So’d Lilly. So’d Marge. ’N whut’d they do? Lilly on her death bed a-damnin’ me—I c’n hear her yit. Marge—she tried to give me up to the law. I fixed her. Hell! They both come here, ’n lived with me. That don’t prove nuthin’. You got to prove it some other way. You got to help me.... Elly Elly I’ve helped you—bendin’ over yer f’ar, cookin’ yer victuals, washin’ yer clothes, makin’ the beds you’ve slep’ in. I’ve helped you ... livin’ in this damp[Pg 36] cellar like a mole with no sunshine a-comin’ in and no moonlight ever. I’ve tended you when you uz sick, I’ve lied fer you, I’ve buried myself away frum all the decent folks I ever knowed—here in these dark woods fer three year. Why’d I do it? Why did I? It’s proof you want, is it? Then look at me, Butch Adams! I’m proof! Look at me! I uz young when I come here with you three year ago. I uz young—like that little girl that uz here jist now. I wuzn’t as purty as her, but I uz young like her. Look at me now! [Pg 36] Butch Butch You’re talkin’. You’re puttin’ words together. Whut good are they to me? They won’t save my neck frum hangin’. You got to help me. If you got to talk, tell me whut to do. The Shuruff’ll be comin’ here. Whut’ll I say to him? They ain’t nuthin’ to say to him, unless you help me. I got a plan— Elly Elly Not that boy! Butch Butch You got to help me. They don’t keer who they hang in this country. One man’s as good as another fer hangin’. They don’t keer. But I do! I keer fer hangin’. It’s got to be some one else. Elly Elly Not that boy!
Prev.
Back
Top