The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-04-11
OVER THE BORDER,
BY WALTER BESANr

I''i tit ii Wltch.
DyiieVe, she replied, chat oft
yosr r,T yoall be sure am 60 alt
wake Oan" w III al
Inc fellow, roased rndely sat ~ u
rubbed his heavy eyes. '-' up an
=. iou cant be drunk still. man " CO;
r''"'"' seeing it's half past . in ~
ny le1d, sail Dan. banging if -,
MS great list, is like the church ho,1 ~
a''' me Servlce-goeth ding-dong. An,
my tongue it is as dry as a bono IaI
hlSh'-last night-where the dari, ,N
last night" ''' Il was
IGF' up, fool, and rut on vo,r co.+
"',, W, come out We have work to do ),
lie fellow made no reply. He was stn
p'diy wondering why his head was 500 so
heavy and his legs like lead '''
Come %' Is Chew hew re g " on sner0 Is no
line to lose. Up, man"
They left the house md walked up t Ii
street
When they Wa zone. t,an took the
pipe out of her mouth. a--l considered the
position Of things with a cheerful smile
AS for Mathew" she said with grin
he will get salt eel for his supper. Salt
eel-noth hing short"
She doubted for awhile whether to i'm
part the plot to the fuglenan But she
remembered that though be was no older
than herself he would take the thing diff
ferently. and a fight between him and
Dan not to speak Of Mathew as well
could have only one termination. Had
she been twenty years younger, she would
not have hesitated to engage the man her
self, as she had led many gallant board
lag party against any odds. But her
lighting days were over.
What she at last resolved upon marked
her as at once the bravest and the most
sensible of women But her resolution
took time for the working out She sat
Oh her stone seat and smoked her pipe as
usual When any boys passed her door
she sh"ni hcr sick at them. and used her
strange sea phrases, just as e pnthing
was on her mind
Ii grows dark in the short November
days soon after 4. which is the HON.
wnen folks who can afford the luxury Of
candles light them, sweep the hearth, and
prepare the dish of cheerful tea. There
was no tea for us that Year but small ale
OF our own brewing or buttermill. And
FAY mother sat in great sadness for the
most part, not knowing what would be
the end. yet fearful of the worst. and
being of feeble faith Certainly, there
WAS little to give her cause for hope
1t was $50 or that | heard footsteps
outside, and presently a knock at the
door. | SAW. to my amazement. 10 ether
t'ian old Nan. 1t was cold and rainy
evening, but she had on nothing more
than her usual jacket and hat A hard
and tough old woman
Child. she said earnestly. do Won
think that | would lead thee wrong. or tell
thee lie?"
WHY, no, Nan"
IL mark me, go not forth tonight"
WI >should | go FORTH 1t is past 6
o'clock, and already dark
IF messengers should come Look!
who is that
one slipped behind the door as q boy
came running to the door. | recognized
him for a lad, half gypsy. who was well
known to all runners. ana often took part
in driving the ponies. \ bare headed
boy with thick coarse hair and bright
black eyes, who was afterward sentenced
to Ike hanged but reprieved, | know not
for what reason. and | forget now what
he had done to bring upon him this sen
tence
The fugleman says. lc began at once,
seemingly il GREATNESS haste, that he
has fallen down and is Ike to have broken
his back. He wants tc see you at once"
"Oh." | cried. what dreadful thing is
this? Tell him I'll come at once Run.
boy. run. will bat pat on IL hat and -
The boy turned and ran gathering up
the road and across the bridge.
Then Nan came out from behind the
door.
Its true. then. Tie kidnapping viii
lains, It's true But | never had doubt.
Go in doors, Kinney. Stay at homo. AS
for the fugleman, II warrant his back to
be sound as my own Wait. wait. say,
til YOU see Mathews face tomorrow. A
villain. indeed
But, Nan, what do you mean? Ny
dear old fugleman villain! What has he
to do with Mathew"
No, child. not he. There's only one
VILLAIN in Warkworth, though many fools.
The william is Mathew Humble. The big
gest fool is Dan Gedge He is such fool
that he ought to be keel hauled or fogged
through the Fleet, at least. Stay at
home. This is pot. The fugleman is
al the Hermitage ct work among the stuff.
There's to be a run tonight And they
think. Avast bit. brother. Ay, az.
they shall have what they want. There's
hook of salt pork and q pease pudding
for supper. | looked forward to that
hook. Never mind it. The villain
he to run this rig upon grill But old
Nan knows mast from a Manager yet,
and values not his anger a ropes end.
Here she became incoherent. and one heard
only an occasional phrase, such as from
the spritsail yard TO the nizzentopsail
E@lyards;" "a mealy mouthed swab;" IA
fresh water wishy washy, fair weather
sailor" thinks to get athwart my hawse,
AM SO forth To all of which listened
in blank wonder. Thus having in this
nautical manner collected her thoughts
strange it is that sailor can never
mature his plans or resolve upon plan
of action without the use of strong words
she begged me to lend her my cardinal,
which was provided with thick warm
hood. of which we women of Northum
berland stand in need for winter days
and cold spring winds. She said that she
could keep her own cloth jacket, because
the work she should do that night was
cold work, but she borrowed WOODEN
u'rHrr'or which she tied over her head and