The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1921-12-08
Continued from Last Week.
CHAPTER TX.
Whittier Now?


England was in q state of unrest.
She had. as yet been none too sue
ceSSful lr the war with France. From
the kings castle to the poorest Stun
in Seven Dials there was n temper
bordering on despair. Ministries came
and went; statesmen rose and fell.
The army was indifferently recruited
and badly paid. England's battles
were fought by men of whom many
were only mercenhries, with no stake
in IIngland's rise or fall.
Tlfe admiralty pursued its course of
seizing men of the mercantile marine,
taking them aboard ships. keeping
them away for months from the har-
horS of the kingdom, and then.- when
their ships returned, denying them the
right of visiting their homes. The
press gangs did<snot confine their ac>
tiVities to the men Of the mercantile
marine. From the streets after-dusk
they caught and brought in, often af.
ter ill-treatnlent, torn, from their wives
and sWeethearts, knocked on the cad
for resisting tradesmen with busi-
nesSes, young men studying for pro-
feSsions, oilers, debtors, out-of-Work
NEIL The marvel is that the british
fleets fought as we'll as they did.
Poverty and sorrow, loss and he
reaVement. were in every street.
peeped mournfully out OF every Will
dow, lurkcd at street corners. From
all parts of the world adventures
came TO renew their fortunes in the
turmoil Of London, and every street
was II kaleidoscope Of faces and
clothes and colors. not British, not
patriot, not national.
Among these outlanders were Dyck
Calhoun and Michael Clones. They
had left Ireland together in the late
autumn, leaving behind them the stir
rings OF the coming revolution and
plunging into another revolt which
was to prove the test aud trial oil
/ English character.
Dtck had left Ireland with ninety
pounds in his pocket and iBany tons
weight of misery in his heart In his
bones he felt tragedies on foot III
ireland which concession ana EooH
government could not prevent. He
hid fed from it all. When he set his
/ face to Holyhead, he felt that he would
never live in ireland again Yet his
courage was firm as he made his WAY
!. 10 London, with Michael Clones
faithful, devoted, Il friend and yet II
servant, treated like comrade, yet
always with n little dominance.
The journey to London had been
without event, yet as the coach rolled
through country where frost silvered
the trees: where, in the early morn
ing. the grass was shining with dew;
where the everlasting green hedges and
the red roofs OF villages made pic
tnre which pleased the eye and stirred
the soul Dyck Calhoun kept wonder.
ing what would be his future. He
had no profession, no trade. no Skill
except with his sword; and as he
neared London town-when they left
Hendon--he saw the smoke rising In
the early winter morning andr tile hisi-
ness of life spread out before him,
brave and buoyant.
As from the heights Of Hampstead
) he looked down on the multitudinous
area called Lendon something
throbbed at his heart which seemed
like hope; for what he SAW was III
deed inspiring. When, al last, in the
Edgware road, he drew near TO Iiyint
London, he turned to Michael Clones
and said:
michael, my lad, | think perhaps
we'll find footing here,'
SO they reached London and quar-
kcred themselves there in simple lodg-
ings In Soho. Dyck walked the streets,
the barracks where soldiers were. 10
satisfy the thought that perhaps in
the life of the common soldier he
might, after ALL find his future. 1t
was, however borne in upon him by
chance remark of Michael one day
I'm not young enough to be a recruit
and YOU wouldn't go alone without me,
would you?"-that this way to live
lihOod was not open to him.
His faithful companions remark
had fixed Dyck's mind against enter
ing the army, and then, toward the
end of the winter fateful thing hap
pened. His purse containing what was
left of the ninety pounds-two-fitlS
of disappeared. 1t had been Stolep'
and in all the bitter days to come,
when poverty and misery grouhu
them down, no hint of the thiei' 10
sign of the robber was ever revealed.
Then, at last, day when letl'r
came from Ireland. 1t was from t''e
firm In which Bryan Llyn OF N'rglhia
had been interested, for the ietter h'a
been sent to their care, and Dyck hau
given them his address In London on
this very chance. 1t reached Dyck $
! hand on tho dov after the last penny