Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1881-01-07

c there We stood, like two tigers, watchin
:, who would spring first. His eye me
| mine, but it did not quail in the least
: and after Watching one another for nearl
L half a minute, ,Lduring which time al
most a quiver Of his eye would have mad
o me shoot him, so great was the tension o
l my own nerves,-I slowly and gradual,
: raised the pistol, without losing for
moment the hold of my eve upon his
' till it fairly covered his head He watch
/ ed me till he must have seen straight int
3 the barrels of my pistol when quietl.
r drawing himself up, and folding his ARM
J very slowly, rs if to show that no suddeI
movement was intended he seemed to de
, fy me to fire A feeling came over me al
: quick as lightning, with conviction ant
/ suddenness which only moments such nj
! these can bring,-that 1 had mistaken
him, that he was acting on the defensive
rather than the offensive, and, with al
impulse which to this hour l am wholly
unable to account for, flung the pistols
on the table within his reach, and said il
relief of my own excited feelings
You scoundrel, you know you dare
not hurt me -
He looked at me steadily, and then sit
ting down gradually and quietly on the
chair, without trusting himself to look at
the pistols which lay loaded and cooked
on. the table before him, he put his hands
to his head, leaned his arms on the table.
and said in low voice.
''What do you want Inc to do, sir %
"To give me possession of your house
and place at once" said l, 'and to come
with me now into Carrickmacross.
81 will, sir. he replied.
He rose, put his iron finger into the
place where the handle of the door should
have been, and turned the bolt and
walking up to the other men in the kitch-
ell, he said, "Begone out of that till l
give up the place" They stared at him
and were perfectly astounded. "Begone
I say" he repeated, and he pushed them
out of the room.
The young woman then came up to
him. what is this, Joe % she asked.
''You must CO." said he kindly Don't
talk, k,-leave the house"
She went at once. He put out the fire
by kicking it about the floor, took ''sod
and twig' from the garden, and handed
me legal possession of the house and
grounds!
"And now" / continued. come with
me into Carrickmacross.
He hesitated Sir, l will fOlloiv you
in, but don't ask me to go with you"
why not ?" l asked.
Because | always swore no man should
ever take me alive, and if l was seen to
go in with you the people would say you
had taken me prisoner.
Il understand you," said .'can l
trust you then to follow me?''
He seemed almost hurt at the question.
81 would not fail in my word for thou
sand pounds "
II have not doubt of it., replied /;
and mounted my horse and galloped into
Carrickmacross.
/ told my head clerk and confidential
man all that had happened. He could
not believe his senses, and thought had
lost mine. well, | said, Mickey will
be in here within an hour, or have been
dreaming all the morning"
''He will never come" was his reply.
As the hour approached, confess be-
came very nervous and anxious (: and at
length about the time had stated, the
clerk came into my inner room looking
somewhat pale, and said, Mickey wants
to see You in the office, sir"
There he was, quiet but firm as ever.
told him to return TO his home for the
present, and that l would see him hand
somely provided for in America. He left
and said no more.
The sequel was sad enough. He never
reached America. The Presbyterian cler-
gyman came to me soon after, and told
nIe that Mickey was i'll, but that had
need to mind myself, as he had it from
sure source that he was determined to
take my life. In about month after
this, hearing syJIn that he was very ill,
resolved to go and see him once more. l
rode to the house, and found poor Joe
Mickey lying on his bed, n corpse. The
,aa", 49,, mCut,. the same noble f re-
head, but hollow anu sunken cheeks. The
young woman knelt beside n,... weep
ing.
"Whcn did he die?" | asked.
This morning, SIR" she replied, and
her tears flowed fresh and fast.
"What did he die of %
"A decline, sir. He never got the bet
ter of that day The people said yos
took him,-,rhich your honor tceU kno~s
acuS rank lie,-and it broke his heart
that they should say 3d."
HE was noble fellow i'll his way"
said but he never had been tanned,
and / always feared he would come to
grief"
"Oh, sir, replied she, in an agony.
'.you did not know him, you did not
know him his heart was AZ tender as
little childs, and he WAS the kindest of
the kind to me"
81 fear you were never married 10
him ?" l observed
"And if never was," she replied al
most angrily, "whst matter was it, when
i'll the sight of God we were man and
wife? ] loved him as few welded wives
love their husbands, and wasn't Joe the
best and truest of husbands to me? You
did not know him, sir,-you did not know
him He would not have hurt hair of
your honOr's head for worlds, but he was
we'll l-nigh maddened by the people"
"And how did the people madden him p
i asked.
''Sure didn't they tell him over md
over again that the land WAS his, and not
the landlords at all And then they
swore all the oaths you could think OF,
they would soon have it all to themselves
again. The poor boy that's lying there
before you, nau uhrlu Heait, so He hau'
more than all the rest of them together;
so they put him on for beginning the wal,
which the bloody towards were afeared to
face themselves. Oh Joe, my darlin'
Joe !" cried she in All agony of grief, as
she turned to the corpse again, ''it was
yourself that had the kind and DARN
heart, and now they've broke it on you by
saying you we're took aprisoner. when no
one knows better than his honor here that
the power of man could never take my
darlin' Joe alive. 1t was the kind word
that made him give i'll, and never the fear
of mortal man.
He was buried the following day. She
soon after left the country.
From the moment that Mickey had ap-
peared in my office the feeling OF that
district changed and the effects which
had anticipated followed. The people
came i'll and paid their rents, or settled
with Inc as best they could. Some went
to America, some paid up by instalments
but the district over which Joe Mickey
held sway, succumbed.
Buried Fer Forty Days.