The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-05-17

the 3N00AG1DMS ~ fhAet i Almost W0n068
ther sh11ld hsss daalt thus kindly b nsg
s txanGp11 neeAJy haye had their lOts Assigned
thenY "a paacea where there WAS not even
tho Int q peasant 70 shelter them est ny Hcn
TFsh, child talk not to me Of houseaa, I
tho old man answered iquerulously, too
vantagSs Of his position to catch tho hidden
drift cf Nellie's observation. 'sWhat bo9ts5
a goodly mansion, II starvation be at its1
portal! And whist, pray You, but star1
walton are they condemned to, who have.
been sent to mako themselves home
among these barren mOuntainep as: go
-Neflie suffered her eyes to roam once
moro over the bright waters of the bay, and
then, with a quick sense of beauty kindling
up In her soul, she turned them hopefully
upon Lord Netterville. 49,. - !,
"Nay, dear grandfather, it is, after ail,
once my dear mother rejoins us with the
COWS and garrans,, there can be no lack Of
plenty, even in these wilds."
ACows and garrans! And where are'we
to feed them, girlf Do you expect to find
the pleasant grazing-lands Of Meath on the
fatten our focks ON the sea- drift, which,
have heard say, the natives of these wilds
are in the habit of gathering on the shore
and boiling down into food, not for their
cattle, (they have none, poor wretches y but
themselvesf" ~
and bare enough, but still doubt not that
among their glens and hollow places we
shall find many q good acre of green grass
for the grazing of our cattle" the girl an
swered patiently, and with an evident de-
termination to look, for the present at
ton. "And now, dear SIR she added
gently, had we not best move onward
for if Wonder tower is really to be our home,
the sooner we are there the better"
She glanced toward the castle as she
spoke, and the old man saw that she started
Violently as she did SO. She said not
another word, however; but he fancied
that her cheek grew a shade paler-if that
were possible-than it had been before, as
she continued to gaze silently in that direc-
ton.
"What is it, Nellie 7" he cried at last,
"What do you see, child, that you look SO
white and scared 7"
I"See ~ she answered slowly and re-
luctantly, there seems to be q party of
many people gathering in the courtyard !;
the house, therefore, must be inhabited
already" z5.
"People in the courtyard ~ cried the
old man, now fairly aroused to that same
fear which had been haunting Nellie for
the last half hour. "What people, Nellie
Tell me, child, if you can distinguish
whether they seem to be natives or
strangers to the place. Our fate, alas may
be dependent on that fact"
The girl walked forward, and shading her
eyes with her hand from the binding sun
shine, looked again, and yet again, in the
direction ofthe tower.
EYES," she said at last 81 was not mis-
taken. There is party in the courtyard,
and some of them are even standing, in the
gateway, as if they had but this instant
slept forth from the mansion. Surely,
grandfather, we cannot have misunderstood
or mistaken our instructions There is no
other building to be seen-even in the dis
tance-and this one answers in all respects
to-the descriptions. The man, too, from
whom we inquired our way this morning,
assured us that it was called The Rath'-
the very name set down in our certificate.
We cannot have been mistaken, and yet
and yet-if there be persons already in
possession, their claim must needs be SUI
perior to our own"
She spoke hesitatingly, and in broken
sentences, as if she were following out
train of thought in her own mind, rather
than addressing her companion. He listened
anxiOusly, and a cloud gathered on his brow
as he gradually took in her meaning.
cit may be only some of the natives" he
said at last, in a low voice. "The original
owners, perhaps, of the tower, who have
waited our arrival before giving up posses
sion"
"Owners y said Nellie quickly. "They
told US at LoughreA that the owner had
perished in the war, and that therefore, we
should find it empty"
"They may have been mistaken, Nellie.
They know little enough, 1 think, those
high and mighty commissioners at Loughrea,
of the Land Of which they are go literally
disposing; and still less, doubt me, OF its
original possessors.n
~And If they are mistaken, we shall take