Year: 1878

sink back into units again, unable to act o
the i'm pm lses that moved them most deeply


That seemed to Ellen, j1st then, the saddt
t tragedy of ala worse death than any otbe
D dying. To weave ropes of sand etsrnaly TIA
ly and bring forth netting Were not CoI
nor and his friends perhaps right to try T.


create some spark Of life, if it were only th
galvanic spark that moves q corpssi Or wa
it better to bow meekly before the inevitable
trusting to the guiding hand of God, and t.


confidence inspired by faith in Him, that NJ


nnselfsh effort shall fail utterly, but that ever
in dying it shall find new body prepared fol


1t, fruit unlocked for, something different


from and beyond what toe flower promised


In the far future Ireland's past struggles and
woes, and those OF other nations as ill-fated


might have some suoh Unforeseen solution-in
| the grand gathering up times when not ma
| tionslity, but something larger and higher


shall be the bond uniting the peoples of the


earth together-it may be that the nations
! and races who have suffered most and drained


the cup of humiliation to the dregs will be


fonnd (having learned most from suffsring)


capable of the grandest work for the whole,


and will be preferred to the highest places,


and crowned with crowns of dominion. Then
| would the nam,s of those who from afar had
| who had refused to give up hope, who had
| worshipped at the cradle of worth, be remem-
bered again, and honored and worn in all the
| glad hearts


Ellen resolved net to trust it in the hands Of
Mafacby, who usually took the letters from


Good Peoples Hollow to meet the po.t car
that passed in the early morning on the road


bet Teen Westport aud Bsllyowen.


She believed him quite capable. in the csss
of letter from CoDnor, of exercising ri ght


of Investigation, and speeding o. retsrdng its


despatch, according to his own approval of the


contents. She had meant to return to Eagles


Edge early on the next day, and as she could


reach the point where Murdock usually inter-


miles on her way home, she resolved to be her
own letter-carrier, and took leave of Anne
when she wished her good night.


During the summer of Miss OFlaherty's
illness, Ellen had been in the habit of taking
the long walk between Eagles Edge and the
Hollow at almost all hours of the day, from
early morning till late evening; she knew the
shortest outs across the mountains and had
her favorite resting places under sheltering
rocks by the side of lonely mou o tain tarps
or in ferny hooks of the valleys fragrant with
woodbine, when the sunshine lay hot on the
hill sides, and the ahaded hollows were the
most inviting. The divergence from her usual
route to meet the Car would prolong her walk
by an hour or 30, and she determined to set
were up. 1t was the dim grey hour before
sunrise when she stole softly down the st air
case with her letter and the key of tho front
DOR in her hand. and she felt some surprise at
perceiving she not the earliest rieer.
There were sounds of some one stirring down
stairs, and when she had let herself out of the
house she came upon Murdock Malachy limp
ing round the corner from the back premises.
He started at sight of her, and seemed dis.
posed to stink away without his customary
Top of tha morning to ye, Miss Eileen" but |
thinking better of it, he ran after her and |
caught her up as ebe was crossing the bridge. |


"lt's early you are setting out for your walk |
this morning. Miss Eileen dear" he said, look |
ing into her facs wistfully; ''the paths up the |
the dew thick on them. You would do great |
deal better TO go back to the house aud wait |
an hour till the SUMS up. The girls setting |
to work to make hot bread for breakfast this |
Et L thair ~
will be if there is 10 one to eat it, snch sin |
as it is to waste the good food this year"


but l must go home, Murdoch. 1 intend |
to be at Eagles E1gs long before breakfast
time to s1perin tend the bssad.making for my
mothers breakfast. You will easily find |
$ smebody TO eat my share of the Indian meal
cakes you have learned to make go well at the |
Holo@."


The path across L7c-y- Core is the road you
are taking tl,s morning, Miss Eileen. then, if |
you must go; yoa will find it the driest and |
most convenient by long way"


"Tbapk yon, Mn71ock. have come so often
to the Hollow on foot lately that there is little
chance of my losing my way, whichever path
across the monntaius l take"


He did not seem satisfied, she thought, and |
when she had crossed the valley and was half
way up the steep road that led out of Anne's
domain, she looked back and saw him still
leaning with his elbows on the bridge-rail |
looking alter her. The mist lay thick in the
Hollow, but little group ofcabins on the hill
side had caught the first rays of the rising IN,
and stood out distinct against the sky, and |
Ellen through the low doors, one two,
three, four figures of men creeping ont. She
stood still to watch them. They did not dis.
perse into their little patches of garden ground
on the slope of the hill or to the pastures
where the COWS were feeding. They turned |
to the noun taius and began to climb, taking
the direction she herself was following, and
when she had reached the highest point of the
path, and began to descend towards the main
road, looking down she saw another friezs-
coated figure striding along Though the mist
before her. Early as 1t was there was an un-
usuals as if others besides herself had found
the summer night too long, and were impelled |
to be beforehand in meeting what the day was |
bringing. Ellen was not afraid to mset any |
of these people. No one would hurt her on |
these lonely mountain sides, but the sense of |
expectation to which their Alertness testified, |
excited her and made her press eagerly on her |
way, longing to have despatched her letter |
and to be home. She did not pause to rest till |
she was cloee upon the hamlet where the pott |
car .topped to change horses, and there she |
discovered that che was considerably more
than an hour too early, and must find q con.
verient place to wait in till the car appeared. |
Tae road along which she was walking