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diff --git a/old/69373-0.txt b/old/69373-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 96b4cb7..0000000 --- a/old/69373-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7761 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The ragged edge, by John T. McIntyre - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The ragged edge - A tale of ward life & politics - -Author: John T. McIntyre - -Release Date: November 17, 2022 [eBook #69373] - -Language: English - -Produced by: D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by - University of California libraries) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RAGGED EDGE *** - - - - - -THE RAGGED EDGE - - - - - The Ragged Edge - - A Tale of Ward Life & Politics - - By - John T. M^cIntyre - - First Novel - - [Illustration] - - Series - - [Illustration] - - New York - - McClure, Phillips & Co. - Mcmii - - - - - _Copyright, 1902, by_ - McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO - - Published, September, 1902, R - - - - - _To_ - Wayne, Andy, George & Lew - - - - -THE RAGGED EDGE - - - - -Chapter I - - “_Arrah, me jewel, sure, Larry’s the boy!_” - - OLD SONG. - - -WEARY horses dragged ponderous trucks homeward; the drivers drooped -upon their high seats and thought of cans of beer; a red sun threw -shafts of light along the cross-town streets and between the rows of -black warehouses. - -The porters had all gone for the night from Mason & Sons, and young -Mason stood upon the office step, about to lock the door, when Kerrigan -jumped from a passing car and hailed him. - -“I just happened to notice you as I was going by,” Kerrigan said; “and -that reminded me that I wanted to speak to you.” - -“Come in and sit down,” said Mason, leading the way into the office. - -“I drew up a will the other day in which you were named as executor,” -said Kerrigan, mounting a stool at the bookkeeper’s desk. - -Mason looked at him questioningly. - -“It’s old Miss Cassidy who kept house for your father, years ago. She -said that she had not spoken to you about the matter, but that she felt -sure that you would consent to act.” - -“She’s a queer old soul,” smiled Mason. - -“No queerer than the will she had me make for her. Quite a tidy sum of -money, too.” - -“She was very saving; and then father thought well of her and advised -her about small investments which were successful. But what induced her -to make a will? Is she ill?” - -“She says she is getting old, and thought that the matter should be -settled. By the way, Mason, there are rumours going about the City -Hall that must interest a reformer like you,” and Kerrigan smiled at -his friend. “The Motor Traction Company is endeavouring to secure -possession of Center and Line streets.” - -“Do they contemplate purchasing the rights of the new company?” - -“Not while there’s a chance to steal them; and from what I’ve heard -during the last few days that has been their object since the time the -injunction was granted against the rival concern.” - -The young attorney planted his back against the desk and braced himself -with his elbows. “Let me give you a sketch of the thing,” said he. “The -City Railway Company was duly chartered, secured the franchise from -councils for these two streets and spent thousands of good dollars in -putting down road-bed, rails and all that sort of thing. At this stage -the Motor Company suddenly discovered that Center and Line streets were -arteries that would tap the thickly populated sections, and that the -new company would reduce their earnings. - -“Under cover of a protest from citizens living along the line of the -new road, an injunction was gotten out staying all work; the matter was -carried into the courts, where it has been hanging fire ever since.” - -“But,” put in Mason, “a decision was rendered in favour of the City -Company less than a week ago.” - -“I know that; and in that decision the new move of the Motor people -had its birth. The long delay, the cost of fighting the case and all -that, pretty well drained the resources of the City people, who were -none too rich to begin with. And a time limit was put upon the building -of the line at the time the franchise was granted. The time specified -will shortly expire and the road is but half built. The Motor Company -intends to put unlimited money into the next local election in order to -elect a majority in both branches of councils favourable to revoking -the franchise on the ground of failure to live up to their contract.” - -“Why, this is infamous!” exclaimed Mason. “How could the road be built -in the time specified when the courts prevented their working upon it?” - -Kerrigan shrugged his shoulders. “The Motor Company want that franchise -and it is not at all particular about how it is gotten.” - -The two young men rose and made their way to the sidewalk. - -“I understand,” said Mason, as he sprang the catch of the office door, -“when the new company was organized that the stock was mostly taken -up in small lots by small store-keepers and people with accounts in -saving banks.” - -“That’s true,” answered Kerrigan; “and that’s what makes the company -easy game.” - -A heavy team swung up to the curb and a square-jawed young fellow -climbed down from his seat. A battered, drink-sodden man tremulously -clutched him by the arm and began mumbling incoherently. The teamster -slipped him a nickel and gave him a helpful shove down the street; then -he approached and said to Mason: - -“There’s a lot o’ stuff up at Shed B for youse people. Shannon wants t’ -know when ye want it hauled.” - -“Ah, yes,” replied Mason. “We received the notice late this afternoon. -Tell Shannon to have it here the first thing in the morning.” - -“Good enough!” The driver was about to turn away when Kerrigan -exclaimed: - -“Hello, Larry! What’s doing?” - -“Hello, Johnnie,” greeted the other. “I didn’t know youse.” - -“Who’s your friend?” questioned Kerrigan, nodding toward the receding -form of the tramp. - -“Oh, just a guy what braced me for a nickel so’s he could hang up his -hat on the inside of a wall. He said it’s been so long since he covered -his stilts wit’ a sheet that he forgets what it feels like.” - -“What did you say?” - -“I told him that I was workin’ this side o’ the street meself. Say, -it’s a big t’ing when a guy kin dig down in his pants an’ produce a -roll that would stop a window; but the minute I run up against a bundle -o’ rags me vest buttons is in danger. Say, Johnnie, was youse ever -strapped?” - -Kerrigan confessed that he had been. - -“I guess every geezer along the line has done the stunt at some stage -o’ the game. Why, I’ve been so tight on the hooks that I couldn’t tell -the difference between a coon blowin’ a cake walk an’ a gutter band -handin’ out the ‘Dead March in Saul’; an’ if Queen Anne cottages was -sellin’ for a quarter a bunch I couldn’t buy in a cellar window. I tell -youse what it is, Kerrigan, when a guy’s room rent’s six weeks on the -wrong side o’ the ledger an’ his meal ticket wont stan’ for another -hole in it, it’s time for him to start somethin’ doin’, an’ try an’ git -his eyes on a graft what’s got ‘In God we trust’ chalked on its back. -Ain’t that right?” - -“A man entirely without money,” said Mason, “is certainly an object for -sympathy.” - -Larry gestured his contempt. - -“I’d like to deal in that,” said he. “If I could sell it at two bits a -crate I’d make money till youse couldn’t rest. The lobsters what runs -the beanery’s got sympathy to give away; but youse couldn’t coax a beef -stew out o’ the kitchen if ye had a smile like Maude Adams. And the -gent that runs the hock shop keeps it in stock too, but the same guy -wouldn’t lend youse a half a plunk on a pair o’ bags wit’ a hole in ’em -if ye was spittin’ blood. - -“Sympathy,” continued the square-jawed young man, “is the cheapest -graft that ever looked over the hill; it’s got every other con game -skinned to death and a guy in a tight pull takes chances o’ breakin’ -his neck over it every time he opens his mouth. But, say, on the level, -when a man’s single, an’ on’y got one end to watch he kin pipe up a -breeze if he ain’t dead leary on action; but when he’s got a full hand -o’ kids like me friend Chip Nolan, an’ has to keep leather on their -tootseys an’ their first teeth busy three times a day, he’s got to keep -his t’ink-tank stirrin’ to beat the band, or he’ll look like a last -year’s poster on a broken-down fence.” - -He climbed up to his high seat and gathered up the reins. - -“Don’t t’ink from this song an’ dance,” said he, “that I’ve ever stood -in line wit’ a yellow ticket an’ a tin can. But, say, as Chip Nolan ’ed -say: ‘Yer on the turf, mate, but youse ain’t under it yet.’ See? Git -’ep, Pete!” - - - - -Chapter II - - “_Ding, dong, ding-el, ding-el, dong, - Listen to the echo in the dell, - Hurry, little children, Sunday morn, - There goes the old Church bell._” - - HARRIGAN. - - -IT was Sunday morning. The iron heart of the bell that hung in the -tower of St. Michael’s beat against its brazen ribs, and the clangour -went rioting over the housetops. Streams of people, dressed in their -Sunday best, picked their way across the railroad toward the sound; -heavy faces peered through bedroom windows and sleep-dry lips murmured -curses at the noise; a shifting engine panted heavily as it dragged a -milk train over the rails, and spat cinders into the face of day. - -In the kitchen of a squat, shabby building fronting on the railroad, a -lean, yellow-faced old woman sat beside the range, nursing her knees -and drawing at a black clay pipe. Another, almost her counterpart, was -sweeping the floor with the worn stump of a broom. - -“God be good till uz, Ellen!” suddenly exclaimed the first. “What are -yez about?” - -“What talk have ye, Bridget?” - -“Sure ye wur as near as a hair till swapin’ the bit av dust out av the -dure!” - -“Divil a fear av me. Is it swape the luck from the house I’d be doin’?” - -Ellen scraped up the sweepings. “There do be bad luck enough about the -place,” she continued, as she slid the dust into the fire and watched -it burn, the flame lighting up her old, faded face, her dirty white -cap, her bony, large-veined hands. “Malachi tells me that the biz’ness -do be poorly.” - -“Little wonder,” declared Bridget, knocking the ashes from her pipe -and laying it carefully on the top of a tin at the back of the stove. -“I know’d what ’ud come av havin’ the son av a Know-nothin’ glosterin’ -about the place! Sure the curse av God is on the loike!” - -“True for yez,” assented her sister. “Owld Larkin wur the spit av the -owld felly himself; he wur a Derry man an’ as black a Presbyterian as -iver cried ‘To h--l wid the Pope!’” - -Ellen took up the hot pipe and charged it from the tin, shaking her -head ominously. - -“Ah, the Orange thafe!” piped the other. “Well do I raymember him, -years ago, at the riots at the Nanny-Goat Market, that stood beyant -there where the railroad is. Sure it wur him that put the divil in -their heads till burn down St. Michael’s; an’ wid me own two eyes I see -him shoutin’ an’ laffin’ as the cross tumbled intill the street!” - -Ellen made a hurried sign of the cross and muttered some words in -Gaelic. - -“An’ they say,” whispered she, awed, “that he barked loike a dog iver -after!” - -“Sorra the lie’s in it, avic. Owld Mrs. Flannagan, that lived nixt dure -till him, towld me, wid her own two lips, that it wur so. Bud he always -said it wur asthma he wur after havin’.” - -“Oh, the robber! It wur himself that cud twist t’ings till serve his -turn. More like it wur the divil in him, cryin’ till be let out.” - -“An’ d’yez raymember at the toime av the riots, Ellen, whin he stood be -the fince, overight our back yard, wid Foley’s musket, waitin’ for any -av uz till pop out our heads?” - -Ellen, through some mischance, had swallowed some of the rank pipe -smoke, and she gasped and strangled, with waving hands and protruding -eyes. - -“Well do I, asthore,” she panted between her fits of coughing. “Oh, the -Crom’ell!” - -“Bridget,” cried a voice from the storeroom in front, “have ye not me -bit av breakfast ready? It’s late for Mass I’ll be iv yez don’t stir -yezself, woman.” - -Malachi O’Hara stood in his shop among his stock in trade. About him -were heaped the rakings of low auction rooms and pawnbrokers’ sales; -stacks of half-worn clothing lay upon the counter; the shelves were -loaded with crockery, oil lamps, plaster of paris images, table -cutlery, clocks, fly-specked pictures and a heterogeneous mass of -battered, greasy and utterly useless articles for which it would be -impossible to find names. In the window hung a banjo with two broken -strings; a family Bible, its pages held open by a set of steel “knuckle -dusters” lay just below, and it was garnished on all sides with -old-fashioned silver watches, seal rings, black jacks and so on down -the list of articles that clutter such establishments. - -O’Hara, a pot-bellied man, bald, broad-faced and with hard little eyes, -walked back to the kitchen. - -“We wur talkin’ av owld Jimmie Larkin,” said Bridget putting the -crockery upon the table. “Look till the sup av coffee, Ellen,” she -whispered, hurriedly, “d’ye not see that it’s b’ilin’ over!” - -O’Hara glowered at them, angrily. - -“An’ it’s only startin’ yez are!” he cried. “D’ye si’ here like a pair -av owld cacklin’ hens, an’ the bell just rung for Mass!” - -The bell had just ceased and people were still hurrying on; the red sun -peeped at them from behind the church tower; the hands of the big clock -reproachfully pointed out the fact that they were late. Bridget glanced -through the side window. - -“There goes Clancy’s wife in her new silk,” said she. “It’s proud -enough she’s gettin’ till be, since her husband opened the grocery.” - -“May the divil fly away wid Clancy’s wife an’ her silks as well! Faix -an’ there do be other things that Clancy could do wid his money!” -O’Hara was in a stormy mood. - -“Sit down till yez bit av breakfast,” soothed Ellen. “Clancy do be -doin’ well an’ will pay the money he borried av ye, Malachi. It’s drink -yez coffee black yez’ll have till,” she added, “for young McGonagle -have not come wid the milk yet.” - -He sat down with a crabbed laugh. - -“McGonagle is it!” exclaimed he. “Faith an’ there’s another wan. The -toime is drawin’ on, so it is, but divil the dollar richer is he. It’s -wait for me bit av money he’ll be wantin’ me till, but scure till the -day will I. I’ll sell him out, the spalpeen! He do not trate me wid -rayspect.” - -A rattling of wheels ceased at the door, and it shook under a -thundering hand. - -“Spake av the divil!” remarked Ellen. She took a pitcher from the table -and opened the door. “A pint,” she said. - -The youth with the milk-pail dexterously dipped out the required -quantity. - -“Heard the news?” inquired he. - -“We’ve heerd nothin’,” returned Ellen, “barrin’ that Hogan as he passed -on his bate this mornin’, towld uz that his b’y Tom wur near kilt las’ -noight at yez bla’gard club.” - -“Ah, Hogan’s daffy! I meant did ye hear about old man Murphy a-dyin’?” - -“What!” exclaimed O’Hara, his mouth full, “is owld Larry cold, thin?” - -“Not yet; but he’ll die before the day’s over.” And with this the -milkman threw himself and can into the wagon at the curb, and rolled -down the street. Ellen closed the door and put the pitcher upon the -table. - -“So he’ll be goin’ at las’,” said she. - -“Small wonder,” put in the sister; “sure he’s been poorly this long -time.” - -“The owld man made a tidy bit av money in his day,” said the brother, -admiringly. “Bud,” with a sigh, “it’s lavin’ it all he’ll be.” - -“An’ tell me, Malachi,” said Bridget, “d’yez think the gran’son’ll git -any av it?” - -O’Hara spilled some of the milk into his coffee. - -“Divil a cint,” answered he, positively. “Sure, the owld man have -niver noticed him since the day he wur born. An’ small blame till him,” -rapping upon the table with his spoon, “for what call had his son till -take up wid a Jewess?” - -“But,” reasoned Ellen, “now that he do be dyin’ he might call him in -an’--” - -“Sorra the fear av that! Faix an’ whin Mike lay dead at O’Connor’s, the -undertaker, he wint naythur nixt nor near him. Some say Kelly wur the -cause av that, but owld Larry had timper enough av his own, God knows.” - -“An’ do ye t’ink he’ll lave the property till the Church?” - -“Ayther that or till Mary Carroll. Kelly t’inks there do be a chance -for his boy, Martin; but Martin’s a hard drinker an’ the owld man niver -liked a bone in his body.” - -The gong over the store door rattled sharply. A plump little woman with -a rosy, chubby face had entered; she wore a bright scarlet shawl shot -with green and saffron, and upon her head was perched a tiny black -bonnet with blue strings. - -“Good mornin’ all,” greeted this lady with a sweeping flourish of a -big brass-clasped prayer book. “An’ Bridget, acushla, have ye heard -about poor owld Larry Murphy?” - -“God luk down on uz, I have,” answered Bridget, wagging her head from -side to side. “Ah bud death’s a sad t’ing, Mrs. McGonagle.” - -“True for ye, asthore, true for ye!” And Mrs. McGonagle wagged her head -also. “But,” she continued, “what will become av the houses in the -alley, an’ the power av money they say he have in bank?” - -“We wur this minit spakin’ av that same,” said Ellen; “an’ Malachi -t’inks the gran’son’ll git sorra the cint av it.” - -“God be good till uz, Malachi! An’ d’ye t’ink so?” - -Mrs. McGonagle caught her breath and stared at O’Hara in horror. “Till -t’ink,” she added, in an awed tone, “av him holdin’ the grudge an’ him -a-dyin’.” - -O’Hara had finished his breakfast and was putting on his coat. - -“I can see nothin’ ilce for it,” remarked he, sagely. - -“Young Larry is a study, sober, hard workin’ boy!” exclaimed Mrs. -McGonagle, “an’ its a sin an’ a shame for him till be treated so. He -have lodged in me third story for a long time, now, an’ I have the -first time till see him wid a sup av drink in him; an’ I’d say that iv -it wur me last breath, so I wud!” - -The gong rattled; the door slammed; and a girl, flushed and breathless, -darted through the store and into the kitchen. - -“Aunt Ellen,” cried she, “give me the candles we had from last -Candlemas Day; an’ I want the ivory crucifix, too, for they’ve sent for -Father Dawson.” - -Ellen began a hurried rummaging for the articles named; the girl caught -sight of Mrs. McGonagle and grasped her by the arm. - -“Oh,” she exclaimed, “is it you, Mrs. McGonagle? I’m glad you’re here; -I was just a-goin’ to run around to your house.” - -“For why?” - -“Here!” cried Ellen pushing a parcel into the girl’s hand. “Here’s what -yez want; away wid ye, now, an’ don’t be stan’in’.” - -“You’ll hurry home, won’t you, Mrs. McGonagle,” the girl was now at the -door, her hand on the latch, “an’ tell Larry Murphy his gran’father -wants to see him before he dies.” - -And with that the side door closed behind her and she went by the -window like a flash. - -“Be the powers av Moll Kelly!” exclaimed O’Hara, his broad face blank -with wonder, “but that bates the Owld Nick.” - -He stood staring at his sisters, who had their withered hands in the -air in gestures of amazement. Mrs. McGonagle’s face shone with glee and -she cackled rapturously. - -“I must hurry home,” said she, “an’ waken Larry.” - -“Is he still in bed?” cried Ellen. - -“Do he not go till Mass?” cried Bridget. - -“Why, not very often,” admitted Mrs. McGonagle, reluctantly. “He -an’ Jimmie Larkin slapes till a’most dinner toime ivery Sunday. But -Larry’s a daysint b’y for all that. Good day till yez.” And with that -the good little woman bolted into the street and went sailing toward -McGarragles’ Alley, her bright shawl fluttering in the breeze. - -The two old crones clawed mystic signs in the air over the spot where -their visitor had lately stood and began muttering in Gaelic. O’Hara -was brushing his Sunday high hat with the sleeve of his coat and paused -as he caught the words. - -“What humbuggin’ are yez at now?” demanded he. - -“Would yez be after lettin’ the curse stay in the house?” cried Bridget. - -“Sure, she hav the evil eye!” asserted Ellen. - -O’Hara regarded them fixedly for a moment; then with a snort he put on -his hat, took his black-thorn stick from behind the door, and started -off for church. - - - - -Chapter III - - “_My grandfather, he, at the age of eighty-three, - One day in May was taken ill and died, - And after he was dead, the will, of course, was read, - By a lawyer, as we all stood by his side._” - - POPULAR SONG. - - -LARRY MURPHY awoke and sat up in bed; the sun was streaming in through -the one small window of Mrs. McGonagle’s third story room, and the peal -of the bell sounded solemnly in his ears. Through the window could be -seen the church tower, pointing like a gigantic finger heavenward; the -hands of the clock were slowly lifting as though to screen its face -from the glare of the sun. Larry stretched himself lazily. - -“Solemn High Mass,” yawned he. - -A second young man lay upon a cot opposite, propped up with a pillow -and reading a pink sporting paper. He glanced up. - -“That’s the one,” remarked he, “that the property holders come together -at, ain’t it? Ye kin see every plug hat in the parish on Second Street -at half past ten on Sunday morning; but I’ll bet five cases to one -that the collection ain’t no heavier than it is at the one what the -dump-cart drivers goes to.” - -Young Murphy grinned. “Ye’d better not say too much about that when yer -on the street,” advised he. “Some o’ the Turks around here’s dead sore -on youse since youse led the march at the ‘Sons o’ Derry’s Ball,’ an’ -they’ll cop youse a sly one when yer not next.” - -“Don’t lose any sleep over that,” said the other. “Somebody’ll get hurt -if they run up against me, and that’s no dream. I don’t have to ask no -gang o’ Mocaraws if I kin go to a ball; ain’t that right?” - -Murphy nodded the subject aside. - -“Anything new?” he inquired, looking at the paper which his friend had -thrown upon the bare floor. - -“Nothin’ much, ’cept that Jack Slattery got the life lammed out o’ him -in his twenty round job with McCook’s ‘Pidgeon.’ There’s a good t’ing -gone wrong! I know the time when Slattery went right down the line and -give ’em all a go; but drink got the best o’ him, and now he’s willin’ -to take dimes for a hard job agin a big man, where he used to stan’ pat -for dollars to put out a dub.” - -“Rum’s a tough game to go up against,” commented Larry. “Say,” after a -pause, “how’s yer trip South comin’ up?” - -“Big. Me manager’s got me go’s at New Orleans, Galveston an’ half a -dozen other burgs; an’ if I holds up me end, he’ll stack me against -the champion fer as many plunks as youse kin hold in yer hat. That’ll -be a great graft; eh, Larry? I’ll be a main squeeze meself then, and -sportin’ guys’ll come out from under their hats as soon as they gits -their eyes on me!” And Jimmie Larkin twisted himself around on his -elbow and waved one thick, hairy arm delightedly. - -“But, talkin’ about fight,” resumed he, “puts me in mind o’ the mix up -at the club last night. Mart Kelly didn’t do a t’ing but open up Hogan -wit’ a jack.” - -Murphy sneered. “Kelly’s gittin’ to be a reg’lar slugger,” said he. -“What was the matter?” - -“Oh, he was a-shootin’ off his mouth like he always does. He said his -old man was the best councilman the ward ever had; Hogan was about half -drunk, and he said he was a stiff, and had trun down the party. Then -they clinched and Kelly started to hammer him.” - -All was now quiet in the street except for the rattle of an occasional -wagon, and the faint wheeze of a broken accordion being played down -the alley. A barb of yellow sunlight shot through the window and fell -upon a bright lithograph of the Virgin which was tacked upon the wall -near Larry’s bed. He had bought this years before and he had always -kept it because he thought it looked like his dead mother. Across -the room was a large photograph of Larkin in ring costume, as he had -appeared just previous to his desperate battle with the champion of the -sixth ward; and under this again was pasted a policy slip with three -numbers underscored, commemorative of the day that same gentleman had -struck the “Hard Luck Row,” at Levitsky’s policy shop, and gotten his -name down upon the books of the tenth police district as a “drunk and -disorderly.” - -“I wonder,” said Larry, his eyes dwelling soberly upon the Jewish face -of the Virgin, “how the old one is?” - -“I saw Rosie O’Hara stan’in’ in the door last night,” returned Jimmie, -“an’ she said that he was as good as gone.” - -“I’m sorry,” said Larry. Then catching the look which Larkin threw him, -he added: “He never done nothin’ to me, sure; but when I was a kid an’ -me father was a-livin’, he told me never to knock.” - -The plaster ceiling was seamed with cracks, discolored by the soaking -through of rain. Larkin, lying on his back, thoughtfully followed the -longest of these with his eye; and when he had reached its termination, -he said: - -“If youse was in with yer gran’dad just now, Larry, ye’d come in for -some o’ the gilt.” - -Murphy turned about with a jerk that threatened to end the cot’s unity. - -“I don’t want his coin; I wouldn’t make a play for it if I was flat on -me uppers! I said that I was sorry for the old man, not that I would -scoop his money after he was planted!” - -“Keep yer shirt on,” said Larkin; “I was on’y sayin’, ye know.” - -Mrs. McGonagle’s son, Goose, was seated upon an empty cracker box in -front of Clancy’s grocery; his wagon was drawn up at the curb, and a -small Italian was shining his russet leather shoes. His mother came up, -panting and wheezing from her haste. - -“Run intill the house!” she exclaimed breathlessly. - -“All right; I’m gittin’ me leathers shined,” said her son. - -“Faith yez shine kin wait, an’ somethin’ ilce can’t.” Mrs. McGonagle -dropped upon a salt-fish barrel, regardless, in her excitement, of what -effect the brine would have upon her church-going skirt. “Run” she -continued, “an’ tell Larry Murphy that his poor owld gran’father’s at -death’s door an’ wants till spake till him.” - -Goose stared at her incredulously. - -“G’way,” said he. - -“Don’t sit there starin’ at me, all as wan as a County Down peat -cutter, but go at wanst! Divil another step cud I stir iv the gates av -Heaven wur stan’in’ open till me!” - -Within a minute after hearing the above tidings McGonagle came charging -up the crooked steps leading to their lodger’s room, like a drove of -mavericks. - -“Git into yer rags, Murphy,” cried he, “yer wanted.” - -“Is it about Kelly an’ Hogan?” asked Larry. “I ain’t no witness. I -didn’t see the scrap.” - -“No, it’s yer gran’father; he’s a cashin’ in, an’ wants to see youse. -Me mother jist told me.” - -Larry was out on the floor like a shot, pulling on his clothes and -talking incoherently. - -“I kin hear the song they’ll sing,” said he. “They’ll pull me into -rags; ain’t that right, Larkin? Where’s me collar buttons?” - -“Look in yer other shirt,” Jimmie was also up, and dressing rapidly. -Murphy found the missing articles and resumed: - -“They’ll say I wus on’y waitin’ fer a chance to get next to the gilt.” -The thought seemed to anger him and he glared at his friends. “But it -ain’t so,” he cried, “so help me God, it ain’t! I don’t want the coin; -I’ve got a job, ain’t I? And I’ve went up against it this far, alone, -an’ I kin go the rest o’ the distance, too.” He turned to the others, -an appeal in his voice. “Did I ever make a play? Speak out, did I?” - -“Sure not,” said McGonagle. - -“Yer raw there, Murphy,” said Larkin. “If youse hadn’t been afeared o’ -what people’d say the old man’d shook yer hand long ago.” - -Larry drew in the slack of his suspenders and closed the catch with -a snap. He looked at Larkin in surprise; this was a thought that had -never struck him. - -“D’ye t’ink so?” was all he said. - -“I cert’ny do. I often seen youse brush elbows with him on the street, -and him turn and look after ye. He’d a-spoke to ye if youse had give -him on’y half a chance, see?” - -“Didn’t he have a chance when I was a kid? Didn’t he have a chance -when me father died and the neighbours in the alley had to take up a -collection to bury him? Did he do anyt’ing for me then? Not on yer -life, he didn’t! He let ’em put me in a Home.” - -“But, say, that wuz a dead long time ago, ain’t that right? If youse -put a stick o’ wood in the stove it’ll burn hard at first, won’t -it--but it’ll burn out at last, eh? The old one was leary on yer father -then; but, say, take it from me, the blaze went down long ago, and -it’s bin a kid game ever since; neither one o’ youse’d speak first.” - -Larry buttoned up his square-cut sack coat and looked at his tie in the -little glass near the stairway. - -“That might be all right,” said he; “but look at the time he--” here he -stopped short and then added: “I don’t want to knock. I promised that I -wouldn’t and it’s too late to begin now.” - - - - -Chapter IV - - “_When yer flat on yer back, wit’ a doctor as referee an a train’d - nurse holdin’ the towel, why it’s up t’ youse, Cull, it’s up t’ - youse!_” - - CHIP NOLAN’S REMARKS. - - -A RED-FACED, bare-armed woman opened a door in Murphy’s court and threw -a pan of garbage into the gutter. Her next door neighbour was walking -up and down the narrow strip of sidewalk, hushing the cry of a weazened -baby. - -“Is Jamsie not well, Mrs. Burns?” inquired the red-faced woman. - -“Sorry the bit, Mrs. Nolan; he’s as cross as two sticks. It’s walk up -an’ down the floor wid him I’ve been doin’ all the God’s blessed night. -Scure till the wink av slape I’ve had since I opened me two eyes at -half after foive yisterday mornin’.” - -“Poor sowl! Yez shud git him a rubber ring till cut his teeth on; it’s -an illigant t’ing for childer’, I’m towld.” - -Contractor McGlory’s stables and cart sheds stood on the opposite side -of the court. A young man sat on a feed-box in the doorway polishing -a set of light harness; a group of dirty children were playing under -an up-tilted cart, and a brace of starving curs fought savagely up the -alley over a mouldy bone. Mrs. Nolan called to the young man: - -“An’ sure, is it out drivin’ yez’ed be goin’ so arly on Sunday mornin’, -Jerry?” - -“On’y a little spin,” said the youth. “I want to try out a new skate -what the old gent bought at the bazar.” He rubbed away in industrious -silence for a moment and then, nodding toward a clean-looking brick -house at the end of the court, inquired: - -“Did youse see Johnnie Kerrigan go in?” - -“Is it young Kerrigan go intill Murphy’s!” Mrs. Nolan seemed -dumbfounded. - -“Not the saloon-keeper’s son that do be at the ’torneyin’!” cried Mrs. -Burns. - -“That’s the guy,” said Jerry. “He went in a couple o’ minutes ago.” - -Mrs. Nolan looked at her neighbour, and the latter lady returned the -look with interest. - -“I declare till God!” said the former, “Iv that don’t bate all I iver -heerd since the day I wur born. Sure an’ his father an’ owld Larry have -been bitter at wan another for years.” - -“It’s forgivin’ his enemies he’ll be doin’ now that the breath do be -lavin’ him,” said Mrs. Burns. “Divil the fear av him forgivin’ me the -bit av rint I owes him, though,” she added bitterly. - -“There’s worse than old Murphy,” said Jerry. “Kelly’s got his net out -after the court, an’ if he lands it, it won’t be long before youse find -it out, either.” - -But Mrs. Burns could only think of the crusty old harpy who went from -door to door down the court on the first day of the month, the skinny -old claw that reached out so graspingly for the rent, the leathery old -face frowning blackly upon delay, of the bitter tongue that spat venom -into the faces of all not ready to pay. And for the life of her, the -good woman could think of none worse than old Larry Murphy to deal -with. - -“Faix an’ he’d take the bit av bread out av the children’s mouths,” -declared she. - -A flock of grimy sparrows suddenly lit upon the roof of the stable, -chattering, fluttering and fighting madly; one of the quarrelling dogs -had been defeated and licked his wounds and howled dolefully; a drunken -man, passing the end of the court, pitched into the gutter and lay -there. - -“Mother av Heaven!” exclaimed Mrs. Nolan with a suddenness that caused -her neighbour to jump. She was pointing toward the house spoken of as -Murphy’s. “Look there!” - -Young Larry Murphy was standing upon the white stone step; he had just -pulled the door bell softly; and catching the astonished stare of the -two women, he swore at them under his breath. - -“They’re next already,” he muttered. “They’ll chew me up, an’ spit me -out, an’ laugh about it! Why don’t the fagots stay in the house!” - -The door opened and he went in, leaving them staring at the house over -which death was hovering. - -Clean and fresh-looking the house stood among its squalid surroundings -of dirty stables, frowsy, ill-smelling drains and pestilential manure -pits. Its stone steps were spotless, the brass bell knob was as bright -as burnished gold, the pretty curtains at the windows like snow. And -this was the home of the landlord of the court--the clean, bright, -comfortable home he had dreamed of years before, when he stepped from -the emigrant ship to begin life in a new land. - -He was dying now, and the money for which he had slaved and demeaned -himself--the money which he had hoarded and loved--was about to pass -from him. Once more he was going to begin in a new land, and a land -where hard craft was as nothing beside clean hands. Not that old Larry -had ever exacted more than his due; but he had stood flat-footed for -that, in spite of prayers and tears; and the reckoning was now at hand. - -The door had been opened for young Larry by a stout, heavy-browed man, -dressed in decent black; and as he stood aside for the youth to pass -him in the narrow entry, he showed his discoloured teeth in a sneer. - -“So ye have hurried here at wanst, eh?” said he. “Divil the foot have -yez iver put in the house afore, Larry?” - -“It’s manners to wait till yer asked,” returned Larry gruffly. - -The stout man closed the door. The house was soundless, and there was -a heavy smell of sickness; the door of the sitting room stood partly -open, and Larry caught the rustle of skirts. - -“I knowed yez’ed come,” continued the man who had admitted him. “Ah, -but it’s the sharp wan yez are, Larry.” - -The youth turned and grasped the door knob. “I knowed how it’d be,” -snarled he, looking savagely over his shoulder at the stout man. “I’ll -lick youse for this, Kelly!” - -He jerked open the door and was about to depart when a woman’s voice -called: - -“Mr. Murphy!” A girl had come into the entry from the sitting room; she -was tall and slim; a bright spot burned in each cheek and she coughed -slightly as the draft from the open door struck her. She held out her -hand. - -“I’m glad that you’ve come,” said she. “Your grandfather has been -asking for you again. Were you going away?” - -“Yes,” said Larry. He closed the door and took the proffered hand, -ashamed of the anger which Kelly had awakened. She looked into his face -with quiet, candid eyes. - -“That was wrong,” she said. “He is very low; will you come up?” - -He silently followed her up stairs. Kelly entered the sitting room -and stood by the window; his heavy brows were bent and his lips were -muttering. The people were streaming back from the church, across the -railroad; the sooty shifting engine was still making up its train, -panting and whistling like some asthmatic animal; a priestly-looking -young man paused at the door of the house and looked up at the number. - -“Father Dawson,” muttered Kelly hurrying to open the door. “He tuk his -toime comin’, faith.” - -The sick man, parchment-faced and wasted by disease, lay upon his bed; -his lips were moving, and his gaunt hands clutched the ivory crucifix. -The wax candles burned upon a table; beside them stood a glass bowl of -water blessed at Easter time; a bisque image of the Virgin stood upon a -shelf, and Rosie O’Hara knelt before it, her head bent, her eyes fixed -upon the floor. Young Kerrigan sat beside the bed, reading a newly -written paper; the sun slanted in between the partly closed blinds and -lay like a bar of gold upon the floor. - -“You have stated your wishes very clearly, Mr. Murphy,” said the -attorney, “and I see nothing that should be changed.” - -The old man opened his eyes and tried to sit up. “Mary!” said he. -“Where’s Mary?” - -“Here, Uncle Larry.” The girl knelt beside him and smoothed his pillow. -“You must lie still,” said she, gently. - -“Ye will be a witness till me mark,” said he, faintly, “an’ so must -Rosie. Is she here?” - -“Yes Uncle, she’s here.” - -“The sight do be lavin’ me. An’ the b’y? Did he say he’d come, Mary?” - -“He’s here, Uncle Larry.” She took the young man’s hand and placed it -within that of his grandfather: and once more the old man strove to -lift himself, peering at the other with dim eyes. - -“An’ this is Mike’s son?” he muttered. - -“Yes, sir.” Larry would have liked to have said “Grandfather,” but -somehow it stuck in his throat. He looked upon the old man with awed, -wondering eyes; it was the first person he had ever seen upon the -threshold of death; and the drawn face, wet with the death damp, sent a -chill through him. - -“I didn’t do right by yez father, Larry,” said the sick man, “I t’ought -a curse lay upon him for marryin’ yez mother!” - -Larry stepped back from the bedside, and Mary Carroll’s quiet eyes -alone kept back the angry words that leaped to his lips in his mother’s -defence. His mother--that oriental-eyed mother--bring a curse upon -anyone! The words still sounded in his ears as he looked down at the -shrunken form, pity contending with anger in his heart. - -His mother had died a Christian; she had deserted, in fear and -trembling, the faith of her fathers; she had knelt before the altar -raised to the Nazarene Carpenter, and strove with all the power of her -tortured soul to believe that He was the same God who had spoken to the -Law-Giver of her tribe upon the heights of Sinai. And she had done all -this through love for his father, the father whom this hard old man had -disowned. - -“I wud niver knowed better iv it hadn’t a-been for Mary; she made me -see it; it wur her that towld me av the black wrong I done yez, both. -I’ll make up for it, Larry, I’ll make it up, never fear!” The old man -paused for a moment, his face twitching. “D’ye t’ink it’s too late?” he -added eagerly. - -“It’s never too late.” And thinking to soothe the fears that gripped at -the darkening brain, Larry added. “It wasn’t much, ye know.” - -“But it wur, lad, it wur. Ye don’t know the gredge I wanst held in me -heart agin yez both. Didn’t I walk the flure, when he lay dead beyant -there at O’Connor’s, half mad wid the thinkin’? I t’ought till give him -a daysint berryin’ an’ bring yezself home here; but the divil got the -better av me, lad, so he did! Yez don’t know the black bitterness I’ve -held against yez; yez don’t know!” - -The agitation seemed to exhaust him; he sank back, a thin streak of -blood showing on his purple lips. - -“Don’t excite yourself, Uncle Larry,” said Mary. “That is all past and -gone now; Larry has forgiven you, and his father has, too.” - -A smile of hope flickered over the face of the sick man, and the girl -kissed the withered cheek. The youth with the screed leaned forward. - -“Hadn’t he better attend to this,” whispered he; “he may die at any -moment, now. This meeting, or rather the prospect of it, was all that -kept him up.” - -The old man caught the words. - -“Is that young Kerrigan?” breathed he; “yez are r’ght, Johnnie; soign -me name, lad, an’ I’ll make me mark.” - -The name was attached to the paper, the mark was made and the two girls -witnessed it. Kerrigan folded the paper and put it into his pocket; -the old man lay back upon his pillow and seemed scarce to breathe; his -chest was sunken, his eyes stared vacantly. A dog yelped dolefully -below in the court; from the railroad came the hiss of escaping steam -and the grind of wheels. Kelly opened the door softly, and said: - -“Father Dawson’s comin’ up.” He returned into the passage and looked -over the stair rail. “This way, Father,” said he. - -The pure-faced young priest came into the room. Mary’s lips trembled -and her voice broke slightly as she greeted him. - -“Bear up,” said he gently; “death is the common lot; and then he is -very old.” He bent over the bed; the bar of light had shifted and -old Larry’s hair shone like silver under its warm touch. “He should -have the last rites of the Church,” said the priest. Then turning to -Kelly and Larry he added: “I will ask you to leave the room for a few -moments, please. You may stay,” to Kerrigan, who had moved toward the -door with the others. “I may need you.” - -The two men stood in the passage for a time in silence; Rosie could be -heard sobbing heavily, and the priest’s voice murmured holy words. At -length Kelly spoke: - -“What wur Kerrigan called in for?” asked he. - -“I didn’t know he was called in,” answered Larry. - -Kelly regarded him for a moment, disbelief written upon his face. Then -he resumed, anxiously: - -“Did the owld man put his mark till anything?” - -“Yes!” - -“Ah!” and Kelly bent his heavy brows. “Wur there anything mention av -Martin an’ meself?” - -“I didn’t hear nobody mentioned.” - -“Humph!” Kelly bit the nail of his thumb viciously and spat over the -stair rail. Then, after a pause, longer than the first, he said: “How -is the toide?” - -“I don’t know.” - -“Tim Burns says it’s on the stan’,” said Kelly. “An’ whin it goes down, -he’ll go out wid it.” - -They waited in silence after this; Rosie’s sobs had ceased, the -clergyman was reciting the litany for the dying, and the others were -giving the responses. And then their voices were hushed; there was a -stir in the room; the door opened and Mary came out. - -“Mr. Murphy,” said she, “will you hurry over to O’Connor’s and tell him -to come, at once?” - - - - -Chapter V - - “_He’d strop up his razor, graceful an’ nice, - An’ then from your face he’d carve off a slice. - Your life from the gallows! Ye couldn’t be vexed, - When Tecumsha O’Riley’s calling out ‘next.’