The Louisiana populist., 1896-11-13
THE SAVING OF MIR. O'GRADY
BY W. J. HAMPTON.

fee plantation, and kept out of poll
tics"
Gan Irishman and kept out of poll
tics?" l asked.
Tom smiled.
81 kept out of politics until ]
thought | had some show and then ]
went in like"
"An Irishman," I suggested.
"Just so, my boy" he admitted,
"and we had it lively. still retained
my American citizenship IN case of an
emergency, taf that did not interfere
with my duties as boss, and boss
was, though could not vote. At the
end of five years had q tremendous
influence, coffee plantation, a pay
ing mine and good bank account in
New York City, where it was safe.
was twenty-seven years old, and q ris-
ing young man at that age has heart,
If he is any good at all, and I was some
good, If 1 do say it myself. 1 was not
much on society, as that term goes,
but knew some of the best families
In the place and visited them. Then
there were some other families / did
not visit, notably that of the man
who was nv opponent always in the
field OF politics. He was a rich old
fellow, with two sons and daughter -
Dolores. there. remembers her quite
well"-and Mrs. O'Grady nodded
pleasantly, as if she had no fears now
of any pretty girl anvwhere-"and
he was fighter from Wayback. As
say 1 never visited the generals
house. but I did meet his daughter at
the houses of my friends, and of
course she, of all the girls ! meet
must be the one / should fall in love
with. / don't know why Cupid sends
his victims such luck, but l notice
that he often does. 1 had known the
generals daughter about year when
the forty-seventh revolution-or was
1t the hundred and forty-seventh ?"
he asked of his wife with a smile
occurred, and l was in it up to nv
neck. The others had managed to
keep out of, but this one caught me
before l knew it, and / found myself
the head and front of the party against
the Government. The only thing l
did not like in the affair was thst the
general was at the head OF the Govern
ment party, and the generals daugh-
ter was the sweetest woman in the
world, and we we're in love, general
or no general. Well, the scrap came
of in due course. and after shooting
the town full of holes for o week or
so, any soaring the women and chill
dren into fits, my side went to pieces
and ten of its leading spirits went to
Jail. From that point the transition
was easy to the sunnyside of wall on
the outskirts of town, and early one
fine morning we found ourselves
grouped there with fifty Govern
nent soldiers drawn up in line
pointing loaded guns at us. In plain
English, it was an execution bee, and
we were the guests of honor. Ihad fixed
up my business affairs in the few days
allowed me, and as there was no one
thought as much of as I did of the
generals daughter, willed all my
property to her, thus proposing to
hesp Goals of fire on the old gentle.
mans head while he was after mine.
You might think / was frightened as
stood there before those guns, but l
wasn't. True, I was q bit nervous,
butsI wasn't scared at all, aud l insist.
ed on facing the shooting party and
giving the command to fire. They
wouldn't let me do that, though, and /
had to face the wall with nv back to
the foe. I stood at the head OF the
line, about three feet from the man
next to me, and waited calmly for the
end of things. At the first command
braced myself, and when the COM
mand Fire came / tried to steady my
self, but in spite of all l could do
when the guns went off I went up into
the air as if l had been bounced on q
spring board and came down in
heap?"
"You weren't killed thenr" ex.
claimed my wife, in the pre-eminently
rational manner of all women.
Eyes, madam" smiled O'Grady.
"Why, Mr.. O'Grady," she began,
but l laughed, and she realized that
Mr.. 0 Grady was not as dead as his
statement might lead one to suppose.
"Just the same, Tom," said, 81
should think the nervous strain and
your Imagination combiued would
have snapped the vital cord when
those guns went of. You know there
are any number of such cases we'll au.
thenticated. You must have had strong
nerves to have withstood the shook.
"Suppose, Dolores" said Mr..
O'Grady to his wife, "you take up the |
story and finish it,"
'It is very simple" she said, with |
an accent 80 charming that any at.
tempt to put it into written words |
would be sacrilege. "You know it |
was the daughter of the general who
saved Mr.. O'Grady's life. OF course, if |
he had known. he would have died |
with the others when the guns were
fred at him, but the Government
party did not want to shoot Mr..