The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-02-08
Return OF The PRODIGAL

tomorrow, MIR. ReSan, SalQ the
purser of the Allondia to the middle
aged passenger lounging in the steam
er chair, your beloved Ireland will
be in sight, and if no submarine meets
us we shall land in the morning
"True for you, sir" said the pas
senger, a glad light coming into his
clear blue eyes, land after thirty years
away from the dear old land, it's me-
self that will be glad to see it again"
Thirty years is a long time to be
absent, Mr.. Regain, and no~doubt you
will find that things have changed
considerably since you left"
"Ah, there you spoke the truth, sir,
and would give all the gold that the
Klondike gave, me, to have things as
they>were before / left the old sod
80 you have been in the Klondike,
Mr.. Regan?"
"The Klondike, is it? Faith, yes,
and in almost every other spot that
Uncle Sammy owns, from Maine to
Florida, and from New York to San
Francisco" IT,"
Your life must have been full of
interest. No doubt you could relate
many adventures did you care to tell
them M
well, not so many, sir. As'I said
before | am going back to the old land
after an absence of thirty years. |
was born in Ballina, County Mayo,
and was the sixth of family of seven
children. Patrick and Michael, the
two eldest, died of the fever the year
the potato crop failed, and Mary and
Kate married and moved away from
Ballina. Peter went off to America
and was never heard of after. Then
when l was a lad of twelve the father
fell sick of the fever and died, and
the old mother was left alone with her
two youngest children, meself and
Shaun, a lad of ten. Shaun was a
quiet boy who used to spend hours
over his book, but l was a harumsca-
rum chap, wild as young colt, and
continually getting into scraps and
adding more weight to the old moth
ers lot of trouble .Shamus, Shamus,
she often said to me, if you keep on
you'll break your poor old mothers
heart But neither her reproaches nor
her tears had much effect on me, and
to crown it all, when | was fifteen, |
ran away and came to America"
And / suppose like all lads who
do such things you dreamed of re-
turning in wealth to keep the old
mother in luxury for the rest of her
days. .~s, ~ ...... .. ,..
THAT | did, sir, until two years af-
ter / came across was told by a
former neighbor who had just landed
in America, that the old mother was
dead and that people in Ballina said
l had broken her heart. After that
/ cared little what happened, and l
became a Wanderer, drifting from
place to place. Sometimes | was on
the top of the heap but more often |
was on the bottom. But in all my ups
and downs two things remained with
me, a desire to go back to Ireland to
die and spark of love for the old
faith. And no matter how low
might be, a plea in the name of the
old land or the old faith always earn
ed half OF what l had. So the years
rolled on, and the best part OF my
life was gone, and | was still wander
en- When gold was found in Alaska, |
drifted into Sitka with the first rush
of hunters, | prospected in vain
for years and years. At last fortune
favored me out. made strike. The
boat took me back to the States with
twenty thousand dollars in gold. ]
took the first train for the East, and
one of the earliest boats from New
York, and here am bound for dear
old Ireland And, please God, Pat
rick's Day will find me at rest in Bal
lima. If l could preach to young men
from now till me dyin' day I'd talk of
nothin' but honor the gray hairs of
father and mother. i learned me les
son too Late
We'll, Mr.. Regan, you have had a
hard life and | think that you deserve
all the rest that your gold can bring
you. For my part ! wish you all JOY
and happiness in it..
THANK you kindly for that. But
it's not much that~I'lI be wanting, on
" to find someone who remembers
the old times, and to see again the
hills and dales of, Mayo
We'll. Mr.. Regain as you yourself
have said, st. Patrick's Day will prob
ably find you at Bailina. But see the
moon has risen, and ] must be going