The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-09-17

muddy road; young girls carried their
creels of turf across the bog; and by the
roadside, close to where ] stood, the turf
cutters were busy.
stood for while and watched them
at their work, and when | turned to go
saw for the first time that had not been
alone. Not many yards from me stood
figure watching the turf cutters too.
A young man dressed like grotesque
figure for pantomime with high boots,
felt hat cooked rakishly over one eye, and
vest composed of all the colors of the
rainbow. His big brown fingers were pro-
fusely bedecked with brass and steel
rings; a massive brass chain swung from
his waistcoat, and an equally snowy pin
adorned the scarf at his throat. When
tie turf cutters, pausing suddenly at the
work, gazed at him with wonder in their
eyes, he gave peculiar smile and asked
|, With strong Yankee accent if they
could tell him where one Norah OCon-
nell lived; he was a stranger here, and
brought her news from the Statesl In a
moment dozen fingers were outstretched
to point him on, and the stranger, again
smiling strangely to himself, staggered
away.
Istood for time and watched him 60,
then |, too, sauntered on. | turned Oft
from the road, crossed the bog, and made
} direct for the seashore.
: ! had been walking there for some
quarter of an hour, when suddenly a high
shadow Was flung across my path, and
looking up again beheld the stranger.
t His hat was pushed back now, and saw
e for the first time that his face was hand
/ some. His cheeks were bronzed and
g weather-beaten, but his features wer
t finely formed, and on his head clustered
0 a mass of curling chestnut hair. He was
:, flushed as if with excitement; he cast me
1 a hurried glance and disappeared.
: Five minutes later, as still stood Won
0 dering at the strange behavior of the
, man, my ears were greeted with a shrek
t which pierced to my very heart. Run,
t ming in the direction whence the sound
0 proceeded. | reached the top of a neigh
v boring sand hill, and gazing into the val,
|, ley below | again behe'd the stranger
e This time his head was bare, his arms out
t stretched and he held upon his breast
h the half-lainting form of the lovely girl
whom / had last beheld in the moonlight
While | stood hestating as to the utility
a of descending saw the girl gently with
v draw herself from his arms, then clasping
+ her hands around his neck, fall sobbing
= on his breast
e "Wel, Shawn, what's the newsF'
I asked that night when Shawn rushed ex
e citedly into my room. For a time he
;. could tell me nothing, but by dint Of d
t. few we'll applied questions soon extract
d ed from him the whole story. 1t amount
o ed to this That working for two year,
y like galley-slave in the black pits OF
o PENNSYLVANIA, with nothing but tn,
n thought of Norah to help him on, Mile
# Doughty found himself with enough
money to warrant his coming home; tha
Is lie was about to return to Storport, wheI
o unfortunately the day before his intended
d departure a shaft in the coal-pit fell upol
h him and he was left for dead; that fo
many months he lay i'll, but as soon a
'e he was fit for travel he started home
e Arriving at Storport he was astonishe'
to find himself unknown, and he wa
about to pass himself off as a friend o
his own, when the news of his death ant
ID Norah's sorrow 50 shocked him that h
10 determined to make himself known a
once.
le "And God help the villain that tolc
;, l. l. ....o ,,,o,,,o1 ~ ooo,1u1oI Shaw,
le ''for he swears he'll kill him, as soon a
Norah-God bless hcr--comes out O tn
1t fever that she's in tonight"
n. Just three months after that night
as found myself sitting in the hut wher
to Norah O'Connell dwelt. The cabin wa
j. illuminated so brightly that it looke'
ID like spot of fire from the bog. Th
,e rooms in the house were crowded, ant
without dark figures gathered as thick a
r. bees in swarming time. Miles Dougherty
clad less gaudily than when first beheI'
ar him, moving amid the throng with bot
Or tie and glass, pausing now and then t.
1r look aHectionately at Norah, who
Id decorated with her bridal flowers, wa
N dancing with one Of the straw men, VIII
m had come to do honor to her marflaS
III feast When the dance was ended sh
IN came over and stood beside me.
ID "Norah," | whispered, "do you remem
lie Der that night when | heard you singin
a songs upon the sandsw
10 Her face flashed brightly upon me
to then it grew graye--then her eyes file
with tears.
"My dear" I added, 81 never meant
er pain you. | only want you to sing a 81
I'd qucl to those songs tonight"
is She laughed lightly, then she spok
le rapidly in Irish, and merrily sang tt
hs well-known lines:
r. "Oh, the MARI age, the marriage,
With love and the houchal for me,
llS The ladies that ride in a carriage
er Might envy my marriage to me-
te Then she was laughipgly carried off
ay ioin in another dance.
at | Joined in the fun till midnight; the
IN though the merriment was still at
he height, | quietly left the house and has
m ened home. As left the cabin ! stun
If bled across figure which was hiding
hit hind a turf-stack. By the light OF II