The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1888-03-24
A HOME ACROSS THE OCEAN.
written FOR the Catholic Home Almanac by
Rose Mulholland J

The autumn tints were coloring the
Banshee's Glen, a lonely hollow among
purple Kerry mountains. TIE heather
wore its richest crimson. the grey inisls
were blue about the clumps Of fir and
lakewood, long flames streamed and
curled in the windings of the river at
sunset, and even the rugged crowns and
dews Of the cabin thatches and walls
were ia gracious harmony with the
landscape.
For the cabins were still standing,
the people still passing in and out over
sheir thresholds, and sleeping in their
shalter. The little children and the old
women, and the nursing mothers, aud
the girls Just Towering into womantlood,
harefooGed, scantijy-fed, poorly clad as
thev might be; they had still the bit of
home to belong to, the roof over their
heads, the hearth stone warmed by the
turf lire under their feet. The crovbar
had not vet made it's appearance in the
I}anshce's Glen.
In another week, however, all that
was to bs changed. for every soul liz the
valley had received notice to quit.
If tin1es were bad, and rents which had
been gradually rising were i,ops'ess to
pay, these circumstances gave the land
lord an excellent opportunity for clear
tng the land OF the ''vermin," as he con-
siticYeti them, that encumbarcd it.
Owea Dermot1 E5lily, OK Owen Def
mott rs he Was called, stood in bis cot
tage doorway gazing toward The go?dsn
riG Of the sun which was rising from be-
hind the rldge Of tlie opposite Mills, and
his Catic eyes saw all the beauty Of the
veivety browns and puppies OF the land
scApe, the food Of glory i'll the river, Tie
crimson and scarlet clouds streaming
above the mountain tops, like standards
dying upon q captured fortress. Iie
thought OF his long struggle for liberty
10 stay aud live his life in this land Of
his love, this island OF beauty and blight,
and OF how, after all, he was bound l,y
the will OF q tyrant, TO leave it and 10
into exile. Next week wUt1ld see him
Oh beard shipfor America; for, resolved
not to wait to see the crOwbar tiemosish
his little house, which ha and his father
before him had titled TO n>ajnt;,n, he
Was about TO turn his back Oh an I'M,
happy country, and seek his fortune in
ID naOTe prosperous world.
Having made LID his mind to depart
f,,, l.
not Maureeu with the true heart and
the tender voice going with taim?
.Mareen whom he han loved from his
aoyhood, and who never could be his
wife Sc, long as they fingered in this
atmosphere Of hunger and oppression.
Y,.s, he had resolved that they should
ne gone before the valley vas to be seem
Lying desolata. Maureen. poor darling,
bad suffered enough. She should noe
wals 10 hear tl.e groaus OF lie old pao
p!e, the weeping Of the children, should
moi; see The despair Of full gr,wn nstl,
and ihe anguish OF young mothers.
They would be cut On the broad sea,
nan ard wife together. before the dawn.
ing Of this day Of destruction in the
Dansi.ea's Glen.
1t wanted but 5wo days Of their we'd
ding day, and az Owen stood watching
tho sunrise, hope rose high in his heart,
while he rem embereu thai any spot Oh
tealth uiust haeoino home where Man~
seen would dwell with him, love him,
serve Elm, welcome him. With Gods
good gifts of youth and health Id his
possession, 40 tyrant could lob fim of q
home and Maureen.
he dnisAad his meditation and
slapped out to "a about his work, when
his foot touchstj q slip OF papsr which
s!se opening door has. scarcely displaced
on the Threshold Picking it up he
:gIauced at it caratessiy ami his heart
bounded and then stood still. On the
paper were few hieroglyphlcs scrawled
which only the initiated could under
stand, bur which Oven Dermott read
only too readily. This was note bid,
ding him to meeting OF secret society
to be held that night. a society to which
ne had helo,ged from his poyhood, to
whicI, lie WAS bound by oath, but from
which he ha,; long held himselt entirely
aicof
What did they want with him now,
asked Owen OF himself. What COM
raasds were they about To lay on him,
In what way might tEey not possibly
Interfere with the future he hat1 marked
out for himself, TO part him forever
srcpa Maureen? Such q bidding coming
at this moment Of the wholesale tribu-
lation Of the people, struck him as
something ominous. He shuddered,
remembering the oath by which he was
bound. AL that day he went about his
affairs like man in dream, and when
sunset came he set out across the valley
towards the mountains, and was lost
among the shadows on the hillside.
rvh,+ o1,a,,iro ps;r of wistfu1 dark