Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1879-12-03
SNOgISs wucH.

mitch, Jack"
'FearedF II is-feared you are
It's the fine brave man you are, 70
certain"
These last words, spoken In
tone Of witheriuS scorn, were sd
dressed 70 Tom Doo,aa by his com
rade and peighhor, Jsck Devenny
The two men were about t.
launch their boat and row across
the Tough, 70 cut osiers on III,
island; and Tom, whose face wa,
pale. and whose step tottered, huns
hack When the time came to take
his place and begin 70 handle hi.
oar.
1t was a sunny August day
The mountain, covered with heath
er, Slowed a warm crimson in the
sunshine while the corn fields were
like sheets Of sold, and Tamney
Tough was $ mirror to reflect un-
brokenly the blue sky and sailing
clonis-
Far away beyond Mulroy, sn in
..ey Of the Atlantic, stretched other
mountains, tier upon tier. the near
est hills purple, and the more dis
tAnt ones like snoke-colored phan-
toms against the sky. Even the
acres On acres Of hog thst lsy be-
tween the corn fields bsd besuty
Of their own. Everything was
silent There WAS 10 whi- and
blea! Of snips, no cry of gull or
plover. Smoke rose from the
chimneys of the little mud-cabins
scattered here and there over the
country, but there was no voice 70
be hesri; only in the village Of
Tsmney there was some slight
traffic and stir.
Z 'EeAred is it you sre, Tom I"
Devenny, IS be showed off
from tire land.
"Ay-;he witch! the witch :"
fAlteT>d the other pAler than before.
On slopins field just shove the
icrgh wSs $ cabin 10 better than
hose in the village, and Tom rails
ed his timii eyes toward j, while .
he whispered, The witchi the
witch -
Betty Morisrty had lived there |
SIS long SIS the Oldest inhabitant |
could remember. Paddy Steven, !
who hsd been born in the year
l70S. declared thst she hsd seem
ed an old woman when he was
boy; and now in 1900, she looked .
younger than he.
e There were other circumstances
that made Betty's neishbors re-
gard her with awe.
She had no obtensible means Of
support vet hsi plenty Of every
thing in her cottage: . pile Of the
driest turf, which no one had seen /
cut, or drawn home from the bog;
quantities Of milk and butter that
she had not bought at the shop;
clothes that, like the garments Of
the children Of Israel, "waxed not
old" Al this seemed TO be no,
merely comfort, but wealth and
slender, in the eyes Of the
simple people. Many a woman
who happened to have ssmall churn-
ing firmly believed Betty to have
drawn away the butter from her
churn, but was afraid to quarrel
with her, and therefore spoke of
her loss in guarded whispers
The only person who had had
courage enough to reproach the
witch was Tom DOolan, whom she
had now reduced to an abjec; state
Of fear.
Some time before the beginning
OF our story Betty had kissed
Toms Youngest boy without say
ing ''God bless for q bonny wean,-
and the child had pinned away ever
since. Father Dan. indeed, had
confirmed the suspicious Of the
parents by certifying that the little
fellow was suffering from the bane-
fol influence Of an evil-eye.
When Tom Doolan openly charg-
ed her with having bewitched his
child, aud had driven her down the
village street. not, indeed. lifting
his own hand to her. but permit
ting M boys 70 pea her with mud
and pebbles. she bad turned to
shake her stick at him. and 10
threaten vengeance. muttering
curses not loud but deep