Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-11-18

/ uDOI
learning the news, began to speculate ant
plan now they might see and hear as much a:
possible of their unwonted visitors Opin
ions were chiefly divided to whether the
Murshadeen cross roads would be the best
station to take up, or the fork of the lane
at Berrisbawn House. People who, for one
| reason or another, could not go far afieIC
| consoied themselves by rejecting that the
| band. at any rate, would be likely to come
| through the village and would no doubt
strike up tune while passing, as it had
done couple of years ago. the last time the
red-coats had appeared in Kilmacrone. And
och, out that was the grand playin' intirely
IL done your heart good just to be hearin
the sound of 1t, bedad it did so. Old Mrs
Geoghegan said it was liker the sort OF
tnunoerstorms they might be apt to have ir
heaven above than aught else she could
mink or, might goodness forgive her for
sayln such thing; and Molly Joyce said
she as lief as not have sat down and cried
when twas passed beyond her listenin', 1,
went that delightful, thumpety-thump, wild
the tune flynn up over it,
The military authorities at Fortbrack were
not ignorant of this popular sentiment, and
mad considered it in the order of that day
For experience had shown that a progress
of troops through the surrounding country
districts generally conduced to the appear
ance before the recruiting officer of sundry
lons-limbed, loose-jointed Pats, Micks and
Joes; and a recent scarcity of this raw ma
| terial made it seem expedient to bring such
an influence to bear upon the new ground
of remote Kilmacrone. Certain brigades
and squadrons were accordingly directed to
move thitherward, under the general idea
that an invading force from the southeast
had occupied Ballybeg Allan. while in pur-
suance of another general idea, really more
to the purpose, though not officially an
nounced, the accompanying band received
instructions to be liberal and lively in its
performances by the way.
All along their route through the wide
brown land the soldiers might be sure OF
drawing as much sympathetic attention as
that lonesome west country could concen-
trate on any given line Probably there
would be no one disposed like Mick Doherty
to get out of the way, unless some Aery
small child roared and ran, If Of a size to
have acquired the latter accomplishment, at
the sound of the booming drums. To the
great majority of these onlookers the spec
tacle would be rare and gorgeous pageant,
a memory Respondent across twilight hued
time tracts as vision of scarlet and golden
CLEANS, and proudly pacing horses, and
music that made you feel you had never
known how much life there was in you all
the while. Some toll, it is true, had to be
paid for this enjoyment When it had pass
ed by things suddenly grew very fiat and
colorless, and there was tendency to feel
more or less vaguely aggrieved because you
could not go a-soldiering yourself In cases.
however, where circumstances rendered that
obviously impossible, as when people were
100 Old or infirm, or were women or girls,
tnls thrill OF discomfort, seldom very acute
soon subsidized, by virtue of the self-presery-
ing instinct which forbids US to persist in
knocking our heads hard against our stone
walls But 1t was different where the be-
noider was so situated that he could imagine
himself riding striding after the raptur-
Gus march music to fields of peril and valor
and glory, without diminishing the vivid
ness or the picture by simultaneously sup
posing himself some quite other person
The CLEAN in young Felix McGuinness
eyes, as he watched the red files dwindle
and twinkle out of sight, was to the bright
enlng up beneath his grandfathers shaggy
brows as the forked flash is to the simmer
ing sheet lightnings, that are but a harmless
reflection from far-off storms. And there
indeed pleasure paid a ruinous duty If
those who were liable to it did not initiate
Mick Doherty's prudence and hold aloof
the reason may have been that they had NOT
fortltude enough to turn away from excite
ment offered on any terms, or that their
position was less desperately tantalizing
than mis-; and the latter explanation is the
more probable one, since few lads in and
about kilmacrone can have had their mar
tial aspirations baked by an impeachment SO
fimsy and yet so effectual.
There was nothing in the world to hinder
MICK from enlistng except just the unreal
sonableness of his mother, and that was an
unreasonaDleneSs so unreasonable as to
verge upon what her neighbors would have
th-.er nv,
though widow woman and therefore en-
titled TO occupy pathetic position its priv
leges were defined by the opinion that .'she
was not SO badly off intirely as she mipbt
ma BEEN. Mick's departure need not have
left her desolate, since she had another son
and daughter at home, besides Essie mar
ried in the village, and Brian settled down
at Murghadeen, where he was doing well
and times and again asking her to come and
live with him. Then Mick would have been
able TO help her out of his pay much more
efficaciously than he could do by his earn
ings at kilmacrone where work was slack
and Its wage low, so that the result of a
lads daily labor sometimes seemed mainly
the putting of fine edge on a superfuous
appetite All these points were most clearly
seen by Mick in the light of a fiercely burn
ing desire; but that awaited him nothing nm
less he could set them as plainly before
some one else who was not thus Illuminated
And not far from two years back he had
resolved that he would attempt to do SO no
more.
The soldiers had been about in the district
on the day before, scattered like poppy beds
over the bog, and signaling and firing till
the misty october air tingled with excite
ment. When you have lived your life
among wide-bounded solitudes, where the
silence Is oftenest broken by the plover's
pipe. or the croak Of some heavily Tapping
bird, you will know the meaning of a bugle
CALL Mick and his contemporaries had
acted as camp followers from early till late
with notwithstanding ardor; one outcome
whereof was that he heard his especial
crony, Paddy Joyce, definitely decide to go
and enlist at Fortbrack next Monday which
gave turn or more to the pinching screw
of his own banned wish. 1t was with n con-
certed scheme for ascertaining whether
there were any chance of bringing his
mother round to a rational view of the
matter that he and his friend dropped into
her cabin next morning, on the way to
carry up a load of turf. Mrs. Doherty was
washing her couple of blue-checked aprons
in an old brown butter crock, and Mick
thought he had introduced the subject
rather happily when he told her "she had
right to be takin' her hands out of the suds
and dippin the finest curtsey she could con-
thrive. and she wild the commander in GIN
eral of the army forces steppin' in to pay
her a visit" OF course this statement re-
quired, as it was intended to require eluci-
dalton, 50 Mick proceeded to announce:
Its himselfs off to Fortbrack Monday,
'listin' he'll be in the Edenderry Light In
fantry; so the next time we set eyes on him
it's blazin' along the street We'll see him.
like the boys we had here Yesterday"
"Ah sure now, thatll be grand" said