The record-union., 1892-06-04

done harm to man or mortal. Yez must
be maxim mistake"
"Sorra mistake" replied one in Terry
Reilly's voice. "Its Thady Connor we
want, and no other. But we don't want
you,. ma am, so ye'd betther so and sit
down IN your corner. But ye can give
Thady good advice. if ye like"
"Ay,' said the elder Reilly. eagerly,
give him an advice, Mrs. Connor, not
to pay his rint, and Well go quiet and
alsX, anu no more about it,"
She looked from the fierce men with
their blackened faces, to Thady, pale,
erect and determined, and then said:
"Iu give him no advice. He's old
enough TO do TOR himself"
Nv ell, Thady, what do We say? VIII
ye give your word you'll pay no rint
ana let uz go? or will you take your
batin'?'
go on to bed, mother" said Thady.
Here, come out-out o this, boys; this
is no place to he talkin'."
we may as well settle it as we're
mere" said buriy savage Goshen
he1y's tather); perhaps he thought his
mothers presence might have shaken
Inady's resolution. $50 now, Thady,
Whlch'll ye haYe-nO rint and NO batin'
or both. Take your choice"
"III pay me rint while l have a shillin'
In me pocket" said Thaddy, doggedly;
'and bad luck to yeZ all for dishonest
That word was the signal.
"Hould him, boys!" cried Terry Reilly.
Two OF them seized him and threw him
down. The rest raised their sticks. when.
with cry Of anguish, the mother, who
had listened breaChlessly to the short dis
cusslon, threw herself upon the PROSTATE
form Of her bow
''Thady, Thady, avicll! I'Il not let them
hurt ye!''
They tried to drag her from him, but
she chung SO tightly they could not move
her.
He must get it, amy way" they NUT
tered; and shame-Oh, everlasting
shame Ito lrishLnen, to men, the blows
1ell fast and thick upon mother and SON.
and the silver hair which mingled with
his brown locks, was soon bedabbled
with blood.
1t was done! The cruel deed was done :;
and, sated with vengeance, the murder
ers took up their sticks and silently de-
parted into the gloom OF night and storm.
Fitting surroundings for deeds of dark
neSS
The morning dawned chill and gloomy.
The rain had ceased, but the wind still
mOaned III the chimneys. Mary, who had
gone to bed early, awOke early, and her
first thought was, 'TO-night them black
guards IL be taken; but l wish me father
wasn't in it. II try and keep him in
She got up and dressed quietly, so as not
to disturb the Others, and stole nOiselessIy
into the kitchen to set the fire and fill the
kettle. She put some bog wood on the fire
and its CHEEKY blaze soon lit up the little
Kitchen ana gave her light to go about.
She went over to the corner for the big
iron pot to put it on to boil the stirabOut.
AS she stopped to lift it up she started
back with horror.
What did she see? Only the two black
thorn sticks which always stood in that
corner-but on the sticks We're stains like
| blood. She seized one Of them to ex-
anime it more closely. Good Godl there
was blood on it-blOod and hair !-brown
hair and silver hair q God what could
it mean? She must know, and out into
the wild morning, with the first faint
streaks OF dawn beginning to show in the
stormy sky, Mary rushed.
Straight to Thady'S cottage she ran.
The door was shut, but not fastened in
side, so it opened easily at her touch, and
Mary went into the kitchen. All was
silent and dark; the daylight had not vet
penetrated through the narrow, smoke
grimed window. Mary paused on the
threshold = something, she knew not
what, filled her with vague, undefinable
fear. Then she moved a step forward
and her foot tOuched-What?
She staggered and started back, and
opened the door wider.
= The light came in the first beams of the
now risen sun. oh, shut the door, Mary
Let not the blessed sun shine in on such
a sight-cover it up in darkness and
gloom. Hide it, bury it out OF sight.
Mother and son lay clasped in each
others arms in the long sleep of death.
The frail, worn form OF the feeble mother
had been unable to shield the son from
the cruel hail of blows. But she had died
for him, and with him, and ''in their
death they were not divided"
Could mothers heart wish for more
:.
Years have elapsed since that terrible
morning. The tftZgeralds have shut up
the old house and gone to live in Eng
land-as Edward said, shaking the dust
of that accursed country from their feet"
Mary Reilly is with them, but no longer
the same Mary. Something seems lost.
something gone. She seldom speaks. and
never smiles, and though she can do the
easy household tasks allotted to her. still
it is evident that, as they say in her
country, she is not ''all there"
Strange to say she has never mentioned
Thady COnnOr's name, and no one dares
to break through the mysterious seal set
on her lips. They hope the dreadful past
is buried in forgetfulness, but they know.
not. She often seems to listen intently
and watch for someone, then resumes her
work with a sigh, but still says nothing
and asks no question. But it is quite
evident that, as she said to Thady once.
"If it were to be tor twenty years she will
never look at another boy."-Black-
woods Magazine.