The Irish standard., 1886-10-02

his arrival, the servant handed him q
letter. and informed him that several
persons had called, and among the rest
Else Curley, who expressed great ankle
ty to see him before the court opened.
Mr.. Hardwrinkle also had sent his man
in haste to say that riot was appre-
hended in the event Of Barry commit
i tal and requesting Father Brennan's S
presence to maintain order and assist
the magistrates III the discharge of their
duty.
"a very modest request, upon my
word" said the priest, opening the let
ter and seating himself quietly in his
easy chair to read il. Very modest,
indeed; but have duty OF my own to,
discharge at present. ="
The letter ran as follows:-
I s'My Reverend Friend; The blow I
have SO long been evading has fallen at
last. My creditors have discovered my
retreat, and placed writ for my inlmed
late arrest in the hands Of the sheriff. I
leave here tomorrow, by daybreak: and
cross over to Malin Head: but where,
after that, fate only must determine.
What is to become of poor Mary, God
alone can tell. For the present, at
least, you must be her protector, for l
know Of no other to whose care [ could
intrust so precious a charge. should
much rather. for my own part, go to jail
and weather out the. storm as best l
might; but the thought OF my incarcera-
ton would take the dear child's life. 1
must quit this place tomorrow, too,
without seeing her; for I never could
summon courage enough to bid her
farewell. The furniture here will, Of
course, be sold for debt. Save the old
Bible and harpsichori, if you can. They
are Of little value, to be sure, to anybody;
but still they are Enks-sslas! the only
links left 80 us now-to connect us with
the past. Ii you speak kind word to
the captain about old Rogar, I'm sure he
won't let him want. Be kind to Mary,
| and comfolt the poor child in my ab-
sence.
Yours, faithfully,
f.. LEE.
'tJohn!'' cried the priest, as he read
the letter--''Join!"
ssSir.'
s'Take the horse and gig Immediately,
and drive as fast as possibly to the light
house. Give my compliment to Mr..
Lee; say I received his note. and tell
him TO come up without moments de-
lay, and bring Miss Lee with him. You
understand"
"Yes, sir." -........
ssAnd see here-don't wait to feed the
horse, but go at oi4ce'
''No, sir.''
stLet Mr.. Lee have the gig, since he
has no conveyance Of his own, and you
can return home on foot at your leis-
ure."
Certainly, sir.
When the servant closed the door the
priest leaned back in his chair and CON-
posed himself to read vespers. And q
snug, pleasant little room it was, that
parlor Of Father Johns, to read or pray
in, with its latticed windows looking
down on the placid face Of the beautiful
Mulroy, now sleeping calmly in the hos
ON Of the hills. Close by the side 'of
the humble edihce grew long line OF
gooseberry and currant bushes, and up
from between them, here and there, the
honeysuckle stretched it's long vine into
the open windows. Out before
the deor stood an old elm tree,
majestic and lonely in the CEN
ter of the grass plot, spreading
it's giant branches far and wide over
house and garden. Many name was
carved on that sturdy old trunk in its
day, and many q time the priest and his
good old reverend uncle sat on tie stone
bench together, and leaned back against
il in the summer evenings, to saythe ro-
sary and tell the beads. And there, too,
round about grew many a flower of ma
tive growth, fresh and fair, simple and
modest, like the virgin whose alar they
were intended to decorate-the noun
tain daisy, white as snow; the primrose,
it's faithful companion, at It's side; the
cowslip, with the dew always on it's face;
and the lily Of the valley, hiding it's
head in the grass, as if it had no right
to occupy place in the world at all
These and such as these were The only
tenants of that modest garden. O, we'll
we remember it-that garden where none
but wild flowers grew-those pretty wilI
flowers, natures own spontaneous offer
ing. And every morning would the
priest pluck bunch to scatter on the
shrine of the virgin, az he ascended her
altar to say the mass, knowing we'll she
l.