The Iola register., 1880-11-19

armed 1aborer, VA; wss brakeman on the
Road. Bis wife, . hopeful little body,
! awonan of expedients,y was voted by
her neighbors the '.cheeriest, condol-
i2gestn woman in Twinrip.
Good luck. according to her, wae
always coming to the Magans. It was
/ good luck brought them to America
by good luck Tim became brakeman.
1t was good luck that the school for
Connor was free Of expense and so con-
| venient. -,
Her loyalty to her. husband rather
modified the expression of her views,
yet she often expatiated to her eldest
on his advantages, beginning, "There's 8
your father, C0nnor--I hope you'll be
as good man! remember it wasn't the
fashion in the ould country to bother
over the little black letters-people
don't hare to read there-but you just
mind your books, and some day you
may come to be conductor, and snap
punch of yourrown. rla
No doubt Connor made good resolu-
tions, but when he sat by the window
in the schoolroom and looked at the
dimpling, sparkling river, SO suggestive
OF fishing. or at the green trees filled
with birds, he was not as devoted to
literature as q free-born expectant
American citizen ought to be. The
teacher was somewhat strict. and it may
have been in some of her passes with
Connor, the "bubblingoverest'' of all
her youngsters, that she earned the
name of a daisy lammer.'
But the boy knew some things by
heart that could not be learned at
school. To his ear, the steam whistle
of each boat spoke its name as plainly
as if it could talk. He need not look to
tell whether passing train was on the
o. & M. or on the I. G. & L. He knew
the name of every fiery engine. and felt
an admiration-a real friendship for
the resistless creatures.
To climb tree was as easy for him
as II he were cat; there were rumors
that he had worked himself to the top
of the tall flagstaff which was as
smooth as q creased pole-but I will
not vouch for their truth. He could
swim like duck, and padded about on
a board in the river till an ill-natured
flat-boatman often snarled out that
"that youngster would certain be
drowned, if he wasn't born to be
hanged"
But the delight of Connor's life was
to "catch the first wave'' from big
steamer. Dennis Maloney was his COM
IA le in this perilous game. They rowed
their egg-shell of boat close to the
wheel. Drenched with spray-for a
moment they felt the wild excitement
of danger. Four alert eyes, four steady
hands kept them from being sucked un-
der-then came the triumph of meeting
the first wave that left the steamboat,
and the ecstatic rocking motion of the
skiff as she rode the other waves in the
wake-but to catch the first was the
point in the frolic! Connor was known
to many of the pilots as an adept in
g catching the first wave." Sometimes
he was "tipped'' by an unlocked for
motion of the machinery, but was as
certain as an india-rubber ball to rise to
the surface, and swim to shore was
but fun to the young Magan.
In the house Mother Maggie was
happy when little Mike was tied in his
chair, and a bar put in the doorway to
keep him from crawling into the
attractive water if he should break
loose; and when the door was bolted on
the railroad side. he was allowed to
gaze through the window at the engines
smoking and laundering by all day,
and fixing each blazing red eye on him
at night-an enhancing spectacle to the
child. And when the still younger Pat
was tucked up in bed sucking moist
rag with sugar tied up in it, her world
was all right and at rest. EE
But it would have taken q person of
considerable penetration, or, as Maggie
said, one who knew all "the ms and
the outs" to see the peculiar good luck
of this day. The water was smashing
round within few feet of the door.
Some of the workmen had moved their
beds to the space between the tracks,
which was piled up with kitchen uten-
sils, and looked like secondhand
store.
In these days of devotion to antiques
we hear dealers in such wares say that
things are more valuable for being |
used. This would not apply |
to Twinrip's relics. The poor shabby
furniture looked more than ever dilapi-
dated in the open daylight. The social
air of home that was lived in per-
vaded this temporary baggage room
between the tracks. One child was
asleep in q cradle, others were eating I
their coarse food off a board. When a
sprinkling of rain fell, an old grand
mother under an umbrella fastened to
. bed post went ON knitting serenely.
Youngsters, who needed rubbers and
about as much as did New
dogs, enjoyed the fun. One
four-year-old, sitting on a tub turned
upside down, was waving q small flag,