Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1890-12-03
WHY DENNIS QUINN KEPT
THE PLEDGE.

"D.1 I ever tell you. Mary, my
dear. how me poor Dennis became an
thavtotallier ?' remarked Mrs. Quinn
to her friend, Mary Cadogan, the other
/" No. my dear. you did not. Save
us. how was il now ?'' responded Miss
Cadogan with alacrity.
"'Tis a sad tale, Mary; ta,n't every
wan as I'd be tellin' of it. Twas in
the ovid country at Tirraloo. We
moind: Tim and jimmie was Just be-
ginnin' to toddle then. My Dennis,
now. was as foine a man as you'd be
indin' in a days walk. to be sure;
but he was too aisy like-he wasn't
no hand at worlxin' at all, at all. Pm
thinlIin' as me an the chiller would
have starved if / hadn't took in
washin'. Well, as tonne went on
things got to be worse instead of no
better, and Dennis grew more and
more attached to the cratur intoirely.
Vance he signed the blue ribbon
pledge an / was that deloighted |
bought him blue crayvat an a new
blue ribbon for his ovid straw hat
But twas no good at all he'd broke
it afore the week was out. So at
last, IN despair, sez to myself Della
me girl, consult the oraycle.'n
:" What's that, at all ?'' inquired Mrs.
Calogan.
Shure, Mary, me dear, an oraycle
is person as knows everything pretty
much. There's lots of 'em in the ovid
country, though you don't be seein'
so many of them out here. They can
cure your disaises and tell you whether
the man as you're goin' to marry is
black or red headed. The wan as
lived in Tnraloo was the queerest old
body We ever seen The childer was
terrible scared of her, and she lived in
a bit of cottage up on the hillside
all alone. But wan nIght-Dennis had
been terrible bad that day, / moind-
1 got all my courage together. and
walks boldly up to the door.
Come in, sez voice, an so in !
goes; an there was great big old
woman, wild an arm on her like a
blacksmith, sitting over the fire,
stirrin' it up wild de poker.
Well, explained the situation to
her as quick as | could, an she was
mighty kind and considerate She
axed me then If he was a good work
man.
We'll, to tell You the truth. he
All EuN 10 q bhV SpiSSIs SCI 4.
All, yes, yes, YES, seZ she, kind
of quick-like, ia ping her forehead
meanwhile. i grasp the situation
now, Mrs. Quinn. f'm afraid your
husband is victim of inoculated de-
suetude.'
Me heart jumped into me mouth
at that, as | thought of me two little
darlints. is it c; him p seq /.
- Not a kif nf ~ con che Il
work is certain cure for it. Send
your husband to me at once, Mrs.
Quinn, and I'll see to it that he be-
haves himself
Well, / went home then an told
Dennis as how the oraycle was after
wantin' to speak wild him. Faith,
Mary dear, you never saw a man so
scared in your life. However, he was
that scared of her that he didn't dare
TO refuse to 60 He got back again
about midnight lool1in' like whipped
puppy.
Dennis. darlint,' sez /, full of
curiosity, to be sure. Now. what
was the oraycle after sayin' to you p
Della seq he, kind of husky like,
don't be akin me. 'Tis a dead secret
hetwixt us two, so let us be drawin'
veil over it.
Well. / wouldn't have been a
woman at all if wasn't dyin' for to
near the particulars; but twas fruit
less entOirely. Never a word could I
squeeze out of him by hook or by
crook. The weeks went along, but
Dennis never touched a drop. was
deloighted. to be sure; and then he
cot so domesticated He used to come
home foine an airly an play wild the
children and the cats. We had five
cf them same, and Dennis had treated
them terrible. He used to hate the
very sight of them and throw them out
Of the house. But now all of a sud-
cen he couldn't make enough of them.
Ee rlayed wild them and strolxed 'em
Gown. and now and then he'd bring
home a can of cream specially for the
big black Tom. Sometimes it would
fairly knock me specifies wild sur
pFise. but things went along so foinly
1 was continually shaking hands with
meself.
Six months went by,'' continued
Mrs. Quinn-and suddenly her voice
dropped and she heaved tremendous
sigh g six months went by and then,
them
All, now, don't tell me. AS he
broke out again r. exclaimed Miss
Cadogan. excitedly.
Mrs. Quinn replied with a doleful
shake Of her head Twas on st. Pat
rick's day." said she. And the next
morning. continued Mrs. Quinn. " he
calls me and jimmie and Tim into the
room. He was in bed still, wild his
night cap on, We moind.
Della. says he. very s0rr0wfuIly,
- - -
Go ahead. Dennis, dear SEE /,
for wasn't g0in' to reproach a man
when he was feclin that away
8. eDalsa M aan.1 e. L. aaaA..h