_” - - COMIC SONG. - - -SCHWARTZ’S barber shop stood almost within the shadow of the church -tower. The gas light streamed through his plate window and across the -sidewalk; a row of customers lined up along the wall, waiting their -turn in the chair; the fat proprietor stropped a razor and conversed -with a short man who stood at the stove rubbing a freshly reaped chin. -A large aired man, with a dyed moustache, was pulling a pair of kid -gloves over hands too large for them. He wore a light overcoat, a silk -hat, a flower in his buttonhole and seemed to sweat importance. This -was Squire Moran, thrice elected to the minor judiciary and a power in -the ward. - -“Ach!” exclaimed Schwartz, “dot vas too pad, Misder Purns.” - -“It’s gittin’ a bit wurried I am,” said the little man; “for what kin a -body be doin’ wit’out a bit av wurk.” - -“Sure I t’ought, Squire,” said Clancy, the grocer, who lay back in the -barber’s chair, tucked about with towels, “that yez wur goin’ till give -Tim a job in the water daypartment.” - -“There’s many a slip, Clancy,” quoth his honour, struggling with the -gloves. “I’m not the only duck in the pond, ye know; and it’s Tim’s own -fault that he ain’t in the department long ago.” - -“How’s that?” queried the grocer. - -“McQuirk’s against him,” answered Moran. - -Mr. Burns looked downhearted; the others nodded sagaciously as though -the reason given was all sufficient. - -“I almost got down on my knees to him,” went on the magistrate, “but he -said no; so what can I do?” - -“What’s he sore on Tim for?” asked Goose McGonagle who, in a bright -scarlet tie, sat near the wash-stand. - -“I wouldn’t vote for O’Connor,” Burns hastened to say. “Sure Gartenheim -did me a favour wanst; an’ wud yez have me go back on a friend?” - -A murmur went around the room. - -“But O’Connor was the reg’lar nominee,” argued Moran, “an’ if it hadn’t -been for the push that turned in for Gartenheim, O’Connor ’ud be -holdin’ down the office instead of Kelly. McQuirk’s dead leary on split -tickets--unless he gives the order--an’ he told ye at the time that -he’d remember ye for it.” - -“He had little till do,” mumbled Clancy. - -Moran laughed. “What the boss don’t know about practical politics ain’t -worth knowin’,” said he. “An’ it’s the little things what holds the -party in line. So stick to McQuirk an’ McQuirk’ll stick to you.” He had -succeeded with his gloves by this time and was about to depart. “If I -can do anything for you, Tim,” he added, “I’ll do it. But when Mac says -no, why he generally means it. Good night, everybody.” - -“Niver talk till me av politicians,” said Clancy; “be dad they’re all -tarred wid wan stick. An’ divil a better are they across the say; sure, -I wur radin’ in the _Irish World_ that Redmond do be at his tricks -wanst more.” - -“D’yez say so,” exclaimed Burns; “ah, but the owld dart is in a bad way -betune thim all.” - -“Redmond do be after firin’ off some illigant spaches,” put in Malachi -O’Hara, from behind a newspaper, “an’ he’s an able lad, so he is. -Didn’t he take up for Parnell whin--” - -“Parnell!” Clancy snorted his disgust so violently as to endanger his -safety from the barber’s razor. “Don’t talk till me av that felly.” - -“Yez wur a Parnell man yezself wanst, Clancy,” said Burns, with an -elaborate wink at the others. “Sure, I see the chromo av him that came -with the _Freeman’s Journal_ nailed up on yez wall overight the kitchen -dure.” - -“An’ divil a long it stayed out av the stove after he wur found out,” -said the grocer stoutly. - -“Filled up, Schwartz?” cried Jerry McGlory, poking his head in at the -doorway. - -“Gome in, Mr. McGlory; dere’s nod many aheat of you.” - -Jerry entered, greeted his acquaintances, and hung up his coat. - -“Goin’ to the wake?” asked he of O’Hara. - -“’Twuld be but daysint fer me till pay my rayspects till the family. -Are yez goin’ yezself?” - -“Sure! There’ll be a mob there, though.” Then turning to the youth in -the scarlet tie he inquired: “Well, what d’ye know, McGonagle?” - -Mr. McGonagle had just finished a graphic description, for the benefit -of his right-hand neighbour, of the last performance of a “brass back” -cock, the victorious veteran of a score of mains, and answered affably: - -“Nothin’ much. On’y the selectman’s the sorest mug ye ever put yer -lamps on. If ye’d touch him wit’ a wet finger, he’d sizzle.” - -“Arrah, yer right, Goose,” confirmed Burns. “I stopped intill his place -for a sup av drink as I wur comin’ by, an’ from the talk av him yez’d -t’ink young Murphy had put his hand intill his money drawer.” - -“Divil mend him!” said Clancy. - -“I heard,” said McGlory, “that Mary Carroll wasn’t left a cent.” - -“D’ye tell me so?” O’Hara was greatly interested. - -“Glory be!” ejaculated Burns; “an’ the nace so good till him.” - -“Sure, Mary wurn’t his nace,” said Clancy. - -“Wur she not! Faix an’ that’s news till me, so it is.” - -“I heard me father say,” said Jerry, “that Mary’s grandfather put up -the coin to bring old man Murphy over here, and start him in the tea -biz. That was a good many moons ago; and when her folks lost all their -gilt and she was left alone, old Larry sent to Dublin for her, and he’s -took care o’ her ever since.” - -“Begorra, the owld fox had a heart in his body for all! Bud scure -till the wan av me iver give him credit for it. God save uz,” resumed -Mr. Burns, after a pause, “what a power av money he made at the tay -peddlin’.” - -“He uster be a great old geezer, didn’t he?” remarked McGonagle. “I kin -remember him as plain as day in his old plug hat, an’ he wuz hot after -the needful, too.” - -“There do be a good profit in tay,” put in the grocer, who was now -sitting up, having his hair brushed; “but how he iver made all av the -property he’s left, be peddlin’ it from dure till dure, gits the better -av me.” - -“He had a head for commerce, sure,” put in O’Hara. “It wur himself -that cud lay out a dollar till advantage; an’ divil the bate av him did -iver I see for buyin’ chape an’ sellin’ dear.” - -“He was a winner if he cud beat youse at that game, O’Hara,” laughed -McGlory. - -“Nexd!” cried Schwartz, as Clancy got out of his chair. Malachi took -the vacated place, a frown wrinkling his brow. The grocer, thinking of -the hard bargain which O’Hara had driven when he had gone to him for -money, some time before, winked at Jerry, delighting in the cut; and -Schwartz, as he drew some hot water from the copper tank upon the stove -into O’Hara’s shaving mug, grinned widely. - -“Dod vas a good von, Cherry,” muttered he. “You hid him hardt, ain’t -id?” - -Burns, who was gazing through the window, suddenly uttered an -exclamation, rushed into the street and buttonholed a young man who was -passing. - -“Is that not Dick Nolan, Jerry?” asked Clancy tieing his four-in-hand -before the mirror over the wash-stand. - -“Yes,” answered Jerry. “I guess Tim’s hittin’ him for a job.” - -“Be the powers! the crayture nades the bit av wurk. The good woife an’ -two childer’ mus’ find it hard; an’ Tim’s a study, sober felly.” - -In a few minutes Tim returned; his face had a brighter look and he was -lilting an old country air. - -“I go till wurk in the mornin’,” said he with a rapturous smile. “Young -Nolan is a man av his wurd; he promised me a job at the first chance, -an’ now he have give me wan. McQuirk an’ his political bums kin go till -the devil, for me!” - -“Good luck, lad,” wished the grocer. “Gartenheim is the man for yez -till stick till.” - -“He have the contract for layin’ the sewer above, at Frankford,” went -on Burns; “an’ he’ll start till open the strate t’morry.” - -“Nolan’s a good guy,” commented Jerry. - -“That’s no joke,” agreed McGonagle. “He’s a real good t’ing.” - -“It’s a pity,” commented Clancy, “that his mother is so tuck up wid the -sup av drink.” - -“Ay!” said Tim, shaking his head dismally. - -“She hocks everyt’ing she kin carry,” said McGonagle. “Dick can’t trust -her wit’ a cent.” - -“Small blame till him,” said Clancy; “she’d git drink wid it. He comes -in an’ pays me bill every Saturday noight himself, poor b’y.” - -“Makes big money, too,” remarked McGonagle; “and she cud live like a -lady if she’d cut the bottle. It’s hard lines for Dick, le’me tell -youse; for he’s a hard worker, an’ he’s got mighty big notions ’bout -gittin’ to the top o’ the heap.” - -“That sister o’ his is a nice-lookin’ fairy,” said McGonagle. - -“Poody as a bicture,” agreed Schwartz. O’Hara gave a grunt; the barber -snatched away his blade and inquired, “Does der razor hurd?” - -“Yez damned near cut me chin!” growled the dealer in second-hand goods. -“Shut up, an’ tind till yez wurk.” - -“She’s a nice girl enough,” said Jerry, “but, say, she’s cert’ny -playin’ Roddy Ferguson for a dead one.” - -“An’ is Roddy shparkin’ her, sure?” inquired Clancy. - -“Sure! I never seen anybody so broke up on a bundle o’ skirts in me -life. Say, he’s dead twisted about her; he talks about her every time -he opens his mouth.” - -“Roddy’s a study b’y,” said Burns. “I heerd that O’Connor’ll be takin’ -him intill the bizness wan av these days. It’s a good man he’d make -her.” - -“Dick’s leary on him,” said McGonagle, “he won’t let her even look at -him.” - -“D’yez say so!” And Clancy regarded the speaker with great surprise. -“Faith an’ I t’ought they wur great buddies. They wint till the -Brothers’ School together, an’ in thim days, divil a long they wur iver -apart.” - -“Why it’s a chestnut!” exclaimed McGonagle. “I t’ought everybody in the -ward was next to that. They’ve bin given each other the stony smile -ever since las’ election, when O’Connor and Gartenheim run against each -other for select council.” - -“Ach!” cried Schwartz, “dot vas a hod dime!” - -“The warmest ever,” agreed McGonagle. “It was a reg’lar drag out or I -never seen one.” - -“Wur they not both Dimmycrats?” asked Tim. “What call had they till -foight, I dunno? I wur in the division at the toime, sure, bud I niver -got the roight av the t’ing.” - -“Why, when the gang went to the convention they was split an’ primed -for trouble, see? One crowd wanted O’Connor, an’ the other was -a-fracturin’ their suspenders whoopin’ t’ings up for Gartenheim. And -when the O’Connor push got the bulge, the Dutchman’s people broke -for the door, and started a convention o’ their own upstairs o’ -Swinghammer’s saloon. Both o’ ’em was in the fight from that on, and -the way they shovelled out the long green ’ed make youse t’ink they was -rank suckers. Why a mug couldn’t turn aroun’ wit’out runnin’ into a -bunch o’ money.” - -“Glory be!” - -“Nolan worked for Gartenheim, of course; he couldn’t turn down his -own boss, ye know. An’ Ferguson ’lectioneered for O’Connor for the -same reason, see? An’ he chased aroun’ the ward waggin’ his face for -votes an’ givin’ Gartenheim the knife every chance he got. On election -night,” continued McGonagle, proudly, “we had the returns at the club -by private wire, ye know, and when Roddy was dead sure that Kelly had -flim-flammed the push, he opened up on Nolan an’ said that Gartenheim -had been workin’ wit’ the other side, all along. In a minute they was -clinched an’ the crowd had to pull ’em apart. That’s how it is.” - -“But, Goose,” complained Tim, “I don’t see how Kelly, who calls himself -a Dimmycrat, got on the Raypublican ticket.” - -“He was foxy,” returned Goose; “I ain’t stuck on him, but I’ll say that -for him--he’s dead foxy. As soon as he seen his own party split he made -a play for a place on the other ticket; the other side knowed that he -cud lift a lot o’ votes from us, and that they cud win wit’ him, see? -McQuirk got onto the game an’ tried to make a deal. But they gave him -the laugh, and wiped up the ward wit’ him on ’lection day, wit’ Kelly -at the head o’ their column. The boss was red hot, le’me tell youse: I -heerd him in Kerrigan’s back room the next afternoon, and he said he’d -be at Kelly’s finish if it took every cent he had in his clothes.” - -“Next chendt!” called Schwartz. O’Hara got out of the chair, and -McGonagle took his place. - -“It was all blow, though,” added Goose as Schwartz swathed him in -clean towels and began to apply the lather. “He’s got over his spasm, -an’ they’re both as t’ick as t’ives. Say,” to the barber, “keep that -soap on the outside o’ me face, will youse!” - -“Den keep your face shud, aind’t it,” smiled Schwartz. - -Clancy and Burns were about to leave. - -“We’ll see yez at the wake, Jerry,” said the former. “Will ye go along -wid us, Malachi?” - -“I have till go to the length av Coogan’s till see a stove that they do -be waitin’ me till buy,” answered O’Hara, “but I’ll folly right after -yez.” - -“Good night, gentlemen.” And the door closed behind Mr. Burns and Mr. -Clancy, who headed in the direction of Murphy’s Court. - - - - -Chapter VI - - “_That’s how they showed their respects for Paddy Murphy, - That’s how they showed their honour and their pride, - They said it was a shame for Pat, and winked at one another, - Everything in the wake-house went, on the night that Murphy died._” - - MURPHY’S WAKE. - - -O’CONNOR’S wagon had come and gone several times; a black streamer hung -from the bell knob; the shutters were bowed with a ribbon of the same -sombre hue. Groups of children sat upon cellar doors and talked in -whispers; slatternly women stood on doorsteps, morbidly watching all -who came or went at the house where old Larry lay dead. Mrs. Nolan, her -head muffled in a woollen shawl, was leaning out at her kitchen window, -likewise engaged, when Hogan the policeman came through the court upon -his evening round. - -“Are yez goin’ in?” asked he, pausing. - -“Not the noight,” replied Mrs. Nolan, “all me bits av rags is in the -wash, an’ sorra’ a t’ing have I till put on me back. Bella an’ Dick -will, though, an’ mesilf will t’morry noight, plaze God.” - -Hogan drummed lightly upon a fireplug with his club. “It’s a Solemn -High Mass they’ll be havin’,” said he. - -“Divil doubt it! An’ there’ll be a power av hacks at the funeral; Dick -wint for wan till McGrath’s, bud they wur all spoken.” - -“Yez’ll not be at the Holy Cross, thin?” - -“Faith, yiz. We have a hack av O’Connor’s, an’ it’s go in stoyle -we will.” Mrs. Nolan was looking toward Murphy’s as she spoke, and -suddenly exclaimed, in a startled voice: - -“Who is that, Micky, that young McGonagle have be the scruff av the -neck? Glory be! Is it foightin’ he’d be in front av the house where the -corpse is?” - -A thick-set young man had staggered drunkenly up the steps of Murphy’s -house, just as Goose McGonagle halted before the door. - -“Say Kelly,” Goose had remarked, “don’t youse t’ink ye’d better sober -up a little before youse go in there?” - -The man on the steps swayed to and fro and regarded him with -drink-reddened eyes. - -“Wha’s it your bizh’ness?” demanded he. “Don’t ye put yer beak in -thish, McGonagle. D’ye hear?” - -“Put yer head to work,” advised Goose, “an’ have some sense, Murphy’s -got enough trouble now wit’out youse botherin’ him, Mart.” - -“I’m goin’ in,” declared Martin Kelly, his thick voice raising angrily, -“an’ what’s more I’m a-goin’ to lick Larry Murphy! He’s done me dirt; -an’ I’m a-goin’ to do him up.” - -He tried to open the door, but McGonagle whirled him off the steps. - -“Ye ain’t a-goin’ to kick up no muss here, and that goes,” said Goose, -decisively; “youse must be daffy, ain’t ye?” - -Kelly had just aimed a wild blow at McGonagle when Hogan pounced upon -him. - -“So it’s yezsilf, Martin,” sneered the policeman; “it’s a great -foighter yez are gittin’ to be!” - -“Take yer paws off a-me, Hogan,” growled the drunken youth, struggling. -“Me old man’ll have youse broke for this.” - -“If ye don’t quit makin’ a monkey av yezsilf it’s a ride in the wagon -yez’ll git.” - -“Take the lush away,” begged McGonagle; “he’ll have the whole bloomin’ -neighbourhood up.” - -The expostulating Martin was hustled down the street just as Mary -Carroll opened the door. - -“It’s on’y Mart Kelly,” Goose informed her, lifting his hat. - -“I’m glad he’s gone away,” said Mary; “for he was here this afternoon -when Mr. Murphy was out, and his talk was shameful. Are you coming in?” - -“For a little while. Don’t stand in the draf’; it makes youse cough.” -McGonagle followed her into the sitting room where the black box rested -upon a pair of low trestles. A number of wax lights burned at its -head and an aged woman knelt at the foot, her withered lips muttering -prayers for the repose of the departed soul. A dozen more women -neighbours sat around the room talking lowly. - -“The men are all in the kitchen,” said Mary to the young man, “and I -suppose you will want to go there, too.” - -“Arrah, then, Mary,” spoke his mother who sat among the group of women, -“it’s himself that ’ud stay here till the cows come home iv Annie -Clancy were on’y here.” - -A titter ran about and Goose looked embarrassed. “Don’t mind her,” said -he. - -“Annie’s a nice girl,” said Mary, smiling at him with her kind eyes. - -“Do Goose still droive the milk wagon, Mrs. McGonagle?” asked Mrs. -Burns after the young man had gone into the kitchen. - -“He do that same,” proudly, “an’ arns a good profit ivery wake.” - -The street door had opened and voices were heard in the entry. - -“It sounds like the O’Hara’s,” said Mrs. McGlory, wife of the -contractor, who sat in a corner fanning herself, with all the dignity -of her social position. Mrs. Burns elevated her hands in dismay. - -“They’ll be keenin’, jewel!” she cried to Mary. - -“I wouldn’t have it!” declared Mrs. Clancy, the grocer’s wife. “What’ll -people t’ink?” - -The O’Hara sisters came bobbing into the room in queer-looking -quilted bonnets that hid their faces, and triangularly folded shawls -pulled tightly about their narrow shoulders. Espying Mary, they threw -themselves upon her with lamentations. - -“Mary, darlin’,” cried Bridget, “it’s a heart full av trouble yez have -this noight!” - -“God be good till yez, allanna!” exclaimed Ellen, “an’ kape death from -uz all for many a day!” - -Then they crouched down beside the ice box, betraying every symptom of -great grief. - -“Divil a tear did I see in her eyes,” muttered Ellen. - -“She’s vexed at not gittin’ the bit av money,” said her sister in the -same low tone. - -Then they began muttering prayers in the Irish tongue; the others -watched them, silently, from time to time exchanging intelligent nods. -Then the sisters began swaying their bodies back and forth in unison, -and the other old woman rose to her feet. - -“It’s comin’,” said she, “divil choke thim!” - -A long, low wail burst from them that immediately filled the kitchen -doorway with the grinning faces of the men. It was the weird death cry -of the Irish race, with which they lamented the passage of a soul, in -their island home. Mary quickly approached the women and spoke a few -determined words; they bounced upon their feet angrily. - -“Shame on yez, Mary Carroll,” cried Ellen. - -“Is it prevint our showin’ our rayspects till the dead ye’d be doin?” -demanded Bridget. - -“The custom is not understood in this country,” said Mary quietly; and -they flounced indignantly down upon the sofa and glowered about them. - -“Luk at that stuck-up shtrap, McGlory’s wife, makin’ game av uz,” -muttered Bridget. “Sure an’ iv she’d git her drunken brother out av the -House av Correction ’t wud be fitter for her!” - -“Ah, the big, fat hussy!” exclaimed Ellen, “it’s well I raymimber the -toime whin her owld man drove an ash cart, an’ hersilf tuk in washin’.” - -All unknowing, Mrs. McGlory was smoothing out her silk dress and hoping -that the others noticed the sparkle of her chip diamond ring. - -“Mary,” inquired she, leaning forward as far as her tight waist would -permit, “is it owld Kate Sweeney yez’ll have till lay him out?” - -“I hadn’t thought of that,” answered Mary, “but I suppose so.” - -“Kate do have illigant taste,” affirmed Mrs. Clancy. - -“Troth she do that!” spoke Mrs. McGonagle, “an’ sorra a few have doide -in the parish in the last thirty years that she haven’t put the shroud -on. Ye’ll have till have some wan, Mary, an’ yez moight as well put the -troifle av money in the poor owld crayture’s way.” - -The door bell rang softly, and Mary went to answer it. - -“Is Rosie not here the noight Ellen?” asked Mrs. Burns. - -“She do be in her bed, the crayter,” answered Ellen rather stiffly. -“It’s up t’ree nights han’ runnin’ she’s bin wid him,” with a nod -toward the box, “as he lay sick; an’ a bit av slape’ll do her no hurt.” - -“Rosie have a good heart,” said Mrs. Clancy. - -“True for yez,” put in Mrs. McGonagle, “sure an’ iv it hadn’t been for -her, what ’ud Mary done at all, at all!” - -“Spakin’ av Mary,” said Mrs. McGlory; “where did she get her -eddycation? It’s carry herself very ladyloike, she do.” - -“She wur taught in a convent in Dublin,” said Mrs. Clancy. - -“I t’ought it wur somethin’ av the koind,” said the contractor’s wife, -“seein’ that she goes till the altar ivery second Sunday. It’s a good -livin’ girl she is.” - -“None better. But, God betune us an’ all harm, it’s delicate she is. -She have a bad cough.” - -Mary re-entered, accompanied by a pretty girl, very showily dressed, -and a young man. - -“How do yez do, Bella?” greeted Mrs. McGonagle. “An’ is it yezsilf -Dick?” - -“I’m very well, thanks,” answered the girl, stealing a side glance at -the looking-glass and arranging her fluffy bang. “How have you been?” - -“I have me health, thanks be till God.” - -“Tim wur tellin’ me, Dick,” said Mrs. Burns, “that yez have got him a -job av wurk. It’s pray for yez this noight, I will.” - -“I need it,” laughed young Nolan, “so fire ahead, Mrs. Burns.” - -He walked back toward the kitchen, his sister following him. - -“Bella!” called Mary, “won’t you sit here? The men are all in there, -you know.” - -“I’ll be back in a second,” said Bella, over her shoulder. “I on’y want -t’ take a peep.” And she disappeared into the kitchen. - -“Hark till that!” exclaimed Bridget O’Hara, looking about, grimly. -“It’s young Kelly she do be lookin’ after.” - -“She’s a bowld wan, that t’ing,” chimed in her sister. - -“Yez shud be ashamed av yezselves, both av yez!” cried Mrs. McGlory, -reddening with indignation. “Wud yez take away the girl’s ker-act-er!” - -“We’re sayin’ nawthin’ bud the truth, sure.” - -“Raymimber, yez hav a nace av yer own!” - -“An’ I wud have yez till know, Mary Ann McGlory, that she do be a -daysint girl!” - -“Wud ye say that Bella Nolan is not?” - -“Oh, hush!” said Mary, pained beyond expression at this outbreak. -“Please do hush!” - -When Bella came back into the room she sat down beside Mary, and began -twisting a ring about her finger, and giggling. - -“I just wanted to see if Mart Kelly was in there,” she said. - -The sisters threw glances of triumph at the contractor’s wife, and the -other women looked slyly at each other and shook their heads. - -Two dishes stood upon the kitchen table, one filled with loose tobacco, -and the other with clay pipes; the air was heavy with smoke; the elder -men leaned back and talked of times past; the younger grouped together -and discussed current events of a sporting character. Larry sat upon -the edge of the table, swinging his feet slowly and stirring up the -tobacco with the yellow tipped stem of a pipe, a thoughtful look upon -his face. - -“It’s a foine lot ye hav for him at the Holy Cross,” said Clancy, -“marble at the head an’ feet, an’ iron rails all about it.” - -“That so? I never seen it,” Larry had answered. - -But he had seen another grave, away near the fence, in the same -cemetery--a narrow, neglected grave, flat and bare, with a wooden -cross above it--a grave that lay at the end of a long row of others, -the cramped resting places of poor wretches whose lives had been as -cramped, and as bare, and as flat. - -“Wid his side face to’ard ye, he luks like the gran’father,” said -O’Hara, lowly. - -“Is it loike old Larry?” said Tim Burns. - -“No; the other.” - -“Old Cohen, thin. Sure, now that I t’ink av it, he do. But thin he hav -the blood in him, an’ why not?” - -“D’yez raymember owld Aaron, Clancy?” - -“Well do I. Faix an’ I got me clothes av him up till the toime he died. -Divil a-far from crazy he wur whin his girl ran off wid Mike Murphy! -An’ iv owld Larry wur mad at his b’y’s marryin’ a Jewess, the other wur -worse at his dawther for takin’ up wid a Christian. By dad, he cursed -her up hill an’ down dale; he frothed at the mouth, an’ groun’ his -stumps av teeth together loike a madman; an’ nothin’ ud do him bud he’d -hav her taken be the police. But Moran towld him he cud do nawthin’. -He’d a tramped her under his feet wan day beyant on Second Street whin -he met her, iv it hadn’t bin for Peter Nolan, Dick’s father, God rist -his sowl in glory! Peter jumped out av his cart an’ dragged him away. -Put Aaron an’ owld Larry in a bag together, an’ scure till the wan cud -tell which ’ud jump out the first, for timper.” - -The clock ticked and struck through the hours; the people came and went -as is the custom. When the hands approached the hour of one, Tim Burns -arose. - -“I wur goin’ till offer till sit up wid ye, Larry,” said he, “but as I -have me job till go till in the mornin’ I mus’ git a bit av slape.” - -“Much obliged, all the same,” said Larry. “Larkin an’ McGonagle are -goin’ to stay with me.” - -“I’ll be goin’ mesilf,” said Clancy, reaching for his hat. “I mus’ have -me grocery open be four, be the day.” - -There was a general arising, putting on of hats and shaking of hands -with Larry; the women had gone long before; and when the clock struck -again the three watchers were nodding together beside the kitchen -range. - - - - -Chapter VII - - “_Oh they laid him away, - On one bleak Winter day, - An’ the sun he’ll never see more._” - - BALLADS OF BACK STREETS. - - -THURSDAY morning broke clear, and before the factory whistles had done -blowing, O’Connor and Roddy Ferguson had carried in the coffin, the -great brass candelabra, and all the other things that went to make -up O’Connor’s first-class funeral. O’Connor’s arrival was followed -promptly by that of old Mrs. Sweeney, and under their practised hands -things progressed rapidly; for when the clock of St. Michael’s struck -the hour of nine, and then began tolling sadly, all was ready and the -doors thrown open. - -Hacks from neighbouring livery stables began arriving and lined up at -the curb, and the friends of the departed began to gather. The women -went in, but the men, for the most part, collected upon the sidewalk. -Frowsy-haired women stood in groups at the mouth of each alley in the -block, blue faced and shivering, but anxious to miss nothing. A crowd -of young men were smoking and laughing near Clancy’s coal box; the -drivers of the hacks, in shabby livery coats and grotesque high hats, -called to each other from their high seats. - -It wanted but a half hour of the time when the cortège was to move when -Goose McGonagle pushed his way through the people who were crowding -in at the front door; he had a band of crape about his arm and was -hatless. Approaching the group at Clancy’s, he said hurriedly: - -“I’m goin’ to be a pall bearer, fellas, and Larry wants five o’ youse -to help. Talk quick!” - -Nolan and McGlory promptly volunteered. - -“That makes three,” said Goose. “Won’t youse help to carry him, Larkin?” - -“Try to get somebody else,” begged Jimmie. And with a nod of his head -toward the smoky grey tower from which came the doleful strokes of the -bell, he added: “I don’t go there, ye know; an’ it might make talk -about Larry, see? Here’s Casey an’ Mike McCarty comin’ up; give ’em a -brace.” - -Danny Casey who worked for Contractor McGlory, and Mike McCarty, -who drove a truck for Shannon, the teamster, and was considered the -best-dressed young man in the ward, were promptly “braced” and gave -consent. - -“I’ll git another one and give Ferguson yer names,” said Goose, “an’ -he’ll fix youse up with gloves and crape for yer skypieces.” - -And McGonagle plunged into the house with the crowd. The prospective -pall-bearers resumed their comments upon the passing throng; a pastime -at which they had been interrupted. - -“Here comes Kelly and his wife,” remarked McGlory. - -“With Mart pluggin’ along behind. And he’s half lit up, too.” - -“Good mornin’, Mr. McGlory,” saluted Casey to his employer. - -“How are yez, Danny?” answered the contractor as he went by with his -wife. “Good mornin’ gintlemen.” - -“Gee!” whispered Casey, “ain’t the old lady a swell!” - -“Git onto Clancy’s stove-pipe lid! Ain’t it a bird!” - -“It was made during the siege o’ Limerick,” said McCarty, “an’ Clancy’s -wore it at every funeral an’ at every A. O. H. procession since then.” - -“Hello, Schwartz; goin’ to the funeral?” - -“Say,” said McGlory, “don’t Rosie O’Hara look nice in black? Look at -the two old ones givin’ their wipes a shower bath! Say, Larkin, there’s -Rosie wavin’ her hand, on the quiet; she wants youse.” - -Her aunts had gone in, but Rosie paused upon the step, and Jimmie was -at her side in a moment. - -“Who are ye goin’ to walk with?” said she. - -“With youse, if ye’ll let me!” eagerly. - -Rosie looked pleased. “Git our names down,” said she, “so’s we’ll be -called out.” - -She entered the house just as Roddy Ferguson came out, his hands full -of black cotton gloves and streamers of crape. - -“Hold out yer fin, McCarty,” commanded Roddy. “Say, Casey, youse kin -tie a bow knot, so gimme a lift with these. I’d ask youse to come -inside, gents,” went on O’Connor’s aid, “but the house is packed with -women, and I know youse ain’t proud.” - -“Who’s got the list, Furgy?” asked Larkin. - -“O’Connor. Him and Larry’s makin’ it up in the kitchen.” - -Jimmie Larkin took off his hat in the entry and pushed into the room -where the body lay exposed to view. Mary sat at the head of the casket; -beside her were the Kellys, the mother with her handkerchief to her -eyes, the father talking across the corpse to a friend, the son half -asleep in his chair. Tall candles shed their light about the room; the -walls were draped in dead black; the polished lid of the casket stood -awesomely in a corner; the flowers sent by friends and the potted -plants furnished by the undertaker smelt sickeningly sweet and heavy in -the close, crowded room. - -The old man looked very peaceful; death had removed the hard, crabbed -lines from his face, and the pale hands, twined about with a rosary, -and holding a small crucifix, seemed, to the tenants, very different -from the grasping old claws that he had been accustomed to thrust out -for the rent. Some of the people sat, some stood, others again knelt, -hurrying over the set prayers for the dead. - -“What a beautiful corpse!” ejaculated Ellen O’Hara, in a loud whisper. - -“Loike a child gone till slape,” said her sister. - -“He have fallen away a good bit,” commented Mrs. McGonagle. - -“Yis,” said Mrs. Clancy; “but not so much as I expected.” - -“He vas der hardest corbse to shafe I ever dackled,” Schwartz informed -the latter lady’s husband. - -“What an illigant ‘Gates Ajar’!” exclaimed Mrs. McGlory. “Is that the -piece that the A. O. H. sent, Mary?” - -“It takes Kate Sweeney till make thim look daysint in the coffin,” -remarked Mrs. Nolan. “What splindid flowers she have put under his -head!” - -“Tell me, Mrs. Clancy,” whispered Bridget O’Hara; “who will walk wid -Larry?” - -“Why, Mary, av corse.” - -“Divil a fear av her!” - -“Is she settin’ her cap for him, I dunno?” said Ellen. - -Mrs. Clancy turned to Mrs. McGonagle. “D’yez harken till the talk av -thim two?” asked she. - -“God save uz,” answered Mrs. McGonagle, “they’ed talk about any wan. -But, whist; is that not Mrs. Noonen’s black skirt, Casey’s wife have -on?” - -“Av coorse. She borryed it yisterday; for scure till the stitch av -black she have av her own.” - -“Is the Father Matt’oo comin’?” inquired Mrs. Nolan. - -“Is it the T. A. B. yez mean?” questioned Mrs. Contractor McGlory. - -“What ilce?” - -“Sure Larry wur not a mimber.” - -“D’yez tell me so! An’ did he take the sup av drink, thin? Begorry I’d -niver a-t’ought it.” - -Mrs. Nolan blinked at the corpse with renewed interest. O’Connor came -into the room with Larry and handed Mary a slip of paper. - -“Iv there’s any other names ye want down,” said he, “just say the word.” - -But Mary shook her head and returned it. Roddy Ferguson pushed his way -into the room and drew his employer aside. - -“Callahan’s outside with the hearse,” said he in a whisper, “and if we -want to catch the Solemn High Mass we’d better push t’ings.” - -The undertaker drew himself up to his full height and looked gravely -about him; then in his deepest and most professional voice, he said: - -“The relatives an’ friends of the family will take a last farewell look -at the departed before proceedin’ till the church.” - -Veils were dropped, gloves were put on, and a subdued sobbing and -whispering began. All pushed forward anxious to see everything at this -critical and interesting moment. Larry was moved but silent; Mary -sobbed, quietly; Mrs. Kelly’s grief was stormy; but her husband and son -regarded the body stolidly, then gave way to those behind. In a few -moments the casket lid was screwed down and the six young men had borne -it through the door to the waiting hearse. Young Ferguson took the list -of names and stationed himself by the door. - -“Mr. Lawrence Murphy and Miss Mary Carroll,” called he. - -“Do she go afore me?” demanded Mrs. Kelly. “Mr. O’Connor is a black -stranger till walk ahead av a sister av the corpse?” - -Kelly sneered. “Sure they have it all their own way, Honora,” said he. - -“Mr. James Kelly and wife,” called Ferguson. - -“Thanks be!” cried the angry lady. “I wur expectin’ till be left till -the last!” and out she went on the arm of her husband, to treat the -watching crowd to an energetic exhibition of sisterly grief. - -“Mr. Martin Kelly!” cried Roddy. He hesitated a moment, then added: -“and Miss Bella Nolan.” - -Bella came forward, smiling, and took the young man’s arm. The sisters -O’Hara threw looks of malice toward Mrs. McGlory; but the good woman -disdained to notice them. - -“Go on, Roddy!” directed O’Connor. “Is it aslape ye are?” - -His assistant had followed Bella and her partner with moody eyes, -and now stood gazing at the empty doorway. But he roused himself at -O’Connor’s voice and before his abstraction was noticed by anyone else -he continued: - -“James Larkin, and Miss Rosie O’Hara.” - -“Divil the bit will she,” broke in the latter’s father. “Rosie walks -wid me, an’ not wid the son av an’ Orangeman!” - -Rosie grew red, and the tears sprang into her eyes; Jimmie hesitated, -uncertain how to act, but at a glance from Rosie, he drew back and -allowed her father to lead her out. - -“What a shame!” said good-natured Mrs. McGonagle. - -“Will nothin’ do the cub but Rosie?” sneered Bridget. - -“I don’t like his trade,” said Mrs. Clancy, “but he’s a foine young -felly.” - -“He’s his father’s son,” said Ellen, bitingly. - -The list of names was gone quickly through; those intending to walk in -the cortège as far as the church fell in, and all moved slowly down the -street, O’Connor at their head. - -Larry Murphy’s recollections of what followed were but dim; through -a sort of haze he heard the chanting priests, and saw the swinging -censers, and his mind retained but little of what the pastor said in -regard to the old man’s life and acts. He had been but a child when -his father lay at the same altar rail, but his remembrance of that was -vivid. The organ was silent then; the church was deserted save for a -few friends, and a single priest performed the hurried service. It -came back to him that he had cried bitterly; not that he had much idea -of what was happening, but the dull light that crept in through the -stained windows seemed to add to the gloom that filled the church, and -a vague sense of loss had clutched at his childish heart. He did not -begrudge the pomp that marked his grandfather’s burial services, but -he thought that the old man could have spared a little from his store, -that his dead son might have gone to the grave in a fitting manner, and -not wait until death’s hand was upon him before giving a sign. - -But it was all over now; the pall-bearers had drunk their glasses of -red wine, crumbled their pieces of sweet cake, shaken hands with Larry -and departed. The Kellys had remained until Johnnie Kerrigan had -informed them that the entire property had gone to Larry, and then left -in a gust of anger. - -The young man and Mary were alone. She sat by the window, crying -softly; he stood with his back to the stove, his hands clasped behind -him, staring at the bright pattern in the carpet. - -He was trying to think of something to say that would ease her grief; -but all that came to his mind seemed vapid and without much meaning. He -had been thinking of her a great deal during the last few days and it -hurt him to see her cry. He had never spoken to her before the day of -his grandfather’s death; but he had seen her often on the street and at -the church--when he went there--and he had often marvelled at the calm -purity of her face. He had heard much of her in different ways; of her -goodness of heart, of her gentle ways, of her deep love and veneration -for the faith in which she had been reared. He had lived rough, a young -man in his place could hardly help it; and he had seen, and said, and -done things which would have made him hang his head had she known; but, -for all, he liked, as most men do, reverence for holy things in a -woman. It was Mary that broke the silence. - -“Mrs. McGonagle will take care of the house for you until you have -time to get settled,” she said. And he looked at her blankly, not -understanding. “I will stay with a friend for a while,” she continued, -“for I haven’t had time to think of anything yet.” - -“You’re goin’ away, then?” - -“To be sure!” wonderingly. “This is your home now, and I can’t stay -here, you know.” - -“That’s so,” said he. He hadn’t thought of it before; and now that he -did his heart sank a little at her helplessness. She fumbled at the -catch of her mourning glove; he looked at her for a long time, thinking -of another--of the tall, splendid girl whom he had known best as a -child and playmate. But _she_ seemed far away now; her people were his -people no longer. Ah, yes that was it: Education had done much for this -girl of whom he had dreamed since boyhood; but association had done -more; and she seemed as far away as though she had dwelt upon a star. -He could never reach her plane; and of late years he had only thought -of her as one thinks of the dream-built hopes of youth. At last he said -to Mary: - -“This house’s been your home for a good while, now; and it’ed look like -drivin’ youse away, wouldn’t it?