The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1894-10-23
ANDY COPLEY'S LIE.

! ulttl. lOtetl1 MIN INV Ia
kindly face tanned and Melted in wrin
kles; his long hair, grizzled this many
day; his stubby gray beard; his ligh
blue eyes, bespectacled for reading-yes
there he sits. Many are the cracks
have had with him. Yet there was on
story he chose to leave buried in silenc'
and that his own. / never dareC
breach the topic, albeit l inwardly
burned with impatient curiosity. On
day, however, the history became mine
unsolicited Some remark | CHANGED tx
let slip anent his lifelong bachelorhooC
caused an infrequent faraway look t.
settle upon his eyes. We were walking
up the steep, cobble paved ''street" a
the time, past the lime washed front o.
the Trawlers' inn to the higher ground
from which the old Norman church
tower kept ward over the slumberoui
village
"Why haze l never married, say yer
the old man exclaimed after a long
spell of silence. Like enow, ye'll heal
afore long, an 1 don't see what should
stop me fro tellin We mysen, if SO be- >
Hurriedly stepping into the roadway,
Andrew whipped off his broad brimmed
hat and stood motionless. Turning intC
the sanded lane that zigzagged past the
church, we had well nigh jostled two
slow paced women, the younger of then
about 80 years of age, the elder 90 years
or SO older It was the latter that at
tracted my marked regard for it was
toward her that Andrew held his down
bent head. A wan, frail looking crea
ture she was, dressed in black, witt
close fitting, old fashioned bonnet tieC
under her chin in bow of broad BLACK
ribbon Her hair, smoothed evenly upon
her forehead, shimmered silverly as the
new churned foam in the bay. She
moved haltingly, even with the aid OF
an oaken staff and the helping arm Of
her companion.
Withdrawing her arm, she paused il
the pathway and pointed her stick to
ward the bareheaded old fisherman. Ii
thin, quayering tones, as if the words
were said by rote, there being no We
hemenoe in her utteranoe, she cried
"Ah, / knaw ye--I knaw ye Ban ye
for no speal1in me fair. +" With no more
passion than if she were repeating some
soulless formula, she added: Course ye
Andrew Copleyl 1t was liel Curse "
FORTH
Come avail" the other woman put
in coaxingly. Come thee ava home
then.
Unresisting, the old lady allowed her
self to be led away. Through it all An
drew did not stir limb. butstood there
with dotted hat, his head bowed and hil
name of gray hair rufiling in the breeze
We had left the church behind, the
deep rutted lane, the narrow stone style
that gave upon the fields. We had trav
ersed half the length of the meadows
themselves before he spoke.
"Ye asked me how twas never mar
ried," said he slowly. ''That is the
reason. y
So he began upon his life story. Bu
as his narrative would be hard to follow
If l adhered to his exact words, with his
numerous digressions and irrelevancies
uttered with quaint bur of tongue
and, moreover, as his modesty saw fl
to gloss over certain facts which | hearC
Of later in other quarters, venture tC
set it forth after my own fashion.
We bark back a full half century
Port St Bede-no vast size at this pres
ent-was then mere nest of sandstone
shale rooted cottages, planted at the
foot of the hill and struggling disjoint
eddy up to it from the street. Later
| improvements have displaced or rebuilt
most of these one storied dwellings an6
filed in the gaps, but the old Trawlers
inn looks just as it looked 90 years ago
1t lies back some ten PAGES from the
roadway, the shingled space thus OBJ
tanned being highly favored of lounger
and gossips. The spot served an identi
cal purpose so far back as the oldes
memory goes.
A little knot of fisher men and WON
en- foregathered there one Wednesda.
morning to await the arrival of the Mo
perland letter carrier. Twice week, Oh
Wednesdays and Saturdays, he trudgeC
the ten miles to deliver his meage
package of letters. He always made hi
way first to the Trawlers', where 1t hat
become customary for the populace-
those who did not expect letters altk
with those who did-to assemble ant
waylay him. In that manner the cam,
souls got news from the outside worlC
without being put to the expense Of
postal fee, while the official ON his par
was quit Of his letters all the sooner
On this particular morning, however
the gayety of the group was unde
eclipse They talked together in hushe'
tones, full of concern, every now anC
then preferring question to tn
bronzed, middle aged seaman in thei
midst
''An ye're sure we've got the reight
O. t, Jake?' queried big faced won
an, whose skinny petticoat showed he
ample brogues and shapeless ankles
"It'n kill t'lass if she hears O. t. +"
"Oh, I'm moan mista 'en--not me,
answered the seaman positively. L see
him mysen l. Grimsby not three day
back, an ! card it read out i church.
the second time o. akin 1t were-las
Sunday.
Poor maid, poor maidl An her wait
I'm for him here as patient an lovin &
onybody could wish. All, them men
them menu
While the frowsy old crone was shall
ing her gray locks over the perfidy {
mankind she stole a sidelong look t.
ward the window bench, against whic
Andrew Copley-then a we'll set u
young fellow of four and twenty-five
modify leaning.
aye but he takes ON badly wi t,
she said, jerking her head in Andrew
direction. "Im main sorry for him toe
He al avs were sweet ON her, ye knaN
an do believe she'd "a had him If thu
man fro Grimshy hadn' come this wa
wi his pert weel favored face. y
Further tattle was cut short by Il
appearance of the letter bag. In all thel
must have been close ON q dozen lettel
Ia goodly batch for Port st. Bede.
was one of the last which the postma
held aslant to catch the light Mi
Kellettr' he called out wheezily.
"Why, that nun be Hilda exolaiu
ed one of the bystanders. "She ism
here. Yen haze to take 1t up to Il
house "
'I'll save ye the wax, said Andrew
stopping forward. "I'm bound TIN
way, an I'll see she gets 1t. F"
Don't tell her o. the goinRs ON