Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1900-02-10
Ills good friend she always was to the poor

TWAS Wtth Il saw uSlf uh u So'o w
myself, says ], she's the figure q a young
girl, l says. Yell take taste o this Home
made cake, alannaT
She is made happy forever by Kits un-
mistakable enjoyment Of this last-named
luxury.
"Ay. she's an ilgAnt figure even now"
says Mrs. M0loney, In her depressing voice.
'But time an tlrouble is cruel hard Oh some
of us. | had figure ineself when was
young" with heart-reading sigh.
aye were always slight, me dear, an ye're
slight now too" says Mrs. DAILY, tenderly.
IL niver see the Ike o ye for keepin' on the
flesh. Why, | remember ye well as slipo
a girl, before yer blessed blbby was born,
an We were screed, me dear,-a screed."
"Ycs, was always gintee'," says Mrs.
Moloney, openly colsoled. Still she signs,
and sips her tea with mournful air Mrs.
baiy Is drinking hers with much apprecia-
ton out of her saucer, Vt being considered
discourteous to offer anything p guest
without partaking of the same ones sell.
At this moment little cooling sound COM
ihg from the other corner of the fireplace
| makes itself heard. Instantly the Old wo-
man STOPPING over the turf embers rouses
herself, and, turIing, puts out her withered
hand lovingly toward what looks like box
/
| Young Mrs. DAILY rises, tOo precipitately,
and. hurrying across the kitchen, bends over
| the box.
"Ay, she's awake sure enoughn' says the
! old woman, who has quite Enlightened into
! life. "See how she looks at ye, Molly! The
! colleen of the world, she was ashore mach
ree-sthig."
MANY another fond name is muttered,
! such as ''pulSe q my beaTt," and such like,
| before Mrs. DAILY junior eniergcs from the
! supposed box, but not empty-handed.
"Oh. It is the bibyr' cry Monica and Kit,
! in breath. "Ohl what a darling baby land
what red, red cheeks, just like aJune rose"
1t is the only daughter Of the house, so
! the mother Is of cOttrse inOrdinately proud
of it, She places it, with quite little flour.
ish of triumph, in Monica's arms to Kits
terrible but unspoken disappointment.
'She grows prettier every day. She IS
really the sweetest baby / ever saw in my
| life p says Monica, enthusiastically, towhom
babies are an endless joy.
The mother Is pleased beyond doubt at
these compliments, yet q shade OF anxiety
crosses her brow. TO praise child too much,
I'm the superstition Of these simple folks, is
to overlook it; and when child Is over
looked" 1t dies. The smile fades from Mrs.
Daly's bonny face, and her mouth grows
/ anxious.
"You should say, God bless her. miss
when We give her .he good word, says Mrs.
Moloney, timidly, who is also bending Over
the beloved bundle, and notes the distress
in her neighbors eyes.
"God bless herw says Monica, with pret'
ty solemnity, after which the mothers face
clears, and sunshine is again restored to 1t.
II think she knows ye," she Says to MOni
ca. "See how she blnks az We! Arrah
look, now, how she clutches at yer hand
Will We come to yer mother now, darlin',-
will ye? Sure is starvin' ye must be by
this"
"Ohi don't take her yet" says Monica
entreatngly.
A little figure with naked legs and feet,
creeping into the doorway at this moment
draws near the baby rs if fascinated. 1t Is
Paudheen. the eldest son Of the house, ant
baby's nuSe,--saye the mark!
"Come nearer, Paddy, says Monica, smil
ing at him with sweet encouragement; bu
Paddy stops short and regards her doubt
fully.
Come then, and kiss your little sister
continues Monica, gently; but Paddy is stu
obdurate, and declines to hearken to thl
voice of the charmer, charm she never Sc
wisely. There is indeed a sad lack both o.
sweetness and light about Paddy.
AN what dye name be standin' there
an niyer word out O ye in answer to th'
lady, ye ill-mannered caubogue| cries III
mother, deeply incensed The laughter /
all gone from her face and her eyes arr
aflame. "What brought ye in at all, we ugl!
spalpeen, if We came without civil tongue
In yer headY'
al came to see the baby an to get ne din
ner," says the boy, with hanging head, III
silence arising more from shyncsS than SUI
lenness The potatoes have just been lHte'
from the fire by Mrs. MOloney, and ar
steaming in distant corner. Paudheen look
wistfully toward them.
Dickens sign or taste yell get then,
, only to tache We betther manners. Be OH
! now, an don't let me see We agin."
/, I'm hungry" says the boy, tears coming
, into his eyes.
! "Oh, Mrs. Daly~ says Monica, in dis
tresSed tone.
"A deal o. harm it will do him to be hun
cry, thin ~ says the culprit's mother, wit
T al angry voice, but with visible signs of r.
lenting In her handsome eyes. "Be off wi
! We, now, / tell ye." This the last burst c
the storm. As the urchin creeps crestfalle
: toward the doorway her rage dies, its deaf
; being as sudden as its birth. Come bac
herew she cries, inconsistently. "Wh'
d'ye name be takin' me at me WORD llk
q that! Come back, I tell ye, an go an al
y something, we crathur. How dare We behaN
= as if | was n bad mother to YEP
}, The boy comes back, and, raising his Dol
, nv head, smiles at her fondly but audaciou
ly.
n Look at him, now, the blackguard, say
) the mother, returning the smile in kin'
:, "Was there ever the like Of him? Go an a
y yer praties now, and thank yer stars Mi
, Monica was here to Saya good word for ye
= Paddy, glad of his rescue, casts sf
q glance at Monica, and then, going over
y where his grandmother and the pot of pot
q toes rest side by side, sits down (cIose cue
: died up to the old dame) to fill his lit
empty stomach with as many OF those escl
lent roots as he can manage, which, in trut
:, is the poor chid's only dinner from year
:, end TO years end. And yet it is remark
- BILE fact that, in spite of this scanty fare, Il
y Irish peasant, when come TO mans estat
l. is ever strong and vigorous and well grow
- Andwho shall say he hasn't done his quet
, good service TOO, on many battlefield? al
"a even in these latter days, when sad reb,
~ lion racks our land, has not his name be-
- worthy of honorable mention on the plail
: of Tel-el-Kebir?'
~ II don't think he looks like bad DO
.. Mrs. DAILY" says Monica, refectively, ga
n ing at the liberated Paddy.
t bad, miss, is it," says the mother, wll
having made her eldest born out villain,
!, now prepared to maintain he is veritat
a saint. 'You don't know him, faiX. Su
there niver was the like of him yet. He
"a a raal jewel, that gossoon O mine, an {
), light of his fathers eyes Signs Oh it, he
"a die for DAILY! There niver was sich a 10
Va betwixt father an son. He's the JOY o I
life, an the greatest help to me. IT'S
!, minds the pig, an the baby, an ould gran
y IL 80 m, n,,nr,ihinn I'd be without I