--I mean if ye went.” - -“I don’t know,” answered she doubtfully. - -“Anyway, I don’t want ye to go,” said he, with sudden courage. “Stay -here--and marry me!” - -He looked into the pure, candid eyes and saw sweeping into them a quiet -happiness that caused him to stoop and kiss her cheek. - -“Uncle Larry spoke of that just before he died,” she said; “and if you -are sure you want me, I’ll stay.” - - - - -Chapter VIII - - “_There’s an organ in the parlour, - Just to give the house a tone, - And you’re welcome every evening, - At Maggie Murphy’s home._” - - HARRIGAN. - - -NOT many steps from St. Michael’s is the Academy of the Sacred Heart, -where the girls of the parish are taught by the gentle-mannered -sisters; and not far from that again, was the home of Maggie Dwyer. -Time was, and not so many years before, when Owen Dwyer mixed the -mortar for McMullen the builder and lived in one of the little houses -in McGarragles’ Alley. But Owen made good wages and was a saving man -and a sober one. All his neighbours knew that he had an account in -the savings bank; but when he sent his daughter to the Normal School -and thereby showed that he had sufficient to educate and support her -it excited much comment; and when he bought the Second Street house, -and Fitzmaurice, the real estate man, caused it to be known that four -thousand dollars was the price paid, a cry of wonder went up, and the -old country tale of the finding of “a crock of gold,” began to be -whispered from one to the other. - -And, although he shortly afterward gave up his job with McMullen, Owen -was still the same quiet, good-natured man, passing the collection -plate in the church on Sunday morning and acting as president of the T. -A. B. society, as he had been accustomed to do for years. - -His daughter was his darling. Splendid, capable Maggie! whose fine eyes -and handsome form were the talk of all who knew her. Owen had some -influence in a political way, and after her graduation, Maggie was made -a teacher at the Harrison School; her strong young voice was soon heard -in the church choir; she sketched, embroidered, composed, and adorned -their pretty home with pictures, dainty bric-a-brac and other things -that a refined taste delights in, until Owen walked about the rooms in -awe, and admired with all his soul. - -One evening about a week after the funeral at Murphy’s, Maggie, in a -close-fitting gown that displayed the splendid lines of her figure, -sat at her piano softly playing over some music which she was to use -at a concert of the teachers’ society; Owen read the evening paper and -smoked his brier pipe by the shaded lamp. - -“I’m afeered, Maggie,” said he, in a troubled tone, laying down the -paper, “that these goings on av the Motor Traction Company’ll bring -sorra’ till many a body yet.” - -“What is it, Daddy?” asked Maggie, pausing in her playing. - -“They do be after the franchise av the new company,” answered Owen. -“An’ the politicians are sidin’ wid ’em in their rascality. I have -put more money in this than I shud,” added he, soberly, “an’ iv the -franchise is revoked be the next set av councilmen, it’s in a bad way -we’ll be, Maggie.” - -She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, in the motherly fashion -that Owen loved. - -“Don’t worry, Daddy, you’ll see that all will come right in the end. -And what matter, even if the stocks you own are made worthless; we -still have our home.” - -“Bud we can’t ate bricks an’ mortar, sure,” complained he. “An’ I’m too -owld till go till work, now, Maggie.” - -“But I am not,” said Maggie, with a laugh. “Why you have said yourself, -Daddy, that I earn more in a month than you ever did with Mr. McMullen.” - -“Is it have me sponge on yez bit av wages ye’d have me do?” exclaimed -the old man. “God forgimme, Maggie, I couldn’t do that.” - -The door bell rang at this moment. - -“It’s Mr. Mason, I suppose,” said Maggie. “He told me that he would -drop in during the evening, and said that he wanted to speak to you.” - -But it was Annie Clancy, the grocer’s daughter, a quiet, pretty girl, -and a great favourite of Maggie’s. - -“I only came in to say that Mary Carroll is coming around to see you,” -announced Annie. “She said that she was afraid you’d be goin’ out, so -she asked me to run around and tell you to wait.” - -“An’ how is young McGonagle, Annie?” asked Owen, banteringly. - -“Now, Daddy!” warned Maggie, with uplifted finger. - -“What harm?” persisted Owen, who delighted to twit the girl about her -sweetheart. “Sure, they tell me, Annie, that he do sarve yez father wid -better milk than any av his other customers.” - -Annie tossed her head. - -“He don’t,” denied she. “And even if he did,” regretfully, “Pop -wouldn’t like him any better.” - -“An’ does not take till Goose?” inquired Owen. - -“You know he don’t. And it’s all because Goose is in debt to Mr. -O’Hara. Pop says he’ll never be able to keep a wife; and that he’ll be -sold out.” - -Owen saw the tears in the girl’s eyes, and said gently. - -“Don’t mind, Annie. You’ll have him, never fear. Goose is a good b’y -till his mother an’ that kind do have luck.” - -“I’ll have to go now, Maggie,” said the grocer’s daughter. “Pop’s going -to the Clan-na-Gael meeting to-night and I have to tend store.” - -Annie had hardly left when Mason came, and he had barely been welcomed -when Mary Carroll followed. The two men were left in the parlour to -discuss the matter of Mason’s visit, while the girls withdrew to the -sitting room upstairs. - -“I could not delay telling you any longer, Maggie dear,” said Mary. “It -came so sudden after poor Uncle Larry’s death that we have been keeping -it a secret.” - -“A secret?” exclaimed Maggie. “Tell me, quick.” - -“Larry Murphy has asked me to be his wife.” - -A quick change came over Maggie’s face; she paled, then flushed, and -faltered when she tried to speak. - -“Why, Maggie,” said Mary, anxiously. “What’s the matter?” - -But Maggie had recovered quickly and replied: - -“I am only glad, Mary--glad for your sake; you will be very happy; for -Larry has a good heart.” - -“It came so strangely, too,” said Mary, a happy light in her quiet -eyes. “We barely knew each other, I mean in the conventional sense, -but I must have loved him and he must have loved me for ever so long -without either of us knowing it. And, oh, he thinks so much of you, -Maggie; why, you and he were boy and girl together, and yet I don’t -remember ever hearing you speak of him.” - -“We have not seen much of each other for a long time,” said Maggie -quietly. - -When they finally came down into the parlour, Mason was ready to take -his leave; he had his hat and stick in his hand and was exchanging some -last words with Owen. - -“Every man,” he was saying, “who has the good of the city at heart, -and who has the slightest sense of justice, will do everything in his -power to prevent this proposed steal. I have made up my mind that the -only way to prevent its consummation is to canvass persons who have -influence in their own neighbourhood, acquaint them with the facts and -endeavour to organize an opposition at the primaries.” - -“There yez have it,” said Owen, approvingly. “The primaries is -the place till make the fight; lave thim wanst git control av the -convintions in the different wards, an’ they’ll put their own bla’gards -on the regular ticket an’ thin the divil himself couldn’t bate thim.” - -“And this young man whom you advised me to see; where can he be found?” - -“Oh, Larry Murphy? Yis, yez could do worse thin have Larry wid yez. -Sure, he’s so solid in his own division that McQuirk himself has till -take second place, there. - -“Mary,” and Owen turned to the girl, “Is Larry at home?” - -“Yes,” answered Mary. - -“If you want to find Mr. Murphy,” laughed Maggie, “we will provide a -way for you. Mr. Mason, this is Miss Carroll.” The introduction being -acknowledged, Maggie continued: “You can be of mutual service to each -other, Mr. Mason--you as escort, and Miss Carroll as guide.” - -But, after their visitor had gone, and Maggie had sought her own room, -the laugh vanished and she threw herself upon the bed and burst into a -storm of tears. - -Her thoughts went back to the time of her childhood, to the little home -in McGarragles’ Alley. She once more saw the dark-eyed boy who had been -her very slave, who was always ready to fight for her, and who was -happiest when by her side. But as they grew up the years had separated -them; she lived in her present home, went to the Normal School and -found new friends very different from the old, though her heart was -still true to them. And Larry only saw the change from the outside. -When she came tripping along on Sunday morning, prayer book in hand, on -her way to church, he, standing on the corner in front of Regan’s cigar -store, rigged out in a cream-coloured overcoat with pearl buttons, -saluted her with a nod of assumed indifference and she would return it -in kind and continue on her way, wondering: “What in the world Larry -Murphy saw in standing on Regan’s corner all day of a Sunday.” - -An incident had occurred later that should have ended this -misunderstanding; and it would have done so had not the sense of -distance between them been magnified, in Larry’s mind, by the very -nature of the happening. - -Shannon, the teamster by whom he was employed, had one day called Larry -into the little office down by the river. - -“Larry,” said he, “I’m after havin’ great call from the mills above in -Kensington, as ye know. Sure the bell av me telyphone’s jingling all -the God’s blessed day, an’ I have the divil’s own job gittin’ me teams -up there in time. Yesterday I bought six pair av the foinest jacks yez -iver laid eyes on, an’ five trucks as good as new; I have rinted the -back room av Kavanaugh’s on the Frankford road as an up-town branch; -an’ it’s yezsilf I want till take charge av it. The work will be asey -an’ genteel an’ I’ll pay yez twinty dollars a week.” - -After a moment’s sober thought Larry had replied: - -“The job’s a cinch, an’ the money’s good; but, say, Pat, how do youse -t’ink I’ll size up to the work? I can’t write a’tall an’ on’y kin read -a little.” - -“Now God forgi’mine for an ijit!” exclaimed Shannon. “Sure an I niver -wanst thought av that. That puts an end till it, Larry; the work is -beyant yez, b’y.” - -Larry understood this and felt it keenly. He endeavoured to convey an -impression of carelessness; but Shannon was not deceived. - -“Common since’ll tell yez, Larry,” said he, kindly, “that the man that -takes howld av me up-town branch must have a bit av larnin’. Give up -runnin’ wid the gang, lad, an’ go till the night school.” - -Larry paid very little attention to what the boss was saying; he was -wrestling with the bitterness within him. But that night, as he was -crossing the railroad on his way to the club, he noticed that a broad -shaft of light flowed from each window of the old Harrison School, and -then Shannon’s words came back to him. A group of boys were skylarking -in the entry where a single gas light flared redly in the gloom. - -“Night school?” inquired he of one of these. - -“Sure,” answered the boy. “Started last week.” - -His mind was made up in an instant, and he started up the stairs toward -the principal’s room. But with his hand upon the door knob, he paused. -What would the gang say when they heard? He pictured himself standing -in the midst of them, an object of derision; he saw two of them meet -upon the street and heard the laugh that greeted the words, “Larry -Murphy’s goin’ to school, like a kid.” But he drove these visions from -him, muttering: - -“If they kid me, there’ll be somethin’ broke, that’s all!” - -He half expected the principal to laugh when he stated his business; -but, on the contrary, that gentleman seemed to regard the matter -approvingly; this made Larry feel better, and he entered the schoolroom -indicated with scarcely a tremor. A number of young men of his own age -sat at the little desks, handling the spelling books with pathetic -care. There were two teachers in the room, flitting helpfully from -desk to desk; no one noticed Larry and he slid into a vacant seat, and -awaited developments. - -One of the teachers was working from pupil to pupil up the aisle toward -him. His back was turned to her, but he knew, from the sound of her -voice, that she was young. In a few moments she was, as Larry afterward -expressed it, “givin’ points to the guy right back o’ me.” - -It was not until then that he recognized the voice; and a panic -immediately possessed him. - -“Gee!” he mentally exclaimed, “what did I drift into this joint for, -anyhow; I might a-knowed she’d be here.” He looked longingly toward the -door. “If I t’ought nobody was next, I’d take a chance, and fly the -coop!” - -But he delayed until too late; in another moment Maggie had sat down -beside him, inquiring: - -“How are you getting on with--?” then in great astonishment. “Why, -Larry Murphy!” - -He began to stammer a confused explanation; but she knew of his -shortcomings and realized the situation like a flash. - -“I didn’t t’ink I’d see youse here,” he finished awkwardly. - -Maggie knew this; she also knew that if he had dreamed of her presence -wild horses could not have dragged him there. Her tact soon put him -more at his ease, and, finally her manner of putting things, awoke an -interest in the lessons that almost made him forget his situation. - -When the class was dismissed she had called him aside. - -“You will return to-morrow night?” she asked. - -“Yes,” he answered hesitatingly; “I guess so.” - -“Will you promise?” - -“Yes; I promise.” - -He kept his word, finished the term and mastered the studies in hand. -But after that it was the same as before; she could only feel sorry -for him, he thought; and when he chanced to meet her on the street -his manner was formal, and for her pride’s sake her own could not be -otherwise. - -And this, perhaps, is why Maggie wept so bitterly. - - - - -Chapter IX - - “_Reform: A t’ing what the wise guys gits busy at--when the other - push is holdin’ the jobs._” - - CHIP NOLAN’S DEFINITION. - - -OLD Mrs. Coogan, who was distantly related to Mary, opened the door for -her and Mason. Mrs. Coogan had been there since the old man’s death, as -a sort of chaperon and housekeeper, and vastly pleased was she with the -arrangement. Larry in his shirt sleeves came out of the sitting room as -they entered: - -“Hello, back so soon!” exclaimed he. Then, seeing Mason, he added -surprisedly: “Mr. Mason, how are youse?” - -“Mr. Dwyer advised me to come to see you,” said Mason, shaking -hands; “but I had not the slightest notion that I should meet an old -acquaintance.” - -Mary left them to themselves; and Mason plunged at once into the matter -in hand. He explained in detail the nature of the scheme on foot -and then continued: “Now the local reform organization has resolved -to fight this thing, and wants to enlist as many men acquainted with -practical politics as possible.” - -“Sure,” said Larry. “That’s the first crack out o’ the box every time -youse hear from ’em. Say, I’ll give it to youse straight: reform’s all -to the good, but the reformers give me a pain.” - -Mason grew a little red, and looked nettled. - -“Don’t take that to yerself,” said Larry, noticing this; “I ain’t -a-backheelin’ you or any other man; it’s the reformers as a bunch -that I’m hittin’. When they hear of a crooked job they start to kick -up the dust, hold meetin’s at the Academy of Music and do other -red-hot stunts; then the first t’ing youse know they’re backin’ up -the worst kind of a gang of tin horn pipes who are on’y fightin’ the -administration because they ain’t in on the rake-off. If they win out, -the pipes git the plums and work ranker jobs than the other bunch ever -thought of, and then the reformers flop over into the other camp and -trot the race all over again. Ain’t I right?” - -“There is some truth in this,” said Mason, “but then fusion is our -only hope; we have not the strength to name and elect a man of our own.” - -“As long as youse t’ink that ye’ll be easy game. Say, the people who -wants the cards dealt square in the city’s got the bulge, but they’re -dead leary on gettin’ their hands dirty; a man with aces in his fist is -beat if he don’t use ’em at the show down.” - -“I take it that you would support a reform delegation providing you -were satisfied it was controlled by reformers.” - -“Not on yer life! Le’me tell youse somethin’. Some o’ the fiercest guys -what ever broke into politics, started their turn as reformers, and I -don’t take no chances on havin’ a confidence game worked on me, see? -The man what goes to the convention from this division stands to do a -certain t’ing; he’s sent there to do it by the voters and he does it. -Nobody outside’s got anyt’ing to say.” - -“That’s as it should be,” said Mason. “But in how many divisions or -wards is that the case? The ring controls the primaries in nine out of -ten of them; the voice of the man with the ballot is seldom or never -heard. Slavery was a liberal institution compared with the electoral -serfdom that exists in some of our municipalities.” - -Mason’s warmth led him into exaggeration; but Larry had views upon this -particular subject himself and proceeded to unburden himself. - -“Youse’re dead right!” declared he. “I was talkin’ to the old coon what -peddles calamus root to the avenoo, the other day, an’ he said that he -wished he was a slave again, pickin’ cotton an’ dancin’ the buck. He -says that he got a skin full o’ corn pone then, but that it keeps him -scratchin’ with both hands these days to git next to anything with more -stick in it than water. Say, the Uncle Tom racket wasn’t a bad graft -when ye look at it right, and maybe it’ed been a good t’ing for the -wool growers if Uncle Abe had changed his mind.” - -Mason smiled at Larry’s literal interpretation of his words and made a -vague remark regarding the blessings of liberty. But the other received -it with contempt. - -“That’s got moss on it,” said he. “Liberty’s all right, but it don’t -put beef and beans into a man. There ain’t a mug in this ward that -ain’t got it to lose; but they don’t lay in bed in the mornin’ -thinkin’ about it, either, when the whistles are a blowin’; they have -to climb down the street, eatin’ their breakfast out o’ one hand and -buttonin’ their overalls with the other.” - -“But the slave,” protested Mason, “before the Civil War also had to -work.” - -“Sure!” exclaimed Murphy. “I didn’t t’ink that the main squeeze took -off his coat and drove mules, while they sat on the porch an’ spit at -their boots. A young Willie, what had the Sunday-school class what I -went to onct, told us that the slave owner’d open up a hand with a -black snake whip, if he looked cross-eyed, and that it was the reg’lar -t’ing to hang the cook up by the t’umbs if she broke a plate. But, -say, that sassy t’ing was a-stringin’ me cold; because when a guy put -up a thousand plunks for a bogie he wasn’t goin’ to lam the life out -o’ him like they do in the show. I don’t say that he was stuck on him, -mind youse, but I do say that the price worried him some, and that the -worsted motto what his wife worked, and hung up in the parlor read: -‘T’ink twice before youse slug a nigger onct.’ - -“The gang down in Washin’ton,” proceeded Larry, “riffled the deck in -’62 an’ made a new deal; the coons looked at their hands and t’ought -they had the pot cinched; they stood pat on the Fourteenth Amendment -and waited for the guys with the dough to buck up. But they’re waitin’ -yet. They never git their eyes on any o’ the blessin’s o’ liberty cept -at ’lection time--and then they must deliver the goods. Liberty ain’t -a bad game; but youse want to size up the dealer from start to finish, -so’s he don’t stack the cards. There’s lots o’ people in the liberty -line what used to carry a lead pipe in their pockets, but made the -change because the gilt grew thicker and there wasn’t so much chance -for doin’ time.” - -“Some one, long ago,” remarked Mason, “said something about the ‘crimes -committed in the name of liberty,’ and, unfortunately, it holds good -to-day.” - -“That’s no pipe dream! Now look here; there’s lots o’ guys right in -this division, what’s swingin’ a pick for a dollar an’ a half a day, -an’ hangin’ up their hats in a third story back where they have to -stand on the stove and hold the kid while their wives make the bed. If -a slave got sick his owner hustled in a doctor, for if the coon went -up the flue it was good money goin’ to the bad. But if the pick swinger -gits down on his back, the main guy cashes his time ticket, hires a -Polack, an’ don’t care a picayune if his friends are invited to meet at -two an’ go at t’ree, an’ he has a plain black box and an undertaker’s -wagon, with a drunken carriage washer to drive it.” - -“But all employers are not so unfeeling; some are heard of, now and -then, who help their people out of the hard places.” - -“That might be right,” agreed Larry; “but I never piked off one that -was out o’ breath through handin’ out money. His daughter belongs to -a flower mission, maybe, and if she t’ought of it she might send the -sick man a bunch of hyacinths done up in a waxed paper; but she’d stop -the kids from cryin’ quicker if she trotted out a beef stew done up in -a tin kettle, an’ that’s no joke. Say, as Chip Nolan ’ed say: It’s no -wonder the coons are all whistlin’ ‘Lemme take me clothes back home.’” - -Mason managed to head him off at this point and began an earnest plea -for his support; but Larry would not bind himself to the support of -anyone at that time. - -“I’m leary on makin’ promises,” said the latter, as Mason, at length, -arose to depart; “t’ings’ll be dead ripe by the night o’ the primaries; -so after that I kin talk to youse.” - -The bell had rung a few moments before, without their noticing it; and -now Mrs. Coogan opened the sitting room door, saying: “Sure, here is -Mr. McQuirk, as large as life.” - -“Murphy,” said the visitor, as he stepped into the room, “I hope I -didn’t interrupt ye? I can wait if you’re busy.” - -It was Tom McQuirk, the boss of the ward, a big-bodied, pleasant-faced -man, well-dressed and of assured manner. - -“Hello,” said Larry, “glad to see ye, Tom. Sit down.” - -McQuirk glanced toward Mason and a smile of recognition crossed his -face. - -“Mr. Mason, how d’ye do!” exclaimed he, reaching out his hand. - -Mason shook hands with him without enthusiasm. He had sat too long at -the feet of the sages of the Civic Club not to believe that this man -and his kind were the very bacillus of corruption. He had met him a -year or two before at a conference held with a view to allying the -Democrats and the reformers in favour of an independent candidate for -city treasurer. But McQuirk had been against the fusion--and it had -failed. - -And Mason, after he had taken his departure and walked homeward, -admitted to himself, with some bitterness, that McQuirk’s voice, in -this ward at least, would very likely be the deciding one in the matter -in hand. - - - - -Chapter X - - “_Oh! The room was decorated, - With the flags of every land, - The gents were elevated, - Malone he couldn’t stand; - Canaries in their cages, - With flowers in a tub, - Stood on the piano, - At Casey’s Social Club._” - - POPULAR SONG. - - -BELLA NOLAN looked through the half glass door of Riley’s Oyster Café -and tapped softly upon the pane. Goose McGonagle stood before Riley’s -bar, fork in hand, while Riley, with amazing dexterity, wrenched open -oysters and placed them before him on the shell. At the sound of the -tapping, McGonagle looked up and Bella beckoned him. - -“A mash?” smiled Riley. - -“Ye’ve got another guess,” answered Goose. He laid down his fork and -stepped out upon the sidewalk. - -“Goose,” asked the girl, “have you seen Mart Kelly to-night?” - -“No; ain’t he up in the club?” - -“I don’t know. Will you go up and see, please?” - -“All right,” consented McGonagle. He opened the door, “Say Riley,” said -he, “just open the rest and have ’em on the bar. I’ll be back in a -second.” - -“Don’t let on to nobody,” cautioned Bella. “Because I wouldn’t be -talked about for the world.” - -The rooms of the Aurora Borealis Club were over Riley’s place of -business; the entrance was by a side door and a flight of steps led -directly into the parlour. The members were present in force, dressed -in their best and, as it was Saturday night, chinking their money in -their trousers’ pockets. - -Larry Murphy and Roddy Ferguson in their shirt sleeves, were engaged in -a game of pool, discussing, between shots, the merits of the various -candidates for nomination at the coming ward convention. Mr. McCarty -sat at the piano endeavouring to pick out a ragtime melody which he -had heard at some “free and easy”; and Johnnie Kerrigan was critically -examining a portrait of McQuirk, the boss of the ward, a work of -art which the boss had lately presented to the club. Other and less -distinguished members lounged about the room, indulging in gossip of a -sporting character and strong cigars. - -“I tell ye,” said Ferguson, slipping a ball into the rack, “O’Connor’s -got the t’ing cinched if he gets the delegates. He’ll win in a walk!” - -Murphy chalked the tip of his cue and looked doubtful. “Gartenheim’s -dead agin him,” said he, “an’ Gartenheim kin scare up some votes, youse -know that. McQuirk’s pullin’ with Kelly this hitch, and he’ll wheel the -machine in line. I don’t t’ink O’Connor’ll do; if we want to have a say -we must ring in a man what kin hold the push together, see?” - -“Dum-had, dah; doodle-day!” hummed McCarty, banging away at the -keyboard. “How’s that, Kerrigan?” - -“Nothing like it,” answered Johnnie, “you’re getting worse every -minute.” - -Tom Hogan, son of the policeman, came from an adjoining room. - -“They’re makin’ up a game,” said he. “Any o’ youse gents want t’ sit -in?” - -Murphy paused with his cue poised. “Not me,” remarked he. “Last -Saturday night was my finish; I don’t play no more poker with people -what deals from the bottom o’ the deck.” - -McCarty stopped his piano practice and whirled about on the stool. -“This joint’s gittin’ to be a reg’lar hang-out for sharks,” complained -he. “We hold a meetin’ to-night, and if Kelly don’t git the razoo why I -git out o’ the club, that’s all.” - -Young Kelly, unnoticed, had followed Hogan into the room. - -“What’s that!” demanded he. “Speak yer piece, McCarty, don’t talk -behind me back.” - -“Don’t worry; I’ll talk in front o’ yer face when the time comes.” - -Martin struck the cushion of the pool table with his fist. “I want to -hear it right now; what are youse goin’ to put me before the meetin’ -for?” - -“Ah, yer crooked,” said McCarty. - -“Me crooked! I can lick the guy that says it.” - -Murphy leaned his cue against the wall. “Ye done me out o’ a five spot -by stackin’ the papers,” said he. - -Kelly hesitated. Larry was one of the quietest men in the district; -but then he was also the man that the club had entered in the -tournament for amateurs a few years before and he had carried off the -light weight cup by beating three men in the finals. - -“I ain’t scrappin’ with no professionals,” growled Martin at length. - -“I ain’t no professional,” insinuated McCarty. - -“Let it drop, gents!” advised Jerry McGlory who had just come in. -McGlory was the club’s president and he felt that in his office it -behoved him to act the part of a peacemaker. He took the wrathful Kelly -aside and was trying to soothe him when McGonagle entered upon his -errand. - -“Somebody wants ye outside, Kelly,” announced Goose. - -“Go ahead out an’ see ’em,” begged McGlory, delighted. “Ye’ll feel -better after ye come back.” - -Muttering under his breath, Kelly followed McGonagle down the steps, -and after he had gone McGlory observed: - -“That lobster’s too gay! He’s got a notion he runs this outfit.” - -“Well, he’s got another t’ink,” said Murphy. “Say, us people made a -foxy play when we turned down the fifty dollars his old man wanted to -chip in toward gittin’ the pool table.” - -“’Lection’s comin’,” remarked Ferguson. “He t’ought he’d cop our -support be that move.” - -“He don’t git no support o’ mine,” Murphy informed them. “I ain’t for -no gent that pulls on both ends o’ the string. Le’me tell youse this,” -rapping with his knuckles upon the piano top; “if Kelly scoops the -nomination we’re a push o’ dead ones.” - -“He’s puttin’ his net out though,” affirmed Roddy Ferguson. “O’Connor -told me that he’s got the ward committee fixed, an’ that the heelers’ll -pull for him at the primaries.” - -“He’s got all the bums in the ward on his staff,” said McGlory. “He -gits ’em out o’ jail when they’re pinched, an’ he’s loadin’ rum into -them all day, over his bar.” - -“The Mozart Sangerbund give him an invitation to their last meetin’,” -put in McCarty, “and he wanted Kerrigan to write him a speech. He’s -makin’ a play for the German vote.” - -“I heard in City Hall, yesterday,” said Kerrigan, “that the Mayor -offered him the indorsement of the other side again, if he could split -our ticket. McQuirk was at the pow-wow and somebody slipped him a bunch -of money. But say! if that’s right he’ll have a warm time delivering -the goods.” - -“When is the delegate election, Murphy?” inquired McGlory. - -“About a month after our ball,” answered Larry. - -“Talkin’ about the ball,” remarked McCarty: “we won’t have Larkin to -lead the march for us this time, eh?” - -“There’s a guy what knows the figures,” commented McGlory. “How’s he -doin’ now?” - -“He’s doin’ ’em all; an’ right off the reel too,” said Murphy, who was -a pupil of Jimmie’s in the manly art, and had watched his progress, -through the newspapers, with interest. “He’s done stunts wit’ the best -o’ them, since he left town, and they kin hardly put a glove on him. -He knocked the Pohoket Cyclone dead to the world in the second minute -o’ the fifth round last Monday night at New Orleans. Larkin’s a comer, -le’me tell youse.” - -McGlory had pulled aside one of the window blinds and was gazing down -into the street. - -“Say!” exclaimed he suddenly, “it’s a bundle o’ skirts what sent -McGonagle up after Kelly.” He regarded the two figures standing near -the curb below under the glare of the gas light, intently. “It looks,” -said he, “like Nolan’s sister.” - -“Cheese it!” whispered Murphy. But Roddy Ferguson had caught the words; -and he stood with his elbow resting on the piano top, chewing at the -end of his cigar, and looking with clouded brow into the fire. It was -an open secret that Bella had thrown him over for Martin Kelly; Roddy -was too quiet and steady to suit her light temperament, he lacked -Martin’s swagger and bluster, qualities which Bella liked, for she -was one of those women who mistake excess for a proof of spirit and -dissolute living for a mark of manhood. - -Martin had found Bella waiting for him in front of Riley’s. His anger -had not had time to cool, and he demanded roughly: - -“Well, what d’youse want?” - -“I’d like to speak to you Martin,” timidly. - -“Say, don’t youse begin to dog me up, d’ye hear! I won’t have it!” - -“You didn’t meet me last night at Whalen’s dance like ye said ye would, -and I thought somethin’ might be the matter.” - -“Nothin’s the matter only I’m ’lectioneering for the old man, an’ I -ain’t got no time to meet women.” - -“S-h-h! Mart Kelly, I don’t thank you one bit for talkin’ to me like -that! Anybody to hear ye would think I was common.” - -He looked at her for a moment, and then laughed: - -“Oh, I guess not,” said he. - -“Well, don’t do it no more! I don’t want people talkin’ about me and -giving me a shamed face. Ye know, yourself, they’d on’y be too ready. -Oh, my Gawd,” suddenly, “here comes Mom!” - -Mrs. Nolan, a market basket upon her arm, came down the street with -staggering step. Dick had entrusted her with money enough to go -marketing and it had gone for drink; she was muttering to herself and -gesticulating drunkenly, and as she caught sight of the pair by the -curb, she halted: - -“Ah!” cried she. “Is it spharkin’ be the gutter yez’ed be doin’, -jewels? Have ye no home till go till, Bella, that yez must stan’ on the -strate!” - -“Oh, go home!” cried Bella, scarlet with shame, “everybody’s lookin’ at -you!” - -“Divil a hair do I care. Sure, an’ haven’t I the roight till take a -sup av drink iv I have the price? It’s not long yez father ’ud be in -biz’ness,” she added to Martin, “iv it wurn’t for the loikes av me.” - -The young man growled out an oath. He saw McGonagle looking at him -through Riley’s window, and Riley, himself, with a grin upon his face. -A Saturday night crowd filled Second Street; many that knew him stopped -and looked and laughed; on the opposite corner, in front of Kerrigan’s -saloon and under the glare of an arc lamp, a crowd of loungers were -enjoying the sight; Officer Hogan was slyly pointing at him with his -club, and saying something to the bartender who stood in the doorway. - -“And is me poor home not good enough for yez,” went on Mrs. Nolan with -increased pitch, “that yez do be kapin’ me daughter stan’in’ in the -strate till be talked about. Divil a better had yez father till he -tuk to sellin’ the drop. Lave go av me arm Bella; I’ll go home whin I -plaze!” - -“Ye’ll go home now!” said her son, pushing his way through the crowd -which had collected. “For God’s sake,” as she began struggling, “don’t -make a show of yourself! T’ink of the neighbours!” - -“May the divil fly away wid the neighbours! What call have I till be -afeerd av thim?” - -“Come on, Mom,” urged Bella, almost in tears, “if ye go on this way, -I’ll never show me face outside the door again!” - -“Ye