Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1879-05-16

rlgnt or wrong Sne ii never look NJ an
other manr'
As Shawn finished the hall clock
chimed five the last spark faded from
my cigar the turf fell low in the CRATE;
so Went to bed TO think over the story
alone.
During the three days which followed
this midnight adventure Storport was
visited by deluge of rain, but on the
fourth morning | looked from my win
dow TO find the earth basking in sum-
mer sunshine. The sky was n vault of
throbbing blue, Hecked here and there
with waves of summer cloud, the
stretches of sand grew golden in the
sun rays, while the saturated hills were
bright as If from the smiling of the sky.
The sight reviviied me, and soon as my
breakfast was over l whistled up my
dogs and strolled out into the air.
How bright and beautiful everything
looked after the heavy rainl The ground
was spongy to the tread; the dew still
lay heavily upon the heather and long
grass; but the sun seemed to be sucking
up the moisture from the bog. Every
body seemed to be out that day, and
most people were busy. Old men
drove heavy laden donkeys along the
muddy road, and by the roadside, close
to where l stood, the turf cutters were
busy.
stood for q while and watched them
ut 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 agrotesque
figure for q 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 profusely bedecked with brass and
steel rings, amassive brass chain swung
from his waistcoat, and an equally
snowy pin adorned the scarf at his
throat. When the turf-cutters, pausing
in their work, gazed at him
with wonder in their eyes he gave a
peculiar smile, and asked with a strong
Yankee accent if they could tell him
where one Norah O'Connell lived; he
was stranger here and brought her
news from the States! In a moment q
dozen fingers were Outstretched to point
him on, and the stranger, again smiling
to himself, staggered away.
| stood for time and watched him
go, then too sauntered on. turned
off 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
huge shadow was flung across my path,
and looking up | again beheld the
stranger. His hat was pushed back
now, and | saw for the first time that
his face was handsome. His cheeks
were bronzed and weather. beaten, but
his features were finely formed, and on
his head clustered a mass of curling
chestnut hair. He was flushed as with
excitement; he cast me q hurried glance
and disappeared
Five minutes after, as l stood Won
dering at the strange behavior of the
man, my ears were greeted with a
shrek which pierced to my very heart.
Running in the direction whence the
sound proceeded, | reached the top of
q neighboring sand hill, and gazing
into the valley below me l again be-
held the stranger. This time his head
was bare, his arms were outstretched,
and he held upon his breast the half
fainting form of the lovely girl whom
had last beheld in the moonlight.
While | stood hesitating as to the util-
ity of descending, l saw the girl gently
herself from his arms, then,
clasping her hands around his neck,
fell sobbing on his breast.
"Well, Shawn, what's the newsP" /
asked that night when Shawn rushed
into myroom. For time he
could tell me nothing; but by dint of
few well applied questions soon ex-
Jracted from him the whole story. 1t
to this: that after working
for two years like galley slave in the
black pits in Pennsylvania, with no.
hing but the thought of Norah to help
him on, Miles Doughty found himself
With enough money to warranthi COM
ng home; that he was about to return
10 Storport, when, unfortunately, the
lay before his intended departure, a
shaft in the coal pit fell upon him and
ne was left for dead; and for many
months he lay ill, but as soon as he
vas fit to travel he started for home.
Arrived in Storport, he was astonished
% find that no one knew him, and he
was about to pass himself off as friend
Of his own, when the news of his re-
ported death and Norah's sorrow so
shocked him that he determined to
make himself known at once.
"And God help the villain that told
ler he was married" concluded Shawn,
g for he swears he'll kill him as soon
Is Norah-God bless her!-comes out
} the fever that she's in tonight"
Just three months after that night
ound myself sitting in the hut where
Norah O'Conrell dwelt. The cabin
was illuminated so brightly that it
looked like a spot of fire upon the bog;
the rooms in the house were crowded,
and without dark figures gathered as
,hick as bees in swarming time. Miles
Doughty, clad rather less gaudily than
when l first beheld him, moved amid
.he throng with bottle and glass, paus-
ng now and again to look atfectionate-
y at Norah, who, decorated with her
bridal flowers, was dancing with one
Of the straw men who had come to do
honor to her marriage feast. When
-he dance was ended she came over and
stood beside me.
"Nora," l whispered, "do you re-
member that night when | heard you
singing songs upon the sands?"
Her face flashed brightly upon me,
then it grew grave-then her eyes
filed with tears.
"My dear" Iadded, "Inever meant
10 pain you, only want you to sing a
sequel to those songs tonight
She laughed lightly, then she spoke
rapidly in Irish and merrily sang the
lines:
80, the marriage, the marriage,
With love and mo bouchal for me;
The ladies that ride In a carriage
Might envy my marriage to me-"
Then she was laughingly carried off
TO JOIN in another dance.
joined in the fun till midnight; then,
though the merriment was still ut its
kat I InFt tha Lo,,,, 4