Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1878-03-06

pa ~ S-NO y
nre, sucking his hngen, or rolling on Il
floor with ths dog, no morc needed tn,
that animal, yet III the while drinkiI
crooked wisdom, treasuring it up. An
NAL tastes and instincts were general
the most marked in the softie; as a ru
be was greedy, selfish and ~uncleanly
his habits, violent in his antipathies, y,
with Z capacity for attaching himse
with = strong dog.lik fidelity and affe'
ton 10 . friend.
6uCh was Barney Athleague-perhaE
q tribe better and more intelligent tina
the generality Of his class; and ther
Wa no piace in the village where b
spent % much of his time, or wa 50 wei
treatsd, asat Owen Kearney's; first, be
cauDe they were naturally kindly people
and next, Mn Kearney's religious feel
inU made her especially good tn tn,
poor and friendless; and there was NJ
person IN the whole world whom tn,
softis cared 70 much about as Dora
Wherever she went, Barney wa not fal
behind. He was always ready to de-
anything in the world she asked him
no matter how wearisome or hazardous
When lie W. 4 child, he climbed the
highest tree to get her birds nests,
tunblsd like ! spaniel into the river to
get her liliea and walked miles and
nilss 10 recover . Pct kid of hers which
had Cnne askrsy. A she grew older, he
carried her cans when she went milking,
fed her poultxy, and, in short, waited on
her and followed her about like . lap
dog. II WA great fun for the "boys,"
who used to assemble in the farmers
kitchen OF . winters evening to tell sto-
ries and gossip, to see Barney fly into a
furious passion If any one he did not like
touched Dom, or ' 9 put his hand upon
her dreas.
One Of the persons the poor softie
most cordially detested was Larry kear-
ney; perhaps because the young man was
too fond Of teasing him, or else too much
given to sitting beside Dora. How or
whatever the cause, the poor fool hated
him; but with a prudence which one
would hardly have expected in a softie,
he kept his opinions to himself, and
watched his enemy like a lynx. Not
nce or twice he saw the young man de-
sccnd from the loft where he slept with
Luke The "help," after the family were
sound aaleep, and opening the door, steal
noiselessly from the house; and after
much consideration, Barney at last made
up his mind TO follow him and. learn his
destination, nothing doubling but it was
the village public-house or shebeen, or
the forge, which was often a haunt for
the idlers to play cards and get tipsy in,
But Larry went in the very opposite
direction from what the softie imagined. !
Crossing two or three fields, he skirted a
plantation Of ash, ON the other side of
which was = rxth, or forth, said TO be
haunted, and the resort of the good
people," The place was very generally
avoided after nightfall; and Barney's
courage was beginning to fail him when
Larry was joined by three or four other
young men. which revived his spirits, |
and nerved him to follow silently and
cautiously As cat.
On rounding the hill he saw there
were between thirty and forty persons as
sembled in the field, and after a few min
utes n of them advanced to meet
Larry. The softie, on seeing the man
approach, concealed himself behind the
ferns and brambles, all his curiosity |
aroused, and strained his ears to catch
the conversation; but the man spoke 80
indistinctly that he could not distinguish
, word till after a little while they drew
nearer to his v
"LOok here, Larry" one said, drawing
something which cleaned in the moon
light from a ave or hollow in the hill
hide, within arms length of Barney's
crouching form. Look, me boy, there's
two-score pike-heads lying snug enough
in there"
"Good, captain" Larry replied, with
merry laugh, can there's two-score
boys ready to handle them"
Yes; but we want more," the cap
tain said, ~ he replaced the weapon in
the cave, and quickly drew the thick
grass, ferns, and blackberry bushes over
it. did you speak e'er a word to Mar
Larry laughed again. "Sorra a word,
an If Molly herself was to 90
an Ak him, he wouldn't join U.S." he
said; an bedad, maybe he might in
he added, merrily-and the men
moved away.
Ha, hal" Barney said to himself as
crept from his hiding place, and made
his way back to the farmhouse: CHATS
where Larry goes. An who's Molly,
who's Molly? I'll ask Miss Dora TO-
morrow who's Molly" and with this re-
lection he crept into his bed and fell