promised to do right,” said Dick, with white face, “and ye’ll never -get another cent o’ my money in yer hands as long as ye live!” - -Kelly had darted into Riley’s; and the tittering, thoughtless crowd was -growing greater. - -“Is this the way yez talks till yez owld mother!” cried Mrs. Nolan. -“May the cross av Christ darken the day yez wur born.” - -A man laughed loudly: Dick turned with a snarl, caught him by the -throat with one hand, the other drawn back for a blow. Bella screamed -and Hogan ran across the street. - -“Don’t hit him,” shouted the policeman; “don’t hit him, Dick!” He -dragged the angry, shame-maddened youth away from his victim. “I don’t -want to pull yez,” said he, “for I know just how it is. Go along home, -now and take yez mother wid ye.” - -The mother, frightened by her son’s sudden exhibition of fury submitted -to being led away. And an hour afterward she was deep in a drunken -sleep on a narrow settee in her kitchen. Bella sat upon the steps -leading to the room above, and her brother was walking the floor, his -head throbbing and a sickening feeling at his heart. - -“It’s a bad t’ing to say,” said he suddenly, “but sometimes I wisht she -was in her grave.” - -“Dick!” cried his sister, frightened. - -“I know! I know!” waving his hand impatiently, “yer goin’ to say that -it ain’t right; an’ I know that as well as you.” He paced up and down -in silence for a moment. “Look at what I could do for her,” he resumed, -“if she’d on’y do what was right. I make big money, and I’d a-bought a -house out o’ the Building Association long ago if it hadn’t been for -that”--with a gesture toward the sleeping form. “She could live like a -lady--like a lady! And I’d only ask her to do right.” - -He took a clay pipe from the shelf over the door and struck a match -upon the stove. - -“How often has she promised to break it off?” demanded he staring at -the flickering flame. “A hundred times if she’s done it once.” Here -the match sputtered and went out, and he threw the pipe angrily from -him, smashing it to fragments upon the floor. “It was jist like that, -though,” he said. “She broke ’em all! She’ll do anyt’ing to get rum. -Look at last week when I was invited to Gartenheim’s sister’s weddin’! -When I got home from work I hadn’t a rag to put on me back; she’d -lifted ’em, and soaked ’em all at Rosenbaum’s hock shop.” - -And bitterly he went over the long list of drink-inspired acts that had -made his life so hard to live, and with a sense of despair he looked -at the poor bare room, and contrasted it with the comfortable home -that he could have supported had all been right. The thought came, -too, of Gartenheim’s bright snug home, of the gas-lit parlour on the -Sunday night when last he had been there, of the boss’s flaxen-haired -niece, and of how she had sung the “Holy City” for him in deep, rich, -contralto voice. Then came darker thoughts, and he sat down staring -vacantly into the fire. Bella watched him in silence, listening to the -tick of the little nickel clock, and petulantly frowning at the bother -of it all. - -“I think I’ll go to bed,” she said, at last. She opened the stair door -and was about to ascend when she felt her brother’s hand upon her -shoulder. - -“I oughtn’t to say this maybe,” said he, slowly, “but if yer mother -can’t tell ye--why I must. I hope yer a good girl Bella; but I see -youse with Mart Kelly often, and a girl can’t hold her head up long if -she sticks to sich people as him. Break it off! Break it off, I tell -ye, for he’s no good.” - -He looked steadily into her frightened face for a moment and then -turned away. - -“Good night,” said he. - -He heard the clock strike every hour through the long night, but still -he sat there struggling under the weight of his cross. - - - - -Chapter XI - - “_Oh! There was a social party, - Of Repubs and Democrats; - Met at Michael Casey’s, - And put away their hats, - One ticket gave a lady, - Admittance and her grub, - Invited by the committee, - Of the Casey Social Club._” - - POPULAR SONG. - - -THE entrance to the hall was a-glitter with gas lights; freshly -barbered young men in high collars and sack coats stood about the -doorway, smoking cigarettes and spitting on the steps. A wagon was -unloading kegs of beer at a side door; people flocked into the smoky -entry; now and then a hired hack would pull up at the curb and a member -of the club would hand his sweetheart out and up the steps. Four -policemen, engaged at three dollars a head to keep order, stood on the -sidewalk counting the ingoing kegs. - -“Forty quarters, all told,” said a pock-marked officer, lifting his -huge shoulders. - -“Whew! The club’ll have a neat wad to put away if they sell all that! -An’ just look at the people goin’ in!” - -“Say, there’s one fight in every two kegs o’ beer,” said a third -policeman. “That makes twenty turns before the janitor turns off the -lights. We ain’t a-goin’ to have no cinch.” - -The others laughed. - -At the far end of the entry stood a pair of half doors so arranged that -only one person could pass them at a time. Behind these, bathed in a -glare of yellow light from a cluster of gas jets which hung directly -overhead, stood Danny Casey, attired in a dress suit rented from -Goldstine the costumer, a huge crimson badge edged with gold braid -hanging from his lapel. He was taking tickets and deftly slipping -them into a slot in a tin box which stood beside him on a chair; on -the stairs leading to the ballroom, a man with a mass of brass checks -hanging by strings from his fingers was keeping up a continuous fire -of patter. Murphy and McGonagle, feeling rather queer behind their -glittering expanses of shirt front, walked stiffly down the steps to -where Casey was standing. - -“A mob!” said McGonagle. “The floor’s blocked with ’em already.” - -“And they’ve on’y started to come,” said Casey. “Who ordered the extree -beer?” - -“McGlory: an’ we’ll need it, too; for the guys what’s a-comin’ in looks -dead t’irsty.” - -“Say,” put in Murphy, in an injured tone, “I don’t know how youse -people take it but I feel like a sign for a clothin’ store. I can’t -bend wit’out breakin’ me shirt and the pants ain’t got no pockets in.” - -“You look,” commented McGonagle, “like a dressed up prize-fighter. -Somebody ought to slam McGlory in the jaw for makin’ that motion that -we all must wear dress suits. I know I look a mess in mine.” - -“Thirty-eight dress suits at a dollar a throw,” figured Casey, as he -politely plucked ticket after ticket from hands extending them to him; -“that’s thirty-eight plunks. Goldstine’s makin’ money and McGlory will -be holdin’ him up for a comish.” - -There was a stir among the sack-coated and high-collared coterie at -the entrance. A tall, well-built girl, tastefully dressed and carrying -herself with a dashing air, had come in, escorted by a blushing youth -who looked very uncomfortable under the notice they created. - -“It’s Nelly Fogarty,” said someone. “She don’t look like a poverty -knocker when she’s dressed up, eh?” - -“‘Oh Nelly was a lady,’” sang another. “Say, Brennen, here’s yer girl!” - -“Gee!” exclaimed the person addressed. “And I told her I wasn’t comin’; -she’s got me dead!” - -The congregated youths grinned over their high collars and bowed after -the fashion approved by Professor Whalen, teacher of the “Glide Waltz.” -The girl flashed them a smile as she went by, a bunch of La France -roses in her hand. But a cloud crossed her face, and she bit her lips -at sight of young Brennen. - -“Go on, please, Mr. Shimph,” requested she, of her escort. “I’ll folly -you in a minute.” - -“But, say Nell!” exclaimed Shimph, who had also caught sight of -Brennen, “yous’re with me, ain’t ye?” - -“Cert’n’y!” with a lofty air, “I don’t shake me friends that way.” - -Re-assured, Shimph walked down the entry; Miss Fogarty beckoned with -the roses, and Brennen, a little abashed, came to her. - -“I thought,” said she, “that you couldn’t come to-night. What’s the -matter?--didn’t ye want to take me?” - -“Ah, say, Nell! What’s the use--” - -“Who did ye come with? Was it Mary Haley?” - -“I came alone Nell; ’pon me soul, I did!” - -“Eddy Brennen, if I thought you was double-faced enough to--” - -“Will ye cheese it! If the gang git next they’ll give me the laugh. I -didn’t bring no lady, Nell. I’m dead broke and couldn’t, see! That’s -the reason I give youse the song and dance about not comin’. When I -take youse out, I want to do the right t’ing.” - -Nell’s face grew brighter at this explanation and she said: - -“I knowed you wasn’t workin’, didn’t I; and I didn’t expect ye’d blow -your money when ye hadn’t much. You ain’t acquainted with me, I can -see that right here. I ain’t no leg-puller. Got a ticket?” - -“No,” answered the youth awkwardly; “I’m waitin’ for a slow. Casey told -me there’d be some goin’ aroun’ after the push got in.” - -“For Heaven’s sake!” cried Miss Fogarty: “Don’t hang around the door -waitin’ for a captain; ye’ll git a hard name!” She looked down the -entry where Casey was riffling a packet of tickets his shirt front and -rhinestone studs gleaming under the slanting rays of light. “After I go -in,” continued she, “ask Danny for one; I’ll fix it with him as I pass.” - -“But, say Nell! I don’t like--” - -“Oh bother!” She started to rejoin her escort, but stopped suddenly. - -“Look here,” she cautioned, “don’t you ask me for a single dance; for -if ye do ye’ll get flagged! Rox Shimph sent me these flowers and put up -money for a hack, and he’s me partner for all the dances.” - -“Say, are youse goin’ to t’row me down for that--” - -“Don’t call him names! He’s run the pair o’ looms next to mine for -three years now, and he’s always acted like a perfect gentleman. You -come to see me steady, Mr. Brennen, but I won’t play Rox for a lobster -even for you.” And with this she once more started away fumbling in her -purse and saying over her shoulder: “Don’t forget to ask Danny for the -ticket.” - -Murphy had gone to the street door to speak to a friend while the above -scene was enacting; now he came hurrying back to the “gate” excitedly. - -“McGonagle,” exclaimed he, “here comes Nobby Foley and Tim Daily wit’ a -couple o’ skirts. I’ll bet we’ll have the ‘chain gang’ here!” - -“Gee,” murmured Goose. “If they cut loose this won’t be a ball, it’ll -be a scrappin’ match. Say d’youse t’ink four cops is enough? Hadn’t we -better git the loot to send two more?” - -Murphy looked at him, disdainfully. - -“We ain’t a lot o’ kids, are we?” inquired he. “I might be dead wrong -but I t’ink the push kin hold their own with any of ’em. There’s only -one t’ing to do; as soon as they git gay, go in an’ slam ’em; ain’t -that right?” - -Foley was short and square-jawed; Daily was big and brawny; and both -carried themselves with much aggressiveness, swaggering into the hall, -their convoys on their arms, with the air of men whose deeds were epic -in the ward. - -“That’s a swell one wit’ Foley,” whispered a voice. “Who is she, -Brennen?” - -“An old party rammer,” answered Brennen; “an’ she’s the star pivoter of -Whalen’s Academy. Her an’ Bat Mahoney won the prize waltz at the Emmet -Band’s picnic, Decoration Day.” - -“Her hair’s bleached,” remarked the other; “an’ that rouge on her face -is the reddest t’ing that ever come down the pike.” - -The girl was taller than her escort; she was remarkably handsome, -dressed richly, and held herself in a way that made the women whisper -and the men stare. As they neared the gate, she laughing and showing -her beautiful teeth and flashing her splendid eyes here and there, -McGonagle leaned forward and whispered a few quick words in Murphy’s -ear. - -“No!” exclaimed the latter, incredulously. - -“Sure t’ing! What are youse goin’ to do?” - -“Why, put out the flag!” - -Brennen suddenly craned his neck out of its circle of stiff linen, -excitedly. - -“Murphy won’t take their tickets!” he breathed, “there’s goin’ to be a -run in at the start!” - -All surged toward the gate; McGonagle whistled through his thumb and -fore-finger; a policeman came looming along through the cigar smoke. - -“Stand back, gents,” requested he. He flourished his club airily, and -measured Daily with his eye. “On’y three couple allowed at the gate at -a time.” - -The crowd fell back disappointedly. The group at the gate were engaged -in excited debate; Foley was describing aerial hieroglyphics with his -clenched fist; the girl had let go his arm and was staring Murphy -boldly in the eye. - -“You’ve insulted this lady!” declared Foley in a sharp high-pitched -voice. - -“I didn’t insult nobody,” said Murphy. “Didn’t I flag her on the quiet? -Nobody knowed it until youse made a holler.” - -“This is the rankest snap I ever stacked up against,” remarked the -girl, tossing her head and rubbing the wrinkles out of her long -gloves. “If I’d a-knowed it was a nasty-nice affair, I wouldn’t a-come!” - -“This ain’t the first time youse gave me the wrong end of it, Murphy,” -said Foley, drawing back in such a way as to cause McGonagle to brace -himself for the expected rush. “For the last time; does she go in, or -is she barred?” - -“She’s barred!” said Murphy. - -“This ain’t no flash shine,” broke in McGonagle, “we’ve got our girls -here to-night, and I, for one, won’t let mine dance on the same floor -with her, and that goes!” - -“Push along, gents,” hinted the policeman, “inside or out; yer blockin’ -the passage.” - -Daily jogged his companion’s elbow and whispered: - -“Don’t git leary; ye’ll queer Kelly if ye kick up a row, now. Give him -a chance to work the gang what’s runnin’ the show. We can come back, ye -know, when he’s done; and if youse wants to do business, then, with the -guy on the door, why you kin go ahead.” - -The crush was growing; Levi and his orchestra had just gone in, and the -tuning of the harp and violins came floating down the stairway. Belated -Jerry McGlory came striding in, in a light top coat and a glossy silk -hat, bowing like a duke to his acquaintances, with Veronica McTurpin, -the little widow who kept the millinery store; she was half hidden in -her bouquet, and also bowing and smiling, dazzlingly. Mike McCarty -followed, more than ever earning his right to the title of Brummel -of the ward. He carried his stick and one glove in his right hand; -with the other he was barely touching the elbow of Mazie Driscoll, -who sold ribbons in a down-town store. Then there was Shaffer the -collector for the brewery, and Carrie Lentze, whose father carried on -the “Delicatessen” store on the avenue; while behind them came Koskee -McGurk and a daughter of O’Mally, who kept the junk shop back of the -railroad. - -“Checks!” cried the man on the stairs jingling his bunch of brass tags. -“Put yer wardrobe away, gents; youse can’t go on the floor with yer -overcoat or sky-piece.” - -“Hully gee!” gasped a youth in soiled white kid gloves and a scarlet -Ascot tie; “they sticks youse a quarter for wardrobe!” - -“It’s a t’row down,” echoed a neighbour. “Mame,” to the girl at his -side, “it’ll cost two bits to put away yer hat.” - -“G’way,” said Mame, shocked. “It’s not the right thing, when you’re -asked a dollar admission.” - -The man with the checks was growing impatient. - -“Don’t hold a meetin’ and make speeches about it,” requested he. “If -yer goin’ to cough up, do it.” - -The bar was on the second floor and had a door leading into the -ballroom; groups of men and women were gathered about the tables; -waiters were rushing about, the fingers of each hand twisted, in some -miraculous fashion, about the handles of a dozen beer glasses; a young -man was seated at a piano, singing a popular ballad in a high, throaty -voice; some members of the club, their coats stripped off, their -sleeves rolled up, were drawing beer, popping corks and passing out -dry-looking cigars to a long line of thirsty patrons who stood along -the bar. - -It was ten o’clock. The floor of the ballroom shone with wax; -the rows of chairs upon three sides were filled with chattering -couples; Levi and his musicians stood ready. All were waiting for -Master-of-Ceremonies Murphy, to give the word. - -“The floor looks great,” remarked that gentleman. He was surrounded -by the “floor committee” at the far end of the room, and was running -his eye over everything like a general before going into battle. There -would be no hitch if he could help it. He hummed a tune and went -through a few steps of a “glide waltz” by way of a test. - -“Like old cheese,” commented he, “jist as slippy as ice.” He looked -about him, again. “Where’s McGonagle?” he inquired. “Oh, there youse -are,” seeing that gentleman. “All ready?” - -“Sure,” responded Goose, “it’s up to youse to say when.” - -Larry took some half dozen steps out upon the floor; then he paused, -rapped sharply with his heel, and drew himself up with a dignity -that Professor Whalen could not have excelled. All eyes were upon -him; he extended both arms, palms held downward, waving them up and -down. Silence fell. The palms came together with a sharp report; Levi -described a wild flourish with his bow; the cornet blared brassily; -McGonagle and Annie Clancy stepped out upon the floor to lead the -march. The ball was on. - -At midnight the affair was in full blast; quadrille, schottische and -waltz succeeded each other with hardly a pause, the dancers whirled, -stamped and pirouetted with exhaustless energy; the musicians blew and -scraped, the perspiration dropping from their faces. A sergeant of -police, on his round of inspection, had just dropped in; he stood in -the doorway leading to the staircase looking wet and chilled, for it -had begun to rain, and talked to the men on duty in the hall. - -“Anything doing?” asked he, shaking the drops of water from the brim of -his hat, his eyes taking in the heaving mass on the floor, swaying in -rhythm with the music. - -“On’y a couple o’ drunks,” answered the pock-marked officer; “an’ we -just fired ’em out, not botherin’ to pull up for the wagon.” - -“I seen Daily and some o’ that crowd, in the barroom,” said another. -“From the way things look he’s cappin’ for Kelly, and Kelly’s dealin’ -out the dough for further orders.” - -“For drinks, eh?” The sergeant frowned. “Say Laughlin, go in there and -tell Kelly I want to see him, right away. The damn fool oughtn’t make -work for me!” - -Kelly had a roll of notes in his hand and was flourishing them -animatedly over his head; a crowd of half drunken youths surged about -him, approvingly; he was their idol, having usurped the post held an -hour before by Shaffer, the collector for the brewery. - -“This is the stuff that makes the world move!” declared the -saloonkeeper. “We’re all after it, me bucko’s, ivery wan av us an’ -small blame till him that puts the fattest wad in the bank, eh?” - -“Yer dead right, Kel,” agreed a supporter. - -“Barkeeper,” remarked Kelly after a glance about, “me friends here are -doin’ nawthin’.” He stripped a note from the bundle and threw it upon -the sloppy bar. “Work that out,” requested he, “an’ tell me when it’s -done. There’s more to folly, for I’m out for a good toime the noight.” - -“There’s a good t’ing!” exclaimed Nobby Foley. “He’s a blood, d’ye -hear--a blood! He treats youse right, see?” - -“Gintlemen,” affirmed the object of these remarks, “I haven’t a mane -bone in me body, an’ the man that do be after callin’ James Kelly -a friend, is welcome till share his last dollar. Iv any av yez gits -pinched does yez friends have till ax me twice till go yez bail? Be -hivens!” excitedly, “there ain’t a magistrate in the city, Raypublican -or Dimmycrat, that’ed kape yez in the jug a minyute after I wint -forninst him and told him till lave ye go.” - -The enthusiasm that greeted this statement shook the walls. Daily, -Foley, and a select circle of kindred spirits added no little volume to -it. They rapturously patted the speaker on the back and beat the bar -with their glasses, for each had a five dollar note tucked snugly away -in his pocket and felt in duty bound to stir up the promised amount of -enthusiasm. The outburst elated the selectman; his voice was husky with -drink, but he climbed upon a chair and plunged into a speech. - -“The fellys that are again’ me,” declared he, “say that I am not -a Dimmycrat, an’ would have yez vote to bate me. But whin the day -comes I’ll show thim what the people of the ward t’ink, because the -dillygates’ll be there that’ll name me in spoite av thim!” - -He forgot his protestation of a few minutes before that he was out for -a good time, and proceeded to make a bid for his hearers’ support at -the primaries; Daily and his henchmen were punctuating his remarks by -salvos of applause, when Laughlin summoned the orator into the entry. - -“Hello, Phil,” Kelly greeted the sergeant, “sure an’ it’s glad till see -yez I am; but divil take ye, cud yez not wait till I got through! I had -’em jist where I wanted thim; I wur makin’ votes by the dozen.” - -“It’s a slashin’ good game for you,” grumbled the sergeant; “but look -at my end of it! You load ’em up with booze--they’ll fight--my men’ll -pull ’em, an’ I’ll have to hold ’em till Moran kin give’m a hearin’ in -the mornin’. Then what? There’s lots of fellows from my division here, -an’ I must carry that division, Kelly, I must carry it, or lose me job; -that’s just how I stand. An’ if I put me people away in the cooler how -am I goin’ to do any carryin’, eh?” - -“Tut, tut, man dear, I must make meself solid wid the gang av young -fellys. Sure a drop av drink’ll do thim no harm, Phil; it’ll make thim -feel good, that’s all.” - -The uproar raised by Daily and his friends and Kelly’s display of -ready money had captured both the rowdy and the frothy elements. But -the popular young men--the members of the club for example--held aloof; -and it was these that Kelly was working for. - -“The stiff!” exclaimed Jerry McGlory, as Kelly came back into the -barroom; “he t’inks if he blows his coin over the bar we’ll fall in -line.” - -“Look at Mart, over there,” said McCarty, “he’s looking black about -something.” - -“He was backcappin’ Murphy a while ago. He’s half lit up, and he’ll say -somethin’ to Larry afore the night’s over, and Larry’ll slam him.” - -It was McGonagle that spoke, and a moment later he added: - -“Here he comes over! Play foxy, gents; don’t give him no excuse for -bother, see?” - -Young Kelly approached, and with him were Daily and Foley. - -“How are youse, gents?” saluted Martin. “It’s the old man’s treat; -won’t youse have somethin’?” - -“We’re on the floor committee,” said McCarty, “an’ we ain’t touchin’ it -to-night.” - -Martin sneered; Daily heaved his bulging chest contemptuously and -coughed. It was Foley that spoke. - -“When a gent tries to be friendly wit’ me,” announced he, “I be’s -friendly wit’ him, see? Ain’t that right?” - -“It depends on the guy that’s doin’ the stunt,” answered McGonagle. - -“Eh, no! What t’ell no! Youse do it every hitch!” And Foley excitedly -dramatized a scene: “A gent comes up to me, and puts out his fin, see? -What do I do? Why I takes it, an’ puts away me medicine like a little -man! All to be sociable, see? All to be sociable!” - -“That’s right,” agreed Daily. “That’s the proper t’ing to do. Why -youse’d cut a hell of a caper, turnin’ down good people, wouldn’t -youse.” - -“Ah, go soak yer head,” growled McGonagle. “Youse guys give me a pain! -We ain’t suckers; we kin see a play when it’s made, as well as the -next.” - -“Youse’re all gents!” put in Martin, sarcastically. “Here that lobster -Murphy goes an’ turns down a lady, at the door. I’m ’sponsible to me -friends for that, d’ye hear? I sold ’em the tickets an’ I’m ’sponsible -for the game I steered ’em against! Ain’t that right?” - -“Sure,” answered Daily and Foley in a breath. - -“Where’s Murphy?” demanded Martin. “Murphy’s got to apologize fer -insultin’ Nobby’s lady friend. He’s got to do it!” - -“It’s comin’,” said McGlory, in a low tone. - -“We’d better put Larry next,” remarked McCarty in the same voice. -“Kelly carries a jack; remember how he t’rowed it into Ned Hogan that -night?” - -Larry was dancing; he had his arm about Annie Clancy’s trim waist and -they swayed and spun with the music. Annie’s face was bright and happy; -her eyes shone like twin stars, for Larry was telling her how good a -fellow his friend McGonagle was, and that was a tale that Annie could -have listened to forever. - -Word had gone about among the “floor committee” that Kelly was looking -for him, and Larry received mysterious nods, winks and signals. He -could make nothing of it, so he led Annie to a seat beside Miss -McTurpin, and walked over to where McGonagle, who had crossed the room, -was standing. - -“What’s the new one?” inquired Larry. “What’s the gang all pullin’ -faces about?” - -“Keep yer eyes on Kelly,” cautioned Goose. “He’s been puttin’ away -booze all night, and he wants to see you about the girl what you -flagged at the door.” - -“Oh!” Larry shoved his head forward in a bull-like movement and stared -about him. “Does he want some o’ my game, eh? Is the lobster spoilin’ -to mix it up with me? There’ll be on’y two blows struck; I’ll hit him, -and he’ll hit the floor!” - -Mike McCarty came out of the barroom and approached them, crossing the -floor in the midst of the dancers. A girl’s swinging skirts almost -wrapped themselves about him, as her partner piloted her by. - -“Ah, there, Mike?” cried the lady, gleefully, and McCarty bowed like a -Chesterfield, never pausing in his stride, however, until he reached -the spot where Goose and Larry were talking. - -“Kelly’s comin’ across,” said he pointing among the dancing throng. “He -just seen youse a minit ago, and he’s goin’ to lay you out, so he says.” - -Larry growled an answer deep down in his chest; he was looking at Kelly -and his two allies as they swaggered through the dancers. McGonagle -rapped out a vexed oath, as he caught Larry by the arm. - -“I t’ought,” complained he, “that we’d pull off this affair wit’out any -scrappin’; and here them mugs spoils it all. Say, if there’s a fight, -Annie won’t do a t’ing but climb down me back fer fetchin’ her.” - -“My girl too,” said McCarty, dolefully. - -“Come out in the entry,” pleaded Goose. “Don’t scare the women!” - -Larry reluctantly went with them, casting glances over his shoulder at -his prospective opponent. - -“The mug’ll t’ink I’m afraid o’ him,” said he. When they reached the -entry he tugged viciously at the breast of his dress coat. “Damn it,” -growled he, savagely, “the t’ing ain’t got no buttons on! I don’t want -to get no blood on me shirt front.” - -“Keep yer eyes on Foley,” whispered Mike to McGonagle. “I’ll look out -for Daily.” - -“D’ye t’ink ye kin hold him even? He pulls the beam fifty pounds more’n -youse.” - -“I wouldn’t care,” smiled Mike, “if he was as big as the side o’ a -house. The bigger he is the harder he’ll fall.” - -“Youse’re a nice-lookin’ pill, ain’t ye?” were Kelly’s first words. -“Floor Manager, too,” sneeringly; “why, youse don’t know a lady when ye -see one.” - -“She’s crooked!” remarked Larry, “and youse know she is.” - -“You’re a liar,” snarled Martin. “And even if she is, she’s better than -some women I know of. She don’t live with--” - -He did not finish but leaped back and threw up his guard. Larry, his -face wrinkling with a grin, was upon him, striking with the speed, -precision and power of a practiced boxer. The exchange was heavy and -rapid. The men panted and laboured for breath, cursing each other -between their teeth. The policemen were clattering up the steps from -the lower passage; the doorway leading to the ballroom was banked solid -with the strained, anxious faces of partisans; women screamed shrilly; -the music stopped with a crash. - -Suddenly Larry slipped and fell upon one knee; Foley made a quick, -wicked kick at his side, and the next instant was thrown against the -wall by the force of a smashing blow from McGonagle. Mike McCarty was -staring eagerly into Daily’s face, his body quivering like that of a -crouching cat, when the officers arrived. - -“Fire ’em out,” commanded McGonagle. “Fire the t’ree o’ them!” - -The offenders were promptly hustled down the stairs and out upon the -sidewalk. A light rain was falling; the arc lamps sputtered and hissed -in the silence. A form wrapped in a blue mackintosh, and holding an -umbrella, was standing upon the steps. - -“Here he is,” laughed the policeman who held Martin; “and I didn’t have -to tell him he was wanted, either.” - -The three ejected ones stared curiously at the woman; and the policeman -laughed again and closed the door. - -“Mart,” said the woman, “I want to talk to you.” - -“Who’s yer friend,” snickered Foley. - -“Give us a knockdown,” said Daily. - -“Oh, hell!” Martin’s tone was one of deep disgust and he waved his hand -in a bored fashion. - -“Le’s go have somethin’, then,” suggested Daily, “don’t stand here in -the damp.” - -“Go on home, Bella,” commanded Martin, addressing the woman on the -steps. “What are ye doin’ around here, anyway? Youse must t’ink I’m a -chump, don’t ye, to have youse follyin’ me up this way.” - -“Just a minute, Mart,” pleaded Bella: “I won’t be longer than a minute, -so help me God!” - -“Ah, git away from me!” - -“_Mart!_” - -“Go on, Kelly,” said Daily; “don’t talk to a bundle o’ skirts that way. -See what she wants; we’ll wait for youse at Mintzers.” - -Daily and Foley cut across the street to where the lights of a saloon -flared redly through the mist; Martin and the girl started up the -street, slowly. She gave one upward glance at the windows of the hall, -and sighed to see the dancers whirl gayly by. That was of the bright -past; and the future was black enough for her. - - - - -Chapter XII - - “_When we were lovers, you were my downfall, - Now I am sneered at and jeered at by all._” - - SONGS OF THE CURB. - - -IT was the season of rains, and the great sewer that drains the -northwestern section of the city had burst again, and with its collapse -sunk a goodly part of two streets at the junction of Germantown Avenue -and Third Street. Gartenheim was doing the repairing as he had often -done before; great heaps of brick and timber lay about the break in -the street; a donkey engine, shrouded in a canvas covering loomed up -spectre like in the fog; from the small windows of the tool shanty -crept a pale flare of light; and a man could be seen within, bent over -a mass of papers and time-books. Martin and Bella paused at the foot of -a broken spile-driver. - -“It’s our Dick,” breathed Bella. “Let’s go some other way.” - -“Oh, come on! What’s the matter with ye. He won’t see ye.” - -“I ain’t a-goin’ apast! He’d never let me hear the last of it if he -seen me out so late.” - -“Well, speak yer piece, here. What d’ye want to say?” - -“You know well enough what it is.” - -“Say, is it that same old cry? Youse make me tired!” - -“I don’t care! I on’y want you to do right by me; you promised you -would.” - -Martin laughed. Bella’s face was pale, and the damp, penetrating mist -made her shiver; a single, heavy drop of water was falling from a -height upon her umbrella, with a measured beat that kept time with the -pulsation of her heart. - -“I didn’t promise nothin’,” said he. “D’ye take me for a gilly?” - -“But ye must!” she cried, desperately. “If ye don’t, what’ll I do?” - -“Damn’f I know. But ye don’t tie me up in the t’ing, I know that.” - -“You on’y think of yourself! What’ll Dick say? What’ll everybody say? -I can’t face it, Mart; I can’t face it!” - -She began to sob huskily; Martin prodded a stone with the toe of his -shoe and reflected; he whistled a few bars from a popular song to -convey an impression of carelessness; nevertheless he was troubled. - -“Well,” said he at length; “what are ye goin’ to do?” - -“It’s for you to say that.” - -“Well,” deliberately, “I ain’t a-goin to do nothin’.” - -“Ye don’t want to, I know.” Then she added after a pause: “I was to see -Father Dawson, yesterday.” - -“Eh?” - -“He said he was comin’ to see you; and he said it was shameful.” - -“So you’ve beefed, eh? Yer goin’ to try that racket, are youse? Well -you’ve made a scratch, see? Ye forgot to call yer play. I don’t go to -church; he can’t jump me because I won’t stand for it.” - -“Then he’ll go to your father,” said she, “and I will, too. _He’ll_ -make ye do what ye said ye would; he can’t help it!” - -“I’ll jump the town,” said he, doggedly. “There ain’t no use chewin’ -it up with the old man; he ain’t got no pull with me! I’d flag him as -quick as I would youse.” - -Then she began to reproach him. He opened an extensive vocabulary of -abuse, and drenched her with epithets; she grew angry and responded in -kind; for a time their words reeked with foulness. Suddenly he drew -back his arm and struck her; she fell backward, the blood spirting from -her nostrils and mouth. Kelly did not give her a second glance, but -strode away, cursing under his breath. - -People have an awkward habit of dying at all hours of the day and -night, and an undertaker is never care free for a moment. Roddy -Ferguson was revolving this fact with gloomy disapproval as he bowled -stableward in O’Connor’s black wagon, his mud spattered horse picking -its way along the broken street. - -“Old Brannagan,” muttered Roddy, “has been dyin’ once a month reg’lar -for the last three years; and now, just because it’s the night of the -ball, he cashes in for real, an’ I have to hustle to fix him up.” - -His horse shied, and the youth tightened the reins and chirruped -soothingly. - -“Gartenheim,” he mused, “must be gittin’ paid by the day for this -sewer; he’s been long enough at it to sew tassels on every brick he -puts in. Go on there, ye big Indian, what’s the matter with youse, -anyhow?” - -He jumped out to see what frightened the horse, and at once caught -sight of the prostrate figure at the foot of the spile-driver; -the pale, wavering rays of a gas lamp gave him a glimpse of the -blood-smeared face. - -“It’s a woman,” he gasped, “she must be hurted!” - -He threw his horse blanket over her as a protection from the rain and -then rushed toward the tool shanty and opened the door. - -“Say,” panted he, “there’s a woman out here hurt. Kin I bring her in -here while I get a cop to ring up for the wagon?” - -Dick Nolan stared at him, vacantly, chewing at the end of his pencil, -the figures of the time tickets buzzing in his head. He did not -catch the import of the words for a moment, neither did he recognize -Ferguson; then his brain burst through the maze of arithmetic and both -flashed upon him. - -“Oh,” said he in sullen recognition. “Who is it?” - -“I didn’t ask for no card,” returned Roddy, sarcastically. It was the -first words he had exchanged with Nolan for almost two years, and the -fact that he had spoken first, galled him. “Lend me a hand,” requested -he, “I don’t t’ink she kin walk.” - -They found the girl upon her feet, leaning dazedly against the -heavy timbers of the machine. Roddy drew his breath, hissingly as -he recognized her; and Dick stabbed through the air at him with one -quivering finger. - -“What is this, eh? Tell me, quick!” grated he. - -“If there’s anything wrong,” answered Roddy, “may I rot and die if I -had a hand in it! You know I t’ought well o’ her, Nolan!” - -Dick rubbed some of the blood from her face; she was sobbing and clung -to him tightly. - -“Who done this?” demanded he. - -Ferguson’s straining ears caught the whispered answer, and a sense of -smothering filled his breast. - -“Kin ye walk?” - -“I think so; he didn’t hurt me much.” - -“I’ll take her home,” said Dick; “ye needn’t wait.” - -He held out his hand and the other gripped it. - -“If yer goin’ to do anyt’ing,” said Ferguson, eagerly, “I want to stand -in with ye.” - -“Don’t say anything,” warned Nolan. “An’, say, where kin I see youse in -the mornin’?” - -“At the club,” said Roddy, “afore ye go to work. And ye kin bank on me -not to say a word.” - -And they parted. - - - - -Chapter XIII - - “_A gadder kin put more good t’ings to the bad in a three-minute - round, than a draught horse could pull from here to the corner._” - - CHIP NOLAN’S REMARKS. - - -MRS. BURNS was bending over her washtub, placed upon a bench in the -alley, taking the skin from her knuckles rubbing one of Tim’s red -flannel shirts. It was wash day in Murphy’s Court and a network of -clothes lines was strung from dwelling to stable, making a constant -bending necessary to safe progress. Mrs. Nolan was hanging out her -wash in her allotted space, her mouth stopped with clothes-pins and -her skirts tucked up out of the damp; Mrs. McGonagle, who was making a -social call, sat upon Mrs. Burns’ doorstep watching the efforts of her -hostess across the drifting steam. - -“Glory be!” exclaimed that lady, at length, pausing and wiping the -perspiration from her face with one bleached and wrinkled hand, “the -owld felly himself cud do nawthin’ wid it! Sure I’ve rubbed it, an’ -I’ve b’iled it; I’ve bleached it, an’ I’ve got down on me two knees an’ -scrubbed it, but sorra the cleaner it’ll git!” - -“God love yez, avic, don’t I know,” said her caller. “Faith Goose gits -his shirts in sich a state from his bit av work, that the washin’ fair -takes me breath from me.” - -“An’ it’s Murphy’s wash I’ll have till do after me own,” said Mrs. -Burns, grappling once more with the labor at hand, half hidden in the -thick cloud of steam. “It’s a-most dead I’ll be afore noight.” - -Mrs. Nolan flung a bedspread to the breeze and clamped it down with -pins. - -“How is Mary gittin’?” inquired she. - -“About the same,” answered Mrs. Burns. “Poor sowl; she’s failin’ fast.” - -“Tis a sin an’ a shame till hark till the cacklin’ that do be goin’ -aroun’ about her,” said Mrs. McGonagle. “Thim Kelly’s is spalpeens, so -they are!” - -“Divil pull the tongues out av thim!” cried Mrs. Burns. “Did she not -feed me two children whin I hadn’t a bite nor a sup in the house?” - -“Ah! An’ did she iver pass a body widout a good word?” - -“Yez may say so, Mrs. Nolan. Iv I wur Larry, it’s have thim afore Judge -Moran, I wud!” - -But a little time had elapsed since the events narrated in the -preceding chapters. Mary’s frail health had suddenly failed, and Larry -passed most of his time hovering about the sick-room. Their engagement -had caused much comment in the parish and afforded the Kellys a chance -to rid themselves of much of the venom which the willing of the estate -had distilled. - -“Scure till the bit av luck cud they expect,” Mrs. Kelly had declared. -“The owld man’s eyes were hardly closed afore they were makin’ eyes at -wan another. The white-faced t’ing is mad after him!” - -“It’s the bit av money she wants,” her husband had said. “She do be a -sly one for all her quietness.” - -It was this sort of thing--and worse--that had caused the indignation -of the trio of ladies in the court; it had gotten about the -neighbourhood and had long been the topic for conversation over cans of -beer. - -“Here comes Rosie, again,” said Mrs. Nolan. - -“Arrah, what wud Larry do at all, at all, widout her? Divil the bit av -good owld Mrs. Coogan is as a housekeeper. Rosie t’inks a power av Mary -an’ tinds till her loike a sister. An’ Maggie Dwyer, God bless her, -she’s the good girl till thim.” - -Mrs. Nolan’s red face became solemn. “Whisper!” said she, “did yez hear -the talk about Rosie an’ Larry?” - -“Divil take ye, Mrs. Nolan!” Mrs. McGonagle fairly bristled. “Is it -help till carry it around ye’d be doin’?” - -“Sure, I’m not sayin’ it’s true.” - -“Ye had better luk at home,” muttered Mrs. Burns from amid her cloud of -steam. - -Larry was in the kitchen washing his hands at the sink. He had just -been raking the fire so that it would burn brighter, and the remains -of his breakfast still littered the table. Mary was in the adjoining -room propped up by pillows in a big rocker; she had just awakened from -a light sleep and had been watching his efforts, a faint smile upon her -lips. When Rosie O’Hara came into the kitchen by the back door, Larry -greeted her, ruefully. - -“I’ve bin tryin’ to make the fire come up,” said he with a glance at -the grey grate. - -Rosie laughed. She set the steaming pitcher of broth, which she -carried, upon the table. - -“I’ve brought that for Mary,” said she, attacking the range with -vigour; “I thought she might like it. How is she?” - -“She had a bad night--had a hemorrhage after youse went home, and she -don’t breathe very easy. She’s asleep now, though.” - -“You mustn’t get frightened, Larry; the doctor says there’s no danger -yet, you know.” Rosie tied an apron, which she took from a nail, about -her trim waist. “I’ll wash these dishes for ye,” she said. “I couldn’t -get in to get your breakfast, for Aunt Ellen kept me busy.” - -“I burnt the steak to cinders,” said Larry forlornly, “and youse could -cut the coffee in slices.” - -“Poor fellow!” She looked so bright, so sisterly, so helpful, that the -poor, strangely circumstanced young man felt his heart go out to her in -thanks. He never knew what prompted him to do it, but he leaned forward -and kissed her upon the cheek. She looked up, frightened; but the -expression in his eyes reassured her and the bright tears sprang to her -own. - -And when he went into the room where Mary sat he thought she looked -whiter than usual. - -“Hello!” he cried gladly, “Yer awake, eh?” He took her slim hand in his -own strong, rough one, and it was trembling. She looked into his face -strangely; for her visitors had been many since her illness and she had -heard things of which she had never spoken. - -“D’ye feel worse?” asked he anxiously. - -“No! Only a little faint,” she answered. - -And from that day her failure was more rapid; from that day her -patience, her gentleness was more marked; from that day, if the truth -be known, she grew anxious to die. - - - - -Chapter XIV - - “_Sweet came the hallowed chiming, - Of the Sabbath bell, - Borne on the morning breezes, - Down the woody dell; - On a bed of pain and anguish, - Lay dear Annie Lisle, - Changed were the lovely features, - Gone the happy smile._” - - ANNIE LISLE. - - -IT was a pleasant evening and the groups of children were playing -“a ring, a ring o’roses,” in front of Clancy’s grocery. Clancy was -whirling at the handle of the coffee mill; and Annie was attending to -the other wants of Mrs. McGonagle, who stood at the counter. - -“They say that Mary do be very low,” panted the grocer. - -“God help uz, yis,” said Mrs. McGonagle, sorrowfully. - -“Your heart’d ache to see poor Larry,” remarked Annie. “That’s tea, -soft soap, two cents’ worth of syrup, and a mackerel, Mrs. McGonagle, -what elce?” - -“That’s all to-noight, barrin’ the bit av coffee. It’s a sore trial for -him, poor sowl!” - -“He thinks the world av her, do Larry, an’ it’ll be a hard job for him -till lose her.” As he spoke Clancy dumped the ground coffee into a -paper bag and with deft fingers tied it up. The song of the children -came through the door: - - “_There came two dukes a-riding, - Riding, riding, - There came two dukes a-riding, - All on a summer’s day._” - -“Go ’long out av that wid yez!” shouted Clancy; but the joyous little -crew sang on unheeding: - - “_What are ye riding here for, - Here for, here for? - What are ye riding here for, - All on a summer’s day?