The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1894-06-16
the bed, the altar with it's statue and


lamp, and the perfect purity We had
scarcely looked for. We concluded
that we should have to remake our
impressions OF Joanna.
When we went down at last she
was sitting at the tea table, voluble
as usual, and buttcring hot potato
cakes as they came from the griddle.
The father and mother were looking
at her with pleased admiration; the
placid baby lay on her extended
knees; young Jennie was standing
by her skirt with an air Of proprietor
ship. We had said to each other up
stairs that the brother and his wife
were OF finer clay than Joanna, a
judgment we afterward thought upon
remorsefully.
! However, there was no doubt that
the simple refinement and good will
written in the faces OF the pair did
not belle them. have seldom spent
IA pleasanter evening than IN that
farmhouse kitchen. 1t was cold
enough to enjoy the big turf fire the
tea and eggs and cake were delicious,
and served with cleanliness that
| left nothing TO be desired.
Then james O'Connell, though
| slower-witted than the redoubtabe
Joanna, who often reminded him Of
| this or that as he pain stakingly elu-
cidated for US the problem Of land
lord and tenant n shown on the Pol
timore estate, was man Of much in
! telligence, and fair-mindedness
which came OF his extreme gentleness.
He said very little OF his own suffer
ings in the bleak winter OF eviction,
when the shelter for him and his was
one Of those 'conical huts under the
lee Of Barlass.
II wouldn't live through it again,
ladies'" he said, mot for power.
We carry the traces of it still, me an
Mollie, and even little Jimmie, the
creature. But, thanks be to God, and
another who'll be nameless" "-he lifted
eloquent eyes to Joanna-''sure it :
in heaven we are now, an God knows
if we'd be as happy if we hadn't had
taste Of the other place"
The mystery OF this speech was elu
cidated when Mrs. O'Connell took us
to put on our hats. Joanna had gone
out with her brother to see ~ bit
that needed drainin'." Nothing had
amazed us more in this extraordinary
girl than the practical knowledge and
enthusiasm she showed about farm
ing. We had left them to set forth
up the boreen; Joanna with young
Jennie by her side, and with the
baby clasped TO breast suddenly, it
seemed to us, grown maternal, Mrs.
O'Connell watched tn, IN forth with
much pride and tenderness, and then
led the way to "the room"
We said something Of Joanna's
cleverness and beauty. AS we did II
flush came up in her sister-in-law
delicate face. In her excitement she
became quite loud-voiced and asser-
tive.
Handsome she is, an clever she
is, ladies'" she said: but our joan
mas better than any other. She hates
to be talked about, an il she was
here would be the first to clasp her
hand over my mouth. She'll never
own it to any one that it was h bit
of n fortune that took us, as Jennie
says, in heaven. She had f300 Of
her own that the ould man scraped
an saved.
He left Jennie the land, but what
good was ii when the old lord died,
and Poltimore came in an riz the
rint? When we were out there un-
der Barlass she never mentioned to
us what was in her heart. She came
often bringing the food and the
clothes that was life to me and Jem-
mie-Jemmie that lay six months
with lung complaint caught in that
rotten place. An little Jennie at
the breast, and little Jo, God bless
her! expected But the day that she
could release her fortune, for the ould
man had tied il up until she was 2l,
she was off to Cork to 'torney, an
she said nothing to any one till she
had bought the lease of Agleesh
from Major Hannay.
and one day, when Jennie was
that low that | feared he'd never lift
his head again, she came marching in
and flung the ledse on the quilt.
Get up, Jennie . Connell, she SAID,
your farms waiting for you And
the next day we moved here; and
from that hour Jennie began to
pick up life and hope. We've done
finely since then, thank God; ard
Major Hannay, kind gentleman that
he is, is, maybe, II little kindlier to
Jennie than to another by raison of
the good will he bears Joanna"
She stopped for breath, and then
went on again more quickly.
Maybe tits shame to us for taking
it" she said "but sure twas all done
before we knew word about it. The
cruel thing was that Joanna's match
was nearly made with young Spell
man OF the mills beyond. He cried
of quick enough when he heard
where Joanna's : fortune was gone to.
Joanna won't speak Of him now but
| often think she'd liking for him.