*
* 7 r>:
Mi
RSSnL
JennyTsudilenly, was almost hap- i
py. "It will hurt Will awful at the J
Brst," she decided, speaking her j
thoughts aloud. "But he'll come to
thank you. With you gone, maybe
tie can be happy again I"
Huldy's brows knotted, and her
MMKKMM
Long M I'm Here, This Is Mjr
Kitchen."
|
Hps moved as though to speak; bat '
she smiled thea suddenly, and aba '
rose." "Well. anyway, I'm going.
Wow get out" ahe said, her tones
sasplng. "Go back on to that onelagged
man. Long as I'm here, this
Is my kitchen, and Til not have you
In It Go along with you."
Jenny turned without a word to I
the door. Her very passivity seemed j
to drive the other woman Into fnry. j
Huldy came to call some black |
word at the girl departing; but
Jenny did not even turn her bepd.
In the barn, she paused, hearing hebind
her, on the road down from
the ridge, the beat of the feet of |
running horses. That would be j
Bart, riding back to the farm In
baste. Ha must have left the wagon
where It was. . . . And as she
emerged Into the orchard, she aaw
the headlights of a car laboring up '
the hill, and gueseed this was the
car which would bear Huldy away.
The stars were clear, the deep j
wood dark and comforting. Jenny |
came home In peace. She thought '
the Valley would be brighter, with j
Huldy gone; thought there was ,i
rainbow promise In the starlit sky.
She had no least prevision that |
though Huldy might for a while de- j
part, yet she would presently re- j
tarn.
CHAPTER V
?T WAS In October that Will was
1 hurt, and Seth Humphreys came )
to his end, and Huldy went away.
Will stayed at Marm Pierce's farm
till his leg was healed; and Jenny
was happy In attending him. She
cove him Huldy's message, and he
received It uncomplainingly.
"Natural for her to feel so," he
decided. "No one-legged man Is
good enough for her."
There was no bitterness in his
tone; but he saw Jenny's loyal an
ger, and he said appeaslngly:
"Huldy's one that takes a lot of
stock In the way folks look, Jenny
She was like a cat, always cleaning
herself. Took as much pleasure In
herself as an old skinflint does In
his money. And she lived to have |
every one around her. the same.
Farm folk like us, we're apt to kind
of forget. If I come Into the house
with barn on my boots. It always
bothered her."
And he added: "I can see how
she'd take this. Anybody with two !
legs is kind of bQund to feel that a
man with only one leg is no good.
It's just like you'll shoot a horse
that breaks its leg, or get rid of a
crippled cat, or dog."
Jenny, faced by his stubborn loyalty
to this women who, despite the
j fact that she had wronged and
, flouted him, was still his wife, felt
a reluctant pride in him. If he had
' cursed Huldy, he would not have
been Will Ferrin; not the man she
had long loved. So she said no word
of blame for Huldy, and the matter
thereafter did not rise between
them.
But Bart Carey was not so tactful,
till Will silenced him. Jenny,
in the kitchen, heard them talking
together, heard Will's slow tones
at last
"Bart," he said strictly, "I don't
want that kind of talk about Huldy.
She was used to gay times in Augusta,
and when I fetched her here,
it was bound tc be hard on her. I
don't blame her none."
Bart protested hotly: "Ton was
mad enough, yourself, when you
went after Sethi"
?
itTnBa
"So 1 was," WiH confessed. "He
1 was a man, and responsible. But I
dunno as I can blame Huldy. Anyway,
not for?leaving now!"
"She was scared," Bart insisted.
"Scared for fear you'd treat h?.1
the same as you did him. She knew
it was her due. That's why she
skinned out!"
"She had no cause to be scartu
of me," said Will gently. "I wouldn't
never heard you come up on the
porch. Where's your team?"
Jenny turned and saw Bart there
on the porch, Just outside the door.
"Mud's too deep to git In here and
not founder," he explained. "1
walked over from my house. Here's
yore things!"
Marm Pierce spoke sharply.
"Well, don't come tracking Into my
kitchen," she said, and took his
burdens from him. "Much obliged.