_” - -The exact nature of the noble twain’s errand still remains a mystery, -for the grocer bounced through the doorway and scattered the tots in -every direction. - -“Ye young villyans!” shouted Clancy with a great assumption of anger; -“sure a body can’t hear themselves think, for yez. Don’t yez know that -Mary Carroll do be at death’s dure, ye bla’gards!” - -James Kelly polished the walnut top of his bar and nodded a “Good Luck” -to Schwartz as the barber was about to swallow his evening glass of -beer. - -“I hear that young Murphy’s intended wife do be dyin’,” said he. - -Schwartz wiped his mouth upon the towel hanging outside the bar. - -“It vas doo pad,” returned he. “An’ she vas sutch a young vooman, doo!” - -“She have the con-sum-shun,” went on Kelly, cheerfully, “an’ sorra a -few av thim iver git well av that.” - -“Ach nine! Dey hafe a ferry boor chanct.” And the barber shook his head. - -“Oh, well! It’s not any of our doin’, Schwartz,” said Kelly, his voice -full of comfortable irresponsibility. “But hacks will bring a power av -money on the day av the berryin’.” - -A group of “somewhat drunk” young men sat upon the cellar door in -McGarragles’ Alley, howling out a popular song between pulls at a can -of beer. Goose McGonagle, who was passing, paused and regarded them -disdainfully. - -“Did somebody hit youse mugs with a bar rag!” demanded he. “Ain’t none -o’ youse got no sense? Here’s Mary Carroll a-dyin’ and youse people -raisin’ hell almost under the window.” - -The singing stopped; the young roughs had always taken off their hats -to Mary, a degree of reverence that they showed no one else, except, -perhaps, young Father Dawson; and Goose passed on, confident that their -uproar for that night, at least, was done. - -And so it went through all the neighbourhood; in every court and alley -the news was known; in every kitchen and on every street corner it was -talked of. - -Mike McCarty heard it while stripping the harness from his horses’ -backs in Shannon’s stables; Tim Burns was told of it while still on his -way from work; and it was the first thing that fell upon the ears of -Danny Casey as he entered his mother’s house. - -“Mary’s dyin’,” trembled upon every lip that had smiled in answer to -her kindness; and as the night grew old, a hush seemed to fall over -the district; the very moon, as it sailed across the sky, attended by -myriads of stars, seemed to blink solemnly down, and ponder sadly. - -Yes, the serene, white soul was passing; the shadow of the death -angel’s wings had fallen across the bed where Mary lay. Larry sat near -the window, his arm thrown along the back of the chair, his forehead -resting upon it; Rosie, the only other person in the room, wiped the -death damp from the pale brow, her eyes bright with tears. - -“Don’t take it so hard, Larry,” whispered the sick girl. “It had to -come, you know, and you’ll be happy, afterward.” - -Happy! With a return of the old bare life--the rough, purposeless life -that she had made bloom with new thoughts? He would drift back to the -old conditions; there would be nothing to keep him from it when her -gentle influence had relaxed. And that “afterward” of which she spoke -so often, and so hopefully! It would be black and barren enough, his -heart whispered to him--she would be where her voice could not reach -him and he would be alone with his sorrow. - -A picture of the crucifixion hung upon the wall; a slanting ray from -the dim light brought out the world’s great tragedy with piteous -distinctness. But the lesson brought no consolation to Larry. He looked -at the picture with vacant eyes, for his brain was numb, and he could -think of nothing but his impending loss. Philosophy is a meaningless -word to such as he; for they who grapple with poverty, and go wrestling -through a gloom from birth to death, find it hard to submit. - -“Are you crying, Rosie?” asked the weak voice. “Don’t, dear; you -promised not to, you know.” - -Rosie’s face rested upon the pillow beside her, and Mary stroked the -tear-wet cheek, softly. - -“I’m sorry that I didn’t see it long ago,” said she, sadly; “sorry -for you, and Larry. But it won’t be long now, and you both will be -very happy.” Her voice trembled a little but she continued, bravely: -“Promise me that you will think of me sometimes, Rosie?” - -“I’ll never forget you, Mary,” sobbed the girl. - -“And don’t let Larry forget me, either,” eagerly. “And try and be a -good wife to him, Rosie.” - -Both Rosie and the young man lifted their heads quickly and looked at -each other, searchingly. - -From far down the street came a faint, musical drone as of minor voices -singing; the bell of St. Michael’s boomed the hour solemnly; quick -footsteps went by the house, grew faint and then died away. - -“Do you think,” Rosie’s voice trembled in dread, “that she’s dyin’, -Larry?” - -He had approached the bed and was looking down at the pale face framed -in the dark, loose hair. She smiled up into his eyes. - -“She will be good to you, Larry; she has a kind heart and will be a -better wife to you than I could have been.” - -“Mary!” - -“You were kind to me when I was left alone, Larry; you would have -married me because you felt sorry for me. But you’ll be free now; and I -have prayed that she’ll be as happy as I was--before I knew!” - -“Don’t talk like that, Mary! It was you that was sorry for me! It was -you--” but his voice broke in a dry sob. - -“Hush!” a pleading look crept into her eyes. “Don’t let anything stand -in the way of your happiness, Larry; don’t let any thoughts of me--any -regrets--keep you apart. Promise me that!” - -He knelt and covered his face with his hands, the deep, hard sobs -racking him from head to foot; and as he made no answer, Mary turned -her eyes upon Rosie. - -“You will promise, I know,” said she. - -“Oh, Mary, Mary I can’t! Please don’t ask me!” - -But seeing the look of sorrow that crept into the death-dulled eyes, -she added frantically--despairingly, thinking of nothing save the -soothing of her friend. - -“Yes, yes, Mary, I will! If it’ll give ye peace, I’ll promise.” - -The clock ticked on through the hours; the breathing of the man and -girl was long and heavy, and their eyes were blood-shot with watching. -And when dawn drew aside the sky’s black draperies, the gray light -stole into the room and lighted up a face that was calm and still. - - - - -Chapter XV - - - “_The weird sisters hand in hand._” - - MACBETH, ACT I; SCENE III. - - -“IT’S an ill wind that blows nobody good,” muttered Malachi O’Hara, as -he stood looking through his store window, his eyes resting upon Goose -McGonagle who had just drawn his wagon up at the curb. “She’s the lucky -girl, so she is.” - -Goose swung himself from the step of the wagon, a milk-pail in his -hand. Filling the pitcher, resting for the purpose upon the counter, -Goose addressed O’Hara. - -“I’m sorry,” said he, “that election comes off so soon after Mary -Carroll’s funeral. Larry ain’t feelin’ fit for a bruisin’ fight, yet.” - -“I’ve heard,” said O’Hara, “that yez are both goin’ on the ticket at -the primaries.” - -“It’s a gift! We’ll go t’rough to beat the band, for both divisions is -behind us, solid.” - -“Ye’ll get it if yez are for James Kelly. It’s a walk over he’ll have, -I’m told.” - -“Rats! We go to the convention and we don’t carry no banner for Kelly, -either, see? And if he t’inks he’s got this t’ing cinched he’s sold. -The boss is with him this time, but then, McQuirk ain’t the on’y fish -in the swim. Gartenheim kin have the nomination if he wants it, in -spite o’ him; and then there’s O’Connor; he wouldn’t shake Kelly’s fin -if it was made out o’ gold.” - -“Sure thim two won’t go afore the convintion! It’s inside information I -have, from Moran.” - -“Moran misses it more times than any guy I know, but he’s put ye next -to the right graft this time. Gartenheim an’ O’Connor both blowed in -a bunch o’ money last ’lection, an’ they’ve sort o’ got it into their -heads that they can’t stand for any more. If Gartenheim’s named he -could not win out unless O’Connor turned in for him, see? An’ youse kin -stake yer coin on it, that O’Connor ain’t a-doin’ that--he don’t forget -so easy.” - -“Faith an’ that’s jist what the Judge told me, an’ he says, says he, -‘They’ll pick Kelly in the end, never fear,’ says he.” - -“Ah, we ain’t losin’ any sleep worryin’ about old Kelly scoopin’ the -pot. The gang’s got their coats off an’ say we’ve got a graft to throw -into the fight that’ll make him look like t’irty-seven cents. Look out -for the papers the day after.” - -After McGonagle had gone, O’Hara walked back into the kitchen where his -sisters were crouched behind the range. - -“Where’s Rosie?” asked he, glancing about the room. - -“She’s above stairs,” answered Ellen, “an’ cryin’ the two eyes out av -her head!” - -“And for why?” - -“Troth, Malachi, it’s well enough ye shud know, avic. I niver, since -Gawd made me, see any wan stand so in their own loight as she.” - -He wrinkled his brows, his round little eyes snapping angrily. Going -to the stairs he called: “Rosie! D’yez hear me? Come down here, this -minyute!” - -“Talk till her, Malachi,” urged Ellen. - -“Show yez authority,” approved Bridget; “are ye not her father, faith!” - -Rosie descended into the kitchen, slowly; her face was flushed, her -eyes were red and swollen. - -“Will ye tell me the manin’ av this?” demanded her father. She sat -down, not answering; and he continued: “Yez hay bin cryin’ agin! Will -yez not give over?” - -“I can’t help it,” said the girl. “You’re all against me and I can’t -help it.” - -“Is it thinkin’ av young Larkin yez are!” exclaimed Ellen. “Shame on -ye, Rosie!” - -“Wud yez hav a black sin on yez sowl?” cried Bridget. “An’ wud ye break -yez promis till the dead? Glory be! Bud the young wans now-a-days t’ink -nawthin’ av the hereafter.” - -“I can’t marry Larry,” sobbed Rosie, “I don’t like him--not that way. -And then I’ve promised Jimmie!” - -“Powers above!” gasped Bridget. - -“The son av a ‘Know Nawthin’,” cried Ellen in horror. “Did yez iver -witness the bate av that?” - -“Hold yez tongues!” snapped their brother, “sure a body can’t git in -a word edgeways for yez cacklin’. Listen till me, Rosie; did ye not -promise Mary, an’ she a-dyin’, that yez wud be Larry’s wife? Answer me -that.” - -“I didn’t know what I was a-sayin’,” protested Rosie; “I was so took -back and frightened!” - -“Divil a bit do that alter the case! Ye promised, an’ it howlds good in -the soight av God!” - -“An’ the blessed can’ls burnin’ in the room!” cried Ellen. - -“An’ she jist after bein’ anointed!” added Bridget. - -“Will yez howld yes whist!” exclaimed O’Hara, enraged. “Faix, yez -tongues do be goin’ from Monday mornin’ till Saturday noight, an’ divil -raysave the voice kin be heerd bud yez own!” - -“She’s yez own choild, Malachi,” admitted Ellen, as though to wash her -hands of the whole affair. - -“Talk till her, an’ good luck!” muttered her sister. - -“I will iv yez giv me a chance.” And O’Hara once more turned to his -sobbing daughter and proceeded with his arguments. - -Rosie had been an infant when her mother died, and she had been reared -by her two aunts in an atmosphere loaded with superstition and reeking -of omens of good and ill. If the wind but stirred of a night among the -housetops, Ellen detected the wail of a banshee, and if a lonely dog -howled at the moon, Bridget, in hushed tones, announced the presence -of death in the street. They crowded the corners of dimly lit rooms -with the shadows of those departed, and the very teachings of religion -were so distorted as to be made to supply exorcisms against agencies -of evil and tokens calculated to render powerless their incantations. -The girl was saturated with this; from her childhood she had drawn it -in with every breath; and it was taught to her as an article of faith, -to disbelieve which was to imperil her salvation. The father was well -aware of this. He was far too practical to give heed to such things -himself, but he was willing enough that they should help him finger -some of old Larry’s hoarded dollars. - -So, like the crafty old fox that he was, he conjured up dreadful -pictures of the fate that awaited her should she break her promise. The -girl listened, terrified. - -“Glory be! That ye shud even t’ink av sich a t’ing!” cried her father -in conclusion. “Don’t ye know that Mary do be harknin’ till yez?” - -“She hears ivery wurd ye say,” put in Bridget, unable to hold her peace. - -“No!” said the poor girl, her face growing pale, “don’t say that, Aunt -Ellen!” - -“Don’t deny it, girl!” exclaimed her father seizing quickly upon the -suggestion, “for divil the lie’s in it. She’ll go moanin’ about iver -God’s blessed night wringin’ her two han’s an’ cryin’ the heart out av -her! Scure till the bit av pace she’ll see till yez word’s made good.” - -“Wud yez hav us visited by her?” demanded Bridget. - -At this Ellen began a muttering; Bridget took it up, and Rosie stared -at them, the fear in her heart showing in her wide-open eyes. - -That night Malachi O’Hara waited upon his customers with looks of great -satisfaction; and in the little room above the store, Rosie cried -herself to sleep thinking of the letter she had sent Jimmie Larkin. - - - - -Chapter XVI - - “_I kape a saloon on the corner, me boys, - An’ faith I’ve a flourishin’ trade, - I bought out me cousin, Nathaniel Doyle, - The money on whisky I made, - I could sell to youse now a nice pusse caffey, - Or a Rhino-Victoria cigar; - No slate, chalk or pencil is kept in the house, - Whin Malone’s at the back av the bar._” - - HARRIGAN. - - -THE big gilt sign over Kelly’s saloon on Girard Avenue was all -a-glitter with morning sunlight; a crowd of hangers-on leaned against -the awning-frame, watching with admiration the ease with which a -powerful German, in a leather apron, lifted huge kegs in and out of a -brewer’s wagon. - -Within, James Kelly stood behind the bar polishing thin glasses, and -frowning vexedly; a group of customers sat at a table drinking and -watching the deft fingers of Nobby Foley guide a pencil along a narrow -strip of paper. - -“What are youse buyin’ to-day, Daily?” inquired Foley. - -“I’m a sucker for buyin’ anyt’ing;” complained Daily. He wore -hob-nailed shoes and clothing covered with burnt spots which showed him -to be an iron-worker. He took some loose silver from his pocket and -selected a quarter. “Gimme that much,” said he, “o’ whatever ye t’ink’s -hot.” - -“I’m buyin’ the police row meself,” said the policy-writer. - -“That’ll do,” said Daily. “It’s just the same; like t’rowin’ good money -in the street.” - -“Two’s a half?” inquired the other, glancing up. - -“Not on yer life! If I strike the game I’ll hit it big, see? Good and -hard! No gittin’ the small end, tryin’ to save me play.” - -“It’s your say. Whistle yer own piece, me boy, if youse t’ink it’ll do -ye any good.” The “writer” looked around at the array of half empty -glasses and added, “drink yer beer, gents; we’ll have another.” - -Kelly glanced at the clock over the bar. His frown grew heavier; and -opening the door leading to the dwelling portion of the house, he cried: - -“Is not Martin had breakfast yet.” - -“I can’t swallow me feed whole,” came Martin’s voice angrily. “Shut up, -will youse!” - -Kelly closed the door with a bang. “Damn the bit av good he is till -me,” growled he, recommencing upon the glasses. - -“Beers, Kel,” called Foley. “What’s the matter, old boy. Youse look -mad.” - -“Little wonder,” answered Kelly, drawing the beer and carrying it to -where his customers sat. “Here I have McQuirk an’ young Haley till meet -at the City Hall at noine be the day; it’s but a few minutes av it now, -an’ divil take the wan I have till tind bar.” - -“I heerd,” said one of the men, addressing the policy man, “that -Levitsky’s place was pinched last night.” - -“That’s right. He had some words with the lieutenant, and the loot sent -a wagon down there t’cut even, see? But, say, he’s out an’ wide open -for biz this mornin’, because McQuirk got him out as soon as he heard -about it. Youse can’t queer the push!” - -O’Hara came in through a side door; his face wore a fat smile, as he -walked to the bar. - -“Good mornin’, James,” saluted he. - -“How are yez, Malachi?” returned the saloonkeeper, “is it yez mornin’s -mornin’ ye’d be after?” - -“Divil a ilce! Give me a sup out av the brown bottle, an’ a troifle o’ -porter on the soide.” - -“I suppose,” remarked old Kelly as the drink was tossed off and rung up -on the cash register, “that ye’ll give me a lift at the primaries next -wake.” - -“Sure, James, I’ll strive till be neighbourly; an’ if me vote’ll do yez -any good, faith, yez shall have it.” - -“Ivery wan counts. I’m sure till be nominated, for the boss is wid me; -but we want all the votes we kin get in yez division, for the young -bla’gards are makin’ a foight agin me, I hear.” - -“True for ye, boy! I wur talkin’ till young McGonagle yesterday, an’ -it’s on the ticket he’ll be, agin ye, Kelly.” - -“D’yez tell me so! Faix, he’s soured on me because I wouldn’t take me -milk from him, I think. But we’ll bate him, never fear. McQuirk an’ -mesilf have bin among Murphy’s frinds an’ we’ll see till him, the -spalpeen. McQuirk have got the most av thim jobs, an’ they can’t go -back on him, faith!” - -“Good luck till yez, sure. I hope yez’ll have as much av it as mesilf.” - -“Ho! Ho! Faith an’ I thought yez wur in good timper this mornin’. -What’s happened to yez, O’Hara?” - -“Nawthin’ till me, sure. Bud Rosie’s till marry young Murphy; an’ the -money’ll be a foine t’ing--for her.” - -Kelly stared at him in dumb astonishment. O’Hara returned the look with -great good humour. - -“Be the powers av Moll Kelly!” ejaculated the saloonkeeper, “but that -bates all, yet! An’ is it so soon after Mary’s berryin’?” - -“Oh, they’ll wait a bit; it’s no hurry they’re in.” - -The side door swung open, admitting Mrs. Nolan, in a greasy wrapper, -her face puffy with drink. - -“Good mornin’ till yez gintlemen,” to the nodding, grinning group at -the table. “It’s takin’ Willie a-walkin’ I am, this foine mornin’.” As -she spoke, Mrs. Nolan flourished a kettle in the air and then banged -it down upon the bar. “Tin cints worth av mixed,” requested she. - -Kelly jerked the can under the spigot with professional dexterity and -watched it, pondering. - -“I’ll be goin’, James,” said O’Hara. - -“Stop an’ have a sup on the house.” - -“Another toime. Faith, me business’ed suffer from two drinks av yez -whisky.” - -The second-hand man departed and Kelly slid the filled can along the -bar, the froth creaming down its sides. - -“I’ve had a surprise, Mrs. Nolan,” said he. - -“Small blame till yez, Kelly; arrah, it’s all the news yez hear as ye -stan’ behind yez bar, so yez do!” - -“It will surprise ye, mam,” spoke Kelly solemnly. “Rosie O’Hara is till -take up wid Larry!” - -“Is it marry him!” - -“Divil a ilce! Her father is jist after tellin’ me av it.” - -“Maybe she’s compelled till, faith!” - -“Eh!” - -“Faix, an’ the talk wint round about thim, long since, James. It’s -sorry I’d be iv it wur true.” - -“God bless uz, Mrs. Nolan! An’ d’yez tell me this?” - -“I’m not sayin’ it’s true, moind ye. An’ did yez not hear av it?” - -“Sorra the word!” - -“What will young Larkin do now, at all, at all. He wur woild after her -afore he wint away.” - -“So he wur, Mrs. Nolan,” agreed Kelly, a change suddenly creeping into -his face; “so he wur, mam.” - -“Glory be! What’ll he do whin he hears av this? He’s got the divil in -’im whin his timper’s up, so he have.” - -“But he’s a frind av Larry’s.” - -“It’s on’y worse that’ed make it.” - -After Mrs. Nolan had gone, Kelly wiped the little puddles from the bar -and ruminated. - -“He _have_ the divil in him,” muttered he. “Did I not see him, in -this barroom, knock the padding out av t’ree av’ the ‘Chain Gang’ for -callin’ his father an Orange bastard.” - -The men at the table were shoving back their chairs as though about to -go. - -“Foley,” said the saloonkeeper, “stop a bit an’ give an eye till the -bar; I want till spake till Martin. Call me iv any wan comes in.” - -“All right,” said Foley. “On’y hurry up.” - -Martin had a great, half raw beefsteak before him from which he was -hacking bleeding strips; a newspaper was propped against the salt cruet -and as he ate Martin read the doings of the sporting world. - -“Arrah, don’t be botherin’ him!” cried Mrs. Kelly, as her husband -entered. “Lave him ate his bit av breakfast in pace. Will ye have -another cup av coffee, Martin?” - -Martin pushed his cup toward her, over the stained table-cloth, in -silence; his father sat down and watched him as he split a bake-house -biscuit and covered it with butter, and then resumed his attack upon -the gory steak. - -“I want till tell ye somethin’, Martin,” said the father. “No hurry for -Foley’s in the barroom.” - -“Foley!” exclaimed Mrs. Kelly. Martin only stared. - -“The cash register’ll ring if he meddles wid it,” grinned the -saloonkeeper. “Never fear av Foley.” - -“Divil mend ye if yez are robbed av ivery God’s blissid cint ye have, -some day!” cried Mrs. Kelly, putting the steaming coffee before her -son. “I’ll go out till him. Sure, I wouldn’t trust that felly wid the -value av a glass av porter!” - -She whisked hurriedly into the barroom, leaving father and son together. - -“Good riddance,” said her husband--“yez mother talks too much at -toimes, Martin; an’ I want till spake till ye privately.” - -“Gee!” exclaimed the son, surprised; “what’s the caper, eh?” - -Kelly spoke for a long time leaning across the table; Martin listened, -his knife and fork constantly at work. - -“Iv we knowed where Jimmie wur,” said Kelly, “we cud lave him know av -this dirty pace av wurk. Murphy is no frind av his’n nor moine aither!” - -“Larkin’s easy found,” said Martin. “He’s got a match on at the Crib -Club in Boston for nixt Monday night, and he’s trainin’ at a road-house -just outside of the city. I kin git the address from somebody and -we’ll write him, eh?” - -“We will, Martin! Go out an’ git a two cint stamp at Mullen’s drug -store an’ a sheet av paper, an’ an invelope, as soon as yez are done -atin’. It’s our juty till tell Larkin av this, an’ we must do it.” - - - - -Chapter XVII - - “_Dull rogues affect the politician’s part, - And learn to nod, and smile, and shrug with art._” - - CONGREVE. - - -IT was the evening of the primaries and the opposing factions were -lined up for the battle that would decide who was to be the party’s -standard-bearer within the limits of the ward. The workers had made a -door-to-door canvass, pleading eloquently with some, making a vague -statement of principles to others, hinting at “prospective jobs” to -more. A great deal depended upon the person, and the heelers were -supposed to have the voters in their precincts gauged to a nicety. - -Tim Burns was eating his supper of potatoes and eggs at the kitchen -table, together with his wife and two children, when a knock came upon -the door. - -“Come in,” called Tim. - -It was Gratten Haley, candidate for school director and--McQuirk! - -“Hello Tim,” greeted Haley, cheerily, “feedin’ your face?” - -“God bless uz an’ save us, Mr. McQuirk,” ejaculated Mrs. Burns, -confused at the sight of the ward’s great man. “Here Xavier, git down -wid yez at wanst, an’ give the gintleman yez sate.” - -She dumped her eldest son unceremoniously from his chair and dusted it -with her apron. But McQuirk re-seated the boy and shoved the chair back -to the table. - -“Pitch in, son,” advised he, heartily. He speared an egg with a fork -and placed it on the child’s plate. “Go to work,” said he. He rumpled -the youngster’s hair and turned to Mrs. Burns. “This must be a fast -day,” remarked he. - -“There’s two this week, so they give out from the altar on Sunday,” -answered Mrs. Burns; “an’ a body’s lost widout the bit av mate, after -workin’ all day.” - -Mr. Haley stood in the background, near the range, pulling slowly at a -fat black cigar, and gazing at his leader admiringly. “For star plays,” -muttered he with ecstasy, to himself, “run me against McQuirk. He’s a -miracle!” - -The feminine and juvenile side of the house surrendered without firing -a shot; but Tim was made of different stuff and had a long memory. He -glowered at his plate from under his brows and caused buttered wedges -of bread and saucers of tea to disappear with startling rapidity. - -“Got plenty to do, Tim?” McQuirk stood with his back to the range and -tugged at the spike-like points of his moustache. - -“Lots av it--_now_!” Tim put a great deal of emphasis on the last word -so that the boss might not misunderstand. - -“The delegates are named to-night,” interrupted the candidate for -school director, hurriedly, “and the town will be jammed with -conventions to-morrow, all the way from members o’Congress to,” -modestly, “school director.” - -“I know,” said Mr. Burns. - -“I want your support!” said McQuirk, bluntly. “There’s a movement to -wall me up in me own division by a gang o’ would-be reformers; and I -want all me friends to stand by me.” - -“So yez want me vote?” asked Tim, as he wiped his mouth on a corner of -the table-cloth and pushed back his chair. - -“Sure; you’ve voted with the party ever since you got out your papers, -an’ you’re entitled to a say in the primaries.” - -“Have a cigar,” invited Haley, as Burns got up. - -“I’ll smoke me poipe,” said Tim. He took it down from a shelf and -knocked out the “heel” on the edge of the range, then proceeded to cut -a fresh charge from a plug of “Rough and Ready,” with his pocket knife. - -“I’m a Dimmycrat,” said Tim, “an’ plaze God, I’ll always stay wan.” - -The boss beamed approval. “Now look here,” said he, “you know McAteer, -don’t you? Well this other crowd want to do him out of the nomination -because he sticks like glue to the party, see? Old Owen Dwyer’s on the -ticket, instructed for him; so give Owen your support, eh?” - -“McAteer,” spoke Mr. Burns, “is an able man, an’ Owen Dwyer, is a -daysint wan, an’ a friend av my own.” - -“So he is; you’re right, Tim! And then there’s Abrams for judge--Jimmie -Hurley stands for him. Abrams is a sheeney, but he’s all right.” - -“I’m agin no man because he sticks till what his father wur before him.” - -“And there’s Kelly for select--a neighbour of yours; and here’s Haley -for school director.” - -“I knew yez father,” said Tim to Haley; “he wur a United man, an’ an A. -O. H., so I’ll do what I can till give his son a boost. But for James -Kelly--never!” Tim smacked his hands together loudly. “Gartenheim gits -me vote; for he give me a job av work when the rist av yez passed me -by!” - -“Don’t let any o’ those young fellows jolly you, Tim; for they’re goin’ -to git it in the neck, sure! Kelly’s the man! He’s the only one that -can hold the workers, for he stands in with the mayor. He can git jobs.” - -“I’ve heard that afore now,” remarked Tim, stubbornly. McQuirk touseled -up the eldest boy’s head once more and also shook hands with the -mother. - -“Gartenheim’s name won’t be mentioned,” prophesied he as he buttoned up -his light overcoat and paused at the door. “Stand in with the party, -that’s the thing, eh, Mrs. Burns? The right kind o’ people never -forgets who puts them in office. Do what’s regular, Tim, that’s all -I ask, do what’s regular; vote to hold the organization together and -keep the snide reformers out. And, remember, we’ve got a congressman -to elect, the only one o’ the right stripe in the city.” He opened the -door and stood aside while Haley stepped out. “Good night, Tim; I just -thought I’d drop in and talk to you about the thing. No harm done?” - -“Not a bit,” answered Mr. Burns, “Good night.” - -And so it went from house to house, from alley to alley, from division -to division through the ward. McQuirk did not trust himself in the -hands of his workers; he saw the voters in person, raised the standard -and appealed to the partisanship that is born in every man; and so if -there was glory to be gained, he was the gainer; if there was a harvest -of defeat to reap, it was not because of lack of personal attention on -his part. - -Politics had been McQuirk’s study for years, and he had been an apt -scholar. He knew nothing of the profundity of statesmanship, and cared -less; he had never made a speech upon his feet, and could not had his -life depended upon it. But what he did not know of practical politics, -as his friend Moran was in the habit of saying, was not worth knowing. -He possessed a genius for organization: in getting out the full vote he -was unexcelled, and he dominated the freemen of his district by one of -three things: Favour--the expectation of favour--the fear of disfavour. - -There were people in the ward that had known him when he was a -dump-cart driver, and others who remembered a later period when his -only visible means of support was Sunday poker-playing in the parlours -of social clubs. Then he became a political hanger-on; he fetched and -carried for the powers that were and by his astuteness gained their -favour. Little by little he rose in power, and at length, was sent, -under orders, to represent his division in the ward committee. From -that time he grew visibly; his name began to appear in the political -columns of the Sunday papers and he took to wearing a silk hat. Then -came the revolt of a clique of workers that presaged disaster to the -ward machine; McQuirk saw his opportunity, threw himself at the head -of the insurgents and in a desperate battle of the ballots, came off -victorious. His old benefactors were driven to the wall and ruthlessly -knifed, and McQuirk stood at the head of the committee in the pivotal -ward of the district. - -With a solid phalanx of admirers and a chain of supporting social -clubs behind him, he soon made himself manifest; controlling the most -powerful subdivision of the organization, he held the balance of power -and was courted and feared. He walked into his first ward convention -with his breast pocket stuffed with proxies and dictated the nomination -of his bitterest foe; then he threw his strength, in secret, with an -independent movement and buried the said foe under an avalanche of -ballots that effectually stripped him of his dangerous qualities. As -Mr. Haley had remarked, McQuirk was a miracle. - -James Kelly was sweating blood and spending money, provided by the -Motor Traction Company, right and left, to accomplish his nomination. -The back room of his saloon, turned into a campaign headquarters, had -for weeks been a vortex of activity. The air was never clear of cigar -smoke, or the table of beer bottles. Kelly, aided by that rising young -politician, Gratten Haley, Nobby Foley and his son, had canvassed the -ward from end to end. This did him some good; but vastly greater than -their combined exertions was the fact that the boss favoured him--that -he was the choice of the machine. - -“That mocaraw,” said McQuirk, on Tuesday morning as he stood in Moran’s -“court,” “has queered the whole shooting match! He’ll have every voter -out to-night, either for him or against him, and that’ll bring our -other people into the fight.” - -“He ain’t got no gumption,” remarked the magistrate tipping himself -back in his office chair, and loosening the foil covering of a paper of -fine cut. “The old way’s the best. Keep quiet and on the night of the -primaries half of them will forget it, and the other half won’t bother -their heads. Enough picked people to elect each delegate is all we -want; when the whole crowd starts to chip in, it keeps you guessing.” - -“That’s what! It’s time enough to make a hurrah and shoot off the -sky-rockets when the convention’s over and your slate’s all to the -good; you’re fresh for the fight, then; but when there’s a preliminary -about who’ll carry the flag, it makes hard feelings; and a man who -would turn out with the gang, with a torch dropping grease down his -back, in the first place, wouldn’t show up in the second even if you -promised to put him under a plug hat and on top of a horse ahead of the -band.” - -Moran nodded his approval of this piece of political sagacity; McQuirk -buttoned up his coat. - -“I’ve fixed it,” said the latter, “so that if anybody’s pinched they’ll -be run over here in the wagon. Be sure you have somebody to bail them -out if you can’t discharge them.” - -“That’ll be all right. I’ll have Pete Slattery hangin’ around -somewhere; he’ll do for a few more, yet.” - -Here the magistrate laughed, but the boss looked glum. - -“That young Murphy,” said he, “is bothering me some. I don’t like the -way he is jumping into this thing. He’s sore on Kelly, eh?” - -“I should say so! He’d give him the knife in a minute. Say,” continued -Moran, suddenly, “ain’t you on the wrong track, McQuirk? You don’t want -to make an enemy of Murphy, he’s growin’ up and beginning to take -notice, don’t you know? Keep him in line; one young one’s as good as a -half dozen old ones, and they do more and don’t ask as much. Ain’t that -right?” - -The boss looked at his watch, snapped the case shut, and dropped it -into his pocket. - -“I’m going down to the Precinct Club,” said he. “The committee holds a -pow-wow there in half an hour, and I must make good.” - -“But, say,” went on the magistrate tenaciously, “what’s the good word, -Mac? Sling