The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-12-21
PART I.

been impressed by the liyeliness of lit
lie Killymeen, set in It's nook among
<he lonesome nsountain and mooriaIld,
its one humble street joining the nu-
cleus of a sparse cabin-sprinknng'
,,h;ch strews white fiecks on the far
sweeping green folds hardly pleuaier
than bailstones on grass plot, half
sunny hour after July thundersto1n.
Yet to Bridget Doran. the girl who hao
lately taken service with the Caseys up
Mt the Quarry Farm. it seemed cen
<er of fashion and gayety, being, indeed, |
the most considerable place she had
seen in all her seventeen years. For
they had been spent up at lpugh-
drunesk. a hamlet fully ten miles
deeper among the widest townlands,
with only a rough cart track threading
a black bog, and climbing endless
shaggy slopes, and dropping, over a
purnle mountain shoulder, o'connect
4 with KillymeeaA She had left be-
hind there. three months ago, her fee
BILE old grandfather and alert old.grand-
mother, in tiny high-perched cabin
which felt q world too wide for itssother
;ndwcllers, when this third of their
lives had gone. And ince there had
bren much travehngsof thoughts to and
fro between it and the Caseys' pr-i1n
xvhjtewashed farmhouse at the Dot OF
S;leve Clasarna. At first BridgeTs had
.nade the journey as constantly as her
rrandmother's, but she was young and
busv in a new place, and, as the weeks
went on, she became more preoccupied
with what lay Immediately before her.
The "surree" at Mahon's, fixed for
day in Christmas week, was the most
excitingof the fresh prospects that un-
foldsd themselves, and was looked for
ward to with much pleased interest by
K;Ilvmeen at large. There had been
M surrees in the neighSorhood during
long spell ofvoad times; but this year
matters were looking brighter, and old
Barney Mahon who had thrifty turn
and n commodSous kitchen, was en-
eouraged to make q venture which
promised fair profits at small risk.
For q. surree which. has with quaint ef-
fart borrowed its name from polite
French. is sort Of subscription dance
little moro elaborate in its arrange
mepts than are the kaleys, or conver-
saziones. that beguile so many wfntry
hours in Donegal homes, when all the
dar,r out~of-doors hurtles and FLASHES
with wind and rain, and the neighbors
drift into their places round some ap-
pointed hearth as promiscuously -
wreath of dry leaves swept, rustling, to-
rether by an aerial eddy. At surree
each couple pays shilling, but no re-
freshment is expected save frugally
dispensed tea; and the fiddler Is con-
tent to scrape for o modest fee, and his
chances of small coins from the dancerr.
Dark Hugh McEvoy, being Barney's
cousin, was willing TO supply the music
for this occasion, on specially easy
terms: and, in short, circumstances con-
spired to make it seem desirable that
Barney should meet the often expressed
wishes of his younger friends by an
nouncing the first surree of the season.
It would be Bridget's first taste Of any
formal dissipation, and Rose Casey, her
masters niece, and Kate Duffy, his
plowman's daughter, who lived in the
yard, set her expectation on tiPtoe ex'
tremely by their accounts OF like enter
tainments. Kate and she were to gc
kogether, as it is the custom to attene
surrees in couples. These often art
formed of q colleen with the boy WIKI
Is .spakin'" to her, but often also q
brother and sister make pair, or any
other two friends. Rose Casey was Il
marry Peter O'Donoghue at Shrove
tide, SO she would. of course, go will
him, a fact of which she made Ittll
parade to Bridget who felt, however
perfectly content with Kate's escort: {
sweetheart of her own would hav'
seemed indeed an alarming possession
Her mistress had advanced her shil
ling out of her quarters wages
whole pound--and she had expende'
the sixpcnce left after securing her ad
mission to the surree upon splendi
red glass brooch, which made her thin
her equipment very complete.
But just when everything scenes
gliding most smoothly toward the de
lightful goal, an obstacle suddenl
cropped up and threatened to overthrow
all her plans with one disastrous jol
On certain frost-spangled morning
the postpan brought to Bridget le'
ter whose contents agreed with he
wishes as vi rs dash OF vinegar woul
have done with the thick cream whic
she was churning when the mail al
rived. Her grandmother wrote TO 81
that, "she thought bad of Biddy TO
trampin' the long way her lone frol
K:llymeen 10 their place. and that ol
Bill Molloy was slippin' over wild b
pony and gatherin' of eggs TO II
Magamore on next Thursday mornin
and 'ud give her lift II she'd start alor
wild him when he would be goin' bac
So Biddy had q right to ax lave OF h
mistress. and come home wild ould hi
who'd turn bit ont OF bis way TO pie
her n2: and real glad they'd be to s
eyes on her again" ForNrs. Casey hi
promised Billy her choice Of three da
in Christmas week ~ spend at hon
<iof~v e-o~ff lcirf~ slack Bridget III