Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1893-03-16
"What do you want, Mixer" whispered

"What do you want, Mixer" whispered
Patsey.
"Do you want to see de purcession"
asked Mike. What purcession?" in
quired Patsey.
"De st. Patrick's Day parade" "Why,
is dey goin to leave us OUT" inquired
Patsey eagerly.
"Naw," was the reply, "dey wouldn't
leave cat out o dis. Me an you'll go
out widout askin 'em." By this time
Patsey was thoroughly interested.
"Who was st. Patrick" he said.
"Why," answered Mike, "ain't you never
heerd o him? He's de priest wot driv
all the snakes out O Ireland. He was
gyant ten feet high. He was torrer-
bred, sure, he was, an no mistake. Ev-
cry year de bands goes out, and de Hi
bernians and de Land league and de
st. Patrick's sassieties puts on dere
Sunday clothes and goes out in the street,
an de band plays johnny, Get Yer Gun
an 'Boom-ta-ra' an st. Patrick's Day
in de Mo'nin.' It's great, Patsey; it's
great. Les CO."
Patsey's eyes dilated as he listened to
this glowing recital. His red hair almost
rose on his head with anticipation.
"How kin we goT he whispered.
"Wot's de matter wild de windy?' in
quired Mike.
Oats all right, Nike" said Patsey,
palpitating in the darkness, 'but de win
dy's sixty foot high"
"Ah, don't be gittin nifty, Patsey,"
said Mike. "Lay low; lay low," he con-
tinued as a head rose above the cover
let in an adjoining bed. Mike dropped
softly to the floor. They waited until
the head sank upon the pillow again;
then Mike said:
"Put on yer duds an come over to my
bed"
In less than two minutes the boys had
donned their clothes, all but their shoes.
Then they both got into Mixes bed and
pulled the clothes over their heads SO
that they could arrange their plans to-
gether without danger of being over
heard.
you'll be de sojer an I'll be de gineral.
See, Patsey," said Mike in mufied tone,
with his mouth close to Patsey's ear,
"we'll take de bedcords out o your bed
an my bed an tie 'em togedder. See?
Den we'll slide down de rope to de groun
an skin out over de wall. Hey, how
does dat hit yer"
Oats great, Mike; dat's great" an
swered Patsey, "On'y we mustn't make
no noise, cause de odder kidsll get onto
us and want to go along"
Leaving Mikes bed and going back to
his own, Patsey placed the bedclothes
and the mattresses softly upon the floor
in the darkness and began untying the
BEDFORD. 1t was knotted SO tightly that
| he often had to use his teeth. His heart
beat a lively tattoo against his ribs as he
| gnawed away at the knots, but after an
hours hard work he held the rope in his
hand and walked softly over to where
Mike was still at work. Both boys ut
tered sigh of relief as Mike united the
last knot, and the two ropes were care
| fully tied together.
| "What'll we tie de rope to?" asked Pat
sey as they stood under the deep en-
brasured window in the 4-foot wall.
"Wen bring my bed over an tie it to
dat" was the reply.
This was a very difficult job, as the
bed was of iron, 6 feet long and feet
wide. But they were materially assisted
in their task by rift in the clouds
which permitted little light to steal in
the window. After they had secured
the rope to the iron railing of the bed
Mike crawled upon the window sill and
raised the sash, and while Patsey hung to
his feet he leaned out and looked down.
ward. Only black void met his gaze.
He crawled back into the room much
more quickly than he had gone out,
whispering:
"Patsey, tie one O your shoes to de
rope till we see is it long enough to
reach de groun."
The leather plummet was swung off
into space by Mike, who turned a min
ute later and whispered eagerly:
II felt de shoe hit de groun, Patsey.
De ropes long enough"
Then the natural fear caused by the
darkness and the thought of hanging by
a thin cord against cold wall sixty feet
high began to have its effect. Mike
crawled back into the room again, and
with white face and chattering teeth
said;
"Patsey, You go down fust. You're
lighter den I am. De rope might break
wild me, an den you couldn't git down.
Seer
Patsey did not see the selfshness of
the proposal, but he was frank enough
to say, "Dat's all right, Mike, but I'm
afraidr'
"Of course you're afraid" sneered
Mike in a tense whisper. 81 knowed
% Iii
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