"Faith, I am not," said Mr. Dooley. "Since th" warm weather"s come an" th" wind"s in th" south, so that I can tell at night that A-armoor an" me ol" frind, Jawn Brinnock, are attindin" to business, I have a grip on life like th" wan ye have on th" shank iv that sh.e.l.l iv malt. Whether "tis these soft days, with th" childher beginnin" to play barefutted in th" sthreet an" th" good women out to palaver over th" fence without their shawls, or whether "tis th" wan wurrud Easter Sundah that comes on me, an" jolts me up with th" thoughts iv th" la-ads goin" to ma.s.s an" th" blackthorn turnin" green beyant, I dinnaw. But annyhow I"m as gay as a babby an" as fresh as a lark. I am so.
"I was on"y thinkin". Ol" Gran"pah Grogan died las" Mondah,-as good a man as e"er counted his beads or pa.s.sed th" plate. A thrue man. Choosdah a Connock man up back iv th" dumps laid down th" shovel. Misther Grogan had a grand notice in th" pa-apers: "Grogan, at his late risidence, 279 A-archoor Avnoo, Timothy Alexander, beloved husband iv th" late Mary Grogan, father iv Maurice, Michael, Timothy, Edward, James, Peter, Paul, an" Officer Andrew Grogan, iv Cologne Sthreet station, an" iv Mrs. Willum Sarsfield Ca.s.sidy, nee Grogan" (which manes that was her name befure she marrid Ca.s.sidy, who wurruks down be Haley"s packin"-house). "Fun"ral be carriages fr"m his late risidence to Calv"ry cimithry. Virginia City, Nivada; St. Joseph, Mitchigan; an" Clonmel Tipp"rary pa-apers please copy."
"I didn"t see e"er a nee about th" fam"ly iv th" little man back iv th" dumps, though maybe he had wan to set aroun" th" fire in th" dark an" start at th" tap iv a heel on th" dure-step. Mebbe he had a fam"ly, poor things. A fun"ral is great la-arks f"r th" neighbors, an" "tis not so bad f"r th" corpse. But in these times, Jawn dear, a-ho th" gray hearts left behind an" th" hungry mouths to feed. They done th" best they cud f"r th" Connock man back iv th" dumps,-give him all th" honors, th" A-ho-aitches ma-archin" behind th" hea.r.s.e an" th" band playin" th" Dead March, "Twas almost as good a turnout as Grogan had, though th" Saint Vincents had betther hats an" looked more like their fam"lies kept a cow.
"But they was two hacks back iv th" pall-bearers. I wondhered what was pa.s.sin" behind th" faces I seen again their windys. "Twas well f"r himself, too. Little odds to him, afther th" last screw was twisted be Gavin"s ol" yellow hands, whether beef was wan cint or a hundherd dollars th" pound. But there"s comin" home as well as goin" out. There"s more to a fun"ral thin th" lucks parpitua, an" th" clod iv sullen earth on th" top iv th" crate. Sare a pax vobisc.u.m is there f"r thim that"s huddled in th" ol" hack, sthragglin" home in th" dust to th" empty panthry an" th" fireless grate.
"Mind ye, Jawn, I"ve no wurrud to say again thim that sets back in their own house an" lot an" makes th" food iv th" people dear. They"re good men, good men. Whin they tilt th" price iv beef to where wan pound iv it costs as much as manny th" man in this Ar-rchey Road "d wurruk fr"m th" risin" to th" settin" iv th" sun to get, they have no thought iv th" likes iv you an" me. "Tis aisy come, aisy go with thim; an" ivry cint a pound manes a new art musoom or a new church, to take th" edge off hunger. They"re all right, thim la-ads, with their own pork-chops delivered free at th" door. "Tis, "Will ye have a new spring dhress, me dear? Willum, ring thim up, an" tell thim to hist th" price iv beef. If we had a few more pitchers an" statoos in th" musoom, "twud ilivate th" people a sthory or two. Willum, afther this steak "ll be twinty cints a pound." Oh, they"re all right, on"y I was thinkin" iv th" Connock man"s fam"ly back iv th" dumps."
"For a man that was gay a little while ago, it looks to me as if you"d grown mighty solemn-like," said Mr. McKenna.
"Mebbe so," said Mr. Dooley. "Mebbe so. What th" "ell, annyhow. Mebbe "tis as bad to take champagne out iv wan man"s mouth as round steak out iv another"s. Lent is near over. I seen Doherty out shinin" up his pipe that"s been behind th" clock since Ash Winsdah. Th" girls "ll be layin" lilies on th" altar in a day or two. Th" spring"s come on. Th" gra.s.s is growin" good; an", if th" Connock man"s children back iv th" dumps can"t get meat, they can eat hay."
A BRAND FROM THE BURNING.
"I see be th" pa-apers," said Mr. Dooley, "that Boss have flew th" coop. "Tis too bad, too bad. He wa-as a gr-reat man."
"Is he dead?" asked Mr. McKenna.
