you don't." "So she's told you," said Waldstricker, laughing loudly. "And it hurts, eh? Now, you know what you're keeping.'"' Trembling with suppressed passion, the lawyer walked deliberately to the steps, his face waxen-white. "I told you to come no nearer. I'd advise you to go away," said he. His low voice, contrasting sharply with his flushed cheeks and blazing eyes, testified elo- quently of the tremendous curb imposed upon his temper. Digitized by Microsoft® 274 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "Yes, she told me, . . ." he continued in the same tone, "and the more she told me, the more heartily I pitied her. She told me of your threats, too, but 1 want you to understand, the moment you turn your hands against her, I'll fix you." "Don't forget my wife's your sister. I'll see our family's honor upheld even if you've forgotten it." iWaldstricker simulated a confidence he didn't quite ■/feel. Young's fists knotted. "You mind your business, Ebenezer, and let my house alone." Waldstricker, kicking uneasily at a stone in his path, thought a moment. At last he looked up. "I'll let your house alone all right, if you'll get rid of that girl, and that--" He didn't use the word he'd intended. Deforrest didn't give him time. "My house is my own," he interjected. "If you watch yours, you'll have all you can 'tend to." "I'll go," said the big man, hoarsely, "but I don't say I won't come again, and I warn you, as I warned that squatter girl, when the time comes — ''' "Get out!" snarled Deforrest, starting down the steps, "and get quick." And the elder, not daring to stay, turned and went toward the pear orchard. It was then, that he glanced up and saw Tessibel and her little one at an upper win- dow, watching with startled eyes for his departure. The baby turned from the window and raised his arms to some one within, and a hand below a man's rough coat sleeve clasped the boy and lifted him up out of Waldstricker's sight. Walking along the road to Ithaca, he reviewed the exciting events of the morning and tried to consider and determine the complications they involved. He was unable to find a motive for Frederick's dramatic an- nouncement, although he did not for a moment doubt its truth. It was queer though that, after having kept still so long, he should blurt out his secret in that fashion. He considered his promise not to tell Mad- elene and concluded he'd been wise. Probably Fred- Digitized by Microsoft® SANDY'S JOB 275. erick wouldn't live long anyway, and in the natural course of things, Madelene would soon be free and the Graves chapter ended. He wondered what had kept Tess silent all these years. How had she withstood his persecution even in her betrayer's presence and made no sign.!* He was glad she had, but he couldn't under- stand why. Evidently the girl's disclosure to Young wasn't going to make any difference in his brother-in- ■law's conduct. Suddenly, like a bolt shot into the midst of his revery, rose the question. Whose arm was that ? _ Young was on the porch, the girl and the baby in plain sight at the window. But there was some one else, a man. He had seen his arm and coat sleeve. "That's certainly peculiar," he ruminated. "I didn't know Young had any one else there. It may be all right, of course, but it seems mighty suspicious." All the way home and all the evening, the thing both- ered him. In every way imaginable he tried to account for that other man in Young's house. He canvassed the neighborhood. A chance visitor wouldn't be up- stairs, and anyhow he'd have looked out to see the row with Young. But this man kept away from the win- dow. He'd only shown his hand and arm. Whoever he was, he was hiding in Young's home. Was his brother-in-law a party to it? A man couldn't be kept for any length of time in the house without his knowing it. Young and Tess were hiding someone! At bed time he decided that the next day he would find out who was the other man in Young's house. It might give him a hold on his obstreperous brother-in-law and the hateful squatter girl. Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XLIV Sandy's Visit The next day, Ebenezer Waldstricker met Lysander Letts, just back from Auburn, loitering along Buffalo Street near the Lehigh Valley station. The prison- pallor of the squatter's face and hands and the ill-fit- ting, cheap prison clothes on his big body made him conspicuous among the men on the street. Wald- stricker puUed up his team. "Sandy," he called, "come to the office when you're uptown. I want to see you." An hour or so later, the squatter slouched into Wald- stricker's private room. The elder rose and greeted him. "So you're out again?" The question was really a statement. "Yes," assented Letts, sitting down on the edge of the chair, "an' I wouldn't a been if I hadn't been let out on good behavior. I made up my mind I wouldn't stay a minute longer'n I had to." "I guess after this you won't be stealing dead bodies, will you.^" asked the rich man. "Nope, you bet I won't! I've enough of Auburn. It ain't like the Ithaca jail! ... "Heard anythin' of Tess Skinner?" "Yes, she's got a boy over three years old." Lysander nodded his head slowly, as if he'd received confirmation of a conclusion previously formed. "Thought likely," he muttered. "Where air she livin'? I met Jake Brewer on the street an' he says she air left the shack." *'So she has, but not very far, away. . . . Letts, I want you to do something for me. Are — or I might put it — do you still want to make up to the Skinner girl?" 276 Digitized by Microsoft® SANDY'S VISIT 27.7 Sandy's face grew dark with uncontrolable aneer. "I want to rip the skin offen her inch by inch," he snarled. The other man gave a low, mirthless laugh. The picture of the girl he disliked so intensely, writhing in the great hands of the brute opposite him, appealed to the elder's sardonic humor. "That wouldn't be a bad idea," he averred. "But she's got some one who won't see her hurt." Letts jumped up and stepped close to the desk where the other was sitting. Here was a complication he hadn't anticipated. He moistened his dry lips with a tobacco stained tongue and demanded, "Who air he? . . . Air she married.?" "No, she's living in Graves' old place, the house I, now, own, with Deforrest Young." "Ye mean, your wife's brother, the lawyer?" Waldstricker nodded. "An' ye say she air livin' with him?" "Well not exactly that, I suppose, but she's keeping house for him. She's got her child there, too." "Has, eh?" said Sandy, dryly. A wicked look came over his face and he slouched back into his chair. Ebenezer went to his office window and looked into the street. "Want to earn some money, Letts?" he demanded, without turning around. "You bet! Ye bet I do!" Ebenezer returned to his desk and sat down again facing his visitor. "You'll have to go about this business carefully." "Trust me," promised the squatter. "I am. There's a mystery about Young's house — I mean, there's some one in it beside my brother-in-law, the Skinner girl, and the boy." "Who air it?" The question was no perfunctory expression of interest. Anything relating to Tess was vitally important. "That's what I want you to find out. It's a man !" "Mebbe it's the brat's pa," offered the other. "No, it isn't, and by the way, you let up trying to find out about ihaiigjtized by Microsoft® 278 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "What do ye mean?" interjected Sandy, sullenly. "I mean I want that matter dropped." Letts merely grunted, for to acquire that informal tion was one of the first things he intended to do, but there was no use telling the elder so. "What ye want?" he muttered. "I'll give you a hundred dollars to find out the name of the other man living at Young's." "Done!" cried the squatter. "Do I get any of the dough, now?" "Part of it, if you like," replied Waldstricker, slip- ?ing his hand into his pocket. "But listen to me. ou're to come directly back here and tell me, when you find out. Discover his name, if you don't know the man. Do you understand?" "I does that. You leave it to me. Then, I'll settle with Tess Skinner." "As you please about her," consented Waldstricker. "Go along now, I'm busy," Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XLV Andy Vindicated Lysander Letts left Waldstricker's office highly pleased. He was going to see Tess, and he had twenty-' five dollars in his pocket. In the long hours of silent meditation in prison, he'd tried to outline that meeting, and to figure out how he could work Waldstricker. His errand provided for both contingencies. He swaggered along the street, bumped into people roughly, and for his rudeness gave them oaths instead of apologies. At an inlet saloon, he displayed his money ostentatiously, and bought many drinks for him- self and the "setters." The squatter's capacity for the Rhine whiskey had been impaired by his imprisonment^ and it was not long before he began to feel the effects of his liquor. A fuU pint in his hip pocket, Sandy, finally, broke away from his companions and started up the railroad tracks for the Silent City. Staggering a little, he meditated with drunken seriousness what he had done and was going to do. Famished by his detention in prison, he hungered for the sight of Tess. All the fierce passion of his undis- ciplined nature clamored for her. And when he had her, he'd carry out all the brutalities conceived in the long nights in his cell. He'd find out the father of her boy. If that duffer, Waldstricker, could