Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1880-04-08
NO S5.
Gales ano Skettbes.
THE BOUNTY SHILLING.
EY (rHE LArE) G.. T. Il. JAMES.

Dick Harlowe, cross between yeoman
and farm-laborer. living in the outskirts
of Nunscrott. one of the pleasant little
Villages of Warwickshire, on the borders
of Worcester and skirting the Vale OF
Evesham almost magical in its summer
beauty. and redolent of memories of Simon
de Montford and King Edward Long
shanks.-Dick Harlowe was decidedly in
that mood fitting him to be operated upon
by any doubtful agent, when he went from
his mothers thatched cottage. on certain
September evening during the great war
of England with the First Napoleon. Fit
atthat moment. to have been metby Mephis-
topholes, in any of the snaps which he as
sumes in those wierd legends of which the
Young farmer had never heard; fit to be
operated upon by any mere human instru-
mentality falling in his way and having
motive to influence him. Fit, especially
fit, for that governmental agency and in
tluence. through so many ages known to
Englishmen as the recruiting Sergeant.
Dick was young. round-faced, good look
ing generally, and so athletic rs to be
proverb of nimbleness in that active por-
ton of the West country. He had that
comelincss which belongs to his years,
and. alas. that nervous scnsitlveness so
apt to belong to the same age. not depend
ent upon any great keenncss OF intellect,
and quite capable of making the holder
unhappy without aifording the necessary
wisdom for eXtrication from unpleasant
surroundings. lie knew quite enough to
feel acutely and to become very unhappy;
but-poor fellow he did not know
enough to place himself beyond the ne
cessty of that icclng-as indeed how
small percentage will be found to have
that power in any given hundred or hun
dred 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 il he used any,-in the farming
of the small glebe held by his father be-
fore him, and afterwards entrusted to
himself and his mother, the widow.
The season had been rainy; help was
beyond his means, and much of what
might have been the product of his field
had been lost through ineiliciency COM
bined with a certain amount of inattcntion.
In fact, so doleiul had become the pros
pect for the ensuing winter that he had
been ekeing out subsistence for the pres
ent, and preparing in n miserable way for
that dark hour, by working, half As farm
hand and half as overseeg, on the luckier
or better-tilled fields of some of the other
land-holders in the neighborhood. He
was. consequently, poor, dull, discouraged,
sad hearted without quite knowing the
whole meaning of the phrase, and with
that sort of indefnable feeling sometimes
characterized, nowadays, rs "down in
the mouth"
"Then. the evening was that of Mon
day; and. on the previous day, coming
back from the little church to the abode of
that ..neat-handed Phillis,n he had man.
aged to get sort of lover's-quarrel with
pretty Susan Ackley, his fiancee for the
previous twelve-month and his playmate
and his admiration from childhood, d,-this
quarrel leaving 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 indefinite removal.
the better for all parties. On. Is. Dick
would have pounded to jelly, in five
| minutes, any man who dared hint that Su-
san would be happier for parting with
him; that peculiarly-foolish assertion he
held as his own private right and prop
erty; and held it. of course all the more
solemnly and sacredly on that account.)
Then he had another grief, or griev-
ance, manifested in row with
his mother the widow. who was certainly
not in the habit of inflicting unheard-of
crueltes upon any one falling under her
charge. 1t is not necessary to state at
the present moment, what was that griev-
ance indeed. to do so would romove it,
and so the little story could not be told mt
all Enough to say that the fact will de-
velop itself in due time; little more to
that disproof of old maxims and general
leveliDg of arrogant statements which Will
no doubt be found necessary before the
coming millennium. But the sense of in
Jury was sufficient to induce him, just az
ter changing the corduroy shirts and
smock -frock in which he had been at work
afield during the day, TO an old but more
becoming suit OF velveteens for "eyening
promenade to hurl out at the widow
very iniured-innoccncc expression OF
wrathful disappointment, his hands mean
while thrust nearly deep enough into his
brceches-pockets to induce the belief that
| he must have had a covert Yankee some-
where among his ancestry.
II do think that you might ha' done it,
mother - he calculated on that occasion,
with an amount Of feeling showing that
| the wrong nau struck very ucdI W thC
fountains of his life. 1T was main little
to do. for woman like you; and, dang
it i am a chap that needs taking a little
care of, just now-that | do! don't q
bit like to have what you promise to do,
neglected in that way, seeing that am
not one Of the kind that asks for favors
very often; harkee TO that, now! And
when I come back, if ! do come back at
ALL
"Why, boy, what are yoC talking Of -
interrupted the grey-haircd and snugly
capped poor widow. just in time to pre-
vent the utterance Of that no-doubt awful
threat. Her kind and motherly appear
ance, however humble, seemed to make
it doubtful whether she could have per-
petrated any crime beyond forgiveness.
against her only son; and there was =
promise OF reparation in what followed.
'.Sure it was only little miss, Dick, and
I'll do it tomorrow, true as am a woman.
Don't'ee grieve old mother by making 90
much ado about SO small . thing! And
then to talk Of staying away! Why,
Susan