Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 106 — page 20: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Sea a ~ ——— - » -_- ae - — i - . er je “ mtr me | re tr ete re eee — a - — eC oa Cook a — ——— = ~~ a 20 ST LN ee thy ge kind of a man it was who held, for the time be- ing, his fate—life itself, perhaps—in his hands. ‘ Yis, that is phat I sed; how much to git to Amerika, d’ye mind.” ‘** Well, about five or ten pounds.” ‘*Five or tin pounds!” and the voice of the speaker expressed both surprise and disappoint- Wy, evidently at the largeness of the sum. ee Shamus O’Brien. ee ——— ——— $e nee ee ee rome Me Amerika acrass the say,”—is the Ultima Thule of their earthly hopes. “Pll do it—T’ll risk it, although I do be taken an’ the byes tear the heart from out me breast!” he cried, in a hoarse voice. And then, a new idea suddenly occurred to the man. ‘ But, see here, leftenant dear, will ye be afther keeping faith wid me?’ he asked, suspiciously. ‘Tin es, the passage alone will cost about five pounds isa daleof money. Maybe afther ye’re pounds, and a man ought to have a pound or | safe at the Hall, ye won’t want to be afther giv- two more in his pocket besides.” ‘*Five and two are siven—siven pounds! Musha! it’s a dale of anes ‘*That depends altoget the lieutenant replied, carelessly. unds now may seem like a fortune to you, ut to me it is only a trifle.” **Maybe so,” the man said, doubt in the voice, though, *‘but I’ve seen a dale of the quality that ’ud look a long time at a pound aven afore they threw it away.” *‘No doubt about that. But, I say, why do you ask in regard to the cost of getting to America? Have you any idea of going there?’ **'Troth! it wouldn’t make much differ if I did!” the fellow answered, with bitter accent. ‘*T haven’t five pence to the fore, let alone five unds,” * But Bess had the money, would you go?” ** Would I go?’ cried the man in a sort of subdued yell. ‘‘Would a duck swim? L’ave somebody put siven pounds, or five pounds aven, in me fist, and see how quick I’d trot on me tin toes to the say! I'll go bail that ye couldn’t see me heels for dust!’ “But why do you want to go across the wa- ent Have you friends or relatives in Amer- ica ”? er upon the man,” ‘*Sorra a fri’nd or relative have I in the wide wourld,” the man replied, in heavy, sullen tones. ‘‘I had a mother wance, only a wee time pares ould, helpless, bedridden mother —and bekase I couldn’t pay me rint, afther sellin’ iverything that I had in the wourld to live, a dirthy two pound tin, they turned both of us out into the road todie. The ould woman did die, for she was in no condition to stand such hardship, but she is a saint now in heaven rest her soul, an’ I’m wan of the Bould Byes of the Mountain until the sodgers get hould of me wl’ I’m either shot or hanged.” Smithers was surprised ne tale. Durin his brief sojourn in Ireland he had heard of an witnessed many a scene of misery, but his soul was not yet hardened so that he could either witness or listen to such things with indiffer- ence. The passiveness of the man surprised him; he knew that by rene this secret brotherhood be was defying the law; he expected in the end to be either shot or , and, to a certain ex- tent, was indifferent to the fate that awaited him, ‘You think, then, that the soldiers will get you in the long run?” “‘Shure! Isn’t that the way it always do be ending?” the man queried. ‘‘Haven't.I seen many @ bould bye marched off sincd was a gossoon? Isn’t there always some dirthy thafe of the wourld ready to take the tyrant’s dirthy money an’ denounce the byes?” Smithers’s hopes fell to zero at this speech; a man so severe on traitors would never surely turn traitor himself. ‘Well, yes, now that you put it so strongly, I believe that is the way this sort of thing gen- erally ends,” the Englishman managed to say, after a pause, ‘‘ But I say, since you have got your eyes open, why don’t you get out—cut and run ‘* Where will I go—begob! I’d have to be af- ther putting the say betune me an’ the rest of the byes, or they would have me life afore you could crook your little finger.” ‘*That is it, exactly!” Smithers assented. ‘Go across the sea—go to America; there is a fine chance there for a young man like yourself to become one of the best in the land.” ‘* And where will I get the money? It is aisy to say go, but, as ye have just said, a man must have at laste siven pounds to go wid.” ‘*T can give you the money !” ¥ Howld yer whist, man! don’t spake so loud!” the ge nyt reer ipa Pe ss can ou, and will give you ten pounds if you will salah free, and conduct me back to O’ Neal Hall again.” ‘* It would be as much as my life was worth if the byes laid hould on me, afther it,” the fellow observed, in a thoughtful sort of way. ‘* Yes, but you will not be idiot enough to stay around here and let the boys get hold of you after