Good night to you."
And she pushed the door shut
with her knees.
"I'd a notion he'd b'en standing
there listening," the old woman
declared. "Be Just like him tot It
I'd knowed he was there, I'd have
said something he wouldn't like to
hear!"
Jenny smiled at the old woman's
asperity. "Yos don't like Bart, do
yon?"
And Mara Plerot said latly:
"No. I hats a man that's tiways
doing me favors" She smiled grimly
at her own words. "Foolish of
me, like as not; bat that's the way
I be."
Later the rain began again; bat
they were here secure Rain was
dancing on the roof and slatting
against the weatherboards when
Jenny went to bed; bnt she slept
quickly, deeply, till the belated
gray of a moist and sodden dawn.
And woke and rose without misgiving.
There were in her no premonitions.
Yet this was the day when
death and Salpdlne cams to Hostile
Valley, and the face of Jenny's
world forever Changed.
i
Saladlne, at the entrance of this
hidden Valley about which so many
dark tales clustered, checked his
car on the ledge above Will Ferrln's
farm for long enough to survey
the scene, shrouded In a mlgtllke
rain; but at last he loosed his
brakes and began the steep descent
The road plunged downward, then
relaxed to a more gradual pitch;
and he saw presently a meadow on
one hand, and a rocky pasture
where were cows, and the well-kept
buildings of a farm. The building*
wqre set back a little from the
road, upon a knoll that was like
a buttress of the ridge.
There was nothing extraordinary
In the outward aspect of the place.
It was like countless others hereabouts,
except that perhaps the
buildings were a little larger. There
vu rather something reassuring In
the very fact that It was an ordinary,
thrifty farm; yet Saladlne
knew it must be Will Ferrln's, and
he remembered Huldy Ferrln's dark
repute, and wished curiously that
he might encounter her. Tet he
had no excuse for stopping. The
brook wag in the Valley below, so
he paaaed by, and crossed another
ledge and the road dipped downward
more steeply still.
But a hundred yards below the
farmhouse, he Jammed on brakes
and skidded to a stop. Here the
road was precipitous, and the rain
the night before had done damaging
things to it. Water racing down
the ditches had gnawed Into the
margins to such effect that there
was not room for a car to pass.
On one side or the other, the wheels
must drop off Into the ditch; and
the ditch Itself was so deep that
if a car did suffer this mischance,
its wheels would be left spinning,
with no footing under them.
Saladlne checked his car with
not ten feet to spare, and then began
to back up this steep road, and
he was faintly pleased. Ferrln's
farm would serve as a place to
leave the car. He might see Huldy
there.
He backed past the drive that led
Into the farmyard, and swung in;
and he passed the front of the
houss?blank. With shades drawn
down and the door uncompromls;
lngty closed?and came into the
i barnyard.
And then he saw through the
open door of the shed a man. This
' man had been fitting stove wood;
he came to the shed door, with
an ax still in his hand, to look al
[ Saladlne. A tall, lank man; a young
I man, an 111 man. These were Jim's
1 first Impressions. In their order. Bui
also, this man wore, absurdly
one of those high-crowned, broad
brimmed felt bats which are reput
ed to be large enough to hold tei
gallons of any liquid you chose t<
.Dour into them. Such a bat, de
THE STATE PORT P
signed to shed weather, designed t*
protect the head and face of a mar
on horseback from the stroke and
slash of sarub brash through which
he mast ride, has no proper function
on a farm In Maffie; and Jim
switched off his engine and slid
to the ground and approached this
man, of half a mind to ask him
I the questions which his hat proI
voked.
j Ent Instead he only said: "Morn)
lng!" And he only asked: 'Ton Will
j Ferrln?"
| "Will's In the house," the man
| answered, grudgingly. In a voice cu|
rlonsly shaken nnd hollow. Saladlne
had again that strong Impression
that the other was ill, that he
was a husk, drained and emptied
of all strength and vehemence. He
added now, unnecessarily: "I'm
Zeke Dace." His tone was somber,
and there was reasonless suspicion
in his eyes.
