The record-union., 1894-03-17

lave. We'll be havin' yer two purity sthills,
Misthress Dreenw came pompously from
Dennis at the door.
| Four shrill voices here blended in wild
chorus OF misery and despair.
! Waste no time, Thin, ladies DEAR" con-
tlnued Dennis from without. Were not
naygurs nor haythen, aytber. Well give
ye twinty minutes good. t get inside yer
traps-an' we won't peep, eyther. Put
Everything yer ownin' on yer backs, thin;
] fur It's th' diviPs own ride to Galway.
! Better put on your best togs, thin, dar-
! lints, an have your best foot iorard. Yell
made 'em all whin facin' th' Judge, atore
| yer hanged ~
Another chorus of wailings followed
Dennis fiippant advice. with sound OF
| scuff1lngs, embracingS, nurrylngS and
scurryings and the enforced hasty dress
ing and the grouping together their
Wretched belongings, mingled with the
| pltitul lnterjections OF despairing love and
loving despair.
J Finally upon Dennis sturdy demands,
a light was struck, and the men stimuli
taneousiy entered the cabin, where the
four poor creatures covered and shud-
dered i'll the corner by the fireplace.
Have ye surrindered fairly?" de-
manded Dennis. sternly.
'Och, murther!-an' we have, thin, en-
tirely ~
"4e ed better. me sundowns! Don't ye
lave th' place where yer at. Twinty
cannons IS pinted at th' shebeen. 1t ye as
much as sthir, yell be blowed, cabin an
all, beyant Ballynahinch Come, byes,
we'll have look at th' beautiful sthills."
They raised the tagging, and, with the
lanterns they had brought, at once de-
scended into the cavern. Mother Dreen,
ever coward before threatened danger.
but who always rose to the hight of hero
ism III times of actual conflict or adyan-
tage, with wild cry of victory sprang to
the tucking-table, slipped the heavy stone
in its place and jumped ecstatically upon
1t. Then she bade Ellie make haste to the
! Lepracnaun Crag above, for the little bag
OF coin hidden beneath certain rock;
and whispered eXctedly to Nora and
Maureen, who at once flung open the
door toward the boreen, and stood with
clutching hands and heaving breasts be-
| side her.
LET US up! Let us up out o. this, ye
ould bite!' came threateningly from be-
low, with loud rappings underneath the
| tagging upon which Mother Dreen now
stood with blazing eyes.
IVAN at time, thin, darlints; wan at
time. We'd loike t. be raisonin' wild ye
littleW
Consent was the imprisoned gaugers'
only recourse. Dennis came clustering
and pulling first, half-dragged from the
hole by hands that tightened upon his
limbs with almost crushing power. AS
the light was extinguished III the cabin,
he felt himself suddenly swung from his
feet into midair.
''Aisy now, avicks. Toss him over
aisy ~ was Mother Dreen's CHEEKY COM
mand, as the tagging was replaced and
she calmly resumed her solitary guard.
A wild rush was that down the dark
and stony boreen with their strange and
struggling burden, and Dennis laid oath,
long after, that "'Twas into etarnity I
thought I'd swung" But the two
mountain girls knew every inch of the
way to the fine shelving rock near the
lower edge of the cliff, where the waters
were deep and still
Thrice they went and came and thrice
there was cry of terror and a great
splaShlng OF the waters of somber Alli-
gan, while Nora and Maureen had
scarcely gained the hut for the last time,
to find Ellie and her mother with some
terrified consciousness of what had been
done daWning upon their desperate
up after them, all but bursting with
laughter, but full of woful lamentations
for the straits in which the Wretched
women were now placed.
"Out o. this Out o. this or livery
mothers son o. yer necks will be
stretched Och, bad luck t. tn day me
eyes will see it! But IlI save We, me
body an sowl on it, darlints all ~
He grasped Ellie in his arms; walled
over her loudly; hustled and pushed
mother Dreen and the girls out of the
cabin door and rushed them down the
boreen; all the time, while holding their
misdeed before their now Mortified eyes,
gasping out the wonderful part he had
played IN following the CANCERS from
Galway; in running his horses like mad
to distance them and give the Dreens fair
warning; how he had missed il by the
matter Of four miles, only at the last to
blister his eyes with sight of murder
done; and how now, blessed be all the
saints! if they would but make wondrous
haste and do precisely as hidden, and if
there were not twenty and more un-
drowned gaugers lurking about the
bush to pounce upon them, he would
make the race of his life for their lives
and place OF permanent safety besides.
Then il was that Dan Madigan's
wagonette went whirling back toward
old Galway; mother Dreen, Nora and
Maureen snug within the straw, covered
close with blankets and giving vent to
occasional smothered groans, as Dan,
brave rascal that he was, drew Ellie
tightly to bis side, while his eloquent
lips for hours told her the tale of his love
with a running fire of warnings to the
crouching figures in the straw, to ''niver
sthir a hair" for ''th' diviPs own
gaugers' were surely after them, as at
last they seemed to be, for tearing along
behind, came a long-car, its occupants
shiveringly beating their bodies with
their arms, but hallooing threateningly
to those within the wagonette.
'See, darlint, how pll give thin tn fine
slip! ~ said Dan proudly to the cuddling
Ellie by his side, as he dextrously swerved
his team at full gallop into a noiseless pit
of sand, while the long-car dashed furi-
ously on.
The wagonette moved slowly now; and
a misty driZzle fell through the gray of
breaking day as Queens Bridge, over the
Corrib, was crossed and the vehicle
wound carefully along unfrequented
streets, at last hating beside the ghostly
outlines of little parish church.
Then Dan Madigan whispered solemn
ly to those beneath the blankets:
"Whist, now, fur yer lives, an mind
what Pm T. say. It's aisy said, Misthress
Dreen. Th' worst is torninst us, yit!
How can any honest lad. like meself,
hide away four women-an' three o. thin
murdherers !-widout at layst vans his
lawful wife? 1t can't be done! Thin
what? Yer beyant th' age o. marryin',
yerself, Misthress Dreen. Nayther Nora
nor Maureen IL have me. Elie's th' only
wan, as Ive been tellin' her while cras-
sim th' bridge. that can save ye now
What dye say t. that, now, fair and
square, Misthress Dreen ?'
''What do L say? groaned the poor
woman from under the blankets. What
do [ say? Why, Ellie. avick, marryin's
betther nor hangin', any day. Ii there's
proper prayst handy, take Dan quick,
Ellie; take i'm quick; fur. och, murther
I'll soon be smotherin' entirely ~
All, but there was proper prayst
handy" when Dan and Ellie moment
later stole up to the altar of the dim old
al, y,rOr1a,. roriast ooorOh fo, xIro1I-