discover it, he could. He'd make Tess tell. He'd show Young, too. He'd get even with the lawyer for helping send him to Auburn. His grievance grew more active every step he carried his load of liquor through the broiling sun, the long four miles from Ithaca. "Wait till I get 'em," he muttered over and over, *'I'll show 'em what's what." Before he reached the lane leading past Young's place to the Skinner shack, he left the tracks and climbed the fence. Throwing his legs over the top, he 279 Digitized by Microsoft® 280 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY sat down to enjoy the breeze which blew from the green lake, and, vibrating the leaves and bowing the shrubs and grasses, swept up and over the hill into the illim- itable space beyond. Sand;^ wanted another drink, and reached back to his hip for it. The bottle stuck in the pocket and he jerked at it savagely. He pulled it out, but he, also, lost his balance, and in his efforts to save himself from falling, smashed the bottle on the top rail .of the fence. The whiskey ran down to the ground and the thirsty moss drank it up. Letts gazed at the jagged-edged glass in his hand, stupefied by the magnitude of his calamity. Then he drew a long breath and cursed his luck. He cursed the bottle, the fence, the whiskey, Waldstricker, who'd sent him, and Tess and the unknown man, on whose account he'd been sent. His maledictions included everything except his own drunken clumsiness. Bye and bye, he got down from the fence, muttering and grumbling to himself. Cautiously, in spite of his inflamed temper, he worked his way through the trees. There was no sign of life about the house, but large hammocks swung in the breeze on the porch. The squatter walked around and around, keeping far enough away so his movements could not be noticed. He stopped under a large tree to look up at the windows Waldstricker had described. Attracted by a sound to his right, he wheeled about and saw Tessibel coming down the hill. His breath came sharply through his dark teeth. Never had the girl been so desirable, and for the instant, he felt pos- sessed to rush upon her, to take her in his arms, to hold her close. Then, Waldstricker came into his mind. Before he worked his will on the squatter girl, he must find out the name of the unknown man. He had to please the elder to get the rest of the money. But to speak to her would be all right. He might discover something. He walked stealthily through the trees and placed himself so that when the girl turned toward the house, she would meet him face to face. Tess was humming happily. When her eyes rested upon Lysander Letts, she stopped. "HeUo, brat!", ' ^'" ^ ANDY VINDICATED 281 The girl didn't answer. His prison pallor fascinated her. It contrasted so sharply with the wind-tanned brown of the swarthy skin she remembered. All the accumulated horror of him, which had been forgotten while he was safely restrained at Auburn, swept over her. "I said hello!" sniggered the other, once more. "Ain't ye glad to see me?" Ignoring his question, the frightened girl assumed a haughtiness quite unusual, and in her turn questioned coldly, "What do you want?" "What do I want?" mocked Letts, not a whit dis- turbed by her manner. "I want you !" Tessibel stepped to one side, but the squatter put himself in front of her, again, "Now none of yer foolin'," he growled, and he added to his remarks a collection of sulphurous epithets. "Sandy," commanded the young woman, still in her grand manner, "step out of my way ! Right now ! Do you hear?" Unmoved, her drunken tormentor flung up his arms, hands open in assumed disgust. "Well, hark to the way the squatter girl's talkin', will ye?" he sneered. "I'll take that outten ye, kid, afore I've had ye long. Where air yer brat?" The brown «yes, responsive to his suggestion, glanced toward the house. There was Boy coming slowly up the little path toward her. He dearly enjoyed the rare occasions when visitors came, and his face lighted up when he saw the man talking to his mother. "Boy, run back home," she called. Sandy made a dash down the hill toward the child, 'shouting curses and commands to him. "Wait, kid ! Don't ye move ! I want ye." The young mother instantly flew after him. Her swift feet took her on and on, up to and past the squat- ter whose speed was impaired by his years of confine- ment and the whiskey he'd swallowed. Then, she flung herself in front of the child and held out her arms. "Stop, Sandy! Wait!" she panted. "I'll talk to you. Let the ba^^.^o^home.;;^^^ 282 «£;CKiil' Ol' THE STORM COUNTRY The race which had flushed the girl's cheeks and deep- ened her breathing, left the fat squatter wind-broken and exhausted. "Let 'im go, then," gasped Sandy. "Go back. Boy dear," urged Tess. Boy didn't move. He seemed mesmerized by the strangely white face of the drunken man. "Mummy, come home, too," he hesitated. "Yer mummy can't. Git out, ye beggar, afore I kick ye!" threatened Sandy. His breathing was easier but the discomfort he felt aggravated his ugly mood. He reached forth one of his great arms and, seizing the child by the shoulder, threw him roughly to the ground. The little one, more frightened than hurt, cried loudly. His shrill shriek of terror reached the ears of the dwarf. Alarmed, Andy sprang to the window and looked out. The scene on the lawn below petrified him. Tess was picking up the child, and standing over her, fists dou- bled menacingly, was — ^Lysander Letts. Andy thought the enraged squatter was going to kill her and Boy. Wholly forgetful of his own danger, he continued to watch. His small boyish face was still at the pane, when Lysander looked up. Andy saw the upturned glance and flung himself hack out of sight. Had Letts seen him? Impelled to look out again, he drew a long breath of relief. Tess and the child were slowly com- ing, hand in hand, toward the house, and the man they feared was making his way through the orchard. "I saw Sandy," was the dwarf's greeting. "What was he a botherin' you about, honey.?" , "I thought he was going to kill Boy. But suddenly ) he said good-bye and went away. Were you at the window, Andy.?" "For just a minute, kid. I don't think he saw me. I heard Boy cry, an' that's why I went." A frightened feeling took possession of the girl. "I hope he didn't see you. Did he, Andy.?" "Sure not. I was watching him all the time. I dodged back before he looked up." Tess considered the little man a minute. Digitized by Microsoft® ANDY VINDICATED 282 "If you saw him look up," she argued, "maybe he saw you looking down. On, I hope he didn't, but I'm afraid he did," and she sighed. ***** Sandy Letts had recognized the dwarf. The shock of the discovery sobered him. He couldn't bother with Tess and her brat any longer. He had business in Ithaca! Waldstricker's five thousand dollars, so long sought and so eagerly desired, summoned him. All the way to town, he built castles in Spain with the money. Through every dream, like a thread of hate, ran the purpose to get Tess, and when he had the girl, to tor- ture her through her child. When he arrived at Waldstricker's office, he found the elder absent. An evil leer on his face, he swaggered up and down the street, his hands thrust deep into his pockets. He had made the great discovery of his life. He had lined his pockets with gold, and more than that, he had made a lifelong friend of one of the powerful men in Ithaca. He saw Waldstricker when he turned the corner from State and made his way down Tioga. The squatter turned into the large building, slunk in an alcove, and waited. He heard the heavy tread of the elder on the stairs, heard him pass and go higher up. A few min- utes later, he followed. When he opened the door, Waldstricker greeted him. "Back again?" "Yep," chuckled Letts. "With news, I hope," stated the other. "Sure," replied Sandy. "Then tell me," answered Waldstricker, peremptor- ily. "I'm busy today." "Did ye ever hear anything of Bishop.'"' asked the squatter. "No, I never did." "Want to.?" "Yes." "Air that reward up, yet?" "Certainly. But why all this, talk? If you know anvthine speak out!" •' or Digitized by Microsoft® 284 SECRET OF THE gTORM COUNTRY Sandy walked very near the rich man, lowered his Toice, and said, "I found 'im, mister." Ebenezer's nose was offended by the rank odor of liquor Sandy exuded. "You're not telling me the truth," he asserted. "You've been drinking. You're drunk now." "Yep, I air drunk some, but I air tellin' ye what's so," insisted Letts. "Andy Bishop air the man ye saw t'other day." "In my brother-in-law's house!" gasped Wald- stricker, beginning to comprehend all that Sandy's dis- covery meant. "Yep, that air it," replied Sandy. "My God, oh, I thank thee!" ejaculated the elder, falling into his chair. "How long he air been there, I don't know," contin- ued Sandy. "And that doesn't matter. . . . Now, then, to get him back to Auburn. I want it fixed to hustle him there quick, so Young can't put a stay on the pro- ceedings." Breathing hard, he took out his watch. "It's half past four. Do those people have the least idea you saw Bishop?" "Nope, but I saw 'im aU right," said Letts, an ex- pression of satisfied malice animating his ugly white face. "Maybe we can't make it hot for that dum lawyer who air got my girl, now." Towering over Waldstricker's desire to lock up his father's murderer, was the wish to get even with Defor- rest Young and Tessibel Skinner. If they'd had thej dwarf all this time, they were all in his power. Now, the would wring their hearts! He'd show them no mercy. "We'll even up some old scores, eh, Sandy?" he agreed. . . . "You get sober and be here tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, sober — cold sober, under' stand?'