The Winslow mail., 1898-07-16
ACROSS THE RIVER
By WILLIAM HARPER BENNETT.

let me take the thlngS OH TINS cAdiA
now sit We down. How's the good man
and all the childer? An, ha! 4e're
putin, and blowin' like a porpoise'
Ye're not the light-footed gyurl that
used to skip up Rathfine hill-God bless
it and the blue sky over it!-in the good
ould days"
'Bedad, Maggie Bertelli, it-pooh-lt
I'D make inny wan-blow TO climb thim
stairs. You = you made sure you
wouldn't have to go far to reach Heaven,
if you died in these rooms. How have
you been for the last six months, since
you came up to Harlem to see us?''
"We've all been doin' finely, thanks
be to God. Now take off yer bonnet
and shawl, and I'll pour ye out cup O.
tay that I'm keepin' warm for Mary
anins;. she comes home from the CLOAK
shop"
"I'll be deprivin' the child" objected
the visitor.
"Sorra Bit There's enough in the tay-
pot for half Dozen" and Mrs. Bertelli
hurried to the stove on her hospitable
mission, while Mrs. Mulligan took off
the creases in her kerchief that COW
cred her ample shoulders, and surveyed
the tidy apartment with an experienced
housewives critical eye.
Maggie" she remarked to her host
ess, Its beyant me to know how you
can live down here in a double-decker
in Sullivan street among all the dagoes
,r;1o,,+ r,orir, OffaDce 10 ,-G11r rood
man-whin you might just as well be
living up in Harlem among your own
kind, where you could get breath OF
fresh air now an agin."
"Well, Mary Ann, we see Tony's work
is down here, an Mamie sews over in
Broadway cloak house, and it's convan-
lent for thin. The neighbors is quiet,
harmless folks, and not KNOWN their
talk, have little to do wild thin. As
for Tony, he's the best husband and IA
ther, God bless him, that ever lived.
Now here, take this sup O. tay while it's
hot;" and Mrs. Bertelli put the cup of
''tay" on the table in front of her guest.
"Bedad," said Mrs. Mulligan, as she
slipped the beverage, ''you might a gone
furder and Jared worse than marryin'
Tony. But in this barracks, crowded
with furriners of all kinds, you run a
risk of catchin' some kind o. Sickness"
"Thrue for ye. There was two min
an babe, sick wild smallpox, taken out
o. the big tinement next door on'y a
couple O. weeks ago." replied the
hostess,
s'Look at that now! Sure it's the dirt
of the haythens with their rooms turned
into ragshops."
Mrs. Bertelli's Information about the
sickness seemed to have disturbed her
friend, for after moments silence she
said, in slightly hushed voice:
God preserve US, hope you have no
smallpox in this house. Me little Tim
amt as hardy as he might be, and I
wouldn't want to carry the disease
home to him."
''Make yer mind easy" replied Mrs.
Bertelli. "There's none av it here. I
hear me daughter Mamie's step on the
stairs. Wait till ye see what fine big
gyurl she's grown. Good avenin' to ye,
MISS" cried Mrs. Bertelli as the girl en-
tered. "Do ye see who's here? Me cid
friend, Mrs. Mulligan, from Harlem,"
and the mother beamed proudly on the
tall, pretty young woman who kissed
her, and gave welcome to her mothers
friend.
"Arrah, Mamie, wouldn't know you
if I met you on the street." exclaimed
Mrs. Mulligan. you've grown so tall
and ham some. You've got your fathers
big black eyes and curly raven locks,
and the beautiful rosy checks your
mother brought wild her from the ould
dart"
'She's roster than usual this avenin',"
said Mrs. Bertelli. "Ain't We feelin'
well, acushla? Why, yer hand is burn
in',H
I'm not very well tonight, nanny,
I've had headache all day long"
"Give her hot cup O. tay, Mary Ann.
Itll do her good. Thin cloak shops is
SO crowded and stifin' they do give the
girls the headache to be in thin all day.
said the girls mother.
81 couldn't eat or drink, nanny. I'll
rest awhile on the bed. I'll see you
again before you leave, Mrs. Mulligan," /"
and Mamie passed into the bedroom.
''It's fever she has, Maggie y whis-
pered Mrs. Mulligan, ''and as soon as
Tony comes in you'd betther sind for
the docthor. Now it's gettin' late,'
she continued, thinking about little
Tim, ''who wasn't as hardy as he might
be,n and the possibilities of Mamie's
fever proving contagious. It's get
tin late, and have long journey afore
me, SO I'll be goin'. Be sure now, and
come up and see us soon"
hEe'ye taken the heart out O. me,
Mary Ann, wild yer talk about faver.
That gyurl's the apple O. me eye, an if
innything was to happen to her-God
an His Blessed Mother help me, dom t
know what'd become o. me. An her
father-poor nan-his heart an souls
wrapped up in her. There never was
a betther young woman or a betther
daughter. Why, she spint the best part
of her nights tindin' that sick baby next
dure, just to give its mother a chance
to get some rest, and now-Y The good
natured eyes were dimmed with tears.
"Cheer up, Maggie. The grill be all
right in the mornin'. Now, good-by
to you, and come up to see us soon."
'Good-by, good luck to We, ye always
had the cheerin' word for a sorrowin'
heart, Mary Ann" and Mrs. Bertelli
took the lamp from the table and light
ed the way to the long staircase.
. 1 . 70