Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-10-02

And in husry+ she would thrive
grant ye that Johnnie.
But wad ye TAX ava the lass,
tell ye what would come to pass,
The mother soon would hae the grass
Boon her auld head, Johnnie,
They've got some gear, and bit o. land
That well would bear another hand:
Come down frae Tongue, and take your
BY Loyals side, Johnniel
Ye'd herd bit. and work the farm.
And keep the widow-wife frae harm;
And wha would keep we snug and warm
In winter time Johnne?-
The lass hersel-that III be sworn!
And BONNER creature meier was born:
Come down the strath the morrow's morn,
Your best foot first. Johnnie
Well, there may be wise and friendly
counsel in verses such as these but they
do not lend themselves readily to the
musician who would adapt them for con-
cert purposes. No; all such lyrical facul-
ty as he possessed had been given in one
direction. And yet not Tor one moment
was he tempted to show Mr.. Jaap any of
those little love lyrics that he had written
about Meenie-those careless little verses
that seemed to sing themselves, as it were,
ana tnat We're all about summer morn
ings, and red and white roses, and the
carolllng of birds, and the whispering of
Clebrlg's streams. Meenie's praises to be
sung at the Harmony Club he could
as soon have imagined herself singing
there.
One wet and miserable afternoon old
Enoch Square when, much to his salts
faction, he ran against the big skipper,
who had just come out of the railway
station.
Halo, Captain" said the little old
man, " back already :"
Just up from Greenock, and precious
glad to be ashore again, | can tell ye,"
said Captain McTaggdrt. That Mary
Jdhc ii lie my grave, mark my words
| never got as far south as the Null o.
Galloway without wondering whether I'll
ever see Alsa Craig or the Tail o the
Bank again. Well, here am this time
and | was gaun doom to haze ( lass on the
strength otto the widow s.
We'll gang in some other place." Mr..
Jaap said, " | want to hae a word wi We
about That young fellow Strang.
They easily discovered another howl
and soon they were left by themselves in
little compartment, two big tumblers of
ale before them.
,'Ay, and what's the matter WI him ?"
said the Skipper.
Il dinna rightly KEN" the little old
musician said, but something is. Ne
see, I'm feared the lad has no muckle
siller-"
It's common complaint, Peter ~ the
skipper said with laugh.
Ay but ye see, the mist O. us hae
some way o levin. That's no the case
WI Ronald. He came to Glasgow, as l
understand it, wi a sma' bit nest-egg
and he's been levin on that ever since
every penny coming out o. his capital,
and never IA penny being added. That's
enough to make young fellow anxious"
LAY"
But there's mair than that. He's a
proud kind O. chiel. It's Just wonderful
the way that Mrs Menzies humors him,
and pretends this and that so he'll no be
at any expense and when they gang out
driving she takes things wi her-and a
lot o. that kindo o way o. working; but a.
the same there's sma' expenses that can
Ia be avoided, and dell Bit she says,
will he let her pay. And the sma' things
ing into his nest-egg in that way"
It's easy getting out O that difficulty"
said the big skipper, who was OF less
sympathetic nature than the old muSi-
clan. What for does he no stay at
hame' He doesna need to gang driving
VII her unless he likes"
Its no easy getting away frae Mrs.
Menzies,' the old man said, shrewdly,
IF she has mind to take ye VII her
And she hersel sees that he Gamma afford
to spend money even on little things: and
yet she's feared to say anything to him.
Man. dinna We mind when she wanted
him to take a room in the house what
was that but that she meant him to have
his board Free But no. the deevil has
got some O. the Hielan pride in him. she
was Just feared to say anything MAR
about it. And at the club, too, it's no
everyone he'll drink wi, though there $
plenty ready to stand SAM now that
| Ronald is kent as a writer o. poetry.
Not that but wi ithers he's over free
ay, confound him, he's getting the repu-
tation o harum- scarum dell: if he
takes liking to u man, he'll gang off wi
him and his neighbors for the time being,
and goodness knows when or where they'll
stop. A bottle o. whiskey in their peck
ct, and OIL they'll make. | heard the
other week o him and some o them
/ iindInG themselves At ddyDrrak in Helen
burgh-naught would do the deevil the
night before that he mann h2e a sniff o
the saul sea air ana off they set, him and
them The lang night through, until the
| daylight found them staring across &c
Roscncath and Kempoch Point. He's
no in The best O hands, that : the fact. II
he Would but marry the widow
"What would Jimmy LaiulaW say tC
that ~ the sklple r said. with louc
laugh.
Jimmy I.nidlaw' He ha m the ghost
o a chance so long ts this young fellow!
about. Rates inst DAFT III out him; bu
! he's no inclined that way, can See-nnles.
hunger should tame him. Weel, McTag
| CART. | dlnua like to see the lad being lee
away to the. mischief. He's got into il
| hands. If it's the want % 4 settled way
~ lppvin th1l'S wOrrViuV him and driViuf