me a line on it, so’s I can put the boys next. Is it Kelly -or nothin’? Or is it Kelly if we can?” - -McQuirk cleared his throat and twisted his fingers among the links of -his watch chain. He was not revolving a decision--that had been made -weeks ago. He merely wanted his honour to draw his answer more from his -manner than his words. He had seen political friendships broken before -now; and he had also seen men’s words, quoted in fat type, posted upon -fences. - -“We’ll do what we can for Kelly,” said he, “yes, we’ll do all we can -for him.” - -Moran smiled when his visitor left, and caressed his dyed moustache. - -“Just as foxy!” murmured he. “It’ll be a slick member that ever makes -_him_ slip his hold, and that’s no dream. If Murphy draws the most -water why Kelly gets entered among the also rans, that’s all.” - -Not many members of the Aurora Borealis Club who had entered the -political arena against Kelly had gone to work that day. Some were -canvassing their divisions for votes or information, and others lounged -about the club rooms, ready for anything that might turn up. Larry -Murphy, wearing a deep black band about his hat, dropped in during the -morning. - -“We’re goin’ to do him,” said Larry, after a long talk with his -friends. “If anybody ever needed a lickin’, it’s Mart Kelly. He wants -it bad!” - -“I heard Mary prayed for in church on Sunday,” said Jerry, with a -glance at the mourning band. - -“Sure,” said Larry. “But she don’t need it, though,” he added -reverently. - -“If we all stood as good as her,” remarked McGonagle, “we’d be all -right. Me mother was makin’ a novena for her when she died. She -t’ought she’d get better.” - -“Tell her I’m much obliged,” said Larry. “Your mother always liked -Mary.” After a pause he said: “I’m goin’ out to see what’s doin’. Don’t -loaf, gents, keep the t’ing goin’.” - -After he had gone McGlory asked. - -“Did any o’ youse fella’s hear the new one?” - -“Bat it out,” requested McGonagle. - -“One o’ Rosie O’Hara’s aunts was to see me mother last night, and it -was the first time she was ever in our house, for her and me mother -can’t hit it. I was out at the time--over to see Veronica, ye know--but -I heard all about it at breakfast-time next mornin’.” - -“Well, chop it off!” urged McGonagle, impatiently. “Don’t wait until -I’m grey-headed. Bat it out.” - -“Larry and Rose is goin’ to run double.” - -“G’way!” Goose stared at his friend, amazedly. “It must be a roast. -Murphy was a friend o’ Larkin’s; he wouldn’t play him dirt like that!” - -“What’s Larkin got to do with it?” - -“Why him an’ Rose was engaged--on the quiet, ye know.” - -“Whew!” Jerry whistled through his teeth and frowned across the table -at the other. “I’ll bet the best skate we’ve got in the stable that -Murphy don’t know a thing about it.” - -“But Rose does! She’s give Jimmie the ice-house laugh, that’s what -she’s done; he’s only a sparrer, an’ Murphy’s got the money, see? I -never put me lamps on a woman yet that wasn’t daffy after a guy what’s -got a wad o’ rags.” - -Danny Casey who sat by a window, emerged from behind his newspaper, -took his feet from the sill, and observed: - -“There seems to be lots o’ new t’ings chasin’ around. When I heard that -Dick Nolan and Roddy Ferguson had made up, ye cud a-knocked me down -with a straw; but when I seen them workin’ together against Kelly, why, -say, I almost fainted.” - -“That _was_ a funny t’ing,” agreed McGonagle. “I tried to pump Roddy, -but he was dead dry. But, say, it’ll be a good snap for us all, eh? -Nolan’s ace high with Gartenheim, and if he kin coax him to step out, -and give O’Connor a push, Kelly’ll be a dead cock in the pit.” - -Casey shook his head doubtfully. He felt that Goose’s hopes were a -trifle too roseate. - -“Dick pulls some weight wit’ the old man,” admitted he; “but he can’t -do all that. I tell youse Gartenheim’s too sore on O’Connor to turn in -for him. Stick to Murphy’s lay-out; we’ve got the best chance there. -When we spring it, take me word for it, the whole shootin’ match’ll -stand up on their hind legs.” - -“Youse might be right; I only hope ye are,” said Jerry. “Anyhow let’s -go down the line; we ain’t doin’ no good holdin’ down chairs around -here. I want to see old man Hoffer and a lot more guys; they’re friends -o’ the old man’s and I want to sling ’em a breeze.” - -When seven o’clock drew on the division houses were wide open; the -special policemen and ward workers were clustered in the doorways and -were aghast at the magnitude of the vote called out by the conflicting -efforts of Kelly and his opponents; it was as heavy as that of a -general election and stood unprecedented in their experience. McQuirk, -in a silk hat and with a cigar between his teeth, was going from -division to division, in one of McGrath’s hacks; his subordinates -worked zealously with the vote, feeling that their future weal depended -upon the impression that they made. - -Clancy came through McGarragles’ Alley and turned down the avenue -toward the polling place of his division; his white apron was tucked up -about his waist and he carried a ballot fluttering between his fingers. -Murphy who stood by the curb, watching things, and sending out his aids -to drag voters from their suppers, at once pounced upon the grocer. - -“Just a second, Clancy!” besought he. - -A stout man with a red face protested. - -“Ah, let the man be!” requested he. “The polls’ll be closed in a little -while. Go ahead and vote, Clancy!” - -“Close yer face, will youse? I’m doin’ this.” - -“An’ yer makin’ a mess of it, too. Youse people’ll split the ticket, -and we’ll get it good and hard, like last time.” - -“I take notice youse have all turned in for de guy what licked youse; -youse fellas would cap for McQuirk to beat yer own gran’father.” - -Murphy was about to unmask his batteries and wither the red-faced man -with sarcasm when Clancy interrupted him. - -“What d’yez want av me?” asked he. - -“Yer got a pink ticket there. Just open it and paste this sticker over -Pete Slattery’s name.” - -“Divil the bit! Sure, Slattery’s a friend av mine, an’ a customer.” - -“But, say, he’s for Kelly! Ye ain’t goin’ to help that slob to lick us, -are ye?” - -“For Kelly! Begorry, they niver towld me that. Where’s yez sticker? -Divil a boost’ll I give a man that’s for James Kelly.” - -A deep murmur that swelled into a smothered roar came from the cigar -store where the balloting was being held. A dense group of excited, -gesticulating workers were gathered about the table; in their midst -stood two men, their noses almost together, their faces pale, their -voices high-pitched and angry. - -“Ye don’t vote, see,” declared one. “Ye ain’t got no vote, here, and -that goes.” - -“I’m as good a Democrat as youse,” maintained the other, “you’re a -mugwump, ye stiff!” - -“You’re a liar!” - -In an instant they had clinched and were making maddened efforts to -strike. A policeman rushed in, tore them apart and hustled one out upon -the sidewalk. Murphy desperately forced his way through the crowd; he -saw a vote being lost to his faction, and the sight aroused all his -combativeness. - -“Let him go,” commanded he. “He didn’t do nothin’, Callahan!” - -Officer Callahan turned with upraised club. “I’ll break your face!” -growled he, “I’m dead onto you, anyhow.” - -There was no telling to what extreme the young man would have gone, had -not McGonagle and some others pulled him away. - -“Youse must be daffy!” exclaimed Goose, “D’ye want to play right into -their hands? Every copper around the booth’s a Kelly man and they’ll -rope in us people if we look cross-eyed; and then we’ll get the wrong -end of it, sure.” - -“The wagon’s been out t’ree times in Tom Hogan’s precinct,” said -another, “they’re challengin’ all our people and t’rowin’ ’em down--an’ -givin’ ’em a ride if they kick.” - -“I know’d Hogan’d get the goose if he’d go against Daily alone. -Somebody go down and help him out”; continued Murphy. “Hully Gee, we -gotta’ hold ’em safe down there, it’s our strongest graft, and we can’t -afford to be gold-bricked, gents.” - -“It’s too late,” spoke McGonagle, looking at his open-faced watch; “the -polls’ll be closed in a quarter of an hour.” - -Jerry McGlory dashed up in his father’s falling-top buggy. - -“Anything doing?” asked he. - -“It’s all done,” answered Larry. - -“How’s the vote?” - -“Heavy as lead.” - -“They’re doin’ us dirt,” said McGlory, bitterly. “They’re pullin’ our -vote, an’ holdin’ ’em for a hearin’ in the mornin’. They took twelve -out o’ Mason’s precinct since seven o’clock!” - -“Move over,” said Larry. He and McGonagle jumped into the carriage -beside Jerry, as he continued: “Now throw it into that old skate o’ -yourn for all yer worth.” - -“Which way?” asked McGlory. - -“Up to Moran’s,” answered his friend. “He’s goin’ to do somethin’ -damned quick, or the next guy he holds for a hearin’ ’ll have done -somethin’ to be held for!” - - - - -Chapter XVIII - - “_The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve._” - - SHAKESPEARE. - - -BUT Moran was not to be found. After the horse had been put up, -Jerry started for the club. Larry and McGonagle began a round of the -divisions; but finding the polling places closed, followed Jerry’s -footsteps. The hour was midnight; the moon was pushing its red rim -above the housetops; and the great heart of the city throbbed but -slowly. The streets were silent, deserted, save for a single pedestrian -who now and then loomed up, ghost-like, from the shadows and as -suddenly vanished from view. - -“So youse t’ink we’ve got the bulge, eh?” asked Goose, as they hurried -along. - -“Sure! We copped votes in places where I t’ought we’d get the -dinky-dink. If the other end o’ the ward’s as much to the good, we’re -all right.” - -An engine pulled out of the freight yard as they were about to pass -and stood coughing and panting upon the path, blocking their passage. -A shower of cinders dropped through the grate bars, turned a dull red -and then expired; a man ran along the top of the cars swinging his lamp -in frantic signals; the moist, grimy face of the fireman peered through -the cab window, his inflamed eyes blinking at the fluttering red spark; -then the lever was reversed with a jerk, and back they go until a -sudden crash and a shrill “Why-OO!” tells the engineer that another car -has been added to his string. - -“Come on,” said Goose, “here comes the ‘loco’ again. What are youse -lookin’ at?” - -Murphy was gazing over his shoulder into the shadow and did not take -advantage of the shifting engine’s retreat. Two men were swiftly -crossing the street toward them. - -“Here comes a couple o’ gents what wants to sling us a breeze,” said -Larry. “It’s either the price of a bed they’re chasin’ up, or they want -to give us a piece o’ lead pipe.” - -“The fat one looks like old Kelly,” observed McGonagle. “Say, _he_ -can’t be on the fight, kin he?” - -They waited for the men to come up; and once more the signal lamp -swayed up and down, once more the engine wheezed out upon the path, -groaning and hissing as though in protest. A man rushed down the track, -paused under the flaring head-light to look at some papers, and then -began swearing at someone in the darkness. He had lost one hand and the -stump was armed with an iron hook; this he waved frantically. - -“Drop them last cars! Go down the next siding and pick up the flats! -You know better than this, Conroy!” - -The engine seemed to have caught his humour for it snorted angrily; the -crew began twisting madly at the brakes, the lamps were set swinging -down the track; a shadowy form darted out of the gloom, threw open -a switch and was immediately swallowed up again. The panting of the -locomotive grew fainter; from far down the yard its head-light burned -like a dim, red spark. The man with the hook entered a watch box and -angrily slammed the door. Silence! - -“We heard that yez had come this way,” remarked Kelly, as he came up. -“McQuirk an’ mesilf were passin’ Phil Burk’s place as he wur shuttin’ -up an’ he towld us yez had started for the club.” - -“We want to have a little talk,” said the boss, as they walked along. -“A little confabulation, you know.” - -Larry nudged his friend, and received a like signal in return. - -“All right,” said he, cheerfully, “sing your song, Mac. What’s on yer -mind?” - -“We want till ax yez--” Kelly began, hurriedly; but McQuirk stopped him. - -“Let me tend to this,” requested he, coolly. He turned to Larry and in -a fatherly fashion laid his hand upon his shoulder. They were under -an arc lamp and in the blue-white light, Larry saw that his face was -wrinkling with smiles. - -“You boys put up a good fight,” said McQuirk. “I like the way you -run things. Me an’ Moran was talkin’ about an hour ago; he’s feelin’ -obliged to the club for turnin’ in for Rhinehardt for common council, -and told me to tell you so.” - -“Don’t mention it,” murmured Larry. - -“There’s bigger lobsters than Rhinehardt kickin’ around loose,” put in -McGonagle. “He kin get a lamp-post put on the corner if youse want one -bad; an’ he kin have one took away if youse kick. That’s more’n some o’ -the other guys kin do for the ward.” - -McQuirk nodded and smiled approvingly. - -“Haley’s got a safe majority in the convention,” said he; “the present -member’ll go back on the ticket for Congress; Abrams has won in a -canter; and the only man that’s been back-heeled is Kelly, here. You -boys fought him so hard that he could only split even.” - -“Much obliged for puttin’ us on,” said Larry. “So we made it a draw, -eh?” - -“That’s just what you done,” laughed the boss; “an even draw! I like -to see young roosters make a game fight; it shows that they’re made of -good stuff. But, look here; now that you’ve showed your spurs, what are -ye goin’ to do? Kelly’s the choice of the regular crowd.” - -Facing them was Kerrigan’s saloon, ablaze with incandescent lamps. A -number of men came noisily forth and went wrangling up the street; the -white-jacketed barkeeper came out and looked after them; then he went -in, banged the door and turned off the lights. - -“Damn it!” exclaimed Kelly; “he’s shut up. I wur just goin’ till ax yez -in till have a sup av somethin’.” - -“Much obliged,” returned Larry. “We ain’t hittin’ the booze to-night. -We’re in trainin’, see?” - -“The regulars all want Kelly,” persisted McQuirk, “and we want to hear -from you people. Who are ye goin’ to throw the vote for?” - -Larry looked at him sourly. - -“The reg’lar crowd, eh?” sneered he. “That’s a good t’ing, ain’t -it?” to McGonagle, “that’s a real good t’ing.” He turned once more -to McQuirk and demanded: “Say who is the regulars, eh? Ain’t it the -majority o’ the party? And if none o’ us ain’t got the big end o’ it, -who d’youse call the reg’lar push, eh? Ain’t us guys, what’s workin’ -agin Kelly, inside the lines? Don’t we say our say? And don’t we win if -we hold the people?” - -“Keep yer shirt on,” soothed McQuirk. - -“That’s all right, see?” Larry was speaking in a loud, sharp tone, -working his arms like flails. They had paused upon the sidewalk, -before the door of the club. The piano was being thumped joyously and a -thundering chorus came through the partly opened windows: - - “_I’m candidate, - For magistrate, - An’ believe me what I say, - So, pull off your coat, - An’ cast yer vote, - For me on ’lection day._” - -The singing ceased suddenly and a voice shouted: - -“What’s the matter wit’ Kelly?” - -A cyclone of groans, hisses and profanity came whirling out into the -night. The execrated one looked at McQuirk; and McQuirk shrugged his -shoulders and laughed. A man got between the light and one of the club -windows; his body, silhouetted upon the blind, writhed and swayed; his -right hand flourished a beer glass above his head, apparently demanding -silence. At last his voice was heard. - -“Gents,” cried he, “we have slammed it into ’em, ain’t that right? -We’ve got the t’ing cinched! We don’t want that lobster Kelly, and -we’ll sit on the mugs what trys to ring him in. We got a man of our -own.” He flourished the glass, seeming to defy contradiction. “We got a -man of our own,” repeated he; “and he’s a winner in a walk! Gents, I’ll -ask you for t’ree rips for old man McGlory!” - -The yell that followed split the silence like a knife; the man with the -glass vanished from the blind; the piano resumed its measured beat; the -triumphant chorus once more began. - -“Youse just asked me what us people was agoin’ to do,” said Larry. -“Well the gang just saved me the trouble o’ tellin’ yez.” - -“So McGlory will go afore the convention, Murphy?” asked Kelly. - -“It looks like it,” admitted Larry. - - - - -Chapter XIX - - “_We were batting the town, from the sun went down, - Till the morning grew grey in the sky; - And we heard the cocks crow, as we homeward did go, - With our skins full of mellow old rye._” - - SONGS OF THE CURB. - - -WHEN the two young men pushed open the door leading to the club’s -parlour, they found themselves in a vortex of wild enthusiasm. The -congregated members, for the most part, were coatless; and with cigars -clinched between their teeth they madly gyrated about the room to the -tune of: - - “_Oh Murphy he was paralyzed, - McCarty couldn’t see, - I was drunk, but Ferguson, - Was a damn sight worse than me!_” - -Danny Casey, his suspenders slipped from his shoulders and his derby -hat tipped back upon his head, presided at the piano; McGlory, standing -upon the pool table waved his arms like a bandmaster. - -Mike McCarty appeared to be the only sane person in the place; he stood -in the doorway that led to the adjoining room, as self-possessed, as -well-dressed as ever, a smile upon his face. Though he was born in an -alley and of a woman who took in washing, Mike, in instinct, taste -and deportment, was a gentleman. Seeing Larry and McGonagle enter, he -beckoned them into the other room and closed the door. - -“The push is havin’ a good time,” remarked Larry. “That’s a lovely -skate McGlory’s got.” - -“They’re all about half lit up,” returned McCarty; “and they are plumb -daffy, too. It’s best to save yer sky-rockets till after the game’s -won; ain’t that right?” - -“We’ll take it from youse,” agreed Larry. - -“How did youse make out?” asked Mike. - -“Knocked ’em cold! We both go to the convention, all right.” - -“It was a cinch,” put in Goose. “There’s about forty o’ McGlory’s -drivers boardin’ in my division, and when the old man cut ’em loose, -the Kelly push wilted like wet rags.” - -“Then we got ’em,” declared Mike, exultantly. “I knowed youse’d win -out; that gives us two more.” He nodded toward a sheet of foolscap upon -the table, covered with names and figures. “Kerrigan made that,” added -he. “It’s all right, I guess.” - -Larry and McGonagle bent over the paper attentively; the uproar in the -other room continued; but the tune was changed; the dancing had ceased -and the voices of the overjoyed members were raised in the ditty: - - “_I’m goin’ down to Kerrigan’s, - On purpose to get tight, - An’ when I get home again, - There’s goin’ to be a fight, - I’ll smash up all the furniture, - And all the dishes, too, - Upset the stove when I go in, - Is the first t’ing I will do._” - -The reasons for these acts of domestic vandalism were not inquired into -by Murphy or McGonagle; each had his finger upon a name and they were -looking at each other with something like dismay. - -“Tim Daily,” Larry straightened up and fairly glared. - -“And Levitsky,” moaned Goose. “Elected by our people, too! Oh, I kin -see our finish, right here.” - -“Hully Gee!” murmured McCarty, “is them people been worked in? Then -they’re got the bulge.” - -There ensued a silence as sulphurous as any profanity ever conceived by -mortal man. Then McGonagle spoke. “Well,” demanded he, of Larry, “what -next?” - -“They’ve put us up against it, hard,” mourned Larry. - -“Got anyt’ing to say Murphy?” - -Larry glowered at them in bovine fury. “I went into this mix,” declared -he, his right hand beating upon his left, “to win! And we’re goin’ to -win if we have to tear up the ward be the roots! McQuirk’s played a -foxy game, and worked some of our people for rank suckers, see? But -we’ll kick the props from under him and do him brown, d’ye hear? We’ll -do him brown!” - -“How?” ventured McGonagle. - -“How? I don’t care a damn how we do it! We ain’t a’goin’ to let him -play us for good t’ings, are we?” - -“Let’s go see Daily,” suggested Goose. - -McCarty looked at his watch. “It only wants a couple o’ minutes o’ -one,” said he, “Daily’s snorin’ t’ beat the band by this time.” - -“Not on yer life! He’s on the night shift this week,” said Larry. “We -kin see him, all right. Come on, Goose.” - -The two repassed through the parlour, almost unnoticed in the -excitement, and down the stairs to the street. They headed eastward -over Girard Avenue, their objective point being one of the iron mills -that line the river front in Kensington. - -Down a narrow street, under the light of the lamps, a dozen or more -of men were swinging long-handled brooms; a pair of bony, dispirited -horses followed in their track, their driver shovelling the heaps of -rubbish into the cart. The scavengers droned a strange-sounding song -as they worked; the watching overseer talked constantly, in a sharp, -high tone; the horses hung their heads dejectedly and rattled at the -chains of their harness. - -“That’s some of McGlory’s night gang,” remarked Larry. “They start -’em out early since the loot reported dirty streets in the old man’s -district.” - -They turned into a quiet street leading toward the river. A cellar door -opened, and a broad barb of light shot across the sidewalk; from the -midst of this rose a pallid, spectral form, and stood looking calmly -into the night. But it was only a baker, clad in his spotless working -dress, popping out of his overheated basement for a breath of air. A -great stack, towering skyward, and vomiting a blazing shower of sparks -into the night, showed that they were nearing the mill. The huge, low, -shed-like buildings lifted their corrugated walls, like the beginnings -of greater structures; a knot of men were gathered about the wide -doorway; they had limp, damp towels twisted about their necks and all -smoked short pipes. Rows of puddlers, naked to the waist, their bodies -glistening with perspiration, stood before the furnaces “balling” the -molten metal; from time to time one would drench himself with water, -and once more face the Cyclopean eye glaring so angrily upon him. - -Daily was among the crowd at the door, and he smiled and winked at his -fellows, as the two young men approached. - -“We’ll on’y keep youse a second,” said Larry. He gathered from Daily’s -expression that he knew the nature of their errand. “Come on in here.” - -The three entered the building. The vast mill was in almost complete -darkness, save for the far end where, sweltering, the puddlers -toiled; here and there an incandescent light threw a thin gleam over -the ponderous machines which crouched close to the floor like squat -black monsters. Huge cogs, a-glitter with grease ground together with -metallic growls. - -“Cut it out,” said Daily; “this heat’ll be on in a minute or so.” - -“We’ve heard that yous’re got the papers in your division to vote in -the convention t’morrow,” said Larry. - -“That’s what,” grinned Daily. “I’m the delegate, all right.” - -“Who are youse for?” asked Larry. - -“Why Kelly, of course! I’m a regular, see? I don’t get dead sore -because t’ings ain’t batted my way; ain’t that right? I didn’t start to -work to-night till I got out the vote,” continued Daily, with a laugh, -“an’ the way your people shoved their little old votes in for me when -Foley slung ’em a breeze that I was against Kelly, would make youse hit -yer mother. Say, it was the real t’ing!” - -“I knowed youse done us dirt!” exclaimed Larry. - -“None o’ youse could a-squeezed in any other way in that division,” put -in McGonagle, angrily. - -“Ah, git out! If they was fools enough, whose fault is it? If you was -dead set on carryin’ the precinct, why didn’t youse watch your end o’ -the game, eh? But I got the vote, and I’m for Kelly!” - -From far away in the dimness of the mill, a hammer rang upon an iron -plate with a tumultuous clangour. A voice vociferated: - -“Heat! Heat! Heat-oo!” - -Pipes were laid aside; heavy shoes rattled along the plated floor; the -rolls began to rumble slowly as the belts were shifted from the loose -pulleys; the men seized their tools and stood ready. - -“So long,” said Daily. “The heat’s up.” - -“Hold on!” Murphy held him by the arm and spoke rapidly. “Listen to me. -A delegate sits in a pow-wow to talk for the people what sends him; -ain’t that right? An’ if they sends him to salt a man, and he supports -him, why he’s playin’ ’em all for good t’ings!” - -Daily turned away. “Youse give me a pain,” sneered he, over his -shoulder. - -They watched him as he took his place at the rolls. Huge tongs running -upon trolleys, were shoved into the gaping maws of the furnaces and -each emerged gripping a white-hot mass of metal. A jarring concussion -rang through the building; it was the first of these being passed -through the rolls, and its scattering scales made even the hardened -“passers” flinch. Report followed report; the darkness had vanished -before the lurid glare; the heat of the place became blistering. Amid -the blinding flashes and the serpentlike bars that crawled about the -floor, the men worked furiously, like heat-maddened demons, engaged in -some dread incantation. - -Then they turned and walked away. Larry’s face worked with rage; -McGonagle walked gloomily along at his side, his hands stuffed into his -pockets, his head bent dejectedly. - -“We’ve got it where we live,” said the latter. “It was all serene till -we heard o’ this, and if he’s goin’ to vote for Kelly, why we can’t -stop him, that’s all; we can’t do nawthin’.” - -“T’ell we can’t!” cried the enraged Murphy. “Say, look’et here, Goose; -one hour after Tim Daily says ‘yea’ for Kelly he’ll be in St. Mary’s -done up in splints! He’s played crooked with us people, ain’t that -right? And we’ll git even if we have to t’ump him. Ah!” - -They walked along for a time, in silence. - -“Are ye goin’ to see the other lobster?” questioned Goose. - -“Let’s go over to the Dutchman’s, hit a bracer and talk t’ings over, -first. I’ve got cobwebs in me head an’ I want to brush ’em away. The -motzer kin wait till daylight.” - -The saloon was the only all-night establishment in the neighbourhood. -It glittered with clusters of electric lamps and broad, gilt-framed -mirrors; a marble-topped bar backed by pyramids of glasses and bottles -stood upon one side. - -They talked in a desultory way for some time, consuming much beer and -many plates of sandwiches. Dawn stretched a grey hand through the -window and dimmed the clusters of lights; and when they ranged along -the bar for the last drink, the streets were filling with people -hurrying toward their work. - -Then they tramped off toward the spreading Hebrew settlement on North -Second Street. Levitsky, the man whom they sought, while he claimed -a voting place in the ward, really lived south of the line, in one -of the row of houses that face the old market sheds. These teem with -long-coated, huge-bearded Russian Jews, who drag their stock in trade -upon the sidewalk each morning and prowl up and down before it watching -for customers, and hoarsely shouting in a mixture of English and -Yiddish. - -Larry and his chum paused before a dirty bulk window heaped with odds -and ends of merchandise; on a stand upon the sidewalk lay little -stacks of Yiddish newspapers and pamphlets; a thin, yellow-faced man, -in a round, high-crowned cap, and with a beard of patriarchal length, -sat in the doorway twisting a cigarette out of some damp tobacco. He -was a wise man in the Ghetto, learned in the law and a public reader -of the scrolls; he knew the ways of Gentile youth when it was half -drunken, for he drew his long coat about his gaunt frame as they -approached, and raised his hand to prevent the expected plucking at his -beard. - -“Where’s Levitsky?” asked Larry. - -The man in the velvet cap gestured his relief and called shrilly to -someone within. A girl came out; a dark-eyed, deep-breasted girl, the -perfect type of Jewess. - -“Levitsky’s gone down to get his breakfast at Sam’s,” said she. - -“Much obliged,” said Larry. “Come on, Goose.” - -Down the street a scarlet lettered sign flamed conspicuously among a -wilderness of others, and thither they hurried and entered at the door -over which it hung. The revolving fans drove the hot, strong-odoured -breath of the place into their faces; waiters, greasy aproned and -perspiring, rushed about dexterously balancing pyramids of food-filled -crockery; the room resounded with shouted orders and the incessant -ringing of the cash register. - -“There he is,” said Larry. - -A stocky young man, in a collarless shirt, was just about to seat -himself at a table; he greeted them surprisedly. - -“Vy cert’ny,” answered he, “ye kin see me. But I cand sell no bolicy -here, chends; there ish doo many beoble.” - -“We ain’t lookin’ for policy. We want to see youse about yer little old -vote in the convention.” - -Levitsky grinned. “Oh!” said he, “vell, sit down. Vill you have anyding -to eat?” - -“No!” said Larry. “We’ll on’y stay in here a second.” - -The policy-writer did not urge them, but turned to the waiter. - -“Two fried eggs; a rare steak ant onions, ant a cup of coffee.” - -And then Larry proceeded to state his views; Levitsky listened, never -volunteering a word, until he had finished his excited remarks, then he -spoke. - -“Youse chends alvays treaded me right,” said he, “and I wud like to -do someding for you, an’d dot ride? But McQuirk jusd god me oudt of -drouble and I cand go pack on him, can I?” He flourished his arms -wildly as though protesting against the mere thought. “I vill leave id -to you fellas!” exclaimed he, “vould id be ride?” - -This involved a question of ethics with which neither Larry nor -McGonagle felt themselves capable of grappling. - -“But say,” demanded Murphy, “do youse t’ink us people’s goin’ to make -good to McQuirk because he got youse out o’ hock? If ye want’s to -square yerself, don’t make us stand for that. Ye’ve copped a sneak on -us, Levitsky, ye know ye have.” - -They argued the question until the ordered breakfast appeared. Levitsky -attacked it, apparently unmoved in his determination to remain faithful -to the boss; the others got up angry and despairing. - -“Just now,” said Larry, “it looks as if youse had us skinned to death; -but, say, there’s a block for every punch, and if Daily and youse try -to double bank us, we’ll git even in the convention if we have to pull -the shack!” - -And they left the place. - - - - -Chapter XX - - “_Come all ye sons of Erin an’ listen to my lay, - An’ I’ll tell the story av the wise man av Galway, - A credit to his country--a credit to his name, - Three provinces a-ringin’ wid the echoes av his fame._” - - AN OLD COME-ALL-YE. - - -THERE were but few at the six o’clock service, and these were so -scattered about the church as to create the impression of vacancy. -The priest, glittering in gold-embroidered vestments intoned the mass -at the high altar; the acolytes drowsily made the responses; the -worshippers followed the sacrifice with devout attention; a restless -child now and then broke the silence that pervaded. - -A light stole through a long, stained window, throwing shafts of -crimson and purple radiance across the side altar, where stood a carven -image of the Holy Virgin. A girl knelt at the altar rail, her head -bowed, her hands clasped. Even the black-robed sisters, who taught in -the parochial school, now and then raised their eyes to look at her, -for she was so white, her attitude was so supplicating. - -Larry Murphy who was very regular at church since Mary died, often -glanced up from his book to look at the pleading figure; but he did not -recognize her, he was too far off, or the light was too dim. It was -Rosie O’Hara. - -With all her pure young heart Rosie was pleading for her love. Right or -wrong she had been taught to carry her griefs to her who had been born -into the world to crush the serpent’s head; and with an intensity for -which her mind could find no words, she prayed mutely. - -The gleaming, richly-wrought vessels had been taken from the tabernacle -and stood upon the pure white altar cloth; the good father bent his -knee, and every head sank in adoration. Rosie, awed to the very soul at -the proximity of the unveiled host, found words--the words of the angel: - -“Hail Mary, full of grace,” she breathed, “blessed art thou among -women; and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” - -At intervals the bell continued to ring softly, the people beat their -breasts; all bent before the uplifted host, save the child, who looked -on, open-eyed, wondering. - -“Holy Mary, mother of God,” pleaded the girl. “Pray for us sinners, now -and at the hour of our death!” - -When the services were ended, Rosie lingered until the priest had left -the altar and the people had gone. Upon her way out she paused. In a -far corner, where the light scarcely fell, hung a pale, white Christ -upon a cross; she knelt and pressed her lips to the wounded feet, her -eyes bright with tears, and then she passed out through the great -swinging doors. - -Larry had been one of the first to leave the church; Jimmie Larkin, who -was standing upon Kerrigan’s corner, saw him, instantly crossed the -street and advanced to meet him. - -“Larkin!” young Murphy’s voice showed his surprise; and he held out his -hand in a hearty, full-blooded fashion. But Jimmie stuffed his hands -into his pockets, and stared at him, with a sneer. - -“Ain’t youse forgot somethin’?” asked he. - -Larry looked his astonishment: “What’s hurtin’ ye?” he demanded. - -“Ye know well enough! I’ve bin put next to the cross game yer workin’, -Murphy; I’m dead on, I tell ye, and I’m rotten sorry! I trusted ye, I -did; I trusted youse like I would me brother.” - -“Say, what’s the matter with youse, Larkin? Don’t stand there like a -stuffed shirt! Put me on to the trouble. What are youse jumpin’ me for?” - -“Ah! Don’t try that; it won’t work. I ain’t sore because I got the -dinky-dink, but on’y because youse had a hand in it! You was me pal, -wasn’t youse? Didn’t I usta sleep with youse? And didn’t we eat -together? I borried yer coin when I was strapped, and lent youse mine -when I had any. You knowed all about how it was with me and her, -ye knowed it and done me dirt when me back was turned. That’s the -part what hurts, an I’ve broke trainin’ to come here and lick youse, -Murphy--to lick youse till ye beg!” - -Larry drew back, frowning into the other’s flushed face. - -“I don’t know what ye mean,” said he, sharply. “Youse’re a friend o’ -mine, Larkin, and I’ll stand for all kinds o’ talk from ye, but, say, -if ye go t’rowin’ any punches my way, I’ll try to give ye a run for yer -trouble.” - -It was then that Rosie came out of the church. She saw, with frightened -eyes, the angry and threatening gestures, and caught the high, sharp -tones of their voices. She hurried forward, her heart palpitating, -realizing at once the cause of the quarrel. - -“Oh, Jimmie,” she exclaimed. “Have you got back home!” - -“Oh, yes,” said he mockingly: “I’ve come back. I just wanted to see -Larry, that’s all.” - -“Don’t ask Larry about it,” she pleaded, eagerly. “He don’t know a -thing. Let’s walk down toward McTurpin’s, and I’ll tell you--” - -Larkin laughed and interrupted her. “Gee!” exclaimed he, “is it that -bad, eh? Is he a-goin’ to hide behind yer skirts?” - -“I ain’t a-goin to hide, and I ain’t got no reason to hide,” stormed -Murphy. “Come on, whatever it is! We’ll settle this right here.” - -“Don’t fight,” said Rosie, frightened more than ever. “Look you’re -a-most in front of the church. Honest to God, Larry, I couldn’t help -it! Me father got it around: He told everybody.” - -“Eh! Told what?” - -“Why, you know that, what Mary said; you ain’t forgot about that? When -she was dyin’, I mean.” - -“Oh! No! But what’s he gotta do with that? That’s what I want to know; -where’s his kick a-comin?” - -“Me and him was engaged, ye know, an’ Pop made me write to him that me -and you--” - -“No!” Murphy fairly gasped as he caught her meaning. “Say, did youse do -that?” - -Rosie began to choke and sob. - -“Oh, Larry, I couldn’t help it; they frightened me so; and I was -willing to do anything.” - -Larkin was looking from one to the other, puzzled, glowering and -suspicious. Murphy turned to him. - -“You’re right,” said he. “If ye t’ought I was doin’ that, I don’t blame -youse for wantin’ to start t’ings my way. But, say, we kin fix this up -to suit. Les’ go in here,” nodding to the open iron gate that led to -the little burial ground behind the church. “We kin talk all we want -and nobody’ll hear us.” - -They walked about the tiny inclosure where lay the parish dead, under -the rank tufts of grass and the weather-beaten stones; and there they -told Jimmie of Mary’s request, and Rosie narrated the story of her -father’s crafty handling of her to break one promise and keep the other. - -Young Larkin drew his breath, slowly, after all had been said, and then -expelled it with great force. He held out his hand to Larry. - -“It’s up to me,” said he. “I might a-knowed, old pal; but youse know -how it is.” - -“It’s all right,” said Murphy, shaking his hand; “on’y ye might -a-looked at it that way before ye jumped me. But let it go at that, -it’s all to the good now.” - -“But the promise,” said Rosie. “That’ll always be there; I can’t break -it; I’d be frightened to.” - -“Gee!” cried Larkin, impatiently. “Don’t mind that; Mary was outa -her head, see? And the old ones was a-workin’ youse; they was after -Murphy’s money, see?” - -But the fear was implanted too deeply in her breast to be moved by -this. Larry understood and pondered the matter, while Jimmie argued -and Rosie sobbed. - -“Why, it’s easy,” said he, suddenly. “You needn’t break your promise, -Rosie, if youse’re afraid.” - -The others looked at him, hopefully. - -“It was you what promised,” said Larry. “I