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Would the people think she was good enough? Would they understand how
hard she meant to try? For a minute she had a desperate impulse to turn
and run. Then she heard Mandy's thin, flatted tones announcing:
"This hyer girl wants to git a job in the mill. Miz Bence, she cain't
come down this morning--you'll have to git ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Perhaps it was some admixture of his father's traits which set the young
man to investigating the cotton-mill situation in his own fashion. To do
this as he conceived it should be done, he had hired himself to the
Hardwick Spinning Company in an office position which gave him a fair
outlook on the business, and put hi... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
He was instantly apologetic for the word; but Johnnie detached the
flower from her dress and held it toward him.
"It is," she assented. "It's an orchid; and the little yellow flower
that we-all call the whippoorwill shoe is an orchid, too."
Stoddard thrust his papers into his coat pocket and took the blossom in
his ha... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"But I--" began Stoddard deprecatingly, when Johnnie reddened and broke
in hastily.
"Oh, I don't mean that for you. Miss Baird taught me for three years,
and I loved her as dearly as I ever could any one. You may keep this
flower if you want to; and, come Sunday, I'll get you another one that
won't be broken."
"Why Su... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Well, that ought to square with your socialistic notions," chaffed
MacPherson, sorting the work on his desk and pushing a certain portion
of it toward Stoddard. "Sit down here, if you please, and we'll go over
these now. The girl looked a good deal like a fairy princess. I don't
think she's a safe topic for susceptib... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"If you mean that very complimentary description for me," said Gray with
sudden seriousness, "I will say to you here and now that there is no
preacher in me. But when I am a little clearer in my own mind as to what
I believe, I shall practise. The only real creed is a manner of life. If
you don't live it, you don't re... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
By noon every nerve in Johnnie's body quivered with excitement and
overstrain; yet when Mandy came for her at the dinner hour she showed
her a face still resolute, and asked that a snack be brought her to
the mill.
"I don't see why you won't come along home and eat your dinner," the
Meacham woman commented. "The Lord ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Johnnie inwardly rebuked the throb of joy which greeted this statement.
"I reckon his looks are his own, Mandy," she said soberly. "You and me
have no call to notice them."
"Ain't got no call to notice 'em? Well, I jest wish't I could get you
and him up in front of Miss Sessions, and have her see them looks of
his'n,"... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Hurry up--he'll be gittin' away," she admonished.
"Oh, no," objected the new girl. "Wait till some other time, I--I don't
want to--"
But her remonstrance came too late; Mandy had yanked her forward and was
performing the introduction she so euphoniously described.
Gray Stoddard turned and bowed to both girls. He carr... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Yes," returned Johnnie absently. She had already forgotten her
impression of Miss Sessions's displeasure. Gone was the leaden weariness
of her day's toil Something intimate and kind in the glance Stoddard had
given her remained warm at her heart, and set that heart singing.
Meantime, Stoddard and MacPherson were walk... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
MacPherson grunted incredulously.
"I give you ten years to be done with it," he said. "It is a disease of
youth. But don't let it mark your affairs. It is all right to foregather
with these workingmen, and find out about their trades-unions and that
sort of thing--such knowledge will be useful to you in your business.... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"MacPherson," he began very seriously, "I wonder a little at you, I know
you old-world people regard these things differently; but could you look
at Mrs. Hardwick's children, and seriously recommend Mrs. Hardwick's
sister as a wife for a friend?"
Old MacPherson stopped in the way, thrust his hands deep in his pockets
... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
The room was dark. Mandy slept noisily beside her. All the beds were
full, because the night-turn workers were in. She meant to be very
careful to waken nobody. Poor souls, they needed this one day of rest
when they could all lie late. Searching for something, she cautiously
struck a match, and in the flaring up of it... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Johnnie was not inexperienced in matters of the heart. Mating time comes
early in the mountains. Had her dreams been of Shade Buckheath, or any
of the boys of her own kind and class, she would have been instantly
full of self-consciousness; but Gray Stoddard appeared to her a creature
so apart from her sphere that thi... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Howdy," she breathed softly. "I--I was looking for--I got you--"
She fell silent again, still regarding him, and fumbling blindly at the
cover of the basket.
