Joel Creech was suddenly
seized by a horrible madness. It was then, perhaps, that the final thread
which linked his mind to rationality stretched and snapped. His face turned
green. His strange eyes protruded. His jaw worked. He frothed at the mouth. He
leaped, apparently to get near his father, but he missed his direction. Then,
as if sight had come back, he wheeled and made strange gestures, all the while
cursing incoherently. The father's shocked face began to show disgust. Then
part of Joel's ranting became intelligible.
"Shut up!" suddenly roared Creech.
"No, I won't!" shrieked Joel, wagging his head in spent passion. "An' you
ain't a-goin' to take thet girl home. . . . I'll take her with me. . . . An'
you take the hosses home!"
"You're crazy!" hoarsely shouted Creech, his face going black. "They allus
said so. But I never believed thet."
"An' if I'm crazy, thet girl made me. . . . You know what I'm a-goin' to do?
. . . I'll strip her naked--an' I'll--"
Lucy saw old Creech lunge and strike. She heard the sodden blow.
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