JIM BARLOW
Dorothy reread the note. Then she took off the scrawl attached to it and
tore it into bits, remarking to the mastiff, or whoever might hear:
"Well, I don't want any milk. I shall never like it again. I believe
that dreadful man put something in it last night--was it only last
night?--that made me go to sleep and not know a thing was happening
after I got into the carriage till I woke up here. Milk! Ugh!"
With a shudder of repulsion she looked over her shoulder just as a
sibilant, warning "S-Ssh!" came from the room behind. Then she stood up
and screamed as the mastiff, likewise rising, grasped her skirt in his
teeth.
"Hush! you better not let her hear you!" was the second, whispered
warning, and though she peered into the kitchen she could see nobody,
till, after a moment, she discovered a pair of dirty bare feet
protruding from under the bed that stood in one corner.
Dorothy was afraid of the dog that held her, but she was not usually
afraid of human beings; so she called quite loudly:
"You long white boy, come out from that place. I want to talk to you!"
The dog loosened its grip long enough to growl, then took a fresh hold,
as the lad cautiously drew himself into full sight and noiselessly stood
up. But he laid one grimy hand on his lips, again commanding silence,
and snatching a big basket from the floor ran out of a rear door.
The girl tried to follow. Of the two human beings she had seen in this
isolated cottage the long boy seemed the gentler, and she was determined
to make him, or somebody, tell her where she was. The mastiff still held
her prisoner and she suspected he was acting upon orders. Her temper
rose and with it her courage. It was absurd that she could not do as she
pleased in a little bit of a country cottage like this, where there were
no locks nor bolts to hinder! So for the third time she moved, and for
the third time the dog's great teeth set themselves more firmly on her
light clothing. Clenching her small hands in her impotent wrath, she
began to screech and yell, at the top of her voice, incessantly,
deafeningly, defiantly. Pausing only long enough to renew her breath,
and wondering if that old woman she could see yonder, picking berries
from a bed, could endure the noise as long as she could endure to make
it.
Apparently, the uproar had no further result than to tire her own
throat; for, until she had finished gathering the strawberries from one
long row of vines, the woman did not pause. But, having reached the
limit of the bed and of the crate she moved along before her as she
worked, she suddenly stood up, lifted the crate to her head, and strode
back to the house. There she deposited her precious fruit in an outer
shed and entered the kitchen. From the small clock-shelf she gathered a
pad of writing paper, a bunch of envelopes, and a lead pencil; which
with an air of pride, and the first semblance of a smile Dorothy had
seen upon her grim features, she offered to the child.
"Here. To write on. To your ma. He left 'em. Tige, let go!"
Instantly, the mastiff loosened his hold of Dorothy's skirts and
followed his mistress into the strawberry patch whither she had again
gone, carrying another crate filled with empty baskets. Evidently, this
was a truck-farm and the mistress of it was preparing for market. Just
such crates and cups, or little baskets, were now plentiful at all the
city shops where groceries were sold, and Dorothy's hopes rose at the
thought that she might be taken thither with this woman when she went to
sell her stuff.
"Oh! that's what she'll let me do! So what's the use of writing? And how
fine those berries look! I'd like to pick some myself. I'd rather do it
than do nothing. I'll just go and offer to help."
In better spirits than she would have thought possible, even a few
moments before, the homesick girl ran across the garden and to the
woman's side, who merely looked up and said nothing, till Dorothy
lifted one of the wooden cups and began to pick fruit into it.
For a brief space the other watched her closely, as the nimble little
fingers plucked the beautiful berries; till by mischance Dorothy pulled
off an entire stem, holding not only ripened fruit but several green and
half-turned drupes. Whereupon her fingers were smartly tapped and by
example, rather than speech, she was instructed in the art of berry
picking.
"Oh! I do love to learn things, and I see, I see!" cried the novice, and
smiling up into the old face now so near her own, she began the task
afresh. Already the market-woman had resumed her own work, and it seemed
incredible that such coarse fingers as hers could so deftly strip the
vines of perfect berries only, leaving all others intact for a future
picking. Also, she had a swift way of packing them in the cups that left
each berry showing its best side and filled the receptacle without
crowding.
"Ah! I see! I'm getting the trick of it! And that's what mother means
by paying for a quart and not getting a quart, isn't it? Oh! how
delicious they are!" and, without asking, Dorothy popped the plumpest
berry she had yet found into her own mouth.
That was a mistake, as the frown upon the woman's face promptly told
her; and with a sudden sinking of her heart she realized again that she
was, after all, a prisoner in an unknown place. She rose, apologized in
a haughty manner, and would have retreated to the cottage again had she
been permitted. But having proved herself of service, retreat was not so
easy. Again she was pulled down to a stooping posture and her cup thrust
back into her hand.
"Work. Eat spoiled ones. Don't dally."
