The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1915-05-22


though when he came home he had
money. His wife was dead. He lived
here with his mother, who was bedrid- |
den, and three children, the eldest oil
them called Dannie, who was pupil
in my fathers parochial school. No
one liked Melody, nor am surprised,
his ways were SO different from those Of
the rest of the people. One day I over
heard laborer in the glebe say to an
other, Melody is drinking again. wher-
ever he got the money" Noticed the
remark, for on the previous evening II
had seen him staggering home from
the adjoining village. He endeavoredI
to enter into conversation with me, butt
stepped out and could hear him bawl-|
ing some impertinence after me. Mel
ody had money and was drinking. TheI
fact caused good deal of interest and
curiosity in the neighborhood.
A few evenings later the schoolmas-
ter called at the glebe and inquired forl
me. Invent into the kitchen and noticed
that his face was fixed and pale. II
brought him into the dining room and
asked whether he was ill., He said
mo" and was silent. I, too. was silent |
and only looked at him. He had a piece
of paper in his hand which he kept
twlrling between his fingers in nerv- |
GUS manner.
II came about Master John,' at last |
he suddenly said. II fear, sir, there
has been foul play. You know taught
him mathematics for his MichaelmasI
examination last year and was good
deal with him in the evenings. Hell
then showed me his ring. 1t had Latin
inscription on the inside. Not knowingI
Latin, do not rightly recollect thel
words, though read them at the time,
and he translated them for me.
Master Edward, Master Edward"
he cried in great agitation and laying
the paper on the table, are those they?"
''They are," said l. We stood trem-
bling and looked at each other. Writ
ten on the paper i'll a large schoolboy
hand were the words, Nee sperne duri-
TAM"
This is terrible, Mr.. Gloster,"
said at last. Tell me ALL" Ho did SO
and to tho following effect:
Dannie Melody, it seems, came to
school one day looking very big and i'm
portant and behaved SO badly that he
had to be punished. The boys singular
behavior arose from tho fact that he
was the possessor of sixpenny bit
which he said his father had given to
him. AS Dannie was never known to
have even II ha penny his bright sixpence
excited great deal of curiosity. and all
the boys were very eager to find out tho
cause of his fathers unexpected mu-
nificence. Dannie. however, refused to
tell, but, it seems. after having pledged
him to fidelity, communicated the &c.
cret to II little pal of his. One day Mr..
Gloster surprised these two friendsI
idling ut their desk, or rather examiningl
together piece of strange paper. Be.
fore Damie could conceal it Mr.. Clos.
ter snatched 1t up and demanded the
meaning of the characters with which,
it was inscribed. They recalled to him
the legend in the ring. The hoy began
to cry and said that he could not tell;
that his father would beat him if bel
did. When the school was dismissed,
Mr.. Gloster kept Dannie back and at
lanuth rot the sarret from him
Dannie, itseems, coming home one dayl
found his father sitting by the fire and
examining gold ring. The moment
the boy appeared he put it hastily into
his pocket. He came back drunk from
the village that night and slept longI
the next morning. Dannie, with al
child's Inconsistencies. searched his ia
TIERS pockets till he found the ring,
and after examining it curiously for q
long time finally the within seized him
Of copying out the strange words which
he found on tho inside. He kept thsI
copy and put the ring back in the pocket |
from which he had taken it. When hia
father awoke and got up, he called the
boy outside of the house and said tol
him: "Dannie, you saw ring with me
last night. Well, you're to tell no one |
about it. If you do, I'll break every
bone in your body" Then he gavs
Dannio the sixpence as bride and made
him give solemn promise of secrecy.
That was all Dannie had to tell except
that his father tho same day went to
our nearest market town, Ballymohur,
and sold tho ring there, as Dannie be-
lievcd, for no came back with money,
but without tho ring.
Mr.. Gloster wished to know from mo
whether he should tell all this to my
parents. Terrible MS was tho news
and great as would be the shock to
them, especially to my poor mother, I
thought so. OF the effect upon them
shall say nothing. Later on in the even
ing Mr.. Gloster and l set out for tho
house of Mr.. Watkins, the subinspector
of police. When Mr.. Watkins heard
this strange story, he resolved to arrest
at once Melody and his son. A warrant
was procured from the nearest magis-
trate, and about nightfall we came to
Melody's cabin. 1t was absurdly small
to be the abode of such big man. Tho
thatch was secured by hay ropes held in
their places by stones attached to their
ends, q row Of which hung all found
tho cabin under tho caves like a neck
lace. The tenants huge Gunner rod re-
posed against the roof and stretched
away into the sky. Everything about
the place was as untidy and unkempt
as possible. Melody had learned moth
ing good, but much bad, during his So
journ in the great republic. The cabin
stood little distance in from theI
boreen, which led from the high road
down the steep valley and ended near
Dhu-C orrig. AS we approached the bigI
Irish-American issued in stopping at