you get my ten pounds in bom pock- ct. You can be off at once; you will have five or ten hours’ start, and after you get to Galway you can sail at once for Cork, and there geta steamer. The boys will never suspect that you will give leg-bail in such a fashion, and while they are searching for you high and low in the neighborhood here, you will be on the sea.” 6 lieutenant could hear the heavy breath- ings of the man, coming out clear and distinct, as oeputed the process of the escape—as he dese the journey which the poor ignorant peasant all his life had desired to make. To the average Irish pea-ant the golden land, i a a aaa me ing it to me?” ‘There is just about ten pounds in my wallet, now,” the lieutenant replied. ‘‘ Help yourself to it before we start, and then you willbe easy ‘Seven | upon that score. You perceive I am willing to trust you, although you are suspicious of me.” ** Upon me wourd, ye are a gintleman, leften- ant, although ye are an Englishman—a sodger an’ wear ared coat!” exclaimed the man, touch by the confidence reposed in him. ‘I’m nota rogue, nor a blaggard, although I do go ag’in’ the byes in this, but, phat is the differ? Shure! I know Captain Burke won’t be afther giving Shamus O’Brien up, and, maybe, the byes, in their rage, might do you a mischief, for the divil’s in them now, whin their blood isup. It will do thim no harum, for you'll give me yer wourd, leftenant, dear, won’t ete that ye’ll bear the poor byes no malice bek’ase they tried a plan to set O’Brien free?’ ‘No; I will consider the account settled, if you will get me back safe to O’Neal Hall.” “Ttisa woe and we'll set outat once; the byes won’t be back here until morning, for they have gone quite a distance to give a thafe of an agent a gintle warning, bad ’cess to him! It’s thim fellows that do afther makin’ all the trouble: they screw the tenant down to the last penny, so as to stand well wid the landlord.” So the compact was made, and the Irishman at once proceeded to carry out his part of it. Like a cat, he seemed to have the faculty of seeingin the dark, for he came over to Smithers without hesitation, and proceeded to help him to his feet. Then he unbound his arms, an ope- ration which afforded a great deal of relief to the lieutenant, who did not admire at all the manner in which he had been t up, likea turkey ready for roasting. After the guard freed Smithers from his bonds, he took bim by the hand and conducted him out of the cave. The lieutenant handed over the money, al- though the guide protested that he was willin to trust the gintleman, but Smithers insis upon his taking it then. The man was as good as his word, for he con- ducted the officer safely to O’Neal Hall, and then, remarking—‘‘ maybe I will see you in Amerika wan of these days,” he set off at the top of his speed. It wasarace for life, now, and Paddy Doolin never breathed freely until he stood on the deck of an ocean steamer and saw the green hills of Erin fading away in the distance, Burke made but one remark: “‘ Their first trick has failed; what will they try next, I wonder?” CHAPTER XXX. THE GOOSE-GIRL’S FORTUNE. O’GLORY was very much put out by the fail- ure of his cunningly-contrived scheme, and he got very little satisfaction from Burke. The captain had listened patiently to his recital of the particulars of the interview with the un- penitent rebel, and had smiled sardonically when, at the close of the tale, the old lawyer upbraided him for not keeping faith. “‘O’Glory, you are a difficult man to suit,” the captain said. ‘‘I didn’t agree to see O’Brien safe out of the country.” ‘“*True for yees, I know that; but if ye had only been afther laving yer divilish troops uiet, we would have wr tren the money and thin ye could have bagge yer bird.” ** Ah yes; there isn’t any doubt about that, but if O’Brien once gets safely away and gains the shelter of the hills, how much chance will I stand of whiny rahe: him, even though backed by athousandmen?? : **True for yees, captain,” the old man admit- ted, and with a tinge of sadnessin his voice. “*T presume that if the wild divil had got free we would niver be afther catching sight of his face again; but it’s a shame to miss the chance of fingering the tin thousand pounds.” ‘* We cannot have everything that we want, in this world,” Burke consoled, in a very philo- sophical way. And then he proceeded to ques- tion O’Glory in regard tothe mysterious voice which he had heard in the cell of the prisoner. ** And who knows,” the captain remarked, af- ter they had discussed the matter, ‘‘ but what there may be a secret passage leading from the vaults to the open country? These old houses were constructed with all sorts of rat-holes un- derneath; so, as @ measure of precaution, I think that the quicker we get Mr. Shamus O’Brien out of his underground quarters and put him somewhere else