"I come to fish the brook down
below," Saladine explained, as
though some explanation were by
the other's glance required of him.
"The road's washed out 'tween here
and Carey's; so I thought to leave
my car here and walk down."
Zeke did not speak; bnt his
splashing through the mud; and the
man was pale and shaken.
"Ma'am," he said. "You've got to
come quick. Amy's drunk some
apple apray 1"
Marm Pierce cried: "Drunk it!
How come? You dumb fool, did you
leave It around? . . ."
"She done It a-purpose," he conj
fessed; and he protested: "I dunno
I why. Amy ain't been the same all
| winter; brooding and worrying
I about nothing. Yon come quick, of
| she'll be dona for."
"What was In It arsenlcT" the
old woman demanded grimly,
j "Sure."
And Marm Pierce nodded. Fetch
I the mustard, Jenny," she commanded.
"And plenty salt "Oh, I
know you've likely got them In
your kitchen. Bart; but lfd take
time to find 'em there. Jenny, come
on."
So they three wont together
through the belt of woodland to
Bart's farm, Marm Pierce scurrying
In the lead, Bart at her heels
repeating and reiterating his bewilderment.
Jenny sick and shaken,
I trudged behind. She Thought Amy
must have loved Zeke and waited
| for him to come back to her, this
| long winter through; and when be
< did not come. . , .
They found Amy on the floor In
the kitchen. Bart explained: "I
carried her In here; but I never
stopped to put her In bed. . . ."
"Never mind now," Marm Pierce
told him. "No time to move her.
The mustard, Jenny. Bart, you hold
: her mouth open. . . ."
Jenny watched what followed In
I a pitying silence, helping when she
could, asking no questions; but she
I felt a deep kinship between herself
i and this girl, and at the same time
a certain pitying scorn for Amy.
Jenny could love a man, and lose
htm beyond hope, and still be strong
and steadfast. For Amy's love there
remained at least some hope; yet
she had thus cravenly surrendered.
Mustard, and table salt, and batter,
and milk; all the simple remedies
at hand Marm Pierce uaed, and
without result "Got to get It out
or ner, tne oia woman msiaceu
[ desperately. "We'll try some more."
i Bat either they came too late, or
I there wei not left In Amy's poor
body strength enough to fight for
Itself. She died.
Alone together, afterward, when
j all that could be done had been
! done. Marm Pierce and Jenny had
some talk of this tragedy between
i them. Jenny cried In deep anger:
"It's Huldy that's to blame! If
she hadn't got hold of Zeke, he'd
| hare married Amy by now."
I Marm Pierce said evasively:
"Blame It on her If you want; but
?she wa'n't the only one to blame1"
"Oh, Zeke's to blame," Jenny confessed;
and Marm Pierce looked at
her as though Impatient with her
blindness, and seemed abont to
speak; but then she said:
"Oh, aye, he'll have to take his
share."
"She might have kept her head
up," Jenny urged. "It needn't have
broken her down 1"
The old woman said, with a harshl
ness In her tone that she did not
often use toward Jenny: "Don't
talk like a fool! Being brave Is all
right; but no matter how brave you
be, there's times It won't help you 1"
The girl sensed something hidden
In her tone. "Why, Granny? What
do you mean?" she asked.
"I dunno as I know," Mann Pierco
confessed. And she cried suddenly,
flaming with high wrath: "OhUd,
If I knowed for certain, think Pd
be a standing here?"
"But what could you do?" Jenny
whispered, all bewildered.
"A-plenty," Marm Pierce told her
stoutly. 'Td know enough to da"
Tet more than this she wonld not
say.
Jenny did not go to Amy's funeral.
Marm Pierce that day sufTered
an onset of lumbago, and lay prone
while Jenny slowly ironed her back
with a hot flatlron over blankets,
till the old woman writhed from
the heat, yet declared she felt bet
ter by and by. Jenny was as well
' pleased to stay at home. Will would
have been at the burying; and Jen
ny might have seen him there;
and she shrank from seeing him.
