The Worthington advance., 1901-01-25

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Copyright, 1900, by Doubleday & Mcclure Co..
AS delineator Of Irish character Ernest
Jarrold has had but few equals. His Mick
ey Finn" stories have been read throughout
the entire English speaking world, and
have everywhere been popular. The late
c. A. Dana said of them: '"They contain
the most admirable delineation of char
acter. together with a rare felicity in the
description Of the woods and fields" The
following story Is taken from one of Mr..
Jarrold's books recently published by
amieson-Higgins Co., Chicago.
The air of Cooney Island palpitated
with. the fervent heat of a day in
July. The hot air radiated up from
the meadows and the dusty road like
heat from furnace. Even the chick
enc sought the shade of friendly
trees, and the locusts lazily chanted
their midsummer threnody as Mickey
Finn came down Murray street with a
tattered geography, worn spelling
book and a thumbed first reader un-
der his arm.
The boys face shone from it's re-
cent application of soft soap and wa
ter, so that the freckles stood out
like spots of brick dust on either side
Of his nose. He had stone bruise on
one of his toes, and was forced to
walk on one heel. AS he limped along
the roadside, half mile away in the
hazy perspective he could see the lit
tie red schoolhouse in the hollow,
with it's monotonous suggestions Of:
Observation-Disclosures? Yes-the-
can-catch-the-cat."
In fancy he heard the dreary tier
alton of the schoolroom, and saw the
blank white walls speckled with pa
per "spit-balls." He was hot and
tired and dusty, and his toe hurt.
The truth was, that he had asked
his mother to permit him to stay
away from school, and she refused to
allow him to do so. Mrs. Finn's at
tention had been pathetically drawn
to the sore toe, and she had said thai
the injured member would not hurt
him any more at school than at
home. And so the boy looked cross
and felt ugly towards the distasteful
"eddication," which his mother forced
upon him. AS he limped along the
dusty road, he looked off over the
meadow and saw the naples and
pines in Lindsley's> wood whispering
to each other, as they waved in the
breeze which blew fresh and cool
from the Hudson river. These whis-
pers Mickey interpreted as coaxing
49, 40 ;nh 70
follows:
"Come, little Mike, and lie under ou1
protecting branches! Here you will
find the tender birch bark and the
juicy sassafras root! Upon ou1
shady hillocks hidden by glossy
green leaves, hide the red winter
green berries awaiting your coming!
The tree toad will sing his little song
for you, the bubbling spring is dis
tilling a sparkling liquor for your
thirsty lips, and the shady coverts o1
our sylvan dells await you!"
With these enchanting voices in hi:
ear the temptation to play hockey
was a strong one. The tenpter o:
men came to him with the iquit
melody of birds, the soft wooing O.
f1uttering leaves, the rustic of thu
pines thin fingers, and the gurgle O.
brooks. And as he stood in the dusty
road and looked down into the hol
low at the sun beating fercely upo1
the windows of the little red school
house, and realized how sitting wa!
the air inside, what wonder that h,
hesitated!
Then the reproachful face of hi
mother rose before him. AS littl'
Mike loved his mother and feared he
rebuke more than he did her heav,
hand, the thought of her grief i'm
pelled him onward toward the school
But he could not shut out of his men
tai sight the picture of the cool par
adise in the wood where the littl
lake rippled in the sunlight, an
where, far below, ran the wide reach
es of the Hudson river as it loitere'
to the sea. And in this entrancin!
picture his mothers face was blotte'
out as with a sponge from the slat
of his mind; the schoolhouse was for
gotten and he limped eagerly towar
the stone wall to which clung the ri
otous wild raspberry bushes lade:
with fruit. Forgotten was the sor
toe, lost sight of was the long, blac
strap hanging on the kitchen wal
and left behind was the dusty roa
and all the suggestions of work
On arriving at the summit of tn
hill little Mike turned in his track
and looked down upon the schoo
house. He saw the master come t
the door and ring the bell, and hi
schoolmates scamper like corralle
sheep into the building. Then tn
door was shut and Mickey realize
that his sin was irrevocable. H
trembled, too, when he though
that he would have. to make confe:
sion to the priest. But it was to
late to retrace his steps. He was no,
in the narrow path leading to tn
woods. He took off his tattered ca
and the cool fingers of the breeze
lifted the hair from his forehead
he sat down, on the grass stripe