Secret of the Storm Country

Miller White Grace

Description

In the sequel to the popular novel Tess of the Storm Country, readers find out about the struggle that the star-crossed lovers are forced to face after the first blush of romance wears off. From opposite sides of the socioeconomic tracks, Tess and her beloved Frederick elope in secret and vow to start their life together -- until a downward spiral of unforeseen consequences threatens to overtake them both.

Sujets

• Romance

Informations

• Publié par: The Floating Press
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781775560678
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE SECRET OF THE STORM COUNTRY
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GRACE MILLER WHITE
 
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The Secret of the Storm Country First published in 1917 ISBN 978-1-77556-067-8 © 2012 The Floating Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
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Chapter I - The Squatter Folk Chapter II - The Coming of Andy Bishop Chapter III - Tessibel Meets Waldstricker Chapter IV - Tess and Frederick Chapter V - A Gossip with "Satisfied" Chapter VI - Waldstricker Makes a Proposal Chapter VII - Waldstricker and Mother Moll Chapter VIII - Tessibel's Marriage Chapter IX - The Musicale Chapter X - A Victim of Circumstances Chapter XI - Frederick Intimidated Chapter XII - Making Ready for the Warden Chapter XIII - Sandy Proposes to Tess Chapter XIV - The Warden's Coming Chapter XV - The Search Chapter XVI - Tessibel's Secret Chapter XVII - Tessibel's Prayer Chapter XVIII - A Letter Chapter XIX - Its Answer Chapter XX - Madelene Complains to Ebenezer Chapter XXI - The End of the Honeymoon Chapter XXII - The Repudiation Chapter XXIII - The Quarrel Chapter XXIV - Waldstricker Interferes Chapter XXV - The Summons Chapter XXVI - The Churching Chapter XXVII - Daddy Skinner's Death Chapter XXVIII - Young Discovers Andy Chapter XXIX - The Vigil Chapter XXX - Sandy Comes to Grief Chapter XXXI - Waldstricker's Threat Chapter XXXII - Helen's Message Chapter XXXIII - Hands Stronger than Waldstricker's Chapter XXXIV - Love Air Everywhere the Hull Time Chapter XXXV - Boy Skinner Chapter XXXVI - Deforrest Decides Chapter XXXVII - The New Home Chapter XXXVIII - Dinner at Waldstricker's Chapter XXXIX - Father and Son Chapter XL - Husband and Wife Chapter XLI - Tessibel's Discovery Chapter XLII - A Man's Arm at the Window Chapter XLIII - Sandy's Job Chapter XLIV - Sandy's Visit Chapter XLV - Andy Vindicated Chapter XLVI - Sandy's Courting Chapter XLVII - Waldstricker's Anger Chapter XLVIII - The Sins of the Parents Chapter XLIX - Tessibel and Elsie Chapter L - Tessibel's Vision Chapter LI - The Christmas Guest Chapter LII - The Storm Chapter LIII - The Happy Day
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I Lovingly Dedicate this Book to Lil And Arthur Miller
Chapter I - The Squatter Folk
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The lazy warmth of a May afternoon, the spring following Orn Skinner'srelease from Auburn Prison, was reflected in the attitudes of three menlounging on the shore in front of "Satisfied" Longman's shack. At theirfeet, the waters of Cayuga Lake dimpled under the rays of the westernsun. Like a strip of burnished silver, the inlet wound its way throughthe swamp from the elevators and railroad stations near the foot ofsouth hill. Across the lake rose the precipitous slopes of East Hill,tapestried in green, etched here and there by stretches of winding whiteroad, and crowned by the buildings on the campus of Cornell University.Stretched from the foot of State Street on either side of the LehighValley track lay the Silent City, its northern end spreading severalmiles up the west shore of the Lake. Its inhabitants were canalers,fishermen and hunters, uneducated, rough and superstitious. They builttheir little huts in the simplest manner out of packing boxes and roughlumber and roofed them with pieces of tin and sheet iron. Squatters theywere appropriately named, because they paid no attention 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 abouttheir work under the cover of darkness, for the game laws compelled thefishermen to pull their nets at night, and the farmers' chickens weremore easily caught, his fruit more easily picked when the sun waswarming China.