To do so could only open afresh old
| and weary wounds. He must be,
she thought, somehow broken by
i these months that were gone; to see
' J'"'' ;>
1LOT, SOUTHPORT, NORTH
> . >
, him, to see his grief ana weariness, ^
[ might provoke in her a storm of 4
( anger which she coald not govern J
and control. So Jenny willingly '
1 stayed at home, nnrsing in her heart "
I the image of Will as he had been, 4
, covering him and shielding him with J
1 her love, drawing it around him like \
a buckler against all he must day ^
by day endure. 4
They had during that summer j
word now and then of Will, and of ^
Zeke and Huldy, too. The word
ran through the Valley that nowa- 4
days Zeke never went where Huldy 1J
did not gp. And in September there 1
were vague, fragmentary reporta
that he had struck Huldy, had tried 4
to choke her, in some passion of J
anger at her tdr a cause unknown. J
(Continued next week)
4
Subscribe to The State Port 4
Pilot. $1.50 year in advance. 3
????????????????? ^
FORECLOSURE SALE j
Under and by virtue of an order 1
0/ the Superior Court of Brunswick, ^
County, N. C., made In an action' 4
entitled "The Federal Land Bank of 1
Columbia, plaintiff, vs. Dr. C. P. 4
Savage, legal guardian of R. P. Mid- 1
dlebrooks, ana Hazel E. Middle- 4
brooks," duly docketed In the Super- 1
ior Court of Brunswick County. North 4
Carolina, the undersigned commission 1
will on the 4
noth day of October, 1985, 1
at twelve o'clock noon, at the court 4
house door, Southport. North Carolina, t
offer for sale at public auction to the 4
the highest bidder for one-third (1-3) 1
the accepted bid to be paid into the
court in cash, and the balance on t
credit, payable in three equal annual 4
installments, with interest thereon j
from date of sale, at the rate of six T
per cent per annum, all that certain ^
tract of land lying and being in Tj
North West Township. Brunswick j
County, North Carolina, bounded and T
described as follows: J
All that certain tract or parcel of ?
land containing 100 acres, more or I
less, located, lying and being in North T
West Township, County of Brunswick, J
being bounded on the North by the 4
public road and the Seaboard Air }
-ine Railroad Company; on the east ^
by the lands of Gaylord; on the I
South by the lands of Reeves and 4
Watkins; and oh the west by the I
lands of Reeves and Watkins, and j
having such shape, metes, courses ana ^
distances as will more fully appear i
by reference to a plat thereof made j
by E. W. Taylor, Surveyor, which
plat Is recorded with the deed from j
C. M. Reeves and J. C. Watkins to '
R. P. Middlebrooks, in the office of j
the Register of Deeds of Brunswick '
County, in Book 42, at page 108. The J
said land being located on the south j
side of the Seaboard Air Line Rail- J
road about 16 miles from the City '
of Wilmington. A copy of the plat j
made by E. B. Hewett, Surveyor,
dated December 9th. 1925 is attached J
to the abstract on file with the Red- j
eral Land Bank, of Columbia, and al
so being the same land conveyed by i
R. P. Middlebrooks and wife. Hazel ?
E. Middlebrooks. February 16th, 1926, 1
to the Federal Land Bank of Columbia,
recorded in the office of the l
Register of Deeds of Brunswick County.
N. C? in Book 43, at page 23. J
This September 30th, 1935. 4
C. ED. TAYLOR, j
10-23-c. } ., Commissioner. 4
NOTICE OF 'SALE 4
State of North Carolina. 1
County of Brumtarlck! -4
In The Superior Court i
L. A. McLamb. et al. ~
,V8' I
Alice Mazella Rogers, et al. 1
Under and by' virtue of an order }
of the Superior .Court of Brunswick 1
County, made in the special proceed- i
ings entitled "L. A. McLamb. et al. 4
vs. Alice Mazella Rogers, et al." the ?
same being No. < upon the spec- I
ial proceedings docket of said court. ^
the undersigned commissioner will, on I
the , . ^
98th day of October, 1985, j
at twelve o'clock noon, at the court
house door In Brunswick 'copnty. i
North Carolina, offer for sale to the c,
highest bidder for cash, that certain j
tract or tracts of land lying and be- ^
ing in Shallotte Township, Brunswick S
County. North Carolina, bounded and 1
described as follows: j
First Tract: Beginning at a stake ^
In the run of Caw Caw Swamp, J. F. ?
