Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-03-06
TIE BOUNTY SHILLING.
BY (THE LATE) O. p. r. JAMES.

Vale of Eyesham, almost magical In It's summer
beauty, and redolent OF memories OF Simon de
MontfOrt and King Edward LongShank5,-Dick
Harlowe was decidedly In that mood fitting him
to be operated upon by any doubtful agent, when
he went out from his mothers matched cottage
on certain September evening during the great
war Of England with the First Napoleon. Fit.
at that moment, to have been met by MephistO-
pheles In any OF the shapes which he assumes
In those wierd legends OF which the young
by any mere human instrumentalitY failing In
his way and having motive to influence him.
Fit, especially III, for that governmental agency
and influence, through so many ages known 10
Englishmen as the recruiting sergeant.
Dick was young, round-faced. good LOOKING
generally, and so athletic as to be proVeIp VI
nimbieness la that active portion OF the "ssC
country. He bad that comeIness which be-
longs to his years, and. alas! thar nervous sensl
ttveneSs so apt TO belong to the same age; not
and quite carable OF making the holder unhappy
without afIording the necessary WISDOM LOT eX-
,trication from unpleasant surroundings he
knew quite enough to feel acutely and to De.
come very unhappy; but-poor fellow he did
not know enough to place himself beyond the
necessity OF that feeling-as, indeed how small
I'm any given hundred or hundred thousand!
Not to make any mystery Of the matter
things had '.gone wrong with him. to quote
the phrase which he would himself have used If
held by his father before him, and
afterwards entrusted to himself and
his mOJner, the WIDOW. Tlo season
hi been rainy; help was beyond his MEANS and
much OF what might have been the product OF
his fields had been lost through inefficiency
combined with certain amount OF inattention.
the ensuing winter, that he had been ekeing
out subsistence for the present, and preparing
In miserable way for that dark hour, by
working, half as Farmland and half as over
seer on the luckier or better-tllled fields Of
some OF the other land holders In the nefghbor-
hood. He was. consequently, poor, dull, dis
couraged, sad-hearted without quite kno wing
the whole meaning OF the phrase, and with
that sort Of ildefnable feeling sometimes char
actertZed, now a-days, as ''down In the mouth"
Then, the evening was that Of Monday; and,
On the previous day, coming back from the lit
tie church to the abode Of that 'sneat-handed
Philiis," he had managed to get up sort of
lover's-quarrel with pretty Susan Ackley, his
playmate and admiration from chilchood,-thts
quarrel leading him to the belief that he was
the most miserable, worthless and wronged
dog in creation; and that the sooner he was out
OF the way, and Susan made happy by that in
definite removal, the better for all parties.
On. B. Dick would have pounded to jelly, In
Susan s Would be the happier for parting with
him: that peculiar and peculiarly foolish aSser-
ton he held as his own private right and prop
erty; and held it, Of course, all The more SOL
EMMY and sacredly on that account.)
Then he had another grief, Or grievance,
manifested In a row with his mother, the
widow, who was certainly not in the habit Of
lullCtluR uuutdIu VI CTuelClcS upon any one
falling under her charge. 1t is not necessary to
state, at the present moment, what was that
grievance indeed, to do so would remove 1t,
and so the little story could not be told at all,
Enough to say that the fact will develop itself
In due time; little more to that disproof Of
old maxims and general leveling of arrogant
statements which Will no doubt be found ne
ceSSary before the coming of the millennium.
But the sense of injury was sufficient to induce
him, just after changing the corduroy shirts
and smOck- frock in which he had been at work
af1eld during the day, to an old but more be-
coming suit of velveteenS for ''even1ng prone
made, to hurl out at the widow very Injured
innocence expression OF wrathful diSappoint-
ment, his hands meanwhile thrust nearly deep
belief that he must have had covert Yankee
somewhere among bis ancestry.
81 do think that you might ha' done 1t,
an amount of feeling showing that the wrong
had struck very near to the fountains of his
life. 1T was main little to do, for woman
like you; and, dang It'll am chap that needs
taking little care Of, just now-that DO! I
don't bit like to have what you promise to do,
neglected in that way, seeing that 1 am not
one OF the kind that asks for favors very often:
harkee to that, now! And when come back,
II do come back at all,"-
"Why, boy, what are you talking Of" inter-
rupted the grey haired and snugly-capped poor
that nodoubt awful threat Her Kind and mo- o.
therly appearance, however humble, seemed to
make 1t doubtful whether she could have per-
petrated any crime beyond forgiveness, against
her only son: and there was promise OF repa-
ration In what followed. "Sure it was only
l tile miss, Dick. and I'll do 1t tomorrow, true
as am woman Don't zee grieve old mother
by making so much ado about so small thing!
And then TO talk OF staying away. Why,
Susan"
'.Dang Susan. and all girls like herv' ex-
with much more than the widows force OF eX-
preston. Don't talk to me any more about
Susan Aekley, motherInever! She and 1 be
of-thats all, and that be enough!"
You and Susan! Why, Dick!". That was
all that the widow, literally overwhelmed by
such intelligence, found time to say; for Dick,
STROBE away from the little cottage-porch In
which his mother was standing under the yet
unfaded vines and climbing fiowers-strode
lang enough to have shown his temper with
out any other evidence, and took his way across
field, as the widow could see in the lingering
September light towards that portion or the
where stood the noted ale-house known
as the mine Chickens" The watering
pase Of all 5hs carriers r0 Mho f5s
louDging place, and alasl the tippIing-place, OF
the thri1tless and the idle OF a whole neighbor-
hood; as such houses have been, time out OF
mind, in other sections OF Merrie England than
that bordering the Vale of Evesham.
Good old Dame Harlowe would much have
preferred that Dick should aSsuage his grief, even
at quarrel with Susan Aekley, as well as any
lloCOuteht Win neTS6lI,lQ some OLilef 0OQe IMAM
by night al the ale house. with its company
lower than himself as well as much less lntellt-
gent; but she sighed remembrance that .ihiS
father before him. God rest his soul, did SOL"
closed the door, and went in to what light labor
vet remained TO do by the dim evening lamp.
She was resolving, meanwhile, that the forget
fulness OF which her SOD complained should not
again occur-that she would do yet that night
or certainly on the morrow what she had SO
grleved and angered him by negiecting to do
that day.
Dick Harlowe. meanwhile strobe on towards
the Mine Chickens" He was lust In that deS-
perate folly OF YOUTH so quick to ind duplicated
at any earnest search, so hard TO resist SO easy
for any one except the sufferer to ridicule or
argue away. He had not penny in his
pockets-not hapenny-net a farthing: per-
haps 1t had been TO make that discovery, that
but he had credit at the ale-houSe, and score
consequent thereupon; and II he had any inten-
ton lat ALL as he strode II was to get as .'boozyn
that night as stiff old ale could make him. and
then decide in the morning. we do decide those
lhlngS SO much better in the morning with eyes
redeemed ard heads splitting9 what he would
especially do TO spite cruel Susan and better his
dull prospects.
Arrived at the ale-house, fortune proved more
KIND to the young fellow, In the way of pro-
V1dlng cheap pOtableS for al least part OF that
wise resolution, than he could possibly have
anticipated. Two or three Of his Village
compan1ons dropped into the tap-room OF the
" Nine Chickens" very soon after his arrival:
ana tney guZzled ale comfortably at each
meeting, With Dick Harlowe making more
stupid ana inenectual attempts to be Jolly,
than any OF the others remembered oi