The Secret of the Storm Country | Page 7

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' 'll 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'll 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 sister'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.
"But I were in jail all the time, don't ye see the difference, brat?... Till
'twere proved Ben Letts done the murder, I were kept in jail, 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'll have to keep our clacks shut 'bout 'is bein' here, then,"
she acquiesced, "an'--an'--Andy'll have to keep in the garret till 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 tell ye nobody'll hurt the poor little feller in the
garret.... I'll 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 to love him, not
only because he'd been a friend to Daddy, but on his own account,
because he was a soul in torment 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 in sacks and stored in the mud cellar. The
cobwebs must come down, and a cotton tick filled with new, fresh
straw to be put in the garret. It was about three o'clock when Tessibel
ushered 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'll set loose a lot of sneaks like him lookin' fer
ye!"
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 daughter intermingled now and then with a soft
statement