I stopped that!" and the old woman chuckled
to herself. Then her mood changed. "Such a marriage would 'a' been a sin
agin God and man," she said sternly. "She robbed me of my son, my only
boy, but I'll git even with her. She asked me this mornin' if I knew who
her parents wuz. I told her no, that she was a waif picked up in a New
Hampshire road, but I lied to her. I had to."
"But do you know who they were?" said Alice.
"Certainly I do," said Mrs. Putnam; "that letter you've got, and that
yer promised to destroy, tells all about 'em, but she shall never see
it. Never! Never!! Never!!!"
Again she rose to a sitting posture, and again that wild, mocking laugh
rang through the house. Lindy, still lying upon her bed in her room,
heard it, shuddered, and covered her ears with her hands to shut out the
terrible sound. Samanthy, in the kitchen, heard it, and saying to
herself, "Mrs. Putnam has gone crazy, and only that blind girl with
her," ran upstairs.
When Mrs. Putnam uttered that wild laugh, Alice started from her chair
with beating heart and a frightened look upon her face.
Pages:
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509