The weekly Shasta courier., 1873-03-15
SHASTA, CAL, SATURDAY, MARCH Is, 1873.

take some of 'em in and report your place.
Now, all of you to bed !" he continued, ad-
dressing the crowd. Z" If that light amt
out in FIVE minutes, Casey, I'll be down again
and know the reason why"
"Come, now, misther -, be aisy, be
aisy," put in Dirty Jenny. "Come an take
a drop along O. me. It's not Dan Casey
thatl be afther refusin' me the thrust of a
couple O. drinks"
"Now, Jennie, you go to bed," said the
officer, laughing you've been up late every
night this week"
Every one laughed, including Jenny, at
this sally; for Jenny has been up late every
night for the last thirty years.
Come. Casey, shut up" said the officer;
and. turning on his heel. he and his fellow
officer took their departure.
AS rose up from behind the bar, Dirty
Jenny pointed to me, and, after laughing till
the water poured from her eyes, called out !:
"By the holy powers, jist look where the
cowardly spalpeen's been hidin' this bless
ed while Now, an did yer think the pc
leeceman was a goin to ate yer? Ifit's me-
self that didn't think yer to be poore man,
I'd make yer sthan' roun' O drinks in spite
of all the peleece in the ward.
Mr.. Casey, however, thought differently !;
and coolly declared his intention of putting
the light out if we didn't all "scurry." He,
nevertheless, paid me the compliment of
carefully examining the till and searching
me from head to foot before he would allow
me to leave my port-in-a-storm-the back OF
his bar Resistance was useless. Any OBJ
lection on my part would have brought the
whole pack of hungry hounds on me. For
tunately, he did not discover my money. 1t
was sewed into my trousers, Immediately
below the knee.
By the time Mr.. Casey had done with me,
Niger Joe was in bed. Five minutes after
l had ensconced myself by his side, he was
apparently sound asleep; and, as far as |
could Judge from the many-keyed nasal Choir
us which was soon in full swing, SO were all
the rest think it must have been about
one O'Clock. when, as the Boter prettily ex-
pressed it. Mr.. Casey "doused the glim'
lput out the lamp, and silence and darkness
reigned supreme in that home of crime, de-
bauchery, and drunken revelry. AS | lay
there, beside Nigger Joe, the very thought
of home, of wife, and children, seemed hor-
rible impiety. dozed for moment, and
dreamed. Some dreadful spectre was wav-
ing me back from my own door with fearful
and awesome gesticulations. l was power
less. MY limbs refused to move. l exper-
fenced all the agony which must sooner or
later fall upon the outcast from his home L
determined to dare this devil who boldly in
terposed his terrible presence between me
and my belongings. struggled to advance
a hand, foot, and found myself transfixed.
The mission of my evil spirit had been in
voked, and was obeying his behests. One
had seized me by the throat; another had
stabbed me in the side. With a yell, | awoke,
and, instead of the dread spectre's impreca-
tions, was favored with choice selection
of oaths from Niger Joe, who swore that
he had been shaking me by the shoulder for
ten minutes to make me Z" lie still" and stop
flinging." The stab in the side had been
caused by Niger Joe having stolen glass
of liquor while Casey was seeing that the
door was properly locked and barred, and
having to spring into bed with the tumbler
in his hand to avoid detection, said tumbler
eventually finding its way under my fifth
rib when | turned over.
But more distressing enemy than any
spectre, because more real and tangible, soon
attacked me, and with such vigorous as
saults that my fortress of patience was
quickly stormed Tired as was, and suf-
fering from a splitting headache, brought on
by the clouds of tobacco-smoke, the odor
from the sewerage which was then flooding
the back-room, the smell from the cooking,
II h. TO
ment. | was compelled at last to- crawl in
search of that three-legged stool by the fire
which L had looked upon with such contempt
when first crossed MIR. Casey's threshold.
There sat, every five minutes appearing to
be an hour, wondering if the day would ever
break again. Fortunately for me, Mr.. Casey
was interested in gentleman who had been
arrested the previous evening, and who
would, necessarily, appear at the Tombs at
the morning examination. My landlord was
therefore out OF bed early; and, no sooner
did he unlock the door, than sprang up the
steps on to the sidewalk with the agility OF
a kangaroo. 1t was still almost dark, and
struck for Chatham Street to take car
home. But, oh, piling up of agony! During
my few minutes of doing and nightmare,
Niger Joe had "gone through me. l
must walk home! My forlorn hope, my
solitary fve-ceut piece was gone, and, with
it, my cambric pocket handkerchief, in the
corner of which were imprinted the initials.
-Appleton's Journal.