* "Sure, Mr. Waldstricker, sure, I get ye. I ain't tight now, not real soused." Moving to the door, he stopped. "But I air not Digitized by Microson® ANDY VINDICATED 285 goin' to swig any more booze till we gets Andy Bishop an' I finger that reward." More intoxicated by his dreams of affluence than by the liquor he'd had, the pale-faced graduate of Auburn swung out of the room and clattered down the stairs. After Waldstricker'd written and despatched a letter and a telegram, he closed the office and went home. Helen met him smilingly. "Elsie's asleep," she announced, taking his hat. He snatched it from her slender fingers, and his wife moved back. She looked more closely into his face and the exaltation shining in his eyes frightened her. She followed him into the drawing room and closed the door. Patiently, she waited until her husband had thrown himself into a chair and was looking at her. "What is it, dear?" she murmured. "I have your brother just where I want him," fell from his lips. "Now, what's Deforrest done to displease you?" "I've found Andy Bishop in his house!" The woman couldn't believe her ears. It could not be! She mustn't take him seriously. "Oh, how perfectly ridiculous !" she said, relieved. "It's true enough," replied Ebenezer, getting up. "There's no doubt about it, and the prison yawns for him and for that Skinner girl, too. . . . No! no! . . . You needn't beg for 'em. I won't hear it ! . . . They've done enough to me. . . . Now, it's my turn!" "Ebenezer," gasped Helen, "don't do anything youll be sorry for. If Forrie has had the dwarf there, let him tell you why. If you put him in prison for it, I couldn't — ^I couldn't live with you! . . . Can't you understand that?" "As you please, madam. I shall do my duty, even if the criminal is your brother." "But you couldn't get along without Elsie and me." She was very near him now, having taken little steps while she was speaking. "Without Elsie!' he mocked. "I don't have to live without Elsie. You can do as you please, but my daughter stays with me, and your brother, my dear, and the woman he's living with — ^go to jail." Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XLVI Sandy's Courting Sitting on the porch late that afternoon, Professor Ifoung heard from Tess of the coming of Sandy Letts. "And, Uncle Forrie," she continued. "I can't under- stand why he went away so quickly." "Perhaps he thought I was around somewhere." ; "Perhaps," meditated Tess. "But I don't think ^ so. You see, Andy was looking out of the window. Oh, dear, I've told him not to, but he's always trying to see what Boy's doing. You don't think Sandy saw him, do you?" The unpleasant consequences of Andy's discovery rushed through the lawyer's mind. To be sure, he'd lived with this possibility ever since he'd brought the squatters from the shack, but the lapse of time had developed a sense of security which the girl's question rudely shattered. "I hope not. What time did you say that Letts was here?" "About dinner time," said Tess. "Well, now it's after five. If he'd seen him, they'd have been back before this. What does Bishop think about it?" "Oh, Andy's quite sure Sandy didn't see him, . . ." Tess explained, shaking her head. "Anyhow, it's no use to worry, honey," smiled) Young. * « « * » The next morning three men in a wagon passed the Kennedy farm. Ebenezer Waldstricker was driving and beside him sat Lysander Letts. Alone on the back seat sprawled the big sheriff, a half-smoked cigar be- tween his teeth. When they reached Young's barn, they left their rig and walked quietly toward the house. 286 Digitized by Microsoft® SANDY'S COURTING 28T "You don't want to give 'em any chance to get the dwarf out of the way, sir," said the sheriff. "We'd better get in without their knowing we're here." "Yes," agreed Waldstricker. They'd rounded the porch and were in the living] room before Deforrest Young and Tessibel Skinner' were aware of their coming. The ofEcer held a re« Volyer in his hand. Leering triumphantly, Wald- stricker spoke to Young. "We want Andy Bishop." The lawyer turned to the sheriff. "Put up your gun, Brown, you won't need it," he ejaculated. "Here, child," to Tessibel, who had risen from her chair and started for the stairs. "Wait ai minute. Sit down." Tess sank into a chair, white-lipped and silent. "I suppose there's no use trying to hide him any longer.?" continued Deforrest, turning back to the officer. "No, I reckon not, Mr. Young. . . . Where's the dwarf, Professor?" "Upstairs. I'll caU him," replied the lawyer. . . . Then glancing at the girl, "You go and get him, Tess." "Let me git 'im, sheriff," Sandy thrust in. "I'd like the job, sir. Eh?" "Mebbe I better myself. It's my duty to take him." Tess smiled at the speaker and getting up moved a step toward him. "Let me bring 'im, sir," she entreated. "I'll get 'im. Please let me!" Charmed by her beauty and the sweetness of her "oice, the sheriff glanced dfoubtfuUy from the frowning "elder to the lawyer. "Mebbe it isn't quite regular, but if Mr. Young says it'll be alright, I'm willing," he decided finally. Young nodded, and Tess rose and started toward the stairs. Passing Sandy and Waldstricker, she had to draw aside her skirts to avoid touching them. The dwarf, seated on the floor beside Boy, was mend- ing a train of cars when Tessibel's white face appeared at the door. Digitized by Microsoft® 288 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "Andy," she said, trying to speak calmly. "Remem- ber about the hands stronger'n Waldstricker's ? No- body can hurt you. But — ^but — " At her hesitation the little man scrambled to his feet. He'd heard men's voices from the room below but had paid no particular attention. Now, he knew the long- dreaded calamity'd happened. He looked pitifully up at the speaker. "They've come for me?" he gasped. "Yes, dear, and you must go. But remember all the time, God's hands're stronger'n Waldstricker's," re- peated Tess. "Nothing can hurt you. . . . Come, dear." A few moments later, the three of them entered the living room, but stopped short at the sound of the elder's angry voice. "I'll send you and your squatter woman to Auburn with him, if you don't look out," he said. "Do what you please," snapped the lawyer. Holding the dwarf's hand, Tess went directly to the isheriff. "Here's Andy, sir," she faltered. "Be awful kind to him, please, sir. He*s so little!" Still dry-eyed and showing a quiet dignity, she stepped to Young's side while the sheriff adjusted the handcuffs to himself and to Andy and led him out into the sunshine. At the door, Waldstricker allowed Letts to precede him, then turned. Shaking his fist, he threatened, "I'U get you two, next." "Very well," Young answered. "Do anything you like, only get out . . . now." The sound of retreating footsteps had hardly died away when Tess dropped into a chair and began to cry, the baby wailing in sympathy. Deforrest put his hands on her shoulders. "There, there, Tess, you musn't do that! Dress yourself and Boy quickly. We're going to Auburn, too." ***** The gates of Auburn Prison swung slowly back and Digitized by Microsoft® SANDlf'S COURTING 289 admitted a party of six people and, clanging, closed together again. Large-eyed with wonder, Boy clung to Professor Young's right hand, at whose other side walked Tessibel Skinner. In front of them between two officers was little Andy. Once, Tess caught his eyes and smiled at him. Both were certain that some- where up and beyond were the hands stronger'n Wald- stricker's, but they'd hoped those pitying hands would have lifted them up before this. Still they clung to their faith and all the long ride from Ithaca had bol- stered each other up with wan smiles and comforting - promises. The business in the warden's office was simple and quickly dispatched. Once in the room, Andy was per- mitted to stand with his friends. The officers made their report and the clerk wrote some entries in his books and gave them a receipt. Then, he rang a bell. Professor Young was talking to the warden when a guard came through the iron door from the interior of the prison. "Take Bishop in," the clerk directed briefly, without looking up from his books. Andy turned to Professor Young, took his hand and tried to stammer out some words of gratitude. "There, there, old man, brace up !" said the lawyer, patting him on the shoulder. "Hope it won't be for long! . . . Here, Boy, say good-bye to Andy." Troubled, the baby clung to his friend. "I don't want Andy to go. I want 'im to come home," insisted the child. Kissing the little fellow passionately, the dwarf gave him to Deforrest and turned to Tessibel. She took his hands firmly in her strong ones and looked earnestly into his face. "Remember the hands stronger'n Waldstricker's," she whispered. "They'll bring you right back home, dear. They did Daddy Skinner, Andy, darling." Shaken by suppressed emotion, the little man sank to the floor. "Oh, God help me to come back to ye!" he moaned dully. . . . "God help me!" A moment, Tess fought the uprushing tears. Digitized by Microsoft® 290 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "You are coming back, Andy, remember that," she said quickly. Then, she lifted her friend to his feet and kissed him. "Here, sir," she