the better.” In this the lawyer fully agreed; it was just possible that as cret passege existed; that the secret was known to the United Irishmen, and that a favorable opportunity only was waited fer; so to niake assuranee doubly sure, O’Brien was removed to a strong room right next tothe roof of the old hall. “‘Upon me wourd ye’ll find no spirit of the wall here, Mister O’Brien,” the lawyer assured, after the transfer was made, The rebel laughed: “‘ There are spirits of air as well as of earth,” ‘‘ Neither wan will serve ye here, do ye mind!” And then O’Glory departed; and from O’Neal Hall went straight to the cottage of the Goose-gir). The messenger whom he had dispatched—the wily Mr. Mic cey Feakle, who, in attending to his master’s affairs, had attempted to do a stroke of business on his own hook—had not brought back avery favorable account of his reception by Miss Kitty Sheelan. The Goose-girl, according to his statement, had proved utterly intractable. He had deli- cately paved the way for the proposition which O’Glory had instructed him to make, but the girl would not listen at all. Whether she meant yes or no, for the life of him he couldn’t tell, and he wound up the recital by stating that he had been obliged to retreat from the cottage in hot haste, for the girl, provoked at his per- sistency, had opened the door of the goose-pen and shooed all the feathered bipeds at him in a way that was truly alarming. ’Glory, after listening to the long rigmarole in impatience and anger, cursed the clerk for a blundering, thick-headed idiot, and declared that he would see the girl himself: at which the unlucky Mr. Feakle slunk away in a mighty ‘‘onaisy ” state of mind, for he was mortally ‘“‘afeard” that Kitty would inform O’Glory how he had come a-wooing and by so doing re- veal his treachery to his master. The lawyer knocked at the door of the cot- tage and after waiting a few moments knocked again; there being no signs of life within. A minute or so elapsed, and the lawyer he- —- to fear that the girl was out, was just upon the point of knocking again when Kitty’s voice from within asked, ‘‘ who was there?” Upon the lawyer declaring his name, and furthermore stating that he had important business with her, the door was opened—it had been barred upon the inside—and the Goose- girl appearing, invited the old gentleman to walk in and be seated. There were pen, ink and paper upon the ta- ble; so the lawyer judged that, at the time of his first summons, the girl had been deep in the throes of composition, which accounted for the delay in admitting him. O’Glory took the chair proffered him and sitting down looked benignantiy upon the maid. The lawyer was a very pleasant old gentleman when he chose to be, ‘* Sit down, me child; sit down and make yer- self aisy,” he encouraged. “It is something very important that I have to communicate te ees, - The girl dropped a courtesy and took a chair. “It may not be unbeknown to ye, Miss Shee- lan, that I do be afther taking a high cegree of interest in yees.” ‘Yes, sir, and thank you kindly,” she an- swered. ‘I know that you always had a go word for me, and used to be always chucking me under the chin and saying that I was a urty little devil, and that 1t wasa — pity couldn’t find a better place than to be afther tending a lot of geese.” ; The lawyer coughed; this reference to the days when he had attempted to play the sweet- heart to the girl, despite the difference in their years and stations, rather embarrassed him, — ‘‘Oh, yes,” she continued, oe ee up with the subject; ‘many is the time that I remem- ber when you have said to me that, if I would only be sensible and know what was good for me, you would get me a snug place at the Hall where I would have mighty little to do, and plenty of time to doit in. Oh, sure! you wero always the kind, good gentleman, and although I didn’t care to go into service, I thank you for the offer, all the same, Was the girl making game of him? She had always rejected his advances with the utmost scorn and contempt, and more than once had sent him away in hot haste with a particularly large flea in his ear. What was she driving at now? ‘ ‘Vis, yis, but that is all over now, you know!” he exclaimed, hastily. ‘I was only trying ye, me dear,” : Z course. I know that, and that is the reason why I didn’t tell your wife. Oh! wouldn’t tue madam have made it warm for O’Glory moved uneasily in his seat; the bare thoughts of such a thing made him shudder, ‘‘Niver mind that; Taye that alone, I’ve come to talk to yees about business now, It is yer good that I have at heart, me child, and maybe it’s a trifle of money that I can put in your way.” CHAPTER XXXII, ANOTHER FAILURE, Tue Goose-girl looked at her visitor with an arch and cunning smile upon her pretty face, ard there wes a peeuliar oxpression—a g'itter in comicbooks:¢o | | ) |