"Well--aren't you lost?" inquired Stoddard with a rather futile
assumption of surprise. He was strangely moved by the direct gaze of
those clear, wide-set gray ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Both of them knew that Johnnie's reluctance had nothing to do with the
question of church-time. Stoddard himself was well aware that a factory
girl could not with propriety accept a seat in his car; yet when once
they were settled side by side, and the car resumed that swift, tireless
climb which is the wonder and del... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Smilingly he watched her, like a grown person amusing a child.
"You see what the wheel does, of course--guides. Now," when they had run
ahead for some minutes, "do you want to go faster?"
Johnnie laughed up at him, through thick, fair lashes.
"Looks like anybody would be hard to suit that wanted to go faster than
this... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Presently they met the first farm-wagon with its load of worshippers for
the little mountain church beyond. As these came out of a small side
road, and caught sight of the car, the bony old horses jibbed and shied,
and took all the driver's skill and a large portion of his vocabulary to
carry them safely past, the chi... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Nothing ripens intimacy so rapidly as a common mishap. Also, two people
seem much to each other as they await alone the ceasing of the rain or
the coming of the delayed boat.
"This won't last long," Johnnie repeated. "We won't dare to start out
when it first stops; but there'll come a little clearing-up shower after
t... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Gray Stoddard revolved this conception of a chance in the world in his
mind for some time.
"I did get some schooling," she told him. "You wouldn't think it to hear
me talk, because I'm careless, but I've been taught, and I can do
better. Yet if I don't see to it, how am I to know that the children
will have as much ev... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
She turned to him fleetingly a countenance of appeal and perplexity. It
seemed indeed anything but certain that she was one to work in the mill.
There was something almost grotesque in the idea which made Stoddard
smile a little at her earnestness.
"I'd like to talk it over with you when you've been at work there
long... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
It was all over in a moment. The loom-fixers had debouched upon the
long, wooden bridge which crossed the ravine to their quarters; the
girls were going on, Mandy Meacham hanging back and staring; a tree
finally shut out Miss Sessions's accusing countenance.
"Please stop and let me out here," said Johnnie, in a scarce... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"I done it. I got you a invite to some doin's at the Uplift Club
a-Wednesday."
Again Johnnie nodded and shaped "Yes" with her lips. She added something
which might have been "thank you"; the adorable smile that accompanied
it said as much.
Mandy watched her, fascinated as the lithe, strong young figure bent and
strain... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
The ladies assisting in Miss Lydia Sessions's Uplift
Club for work among the mill girls, were almost all young and youngish
women. The mothers in Israel attacked the more serious problems of
orphanages, winter's supplies of coal, and clothing for the destitute.
"But their souls must be fed, too," Miss Lydia asserted a... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Such interchange of views brought the two girls to the door of the
little frame chapel, given over for the day to Uplift work. Within it
rose a bustle and clatter, a hum of voices that spoke, a frilling of
nervous, shrill laughter to edge the sound, and back of that the clink
of dishes from a rear room where refreshme... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Gray Stoddard had gone directly to Lydia Sessions, with his proffers of
books, and his suggestions for Johnnie. The explanation of how the girl
came to be riding in his car that Sunday morning was neither as full nor
as penitent as Miss Lydia could have wished; yet it did recognize the
impropriety of the act, and was,... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
She approved of John, but she addressed herself to exploiting Mandy; and
the lady in the blue silk frock learned how poor and helpless the
Meacham woman had been before she got in to the mill work, how greatly
the Uplift Club had benefited her, with many interesting details. Yet as
the English lady went from group to ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"You struggle and climb and strive," said Mrs. Archbold earnestly,
"when, if you only knew it, you have wings. And what are the wings of
the soul? The wings of the soul are aspiration. Oh, that we would spread
them and fly to the heights our longing eyes behold, the heights we
dream of when we cannot see them, the hei... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Yes'm," returned Johnnie submissively. But it was in her heart that
certain upon this earth had their share of kingdoms and powers and the
glories. And, although she uttered that submissive "Yes'm," her
high-couraged young heart registered a vow to achieve its own slice of
these things as well as of daily bread.
