The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-08-14

SO"A9pCOpA0 ia 6SAci al, VI C1oS WuOl-
ly unknown to them, and, taking
everything into consideration, jerks
seemed to be regarded by the COM
munity as a pretty fair sort of citi-
zen.
With these facts in my mind tried
to reconcile the doings of the early
morning, as we'll as the other hap
penings of which l was cognizant,
i with the regulations borne by jerks
and the Bruce woman, and 1 freely
confess that l soon became complete
ly bewildered
1t must be admitted that had no
positive assurance that the little
graves up on the hill contained the
bodies of infants, except that their
general appearance suggested as
much, and the fragments of bone
that I had seen served as mute wit
ness of some CHASTITY crime.
MacArdel, too, had identified tho
odor of the rags beyond all question of
doubt, at least as far as he was con-
cerned, but it still must be remem-
bered that had not opened the par
Gel and that 1 had no way of know.
Ing that it contained anything more
than rags, as did the one that we
had examined so carefully in the sum-
mer.
The more 1 thought of it the less I
was able to make out of it, and, final
ly, as I had determined to take a
walk, and was leaving the house for
this purpose, my establishment was in.
creased by meeting the widow face
to face in the hallway as l descended
the stairs.
~. She was dressed neatly in freshly
laundered calico, with an immaculate
apron of generous propositions, and, in
her hand, she held tray with cup
and some plates on it. We gazed at
each other for an instant and then
said, in as unccncerned a tone
as l could muster up for the occa.
sion:
Good afternoon, Mrs Bruce. Do
you remember me? I am Mr. Ware,
you know"
"Oh, yes, SIR" she replied, bowling
pleasantly as she spoke, Il remember
you very we'll indeed, sir"
. I smiled at this in spite of myself
and stopped her as she would have
passed me and gone up the stairs.
what are you doing here, Mrs.
Bruce?" I asked. II had no idea of
meeting you in this way"
"Why you know, sir, was a nurse
in the old country, SIR she returned,
in the same sweetly modulated voice
that I had noticed before, "and when
the young lady took so bad, sir, they
sent for me to take care of her until
the ospital nurses came from town."
who sent for you?" I continued
curiously, again impeding her prog
ress up the stairs.
4; Miss Carney, of course" she re-
Joined. "She asked the rector and he
recommended me most 'ighly, sir. You
know do most of the nursing in crit.
ical cases 'ereabouts, when can find
the time for it, sir"
She caught her breath at this last
clause, as if she would have wished it
unsaid, and blushed violently as re.
marked: "You are very busy most of
the time, I presume?"
Eyes sir, I am, SIR she retorted,
defiantly, land my business is my
own, sir, and it i'll becomes outsiders
to NEEDLE with it,"
With these remarkable words she
swept past me and proceeded to Miss
Weston's room with all the impor-
lance of an idealized sairy Camp from
whom the Objectionable qualities had
been eliminated.
AS I watched her ascend the stairs
with a little self-reliant poise to her
head and a manner of absolute non
chalance, came to the sudden and
positive conclusion that the woman
had not bad trait in her makeup,
and that the only way to deal with
her was to approach her frankly and
in all honesty of purpose I was con-
WINGED, too, that Miss Weston had
played no small part in persuading
Miss Carney to send for her as a
nurse, and wondered how and
through what sort of argument she
had been induced to admit to her
house woman whom she had every
reason to suspect Of bearing her no
great amount of good will
From the housekeeper, who chanc-
ed to pass through the hall, learned
that the nurses from town were ex.
pected on the evening train, and that
Mrs. Bruce would go home as soon
as they arrived, and l determined to
see her and talk with her that very
night at her cottage.
Shortly after dinner, which, like all
the other meals of the day, had been
conspicuous by Miss Carney's alb
sence, I again started out in the d.
rection of the widows house, and ar
rived just in time to find her and
jerks in heated arguments at the
gate.
I slackened my pace as saw them
standing in the light of the doorway
and, feeling that the circumstances
warranted me in playing the part Of
eavesdropper, I stepped stealthily for