"No, faith, worse thin that; he"s resigned. He calls th" la-ads about him, an" says he: "Boys," he says, "I"m tired iv politics," he says. "I"m goin" to quit it f"r me health," he says. "Do ye stay in, an" get ar-rested f"r th" good iv th" party." Ye see thim mugwumps is afther th" Boss, an" he"s gettin" out th" way Hogan got out iv Connock. Wan day he comes over to me fa-ather"s house, an" says he, "Dooley," he says, "I"m goin" to lave this hole iv a place," he says. "F"r why?" says th" ol" man; "I thought ye liked it." "Faith," says Hogan, "I niver liked a blade iv gra.s.s in it," he says. "I"m sick iv it," he says. "I don"t want niver to see it no more." And he wint away. Th" next mornin" th" polis was lookin" f"r him to lock him up f"r stealin" joo"lry in the fair town. Yes, by dad.
""Tis th" way iv th" boss, Jawn. I seen it manny"s th" time. There was wanst a boss in th" Sixth Wa-ard, an" his name was Flannagan; an" he came fr"m th" County Clare, but so near th" bordher line that no wan challenged his vote, an" he was let walk down Ar-rchey Road just"s though he come fr"m Connock. Well, sir, whin I see him first, he"d th" smell iv Castle Garden on him, an" th" same is no mignonette, d"ye mind; an" he was goin" out with pick an" shovel f"r to dig in th" ca.n.a.l,-a big, shtrappin", black-haired lad, with a neck like a bull"s an" covered with a hide as thick as wan"s, fr"m thryin" to get a crop iv oats out iv a Clare farm that growed divvle th" thing but nice, big boldhers.
"He was de-termined, though, an" th" first man that made a face at him he walloped in th" jaw; an" he"d been on th" ca.n.a.l no more thin a month before he licked ivry man in th" gang but th" section boss, who"d been a Dublin jackeen, an" weighed sixteen stone an" was great with a thrip an" a punch. Wan day they had some wurruds, whin me bold Dublin man sails into Flannagan. Well, sir, they fought fr"m wan o"clock till tin in th" night, an" nayther give up; though Flannagan had th" best iv it, bein" young. "Why don"t ye put him out?" says wan iv th" la-ads. "Whisht," says Flannagan. "I"m waitin" f"r th" moon to come up," he says, "so"s I can hit him right," he says, "an" scientific." Well, sir, his tone was that fierce th" section boss he dhropped right there iv sheer fright; an" Flannagan was c.o.c.k iv th" walk.
"Afther a while he begun f"r to go out among th" other gangs, lookin" f"r fight; an", whin th" year was over, he was knowed fr"m wan end iv th" ca.n.a.l to th" other as th" man that no wan cud stand befure. He got so pop"lar fr"m lickin" all his frinds that he opened up a liquor store beyant th" bridge, an" wan night he shot some la-ads fr"m th" ya-ards that come over f"r to r-run him. That made him sthronger still. When they got up a prize f"r th" most pop"lar man in th" parish, he loaded th" ballot box an" got th" goold-headed stick, though he was r-runnin" against th" aldherman, an" th" little soggarth thried his best to down him. Thin he give a c.o.c.k fight in th" liquor shop, an" that atthracted a gang iv bad men; an" he licked thim wan afther another, an" made thim his frinds. An" wan day lo an" behold, whin th" aldherman thried f"r to carry th" prim"ries that "d niver failed him befure, Flannagan wint down with his gang an" illicted his own dilligate ticket, an" thrun th" aldherman up in th" air!
"Thin he was a boss, an" f"r five years he r-run th" ward. He niver wint to th" council, d"ye mind; but, whin he was gin"rous, he give th" aldhermen tin per cint iv what they made. In a convintion, whin anny iv th" candydates pa.s.sed roun" th" money, "twas wan thousand dollars f"r Flannagan an" have a nice see-gar with me f"r th" rest iv thim. Wan year fr"m th" day he done th" aldherman he sold th" liquor shop. Thin he built a brick house in th" place iv th" little frame wan he had befure, an" moved in a pianny f"r his daughter. "Twas about this time he got a dimon as big as ye"er fist, an" begun to dhrive down town behind a fast horse. No wan knowed what he done, but his wife said he was in th" r-rale estate business. D"ye mind, Jawn, that th" r-rale estate business includes near ivrything fr"m vagrancy to manslaughter?
"Whativer it was he done, he had money to bur-rn; an" th" little soggarth that wanst despised him, but had a hard time payin" th" debt iv th" church, was glad enough to sit at his table. Wan day without th" wink iv th" eye he moved up in th" avnoo, an" no wan seen him in Bridgeport afther that. "Twas a month or two later whin a lot iv th" la-ads was thrun into jail f"r a little diviltry they"d done f"r him. A comity iv th" fathers iv th" la-ads wint to see him. He raceived thim in a room as big as wan iv their whole houses, with pitchers on th" walls an" a carpet as deep an" soft as a bog. Th" comity asked him to get th" la-ads out on bail.