said to the officer, "take him!" Infected by Tessibel's faith, Andy ceased to weep. He flashed a last loving glance at her and the boy, and preceded the guard through the iron door into the Iprison. '^ « its « « » Some time later, after what seemed an eternity of waiting, the warden came to Professor Young. "The lady can see Bennet now," he said. Silently, an attendant conducted Tessibel through the long stone corridors to the prison hospital. As she passed, eager eyes watched her from the rows of cots against the wall. She was piloted to a bed near the end of the room. "Here's your company, Bennet," said the officer. The figure on the bed turned and pain-ridden eyes peered up. Tess felt her throat throb with sympathy. "What do ye want, miss.''" growled a weak voice. Tess smiled and bent over the bed. "I want to talk to you," she said. "May 1?" Bennet's face softened immediately. He thought a beautiful angel had dropped from Heaven to the side of his prison bed. "Yep," he whispered, blinking at her. "There air somethin' under the bed to set on, ma'am." Drawing forth a stool, Tess raised the lowered ba«k and sat down. In the presence of such misery, she had almost for- gotten her little friend in the cell outside. Just then, she wanted to comfort Owen Bennet, to say something which would take away that writhing expression of suf- fering. "You're very sick," she murmured. "Poor man, I'm sorry !" Bennet kept his watery eyes on the pleading young face. "Yep, I'm sick enough," he muttered. "What can I do for you?" asked Tess, "Can't I do anything to make you feel easier.'"' Digitized by Microsoft® SANDY'S COURTING 291 "Nope," was the answer. "I'll be dead, soon. Mebbe, I'll get out time nuff to die." Then, Tessibel did forget Andy. And, even, Defor- rest and the baby left her mind. She stretched forth her hand and touched the man's arm. "Would you like me to sing to you, a little?" Bennet bobbed his head. "I like singin'," he mumbled. In a low voice, Tessibel began to sing; nor did she take her hand from the thin arm lying inertly on the sheet. "Rescue the Perishin'; Care for the Dyin'." came forth like the chanting of the chimes. When the words, "Jesus is merciful," followed, Ben- net put up his hand and touched the girl's fingers. Tessibel closed her own over his. There was no thought then of her errand, no remembrance that the man be- fore her was a murderer and had sworn his crime on little Andy. "Jesus is merciful, Jesus is kind," sang Tess, and Bennet began to cry in low sobs that made the singer finish her song in tears. "Oh, He is kind," she whispered. "He is merciful. Won't you believe that?" "Sing it again," entreated Bennet, huskily. . . . "Sing it again, will ye?" Tess scarcely heard the words they were so low, so sobbingly spoken. She cleared the tears from her voice, and "Rescue the Perishin'," and "Jesus is kind," echoed once more' through the long room. From here and there, suppressed weeping came to the girl's ear; butj she did not turn to look at the weepers. Here, before her, was a man who was watching as Daddy Skinner had watched the slowly opening gates of eternal life, through which he must pass, alone and afraid. Ah, if she could make him less so! If she could give him a little faith to grope on and on and up and up into the freedom of the life beyond. Bennet's hand was clasped in Tessibel's; the other covered his eyes. Suddenly, he dropped his fingers. Digitized~by Microsoft® 292 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRy, "Ye say he's kind?" he gasped. "Jesus air kind, ye say?" "Yes, yes," breathed Tess. "But I air such a wicked man, awful wicked. I've done things God'll never forgive." "But he will," murmured Tess. "Don't you remem- ber what I sang?" and again, "Jesus is merciful," brought a fresh rush of teari from the dying squatter. A hoarse rattle sounded, suddenly, in his throat. "Be ye knowin' Andy Bishop, missy?" he muttered, when he could speak. "Yes," said Tessibel, aghast. She'd forgotten Andyl "Yes !" she said again, almost in a query. "He were up here five years .... innercent," wailed Bennet, "an' thejr just telled me he air been brought back again for shootin' Waldstricker. I were glad at first, but, now, I — " He coughed spasmodically, and Tessibel closed her fingers more tightly over the thin hand. "Tell me about it," she implored. "Don't you want to?" "Yep, an' I air wantiti' to write it Bring a paper." Bennet gave the last order to the silent at- tendant. The latter left the room but almost imme- diately returned with the warden. Tess relinquished the stool a,nd stood near the head of the bed. In sUenee the officer wrote the story Bennet told them. "It were like this," he stumbled. "Andy didn't have nothin' to do with shootin' Waldstricker. He were a tryin' to stop me from doin' it I done it! .... Let Andy go! ... . Don't keep him in the coop." The sunken eyes closed wearily. "Sing about Him bein' kind, miss," he whispered. Low, solemn and beautiful, the sweet soprano brought Iiim back from the brink of the grave. Leaning over him, Tess whispered, "Jesus is alwavs kind." ^ "I done the murder," repeated Bennet. "Let Andy go, and teU 'im I'm sorry. .... Here, let me write my name to the paper." Digitized by Microsoft® SANDY'S. COURTING 293 It took many efforts for the cramped fingers to scrawl the words, but "Owen Bennet" was legibly writ- ten when the man dropped back, exhausted. The warden folded the paper and, smiling, put it into his pocket. "I've always believed he did it. Miss Skinner," he con- fided to Tess. "Now, come away." Bennet's ears caught the last words. In dying effort, he lifted an imploring hand. "Don't go, lady!" he mourned. "Stay a minute! ... I air a needin' ye. ... I air afraid, so awful alone !" Tess spoke to the warden. "Tell Mr. Young I'm staying for a while," said she, "and will you please let Andy know about it?" And she sat down again. Through the rest of the afternoon, until the long shadows of Auburn Prison were lost in the gathering gloom, Tessibel sat beside the dying man. Sometimes, she whispered to him, sometimes, she sang very softly, and,' when Deforrest Young and the warden came through the hospital ward to her side, Tessibel had piloted Owen Bennet through the darkness into a mar- velous light, Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XLVII. Waldstbickee's Angee Ltsander Letts wanted to get married and settle tdown in a home of his own. He had received and banked the five thousand dollars for discovering the dwarf, and was, now, looking forward confidently to his marriage with Tessibel Skinner. He was quite sure his wealth would overcome the objections the squatter girl had hitherto opposed to his suit. He grew quite sentimental thinking of her. He'd buy a real house, and put some fancy furniture in it, plush sofas in the parlor and lace curtains at the win- dows, — not any squatter's shack or pecking-box hut on the Rhine for him. His face darkened at a disturbing thought. He'd make the girl give up that kid! He wouldn't tolerate another man's brat in his home. But Lysander had a wholesome fear of Deforrest Young, and he didn't venture down the lake until the second day after he'd heard Tess had returned from Auburn. On his way along the railroad tracks, he concluded he'd better go to Brewer's and find out just how the land lay. The talk in the Rhine saloons, the night be- fore, had been that the dwarf'd returned from Auburn, pardoned. He wanted to know the details, and was sure Jake Brewer would be able to tell him. He passed through the woods and scrambled down the steps the fisherman had cut roughly in the cliff side. Mrs. Brewer answered his knock and invited him into the house. Rec- ognizing Sandy's voice, Jake shouted from the back room: "Heard about Andy Bishop gettin' free.-"' When Brewer came into the kitchen a moment later, Letts had taken a seat. Beside him on the floor lay a large tissue-wrapped package and in his hands he held a shiny new hat. "Sure, I've heard he's back," he grinned, brushing a 294 Digitized by Microsoft® WALDSTRICKER'S ANGER 295 little flower-pollen from a very loud trouser leg. "How'd it happen?" Sandy handed Brewer a cigar and stuck one, jaunt- ily, in his own mouth. "Smoke that, while ye're tellin' me 'bout Andy," he suggested. "It air the best money'd buy." When the cigars were burning satisfactorily, Breweri sat down on the doorstep and cleared his throat loudly. ' His news was the biggest thing that'd happened in the Silent City since Orn Skinner escaped the rope. Glad of another opportunity to recount the story of the dwarf's liberation, he began : "Well, ye see, Sandy, in the first place, yer tellin' old Eb, an' gettin' the little feller sent back to Auburn air the best thing ever happened to the kid. Tess and the Professor went with 'im. When they got to the prison, Owen Bennet were dyin' in the horspitle. The brat seen 'im, an' sung to 'im an' talked to 'im, an' he confessed; said Andy didn't do the shootin' but was tryin' to stop it, just as the kid allers claimed." "Yep," interrupted Letts, earnestly. "That air the way it were." Jake nodded and continued: "Sure, Sandy, us-uns all knowed ye swore false on the trial. . . . Well, next day. Young an' the brat went to Albany to see the guvener." The ex-convict's eyes widened at the thought of the squatter girl in such august company. "He were fine to Tess. Seemed kind a stuck on her, the Professor says. The brat told 'im all about how she'd looked after Andy, an' how he were in prison five years innercent, an' then, he give 'er a free pardon for 'im. Day before yesterday, they brought 'im home. Some happy they air, I tell ye!" "Well," commented Sandy, "I air glad he's out. I never did feel jest right 'bout his bein' shet up, but I were needin' the money." Jake rose, and coming into the room, took up a bro- ken fishing tackle and sat down again. "That ain't all the news, nuther, Sandy. While the Professor was to Auburn, some skunks tore down old Moll's shack. She come down here in the rain madder'n Digitized by Microsofi® 296 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY a settin' hen. The old woman's going to stay with us-uns." "It air a fine thing fer old MoU," added Mrs. Brewer. "I been thinkin' fer a long time as how she were too far 'long in years to be alone in the shanty." "Well," said Sandy. "I'm glad to hear it."