Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-03-17

ScdtC0 ltiSluC tic DdE- All DC III
same token, ma 'am, he said / wa
to have dhrink at his expense; an
not to be too presunin' on the gin
tleman's kindness, ma'am, I'll jus
take a large bottle of stout, If yo
plaze, ma'am, though / think lii
tie warm brandy would be bethe
for me, but Til laive it to yourself
ma'am.o
Mr.. Connolly, in addition to hi
duties as head waiter, also acted a
sort of general supervisor and ad
wiser. He looked after theservants
the affairs of the kitchen, the buy
ing of Goals and provisions, tn
suggesting to tourists of pleasan
drives in the neighborhood and th'
consequent hiring of outside cars
he saw that the billiard-marker die
not swallow too much drink O
pocket too large a share of the bill
liard-room receipts, and he wa
Mrs. O'Leary's mentor on all mat
tiers of a commercial or d0mesti,
nature. 1t was he who usually dis
covered that want of pence which
puzzled the landlady's suitors, and
he had warned his mistress agains
many a Daes-dlli0nce with poverty
| 1t was hinted in many quarters thai
Mr.. Connolly had designs himself
on the hand and heart of the wor.
thy widow; but if such were the
case, he had not, up to the time OIL
Hooker ]. Walkers arrival, given
the widow herself any cause to be.
lieve that such was the case. Mat
thew was a shrewd man in many
respects, and an honest one to boot;
but, as he often remarked, "Pts nc
blame to poor boy if he tries to
keep himself to himself"
Hooker J. Walker seemed to take
a fancy to the head-waiter, and Of
ten asked him to join him in a
friendly nip of grOg or an equally
friendly bottle of stout, and Connol-
ly seemed to take reciprocal fancy
to the new visitor.
"Be herrin's, ma'aIn," said he
one evening to Mrs. O'Leary, "but
that Mr.. Walker is the dacentest
fellow that ever sot foot in this
shanty!"
Matthew said Mrs. O'Leary,
interrupting, 81 don't think you're
quite sober tonight, and I'll feel
obliged if you'd not address me in
such a fameeliar manner"
go, begor, Mrs. O'Leary, it isn't
meself that would insult you,
ma'am, in the laste; and sure if l
have small dhrop too much in
me, it isn't my own fault; and 'pon
me song, ma'am, but it's a hard
days work I'm afther putin over
me, and all in your interest, too,
ma'am but sure, if you'll allow
me, ma'am, I'd like to tell you
about the dacency of Mr.. Walker
to-day, and sure it's you that he
thinks is the fine, comfortable-lOOk-
in woman"
"Now, really, Connolly, / cannot
permit you to speak to me in such
a way as this. You must learn to
know your place, or we can't get
on together. / am always ready to
acknowledge your attention to the
business, but you are really forget
tin yourself altogether lately. If
you have anything particular to tell
me about Mr.. Walker, of course
you're welcome to tell it," contin-
ued the widow, who had secretly
begun to cherish a tenderness for
Mr.. Walker, and was fiattered to
hear that he considered her a fine
woman.
"Faith, you take me so quare
lattherly," said the waiter, ''that
Pm beginning to lose a great deal
of confidence in. you, ma'am; but
as / med the remark about Mr..
Walker, I'll tell you what happen
ed to-day. He axed me to brush
his coat for him, and when helped
him on with it, blow me if he didn't
dive his hand into his waistcoat
pocket, ma 'am, and slip a half SOW.
into me fist. o, the divii a lie Pm
tellin' you, ma'am! 'BegOr, SIR
says I. but Pm ashamed to take
your money for such thrif1in' job.
Sure if l had helped you over a fit
of the d. It's you couldn't show more
sperrit than this Il always like to
reward merit, Mr.. Connolly, says
he-he always calls me Mr.. ConnOl-
ly, ma'am, not like some of the
id upstairs that comes here, with
their Matty and Mat-'an' / can see
you do your duty fair an square to
your miSthreSS-a nice, charmin'
lady, Mr.. C)nnolly-and plaise your
customers at the same time. Be
sides, money is no object to me.
Pye made my pile at the diggins,'
says he, 'and maybe 'twOuld open
your eyes if you only knew how
much of the hard stuff is lynn in
this hOuse'-whatever he meant be
that, ma'am, Pm sure dunno from
Adam. Give my respects to your
good lady, Mr.. Connolly says he,
as l was laiving the room, 'and tell
her how plaised | arm with the at
tintion / receive here. Pm a retir-
ing sort of man., says he, 'and l
haven't the courage to spake much
meself to the ladies' >"
Hooker J. Walker had not been
a week in Bray when he could
claim to be one of the most popular
tourists that had ever visited the
town; popular at least amongst all
those who have any pecuniary
transactions with tourists. The
iarveys admired him, the guides
him, the boatmen worship
ed him, the beggars literally knelt
down and kissed the ground he trod
upon. He spent most of the day
visiting the places of interest in the
Falls,
which he declared to a sympathetic
guide clicked Niagara to fits :"
Lock Bray, which he said reminded
him of Lake Ontario, "only your
loch is more sublime and beautiful,
my friend"; the seven churches
"nothing like this in the States,
sir"D; the Vale of AvOca ("where's
our tarnation valley of the Missi5-
sippi after this? that's what / want
to know"); the Dargle owed give
you ten thousand dollars square
foot for such scenery as this in the
States, sir. I'd like to transport it
holus bolus and sell it to Barnum F.;
that's so, sOnny'O.
Every fine evening he hired a
small boat and spent an hour or two
on the bay. ("Sublime, boatman,
sublime. They talk of Naples, but
'tis only a duck-pond compared
with this-a duck-pond, sir").
He invariably asked jarveys, boat
men, and guides, "How much am
in your debt, stranger % And he
invariably handed them double the
sum they named. The quantity of
blessings poured upon his devoted
head from every quarter in Bray
would be sufficient to carry seven
with respectability to
The grave.
Mr.. Walker seldom spoke Oh mon-