The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-09-29
THE CURSE OF M'QUADE.

THE CURSE OF M'QUADE.
It is = pat theory of mine that in u great
city like New York . man wastes tims
which might be more probably spent goine
10 the theatsr. BY this statement / do no;
mean to reflect upon the morality Of the
stage. 1t is simply = conclusion, as . re-
suit OF experience, that more interesting
characters Gun be seen every day upon The
streets than upon the boards. Especially
ia this true OF life on the east side in thai
curious mixture of nationalities-the Irish
Americans. Take, for instance. the case OF
Jack MsQuade. When ! first met him,
about three years ago, he was 10 years old
a slim, reckless fellow, with no care for ths
present and still less for the morrow.
Was walking down Catherine street one hot
night in August, smoking a mserschau n,
pipe, when jack saluted ms Thus:
..Good %evenin', sir, and would 70 give me
the loan Of \ light?"
Ihanded him the pipe, at the same time
taking in at q Glance the thin, pinohsd face,
the eyes set CLOSE together, the tattered
shirt, the close-croppsd hair and the gen
eral air of rscklessnsss about him.. Ho lit
his cigarette and turned sway with \ polito
'"Thank re, SIR" 7 strolled onward about
twenty feet thinking that here was a 1T
subject for a seat in the Black Maria, when
nv pipe was suddenly jsrked from my lips
and disappeared as if by some necromantic
spell. It did not fall to tho sidewalk; it
did not rise into the air. 1t simply van
ished. If I had been hit by a mimic ball I
could not have been moro surprised.
- IA -mC khrao ynnrfha hnfprA T 1oAryoS
whae my pipe had gone. Then Jack told
he had jerked it from my mouth with a
piece of black silk thread, which he had
cunniugly dropped over the bowl whe n he
lit his cigarette. The audioity of the theft
captured my admiration.
Since that time I have watched the dsvel-
opment Of the young rascal with ever in
oreasing interest. Jack was the younger of
four brothers. He was tho black sheep of
'!ongshoreman of hsrculean stature and had
an inordinate love for the black bottle.
jacks mother was . very large woman and
jolly as all Kerry women are. His three
brothers we're fashioned on a generous plan,
all big, broad-chested, powerful men. Mrs.
MoQuade ran 4 clearinghouse. As she
was q popular woman her house was always
full. She prospsred.
Finding that there was always 'the bit
and the sup in the house, McQuade refused
to work, aud at last became an intolerable
nuisance in the house. When full of bad
the neighborhood. He served three terms
on Blackwell's island, but always returned
more ugly and morose. At last patience
ceased to be = virtue, and at a family coun-
Gil it was formally resolved that he must
60. To this Mrs. MoQuade %strenuoualy OBJ
''B'1es, he'll put the curse on usv But as
the boys lac been raised in enlightened
New York they had no fears of an old Irish
supsrstition. n 90 whom MoQuade came
in ON the following evening little Jack said
to him in the presence OF the family:
and we've made up our minds that as ye
won't be dacint 70 must GO and never come
back"
ssDoes that go?" exclaimed MeQuade,
looking around at the determined faces.
His wife began to cry and would have
Patrick restrained her. This all the boys
exclaimed in unison, like a lot of COL
legians:
McQuade Was dazed for a moment. But
he did not weaken. A look of black ha tired
and malice came into his face as he drew
himself up to his tallest stature and raising
his hand cursed his family. He said:
"May the curse of McQuade be on We!
May hsll's bells follow ye! May 70 dry up
and wither away like the shamrock on the
purple mountain when the bitter wind
comes from the soan'
Then he strobe out of the door, leaving
his wife ~fainting on the floor and her boys
standing around her with patlid faces. He
never came back. There was a gloom in
ths house for moro than a week. But as
time elapsed the curse was forgotten BY the
that tho fortunes of the McQuades had
been blasted. After his fathers banish-
into the most noted character
in the Fourth ward. He joined an
athletic club, and by hard work
soon became the most expert boxer of his
weight in the club. His daily companions
ware thieves and absolute characters. He
was noted for the fsarlessusss of his practi-
cal jokes, such as breaking plats-glaas win
dows with a brick and then coolly telling
the angry owner that the culprit had run
around the corner. His days ware passed
shooting milk pitchers from fire eacapes
with e small rifle and breaking beer mugs
81 they stood on the bar with bullets. One
of his most notorious achievements occurred
about a year ago. One of his mother'a
boarders had taken an intense dislike to
him because Of his tricks and lost no chance
TO irritate the boy. lie naturally resented
such treatment. One morning Jack met
the lamp-liQhter of the ward. Said he:
"Jaek, what time do you come down Oak
street in the morning when you're putting
out the lights?"
about four O'clock" replied tho lamp
lighter.
"Well, will You wake me in the morninR3
I want to go fishing"
'Of course / will. You tie a piece of
tarred rope to your thumb. Leave the win
dow open. and I'll pull until you como to
the window"
Jack went home, and when the obnoxious
bosrder had begun to snore he dropped a
moose over his foot and let the end Of the
rope fall into the street. The next morn
ing be was awakened by a loud noise aud
cries of ''Hoult on. there, ye'rs pullin' me
tos off! Hoult ONT Jack jumped out of bed
and saw the boarder% standing ON one foot,
while his other foot was over the window
sill and roars Of laughter came from the
street.
In such humorous pleasures as this Jacks
youth was passed. Meanwhile the curse was
beginning to work. Ths eldest of the BOYS
caught n heavy cold, which rapidly devel-
doctors said he had died a natural death.
Mrs. McQuade said he died because of the
curse. The next spring another boy passed
away in precisely the sxme manner and WAS
tax n to Calvary cemetery. In the fall Of
the same year the third boy sickened and
died, and only Jack WAS left. Even his
reckless hardihood was disturbed by these
successive evidences OF tho virility of his
fathers maliRn influence. Still he refused
to believe in the efficacy of tho male diction.
But in his innost heart he believed il, and
knew he wasa doomed man. He changed his
ILL.,