_ "What air ye doin' down here, Sandy.?" inquired Mrs. ; Brewer. "Me? oh, me !" He paused to choose his words. "I got some news for you folks. I air goin' to get married." "Air that why ye're aU togged up?" Jake queried. "Gosh, but ye air some beau, Sandy. . . . Ain't he, ma?" "Yep, I air on my way to get my girl. I been waitin' over three years for this here day, an' now — ^I air got flowers in this bundle." "Who ye goin' to marry, Sandy?" demanded Mrs. Brewer. Letts grinned again, straightened his shoulders pom- pously, and lined his feet together on a crack in the floor. "Tess Skinner," he answered, looking from the man to the woman. Mrs. Brewer dropped on a stoal, and her husband's jaws fell apart in astonishment. "Tess Skinner?" he repeated dully. "Pretty little Tess Skinner?" "Well, I swan!" gasped the squatter woman. "Did she say she'd have ye, Sandy ?" "Well, it air like this. I been askin' 'er to marry me ever since she were sixteen year old, but she wouldn't while her daddy were alive. Then once she says to me, 'Sandy, you go git Andy Bishop an' git that five thou= sand, an' come back here.' Now I got the cash. I air a goin' to git the girl." "Mebbe she's f oolin' ye," suggested Brewer. "Ye see, she had the dwarf the hull time ! Looks to me as if she'd put one over on ye." "She'd better not try anythin' on me," returned Letts, snapping his teeth. "I heard 'er tell ye once," put in Brewer, "she wouldn't marry ye. . . . the day ye shot yer leg up.'' -Digitized -by-Microsoft® WALDSTRICKER'S ANGER 297 _ Sandy cocked the new hat on the side of his head, picked up his bundle, and went to the open door. "I'd a had 'er afore now if ye'd kept yer hands to hum, Jake," he stated. "But I ain't holdia' up any- thin' against ye for what ye done. Now I got money, Tess'Ulje all the gladder. I air goin' to take 'er over to Seneca Lake. I got a job on there. Good-bye, folks. Mebbe me an' my woman'U drop in an' see ye some day." The husband and wife watched the big squatter go- ing down the rock path, the tissue-wrapped flowers in his hand, then looked at each other and laughed in perfect comprehension. "I wonder if he gets 'er," chuckled Mrs. Brewer. "I'll bet a bullhead he don't," grinned Jake. ■ • • • • • Sandy Letts wasn't anxious to meet Def orrest Young, but just how to avoid it he hadn't figured out. It took him a long time to consider just what was best to do. Perhaps the lawyer had gone to Ithaca. He hoped so. At any rate, he could go to the house and if the pro- fessor were there he'd give the flowers to Tess, and if he had to, come another day when she was alone. Strutting along, supported by his fine clothes, and the consciousness of doing the right thing in the right way, the newly-rich man walked up the path to Young's house and ascended the steps quietly. The door stood open. Without knocking, he stepped across the threshold into the sitting room. Tessibel was working at a little table, cutting out a blouse for Boy. She looked up, and recognizing her visitor, got quickly to her feet. "Hello, Tess," said Sandy, coming forward a little. "Nice day, ain't it?" ... ' Tessibel's fear of him since his roughness to Boy was very active. She had suffered in anticipation, for he'd threatened to come again, and she knew he would. Now he was here she didn't know what to do. Deforrest wasn't home and Andy was out with Boy. "Yes, it's a nice day," she assented. "Ain't ye goin' to ask me to set down?" demanded Sandy, at the same time helping himself to a rocking Digitized by Microsoft® 298 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY chair. "I brought ye somethin', brat." He unwrapped the bundle and took out a huge bunch of flowers. "Ye want to nurse 'em a long time, 'cause they cost money, them flowers did. They ain't no wild posies !" "They're awful pretty," she thanked him. I'll put them in water right away." While she was arranging the flowers, Sandy got up. "How do ye like my new togs, kid?" he asked, pivot-, ing around and around on one heel. "You look very nice," replied Tessibel, gathering courage from his good nature. "Ye bet I do," grinned Letts. "I air some guy when I air all flashed out in new things. Got all this with Waldstricker's money. Lord, brat — " Here the man reseated himself. "Ye ought to hear that bloke bluster when he found out ye'd got Andy back. Now for me — I were glad, for I knowed all along the dwarf didn't kill Eb's daddy. But in this world I find ye got to look out for yerself first. That air how I got the five thou- sand." "I see!" flared Tess, her disapproval of his spying getting the better of her fear. "But your blood money won't do you any good." "Won't do me no good? My five thousand won't do me no good? What do ye mean, brat? 'Course it'll do me lots of good. I air a rich man, I air. It's goin' to buy us a real home, kid, frame house with plastered walls an' shingled roof, painted red an' yeller.' All what I want now air my woman, an' I've come fer ye, Tess." The girl's heart sank. She glanced about helplessly. What could she say or do? There was no other human, being within call. In hasty retrospection, her mind) swept back to Ben Letts. She shuddered as she remem- bered the many times he'd made the same demand upon her. And then, she as suddenly remembered how, dur- ing those days, she had been saved from men like Ben and Sandy, and courage came again in response to her silent call for help. "Ye heard what I said, brat, didn't ye?" demanded Sandy, leaning back and throwing one leg over the other. "I air here fer ye." "Yes, I heard." Digitized by Microsoft® WALDSTRICKER'S ANGER 299 "An' ye're comin', ain't ye, kid?" . . . His voice was deep and persuasive by reason of the passion that surged through him. ... "I air a little sorry fer bein' mean to ye afore, brat, an' now I air rich ye can for- give it, can't ye?" He bent forward and held out his heavy hands^ palms up, ingratiatingly. "Yes, I forgive you, Sandy, certainly. But — ^but — '* "Now, there ain't no 'huts' in this matter, kid! Ye said as how ye'd marry me when I got Andy's reward money. Now I got it ye got to keep yer word." Tessibel shook her head. *'I didn't say I'd marry you," she answered. "I said, away back there, when I was only a little kid, you could come back and ask me again. But I'm a woman, now, and I'm never going to marry anyone." The squatter leaned his elbows on his knees, cupped his white face in his hands, and glared at the girl steadily. "Ye're goin' to git married to me today," he growlefti. "Ye can't play fast and loose with me, kid, an' don't ye think ye can, uther. Get on yer togs. I air goin' to give ye the time of yer life." Tessibel stood very stilL She could hear plainly, through the silence, the lap of the waves on the shore below, and the soft chug-chug of a lake steamer. A bee flew in at the door, lighted on the lace curtain and clung there, making sprawly motions with his thread-like legs. She remembered without effort the day the squatter alluded to — remembered also Daddy Skinner's telling him to go. Perhaps he Jiad thought she meant to marry him if he were rich. "Sandy," she said, dragging her eyes to the man's face. "When I tell you I can't marry you, I mean it. Please don't ask me any more. . . . Would you like a piece of cake?" "Cake? . . ," snarled Letts. "Hell! What do I want with cake? No, ma'am, I don't want no cake nor nothin' but you, an' I air goin' to have ye, too !" He got up slowly, as if to make more effective his menacing words. "If ye put on yer things like I says," he continued, Digitized by Microsoft® 300 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "there won't be no trouble, brat. But if ye don't — ** he moved toward her, "ye'll wish ye had." To this Tessibel couldn't reply. Insistent, in her ;)anting heart, was a constant call for rescue. She ooked steadily at Lysander and he glared back at her. "Tess," he threatened, "ye know me well 'nough not to come any monkey shines on me. I says again, get/ yer hat, fer I'm goin' to take ye one way or t'other." "I told you I couldn't," she answered. "I'm not any longer a little girl. I've got to work. I want to learn things and take care of my baby." She couldn't have said anything that would have fired the squatter's rage any quicker. Her baby ! What did he care about the brat.? "Ye don't have to work no more fer Young," he re- torted. "I ain't goin' to have my woman keepin' house fer no professor, an' ye can make up yer mind to it 'out no further clack." In one bound, Sandy rounded the table. "If ye won't do what I tell ye, then, I'll make , ye wish ye had. Ye throwed up at me once, ye brat, ye, I