The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1891-08-22

tonne afore ye die whin tn hunger'l grDiw
ye an tn cold'll pinch ye, so twill. Good
night Z ye, an bad scran t ye fur a
squazerm
Jack Brown followed Mrs. Finn out upon
the sidewalk. He admired the spirit of self
sacrifice which animated her and he decided
to see what she would do with the money.
Mrs. Finn stopped in front of a toy store
She looked in the window and saw many me-
chanical novelties the possession of which
would have made her boys heart leap with
joy. She knew, however, that the money
which she held tightly clasped in her left
hand would not buy even one Of these fas
cinating articles She went into the store.
Mr. Brown came up and went in, too. He
heard Mrs. Finn say: Have We any sleds!n
eyes, madam, plenty of them"
"Show me weeny wan fur fifty cints."
81 haven't a real serviceable new sled for
fifty cents, ma'am, but here is a second hand
one with whole rounds which l can warrant
to poke anything on the hill"
Mrs. Finn hesitated a moment She
wanted to buy so many things that lay
around in profusion, that the sled, even if it
was of surprising swiftness, did not satisfy
her. There were so many colored candies in
the jars, such quantities of golden oranges,
such large and fragrant punches of red ba-
nanas, that she hestated long while before
paying over the fifty cents for the sled. At
last the bargain was consummated, and Mrs
Finn left the store dragging the sled behind
her over the cracking snow. Following her
at a distance came Jack Brown. Mrs. Finn
passed the lime-kiln where Tim Grogan was
shoveling Goals upon the fire. She wished
that some of the Goals were in her cellar.
Brown followed her as closely as he could
without mourning the danger of detection,
and saw her enter the door of the shanty.
Brown stood looking at the shanty a minute,
admiring the beauty of the icicle mellowed
by the moonlight. Then he turned and
walked rapidly back to the village.
Mrs. Finn found her husband seated in q
rocking chair before the fire and grooming
with pain. He had fallen upon the road
when coming home and seemed to be injured
internally. Mr.. Finn was out of breath and
also out of patience He was bruised, too
Mrs. Finn produced the little black bottle
from the closet which was kept there for
purely medicinal purposes AS this was a
medicinal occasion, a little whisky from the
bottle was poured into the teapot. Then the
kettle, which was breathing out white vapor
into the room, was lifted from the stove, and
just enough water added to the whisky to
preserve its integrity and to take the chill
Off. Lifting the cup from the table, Mrs.
Finn approached her husband, who was rock
ing back and forth in evident great pain
Holding the cup under his nose so that the
grateful aroma arose and penetrated to the
inmost tbers of his being, Mrs. Finn said:
TASTE this, that's dear We needn't make
yer mug at it, for it's the rale ould stuff.
Twas taken from Mike Reagan's own bottle
round tn corner. Sure there's more bades
on it than ye could count wild telescope
Aye, but I'm hurried inside, Biddy,"
groaned Mr. Finn.
"Ah, ye may well be hurried afther yer fall.
But if yen stiffen up in yer chair bit an
let drap o. this medicine run down yer
troat, yen be cured before another grippe
gets ye.n
1t may have been the coaxing manner of
Mrs. Finn, and it may have been the smell of
the whisky that reused her husband. AT any
rate the medicine disappeared 1t had an
and magical effect. 1t brought a
flush to Mr.. Firms cheek, it loosened his
tongue, it cured his internal injury and COM
forted his wounded spirit. There was no inn
mediate necessity ON the part of Mrs Finn
for taking the medicine, but there was
malaria in the air of Cooney Island, and SO
she took drop of the medicine herself as a
preventive. The two elder Firms then re-
tired for the night.
On his return to the village Jack Brown
went 70 the pawnbrokerls and redeemed the
shawl. He visited candy store and pur-
chased five big oranges, seven bananas, two
quarts of peanuts, one pound of candy, some
tobacco for Mrs. Firms husband, and a new
brierwood pipe with brass cover. He also
went to millinery store and bought gor-
geOus new bonnet for Mrs. Finn with flower
garden upon it. These articles were placed
in a big bundle and carried by Brown to the
Finn shanty. The bundle was placed under
the big icicle on the back stoop. Brown re-
tired to a little distance and began throwing
snowballs at the ice spear 1t stood the
shock of several balls, but at last one that
was packed harder than the rest struck the
icicle, and the stalactite fell upon the stoop,
breaking into a thousand different pieces.
"Fwhat's that, Biddy." asked Mike Finn,
as he started up from his bed in alarm
Its only the icicle fallin', agra. Shure
tn winds blowin like harrycane"
Mr. Finn crawled out of bed, clothed as he
was in very light attire, and, opening the
door on a crack, looked out upon the stoop.
He uttered am exclamation of surprise, then
dragged the bundle into the house. He spread
the marvels out upon the kitchen floor His
wife looked over the fOOtboard of the bed in
establishment. Said she, Il wondher who
sent all thin illigant thingsF'
IF We are the sinsibe woman l take We t.
be- said Mr.. Finn, as he fished out the new
pipe and tobacco, ''ye won't bother yer head
about where the bundle came from. Shure
God is good to tn poor"
In the morning when the light began to il
lumine Cooney Island, Mickey got out of bed
and crept with palpitating heart to the door.
AT the sight of the sled and the knick knacks