Dorothy obeyed; but alas! her self-elected task grew very wearisome. The
heat was still great and the afternoon sun shone full upon her back, and
there seemed positively no end to the berries. There were rows upon rows
of them, and the woman had only just begun when Dorothy joined her. Or
so it seemed, though there were already several crates waiting in the
little shed till the full day's crop should be garnered.
At the end of one row of vines she stood up and protested:
"I can't pick any more. I'm so tired. Please tell me where I am and what
your name is. Tell me, too, when I can go home and the way."
"No matter. Go. Write. I'll take it. Here;" and this big woman of small
speech held out on the palm of her great hand a half-dozen over-ripe
berries, which Dorothy hesitated to accept, yet found delicious when she
did so.
"Thank you! and if you won't tell me who you are or where I am, I shall
call you Mrs. Denim, after the clothes you wear; and I shall find out
where this farm is and run away from it at the first chance. I'd rather
that horrid old dog would eat me up than be kept a prisoner this way. Is
that long boy your son? May I go talk to him? May he show me the way
home to Baltimore?"
To none of these questions was any answer vouchsafed, and offended
Dorothy was moved to remark:
"Humph! You're the savingest woman I ever saw! You don't waste even a
word, let alone a spoiled strawberry. Oh! I beg your pardon! I didn't
mean to be quite so saucy, but I'm almost crazy to go home. I want to go
home--_I want to go home_!"
There was such misery in this wail that the long boy, weeding onions a
few feet away, paused in his tedious task and raised his shock head with
a look of pity on his face. But the woman seemed to know his every
movement, even though her own head was bowed above the vines, and shot
him such an angry glance that he returned to his weeding with no further
expression of his sympathy.
Poor Dorothy C.! Homesickness in its bitterest form had come upon her
and her grief made her feel so ill that she dropped down just where she
was, unable longer to stand upright. Instantly, she was snatched up
again by "Mrs. Denim's" strong arms and violently shaken. That anybody,
even an ignorant stranger, should lie down in a strawberry patch and
thus ruin many valuable berries was the height of folly! So, without
more ado, Dorothy was carried indoors, almost tossed upon the bed in the
kitchen, and the paper and pencil thrown upon the patchwork quilt beside
her. Then she was left to recover at her leisure, while whistling to
Tige to watch the girl, "Mrs. Denim" returned to her outdoor labors; nor
was she seen again till darkness had filled the narrow room.
Then once again Dorothy was lifted and was now carried to a loft above
the kitchen, where, by the dim light of a tallow candle, she was shown a
rude bed on the floor and a plate of food. Also, there was a bowl of
milk, but at this the girl looked with a shudder. She wasn't hungry, but
she reflected that people grew faint and ill without food, so she forced
herself to nibble at the brown bread, which had been dipped in molasses,
instead of being spread with butter, and its sweetness gave her a great
thirst. Slipping down the stairs, she found the pail and dipper and got
her drink, and it was with some surprise that she did this unreproved.
However, a snore from the bed explained why. "Mrs. Denim" was asleep
and the "long boy" was invisible. At the foot of the stairs, Dorothy
hesitated. Wasn't this a chance to steal away and start for home? Once
out of this house and on some road, she would meet people who would
direct her. She had heard her father say, time and time again, that the
world was full of kindness; and, though her present circumstances seemed
to contradict this statement, she was anxious to believe it true. But,
as she stood there debating whether she dare run away in the darkness or
wait until daylight, the sleepless Tiger gave a vicious growl and
bounded in from the shed where he had lain.
That settled it. With a leap as swift as his own Dorothy sped back over
the stairs and flung herself on the "shake-down" where she had been told
to sleep; and again silence, broken only by its mistress's snores, fell
upon this lonely cottage in the fields.
Dorothy's own sleep was fitful. This low room under the eaves was close
and warm. Her head ached strangely, and her throat was sore. At times
she seemed burning up with fever, and the next instant found herself
shaking with the cold. She roused, at length, from one disturbed nap to
hear the sound of wheels creaking heavily over rough ground, and to see
the attic dimly lighted.
"Can it be morning already? Is that woman going to market and not taking
me, after all I begged her so?" cried the girl aloud and, hurrying from
the bed to the low window, looked out.
It was the light of a late-rising moon that brightened the scene and
there was slowly disappearing in the distance one of those curious,
schooner-shaped vehicles which truck-farmers use: and with a vain belief
that she could overtake it, Dorothy again rushed down the stairs and
plump upon the mastiff crouched on the floor below, and evidently on
guard.
But, yawning and stretching his long limbs, there just then entered the
shock-headed youth; and his "Pshaw!" Dorothy's "O-Oh!" and Tiger's growl
made a trio of sounds in the silent house: to which he promptly added
his question:
"Huh? you awake?"
"Yes, yes! But I want to go with that woman! Call off the dog--I must
go--I _must_!"
The boy did call the dog to him and laid his hand upon the creature's
collar; then he said:
"I'm glad of it."
"Glad that I'm left, you--horrid thing!" cried Dorothy, trying to run
past him and out of the door.