Summers, their lives were comparatively free from hardships. Fish wereplentiful and easy to take; the squatter women picked flowers andberries in the woods and sold them in the city and the men workedoccasionally, as the fit struck them. But the winters were bitter andcruel. The countryside, buried deep in snow, made travel difficult.When the mercury shrank timidly into the bulb and fierce winds howleddown the lake, the Silent City seemed, indeed, the Storm Country.
"I were up to the Graves' place yesterday, helpin' Professor Young,"said Jake Brewer, the youngest and most active of the three men.
"Never had no use fer that duffer, Dominie Graves, myself," answeredLongman. The speaker turned a serious face to the third member of theparty. "Ner you nuther, eh, Orn?"
Orn Skinner was an enormous man, some six and a half feet tall. Twogreat humps on his shoulders accentuated the breadth and thickness ofhis chest while they tended to conceal the length of his arms. A fewmonths before he'd been in the death house at Auburn. Through theefforts of Deforrest Young, the dean of the Law College at Cornell, he'dbeen pardoned and sent home.
The gigantic squatter removed his pipe from his mouth and smoothed thethready white beard, straggling over his chin.
"Nope, I hated 'im," he muttered. "He done me dirt 'nough. If it hadn'tbeen 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 promisedit to ye."
A moody expression settled in Skinner's eyes. "So he did promise it," heexplained. "He writ Tess a letter. He said as how he were sorry for hismeanness an' would give me the deed. But he didn't!"
A shrill voice calling his name brought "Satisfied" Longman to his feet,and he hobbled away toward the shack.
"'Pears like 'Satisfied' ain't got much strength any more," saidSkinner. "He ain't been worth much of anythin' sence I got back."
"Him an' Ma Longman've failed a lot sence Myry an' Ezry died," agreedJake. "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 ... BenLetts were a bad 'un, too. It used to make me plumb ugly to see 'imbotherin' Tess when ye was shet up, Orn, an' him all the time the daddyof 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 Ididn'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'stellin' 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, Myry an' their bratall was drowned."
Longman, coming out of the shack, overheard the last remark. The othertwo fell silent. After he'd sat down again, he dissipated theirembarrassment by saying,
"But Tess says Myry air happy now 'cause she air got Ben. Fer myself, Idunno, though. But, if Myry air satisfied, me an' ma air satisfied,too."
The other two nodded in solemn sympathy. After a moment, Jake took outhis pipe and filled it. Holding the lighted match above the bowl, heglanced at Skinner.
"Where air Tess?" he asked.
"She air up to Young's. He air learnin' her book stuff, an' his sisterair helpin' 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 Graves, Orn?" he asked.
"I dunno," Skinner muttered, "but I know this much, I don't like highborn pups like him hangin' 'round my girl. 'Tain't fittin' an' I toldTess 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' beansshe wants to send up to Mother Moll. She thought, mebbe, Tess'd take 'emto 'er."
"Sure, 'Satisfied,' I'll take 'em home an' the brat'll take 'em up theravine next time she goes to the professor's."
"Mother Moll were the only one of us all," Jake told Skinner, whileLongman was in the shack, "what stood by Tess. She allers says Tess aira goin' to surprise us all. She says as how the brat'll be rich an' havea fine home. I dunno—but old Moll do tell the future right good whenshe looks in the pot."
"She told the brat I were comin' home from Auburn," added Skinner, "whenit 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 bratsin a storm. Old Moll air a wise woman, all right."
The dish of beans in his hand, the Bible-backed fisherman directed hissteps toward his own home, some distance away beyond the ragged rocks.
The old squatter walked slowly. His health had broken in prison and hisstrength seemed hardly sufficient to move the big body. The path, anoutcropping ledge of the precipitous cliff, was very narrow because ofthe unusually high level of the water in the lake. Picking his wayslowly, he considered reminiscently the events which had almostdestroyed him.
He recalled the long years of monotonous existence in the shack, thehard nights pulling the nets and the varied scrapes Tess had tumbledinto. Then, suddenly, came the shooting of the game keeper, his ownarrest, trial and conviction. The white glare of hateful publicity hadbeen thrown, without warning, upon him and hi