The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1874-03-06
Margery Brown and School Master John


1t was in 1928 that ship laden with
merchandise, aud bearing also a goodly
number of emigrants, left Cork, in Ireland,
for the shores of New England. Though
a continent was to be settled, elnigrantS
were not SO numerous as at present yet,
among those who came, Ireland, then as
now, furnished it's proportionate share
and in general they were class equal to
the best who have sought our shores from
the Green Isle in later years.
Wandering lonely among the gossipping
groups on deck was man of superior ap-
pearance to the others, both in manner and
figure. he held no conversation with any,
further than brief but courteous replies to
some question or remark concerning the
voyage, the rare sight of sea-bird in mid
ocean, or the wide, the vast, the in
spring SEA itself, beating increasingly
yeasty waves along the curving bows of
the sturdy vessel. His dress, his carriage,
his preOccu pied look, forbade familiarity,
while his entire unacquaintance with the
other passengers indicated that the voy-
age had been undertaken for some press
ing purpose and in much sorrow. 1t will
not he foreign to our subject if we delay
/ the narrative a moment longer to relate
his painful story.
He was a member of an ancient and
worthy family of the Irish gentry, a native
of Limerick, whittier he had been recalled
! from his studies on the continent a few
! years before. Left alone by her other sons,
/ who had Joined armies in one country or
another, his widowed mother desired that
John, who was more given to study and
/ quiet than the others, should remain with
her at homo until, at least, the present
commotiOn had passed. But children will
always be doing something not approved
by the parent so John, not to be an ex-
/ ception, fell in love with a young woman
somewhat below his rank, and, honorable
man as he was, desired to marry her His
mother not only refused her consent, but
declared if he married the girl ne should
never have any portion Of the estate. This
| threat, if persisted in, would effectuaIly
prevent the marriage, as the girl's rela-
tions would not consent to her union with
~ ptilLIiIeSS Ildu NellDeI were the lovers
able OF themselves to commence life with
out the aid of their families for he had
not been trained to any profession or Oe-
cupatiou, and he knew not how he could
make even his own living. Mother" re-
Piled he, with passion, ''if you do not
withdraw that threat and consent to my
marriage with the lady OF my choice, l will
60 where you shall never see me again.
His mother persisted in her purpose.
Pale and trembling, he besought her to
take till tomorrow to consider. The next
day the cruel woman repeated her threat.
At the evening neal John was missing !;
in the morning his bed was found to have
been unoccupied and from that day his
native country saw him no more.
Instead, however, of seeking surcease OF
sorrow, in the world of spirits by an easy
leap into the friendly waves of tue Shan
non, rs others might have done, he pro-
iected himself upon the unknown regions
in the present state of being thereby
showing that there was an unextinguished
sparl; of health within him still.
With heavy sorrow at heart, it is not
strange that he sat apart, wrapped in 81
lent gloom, or paced the deck unregar1ful
OF the babble of the light hearted emf
grants. Self-exPatriated, without hope or
interest in the future, and in the recent
past great pain which smothered all pleas
ant recollections, there could be nothing
i'll common between him ard the moving
forms who stared at him askanee, save the
usual matters of physical sustenance and
comfort and even in these the conditions
of his life had caused wide difference of
feeling. One person alone attracted his
FREQUENT attention, as her bright blue eye
caught his own, or his ear was arrested by
her cooling and prattling to the several
babies OH board, her musical snatches of
song, or her sweetly plaintiVe voice, when
the loneliness of her situation, and the re-
collection of friends she had left behind,
seized upon her thoughts.
John had watched her with some inter
est, partly, perhaps for her beauty, but
chiefly for her peculiar relation, or, rather,
unrelation to any on board. Seeming at
first, like himself, stranger to the others,
she was soon mingling freely and familiar
ly with every family in the ship; yet he
was unable. watching with increased in
terest, to discover any relation or connec-
ton whatever, other than the most casual,
between the girl and any family or indi-
vidual in the vessel. She, also, marked
his loneliness, and seemed to be affected
by his evident sorrow and one day she
boldly put herself in his way with some
trifiing question. Yet her demeanor was
modest and in her eye, of the hue of the
sky where it meets with the sea, flashed
forth no unholy CLEAN. Brown hair,
clear complexion, with especially rosy
cheeks, and a graceful figure, made this
girl of nine years more attractive to the
beauty-loving eye than any one on board
though presenting the attractions of more
developed forms and conscious womanly
faeIing. A brief conversation showed that