Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-08-03
Con. Heffernan's Atonement.

Con. Heffernan'S AtOnement.
In the village Of Malby-by-t he-Sea
there was no lad so brave nor so hand
some as black eyed Con Heffernan.
His frame was as bige as his face was
comely, for he stood more than six feet
from the sandy beach, where he
moored his boat and stretched his
brown nets to dry in the sun. In the
race none was sWifter, nor more sure in
the hurly. Unvanquished, too, he was
In the wrestling, and none could WELD
the shilalah more deftly than he. His
heart was kind, withal, save when the
hot blood of passion stirred it and
wrath stood on his temples like a
cloud. Then timid mothers were
afraid for their daughters, lest Cons
brown face and soft voce-fOr at times
1t was soft-should come wooing about
their cottages. But for all that, old
blind Phelim, the piper, could tell how
that Con had wept over his singing Of
love and beauty and death until his
mood changed at the sound of battle
and the clash Of arms and the shout of
victory, for these, too, Phelim could
sing, albeit he was blind and very old
Now Eileen O'Connor was mother
less, and had no fear of Con, for all
she heard of his doings, only lest his
words should prove bigger than his
deeds. And for this reason, and, per-
haps, because Eileen was comely and
straight as a rush, Con took notice of
her when she carried water from the
brook or came with other maidens to
watch the hurry. She did not blush, as
they did, when Con was near, but her
eyes met his fairly, so that he was
smitten with doubts of his courage,
and went seeking a quarrel to confirm
his confidence.
SO it was when Phil Martin came to
Malbay. There was little welcome for
him at first, and many Of the fisher
men grumbled that there was no space
to spare on the little strand for Mar
tins boat But Martin had a soft voice
and a pleasant word for them and
when they had a mind to rail at him
because he had not chosen other fish
ing grounds, he would turn the edge of
their wrath with a jest. And in time
they became glad that he had come to
dwell among them, and were proud of
his singing and of his dancing, for
none showed more spirit in the jig
than he. not even Con Heffernan, when
the fishermen from Galway came
across the bay in their coracies to Wis
it them. He was good, too, at the
~ Oh no.
as Con Heffernan. Neither was he
like the others in Malbay, for his hair
was as the ripe corn in color, and his
skin fair though the sun and the sea
wind made his face brown. And for
this they liked him none the less,
though his boat was the trimmest in
the bay and his sails without a patch.
He was sweet tmepered. too, and none
ever saw him angry. even when the
winds were boisterous and the waves
high. so that no boat could put out to
sea. and famine brooded over them
like a cloud.
But Con Heffernan had no love for
him, and when others laughed at his
Jest. Con would stare gloOmily before
MN from uuuSI hulIltu DlONS
So it happened that one evening
there was a singing match at Vesty
O'Connor's cottage, and the prize for
the finest singing was a piece of frieze
large enough to make a cOatamOre for
the biggest man in the village, and
that was Con himself. At these match
cs old Phelim was judge, for he had
himself been a great singer in his day
before the cold wind had weakened his
chest and made him as hoarse as the
raven SO today he sat by the hearth
with is pipes on his knee, and his
sightless eyes wandered around the
cabin as if in search Of light, while
the young men gathered together out
side. Round about the mud walls o.
the cabin crowded as many women as
could find a place, but Eileen sat be
fore the old piper, watching his wrink
led face and his sightless eyes.
Now the song was made by Phelim
and in it was much about blind Homer
and about blind Phelim himself, and
of the siege Of Troy and Of the hurl!
of Malbay.
y
cabin in their turn and sang, anC
when the song was finished the womeI
applauded more or less according a
they discovered in Phelim's face prais
or blame. Then came Con Hefernan
looking very big and handsome in hi
holiday dress, and a murmur IA,
through the cabin at sight Of his broa
shoulders and tall form So he StOO
before the piper, with the muscle
tense and his nostrils dilated, like
horse that has entered the race course
Then he began to sing, and his vote
filled the cabin, and outside mingle
with the sound of the waves; but hi
eyes looked down into the face G
Eileen O'Connor. Never had he sun
like this, for as he looked at the fac