Norris' corner; runs thence north "j
with said line to a stake, corner of ?
L. J. McLamb's land; thence east "f
with said L. J. McLamb's line to a ?
stake: thence south with an agreed \
line to the run of said Caw Caw ?
Swamp: thence with the meanders of i
said run to the beginning, containing ?
100 acres. j
Second Tract: beginning at a stake 4
in Thos. B. Stanley's line; runs (
thence south to a stake In L. S. ?
McLamb's line; thence west with L. i
S. McLamb's line to a stake; thence
north with Gabriel Long's line to
a stake; thence east with Thomas B. J
Stanley's line to the beginning, con- :
talning 100 acres, more or less. 1
Except 75 acres conveyed to M. D. i
McLamb and 25 acres conveyed to ,
A. W. Ward from the aforesaid ;
tracts. *
This 25th day-of September, 1935. >
C. Et> TAYLOR. 4
10-23c ' Commissioner. ^
NOTICE OF SERVICE BY
PUBLICATION 4
State of North Carolina, i
Onunlw r\f Rpiinfiwlpk.
In The Superior Court j
The Federal Land Bank of Columbia V
vs. J
W. P. Comron and wife, Mrs. W. T
P. Comron, E. H. Smith and Bank {
of Little River %
The defendant. Bank of Little Riv- ,3
er. or the holder of that certain note %
and mortgage given by W. P. Com- j
ron to the Bank of Little River, filed e
for record April ' 30th. 1925, and re- S
corded In Rook 35. at page 423. t
Brunswick County Registry, will take ?
notice that an action entitled as ^
above has been commenced in the ?
Superior Court of Brunswick county. V
N. C., for the purpose of foreclosing ?
that certain mortgage given by W. P. 7
Comron to the Federal Land Bank of ?
Columbia, recorded in Book 38. at j
nage 133. filed and recorded June 4?
23rd. 1922. describing certain lands Y
located In Shallotte Township. Bruns- ?
wick county. N. C.. and the action j
, seeks to foreclose any interest that ?
subsequent lieness may have in the
said lands, among which is the afore- 4
said mortgage given by W. P. Comrom
to the Bank of Little River, re- 4
corded in Book 35. at page 423: and
the said holders of the said subse- 4
quent note and mortgage will take
notice that they are required to sp- 4
pear at the office of the Clerk Super- :
lor Court of Brunswick County, X. 4
C.. at the court house. Southnort. X. :
C? on or before October 80th, 1935, 4
and answer or demur to the com- J
plaint filed In said action, or the re- 4
lief demanded In said complaint will j
be demanded. 43
This September 2fith, 1935. i
B. J. HOLBEN*. 43
10-23c Clerk SuDerior Court. X
CAVEAT XOTICE
Prince E. Brady having propoun- 43
ded and procured the probate In con- A
mon form of a paper writing, dated w
August 5th, 19?1. purporting to be the A
last will and testament of .T. TV. 40
Brady and A. B. Brady, on August $
31st. 1935: and ft. IV Brady a nu jj
others having filed caveat and made ^
bond and demanding the will to he ^
proved In solemn form, or decreed to A,
be no will, and the case having been ^
transferred to the Sunre'or Court for 5
trial, all persons Interested are here- %
by required to appear at the terni of A
Superior Court, convening at Sonfp y
port, N. C.. on January fith. liCfi ?,
and make themselves proper parties y
to -aid nroce"dlngs ir the,.- choose. ^
This September ?4th. 1935. ' 9
?. . M. B. WATKIXS. Assistant A
Clerk .Superior Court , of P-unswlck 7
10-23-c County, N. C.
?- _
WEDNESDAY, QCrr?r. I
riCE
ro ^ I
T WEEK
TORS
CAROLINA
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