Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1904-02-19

fingered a pen on the desk at his side.
the he ran again and again
through the hair that stood in massos
on his head. His face was long, and
the cheek bones protruded. His nose
was power and his chin was resist
ance.
He listened silently until Father
Maurice had ended. Then he laid the
zen carefully by the inkstand, un-
rolded his gaunt limbs and arose.
NO." he said, slowly; IL cannot in
terfere."
"Ent his wife-his mother?" asked
the priest.
Tic should have considered them
before said the Governor, sadly. "If
you prepare a petition, l will consider
1t, but cannot offer you any hope.
Ihey all come to me with the same
plea-the wife and the mother-but
they do not take the wife and mother
into account when the blow is struck.
1T Is late to think of them when the
prison door Is closed. You will pardon
me, father, but ! an very tired to
night
He extended his hand in token that
the Interview was at an end, and Mike
arose from his chair in the shadow.
He stood a~wKwardly turning his hat
while the Governor shook the priests
hand, and then shufled forward to be
dismissed.
Goodnight, sir" said the Governor.
II did not hear your name
Murphy" said the priest, quickly;
"Michael Murphy. He is the father
Of the boy"
The Governor looked the old man
over carefully, and the old mans eyes
fell under his keen glances.
Mike Murphy?' asked the Govern
or, slowly. Are you the Mike Murphy
who used to go to old No. 3 school in
HarmOntown forty-no, fifty-years
ago? There was a Mike Murphy sat
OF my bench. Are you the boy they
called Red Head?"
The old man tried to answer. His
lips formed the words, but his voice
did not come. He nodded his head.
"Be seated, gentlemen" said the
Governor, and Father Maurice sat
down hopefully. Mike Murphy drop
ped into a chair with deeper dejec-
ton.
"Well, we'll" The Governor nodded
his head slowly, his gray eyes search
ing the rudy face before him. $50
you are the Mike Murphy who used
to drub me?"
He smiled grizzly. His eyes stray
ed from the old mans face, and their
glance was lost in the air above his
head. He smiled again, as he sat with
the fingers of his left hand pressing
the thin skin into a roll above his
cheek bone, for he recalled an Incl
dent Of his boyhood.
The Governor had once been an ar
i. rant little coward. His mother lived
in the big white house two blocks
above the schoolhouse, on the opposite
side of the street. Red Head Mike
lived across the alley in a shanty'
The Governors mother bought milk
of Mrs. Murphy, and Red Head
, brought 1t every evening. He was the
: first to 90 barefoot in the spring
picking his way with painful CAREFUL
> ness over the clods in the street, and
he was the real thing. He even chew
: ed n real tobacco. The others chewed
l~icorice or purple thistle tops, but Red
. Head had the real thing. He ever
: smoked a real pipe without dire conse
: ouences, and laughed at the othel
boys' mild substitutes of corn silk anc
I "lody cigars while the way he swort
was n liberal education. All the boy
y swore more or less, especially whel
they were behind the barn smoking
: corn silk, but they knew 1t was no
: natural. 1t was a puny imitation, bu
i, the Red Head article sounded right
- But It was when 1t came to fighting
that Red Head proved his right Il
. the worship of the words. He coul'
> lick any two boys in the school.
The Governor, who was plain WI
: lie Gary then, could not fight at all
d. His early youth was II great fear o
being whipped. The smallest boys II
: the school were accustomed to prac
l tice on him until they gained suh
Gent dexterlty or courage to attac.
: one another. He had a hundred OF
probrious nicknames, which he accep'
ed meekly. "Cry Baby" was the "a
o vorite. When he was attacked he III
e his face in his arm and bawled, lear
= ing his arm against any convenlel
fence or tree, while his tormento
: drubbed his back at pleasure IL
: was happy when he could sneak hon
u,,no,astad The chiefest of his to