The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1870-02-25

the doeter's knee, and sObbed on
1loud.
Tut, tut! Poor lad This must b.
set right at once. I'll see to it, Tom.
But Tom when he looked up
had no brighter face than before
So many of his fathers friends haC
gone to ''see to it." and there wai
the end of it. There was nothing
so plentiful as goodwill that year
or so scarce rs money.
y IF your crops were in''-hesitat-
/. ed the doctor.
"lf the crops were in we would be
safe" said Tom, eagerly; '.but look
at them" pointin to the great fields
of uncut grain, beginning to droor
from over ripeness. "There is moi
a man to be found to cut them"
"There are not a half dozen Ia
borers left in the county; we miss
the eroppies, that is true" rejoined
the doctor.
'There is no chance of pardon fo1
them?" asked Tom, anxiously.
Pardon! Why, regiments from
Dublin are guarding every cross
lroad through the hills; and, as soon
as a rebel thrusts his head into
sight, he is shot down like a rat in
hole. But that is not our trouble
Ijust now. I'll do what 1 can."
''Yes, sir" But Tommy sat down
again, despondiDgly, on the step,
not even turning his head to see the
dOcter ride off. If he had done so
he might have caught sight ofa dark
shadow gliding swiftly away from
the hedge by which they had stood,
through the furze-bushes.
1t was a boys figure, and one
sieve hung empty by his side.
DR.. Lannan did what he could the
next day, but it was not possible to
raise the money. If Kelsoe's crops
were harvested every body said, they
could be sold in an hour" But the
crops were not harvested.
"Keep a good heart, Tommy, said
the doctor, as he babe him good-by
the next evening. "YoUr father has
been true to his God and his friends
and neither of then will desert him"
Il don't know" said Tom. drear-
lily. But his heart grew light. He
ran to the kitchen, and brought q
smoking cup oftea up to his mother
She would drink it from him, rather
than any of the maids. She look,
ed at his bright face, as she gave the
cup back.
is there any good news, Tom"
"Well, no not exactly news. But
it will come, mother" said Tom,
confidently.
As he came down stairs with the
empty cup, he saw a dark figure
standing in the diInly lighted hall.
He stopped with thrill of terror:
the man was masked. He had heard
of cases where, desperate from hung
er, the rebels had left their hiding
places, and gone into farm houses,
both to rob and murder. Whether
these stories were true or not, it is
no wonder Tom drew back. as the
man drew Close to him. But he only
held out the letter; and when Tom
took it, disappeared, 1t was a square
dirty paper, sealed, with the mark
of a thumb upon the wax, Inside
were these words:
''LetHo one leaUe this house tonight
On pain IF death.
(Signed) BY order Of
"THE SHAN VAN VoGHT."
And underneath were serawled these
lines:
"For ould Ireland shall be free,
From the center to the sea,
Says the Shan Van Yoght.'
What the Shan Van VOght might
be, Tom did not clearly know. A
mysterious power which the rebels
obeyed, he had heard, no matter
what deed of wickedness it dictated
to them. He sat down on the stairs
They will carry off all the stock,
and leave US to starve," he said des-
perately. They will burn the house
and us, like rats in a barn. If it
comec to that, I'll tell mother, but
not otherwise" and he went to the
great hall stove, and threw III the
letter, watched it crackle and burn.
''Tll not tell mother" he said again.
''She has so much to bear" He
would take all this terrible weight
on himself. But his heart thumped
hard with the sickness Of fear, under
his little buttony jacket and his
knees shook, He knew that only
some desperate undertaking would
bring the croppies here, within a
mile Of the village, where a regiment
of royal troops were quartered; and
for the same reason they would come
if at all in great numbers.
There was no resistance to be
made. What he could do he did,
locked and barred the doors-the
first time they had ever been so NAL
treated in the memory Of man. The
house was nearly vacant. The crowd
of retainers had dropped away, until
only two or three ofthe maids were
left, who were busted with his moth
er. But lest some accident might
occur to tempt them from the house,
Tom set himself to keep watch, pat
rolling the long halls, down into the
kitchen, then to the parlOr, and back
again, the night long.
When Tom was man he kept
guard many a night on the battle
field, and felt it was child's play COM
pared to those slow, creeping hours,
in which he tramped to and fro, his
little legs weak with terror, but his
heart brave enough to stand between
his father and mother and their horde
of enemies. The moonlight fell in
level beams here and there across
the long stone hall; at one end the
fire smouldered low in the stove;
overhead he heard at intervals his
mothers soft step in the sick cham
Der; from outside came at times an
owls hoot, or the baying Of the
watch dog at the moon. That
ceased presently. Had they poison
ed Lion?
At that Toms face grew hot, and,
taking sudden heart, he hurried
boldly to the front door and flung it
open. The moon was behind a
cloud. The court yard was dark;
but close beside him he heard the