"Did... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
There rose a titter about the two. It spread and swelled till the whole
assembly was in a gale of laughter. Miss Sessions's becoming blush
deepened to the tint of angry mortification. She looked about and
assumed the air of a schoolmistress with a room full of noisy pupils;
but Johnnie, her cheeks pink too, first swep... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Oh, but Mrs. Hexter," murmured the mortified Miss Sessions, glancing
uneasily toward the mill-girl contingent which was listening eagerly,
and then at the speaker of the day, "I am sure Mrs. Archbold will agree
with me that it would be a gross, material idea to aspire after blouses
and such-like, when the poor child ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"I believe in the law of such attraction as this girl has," she said
kindly. "What is it your Walt Whitman says about the fluid and attaching
character? That all hearts yearn toward it, that old and young must give
it love. That is, my dear," turning explainingly to Johnnie, "the
character which gives much love, takes... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
The long, hot days at the foot of the hills did seem to the
mountain-bred creature interminable and stifling. Perspiration dripped
from white faces as the operatives stood listlessly at their looms, or
the children straggled back and forth in the narrow lanes between the
frames, tending the endlessly turning spools.
T... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"What makes 'em build so close, Aunt Mavity?" she asked.
"Hit's the Company," returned Mrs. Bence lifelessly. "They don't want to
spend any more than they have to for land. Besides they want everything
to be nigh to the mill. Lord--hit don't make no differ. Only when a fire
starts in a row of 'em hit cleans up the Com... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Lou was well growed before ever she went in the mill. I know in reason
hit never hurt her. I mean these here mammies that I see puttin' little
tricks to work that ort to be runnin' out o' doors gettin' their
strength and growth--well, po' souls, I reckon they don't know no
better, God forgive 'em!"
"But if they got s... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
The rich people on top of the hill were beginning to make their
preparations to flit to the seashore or mountains. Lydia Sessions left
for two weeks, promising to return in June, and the Uplift work drooped,
neglected. There seems to be an understanding that people do not need
uplifting so much during hot weather. Gra... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Shade," she said, bending close so that he might hear the words, "I got
leave to come in and ask you to make me a thing like this--see?" showing
a pattern for a peculiarly slotted strip of metal.
Buckheath returned to the surly indifference of demeanour which was
natural to him. Yet he smiled covertly as he examined ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
It was out. He had said it at last. He stared at her fiercely. The red
dyed her face and neck at his words and look. For a desperate moment she
took counsel with herself. Then she lifted her head and looked squarely
in Buckheath's face.
"Oh, _that's_ what has been the matter with you all this time, is it?"
she inquire... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"You say you use 'em on the frames? What for? How do they work?" he
asked her, examining the little contrivance lingeringly.
"They're working pretty well," she told him, "even the way they are--a
good deal too long, and with that slot not cut deep enough, I'm right
proud of myself when I look at them. Any boy or girl ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Well, you sure talk curious to-day!" Johnnie told him. "I don't see
anything to be ashamed of in my loving to fool with machinery, if I _am_
a girl. But I'll get you the strip, if I can find it. I'm mighty proud
of being a room boss, and I aim to make my room the best one in the
mill. Shade, did you know that I get e... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"All right," agreed Buckheath briefly. "Wait here a minute and let me
get some things I want to take along."
He stopped at a little shed back of the offices, sometimes called the
garage because Stoddard's car stood in it. Johnnie dropped down on a box
at the door and the young fellow went inside and began searching th... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Stoddard laughed.
"It's as far as my wisdom goes," he replied promptly. "I would as soon
think of getting up a form of prayer for a fellow creature as laying out
a course of reading for him."
"Well, then," suggested Miss Sessions, "why not let her take up a
Chatauqua course? I'm sure many of them are excellent. She wo... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Stoddard looked as though he might debate that matter a bit. Then he
questioned, instead:
"Did you ever get a letter from her? She doesn't carry her quaint little
archaisms of pronunciation and wording into her writing. Her letters are
delicious."
Miss Sessions turned hastily to the window and looked out, apparently t... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"No," said Stoddard promptly. "Indeed I do not. Development must come
from within. To give it a chance--to lend it stimulus--that's all a
friend can do. A ready-made education plastered on the outside
cultivates nobody. Moreover, Johnnie is in no crying need of mere
schooling. You don't seem to know how well provided ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Johnnie," he began, facing around and barring her way, when they were
finally alone together between the trees, "do you remember the last time
you and me was on this piece of road here--do you?"