didn’t say a word, see? I’ll -lay down! I won’t marry youse; and if I won’t, how kin youse go ahead, -eh? It lets youse out! That’s what it does--it lets youse out!” - -The simplicity of this made Larkin stare, and caused Rosie hopefully to -dry her eyes. Larry was vociferously triumphant; he saw all made clear, -and was as happy as he desired them to be. - -“I’ll go round and bruise up yer father,” said he. “I’ll talk to him -like a Dutch uncle, I will. Him and the two old ones’ll play light on -the ghost game when I get through. They’ll see it ain’t no use. Take a -walk with Jimmie, Rosie; don’t go home till youse t’ink I’ve left. I’ll -make it right, all right!” - -But this was not the only incident of the morning. Annie Clancy stood -in the door of the grocery store; and as Goose McGonagle came along -he naturally stopped for a chat. The voice of Clancy could be heard -grumbling from the interior. - -“What’s the matter with yer father?” asked Goose. - -“Don’t talk too loud,” warned Annie, with uplifted finger, “he might -hear ye. He’s been in an awful temper ever since his half sister, old -Miss Cassidy, died. They say she left her money to the Church. He -thought he’d git it, and then he’d be able to pay--you know what.” - -The milkman nodded. - -“I ought to,” answered he, “I can’t t’ink o’ the mess I’m in meself -without t’inkin’ o’ that. But his temper don’t cut no ice with me, -Annie, I’m goin’ to talk to him to-day if I git t’run down or not.” - -“Annie!” called Clancy, angrily. “Sure, what keeps yez glosterin’ be -the dure? Come in at wanst, an’ tind till yez bit av wurk.” - -“He knows I’m here,” smiled Goose. - -“I must go in,” whispered Annie, “good-by.” - -Goose started up the street upon his round, muttering: - -“Clancy ain’t so many, if he does run a grocery store. Annie’s willin’ -to call it a go, an’ I don’t see--Gee! Here comes O’Hara.” - -The second-hand dealer had just come out of his shop; he wore his -narrow-rimmed high hat and carried his thick black-thorn cane. - -“Good mornin’ till yez, McGonagle,” saluted he. - -“How are youse?” responded Goose. - -“I have no rayson till complain,” said O’Hara. Then he tapped his stick -once or twice upon the pavement, and cleared his throat. “McGonagle,” -said he, “yez will be after havin’ the troifle av money that’s due me -nixt week?” - -“Why, say, O’Hara, t’tell youse the trut’ I don’t see how I kin git it. -Bizness is so rotten bad, ye know.” - -“What’s that? Bad luck till ye, McGonagle, what talk have yez?” - -“Don’t git hot! Youse heard me speak me piece, didn’t ye? Well, that’s -jist what I mean. An’ I can’t stand chewin’ it with youse all day, -O’Hara; me customers’ll be waitin’ for their milk. So long.” - -And with this he hurried off while O’Hara gazed angrily after him for -a moment, then started off toward Clancy’s. - -“The bla’gard!” muttered O’Hara. “The thafe av the world till keep a -daysint man out av his bit av money!” - -He entered Clancy’s and found the grocer alone, seated astride a crate, -sorting eggs. - -“The top av the mornin’ till yez, Clancy,” said O’Hara, politely. - -“The same till yezsilf,” responded Clancy. “Sure, an’ it’s glad till -see yez I am, this foine mornin’.” Then under his breath he added: “God -forgi’me for the lie I’m tellin’.” - -“I’ve jist luked in till ask if yez have the troifle av money that’s -due me,” said O’Hara. - -“I have not the price av a can av beer in the house. Faix an’ I’ve jist -paid me butter man who shud have had his money last Chuesday, an’ it’s -claned out I am, entirely.” - -“An’ might I ax yez, Mister Clancy, what’s till become av me?” - -“Scure till the wan av me knows. Can’t ye extind the time?” - -“Divil raysave the day!” And O’Hara turned abruptly toward the door. -“Mister Clancy, I will have me money, principal an’ intrust, or I will -sell yez out!” He paused upon the threshold. “Iv ye are not at me store -t’morry at twelve be the day, I will have Haggerty, the constable, down -on yez. Mister Clancy, good day till yez, sir!” And he slammed the door -behind him. - -“An’ the divil go wid ye,” exclaimed Clancy, savagely, as he resumed -his work upon the crate of eggs. - -“Ain’t ye goin’ to church this mornin’, Pop?” called Annie, from an -inner room. - -“Faith an’ I am,” answered her father, rising hurriedly, and slipping -off his apron. “It’s bad luck enough I’m havin’ widout missin’ me juty. -What time is it, asthore?” - -“It wants on’y a few minutes.” - -Clancy put on his coat. “It wur a black day,” he muttered, as he -started off, “when I borryed that money av Malachi O’Hara. The owld -villyan’ll keep his word, bad luck till him; it’s in a trench wid a -pick I’ll be, afore the week’s out.” - -After leaving Rosie and Larkin, Larry Murphy headed straight for -O’Hara’s; but he had scarce gone a half block when he encountered -Kerrigan and Mason, who had just paused before Owen Dwyer’s door. Mason -grasped the young man’s hand and shook it warmly. - -“I am delighted that you have made such a splendid fight against -McQuirk,” said he. - -“It ain’t McQuirk, so much,” said Larry. “Kelly’s the man I’m after.” - -“We’re just going in to see Owen Dwyer, about the delegates for his -division,” said Kerrigan. “Won’t you come in? He’ll want to see you, I -know.” - -Owen had seen the trio from the window and had opened the door in time -to catch these words. - -“Come in, Larry,” said he cordially. “It’s a stranger ye’ve made av -yezsilf long enough.” - -Owen had asked him to visit them many times before, but Larry had never -done so because of the fear that Maggie would think he was forcing -himself upon her, and this his pride would not permit. He was reluctant -to enter even now, but somehow there was also a feeling of gladness in -his being unable to refuse. - -He sat upon the edge of the chair that Owen offered him, stole covert -glances about the parlour and earnestly hoped that Maggie was not at -home. A glance at the clock showed him that it was but shortly after -eight, and he wonderingly confessed to a sense of satisfaction in the -knowledge that school did not begin until nine. Owen settled his doubts -by poking his head through the hangings of a doorway, and calling: - -“Maggie, asthore; can ye come here for a minyute? Sure, it’s company -we’re after havin’ so airly in the mornin’.” - -Maggie entered the room, obediently; she flushed a little at sight of -Larry, but managed to greet him in a calm, even voice that betrayed -nothing of what she might feel. - -She talked to him of neighbourhood events, he answering awkwardly and -distantly, as he always did with her. Her father had plunged into an -earnest discussion, with the others, of the coming convention, and -finally swept them out of the room to look at some figures which he -had compiled, bearing upon the comparative strength of the opposing -factions. - -There was a short silence after this; and, at length Maggie said: - -“I have wanted so to speak to you lately, but you are such a stranger!” - -A little thrill ran through Larry at these words. She had thought of -_him_, then; and he fancied that he caught a note of vexation in her -voice. He pondered this, confusedly, and did not reply. She continued: - -“I wanted to tell you how sorry I was at your great loss. Mary was a -sweet and good girl.” - -“That’s right,” said he, eagerly. “There ain’t many like her, is there?” - -“No!” answered Maggie, gently. - -“She was too good for me,” said he, soberly. - -Though Maggie did not agree with him in this, she did not say so. And -this is why: She had been a constant visitor during Mary’s illness, -and the sorrow that had grown so upon the sick girl toward the end had -not escaped her. Little by little she grasped the causes of this and -realized why Larry had asked Mary to be his wife. She had laboured -strenuously to persuade the gentle girl that love alone had been his -motive, but without success. Though she had loved Larry from the -days of her girlhood--and this Maggie had confessed to herself long -before--still her heart was great enough to appreciate what he had -endeavoured to do; and all the more because it proved him to be as -noble as she had always believed him. - -“I also wanted to thank you,” said Maggie, “for what you did last -night. Daddy has a great deal of money--for him, you know--invested in -the City Railway Company’s stock, and the loss of his savings, now that -he is old, would be bitter enough.” - -This was news to Larry and it startled him. The proposed steal of the -Motor Traction Company had had very little to do with the fight he and -his friends had made. As he had informed Mason, Kelly’s defeat was his -object and so long as he accomplished this he had cared little for -anything else. - -But Kelly and his hate of Kelly suddenly shrunk into insignificance, -and the Traction Company began to loom up dragon-like with Maggie as -its prospective victim. - -“I didn’t know that yer father stood to lose anyt’ing,” said he. -Maggie’s face fell; she had thought that perhaps he had made the fight -partly for her sake. He saw the change in her countenance and hastened -to add: “He’ll come out all right, though; McGlory’s against that job -they’re tryin’ t’work.” - -“And do you think Mr. McGlory will secure the nomination?” - -“Sure. They’ve worked a couple o’ ringers on us, but we’ll win out in -spite o’ them.” - -The others re-entered the room at this point. - -“The thing is as plain as day,” said Kerrigan. “There were only three -votes in the past session that held them down; the figures show that -they have defeated two of these, and if this is the case and Kelly is -not beaten, they have a majority of one.” - -“An’ that,” said Owen, “is as good as a hundred till do their darty -wurk.” - -“Is it that close?” asked Larry. “Gee! we’ll have to hustle.” - -“They will seat these men, Daily and Levitsky, in the convention, by -hook or by crook,” remarked Kerrigan. “And in that case they will have -a majority of two.” - -“But the two-thirds rule,” Mason interrupted. “They must have -two-thirds of the delegates to nominate.” - -“The bunch with the most tallies always wins out,” said Larry. “If they -show a lead in the runnin’, enough’ll flop over to make good for them.” - -After a time Larry and Kerrigan arose to go, while Mason remained to -talk with Owen. - -“Don’t forget, Mason,” said Kerrigan, “that I’ll want to see you -to-morrow about old Miss Cassidy’s will.” - -“God help uz all”; said Owen. “All av the owld neighbours is dyin’ off. -She wur a kind body, too, wur Miss Cassidy, for all she wur an owld -maid.” - -Maggie opened the door for the two young men as they departed. She -smiled as she said: - -“You must come again, Larry,” and then as an after-thought, “And you -too, Mr. Kerrigan.” - -Kerrigan looked at Murphy quizzically, as they walked down the street. - -“You’re ace high there, Larry.” - -“Oh, cut it out,” said Larry, impatiently. But he was glad to hear it -said, nevertheless. - -Goose McGonagle had covered his route quickly that morning and by the -time service was finished in the church and the thin stream of people -began to flow into the street, he was standing on the step of Regan’s -cigar store anxiously awaiting Clancy. - -The grocer had stopped to discuss the primaries upon the sidewalk in -front of the church, and some little time elapsed before he arrived at -the point where Goose was awaiting him. - -“Hello, Clancy,” saluted the latter, cordially. “How’s t’ings?” But -without pausing for a reply he took the elder man by the sleeve and -led him out to the curb. “Say,” inquired he, “have youse noticed that -I’ve been hangin’ around your place a good bit in the last two or t’ree -mont’s?” - -“I have,” answered Clancy, bracing himself stiffly. - -“Then I guess youse’re onto the reason.” - -The grocer’s looks were not encouraging and Goose began to waver. But -he pulled himself together, and blurted out. “Say, do youse mind if me -and Annie gits Father Dawson to tie the knot?” - -“Is it yezsilf would take Annie till Father Dawson?” - -“Sure.” - -“Well, the divil himself niver witnessed sich a cheek. An’ might I ax -what yez have till kape a wife on?” - -“Why, I ain’t got much dough,” admitted Goose, ruefully. “But there’s -me milk route and--” - -“Arrah, go long wid ye! There’s a dale av money in the milk business, -Goose, me b’y, bud yez route’ll niver make ye rich. An’ as for Annie, -she’ll stay at home, an’ help her mother wid the wurk, as she hav -always done. Now don’t be after vexin’ me!” Goose was about to protest; -“’twill do ye no good.” - -And the grocer went on his way down the street leaving the young man -gazing despondently after him. He did not notice the approach of Larry -and Kerrigan who had just emerged from Dwyer’s; and Larry slapped him -on the back, remarking: - -“Yer lookin’ green around the gills. What’s wrong?” - -“I’m gittin’ it in the neck, all around,” answered Goose, savagely. -“They’re all givin’ me the dinky-dink for further orders. I just now -went against Annie’s old man, and he flagged me, cold!” - -“Oh, was that Clancy you were speaking to?” asked Kerrigan looking -interestedly after the retreating figure. “I’ve got something to tell -him, but I’ll see him again. Say, you knew old Miss Cassidy, Annie’s -aunt, didn’t you, Goose?” - -“Sure,” answered the milkman. “She was me star customer, up till she -died the other day.” - -“Well, she left a queer kind of a will.” Kerrigan hesitated a moment, -and then continued: “Say, I know how it is between you and Annie; walk -down the street with us and I’ll tell you about it. It might help you -somehow.” - -As they went along, Kerrigan, with a wealth of technical phrases, -explained the peculiarities of the document. A great part of the -explanation was Greek to McGonagle; but Larry grasped the points of the -matter, and by the time Kerrigan had finished, his face was lighted -with suppressed excitement. They paused before the door of the Aurora -Borealis Club in the midst of a rapid debate between the two latter -gentlemen; finally Larry said: - -“Then youse’ll keep it quiet for a while?” - -“Only until to-morrow afternoon,” said Kerrigan, decisively. “You’ll -have to work quick.” - -After the attorney left them, Goose turned to his friend, and inquired -bewilderingly: - -“Say, Murphy, put me next, will youse. What kind o’ a graft have youse -got? Hit it out, quick!” - -Larry leaned against the frame of Riley’s show window and laughed -exultantly; McGonagle frowned vexedly at his mirth, snapping his -fingers with impatience. - -“Say!” exclaimed the latter, as Larry continued to laugh, “youse must -be crazy. What’s the matter, anyhow?” - -Larry smothered his laughing, and took Goose rapturously by the lapel -of his coat, proceeding to put into words the idea which he had -conceived while Kerrigan was speaking. When he had finished, Goose tore -himself away and executed a mad acrobatic dance about the sidewalk, and -wound it up by throwing his arms about Larry and hugging him until his -ribs cracked. - -“It’s the slickest t’ing I ever run against,” declared he, with -enthusiasm. “I always said you was foxy, Murphy; and if youse work this -right, ye kin take the front seat, and I’ll never say a word!” - -After a few moments’ consultation they separated and Larry made his way -toward O’Hara’s. The freight engines, as usual, were coughing up and -down the tracks, hissing and straining at their trailing loads. O’Hara -was repairing the fire brick in an old stove outside; his sleeves were -turned up and he was soot to the elbows. - -“I want to talk to youse,” said Larry, as he paused. - -“Yez are an early caller!” exclaimed O’Hara, delightedly. “But, faith,” -poking him in the ribs, “I t’ought yez’ed called long afore this, b’y. -She’s a smart slip av a girl, Larry.” - -He led the young man through the store and back into the kitchen. The -sisters sprang up tumultuously. - -“Larry, asthore,” piped Ellen, “sure an’ it’s a glad heart I have this -day. Glory be! bud yez are fitted for wan another. Sit down; she’ll be -here this minyute; she do be only gone as far as the church.” - -“I seen her,” said Larry. “I was talkin’ to her.” - -Bridget shrieked with mirth. “Lave the young wans alone!” cried she. -“They’ll see each other, niver fear. Arrah, avic, it’s the great b’y -yez are.” - -“She told me,” went on Larry, “all about it.” - -“About how foolish she wur?” questioned O’Hara. “She’s seen it, have -she. Bud, niver fear b’y, niver fear.” - -“It wasn’t Rosie what was foolish, O’Hara, it was youse. Didn’t ye see -that there was two ends to this t’ing. Ye scared her, and then t’ought -youse was all to the good, didn’t ye? But yer out o’ line: ye can’t -play me; I won’t have it.” - -“What talk have ye, Larry?” - -“Ah, ye know damn well what I mean! Youse t’ink yer a hot guy, O’Hara, -but ye’ll buy a gold brick some day, le’me tell youse that. Ye’ll go -flat on yer back wit’out a cent in yer pants.” - -“Divil take ye, have yez gone crazy!” - -“I’m tellin’ ye what’s right, ain’t I?” - -“Shame on ye, Larry Murphy!” exclaimed Bridget, “is poor Mary’s dyin’ -words--” - -“Say, cut that out! I won’t’ stand for any o’ youse draggin’ _her_ into -yer little game.” - -“God forgi’ yez!” cried Ellen. “Oh, God forgi’ yez.” - -O’Hara strove to look impressive. “Iv any wan had towld me,” said he, -“that yez had no rayspect for Mary, I would’ve towld him that he lied!” - -Larry laughed. “That’s a slashin’ good jolly,” remarked he. “It might -have worked, too; on’y I’m next to yer little scheme,” he paused a -moment, regarding O’Hara, soberly. “Say,” he resumed “I didn’t come to -see youse on’y about that, but to do youse a good turn if ye’ll on’y -let me.” - -“What have ye till say?” inquired O’Hara. - -“Come into the store,” said Larry, with a glance at the two old women. -“This t’ing’s private.” - -They re-entered the store. O’Hara closed the door, while Larry seated -himself upon the end of the counter. - -“Clancy,” began the latter, “owes youse money.” - -“He do,” admitted O’Hara. “Six hundred dollars, an’ ’tis due the day.” - -“What d’youse t’ink his grocery’ed bring if ye sold him out?” - -“About half av it, bad scram till him,” said O’Hara, viciously. - -“McGonagle owes youse somethin’, too, don’t he?” - -“Yis; I loaned him enough till buy his milk route, a year since, an’ -divil the cint do I iver expect till see av it again!” - -Larry crossed one leg over the other, and clasped his hands comfortably -about his knee. - -“I kin put youse next to a way to collect every cent, interest and -all,” he informed O’Hara. - -The second-hand dealer’s eyes snapped with interest. But he said, -doubtfully: - -“How can yez do that? Sure, nayther av thim have a cint till bless -thimselves wid!” - -Larry leaned forward and began to explain away the other’s doubts. He -talked straight to the point and in a few moments O’Hara brightened up -wonderfully. - -“I’ll see Clancy at wanst!” exclaimed he. - -“But there’s somethin’ else,” said Larry. “There’s Rosie and Larkin; -what about them?” - -“Arrah, what have they till do wid it?” - -“Just as much as the others. Youse’re got to say ‘yes’ to them or -you’ll slip yer trolley.” - -“Hell till yez sowl!” cried O’Hara. “Is it a girl av mine marry that -dirty Derry spawn av the divil!” - -“Keep yer shirt on,” advised Larry, evenly. “Don’t make any wild -swings. Money’s money, O’Hara; and ye must make good or youse don’t see -a dollar.” - -O’Hara spluttered with rapidly evaporating wrath; and at length he -cooled down sufficiently to say: - -“Yez are in the Church yezsilf, Larry; an’ ye know that the clargy do -be down on mixed marriages.” - -“Say,” said Larry, getting down from the counter and buttoning up his -coat, “youse might as well git yer money back by doin’ what I ask ye -to do. Rosie’s twenty-one, and she’ll marry Larkin some o’ these days, -anyhow. Speak quick; is it yes or no; I’ve got to see the delegates -afore the convention opens.” - -O’Hara hesitated for a moment; then he burst out. - -“I’ll not lose me bit av hard arned money till save the trollop! Iv she -wants till make her bed so, why lave her lie in it, an’ divil do her -good wid it!” - - - - -Chapter XXI - - “_He stood for Dooley, and for Dooley cast his vote, - I stood for Conroy, as did Hooly, - There was Fagan and O’Ragan, Flannigan and Hagan, - All bound to kick the pants off Michael Dooley._” - - BALLADS OF BACK STREETS. - - -IN the parlour of the Precinct Club, McQuirk was just concluding an -interview with the political manager and lobbyist of the Motor Traction -Company. - -“McGlory,” said the lobbyist, “mus’n’t think he’s too big a fish. Some -other people that I know of will give the administration as good a -rake-off, and be glad of the chance.” He got upon his feet, as their -conference was over and shook McQuirk encouragingly by the hand. “Just -send for him, and talk things over. Alex’s got good sense; he’ll see -the point.” - -“I don’t think he’d come,” said McQuirk, “so I’ll go over and see -_him_.” - -“All right,” said the other, “do as you think best. And, say, how’s -Conlin doing with the vote in his division?” - -McQuirk compressed his lips. “Bad,” returned he. “They separated him -from it, clean.” - -“I think,” mused the other, “that Conlin’s too short for the police -force. The examining board’s mighty strict just now, Mac.” - -The ward boss grinned. “He won’t like it much,” said he. “It’s funny,” -he went on, humorously, “how much better tall men are at gittin’ out -the vote than short ones.” - -The other laughed. “You’re right, Mac,” said he; “but let me say this, -again, before I go: Whatever you do, don’t have a fight in your ward. -Go into your convention and find the man that’s goin’ to win--and stand -good with him _if we can handle him_. The administration wants lots of -friends next session.” - -McQuirk found McGlory, dressed in his best, at the stables in Murphy’s -Court, superintending the doctoring of a worn-looking horse. The -contractor’s greeting was stiff and formal. - -“Anyone got your proxy, Alex?” asked the boss, after they had exchanged -some general remarks. - -“I’ll go till the convintion mesilf,” answered McGlory. “There do be -too damn much of this proxy business.” - -McQuirk brushed a fly or two from a raw saddle gall on the horse’s -back, and reflected. - -“I understand,” he said finally, “that you’re out for the nomination.” - -“The young fellys want someone till stan’ for it, an’ sure I’m willin’ -till try an’ bate Kelly. I don’t forget what he done last illection, -an’ at the time, McQuirk, yez said yezself that he played ye a bla’gard -trick, an’ that yez’ed git even.” - -“Oh, hell!” McQuirk waved his hand, deprecatingly. “It don’t do to hold -grudges, Alex; Kelly’s a good fellow.” - -“He’s not good enough for me.” - -“You’re makin’ a mistake,” said the boss. - -The horse stretched his stiff old limbs in the sunlight at the stable -door; McQuirk whistled softly; a couple of dirty children from across -the narrow court stared at him, curiously. - -“Say,” said the boss at length, “when’s your contract out, Alex?” - -“It have a few mont’s yet till go.” - -“Think you’ll get it again?” - -McGlory stiffened up and bent his brows at him. - -“I have hopes av it,” said he, soberly. - -“Well, don’t be foolish. Things happen, sometimes, you know.” - -“Look here, Tom McQuirk, is it threatenin’ me yez are?” - -“I never threaten anybody, I _do_ things, you know that.” - -“Ye threatened Kelly, an’ ye done nawthin’.” - -“That’s all right. You’re not inside, Alex; ye don’t know everything. -Now think the thing over, as ye go down to the hall; and take my -advice--keep your eye on your bread and butter! That’s all.” - -The crowd on Girard Avenue had been waiting for over an hour for -some sign of a stir, when a sudden blare of brass instruments and a -thundering drubbing of drums broke forth, and into the avenue wheeled -the Emmet Band, Eddie Brennen at its head, splendid in a scarlet coat -and towering shako, his drum-major’s staff whirling about his head -like a metallic circle. Hogan, the policeman, darted into the street -with uplifted club, to hold back the teams from the cross streets. The -throng ranged quickly along the curb; from the adjacent alleys poured -a horde of whooping children; draymen pulled up their nags in order -to watch the passing cohorts. Everyone knew that the gathering of the -clans had begun. - -It was the anti-Kelly faction, and they swung along behind the drums -like veterans. Those of them who were to sit in the convention wore -huge scarlet badges upon their breasts. Larry Murphy, in all the glory -of a high silk hat, borrowed from one of McGrath’s hack drivers, -marched at the head of the column, and his aids, Nolan and Ferguson, -were immediately behind him. - -“Be me soul!” ejaculated the grocer, “bud young Brennen kin twirl his -bit av a stick, so he kin. An’ luk at the walk av Murphy; sure yez’ed -t’ink he had a mortgage on the City Hall!” - -“It puts me in mind,” remarked Tim Burns; “av the owld days whin we -stepped till the music oursilves, Clancy, on Paddy’s day, beyant on -Broad Street.” - -“True for ye, Tim, an’ we wid the axes on the shoulders av uz, an’ the -bokays, an’ the strings av doughnuts till ate on the march. Faith an’ -the young fellys know nawthin’ av the harp an’ the sunburst; an’ it’s -withered in the hearts av most av the owld wans too, I’m thinkin’. God -luk down on uz! Till think av all the talk there wur av the owld land, -then, an’ the little we hear av it now. Divil a green flag d’yez see -hangin’ out av the windys on the siventeenth av March; an’ the Land -League do be forgotten. The owld blood’s growin’ thin, Tim--thin as -water!” - -About the doors of the convention hall, the same hall where the Aurora -Borealis Club had held their ball, the scene was one of extreme -animation. The groups of high-hatted, tobacco-chewing men, seemed -possessed by demons of movement and noise. They laughed with the full -strength of their chests, waved their arms wildly and swore joyously, -with the unconscious finish of experts. Kelly and his henchmen had -already arrived; he had been greeted as a hero by his own faction and -now stood in the hallway surrounded by a solid circle of supporters. -Gratten Haley who had been named for school director the night before -in a convention held in a back kitchen on Second Street, approached -Owen Dwyer. - -“Has McQuirk got here yet?” asked Haley. - -“I haven’t seen him. Sure, Gratten, it’s not at a side issue like this -he’d be, whin there’s McAteer’s nomination for Congress till be looked -after.” - -“That’s where you make your little old mistake,” smiled Mr. Haley. -“This is the only fight in town; all the others is cinched; and Mac’ll -be on the ground to keep the gang in line.” - -“An’ tell me, Gratten; d’yez t’ink Kelly will win?” - -“Ye can search me! McQuirk says yes; but I wouldn’t put me roll on it, -at that. It runs t’rough me that there’ll be doin’s this mornin’, and -if Jim Kelly wins, it’ll be a mix for yer life. And if he goes under, -he’ll fall like a rotten wall!” - -“I hear the young fellys’ll be contestin’ Tim Daily an’ what’s-his-name -that kapes the policy shop. Young Kerrigan do be after tellin’ me that -they got the papers by a trick.” - -Owen was innocence personified; he knew that Haley possessed -information that would be of use. - -“Oh, they’ll contest ’em, all right,” laughed Haley. - -“Here comes the kickers!” shouted Martin Kelly. “The marks is gotta -band, too. Don’t they look gay?” - -The anti-Kellyites had swept around the corner with their band playing -a “cake-walk” march, their flags waving and themselves cheering -lustily. O’Connor, the undertaker, had just arrived in one of his own -hacks and now shook hands with his friends. - -“The young fellas,” smiled O’Connor, “bate the divil whin they cut -loose. Sure, here they are with the Emmet Band till the fore, ready -till nail Kelly’s hide on the back dure. Well, well, an’ so Alex -McGlory’ll go afore the convention?” - -“So I’ve heard,” said one of his friends. “Just to t’ink av ‘McGlory -an’ clane streets’ as a campaign cry.” The speaker paused, delighted -with the shout that greeted his sally; then he added “Here comes -Gartenheim, O’Connor; sure this time a few years ago yezsilf an’ him -wur at it, hard enough.” - -O’Connor smiled patronizingly, and reared his head in his most -dignified fashion; Gartenheim, stout, rosy and smiling was advancing -toward him through a lane of outstretched hands. - -“Gartenheim, how are ye?” - -“O’Connor, I’m glad to see you!” - -And the ancient foes grasped each other by the hand, while the gaping -spectators swore soft oaths of wonder. - -The band had ceased playing; the marchers were halted in the street and -this reconciliation was in plain view. Roddy Ferguson swung his derby -hat above his head, shouting: - -“Gents, t’ree cheers for Gartenheim and O’Connor!” - -A whirlwind of shrieks swept over the crowd, sustained until the veins -of their necks swelled to bursting and their faces turned purple; -sticks, hats and flags were tossed wildly in the air. - -The two gentlemen whose public burial of the hatchet occasioned this -outburst, bowed and smiled genially and once more shook hands, which -had the effect of renewing the tumult. James Kelly and his supporters -gazed glumly on; the delirious display was not pleasant to them. - -“Bloody wars,” breathed Owen in Haley’s ear, “d’yez see that, Gratten? -They’ve made up.” - -“It looks bad for Kelly,” admitted Mr. Haley; “and he don’t like it for -a cent.” - -“Here’s them two old guys doin’ the love feast stunt,” sneered young -Kelly, “right out in the open. It’s bin fixed to cop votes with; a -blind man kin see that. It makes me sick!” - -“We’ll do that all right,” said Goose McGonagle; “youse’ll all be a -sick lot o’ ducks after we slam youse a few.” - -The procession had broken ranks; the members of the band had blown -themselves breathless and beaten their arms helpless, and now dispersed -into saloons adjacent to the hall to seek refreshment. The delegates, -by degrees, began to drift upstairs to the room where the convention -was to be held. Here a band, perched in a little gallery at the back, -discoursed music; a flag hung from every point where it was possible -to drive a nail; the platform stood at the far end holding an array of -chairs and tables. - -Dick Nolan and Roddy Ferguson, who formed the connecting links between -the formerly hostile factions of Gartenheim and O’Connor, were working -desperately with delegates; they felt that it depended upon them to -secure a solid vote from these two bodies, and they spared themselves -no effort. Neither the undertaker nor the contractor had been active -in the canvass, so their personal followings were not heavy in the -convention; but it served to give the anti-Kelly faction a slight -advantage that they were compelled to exert themselves to the utmost -to sustain. Each man in the hall with a ballot to cast was under -pressure to vote against them, and the pressure would be increased a -hundred-fold when McQuirk got upon the ground. - -Gartenheim had Larry Murphy in a corner giving him some fatherly -advice; O’Connor stood listening, with approving nods; Kerrigan, -red-faced and perspiring, came bustling up. - -“Gentlemen,” asked he, “who are you for, for chairman?” - -“Who do you want?” asked Gartenheim. - -“Well, I’d like to see Pete Comisky hold the office. He’s a straight -man.” - -“Peter’s all right,” said O’Connor. - -“Who do you say, Larry?” inquired Kerrigan. - -“Grat Haley.” - -“Haley!” Kerrigan stared at him amazedly. “Haley! Why you’re mad. -Haley would rule against us every time.” - -“He might--if we let him. It’s just like this. Haley’s got the -chairmanship cinched; no one else can win against him; I’ve been over -the bunch, and I know.” Larry took his cigar from his mouth and pointed -it at Kerrigan, impressively. “The chairmanship’s the first test o’ -strength. Make a fight on that and lose, and youse might as well chuck -up the sponge, on the spot. We’ve got grafters on our side, Johnnie, -and you know it; if they see us shake they’ll fly the coop.” - -“That sounds good,” admitted Kerrigan. “What do you suggest?” - -“We’ll t’row our vote to Haley; they can’t see our hand then; and we’ll -hold all our people for the real work.” - -“But Daily and Levitsky!” remonstrated Kerrigan. “He’ll seat them, -they’ll vote and they have no right!” - -“They kin seat all they want,” determinedly, “but they don’t vote for -Kelly.” - -“You’re a bolitician, Larry,” said Gartenheim, admiringly. “Dot’s a -good scheme, ain’d it?” - -“Say, Larry,” said Roddy Ferguson, allowing a crowd of delegates to -precede him to the stairs, “I’m goin’ out to t’row a couple o’ beers -into this gang. Look out for Nolan while I’m out, will ye? Don’t let -him get near Mart Kelly.” - -“What’s on the hooks?” - -“That’s all right; just keep an eye on him; we don’t want no trouble.” - -“There’s McQuirk,” said Kerrigan, as that gentleman entered and shook -old Kelly’s hand with theatrical warmth. A crush of delegates gathered -about the boss, who seemed in high good humour. He stooped over and -whispered something in Kelly’s ear, and the saloonkeeper laughed -uproariously, his face growing mottled with excitement, his hands -gesticulating madly. - -“We have thim!” vociferated the candidate, glowing upon his supporters -like a spotted sun; “we have thim on the run, so we have. Begorry, -McQuirk, it’s at school they shud be instead av playin’ at politics!” - -“Keep it quiet,” advised McQuirk; “keep it quiet, and let’s get down to -business.” He took Haley aside. “How is it goin’?” questioned he. - -“All to the good,” answered Mr. Haley. “The chairmanship’s ourn. There -ain’t no one else but me in sight!” - -The boss laughed: “The old man’ll show ’em a few tricks,” said he -complacently. “I think they expected me to lay down, eh?” - -After a time everything was in readiness; the temporary chairman -mounted the platform; the scribes of the gathering took their seats and -the convention came to order. - -“Gentlemen,” said the temporary chairman, advancing to the edge of the -platform, “we are called together this morning to name a man for the -important office of selectman. I feel that--” - -“Chop it off,” advised McGonagle. - -“Order! Order!” came from different parts of the house. - -The temporary chairman was an elderly man, little known and with a -colourless manner. He endeavoured to go on with his remarks but the -volume of interruption steadily increased. - -“We will proceed with the business of electing a chairman,” said he at -length. - -McQuirk was on his feet in an instant; Larry followed, also demanding -recognition. - -“McQuirk,” said the chairman. - -“I give you,” said the boss, “the name of Gratten Haley, of the -nineteenth division, for chairman.” - -The supporters of Kelly leaped to their feet with shrieking acclaim; it -was some moments before Larry could be heard. - -“I second the nomination of Mr. Haley,” said he, “and move that his -’lection to the chair be made unanimous!” - -Dead silence followed. McQuirk looked dumbfounded; Larry smiled sweetly -at him over the heads of the intervening delegates. The vote was a -rising one, and the temporary chairman surrendered the gavel to Haley. - -McQuirk was dazed, but respectful; old Kelly smiled broadly and rubbed -his hands gleefully; young Murphy moved among the opposition like a -spirit of wisdom. - -McQuirk once more arose. “Let’s keep things moving,” said he. “There -has been no protest against anyone sitting in the convention, with the -exception of Mr. Daily and Mr. Levitsky. We will now look into their -cases.” - -“I wouldn’t,” sneered McGonagle, “take too much work on me shoulders, -if I was youse. I’d let the chairman do a little.” - -“Shut up.” - -“Fire him out!” - -“I’d like,” growled Goose, “to see any of youse try to fire me out.” - -“Cheese it; sit down, and keep yer shirt on!” warned Larry, leaning -forward, “if youse make trouble now, I’ll put a muzzle on ye.” - -Johnnie Kerrigan was entrusted with the business of protesting against -the seating of Levitsky and Daily; but Haley, as was expected, carried -matters with a high hand, and overruled him at all points. - -“All right,” said Kerrigan, “you can let ’em vote if you want to, and I -know you want to; you can use ’em in your business.” - -The Kellyites were triumphant and voiced it until the hall was filled -with their clamour. - -“We’ve got ’em burnt to the ground!” declared Martin Kelly. “Why, the -mugs capped the game for us! They must be rank suckers.” - -The roll was called amid much tumult; then Chairman Haley hammered with -his gavel for order; when something like silence had been obtained, he -said: - -“Gentlemen, our object is to get done with the business in hand as soon -as we can. We will, therefore, pass over all unnecessary forms and go -into the matter of nominating our candidate at once.” - -Mr. Haley had carefully rehearsed this little speech during those -moments when there was nothing doing behind the bar over which he -presided, and was much pleased with the applause which it provoked. He -added: - -“The chair recognizes Mr. Shulze.” - -Mr. Shulze arose amid much disorder on the part of the insurgents. -By virtue of his ability to deliver a certain amount of goods each -election Mr. Shulze held a position in the post-office; he had a -voice like a megaphone, and a fixed set of gestures that resembled -the jerkings of an automatic doll. In tones that shook the windows he -placed the elder Kelly in nomination, and sat down amid a whirlwind of -cheers. - -Johnnie Kerrigan got up to name McGlory; he had not spoken a dozen -words before the contractor and his son Jerry, rushed into the hall and -beckoned the speaker and Larry into an anteroom. The old man was pale -and agitated; Jerry acted like a man dazed. - -“What’s the graft?” asked Larry. - -“He’s quit at the post!” exclaimed Jerry. “He’s laid down like a dub.” - -“No!” cried the two young men, aghast. - -“I’m tellin’ youse, ain’t I. From a kid up,” added Jerry, bitterly, “I -t’ought the old gent was an ace, but now I find he’s on’y a two-spot! -Say, I t’row up the towel; I’ll never stack against the bunch again.” - -Kerrigan grasped