Orange County observer., 1905-08-24

the order of things as they are, no
matter who went, so long as they
stayed (in place and power)? .Well.
WELL" said the laird to himself, t"any-
way, today it is ours; the herring have
been plentiful, and there is no potato
disease, and this dirty thing is to the
good;" and he trust his shooting ten
ants check into an envelope, address
sing it to his long suffering bankers.
So peace settled down 90 the winged
isle once more.
A crofter woman stood on the shore.
watching her little lad stumbling over
the slippery rocks on his way home
from fishing, string of "cuddies' and
rock-cod in his hand, his cooked fish
ing rod over his shoulder. Her six
year-old daughter clung to her skirts.
The sun had sunk behind a heavy
bank of cloud, and moan came up
from the sea. The tide had turned,
and the wind was rising.
The woman sighed, and gazed sea-
wards with tear-filled eyes, for her
d
and his boat was old and crank.
The three walked slowly up to the
little black house on the hill, one of
the poOrest-loOking in the township,
but warm and snug inside, and water
tight withal, with it's fine close thatch.
The children in bed, the woman
crouched over the peat fire, her thin
hands locked together, her knitting
unheeded on the floor, where a little
cat played with the ball of yarn.
The wind roared round the house.
1t had risen to a gale.
At length her head fell forward on
her breast, the tired body crying out
for sleep and rest She awoke with a
start and sought her bed but sleep for
sock her weary eyes.
The gale was at it's height.
Little Mairi moaned in her sleep,
and her mother rose and took the
child into her own bed, finding COM
fort in the contact of the soft, small
body, and in listening to the regular
breathing of childhood's heavy sleep.
Wide-eyed she listened to the howl
| ing of the tempest. The peats fell to-
| gether; and, as bright flame sprang
up, the door suddenly opened, and her
husband, clad in dripping oilskins,
| came into the room and walked up to
| the fire place.
Something tied the wife's tongue,
and also prevented her rising to greet
| him. He raised his arm and groped in
the chimney for moment, peering up
| it; then she heard him sigh, and he
turned and looked at her, and she
| knew that he was dead, for as she
looked he vanished. With earliest
daylight the distracted wife betook
| herself to the house of her sister, and
told her what she had seen.
The women never doubted, and wept
together during that day, and alas!
and alas! the vision had warned too
truly, and the dread message came in
due course, telling the poor wife of the
| loss Of her husbands boat and the
drowning of its crew. The heavy days
crept on, and winter asserted itself
The poor must work though their
| hearts be broken; and little Mairi was
often left at home alone to watch the
iron pot while her mother carried
creels of peat and potatoes on her thin
shoulders, the cold rain beating on her
| bare head, the wind piercing through
the ragged skirt she had herself dyed
black in respect for poor Donald's
memory.
| Mother said the child one evening,
in the familiar Gaelic, ''there is stone
loose in the chimney. All day was
| afraid IL would fall into the pot
Where is it, ghaol Qove)?" said her
mother. She looked, and there was in
! deed a loose stone that she removed
with her hand, and behind the stone
hole had been scooped out, and in the
hole was a canvas bag containing twen-
| ty pounds in gold and one-pound notes.
Poor drowned Donald's savings!
| The widow burst into tears.
| Would to God that he had got
better boat for 1imself!~ snc sobbed,
.But he never thought of himself, not
he; and now he is gone and we are
alOne"-Chamber'S Journal.