But she was not permitted, even had her own strength not suddenly
forsaken her: for the lad put out his free hand and stopped her.
"Glad you're awake. So's we can talk," he said; and now releasing the
mastiff, whom he bade: "Lie down!" he led her to the doorstep and made
her sit down, with him beside her.
"So you _can_ talk, if you want to! I thought you were tongue-tied!" she
remarked, now realizing that the wagon had passed beyond reach, but
thankful to have speech with anybody, even this silly-looking fellow.
"What's your name?"
"Jim. Jim Barlow. I hain't got no folks. All dead. I work for her," he
answered, readily enough, and she understood that it was only from fear
he had been so silent until now.
"Are you afraid of her? Do you mean 'her' to be that dreadful woman?"
"Yep. She ain't so bad. She's only queer, and she's scared herself of
_him_. What's yourn?"
"My name, you mean? Dorothy Chester. Who's 'him'? Has 'she' gone to
market? Does she go every market day? To Lexington, or Hollins, or
Richmond--which? What's her name?"
Jim gasped. His experience of girls was limited, and he didn't know
which of these many questions to answer first. He began with the last:
and now that he had the chance he seemed as willing to talk as Dorothy
was to listen. Apparently, neither of them now thought of the hour and
its fitness for sleep: though Tiger had lain down before them on the
flat stone step and was himself snoring, his need of vigilance past for
the time being. Said the boy:
"Stott. Mirandy Stott. Her man died. _He_ was a baby. She brung him
up--good. She earned this hull truck-farm. She makes money. All for him
an' he keeps her close. She sent him to school an' made a man of him.
She can't read nor write. She makes her 'mark,' but he can, the
first-ratest ever was. I can, too, some. I'm learnin' myself. I'm goin'
to school some time, myself, after I leave her."
"If you're going to school, I should think it was time you began. You're
a big boy," said Dorothy. "Why don't you leave her now?"
"Well--'cause. She--I come here when my folks died an' I hadn't no other
place. She treats me decent, only makes me hold my tongue. She hates
folks that talk. _He_ talks fast enough, though. So I--I've just stayed
on, a-waitin' my chance. I get good grub an' she don't lick me. She
likes me, I guess, next to him. She likes him better even than she likes
money. I don't. I'm scared of him. So's she. She does what he says every
time. That's why I said 'no milk.'"
"Who is 'he'? Does he live here? What is about the milk?"
There was nobody anywhere near them except the dog. By no possibility
could anybody besides Dorothy hear the information next imparted: yet
Jim stood up, peered in every direction, and when he again sat down
resumed in a whisper:
"You ain't the first one. 'Tother was a boy, real little. He cried all
the time, first off. Then 'he' fetched some white powders an' she put
'em in the kid's milk. After that he didn't cry no more but he slept
most all the time. I seen her. I watched. I seen her put one in yourn. I
liked you. I thought if you stayed you'd be comp'ny, if you was awake.
That's why."
"What became of the little boy?" asked Dorothy, also whispering, and
frightened.
"He took him away. I studied out 't he gets money that way. He wouldn't
do it, 'less he did, seems if. I guess that's what he's plannin' 'bout
you. I'll watch. You watch. Don't mad her an' she'll treat you good
enough. 'Less--'less he should tell her different. Then I don't know."
Dorothy sat silent for a long time. She was horrified to find her own
suspicions verified by this other person though he seemed to be
friendly; and her mind formed plan after plan of escape, only to reject
each as impossible. Finally she asked:
"Where is this house? How far from Baltimore?"
"'Bout a dozen mile, more or less. Ain't no town or village nigh. That's
why she bought it cheap, the land laying away off that way. So fur is
the reason she has to have four mules, 'stead of two, for the
truck-wagon. She makes money! All for him. Him an' money--that's the
hull of her."
"Say, Jim, do you like me? Really, as you said?" demanded Dorothy, after
another period of confused thought, her brain seeming strangely dull and
stupid, and a desire to lie down and rest greater, for the present, than
that for freedom.
"Course. I said so," he responded, promptly.
"Will you help me get away from here, back to my home? Listen. You told
me about yourself, I'll tell about myself:" and as simply as possible
she did so. Her story fell in exactly with his own ideas, that money was
to be extorted for her restoration to her family, but his promise to
help her was not forthcoming: and when he did not reply, she
impatiently exclaimed: "You won't help me! You horrid, hateful wretch!"
"Ain't nuther. Hark. One thing I know if I don't know another. I won't
lie for nobody, even her or him. If I can--_if I can_--I'll help you,
but I ain't promisin' nothin' more. I'll watch out. You watch, an' _if I
can_, without makin' it worse for you, I will. Now I'm goin' to bed. You
best, too. She's found out you can work an' you'll have to. I've got
plowin' to do. I sleep out yonder, in the shed. Tige, you stay where you
be."
Without further words, Jim retreated to his bunk in the shed and Dorothy
to her attic. She was now conscious only of utter weariness and a
racking pain through her whole body. She was, in fact, a very sick
girl.