The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1868-01-09
FIVE POUNDS BRITISH.
CHAPTER I.

try roadside, We shall hear of some Of o,,r
characters. nie oi our
And so ye tell me they're all well about
your parts, Judy 2"
lis, they re all purity we'll, Mrs. Me Gratb
but did ye hear what happened Thady
"Ho, e, Judy; what's wrong wild the boy
"Oh, there's great matther wrong wild
him Sure his own brother. Ned, that w;nt
to Ameriky three years ago, has sint him a
lether full of godl''
Now, Judy, dye tell me that 2''
'Faix, do, Mrs. McGrath and Father
Lavery's been down at Thady's cabin, hard
at work this half hour, tryin' to read the
lether for thin, but behave it's too scholas-
tic for him, wild all his larnin', so he's sint
OF for the schoolmasther, to let him try what
he can make out of it..
Leaving the women to their talk, we will
follow Mcguire, the schoolmaster, pass him
on the way, and enter Thady Dolan's cabin
before him. The good Father Lavery, with
his hat on his knees and his staff leanino
against the wall where he is sitting, is irving
TO decipher Ned Dolan's epistle, muttering
bis VexatIon at times as certain phrases and
! odd words completely battle him. Thady is
on his feet IN the middle Of the room, hold
/ ing in his hand draft for five pounds, which
Ned has sent him. There is ioy within the
lad, and it manifests itself by his grinning
face, his humorous remarks aimed at the oc-
casion, and his affecIionate way of troubling
his wife, who, with her apron instead of a
bellows, is trying to coax a turf fire into a
better display of itself. The schoolmaster
enters, and the priest greets him with:
Welcome, Mcguire, thou man of A, B
and G! Thrice welcome under these circum-
! stances! Your eyes are younger than mine,
and more used to dealing with scrawls SO
there is a matter for their consideration
Try them with it, and let us have as free
! translation as you can give u.s."
| "A literal translation would be out of the
| question, Pm afraid" responded Mcguire,
after he had scanned the letter a while
''Sueh an arrangement of written words |
never before witnessed but here goes for as
| passable English as | can render them into"
| And, with a humorous twinkle in his eye,
| he reads the letter, which we give below, in
| spelling and expression as near to the origin.
as possible:
''NEw YORK November 2, 18-.
MI DEER THAD-I take my pen in hand
to rite too let you kno that am well hoping
those few lines viii find you in gud helth as
they leeve me at presant. se1d those few
lines mesilf the other letters wrote wur by
another man. dee Thad i send you five
pounds british, arr snother FIVE pounds and
you an Molly come out to this dacint coun-
tri, hire daclnt ship. see now kan read
and write the young misthress larned me up
on mi word Thad think shed marry me if
it wusnt for the quare squint have in mi
left eye-that joke but never mind. Now
cum out heer as sune as you kan. try hard
to arm the rest of the muny if ye only knew
that have to 60 with no top coat this cowld
Al
you wud try yer best to make up the differ
ance kis Molly for me an take twin broth
ers luv to yerself tell Father lavery hon.
or his mimry an also give me luv to Missus
McGinnis that kapeS the pigs. Tell ovid
Mcguire that ramember all the batins iver
he gave me, and that woEt forgit him if
iver le cumeS out heer. Give mi luV TO lit
tie mary casey, an tell her that if hadn't
left Ireland and if she hadn't rei hair We mite
hev married long ago.
$50 no more at presart from your
Gown brother,
"NED DoIAN.
''P. S. Thad eudnt We arm the other FIVE
pounds by borryin it ?"
''That last suggestion is very much to the
point" remarks Father Lavery, laughing
''bus the reference to yourself, Mcguire, is
rather ambiguous, eh ?"
True enough. your reverence. Yes, the
whole letter is like Ned himself. He was
careless dog, but as good a soul as ever lived"
"Troth, it's MIN that was the good soul,'
interposes Thady. cam wasn't it dacint of
him to sind the five pounds and go widout
the top-coat for our sakes Oh, if l only
had another twin brother like him! 20
(Which you could not very well have"
responded the priest, laughing. "The path
Hes plainly before you, Thady. Ned has met
with success in America and seeing pros
perity for you and your wife there, too, he
sends money enough to pay the passage for
one, trusting that you will double the amount
by proper exertions. You must, therefore,
use your utmost endeavors TO increase what
you have to the amount required and after
having done so, you can take your passage
to better land than this, where the poorest
man can raise lis head above water"
"Ah, it's meself would like to go there,
Father for I've nothin' to keep me here,
barrin' that jewel of me heart, Mollie, and
she'll go where / CO. It's been bitter hard
for me to keep the dog from my door the
last two years. and | see nothing betther be-
foie me but how could / make five pounds,
or even half of it I? The thrihe of rint that's
upon us, and the few scaDty bites We ate, is
ali I've made by me labor this many day"
"Well, we must think of some plan for
you, Thady meanwhile let your own wits
be busy; and there's Molly, sure she can
contTive-"
"Ah, it's she that is the conthriver, your
riverence. Sure she turned me coat twice
for me, and if it only had the third side that
would soon get an airin' too, I'll go bail"
"a wonderful sample of domestic ecsno-
my. truly" replied Father Lavery, smiling
at Thady's conceit.
"Ah, it's she that is the sample. Molly,
you ccnthriver, couldn't we sell the pig 2"
"Arrah. is it jokin' ye are, Thady. Sure
we have no pig but the wan that was stole"
'And are you sure you have that, Molly2"
asked the schoolmaster. laughing heartily at
the expression.
..Ol naodrsA l.noh Mistar Man11irn