He had intended to remind her of the evening she came to Cottonville:
but instead, recollection built for her once more the... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Johnnie's tense, almost tragic manner relaxed. She laughed suddenly.
"I didn't know you was joking, Shade," she said good-humouredly. "I took
you to be in earnest. You'll have to excuse me."
"I am in earnest," Buckheath told her, almost fiercely. "I reckon I'm a
fool; but I want you. Any day"--he spoke with a curious,... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Johnnie," he said finally, "you ain't saying no to me, are you? You
take time to think it over--but not so very long--I'll name it to
you again."
"Please don't, Shade," remonstrated the girl, walking on fast, despite
the oppressive heat of the evening. "I wish you wouldn't speak of it to
me any more; and I can't go w... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"She never had 'em on but the once," Mavity Bence breathed. "And I--and
I r'ared out on her for buyin' of 'em. I said that with Pap so old and
all, we hadn't money to spend for slippers. Lord God!"--she
shivered--"We had to find money for the undertaker, when he come to
lay her out."
She turned to Johnnie feverishly, ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Johnnie Consadine had begun to earn money in such quantities as seemed
to her economic experience extremely large. She paid her board, sent a
little home to her mother, and had still wherewith to buy a frock for
the dance. She treated herself to a trolley ride in to Watauga to select
this dress, going on the Saturday ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Working in the cotton mill, are you?" she asked as she sorted up her
stock, jingling the bracelets on her wrists, and patting into shape her
big, frizzy pompadour. "That's awful hard work, ain't it? I should think
a girl like you would try for a place in a store. I'll bet you could get
one," she added encouragingly, ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Presently came Mavity Bence bringing the treasured footwear.
"I expect they'll be a little tight for me," Johnnie remarked somewhat
doubtfully; the slippers, though cheap, ill-cut things, looked so much
smaller than her heavy, country-made shoes. But they went readily upon
the arched feet of the mountain girl, Mandy a... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Gray Stoddard was talking to an older woman who had come with her
daughter--a thin-bodied, deep-eyed woman of forty, perhaps, with a
half-sad, tolerant smile, and slow, racy speech. A sudden touch on his
shoulder roused him, as one of the young men from town leaned over and
asked him excitedly:
"Who's that girl down a... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
These frivolous remarks, suited well enough to the ordinary ballroom,
did not please Miss Lydia for an Uplift dance.
"The girl with John is one in whom I take a very deep interest," she
said with a touch of primness.
"John Consadine is young, and exceptionally strong and healthy. But
Amanda Meacham has--er--disabiliti... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Do you reckon she is?" asked the tall woman, flushing. "Looks like
Johnnie Consadine loves every livin' thing on the top side of this
earth. I ain't never seen the human yet that she ain't got a good word
for. But I don't know as she cares 'specially 'bout _me_."
Stoddard could not refuse the assurance for which Mand... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
He glanced again at her dress; it was plain and simple, but good style
and becoming. She wore no jewellery, but lots of girls were rather
affecting that now, especially the athletic type to which this young
beauty seemed to belong. Surely he was not mistaken in guessing her to
be one of Miss Sessions's friends. Of cou... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Mr. Stoddard is a mighty good man," agreed Johnnie with sudden
pensiveness. "They've all been mighty good to me ever since I've been
here; but I believe Mr. Stoddard has done more for me than any one else.
He not only lends me books, but he takes time to explain things to me."
Conroy smiled covertly at the simplicity... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Then you'll dance it with me?" Conroy found himself saying, baldly,
awkwardly, but unable, for the life of him, to keep the eagerness out of
his voice.
Upon the instant the music struck up. The two rose and made ready for
the dance; Conroy placing Johnnie in waltzing position, and instructing
her solicitously.
Gray S... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Neither can I," said Mrs. Hexter wickedly. "If I did know how, I
believe I'd do it sometimes myself. What is it you want of me, Miss
Sessions? I must run back and see to supper, if you don't need me."
"But I do," fretted Lydia. "I want your help. This waltzing and--and
such things--ought to be stopped."
"All right," ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"I tried to warn you," he began: "but you were bound to get stung."
"I beg your pardon?" returned Stoddard in that civil, colourless
interrogation which should always check over-familiar speech, even from
the dullest. But Conroy was not sensitive.
