Christian fiction; Love stories; Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; Nineteen twenties -- Fiction; Young women -- Fiction
It might be that she slept for a space, for she was very weary and the
day had been so hard, but she was not sure. Rather it was as if she
were just resting, as she used to rest in her mother’s arms and be
rocked, long ago, the first thing she could remember. The sense of her
troubles, and her terrible situation had slipped away from her. She was
just resting, not thinking. When suddenly the sound of voices--voices
quite near, broke upon her, as if they had suddenly rounded the hill
and were close at hand, coming on. Cautious voices, albeit, with a
carrying sibilant, and something familiar about one of them. She could
not tell why they struck terror to her soul, nor at what instant she
realized that they were not just foot travellers going on by, but were
coming toward her. She found herself trembling from head to foot.
“Look out there, Kid,” said the familiar voice, “Don’t skid over that
poor stiff. Those headstones aren’t easy to play with and we can’t
afford to lose any of this catch. Its worth it’s weight in gold you
know, rare antique! We ought to make about four hundred bucks apiece
out of this lot if we place it wisely.”
The footsteps came on, and suddenly as the moon swept out from the
clouds for an instant she saw four dark figures silhouetted against
the lighter darkness of the road, stealing slowly into the cemetery
among the graves carrying burdens between them, heavy, bulky, shrouded
burdens. The hurrying clouds obliterated everything again, but she
could hear the soft thud of their feet, as they slowly felt their way.
An occasional dart of light from a pocket flash flickered fitfully on a
headstone here and there as she watched with bated breath. They seemed
to be coming straight toward her, and for an instant she thought of
trying to flee, but a great weakness overcame her, so that she could
hardly breathe, and it seemed impossible to rise. Then the flashlight
jabbed into her very eyes, and she crouched against the sod and wished
there were some way to get down beneath it out of sight.
“What was that, Kid?” the voice whispered. The tiny flash fluttered
here and there on the grass all about her as she crouched. In a moment
they would be upon her. It seemed the culmination of all the terrible
day. Her heart throbbed painfully, while she waited a long minute,
hearing distinctly the oncoming feet swishing softly in the grass, the
labored breathing of those who carried the heavy burden, the cautious
whispers, and then, could it be? They were only two graves away. They
were passing by. They were going toward the back part of the cemetery.
She lay absolutely motionless listening for what seemed hours. The soft
thud of burdens laid down was followed by the sound of a spade plunged
deep in the earth, and the ring of metal as it was drawn forth and hit
against a stone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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