River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1877-10-25
TIE PoACHFR's DREAM.


and makes you hard, specially if it's
been passed in prison. | can talk about
il now; but there was time / could not
even think of it without getting so mad
that, If had been one of those foreign
ers, / should have got some charcoal and
smoked myself dead.
You see it was all along of that keeper,
Jenkins, and he was 5 black a scoundrel
as ever got people to believe him an hon
est man. We always hated each other,
after something as happened one day. 1t
was one evening, and | Wa going home
from work-that was, doing up some
ones garden; for I've always been a gar
dener, cept when l was on the tread-mill.
| | was going through the field that's at the
back of Squire Watts preserves, as he
calls them-the old squire, it's his son
that's squire now-when hears sort of
a cry that sounded like "Helpm come
out of the wood. There was only hedge
| between it and the field, and | scrambled
through gap, and ran to where the sound
had come from, and there was Jenkins
and a young girl had seen once before.
| He'd got his arm around her, and was
| holding her, while she was fighting hard
| to get away. just as | come up she gave
another cry, and didn't stopto say any
thing to him, but just knocked him down,
when he lay quite still on the ground, pre-
| tending to be stunned.
THANK you," she says, quietly, but
/ trembling little. II am very much
obliged to you and she gives me her
hand, smiles, says 'Good evening"" and
goes quickly away.
As soon as she was gone he picked him
self up, looking as black rs thunder, and
says he
"Jem Smith, | know you, and
shan't forget you. And | shan't forget
| this"
And he touches his forehead where I'd
hit him.
81 hope you won't, and that it'll be a
lesson to you" ! says.
Aud then, knowing as / was tres
passing, | thought it best to be off home.
After that never met him but that he
/ glowered at me, as much as to say, "Wait
a Bit
The name of the girl was Mary Dennis,
and she was house maid at the rectory. |
often used to meet her by accident; and,
as she was always willing to stop and
speak, got into the way of going out on
| purpose to meet her every evening. She
was a bright-looking girl, with soft, dark
eyes, and soft dark hair; and she had a
great deal more sense than any other girl
ever saw. Well, one day she told me
that the keeper chap had been following
her again, and that he wanted to marry
her, and, when she refused him, had been
rude, and threatened to make her re-
pent it.
MARY" says !, I'll tell you what would
be the best thing to do. Be Mrs.
Smith,
And before she went home we'd settled
it, She was to be my wife in a month
from that, and to come and live at the
cottage with me and mother. | saw her
back as far as the rectory gate, and when
she had gone in turned round, and there
was jenkins looking over the stile on the
other side of the road Itwasn't too dark
to see who it was, nor yet to see that he
shook his fist at me.
We were married at the time we fixed;
and, as we rarely saw Jenkins, we had
almost forgotten HIM before many months
were gone. We were very happy for a
a whole year, and then a little bit Of a
! baby came. that mother used to make a
| tremendous fuss over. But after that
( things began TO grow wrong. Ihad three
| to work for, instead of one, and yet /
| couldn't get near so much work as | used
| to. People who used to have me regular
to do their gardens took to having a diff
ferent man when they could get him, and
only put up with me when they couldn't.
| I tried to get other work but no one
would take me. / became sure at last of
one thing-that was, that it was Jenkins
doing. He had told different people that
l was one of the poachers who had been
making good bags of the squires game
of night.
And so it came about that one day,
when it was broiling hot, | was going
home at about twelve o'clock to get some
dinner, through the very field where |
/ had heard Mary call out for help. / had
been thinking about what heard of PEG
! pie going out to America or Australia
where they say tits as easy as possible to
get living, and was wondering whether
we could get out there, when | began TO
feel giddy, the sun was so strong. | had
some distance to walk yet, and so looked
round for some shady place, where could
sit down for few minutes. On one side
of me was the field, glaringly bright,
with scarcely foot of shadow; on the
other side was the wood, and it looked so
cool and shady under the trees that
wouldn't think about not having any
business there, but just goes and gets
through, and sits down there. | went
bang off to sleep in about minute, and
got dreaming all kinds of things
was wandering through forest, like
the squire's preserves grown much bigger
with a gun in my hand, bent on Killing
something to take home to the wife and
little one, because l thought they were
starving But though all kinds of strange
animals ran past me, could not raise
nv gun to take aim. Something seemed
always TO keep me from firing.
At last | came to where, from the
branch of a tree, hung fine kind of a
short-horned deer or roebuck.
ESome one has b2en here and shot il,
I says to myself, land they've hung il
there, meaning to come back and fetch il
in a day or two. Well. whoever it be-
longs to, III have it and take il home,
sooner than they shall want food any
longer
The next minute some one says, "Wh Y
its Jem Smith,
/ Tjumps up with start, and there was
two of the gamekeepers standing looking
at me-Jenkins and another, one as
didn't know the name of.
$50 its you. is il, Smithg" said jenkins
with sort of sneer-sit's you as sets
wires for the hares"
.No. it isn't" says /; '.being here
doesn't make me a pOacher.n
whats this. Them says the other, and
he picks up a hare from just where I'D
been lying.
YOUR caught this time, my friend,
saws jenkins. ''S5 you'll take it home
VIII You, sooner than they shall want fol
foo6fr
must nave saao that out loud when
l was dreaming, for they had both heard
it and used it against me afterwards as
ax~11arra