Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1877-05-31
M A-G GIE r YAM,

MAG GLE. RYAN,
But let me stay until morning
ma'an. Itis cold, - dreary and dark
along the road, and I've no place to go
but Widow Yarrow's; and that's miles
away. a . OIL
So spoke sad, worn-lookiDg wo-
man, Standing on the threshold of q
well-to-do farmer,s@ house just as the
last rays Of light were fading from the
evening sky.
The person she spoke to, large wo-
man, in bright, lowered dress and
white apron-the mistress Of the house
turned away lpettishly. ~ q
You came atnight, Maggie. itseems
to me, and:you can go at night. And
Jane Smith is here, and I've only one
bed for the servant, ard you can't ex-
pect tidy girl like Jane to sleep with
well, with strangers. I've paid you
for your three days, and goodness
knows, you've worried me out of my
senses since you've been here, and l
can't keep you another night, and the
earlier you go, the sooner you'll get
there -
well, that's true anyway. Then,
ma'am, replied the woman, and you
are mistress in your own house, but
God knows it's not dog I'd be drivin'
out at nigiit.'S Then she tied her little
piltance up in the corner of her pocket
handkerchief and walked out of the
gate and up the road without once
looking back. Her heart was heavy
as lead, and shesWas angry at the
world that had been a very hard one
to her.
Three years since, Pat went a xay,'
she said to herself, sand never asword
from him. He's dead, no doubt, and
it's the very. last kind word i got. /
wasn't shfftiess and good for nothing
to him. Maggie he'd often say, I'D
! change you fer nobody's wife, Och;
ne was man, and be was good to me
when was faded and worn out with
the hard livin' and rariR' and losin'
the chiIder' as he was when was q
purity -gir1, with cheeks like roses, and
he was a boy courtin' me. o h, Pat,
where did you go at all? You died IN
ditch like dog, maybe; for all these
hard hearted gentle folks care, We all
might -
She turned and shook her fist back
at the house she bad just left, only a
bit OF the roof visible over the rising
ground now.
My heart was achin' for The childer'
and for Pst,' she said, but you could
have no patienceifa a pertatie was burnt
or towel not that smooth. You sent
me withsthe night falling. Bad luck
to ye ana all your like.'
1nhax, he. ,,inl.loI On orai,,. htsf tho
woman she left behind was not as bad
as she had fancieds her. In her thrift
and tidiness she could not understand
this untidy careless being. She knew
nothing ofthe misery Other heart ,orthe
sorrow that made her forget the pots
and pals. She was actually half afraid
of her, and anxious to get her out of
the house.s She felt it . great mistake
to hire tramp from the road as it
were, and she had paid her and was
conscious of no cruelty.
The daylight fed apace, the moon,
risen long ago, became visible-a faint
streak of new. moon that set in little
while-qpIy the stars were left-and
Maggie, Wandering on the road with
her bundle under her arm-a bundle
of rags and odd things tumbled togeth-
er in an old flannel ,petticost-began to
lose her knowledge oft. as,asEs :
Here and there she saw lights IN a
window, but they were no promise of
hospitality TO her. 3 If she could get to
the Widow Yarrows, that person who
took The lab0rers to board, who left
her lodge while; she could pay; but
where was,the Widows coftage-to the
right or leff? She could not tell in the
darkness Whether she had taken the
right turning. Hard by was rushing
sound, as ofwater. Danger there, per
haps. The railroad was somewhere al
hand, and though Maggie felt that the
world was poor place, she did not feel
ready to meet death yet. s'7ft
'I1ijast drop down. in the grass
somewhere, said The poor woman.
And God between me and harm. III
could find bit OF hay now, 'twould be
a cop1fort.' 1S& .--~a5e-7f -
She Stretched forward, reering thro'
the darkness, and her foot struck some
loose branches that lay upon the
ground With a acracking sound. u E5
Whats that?' said sharp voice
very near her in loud whisper.
Its an imp of SQUIRREL said an
other voice. 60 on with your work,
Jiai The train will beaiong In fiftepnI
minutas. Up with that rail. Hill
We'll have them this time -
Hold your tongue, fool,' said the
first voice. YOU'RE half drunk. 4 tell
you / tf'ought is wasa step. q LII
And now Maggie, who had sunk fail
upon the ground knew all. These Who'll
had whispered near her were train