was now squeezed down upon the foolish people of Bucks County.
On Monday the dispossessed started arriving at the poorhouse. The first couple came from a farm near Lahaska. For three years they had believed the farm was theirs. Now they knew the truth. The old woman went into the ground-floorroom next to Aunt Reba’s. For the first time in her life Reba Stücke became interested in a woman inmate. Endlessly she sat with the woman and went step by step through the filthy processes whereby Mr. Crouthamel had bedazzled his victims.
“He always dressed so
nice
, yet!” Aunt Reba recalled.
“He give us papers, too. Signed with red wax,” the woman sighed.
By the end of the week Aunt Reba had grown to like this woman from Lahaska. She even suggested to Mrs. Krusen that they get together and try to make the woman forget her misery. Mrs. Krusen said that was a good idea, and she and the warden bought some chintz to brighten up the newcomer’s room.
Two other couples and an old man also reported that week. Their frugal lives, spent lately in a long battle against this very poorhouse, were now ending in the wreckage they had fought to avoid. There was a terrible, spring sadness about these old people, and for the first time David began to understand how miserable the poorhouse must seem—from the outside.
Then his mind was distracted from these sad-faced old men and women, for into the poorhouse came a strange and violent couple. The man was moved into Door 10, and David never forgot that first night. The stranger was well over six feet tall, very thin and with a large Adam’s apple. When the door closed behind him, David, through the thin walls, could hear the tall man fighting with himself: “I’ll kill him. I’ll break out of here and twist his throat to pieces. I won’t stay in a poorhouse!” The man stormed back and forth across his room, crying the great, profane oaths that free men use. At supper time David knocked on the man’s door and cried, “Time for chow!” and the violent man slammed open the door and stared in frenzy at the boy. Catching him under the arms, he swung David into the air. “What are you doing here?” he roared. He peered deeply into the boy’s eyes, and David saw there was no madness in this man’s face, only anger of the kind David had never before known.
Violently, the man tossed David back into the hall and slammed his door shut. He would not eat, and during dinner there was much commotion on the grounds, for the guards caught the tall old fellow and his wife half-running, half-walking across the fields to escape the poorhouse.
On Tuesday the two old people ran away again. Thatwas when David first saw the tall man’s wife. She, too, was thin. Her hair was almost white, but she seemed scarcely half so tall as her husband. David noticed her particularly, because most poorhouse wives sniffled, but this woman leaped out and hit the guard when he shoved her husband. “It ain’t his fault!” she said with a forceful, low voice. “Don’t you touch him!”
But the guard simply had to push the old man along, whereupon the woman flew upon the guard and slapped his face. “You shan’t touch him!” she said even more quietly. “He’s a good man. This ain’t his fault, and we won’t stay.”
A big lump came into David’s throat when he saw what Aunt Reba did. The mean, thin warden came out wiping her hands on her apron. She and Mrs. Krusen had been making some little cakes. “Come along,” Aunt Reba said to the little woman. “He stole from me, too.”
But the little woman marched along beside the guard, as if daring him to touch her husband again.
The tall man stayed alone in his room that night and swore himself to sleep. That is, David thought he had gone to sleep, but toward morning the guards found him climbing down the waterspout. This time the man was locked into a barred room, but for the rest of that night he and his wife kept shouting back and forth across the
On Monday the dispossessed started arriving at the poorhouse. The first couple came from a farm near Lahaska. For three years they had believed the farm was theirs. Now they knew the truth. The old woman went into the ground-floorroom next to Aunt Reba’s. For the first time in her life Reba Stücke became interested in a woman inmate. Endlessly she sat with the woman and went step by step through the filthy processes whereby Mr. Crouthamel had bedazzled his victims.
“He always dressed so
nice
, yet!” Aunt Reba recalled.
“He give us papers, too. Signed with red wax,” the woman sighed.
By the end of the week Aunt Reba had grown to like this woman from Lahaska. She even suggested to Mrs. Krusen that they get together and try to make the woman forget her misery. Mrs. Krusen said that was a good idea, and she and the warden bought some chintz to brighten up the newcomer’s room.
Two other couples and an old man also reported that week. Their frugal lives, spent lately in a long battle against this very poorhouse, were now ending in the wreckage they had fought to avoid. There was a terrible, spring sadness about these old people, and for the first time David began to understand how miserable the poorhouse must seem—from the outside.
Then his mind was distracted from these sad-faced old men and women, for into the poorhouse came a strange and violent couple. The man was moved into Door 10, and David never forgot that first night. The stranger was well over six feet tall, very thin and with a large Adam’s apple. When the door closed behind him, David, through the thin walls, could hear the tall man fighting with himself: “I’ll kill him. I’ll break out of here and twist his throat to pieces. I won’t stay in a poorhouse!” The man stormed back and forth across his room, crying the great, profane oaths that free men use. At supper time David knocked on the man’s door and cried, “Time for chow!” and the violent man slammed open the door and stared in frenzy at the boy. Catching him under the arms, he swung David into the air. “What are you doing here?” he roared. He peered deeply into the boy’s eyes, and David saw there was no madness in this man’s face, only anger of the kind David had never before known.
Violently, the man tossed David back into the hall and slammed his door shut. He would not eat, and during dinner there was much commotion on the grounds, for the guards caught the tall old fellow and his wife half-running, half-walking across the fields to escape the poorhouse.
On Tuesday the two old people ran away again. Thatwas when David first saw the tall man’s wife. She, too, was thin. Her hair was almost white, but she seemed scarcely half so tall as her husband. David noticed her particularly, because most poorhouse wives sniffled, but this woman leaped out and hit the guard when he shoved her husband. “It ain’t his fault!” she said with a forceful, low voice. “Don’t you touch him!”
But the guard simply had to push the old man along, whereupon the woman flew upon the guard and slapped his face. “You shan’t touch him!” she said even more quietly. “He’s a good man. This ain’t his fault, and we won’t stay.”
A big lump came into David’s throat when he saw what Aunt Reba did. The mean, thin warden came out wiping her hands on her apron. She and Mrs. Krusen had been making some little cakes. “Come along,” Aunt Reba said to the little woman. “He stole from me, too.”
But the little woman marched along beside the guard, as if daring him to touch her husband again.
The tall man stayed alone in his room that night and swore himself to sleep. That is, David thought he had gone to sleep, but toward morning the guards found him climbing down the waterspout. This time the man was locked into a barred room, but for the rest of that night he and his wife kept shouting back and forth across the
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