never had no kisses from ye! After today ye won't be able to say that." A strong hand shot out, guided by a powerful arm. Fingers clutched for her, but Tess, eluding them, slipped to the window. "Sandy!" she implored. "Sandy, don't touch me, don't! Wait!" "I won't wait," snarled Letts. "I air waited years an' years, ai)^I won't wait no longer." At that moRjent there seemed no escape for the girl, who was holding out her hands to keep off the brute facing her. The very quiet of the day, the singing of. the birds, ancl the shrill chirping of the crickets, only added to her sense of isolation. She glanced hopelessly from the huge squatter out into the summer air, "Ye can't get no help," said Sandy. "Ye might's well give up ! . . . God, ye're all the sweeter fer havin' to fight like I been doin' !" By a motion, extraordiuarily quick for so big a man, he clutched her bodily, and dragged her to him. She lowered her face against his chest and buried it under her curls. Digitized by Microsoft® WALDSTRICKER'S ANGER 301 "I air goin' to kiss ye, my pretty wench," muttered Letts. "Gimme yer lips, gimme — " In the scuffle neither heard the step on the porch and neither saw the tall form loom in the doorway. Sandy wrenched at the red hair, drawing Tessibel's face up- ward. Then Deforrest Young grappled with him, and in the one blow he landed under the squatter's chin, the angry lawyer concentrated the vim of years of exas- perated waiting. Sandy slumped to the floor. Kneeling beside him. Young's leg pressed against something round and hard in Letts' pocket. A quick investigation brought forth a small revolver. "Are you hurt, child .'"' he inquired, getting up. "Did he hurt you?" "Not a bit, Uncle Forrie, but he scared me awful." The prostrate man groaned, moved his limbs and sat up, slowly. He glanced around as though trying to figure out what'd happened. The sight of Young, hold- ing the gun Waldstricker's money bought, told Sandy the whole story of his downfall. "Get up, Letts, and get out of here quick!" Young ordered, prodding him with his foot. Sandy scrambled to his feet unsteadily, "Now, take your hat and get out," said Young, "and don't stay in Ithaca, or I'll have you locked up again." Sandy didn't wait for any further advice. He grabbed his hat and flung out of the door. Deforrest followed him down through the pear orcherd to the lane, and there he stood for a long time watching the ex-con- vict struggle up the hill to the railroad tr .cks. When he returned to Tess he found her leaning on the table, her face buried in her hands. She did not lift her head, nor make a move at Deforrest's entrance. "Child," he said, taking a chair at her side, "Letts won't bother you any more. If he doesn't go away, 1 shall have him arrested tomorrow. ... I won't have you insulted like this. . . . And, dear, I believe I'd bet- ter send you and the boy away for a spell. A change will do you both good." , , , i- i j "Yes, yes, do !" pleaded Tess. She snatched his hand and pressed it to her cheek hysterically. "Let me go somewhere, please !" Digitized by Microsoft® CHAPTER XLVIII. The Sins op the Paeent§ A FEW dajs after Sandy's tempestuous courting, Tes- sibel Skinner and her son left Ithaca to spend the re- maining part of the summer in the North Woods. In September Young joined them for a few days and then brought them back to the hillside above Cayuga Lake. Later in th'e fall, when the cold winds and driving rains of the lake began to find out the cracks in the shanties, Tessibel asked, and the lawyer consented, that old Mother Moll come from Brewer's to them. Tess gave her one of Andy's rooms. The dwarf had entered a school on College Hill and lived in the city most of the time, but was home now for the Christmas vacation. The day after his return dawned bright and cold — one of those beautiful winter days occasionally seen in the Storm Country. Heavy snows had already fallen and made certain a white Christmas. Andy was helping Tessibel in order that she might have time to complete her Yuletide preparations. She'd filled her son's heart with delightful anticipations of the holiday, now but a few days distant, and he was eagerly looking forward to the Santa Claus who came to visit good little boys and fill their stockings with goodies. At the north of the house Deforrest had made a little snow-hill for Boy. Many a happy hour the little fellow' spent upon it with his sled. Of times his mother joined [him in the sport, and the joyous laughter of the two children of nature rose high and clear in the winter air. The morning's work finished, Tessibel wrapped up Boy and sent him out to play. She stood for some mo- ments on the porch watching the sturdy little figure arrange the sled at the top of the hill. How she loved him, and how good he was ! Never since the day of his birth had he given her one sorrow- ful moment. She turned her eyes from Boy to the lake, 302 Digitized by Microsoft® THE SINS OF THE PARENTS 303 and allowed them to rest upon the shanty near the shore. A disturbing thought pressed into her mind. They would not be long there now. Deforrest had told her that his lease of the house expired the first of January, and Waldstricker had re- fused to renew it. If they moved away, she'd be lonely for the sight of her old friends and all th* dear, familiar [things that had met her eyes every day since she could • remember. She hoped her new home might be in the Storm Coun- try. She loved the lake in its every mood. Dark and suUen, visitors had called it. But she'd seen it on sum- mer days, a band of burnished blue cementing the har- monies of greens and browns into a picture of perfect beauty. She knew its deep, brooding peace when the light was fading and the evening breeze gently ruffled its surface. She'd skated over its shining bosom in the blinding glare of the unclouded sun and in the soft radiance of the shadow-filled moonlight. She knew the soft spots in the ice caused by flowing springs in the lake-bottom and had drunk their pure, cold water. Her lifelong intimacy had wooed from rockbound lake its inmost secrets. Today the water lay a gleaming jewel, huge by contrast to the myriad sparkles the sunbeams pricked out of the snow. She looked across to East Hill at the frosty veil of a ravine waterfall and sighed. At a shout from Boy, she went to the far edge of the porch to watch him slide swiftly through the pear orchard toward the lane. Glancing along the line of his flight, she saw Waldstricker on his horse directly in Boy's path. Fear and horror held her dumb and mo- tionless. Evidently the rider hadn't seen the swift-com- ing sled — but the horse had. He reared and attempted to turn. At that point the ditches were deep and the rounded crown of the road covered with ice. The animal slipped and fell. At the proper moment the horseman jumped off and pulled the bridle rein over his mount's head. Her muscles taut with fright, Tess jumped from the porch and ran down the hill to the scene of the acci- dent. When she arrived Waldstricker was jerking his steed savagely. Digitized by Microsoft® 304) SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY **Get out of the way you little imp," he shouted, in the midst of his struggles with the animal. "What do you mean by riding in a public road scaring horses this way?" "Mummy said Boy could ride down hill," answered the child, holding his ground staunchly. "I'll mummy you !" The man's exasperation was in- creased by the child's resistance. "Get out of the way !" "Boy, come straight here to me," Tess called, trying to pass the excited animal. The child picked up the rope fastened to his sled, gave it a jerk and started toward his mother. Fright- . ened by the flash of the sled in the snow, the horse reared and plunged anew. "Drop that sled and get out of here !" Ebenezer thun- dered. "How many times must I teU you.'' Get out!" Tess called again, but Boy flung up a red, angry face to the elder. "Mummy said I could slide," he repeated stubbornly. "I'U teach you to argue with me," snapped Wald- stricker, and before Tess could reach him, he'd raised his arm and given the child a sharp cut with his riding whip. "ft°tout, Itellyou!" _ "' , ,,^1 !" screamed Boy, jumping back and falling over the sled. "Oh, Mover ! Mover !" Like an enraged tigress, Tess threw herself upon Waldstricker, and tore at the upraised whip in his hand. (The frantic horse, fairly beside himself with fear and excitement, pulled them both down the hiU through the snow. By a strenuous effort Ebenezer threw off the ' girl's grip, and when he finally conquered the steed he was below the top of the lane near the Skinner hut. Before Waldstricker could mount and ride back up the lane, Tess had picked up the boy from the snow where he had fallen. Without waiting an instant, she fled frantically toward the house. "Andy ! Andy !" she screamed. Andy came downstairs as fast as his little legs could carry him. "Waldstricker's killed Boy!" gasped Tess. "Andy, get something. . . . Tell Mother Moll. . . . Some water !" Digitized by Microsofi® THE SINS OF THE PARENTS 305 She laid the baby on the divan in the sitting room and stood over him until old Moll came. "He air got a spasm," croaked the old woman. "Poor little brat ! Get some hot water." For hours the child passed from one convulsion -into another. When Deforrest came home, Tess was in a state of frantic despair. "Waldstricker struck him," she explained, "He's going to die." In response to his questions, the girl