"That big red-headed girl, you know," he said, leaning close and
speaki... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Wouldn't go with me to the dance at Watauga--oh no! But she ain't too
tired to dance with the swells!" he muttered to the darkness. "And I
can't get a word nor a look out of her. Lord, I don't know what some
women think!"
CHAPTER XI
THE NEW BOARDER
Pap Himes was sitting on the front gallery, dozing in the westering
s... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"I'm a-holding on," he observed gruffly at last, as the other continued
to blink at him with red eyes and say nothing. "What's the matter with
what I said? You told me you had room for another boarder and I named it
that I was comin' to board at your house. Have you got any objections?"
"Well, yes, I have," Himes open... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
The old man turned this speech in his mind for some time.
"Curious," he muttered to himself, "how these here young fellers will
get petted on some special gal and break their necks to have her."
"Shut up--will you?" ejaculated Buckheath, so suddenly and fiercely that
the old man fairly jumped, rousing the yellow cat t... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Settin' in thar, readin' a book," replied Beulah Catlett curtly. Beulah
was but fourteen, and she belonged to the newer dispensation which
speaks up more boldly to the masculine half of creation. "Johnnie!
Johnnie Consadine!" she called through the casement. "Here's Mr.
Buckheath, wishful of your company. Better come... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Buckheath had been a week at the Himes boarding-house, finding it not
unpleasant to show Johnnie Consadine how many of the girls regarded him
with favour, whether she did or not, when he came to supper one evening
with a gleam in his eye that spoke evil for some one. After the meal was
over, he followed Pap out on the... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Shade looked over his shoulder. The girls had forsaken the steps.
Despairing of his coming, they were strolling two-and-two after Johnnie
on the sidewalk.
"It's you and me for it, Pap," he said hardily. "What was _you_ tryin'
to do? Was you gettin' the patent for Johnnie? Shall I call her up here
and ask her?"
"No, no... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Neither man quite understood the power of that mental culture which
Johnnie was assimilating so avidly. That reading things in a book should
enable her--a child, a girl, a helpless woman--to negative their wishes
smilingly, this would have been a thing quite outside the comprehension
of either.
"Aunt Mavity wants me t... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Because I do," said Buckheath helplessly. He wondered if the girl did
not herself know her own attractions, forgetful that he had not seen
them plainly till a man higher placed in the social scale set the cachet
of a gentleman's admiration upon them.
CHAPTER XII
THE CONTENTS OF A BANDANNA
It was a breathless August e... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
The moving speck on the road appeared at this time to be the figure of a
tall man, walking unsteadily, reeling from side to side of the road, yet
approaching the village.
"Shade," pacified Himes, with a truckling manner that the younger man's
aggressions were apt to call out in him, "you know I don't mean anything
aga... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Whar's Johnnie?" repeated old Pros hollowly.
It was the younger man who answered this time, with an ugly lift of the
lip over his teeth, between a sneer and a snarl.
"She's gone gaddin' around with some of her swell friends. She may be
home before midnight, an' then again she may not," he said.
The old man collapsed ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
What is it in the thought of wealth from the ground that so intoxicates,
so ravishes away from all reasonable judgment, the generality of
mankind? People never seem to conceive that there might be no more than
moderate repayal for great toil in a mine of any sort. The very word
mine suggests to them tapping the vast t... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Passmore stumbled to his feet. He had eaten nothing for three days. The
fall over the ledge had injured him severely. He was scarcely sane at
the moment.
"Ain't they no 'count?" he asked pitifully. "Why, I made shore they was
silver. Well"--he looked aimlessly about--"I better go find Johnnie,"
and he started down the... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"You thieves!" he roared. "Give me my bandanner! Give me Johnnie's
silver mine!"
"Yes--yes--yes! Don't holler it out that-a-way!" whispered Pap Himes
from the floor, where he crouched, still clutching the precious bits
of ore.
