summary of "Old Woman Magoun" by Mary Eleanor Wilkins

The tale “Old Woman Magoun” by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman Starts off with woman named Old Woman Magoun wanting to get a bridge made. She bids some men into making it for her in promises of giving them food and liquor to drink after. Magoun is a smaller farmer who is the caretaker for a little girl named lily. Lily is put in the care of Magoun because her mother had died from giving child birth. Magoun would never allow the child to go out of her home or go very far without her knowing. She kept her as a child; know what happened with her mother. Lily’s mother married lily’s father, Nelson Barry, when she was 16. And when they got married and got pregnant, he left her mother. Magoun’s reasoning for this is that it was in his blood. His father was a cheater also. As a signal of her youth the story constantly mentions a doll which Lily cares everywhere with her on her shoulder as if it is her child. This appears more so when her grandmother (Magoun) sends her to the market for salt to put on the pork when Sally Jink (her friend) recommends that she does. Before she goes on her travel her grandmother tells her not to talk to anyone but if someone greets her, she should act appropriately ("and don't stop to talk to anybody, for I am in a hurry for that salt. Of course if anybody speaks to you, answer them polite, and then come right along."). So she goes and she meets a man whose name we do not find out until after Lily come home from her trip to go and get salt. When she is walking with this man he asks her personally questions like her name and her age and who is her father. Obediently she answers all of these questions. When they get to the Village she meets her father as drunken as ever outside of the shop who kisses her and slightly startles her with the liquor on his breathe so she moves away and buys the salt. He too asks her what is her age. The stranger (Jim Willis), her father and Sally are all alarmed at the fact that the child is of age to get married but is still playing with a doll. The father seeing this comes to The grandmother house the next day stating that he wants his daughter back and that he will want her a week from date. He tells her that she will be cared for by his “half- witted sister” Isabel. Magoun did not approve but agreed regardless.
The story says that the next day she awoke Lily saying that she is going to test the new bridge that she had made for her. And she makes Lily put on her new white dress, gloves, shoes and hat while Magoun wore all black. They make their way across the bridge to the home of lawyer Mason who lived n Greenham. While Magoun was inside conversing with the lawyer, his wife came outside to talk to Lily and offered her treats and sour apples and milk. When Magoun come out and found that Lily had eaten them she got upset but left all the same. We find out shortly after that the reason that Magoun went to then was to get Lily adopted but he said no because Lily was the child of Barry and that was bad news. The wife had lost a child before and pleads to adopt Lily but the husband still refused.
The story focuses back unto lily and her grandmother. They are walking towards home and Lily asks if she can sit down and the grandmother says yes. Lily then eats some wild berries. While they are continuing on their journey Lily sees that her grandmother tone and look has changed and she makes many complaints that her shoes are dirty and her stomach hurts and that her throat is dry. Magoun gives her water once but the second time she asks she tells her that she will get it when they reach the next town. When they get home Lily is lying on her bed complaining about the pain she is experiencing. Magoun does nothing about it and starts to tell Lily about the place that she is going to and how beautiful it will be. She is describing heaven.
The last record that we hear of Lily is when the father and Willis come and find Lily cold dead. They find out the cause when Magoun’s friend Sally tells them. We come to find out that Lily’s mother too ate apples and milk and got sick also.
The story ends tell us that Magoun still runs her small farm and sells her produce but she still carries around.