gave him the details, and hotter and hotter grew the listener's anger. He attempted to quiet Tessibel's fears while he got ready to go for the doctor, but she persisted in her claim that Boy wouldn't recover. flff TP TjP T^ ^& On his way home, the elder tried to make peace with himself. He was rather sorry he'd struck the boy ; that he'd hurt the little imp, he poofed at. Anyway, he had taught Tess Skinner to keep her brat out of his way. His efforts to discipline her had resulted in an open breach with his brother-in-law and caused discord De- tween himself and his wife. His disputes with Deforrest about the squatters had not turned out to his satisfac- tion. His efforts to drive the old witch off his lake-land by tearing down her shack had opened to her the house that he himself owned. He had had to pay Sandy Letts the $5,000 reward for the capture of Andy Bishop, and the whole city had laughed at the price paid for the little man's short imprisonment. He'd tried every way he knew to put an end to the situation. Helen ought to be able to do something with her brother. She should^ have saved her husband from the gossip Forrie was causing. When he entered his home, Helen perceived that he'd acquired a new grievance and discreetly remained silent while he was preparing himself for dinner. After a quiet meal, when they had seated themselves by the log fire in the library, Mrs. Waldstricker took up a doll's dress she was finishing for Elsie's Christmas. Her husband, stretched in an easy chair, glowered sul- lenly into the grate flames. The meditations of hus- band and wife were quite different. Helen wondered Digitized by Microsoft® 306 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY what was bothering Ebenezer now. She wished they were more companionable; that things were pleasanter, more as it used to be when they were abroad. Since their return, he'd sit for hours in gloomy meditation. His fits of complete abstraction fiUed her with dread. She brought back in sequenced retrospection the happy years of travel — how proud she'd always been of her handsome husband and of his courtly deference ,to her. She had never ceased to be grateful that Heaven had given her this man to love and cherish her. She couldn't teU how or when the change had come, but -^ somehow they weren't happy together any more. He was so moody and quarrelsome lately. She missed her brother, too. Why those two men should get by the ears over the inhabitants of the Silent City she couldn't understand. But her thoughts were soon concentrated upon the work at hand and contemplating the joy she would have in Elsie's pleasure, she began to hum to her- self. Two or three times she peered at Ebenezer through her lashes. How moodily quiet he was! She wished Elsie were awake — the little girl always succeeded in dissipating the frown from her father's brows. Suddenly, she held up the doU in all its newly-ad- justed festive attire. "There, now, dear, isn't the doll baby pretty?" she smiled. Ebenezer didn't take his gaze from the burning logs. "I'm not interested in dolls tonight." His tone was harsh and his manner studiously rude. Then, as though he'd finally determined to say something else, he looked around at her. "I taught Tess Skinner a lesson today I don't believe f' she'll forget," he burst forth savagely. The doll dropped from Helen's hands, its head strik- ing sharply against the arm of her chair. "What do you mean?" she gasped. "You needn't get that expression on your face, my lady — " "Oh, Ebenezer!" interjected Helen, drearily. "What makes you act so? One would think you spent your whole time trying to get even with somebodv." ^igitizrd by Microsoft® ■" THE SINS UF THJb: PARENTS 307 "I got even with my lady Skinner," smiled Wald- «tricker. "I gave her brat a whipping." The words came slowly, and the man watched their effect, Helen was not able to sense the fuU meaning of his statement at first. Mechanically, she rescued the doll and laid it on the table. Beginning to see the picture he'd suggested, she opened her mouth, closed it again and at the next attempt spoke. "Why, Ebenezer, Tessibel's baby is only a month or 60 older than Elsie!" "Well, what of it! He's an impudent little whelp. Takes after his mother, I suppose." "But you don't really mean you whipped him !" Helen exclaimed, still incredulous. "That's just what I do. With my riding whip. What do you think of that?" His words brought to Helen's recollection that other time he'd used his riding whip. Then it had been upon Mother MoU, and the old woman had screamed at him, "It air like ye to hit the awful young and the awful old." She recalled, too, the other mysterious words the witch woman had uttered. "Curls'U bring yer to yer knees — the little man air a settin' on yer chest!" The prophecy addressed to herself, that he'd make her life unhappy and that she'd leave him, she'd never be- fore taken seriously. But the question hammered at her consciousness. Could it be that Moll had a second sight or something of the sort? Ebenezer's trouble about the squatters centered about Andy Bishop and the Skinner girl ; the dwarf was certainly a little man and Tessibel had wonderful red curls. Her husband had made her life unhappy and his mood tonight was unusually ugly. She was touched with a superstitious half-conviction that the old woman's words would be fulfilled. "I asked you a question, Mrs. Waldstricker," the wrathful voice interrupted her meditations. "Answer me, if you please." Perhaps it was the recollection of Mother Moll's sibylline utterance; perhaps merely that her husband's hostile attitude aroused a corresponding;feeling of ani- mosity. At any rate, she sat erect in her chair and Digitized by Microsoft® 308 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY fixed her eyes upon his scowling face. Never had he seen her rounded chin so squarely set; never the red lips drawn into such determined lines. "I think you're a brute, that's what I think !" she re- sponded deliberately, as though stating a conclusion arrived at after due consideration. "Yes, worse than la brute!" The answer was as unexpected to the elder as though a lump of ice had suddenly boiled over. A quick fury took possession of him. "Think I'm a brute, do you? . . . What's the matter with you? Are you getting soft on the squatters, too?" Helen made a hasty gesture, indicative of denial. "Well, you better not !" warned Ebenezer, angrily. "Your brother's conduct is disgraceful enough. I'm sick and tired of having my own townsfolk winking at each other every time his name's mentioned. Lawyer Young and his squatter women! Sounds nice, doesn't it?" To be loyal to herself and Deforrest, she could not help but disagree with him. "Now, Ebenezer, you oughtn't to say such a thing," she expostulated. A flame of anger shot into the elder's steady stare. "Don't you 'Now Ebenezer' me!" he snorted. "Young's making my lake property a disorderly house. It's positively indecent! I won't stand it any longer. I won't have those squatters there, and your brother can make up his mind to that !" Helen tried to interrupt but her husband waved her to silence. "Mother Moll and Andy Bishop !" he mocked. "An old witch and a jail-bird! Wouldn't it make a man tired?" Helen leaned forward. An angry red spot burned on either cheek and her eyes flashed. Her gentle tem- per didn't take fire easily, but even to her endurance there were limits. "You seem to forget, Mr. Waldstricker," she retorted sharply, "that your men tore down the old woman's home and your money procured the perjury that sent the dwarf to Auburn. It strikes me you'd better not throw stones at Forrie^' Digitized by Microsoft® THE SINS OF THE PARENTS 309 Waldstricker jumped to his feet and rushed to hia mfe's side. "What!" he roared. "You dare that to my face I Some more of Deforrest's influence, I suppose. Nice family I married into, I must say." Helen got up from her chair. The one thing that stirred her quickest was an attack upon her brother. "Ebenezer Waldstricker, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Forrie minds his own business and you should mind yours." An hysterical sob brought her to a pause, but she struggled on. "I don't know how I've stood your temper so long. You must have lost your mind." In view of the grievances he'd been nursing, his wife's sudden rebellion seemed almost too unreasonable to be credited. She'd joined his enemies! She was making common cause with her notorious brother and the squat- ters ! Very well, he'd use her the same as he would them. "You think rather well of me, don't you Mrs. Wald- stricker.'"' he rasped. "Nice names you call me. Brute! Home destroyer ! Procurer of perjury ! Liar! Crazy!" His voice grew louder as he hurled the epithets at her and broke into a shriek upon the last one. "Get out of here before I teach you the same lesson I taught Tess Skinner !" He lifted his arm above his head ; the great fist was clenched, and the cruel mouth was drawn at both corners. "Get out of here before I hit you I" Helen stood petrified. The blow had fallen. Mother Moll was right! She retreated before his menacing gestures, but stopped near the door and held up he*' hand in entreaty. She'd make one more eifort. "But, Ebenezer," she began, "where shall I go?" Advancing toward her, he fairly shouted: "I don't know and I don't care. Go down and help your brother take care of his squatter baggage !" He seemed fairly beside himself. Helen realized the hopelessness of further