The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1915-03-10
CHAPTER. 1.

The Irish Asitator and Angela.
"TAITH, there's no man says
II more and knows less than yer
self, I'm thinkin'."
About Ireland, yer river
ence"
"And everything else. Mr.. O'Con-
nell"
rs that criticism or just temper, IA
ther?"
Its both, Mr.. O'Connell."
"Sure it's the good judge ye must be
Of ignorance. Father Cahill."
"And what might that mane|
EYE live so much with it, father"
"I'm lookin' at it and listenin' to II
now, Frank O'Connell."
'Then it's a miracle has happened,
father. To see and hear oneself at
the same time is indade miracle"
Don't provoke the man Of Godp'
mot for the wurrld." replied the 9th.
er meekly, "bein' mesef a child Of Sa.
tan"
"And that's what ye are. And ye'd
have others like yerself. But ye won't
while I've tongue in me head and
sthrong stick in me hand"
O'Connell looked at him with a mis-
chievous twinkle in his blue-gray eyes:
Yer eloquence seems to made some
thin to back it up, I'm thinkin'."
Father Cahil breathed hard. He
was splendid type of the Irish parish
priest of the old school. Gifted with.
a vivid power Of eloquence as preach
er and heart as tender as woman's
toward the poor and the wretched, he
had been for many years idolized by
the whole community of the village of
NJ, in County Clare. But of late there
was a growing feeling Of discomfort
among the younger generation. They
lacked the respect their elders so will
ingly gave. They asked questions in
stead Of answering them. They be-
gan to throw themselves. against Fa.
ther Cahill's express wishes and COM
mands, into the fight for home rule
under the mastery craftsmanship Of
Charles Stuart Parnell. Already more
than one prominent speaker had come
into the little village and sown the
seeds Of temporal and spiritual unrest.
Father Cahill opposed these men to
the utmost of his power. He saw, as
so many farsighted priests did, the
legacy of bloodshed and desolation
that would follow any direct action by
the Irish against the British govern
ment. Though the blood Of the patriot
beat in Father Cahill's veins, the well
being of the people who had grown up
with him was near to his heart. He
was their priest, and he could not bear
to think of men he had known as chill
dren being beaten and manned by con-
stabulary and sent to prison afterward
In the fight for self government.
To his horror that day he met Frank
Owen O'Connell, one Of the best
kloNn v1 ail the younger agitators, in
the main street Of the little village.
O'Connell's backsliding had been one
of Father Cahills bitterest regrets.
He had closed O'Connell's fathers
eyes in death and had taken care Of
the boy as well as he could. But at
the age Of fifteen the youth left the
village that had so many wretched
memories Of hardship and struggle and
worked his way to Dublin. 1t was
many years before Father Cahill heard
of him again. He had developed
meanwhile into one Of the most daring
of all the fervid speakers in the sacred
cause of Irish liberty.
And Father Cahill was going to hear
from Frank Owen O'Connell again,
though little did he reckon on the i'm
portance that the present young and
comparatively untutored reforme'
would achieve.
Wilberforce Kingsnorth, wealthy,
1mperious Englishman, left three chill