the elder man’s arm. “Why, McGlory,” protested he, -“you’re not going to shirk at the last moment, are you?” - -“I’m sorry,” said the contractor, “but I can’t allow me name till be -used.” He was trembling under the stress of the moment and looked -appealingly from one to the other. “Don’t blame me too much,” implored -he. “I have too much at stake, b’ys. Sure iv I make the fight, it’s a -ruint man I’d be.” - -There was a pause; Jerry was viciously biting at his nails; Larry was -fighting visibly to keep down his anger; from the main hall came the -subdued roar of many voices. - -“Afore God!” exclaimed the contractor, “I niver t’ought till do the -like av this! But they have me on the hip, divil take thim, and I can -do no better.” - -“Let ’em do youse outa the contract,” rapped out his son. “Let the -whole shootin’ match go t’ell! Youse can do better’n scratch streets.” - -“Shut yer mouth,” roared McGlory. “Don’t be stanin’ there talkin’ -till me like that. Lose the contract is it, with Matthew Fitzmaurice -holdin’ a paper agin me beyant in his rale estate office? Divil a long -it’s stay in his safe iv he knowed I’d no contract. Gawd help yez -for a fool! Is it till the La Salle College yez cud have gone, iv it -hadn’t been for the contract? An’ how many av thim young fellys wid the -flowers in their coats ’ed call till see yez sister av a Sunday night, -widout it? Tell me that, ye igit!” - -“Ease up,” soothed Kerrigan; “I wouldn’t make any trouble between you -for the world.” - -“Then this goes?” said Larry. - -“I have sorra another word till say,” answered McGlory. - -Larry turned to Kerrigan. “D’youse see anyt’ing?” asked he. “Is it our -finish?” - -“Not in a thousand years!” retorted the young attorney. “Find another -man for the running; I’ll go in there an’ do some spell-binding while -you canvass the crowd. If Gartenheim’ll swing in line for O’Connor, -give me the word and I’ll name him.” - -They left the McGlorys engaged in a wordy duel, and rushed back into -the main hall. McQuirk, the Kellys and some others of their adherents -were gathered in the doorway leading into the entry; they greeted the -young men with a laugh. - -“All to the bad, eh?” sneered Martin. “Yer star nag’s on’y a sellin’ -plater.” - -“What’d I tell ye, boys,” said McQuirk with the easy assurance of a man -who has won his fight. “There’s only one man. We’ve got the nomination -safe, ye can see that. Now don’t be sore-heads; be nice, clean boys, -an’ ye won’t miss anything.” - -Kerrigan hurried into the convention hall without replying; but Larry -turned on the boss like a sullen bear. - -“Don’t josh us, McQuirk,” warned he, “because we won’t stand for it. -Youse people ain’t scooped the pot yet, so don’t give yerself the glad -hand.” - -“Come, come,” smiled McQuirk, winking at his co-labourers, “don’t take -it so hard. Alex McGlory knows where he stands, and he shows good sense -when he gets out from under.” - -“Don’t take me for a mark!” flared Murphy, shoving his head forward, -his jaw protruding, wickedly. “We kin split the shootin’ match wide -open, McQuirk, and afore we let youse git the bulge with Kelly, we’ll -do it. If youse are wise, ye’ll write that on yer cuff.” - -He rushed into the convention hall, hot with anger; Nolan, Ferguson and -others of his lieutenants were quickly enlightened as to the state of -affairs, and they passed the word among the others that someone other -than McGlory would be named, at the same time working zealously to -allay the feeling of insecurity that these tidings naturally aroused. - -Kerrigan was speaking and the convention was giving him its undivided -attention. The youthful attorney possessed that self-assured poise and -explosive style that captures such gatherings; and then he was easily -the most popular young man in the ward, and his father’s saloon was a -well-known place of resort. Most of the younger men among the delegates -had gone to school with him, and though they, for the most part, were -day-labourers and Johnnie had his name painted upon a ground-glass door -in a down-town office building, he had always kept up old friendships -and clung to old surroundings. As one of his friends said: - -“Johnnie’s a high guy, but he’s as common as dirt; he don’t have to -put ice in his hat to keep his head from swellin’. When youse stack up -against him on the street, he’s always got the glad hand for youse, and -a cigar what ain’t workin’.” - -It was this democratic quality that made him liked and secured him -attention from the delegates when he arose to deliver the address that -was to give Larry an opportunity to select a new candidate. - -These facts came to Larry as he paused for a moment to listen; and like -one inspired he proceeded to consult Ferguson and Nolan. - -“Somethin’s gotta be done, and done quick,” said he. “Now look here, if -I go against Gartenheim and ask him to turn in for O’Connor, what’ll he -say?” - -“He’ll say, ‘nay, nay, Pauline!’” exclaimed Ferguson. - -“Youse’ll queer the game if youse do that,” protested Nolan. - -“That’s what I t’ought. And how about O’Connor for Gartenheim?” - -“There’s no difference,” said Nolan. “If one was ast to work for the -other he’d git dead wise all of a sudden and t’ink he was bein’ worked -for a good t’ing, and havin’ a con game slung into him from the start! -It won’t do; take it from me.” - -“Then I’ve gotta bran’ new graft!” exclaimed Larry starting up the -aisle. - -“What is it?” asked Ferguson, following him, his hand upon his sleeve. - -“Sit down and hold yer breath; youse’ll be wise in a minute.” - -Larry said something to Kerrigan in a low tone. Johnnie looked -surprised; he closed his remarks abruptly and sat down, while Larry -nodded to the chair for recognition. Upon obtaining this he wasted no -words. - -“Gentlemen,” said he, “I’m goin’ to put in nomination a man that -youse can all vote for.” He paused a moment and glanced around at the -expectant faces; he raised both arms, with a sweep and shouted: “Mr. -John Kerrigan, of the 12th Division!” - -For an instant there was dead silence; then the anti-Kellyites came to -their feet with an ear-splitting scream of delight. Kerrigan sprang to -Larry’s side protesting excitedly; men stood upon chairs and beat the -backs of their neighbours; pandemonium reigned. Kerrigan was ringed in -by dozens of outstretched hands; his appeals for a hearing were drowned -by the clamour of his partisans. - -James Kelly was stricken mute; a moment before he had seen victory in -his grasp; now it had eluded him and was dancing away in the distance. -McQuirk looked on at the scene of disorder, astonished at Larry’s act. -He had expected to hear the name of a man steeped in the factional -differences of the ward--a man easily beaten--and now he was at a -loss, for here was one not only without political enemies but with fast -friends in every faction of the party. - -“It ain’t a half-bad move,” said the boss to himself, angry, but forced -to admiration. “If I wasn’t sure about McGlory, I’d say the thing was -fixed.” - -Haley hammered vigorously for order; old Kelly and his friends were -gathered in a clump, shouting their observations in each other’s ears; -Larry stood near the platform, frantically endeavouring to attract the -chairman’s attention, and turning every moment to swear at his friends -for their uproar. He saw that the moment for action was at hand; the -surprise had been sprung and had given his faction heart, and he -determined to strike again while they were white hot. Gradually the -noise began to settle; and, though now and then a cheer volleyed across -the hall, his voice could be heard: - -“A vote,” stormed he, “a vote.” - -The cry was taken up by a dozen voices. - -“Vote! Vote!” vociferated the insurgents. “Take the vote!” - -This, at a nod from McQuirk, Haley proceeded to do; the secretary -began to read off the names, and the delegates answered “Kelly” or -“Kerrigan” as the case might be. As the vote began, a concerted -movement of a dozen young men, led by Larry and McGonagle, was made -toward the point where Daily and Levitsky were sitting. - -“Changed yer mind, Daily?” questioned Larry. - -“Not on yer life,” answered Daily, but with an uneasy glance about him. -He saw in their faces that they were ready for anything; and that they -were awkward men to handle, he knew, partly from experience, partly by -hearsay. - -“I t’ink youse’ll turn in for Kerrigan when they hand out yer name.” -Larry leaned carelessly upon the back of Daily’s chair, and spoke very -quietly. - -“It’s just as easy to say Kerrigan as Kelly,” put in McGonagle, “an’ I -guess Levitsky’ll say it, too, when it’s up to him.” - -“I wut like to oblitch your--” began the policy-writer. - -“Ah, rats!” returned McGonagle, savagely. “Youse’ll chirp for Kerrigan, -or the next stunt youse’ll do’ll be at the morgue, stretchin’ slabs!” - -“Play light, Goose,” advised Larry, “I t’ink they’ll be in line.” - -News of the state of affairs reached the elder Kelly as he stood -talking to McQuirk at the far side of the room; and they hurried toward -the storm centre to prevent the coercion of their vote. Because of some -trifling hitch the polling of the delegates had stopped for the time -being, and Haley and the secretary were wrangling with a cluster of men -about the platform. - -A man rushed up the aisle and stopped McQuirk, at the same time handing -him a card. - -“He wants to see youse right away,” said the stranger. - -“Go ahead over and talk to them, Kelly,” said McQuirk. “I’ve got to go -out for a second.” - -“What’s this,” asked Kelly, upon reaching the spot where Larry and his -friends were gathered behind the chairs of the two protested delegates. -“What call have yez till be threatenin’ these two min?” - -“Who’s threatenin’ ’em?” asked McGonagle, innocently. - -“You are, ye bla’gard!” exclaimed the saloonkeeper, hotly. “You an’ the -likes av yez. Divil take me, bud youse’ll sup sorra for it, ye thaves -av the world.” - -“Ah, go scratch yer head,” elegantly advised Larry. “Don’t cut loose -with any o’ yer fireworks, Kelly; youse’re carryin’ weight for age and -don’t work fast enough to mix it with this bunch.” - -“Youse’d t’ink,” said Martin Kelly, coming to the aid of his father, -“that youse people run the shack, and no other body has a look in.” - -His proximity and the sound of his voice had an immediate effect upon -Dick Nolan; his sister’s shame and young Kelly’s brutality on the night -of the ball had burned themselves into his brain. - -“Let me plug him,” gasped Nolan, his face as white as death, his -whole frame shaking with an overwhelming desire for revenge. He was -struggling as he spoke in the arms of Roddy Ferguson; but Roddy dragged -him away. - -“Don’t make a mess of it,” implored Roddy. “If youse jump him now ye’ll -put the whole snap on the bum, maybe.” - -“What’s eatin’ Nolan?” asked McGonagle, wonderingly. - -“He’s leary on Kelly, youse can bank on that,” answered Casey. “From -the cracks he made to me a while ago, he’s goin’ to put him out o’ -business. I don’t know what he’s sore for.” - -The commotion attracted Haley’s attention and he commenced to sound his -gavel and cry for order. The roll-call recommenced and just as Kelly -turned to acquaint the chairman with the attempt being made upon Daily, -that gentleman’s name was reached. - -“Now then!” grated Larry. The circle narrowed about Daily as he arose -to his feet. Martin Kelly attempted to rally his friends; but the -determined looks of the cordon of young men and Daily’s unpopularity -caused it to result in nothing more than a scattering fire of protest. - -Daily swallowed several times, and his voice was somewhat husky, as he -said: - -“I’ve got this to say: As I was ’lected by the parties against Mr. -Kelly, I t’ink it’s best for me to save me reputation by votin’ for -Kerrigan.” - -“Youse saved a damn sight more’n your reputation,” observed Murphy, as -they turned away to give their attention to Levitsky. - -In the meantime McQuirk had hurried out into the entry to see the -person who had sent in the card. It was he with whom he had had the -conversation in the Precinct Club a few hours before. - -“Well,” said the gentleman, “what do ye know? Did McGlory do the right -thing?” - -“Yes, and almost put them in the ditch. But they’ve got their second -wind, now, and I don’t like the looks of things.” - -“No?” The politician looked questioningly at McQuirk, and then added: -“They’ve fixed upon a new man? Who is it?” - -“Young John Kerrigan.” - -“Humph! He’s well liked, too, isn’t he?” - -“He’s about the last man I’d want them to push forward.” - -The other reflected a moment, then said: - -“You can win, though, can’t you?” - -A henchman of McQuirk’s rushed into the entry and looked anxiously up -and down. - -“Of course,” said McQuirk. - -“Tom!” exclaimed the supporter, hurrying up. “Daily’s just voted for -Kerrigan, and Levitsky’s goin’ to do the same!” - -“I’ll take it back,” said McQuirk, coolly. “They’ve got me hung up.” - -“For heaven’s sake, don’t let that happen!” - -“It’s bound to unless--” - -“Unless what?” - -“We drop Kelly and turn in for Kerrigan.” - -“How does he stand on the franchise business?” - -“He’s against it.” - -“Then fight it out with them! If they split the party we can elect -Kelly on the opposing ticket as was done last time.” - -“Not if I know it!” said McQuirk, frowning at the lobbyist. - -“What! I say, Mac, you’re not gitting weak-kneed at the last moment, -are you?” - -“I’m ready to stand in and help your company out as long as I can do -it regularly. This is _my_ ward and the only way to keep it my ward is -to be a regular. I’m against split tickets, you know that. If young -Kerrigan can swing the convention, I’m for Kerrigan.” - -“But think of what this means? This vote must be had or we will fall -flat.” - -“And I must carry my ward,” said McQuirk. “If I lose twice in -succession you’ll be makin’ deals with another man next election; I’ll -have lost my grip.” - -Upon McQuirk’s return to the convention hall his adherents gathered -about him; he paid no attention to them, but at once buttonholed the -elder Kelly and drew him aside. The first ballot had resulted in a -tie and the second had not yet begun; Kerrigan, reconciled to the -situation, was receiving the noisy congratulations of his friends; the -band in the gallery brayed and throbbed through a popular air. Suddenly -a volley of incoherent adjectives came from James Kelly; his face was -purple with wrath and he gesticulated with the fury of one demented. No -one caught the words, but all saw that McQuirk was the object of his -vituperations. - -“There’s a plank loose,” prophesied McGonagle. “It must be a come-back, -he’s makin’ it so strong.” - -McQuirk broke away from Kelly’s detaining clutch and approached the -group surrounding Kerrigan; the delegates, clearly seeing that -something important was about to occur, pressed about him. - -“Gentlemen,” said the boss, “above everything else we must preserve -unity. As things stand, I would advise you all to turn in for Mr. -Kerrigan.” - -The compact mass of delegates was torn as by a tempest; personal -friends of Kelly stormed about McQuirk with clamorous denunciations; -the opposition in a frenzy of rapture, hoisted their candidate upon -their shoulders and began a march of victory about the hall, while the -band blared brazenly through the noise. - -When at length comparative silence had been restored, the poll -recommenced. McQuirk’s “advice” to his followers had been rightly -interpreted as an order, and the name of Kerrigan seemed to be on every -lip as man after man responded to his name. Upon its conclusion and -Haley’s announcing that Kerrigan had won by more than two-thirds of the -vote, the uproar broke out afresh. Suddenly, however, it hushed and all -crowded toward the rear end of the hall. There was a quick grinding -of feet upon the floor, a heaving of straining bodies, a growling of -curses between tight-shut teeth. In the centre of the crowd, his face -smeared with blood, fighting viciously, was Martin Kelly. With the -full, swinging strength of their arms Nolan and Ferguson were battering -at him and all who sought to interfere; upon the outskirts of the crowd -the elder Kelly, white-faced, blue-lipped, and gasping, desperately -sought to break through to the aid of his son. - -“He’s down!” shouted a voice. - -“Let him up!” protested a second. - -“Give him the leather!” advised still another. - -Larry and McGonagle and some others fought their way through the press -and tore Nolan and Ferguson away. - -A half hour later a patrol wagon dashed away from the hall toward the -nearest hospital bearing the bleeding, broken form of young Kelly. Upon -the steps stood his assailants in the custody of two policemen, and -with their friends gathered about them. - -“Don’t make no kick,” said Larry. “The cops game is too strong for -youse. Go ahead with ’em.” - -“Make no resistance,” advised O’Connor. “I’ll try if they’ll take bail -for yez in the mornin’.” - - - - -Chapter XXII - - “_Some people’s born with the notion that for sharpness they’ve got - the rest o’ the world tied hand an’ foot; and they are sharp, in - their way--but they don’t weigh much._”--CHIP NOLAN’S REMARKS. - - “_The cool shades of evening their mantles were spreading, - And Maggie, all smiling, was listening to me, - The moon through the valley her pale light was shedding, - When I won the heart of the rose of Tralee._” - - OLD SONG. - - -CLANCY was reading the news of the convention in the evening paper -behind his counter; the rush was over for the night, and he pulled at -his pipe contentedly, for O’Hara had failed to keep his threat, and -Clancy fancied that his creditor had thought better of it. - -“Sure, Young Murphy is the b’y for thim,” said Clancy, as he finished -the account. It was a McQuirk sheet and lauded that gentleman’s action -to the skies. Its story of the convention teemed with such phrases as -“Magnificent battle against organized greed,” “Opponent of municipal -corruption,” “Able friend of the working class,” etc. “But, divil take -thim,” continued the grocer, “yez’d t’ink, from this, that McQuirk done -it all.” - -He adjusted his steel-rimmed glasses and was about to resume his -reading when a step sounded upon the floor and a shadow fell across the -newspaper; looking up he saw O’Hara. - -“Good avenin’,” said the visitor. “I wur passin’ an’ t’ought I’d drop -in on yez.” - -“An’ welcome,” said Clancy, but his looks belied his tongue. - -“Yez towld me this mornin’, Mr. Clancy,” said O’Hara, “that yez could -not pay me the troifle av money yez owe me.” - -“An’ I towld yez the truth.” - -“On con-sider-rayshun av yez bein’ an ’owld frind av mine,” said -O’Hara, “I have daysided till give yez back the note, widout the payin’ -av a cint--upon wan condition.” - -“Give me back me note!” Clancy could not believe his ears. - -“Upon wan condition,” repeated O’Hara. - -“An’ wat’s that?” - -“That yez give yez consint till Annie’s marriage wid young McGonagle.” - -Clancy looked thunderstruck; he gazed at the other with mingled wonder -and anger. - -“What call have yez till meddle wid me family affairs?” demanded he, -indignantly. “An’ what rayson have ye till be pullin’ wid McGonagle?” - -“Sorra the t’ing hav that till do wid it. Give yez consint, an’ I will -give ye a raysate for the money ye owe me the minyute the marriage -lines are wrote.” - -Clancy’s objection to Goose was solely because of his poverty, but -a son-in-law with money could do no more than pay off his debt, so -the grocer figured it out, and the reluctance with which he at last -consented to O’Hara’s proposition was more assumed than real. - -“The ceremony must take place t’morry,” said O’Hara. - -“I have no objection till offer,” said Clancy, resignedly. - - * * * * * - -THE door bell of Larry’s home at the end of Murphy’s Court kept up an -almost constant ringing next morning, and old Mrs. Coogan’s breath grew -short through answering the calls. - -First it was McGonagle and Larkin, dressed in their best, with beaming -faces and movements of suppressed excitement. - -“Everyt’ing’s all to the velvet,” said Goose airily. “The girls have -been up and dressed since five o’clock, and Father Dawson’ll do his -turn at eleven, sharp.” - -“Say, Larry,” put in Jimmie, “one bridesmaid’s goin’ to do for both; -who d’youse t’ink it is?” - -“I don’t know,” replied Larry. - -“It’s Maggie Dwyer,” said Jimmie. “Say, there’s a girl for yer life! -She’s got ’em all tied hand an’ foot.” - -“If there was no Annie,” remarked Goose, “and I had the drag with -Maggie that youse have, why her name’d be McGonagle in short order, -le’me tell ye that.” - -“G’way,” said Larry. “Quit yer stringin’.” - -“This is on the level,” insisted McGonagle. “I’ve heard it talked about -for years. Everybody in the ward knowed that she wanted ye,--everybody -but yerself. But, say, youse seemed so dead leary about the t’ing that -nobody had the nerve to say anyt’ing to youse.” - -After the two young men departed, a perfect stream of reporters began -to call, all anxious to get Larry’s views upon the political situation; -and when this had subsided, Mason and Kerrigan came in, to talk over -yesterday and confer about to-morrow. - -“Did youse see McQuirk since yesterday?” asked Larry, after some time -spent in this fashion. - -“No,” answered Kerrigan, “but I received a note from him late last -night, asking me to call upon him this afternoon.” - -Larry nodded. “I was at his house when he wrote it,” said he. “Youse -don’t need to worry any about him; he’s right in line. He kin carry the -ward, with youse on the ticket, hands down. And that’s McQuirk’s game, -every time. As long as he’s on the side that wins he can make good, ye -know, and any time they need the ward in a deal they have to come to -him with the money.” - -“Owen Dwyer seems to think,” said Mason, “that the election is only a -matter of the size of Kerrigan’s majority.” - -“That’s right,” said Larry. “In this ward, and in all the others for -that matter, the fightin’s done at the primaries; the guy what’s -named in the regular way by the party what runs the ward, has got the -election cinched.” - -When he and Mason were ready to go, Kerrigan said: - -“I am glad that Nolan and Ferguson came out of their matter all right. -I know Cullen, one of the doctors at St. Mary’s, and he told me that -Mart Kelly’s condition, while painful, is not necessarily serious.” - -“O’Connor an’ Gartenheim talked to McQuirk,” said Larry; “and McQuirk -squared it all right at the front office. They had to give bail but the -case’ll never come to trial, because Jim Kelly won’t push it; he knows -what Mart was done up for, and he dasn’t.” - -“McGonagle tells me that things are all O. K. in his matter,” remarked -Kerrigan, as they stood upon the steps, Larry in the doorway. “I’ll be -on hand promptly at noon to attend to my end of it.” - -Larry closed the door after they had departed and returned to the -sitting room. He was glad that matters political had turned out as -they did--but only because it would prevent the loss of Owen Dwyer’s -savings, and thereby please Maggie--outside of that he seemed to have -lost all zest of the battle, all exultation in the victory. - -Maggie was in his thoughts, Maggie and Maggie only. Since his talk -with her the morning before, she seemed to have grown nearer to him. -He did not dream that this was caused by a lessening of his sense of -inferiority--by a gradual growth of faith in himself, which had its -conception in the hardly realized fact that he had been the dominant -spirit in a matching of wits which, in result, meant not a little to -her. - -He only thought of her kind manner, her smile and invitation to call -again; he only remembered Kerrigan’s half-jesting remark after they -had left the house. And then there were McGonagle’s words; Goose was a -friend of his and would not deceive him. He had said that Maggie was -not indifferent! Could this be so? Had he been so blind, so full of -self-pride as to not see it? Could it be that the aloofness with which -he had long secretly charged her had all been of his own doing? It is -not often that a man wishes himself in the wrong; but that, at this -moment, was Larry’s most earnest desire. - -“I’ll settle it to-night,” he said to himself. “I’ll brace up and give -her a chance to flag me.” - -Half past eleven saw Larry hurrying toward Clancy’s. Two of O’Connor’s -hacks were drawn up at the curb before the grocery, from one of which -McGonagle and Larkin were assisting Rosie, Annie and Maggie. Clancy and -O’Hara were alighting from the second, which they had shared with the -two bridegrooms; a flock of marvelling children were gathered upon the -sidewalk; and the heads of their elders were popping out of windows and -doorways full of wonder and surprise. - -Larry raised his hat and took the hand which Maggie offered him. - -“I’m sorry,” said she, “that I can’t remain to see the result of your -planning. It is very clever!” Larry caught the look in her eyes and it -said as plainly as words that it was no more than she had expected of -him. A sudden tumult was raised in his breast and perhaps he pressed -her hand a little; at any rate she flushed and withdrew it quickly. - -“I must get back to my class before the morning session is over,” -she continued. “The principal would only give me an hour’s leave of -absence.” - -“I’m comin’ to see you to-night,” said he, courageously. - -He did not even ask her permission! She gasped a little, in surprise, -but laughed as though she liked it. - -“I shall be at home,” said she. Then she kissed the two girls. -“Good-by, I shall run around this afternoon to see you both, and,” with -a sly glance at O’Hara, “to hear of the fun.” - -When she had gone, Larry followed the others into the house, Mrs. -Clancy embraced Annie and sobbed; then Annie and Rosie began to sob -also, while Goose and Jimmie looked uncomfortably at one another, each -with a feeling of guilt heavy upon him. - -“Here is yez raysate, Mister Clancy,” said O’Hara, handing the grocer a -slip of paper. “It’s a man av me word I am.” - -“Youse’ll get your cash, as soon as the fortune comes along, O’Hara,” -McGonagle informed him reassuringly. - -It was at this point that Kerrigan walked into the room. - -“It’s a queer thing to do right after a wedding,” said the young -attorney, after he had congratulated the happy couples, “but the fact -is, Mr. Clancy, I am here to read a will. And as all the persons spoken -of in the document are present, I will, with your permission, get down -to business.” - -He took a neatly folded paper from his breast pocket. - -“The will,” he continued, “is that of the late Honora Cassidy, -spinster.” - -“Ah! Ah!” exclaimed Clancy, striking the table with his fist; “Now -we’ll know the rights av it. Faith an’ I knew Honora had money.” - -“So it’s Honora Cassidy that yez meant?” said O’Hara looking at -Larry. Then he turned to Kerrigan. “Sure, I wur acquainted wid her in -Skibereen whin I wur a young felly.” - -“I am aware of the fact,” returned Kerrigan, dryly. “The document reads -this way: - -“I, Honora Cassidy, being in sound physical and mental health, do make -this my last will and testament. Having remained a spinster up to this -date and recognizing the emptiness and loneliness of such a state, I, -in this instrument, do all in my power to prevent my half-brother’s -child, Annie Clancy, from following my example. - -“With this end in view I bequeath all my estate, both real and -personal, with Charles Mason as Trustee, to the man who marries the -said Annie Clancy, on the condition that the ceremony is performed -within thirty (30) days after my decease.” - -“Ha! An’ so yez knew av this, O’Hara!” exclaimed Clancy. “Yez knew av -it an’ played me the darty trick till git yez money out av McGonagle!” - -“A stroke av business, Clancy,” murmured O’Hara soothingly, “A mere -stroke av business, sir.” - -“But say, Kerrigan,” put in Larry, with great innocence, “if Annie -hadn’t got married within the thirty days?--what then?” - -“Then,” replied the attorney, referring to the will, “the estate would -have gone to the only man who ever made a proposal of marriage to the -deceased--and whom she refused.” - -Larry had his eyes fixed upon O’Hara, who at these words, started -suddenly, and sat bolt upright. - -“An’ who wur that, Johnnie?” asked Mrs. Clancy, who, womanlike, felt a -great curiosity upon this point. - -“Our esteemed friend, Malachi O’Hara.” - -“What!” shrieked Clancy, leaping to his feet. “D’yez mane till say, -Goose, me b’y, that yez made the owld harp do himself out av a fort’in?” - -“Not me,” said McGonagle, modestly; “it was Murphy.” - -O’Hara had slowly arisen, his dumpy form quivering, his face crimson -with wrath. - -“It wur a conspiracy!” exclaimed he, thumping the floor with his cane; -“a conspiracy to defraud me out av me possible roights!” - -“’Twur a nate bit av wurk,” cried Clancy, enthusiastically shaking his -son-in-law by the hand. “An’ I forgi’ yez for my part av it. Sure, yez -are all great b’ys together!” - -O’Hara continued to stamp about the room; Rosie wept on Jimmie’s -shoulder, frightened at her father’s anger. At last the second-hand -dealer grabbed up his hat and made for the door. - -“Come home wid me, Rosie!” commanded he. “Don’t be stayin’ here till -see yez father chated an’ robbed.” - -“She’ll go home with me, after this,” said Jimmie Larkin, as he fondly -kissed the tears from her cheek. - -“Thin, the divil do her good av ye!” O’Hara swept the room with a -stormy glance. “It’s the law I’ll have on yez,” foamed he, “Ivery wan -av yez’ll sup sorra for yez divilment, raymimber that!” - -And he banged the door after him and was gone. - - * * * * * - -IT was a beautiful night; the moon was sailing through the heavens -attended by countless myriads of jewel-like stars; the breeze rustled -gently through the street, and as Larry neared Maggie’s home he caught -the soft notes of an old, old song. - -Owen sat upon the step, enjoying the fineness of the night, and as the -young man came up he arose and gripped him by the hand. - -“God bless ye, Larry,” said he, with a subdued emotion rare in the -Celt. “God bless ye for what yez done for me and mine! I niver towld -Maggie till the day, but iv Kelly had won, it’s find another home we’d -had till do, for ivery dollar I could rake an’ scrape were in that -stock. I took a great risk, b’y, I see it now; but it wur all for her -sake, Larry, all for her sake.” - -Larry entered, leaving the old man smoking peacefully upon the steps. -The hallway was dim, and he walked softly to avoid knocking against -things. But a shaded lamp threw a soft light about the parlour, and he -paused in the doorway to listen to the faint music and the words of the -song. Maggie sat at the piano, her back toward him; she was dressed in -white, clinging stuff that displayed the full charm of her fine figure; -her fingers touched the keyboard lightly, caressingly and she sang in a -subdued, brooding way: - - “_Oh promise to meet me when twilight is falling, - Beside the blue waters that slumber so fair, - Each bird in the meadow your name will be calling, - And every sweet rose-bud will look for you there._” - -She paused, her fingers still straying over the keys, and Larry took up -the song: - - “_In morning and evening for you I am sighing, - The heart in my bosom is yours evermore, - I’ll watch for you, darling, when daylight is dying, - Sweet rose of Killarney, Mavourneen asthore._” - -She arose and slowly turned toward him. Her face was rosy, her eyes -shining with a light that was good to see. - -He advanced half way, then paused, his arms outstretched. She -understood, on the instant, and came the remainder of the way; then the -strong arms were around her and he had kissed her upon the lips. - -“When shall it be?” he asked, in a masterful way. - -“Not for a long, long time,” she answered. “Remember Mary!” - -“I’ll never forget her.” His eyes were dim with feeling. - -“Poor Mary,” whispered Maggie, softly. “Dear, sweet, gentle Mary!” - - -THE END - - - - - RECENT - PUBLICATIONS - _of_ - McClure, Phillips - & Co. - - [Illustration] - - _New York_ - 1901-1902 - - - - -By Joel Chandler Harris - -GABRIEL TOLLIVER - -[Illustration] - -THIS is by far the most mature and important work that Mr. Harris has -yet given us. Like _David Copperfield_, _Gabriel Tolliver_ is intensely -personal, and is practically the story of Mr. Harris’ own boyhood -experiences. In so far as its setting is concerned it is a novel of -Reconstruction in the South. It is the most perfect picture in fiction -of those disheartening days following the war, when the Southern -States seemed likely to sink into anarchy through the corruption of -the carpet-baggers. In the midst of such conditions, and the quaint, -unprogressive life of the little Georgia community, Shady Dale, a -beautiful study of boy and girl love is developed and carried to a -happy conclusion after exciting adventures on the part of the hero, -who is falsely accused of the murder of a Government agent engaged in -inciting the negro population to violence against the whites. - -$1.50 - - - - -By S. R. Crockett - -Author of “The Stickit Minister,” “The Black Douglas,” “The Firebrand,” -etc. - -THE BANNER OF BLUE - -[Illustration] - -IN _The Banner of Blue_ Mr. Crockett offers a new version of that most -wonderful of parables, the prodigal son. Against the sombre background -of the Disruption Period in Scotland he draws with a master hand two -brilliantly colored love-stories, the one intense to its tragic end, -the other delightful in its quaint Scotch humor. The character-drawing -possesses in particular the quality of nearness and reality, and he who -reads must suffer with the proud Lord of Gower in the downfall of his -idolized son, laugh with Veronica Cæsar in her philosophical bearing of -domestic burdens and tyranny, and share with John Glendonwyn his love -for the will-o’-the-wisp sweetheart, Faerlie Glendenning. That part of -the story dealing with the separation of church and state calls forth -not only the strongest but the most picturesque traits of the Scottish -people. - -$1.50 - - - - -By Mary Stewart Cutting - -LITTLE STORIES OF MARRIED LIFE - -[Illustration] - -MRS. CUTTING begins where other storytellers leave off. 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Her book has a peculiarly American quality, -for the American home is its field; at the same time its pages are -especially rich in those touches of nature, humorous or pathetic--often -humorous and pathetic--that make the whole world kin. - -$1.25 - - - - -GOLDEN NUMBERS - -_A Book of Verse for Youth_ - -_Edited by_ - -KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN AND NORA ARCHIBALD SMITH - -_with an Introduction and Little Letters on Poetry by_ - -KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN - -FOR the purpose of compiling this book Mrs. Riggs [Kate Douglas Wiggin] -and her sister, Miss Smith, have explored practically the entire body -of English poetry, and have spent two years in the work of selection -and arrangement. The result, it is hardly necessary to say, in view of -Mrs. Riggs’ well-known sympathy with the needs and interests of young -life, is the greatest work ever planned to put the boys and girls of -America and England in possession of the poetic heritage of their -literature. The volume may well serve as a general anthology for all -ages, so representative is it and so complete. And yet so skillfully -has the work been done that nothing is introduced which might not serve -immediately to win the attention of the young reader and to stimulate -his curiosity to make independent discoveries in the broad fields that -lie beyond the covers of his book. A second volume is in preparation. -It will be entitled _The Posy Ring_, and will aim to interest still -younger readers than those to which _Golden Numbers_ will make an -appeal. - - - - -By A. Conan Doyle - -THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES - -A Sherlock Holmes Novel - -Illustrated by Sidney Paget - -[Illustration] - -_The London Chronicle_, in a review headed - -“THE ZENITH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES,” - -says: - -“We should like to pay Dr. Doyle the highest compliment at our -command. It is not simply that this book is superior in originality -and construction to the earlier adventures of the great detective. Dr. -Doyle has provided a criminal who, as Mr. Holmes admits, is indeed a -foeman worthy of his steel.[A] Hitherto he has found it comparatively -easy to unmask his antagonists. But in the present case he finds -himself checkmated again and again. There is pitted against him a skill -nearly equal to his own, and he wins the game almost by a hair.” - -[A] “I tell you, Watson, this time we have a foeman who is worthy of -our steel.”--_Sherlock Holmes._ - -$1.25 - - - - -By George Douglas - -THE HOUSE WITH THE GREEN SHUTTERS - -[Illustration] - -THE first novel of a new master. The work has gained wide-spread -recognition on both sides of the water. Three of the most conservative -and authoritative publications in England include it among the first -twelve of the year. 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If any man is his (Douglas’) master it is Thomas - Hardy.” - - Hardy, Stevenson, Zola, Flaubert, Balzac, and Æschylus. - - Eighth Edition. $1.50. - - - - -By Henry Wallace Phillips - -RED SAUNDERS - -His Adventures, West and East - -[Illustration] - -There is plenty of dash and adventure in this book, told with a humor -whose most delightful quality is its unstudied naturalness. The critics -are all laughing, not at the book, but with it. - -“Chantay Seechee Red is the sort of cowpuncher it benefits one to meet -even between the covers of a book.”--_N. Y. Evening Post._ - -“Mark Twain has written no more delicious stories.”--_Philadelphia -Inquirer._ - -“A delightful study of life in the West.”--_Newark Call._ - -“The wind blows through it, and the meaning of it is health and -joy.”--_N. Y. Sun._ - -“The creator of Red Saunders has an exuberant sense of humor.”--_N. 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