Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-08-22
!. LOVERS.
- -
y LUCK
BY Constance darcy Mackay
: Copyright, 1905. by G. H. sutcliffe
xxk4A4k

On a bright May morning as Barry
O'Gin was crossing the fields by a we'll
worn footpath, balancing bag of meal
Oh his back. he caught sight of MORA
Nolan washing linen In the little river
that brawledH its way through the vii
lage of Ballymoran. The brook gushed
and sang over its pebbles, and oira's
young voice sang with it as her white
arms flashed in the clear water. She
was on her knees, straight and supple
as willow, her bare feet tucked un-
der her with only the rosy heels show
ing. The wind caught a strand Of her
hair and whipped it out till it shone
like beaten gold in the sun. Barry
paused, dazzled, and gazed at her, his
mouth agape, his sack of meal forgot
ten on his back. Presently the girl
was aware of his presence and that he
was watching her.
"What are ye gaping at at all?' she
questioned.
AT the loveliest girl in all Ireland"
said Barry, never taking his eyes from
her.
Sorrow be to We If your mother,
knew it," laughed MORA, bending to
her work again. "And angry she'd be
to find ye here. Ye'd best go back to
her"
Barry flushed till his cheeks were
redder than his hair. tits here that
Ill sthop," he said decidedly, dumping
down his sack and seating himself on
the grass.
Moira's thrust had been a keen one,
for all the village knew that he lived
in fear Of his mothers tongue. "Shure,
It's the sting of wasp she has en-
toirely," was the verdict of her neigh
bors, from whom the Widow O'Gill.
held somewhat aloof, though now and
again she condescended to call on Mrs.
Terhune for "a bit Of gossip and
dish Of tay."
Barry was Mrs. O'Gills only child
and the idol Of her heart. Did he so
much as look at girl, Mrs. O'Gill was
filled with alarm. So while the other
lads fingered about the church steps
after mass that they might see their
sweethearts. Barry was hurried off
homeward by his mother. Therefore
1t was with sense of recklessness
and novelty that he gave himself up
to q talk WITH Mora. She babe him
help her wiring the clothes and then
laughed at his awkwardness and
splashed him with glittering drops.
The time went quickly. 1t was noon
before they knew it, and Barry sped
home to his dinner and a scolding.
Yet he hardly heard the words his
mother heaped on him, so >engrossed
was he with the memory Of Moira's
gray eyes and the exquisite curve Of
her lips. Love comes swiftly when one
II young in Ballymoran.
He and MORA met often after that,
sometimes at the edge Of the little
river and sometimes on the roads by
which the hawthorn hedges doomed,
. mass of pink and green. The more
Barry thought Of MORA the more he
realized that his mother would never
consent to his marriage. Moira's
beauty was the only dowry the girl
had. OF all the poor folk In Ballymo-
ran she was by far the poorest.
Nor was Barry much richer. It was
his mother who held the purse strings.
Once, in desperation, he thought of
giving up MORA, and for three whole
days he did not see her. Then quite
by accident he met her coming across
q field. She was about to pass him
with ayerted face.
MORA" he cried brokenly.
At that she turned. She was pale
and there were deep shadows under her
eyes. All that Barry had kept pent in
his heart rushed to his lips, and MORA
listened, looking down and plucking at
q bit of hawthorn she held in her hand,
A lark rose from the long meadow
grass near by, and soaring into the air
poured out song that seemed but an
echo Of the ecstasy that was in their
hearts. It was MORA who made the
FIRST return to earth.
"Does your mother know Of it?" she
questioned.
''Divvle a bit,"; said Barry cheerfully,
''and where would be the good o. tell
ing her? She'd .river consent to it In
the wide woruld. IT'S q runaway
match Wen have to make, mavourneen.
Well be afther taking a "Trip to the
next parish and back some foine day"
But where will we live at all, Barry,
darlint?" cried Mora, still troubled.
"Rest aisy," said Barry; II can make
somewhat working In the boys, and
that win give us bite and a sup. And
there's ovid McShane's cabin thut's
been desarted ever since he went to
America. Troth, it's a ramshackle
place, and. there's no denying it! The
roof lakes, but can mend it with fresh
turf. And though the room Is as small
rs a nut, what a foine view We'll have
from the doorway. And If the chin
bley is ovid and shmokey, after all,
twill be our own: Arrah, trust to luck,
MORA, achree! And lovers luck, shure,
It's the best Of ALP
'"True for ye, Barry" agreed Mora,
And,~ happy and improvident, they
drifted back into their lovers paradise.
and one morning before the first birds
were astir and BalIymoran lay In the
cool grayness Of the dawn they slipped
away to the next parish, By the mid:
die Of the afternoon they were back
again, and al the village knew Of their
romance. ~ ...: Fg~z w + i =y
Mrs. Terhune FASTENED to bring the
i. news to Mrs. q Gill, but the latter,
pushing forward q chair, did mot walt
Tor her to speak. s ..j% &.:; s. .3! 8 z;. !.
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