resistance. ''Then I'll go and take my baby," she cried. "Per- haps when we're gone — " , Her words only added fuel to the flame of his wrath. "You'll not touch my daughter," he interrupted. «She'U stay with me." Digitized by Microsoft® 310 gECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY He rushed at her, pushed her rudely aside, and hur- ried up the stairs to the nursery. His wife followed as quickly as possible. At the nur- sery door Ebenezer met her and blocked her way. "You needn't wake her up," he hissed. "Go on ! Get out of here! You're worse than the Skinner woman!" She could not go into the nursery. The angry man on the threshold effectually prevented her. Mrs. Wald- stricker turned down the hall and went to her own room. She could hardly comprehend the untoward disaster that had destroyed the whole fabric of her life at one stroke. The blood was throbbing at her temples and pounding through her body. Her ears rang; her face burned and she was trembling all over. Mechanically, she fumbled for the matches on a nearby table, found one and struck it. She attempted to light the lamp but dropped the chimney and it rolled away under the bed. Drearily, she tried to consider her course. Ebenezer had ordered her to go. Then she must go. She'd always done as he directed. But where? Her cheeks burned more fiercely as she recalled the brutal answer he'd given that question. No, she wouldn't go to Forrie! It would only make Ebenezer more angry and make more trouble for her brother. ' It didn't make much difference where she went anyway. Life without her husband and her baby wouldn't be life at all. She couldn't visualize her days without Elsie, the little one they'd both longed for and prayed over. Slowly, because each little act required a separate effort of volition, she dressed herself. Prepared at last to de- part, she took a long look through the rooms. Past „events went in giddy rapidity across her vision. How she'd loved and still loved Ebenezer! They'd been so happy together. She sighed and went through the hall to the nursery. Her movements had evidently been heard. When she approached the door, her husband stepped out and pulled the door to behind him. For a moment their eyes met. In his she saw the dull smolder- ing coals of hate. She bowed her head and silently went through the baleful glare he cast upon her down the stairs and out of the mansion to \mich she had been brought a hRf§f'b'KMf'°'°"® CHAPTER XLIX Tessibel and Elsie Gloom lay over the Silent City. Bitter hatred burned in the simple heart of every squatter. Waldstricker's open enmity had expressed itself in a series of injuries, calculated to enrage them. The shanty folk resented his cruelty to Mother Moll. The destruction of her shack promised a similar fate to their homes. When the story of Waldstricker's attack upon Boy Skinner spread among them, fierce threats were muttered at the fishing holes and by the firesides. The wintry winds of the Storm Country, shrieking over the desolate masses of ice and snow, were not more fierce and cruel than the squatters' demand for vengeance. The daily bulletins of the little one's illness kept the interest alive and added to the growing excitement and indignation. Day after day, the doctor had come to the Young home, each time shaking his head more gravely. To Deforrest, the helpless witness of the unfolding trag- edy, the days and nights were but a continuing tor- ture. Andy Bishop stole about the house like a small white ghost, waiting upon Tessibel and Mother Moll. One morning, a few days before Christmas, the doctor told Deforrest Young he considered Boy beyond earthly help. And now it devolved upon the lawyer to tell Tessibel she must lose her baby. _He went softly to the sick room. Whiter than the pillow upon which his cheek rested, Boy lay relaxed,' breathing rapidly. Tess stood at the foot of the bed,, her hands clasped loosely in front of her. Anxious eyes turned to greet Young. At the bedside the man stopped a moment and looked down upon the little figure. Shocked by the imminent signs of approach- ing dissolution, he went over and placed an arm around the girl. "He's awful sick," Tess whispered. "What'd the doctor say?" 311 Digitized by Microsoft® 312 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY "I'm afraid, Tess — ^I'm afraid," he answered, un- able to frame the medical man's decision. Dawning comprehension and dismay struggled in the young mother's eyes, for the agonized tones of the well-loved voice and the tender solicitude of the sup- porting arms had put into Young's halting words the idread import of his message. "You mean — you mean — ?" she questioned. "Tess, darling; my pretty child," Young mur- mured helplessly. The red head dropped upon his chest and for a moment Tess clung to him as though to find protection from the menacing horror. Then she freed herself, dropped on her knees by the bedside, and rested her head on Boy's little hand. During the hours of watch- ing she had striven to steel herself against this possi- biHty. But she couldn't understand. Boy, her cher- ished bit of living joy and sunshine! What would become of him? Separation.? Yes, but where was he going? She didn't know. She couldn't think. A sudden shudder, a kind of voiceless sob shook her. Young stood quietly by the bedside, watching and waiting. His love for mother and son centered a,ll his thoughts in them. He shared his darling's grief and desired above everything to console her; but the very depth of his sympathy prevented him. Hopeless him- self, in this grim.., crisis, every human effort seemed futile. Placing a tender hand on her shaking shoulder, he bent down. "My poor little girl !" he breathed. "I wish I couldl help you some way." "Nobody . . . can." The hopeless despair of her voice made vocal the utter desolation she felt. A gentle movement of the little hand against her face commanded Tessibel's immediate attention. She smoothed the pillow the while she whispered softly little words of love to Boy. Then she looked around at Young. "Please tell Andy to fix the kitchen fire," she said^ even at this time mindful of her domestic duties. Digitized by Microsoft® TESSIBEL AND ELSIE 313 "111 see to it myself," and he went out softly and down the stairs. He found Andy in the sitting room. "The doctor — ^what'd the doctor say?" the dwarf demanded. "Go to "er," trembled Young. "Brace her up all you can." The little man went slowly upstairs and entered the sick chamber. Through the tears in his eyes, he saw the dying babe in the white bed and the young mother kneeling on the floor, the flaming red of the cluster- ing curls an incongruous note of brilliant color. Andy waddled across the room and knelt down be- side Tessibel. Lifting his arm he let it fall across the firl's shoulders. His silent sympathy, always unsel- sh, never intruded. Tess stared at Andy a moment, and then buried her face in her hands upon the coverlet. "He's going away," she got out through her fin- gers. "Andy, I can't let 'im go !" "I've been prayin' for 'im, Tess," choked the dwarf. The girl made no response, but to show her friend she'd heard, one of her hands sought and held his. "If it air right for 'im to stay, dear," murmured Andy, "the good God'U help 'im. . . . Don't ye think so, Tess.?" "I don't know, Andy. . . . I'm afraid! . . . It's too awful!" "Kid, ye know it air true. You've only to ask him," Andy insisted. A hopeless shake of the bowed head accompanied the whispered answer. "I can't, Andy! I can't! . . . I'm so afraid!" "What you 'fraid of, brat, dear? Jesus air loving you same's He did in the shack. He got Daddy Skin- ner out of prison, an' he took care of me, didn't he, huh?" Maddened by suffering, she drew herself impatiently away from the dwarf.- "Don't, Andy ! I don't want to hear ! He let Wald- stricker whip my baby." Although the young mother could hear the mut- tered prayers of the dwarf, no answering faith came Digitized by Microsoft® 314 SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY into her soul. Hot hatred of the man who'd struck her son surged through her. Never again would she think of him without the raging cry within her for revenge. Her anger barbed the shafts of his rancor and dulled her own understanding of Life and Love. Resentment inhibited every constructive effort. The courage, even the desire to fight against death's com- ing, was wanting. "I hate 'im worse than anything in the world," she muttered. "Yes, darlin'," soothed the dwarf. "I'd like to kill him. Oh, I must do something — " She tried to get to her feet, but Andy held her tightly. "Stay here!" was all he said, and Tess ceased to resist. At midnight Boy died. He went away very quietly, without a cry or struggle. At the very last, he turned upon his side, looked into his mother's face, his eyes unshadowed and joyous. He smiled a little, signed with the passing breath, "Mummy," and sank to sleep. So dazed was Tessibel that without protest she allowed Deforrest to pick her from her knees and carry her out of the room. Mother MoU and Andy performed the necessary services to the mortal clay that'd been their darling. Loving fingers, tenderly touching the delicate body, made Boy ready for the grave. Through the stillness of the night, the sighing of the ceaseless wind of the Storm Country, soughing of death and desolation, called to their minds the weird superstitions of squat- ter lore. The old witch mumbled of signs, portends and warnings, and uttered dire propheci