"We was a-goin' to give 'em to you, Uncle Pros. We was just foolin',"
Buckheath attempted to... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"I'm so relieved that you've come at last," he said. "We need somebody
of intelligence here. I just happened to come past a few minutes after
the accident. Don't be frightened; your uncle came down to see you, and
got a fall somehow. He's hurt pretty badly, I'm afraid, and these people
are refusing to have him taken t... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"I don't know nothin' about veterinarians and surgeons," growled Pap,
still alternately mopping his bald head and shaking it contemptuously;
"but I know that Millsaps ain't a-goin' to box up any dead bodies and
send 'em to the medical colleges; and I know he made as pretty a job of
doctoring old Spotty has ever I seen... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Johnnie went and knelt by the lounge. With deft, careful fingers she
lifted the wet cloths above the bruised forehead. The hurt looked old.
No blood was flowing, and she wondered a little. Catching Shade
Buckheath's eye fixed on her from outside the window, she beckoned him
in and asked him to tell her exactly how the... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Johnnie turned puzzled eyes from the rigid face on the lounge--Pros had
neither moved nor spoken since they lifted and laid him there--to the
old man at the window. That Pap Himes should be concerned, even
slightly, about the welfare of any living being save himself, struck her
as wildly improbable. Then, swiftly, she... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
For a time, much as she disliked to approach Shade with any request,
Johnnie continued to urge him whenever they met to finish up the
indicators and let her have them back again. Then Hartley Sessions
promoted her to a better position in the weaving department, and other
cares drove the matter from her mind.
The condi... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Well, for God's sake," retorted Pap Himes testily, "why don't you wed
the gal and be done with it? You wed Johnnie Consadine and get that
writin', and I'll never tell on you 'bout the old man and such; and you
and me'll share the mine."
Shade gave him a black look.
"You're a good talker," he said sententiously. "If I... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Well, he took that thar string o' names, and he left. 'Long about
sundown, here he is back and hollerin' at the fence. 'Come out here,
preacher--I've got her,' He had a woman in his buggy that Blaylock had
never put eyes on in all his born days. 'Wouldn't none o' them I sent ye
to have ye?' the preacher asked Zack in... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
CHAPTER XIV
WEDDING BELLS
A vine on Mavity Bence's porch turned to blood crimson. Its leaves
parted from the stem in the gay Autumn wind, and sifted lightly down to
join the painted foliage of the two little maples which struggled for
existence against an adverse world, crouching beaten and torn at
the curb.
In these ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Stoddard himself was touched by the old man's fancy, and showed a
devotion and patience that were characteristic.
If she was kept late at the hospital, Mavity put by a bite of cold
supper for her, and Mandy always waited to see that she had what she
wanted. On the day after Shade Buckheath and Gideon Himes had come to... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Have ye told her?" she gasped. And at the tone Johnnie turned quickly,
a sudden chill falling upon her glowing mood.
"What's the matter?" she asked, startled, clutching the baby tighter to
her, and conning over with quick alarm the tow-heads that bobbed and
surged about her waist. "The children are all right--aren't ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
She came through the door and passed the new Mrs. Himes on the porch.
"Why, Johnnie Consadine" she cried. "Is that there your ma?"
Johnnie nodded. She was past speech.
"Well, I vow! I should've took her for your sister, if any kin. Ain't
she pretty? Beulah--she's Johnnie's ma, and her and Pap has just
been wedded."
Sh... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Everybody always has been mighty good to me all my life," Laurella
Himes was saying to Mandy, Beulah and the others. "I reckon they always
will. Uncle Pros he just does for me like he was my daddy, and my
children always waited on me. Johnnie's the best gal that ever was, ef
she does have some quare notions."
"Ain't ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"I got ready for 'em," Mavity told Johnnie in an undertone, after her
father returned. "I knowed in reason he'd bring her back with him. Pap
always has his own way, and gits whatever he wants. I 'lowed you'd take
the baby in bed with you, and I put a pallet in your room for Lissy."
Johnnie agreed to this arrangement, ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Has he?" inquired Laurella vivaciously. "Well, money or no money, I
think he's mighty nice. Looks like he ain't studying as to whether you
got money or not. And if you was meaning that you didn't think yourself
fit to be friends with such, why I'm ashamed of you, Johnnie Consadine.
The Passmores and the Consadines ar... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Mother--Oh, mother!" protested Johnnie.
"Well, if he can look that way I reckon I can speak of it," returned
Laurella, with some reason.
