This means liberating Esco, and our own people are not much better, even worse. Geta vigilante groups are screaming everywhere like a group of robbers, and they can do whatever is good for them. In fact, they are just a bunch of scum trying to escape military service.
He heard that a family named Owens near Defu, Allen, was rushed to the courtyard by vigilantes at dinner, saying that they were pro-federalists and members of the Red Rope Club were suspected, so all the money was gone. First, they tore down the house and put sabres in the courtyard to see where they had just dug new soil. They slapped Owens, then beat his wife, and hanged his two hounds side by side. Seeing that Owens didn’t take these things seriously, they twisted his wife’s hands behind a rope and tied two thumbs to the branch until their toes just landed.
The children were crying, and Mrs. Owens was lying on the ground with her thumb pressed against the stake, wailing that there were some silver tableware and gold coins left in her house after the bitter days of the war. She knew that her husband had hidden them and buried them, but she didn’t know where they were buried. As soon as she begged him to talk, she begged the militia to let her go, but when she finally saw her husband, she didn’t say a word, and she begged them to kill him first, so she could let her watch and feel avenged.
At about this time, a young man named Burch with white hair in the militia said that he thought maybe they should stop and leave, but he pointed a short gun at him and couldn’t tell me what to do with people like Owens. His wife and children wouldn’t let me give these people the punishment they deserved, and they didn’t ask me to surrender to the Union Army.
Esco said that in the end, they didn’t kill anyone and didn’t find any silverware. They were impatient and took pictures of the road. Owens’ wife left her husband with her children on the spot and went to live with her brother in the city. If anyone wants to listen, please tell me about it.
Esco sat in his chair and leaned forward with his arms on his knees, and his hands hung down. He seemed to be looking at the porch floor or estimating the wear of his boots. He stayed for a long time like this. Ida knew from experience that he was outside, and then he would spit on his feet and stare at it with fascination.
This war is another matter. After a while, he said that no one’s sweat is worthless. Those rich people in the cotton plantation steal other people’s labor every day, but I think one day they may regret not cutting the damn cotton themselves. I want my son to go home and cultivate that depression, and I have been sitting on the porch. The bell rings every half hour, and I have a good voice.
Sally nodded. Well, it seems that this topic is over.
They talked about other things, and Ada listened to Aesop Sally one by one with relish. They saw that the winter was coming, and all kinds of ancient trillion gray squirrels were rushing around the hickory trees desperately trying to hide more wild begonia with thick wax fur, broad black stripes on the worm’s back, and the hands were as cold as frost and snow. The hawthorn was bright and red as blood.
There are other omens. Esco can’t say that.
It is said that a mule near Catarucci gave birth to a calf, and a sow in Bassam grew a human hand, and a pig in Kafuxi. A man said that he had killed a sheep, but his heart could not be found in his belly. Several hunters in Daluoli said that they heard an owl vomit human speech, but everyone agreed that when the owl spoke, it seemed that it was two moons in the sky, and for three years in a row, he heard a howl in the winter. Sorry, these all indicated bad luck. The idea of Esco was that although they had not been directly attacked by the war so far, it would bring disaster and they would soon cross the mountain pass.
After a moment’s silence, Sally asked, Have you decided what to do?
Not yet, Ida said.
You’re not going home, Sally asked.
Ida didn’t come here in vain for a while because she felt that she had no home last summer.
Charleston Sally said
No, I don’t want Ida to say it yet
Any news from Charlestown
Ida hasn’t said anything yet, but I just got a letter from Mr. Pique. It seems that it was written by my father’s lawyer, which may explain the property situation.
Take it and see what it says, Esco said
I don’t have the heart to read it. In fact, even if I read it, I just know that I don’t have the money to live. It won’t tell me where I will be and what I will be doing in a year. These are my most worrying problems.
Esco rubbed his hands and grinned. He said that maybe I can help you with this problem in the county. It is said that you can see your future by looking at the well water with a mirror.
In this way, a moment later, Ada leans back against the mossy well, purses her back forward and leans back, and keeps her feet balanced, posing in a posture that is both elegant and comfortable. She holds a mirror in her hand and adjusts it to reflect the well water.
Ida agreed to come to see the well. First, she wanted to try a local custom and never wanted to dilute her depressed mood. For a long time, she had been moping and wallowing in memories, so she was glad to have the opportunity to twist her strength and look forward to the future, although she didn’t expect to really see anything from the bottom of the well except well water.
She moved her feet and stood firm on the solid ground, and then tried to look into the mirror. The sky was covered with a layer of transparent fog, and Yingying was no less than a pearl, just like a silver mirror. Oak leaves around the mirror set a dark edge for the sky. She held a mirror wood frame in her hand and made Ida look at the image of the deep well behind her, trying to find clues about the future. The dark shaft, Wang Shining Well, is another mirror. It reflects the skylight, and there are some small ferns dotted around it in the cracks in the wall stone.
Ida tried to fix her eyes on the mirror, but it always darkened her eyes when it was dawn. The contours of similar images overlapped repeatedly, and she was dizzy. As the water waves shook, all kinds of patterns collided with each other, which made people dizzying. A strong sense of dizziness came over her. She felt that she might fall into a well at any moment and drown in the sky. The last thing she saw was darkness. A small piece of light on her head was as big as a full moon.
She felt that everything was spinning, reaching out and grasping the edge of the well. In the blink of an eye, the image shook steadily in the mirror, and it seemed to show a picture, but the details were vague and the contrast was not rare. It was covered with granular spots, like a poor silver plate photo. Ida saw that it was a round of light, and the edge was a circle of leaves, which might symbolize a road in the forest and a slope. In the light, a black figure seemed to be walking, but the image was too vague to see whether it was coming or leaving. No matter where it was going, its posture showed firm determination. Ida thought, Should I
The irresistible dizziness came again. Ada’s knees collapsed to the ground for a moment, and everything around her was spinning hymns. The stranger’s poems swelled with eardrums and filled her heart. She would have fainted, but the rotating world suddenly stopped and stood still. She looked up to see if anyone had seen her fall, but Sally Esco was so absorbed in her work that she didn’t pay attention. She got up and walked towards the porch.
See anything? Asks Esco.
Does Ada answer the question?
Sally stared at her closely, just as she was about to continue planting pods, she changed her mind temporarily and said that you looked pale, as if you were frightened or not.
Ida is determined to listen to what Sally is saying. The black figure is still hovering in her mind, and the magnificent hymn is still ringing in her ears. She is sure that this figure is important, although she can’t distinguish its face.
Did you see anything in that well? Sally asked.
I don’t know, Ada Road
She doesn’t look well. Sally said to Esco
This is a saying of the people. I have seen it several times and have never seen anything.
Ida said nothing.