"I want you to promise never to name it again, even to me," said Johnnie
solemnly, as they came to the steps of the big lead-coloured house. "You
surely wouldn't say such a thing to... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Not for long, I hope," Stoddard received her decision with a puzzled
air, turning in his fingers the copy of "Walden" which she was bringing
back to him. "Perhaps now that you have your mother and the children
with you, there will be less time for this sort of thing for a while,
but you haven't a mind that can enjoy ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
She broke off and sat staring dully at the floor. Pap Himes had stumped
into the room during the latter part of this conversation.
"Lost your job, hey?" he inquired keenly.
Mandy nodded, with fearful eyes on his face.
"Well, you want to watch out and keep yo' board paid up here. The week
you cain't pay--out you go. I ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"You look a heap prettier, and act and speak a heap prettier than you
used to up in the mountains," she told the tall girl. "Looks like it was
a mighty sensible thing for you to come down here to the Settlement; and
if it was good for you, I don't see why it wasn't good for me--and won't
be for the rest of the childre... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Nobody's asked my opinion," observed Shade Buckheath, who made one of
the family group, "but as far as I can see there ain't a thing to hurt
young 'uns about mill work; and there surely ain't any good reason why
they shouldn't earn their way, same as we all do. I reckon they had to
work back on Unaka. Goin' to set 'e... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Pap stared at his bride and clicked his teeth with the gnashing sound
that overawed the others. He drew his shaggy brows in an attempt to look
masterful.
"Well, ef you cain't tend looms, I reckon you can take Mavity's place in
the house here, and let her keep to the weavin' stiddier. She'll just
about lose her job if ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Yes, and I'm goin' to buy me a gun and a nag with my money what I
earn," put in Pony explosively. "'Course I'll take you-all to ride." He
added the saving clause under Milo's reproving eye. "Sis' Johnnie, don't
you want me to earn money and buy a hawse and a gun, and a--and most
ever'thing else?"
Johnnie looked down ... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"I reckon Mr. Himes knows best, Johnnie, honey," was her reiterated
comment.
Cautiously Johnnie approached the subject of pay; her stepfather had
already demanded her wages, and expressed unbounded surprise that she
was not willing to pass over the Saturday pay-envelope to him and let
him put the money in the bank alo... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"No," returned Johnnie, goaded past endurance, "I'm going over to see if
I can get them to refuse to take this one." And she bent and picked
Deanie up, holding her, the child's head dropped shyly against her
breast, the small flower-like face turned a bit so that one blue eye
might investigate the carriage and those i... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Is Johnnie putting those children in the mill?" asked Stoddard half
doubtfully, as his gaze followed them toward the entrance of
the Victory.
"I believe so," returned Lydia, smiling. "We were just speaking of how
good it was that the cotton mills gave an opportunity for even the
smaller ones to help, at work which is... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
CHAPTER XVI
BITTER WATERS
Johnnie had a set of small volumes of English verse, extensively
annotated by his own hand, which Stoddard had brought to her early in
their acquaintance, leaving it with her more as a gift than as a loan.
She kept these little books after all the others had gone back. She had
read and reread... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
Johnnie shook her head. For the moment words were beyond her. Then she
managed to say in a fairly composed tone.
"There isn't any other way for me. I think some times, Mr. Stoddard,
when a body is born to a hard life, all the struggling and trying just
makes it that much harder. Maybe when the children get a little ol... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Hit hurts me right there," she would say piteously, taking Johnnie's
hand and laying it over the left side of her chest. "My feet haven't
been good and warm since the weather turned. I jest cain't stand these
here old black boxes of stoves they have in the Settlement. If I could
oncet lay down on the big hearth at ho... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 | |
"Uh-huh." The ailing woman turned restlessly on her pallet. The big,
awkward, ill-favoured old man stood with his disproportionately long
arms hanging by his sides, staring at her, unaware that his presence
half undid the good the leaping flames were doing her.
"I wish't Uncle Pros was sitting right over there, t'othe... | The Power and the Glory | Cooke, Grace MacGowan | 1863 | 1944 | ['en'] | 139 | {'Mills and mill-work -- Fiction', 'Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Social classes -- Fiction', 'Women -- Appalachian Region -- Fiction', 'Domestic fiction', 'Social problems -- Fiction', 'Psychological fiction', 'Working class women -- Fiction'} | PG10068 |
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