""Gintlemen," he says, "ye must excuse me," he says, "in such matthers." "D"ye mane to say," says Ca.s.sidy, th" plumber, "that ye won"t do annything f"r my son?" "Do annything," says Flannagan. (I"ll say this f"r him: a more darin" man niver drew breath; an", whin his time come to go sthandin" off th" mob an" defindin" his sthone quarry in th" rites iv sivinty-sivin, he faced death without a wink.) "Do?" he says, risin" an" sthandin" within a fut iv Ca.s.sidy"s big cane. "Do?" he says. "Why," he says, "yes," he says; "I"ve subscribed wan thousand dollars," he says, "to th" citizen"s comity," he says, "f"r to prosecute him; an"," he says, "gintlemen," he says, "there"s th" dure."
"I seen Ca.s.sidy that night, an" he was as white as a ghost. "What ails ye?" says I. "Have ye seen th" divvle?" "Yes," he says, bendin" his head over th" bar, an" lookin" sivinty years instead iv forty-five."
A WINTER NIGHT.
Any of the Archey Road cars that got out of the barns at all were pulled by teams of four horses, and the snow hung over the shoulders of the drivers" big bearskin coats like the eaves of an old-fashioned house on the blizzard night. There was hardly a soul in the road from the red bridge, west, when Mr. McKenna got laboriously off the platform of his car and made for the sign of somebody"s celebrated Milwaukee beer over Mr. Dooley"s tavern. Mr. Dooley, being a man of sentiment, arranges his drinks to conform with the weather. Now anybody who knows anything at all knows that a drop of "J.J." and a whisper (subdued) of hot water and a lump of sugar and lemon peel (if you care for lemon peel) and nutmeg (if you are a "jood ") is a drink calculated to tune a man"s heart to the song of the wind slapping a beer-sign upside down and the snow drifting in under the door. Mr. Dooley was drinking this mixture behind his big stove when Mr. McKenna came in.
"Bad night, Jawn," said Mr. Dooley.
"It is that," said Mr. McKenna.
"Blowin" an" storming", yes," said Mr. Dooley. "There hasn" been a can in tonight but wan, an" that was a pop bottle. Is the snow-ploughs out, I dinnaw?"
"They are," said Mr. McKenna.
"I suppose Doherty is dhrivin"," said Mr. Dooley. "He"s a good dhriver. They do say he do be wan iv the best dhrivers on th" road. I"ve heerd that th" prisident is dead gawn on him. He"s me cousin. Ye can"t tell much about what a man "ll be fr"m what th" kid is. That there Doherty was th" worst omadhon iv a boy that iver I knowed. He niver cud larn his a-ah-bee, abs. But see what he made iv himsilf! Th" best dhriver on th" road; an", by dad, "tis not twinty to wan he won"t be stharter befure he dies. "Tis in th" fam"ly to make their names. There niver was anny fam"ly in th" ol" counthry that turned out more priests than th" Dooleys. By gar, I believe we hol" th" champeenship iv th" wurruld. At M"nooth th" profissor that called th" roll got so fr"m namin" th" Dooley la-ads that he came near bein" tur-rned down on th" cha-arge that he was whistlin" at vespers. His mouth, d"ye mind, took that there shape fr"m sayin" "Dooley," "Dooley," that he"d looked as if he was whistlin". D"ye mind? Dear, oh dear, "tis th" divvle"s own fam"ly f"r religion."
Mr. McKenna was about to make a jeering remark to the effect that the alleged piety of the Dooley family had not penetrated to the Archey Road representative, when a person, evidently of wayfaring habits, entered and asked for alms. Mr. Dooley arose, and, picking a half-dollar from the till, handed it to the visitor with great unconcern. The departure of the wayfarer with profuse thanks was followed by a s.p.a.ce of silence.
"Well, Jawn," said Mr. Dooley.
"What did you give the hobo?" asked Mr. McKenna.
"Half a dollar," said Mr. Dooley.
"And what for?"
"Binivolence," said Mr. Dooley, with a seraphic smile.
"Well," said Mr. McKenna, "I should say that was benevolence."
"Well," said Mr. Dooley, ""tis a bad night out, an" th" poor divvle looked that miserable it brought th" tears to me eyes, an""-
"But," said Mr. McKenna, "that ain"t any reason why you should give half a dollar to every tramp who comes in."
"Jawn," said Mr. Dooley, "I know th" ma-an. He spinds all his money at Schneider"s, down th" block."
"What of that?" asked Mr. McKenna.
"Oh, nawthin"," said Mr. Dooley, "on"y I hope Herman won"t thry to bite that there coin. If he does"-
THE BLUE AND THE GRAY.
"A-ho," said Mr. Dooley, "th" blue an" th" gray, th" blue an" th" gray. Well, sir, Jawn, d"ye know that I see Mulligan marchin" ahead with his soord on his side, an" his horse dancin" an" backin" into th" crowd; an" th" la-ads chowlder arms an" march, march away. Ye shud "ve been there. Th" women come down fr"m th" pee-raries with th" childher in their arms, an" "twas like a sind-off to a picnic. "Good-by, Mike." "Timothy, darlin", don"t forget your prayers." "Cornalius, if ye do but look out f"r th" little wans, th" big wans "ll not harm ye." "Teddy, lad, always wear ye"er Agnus Day." An", whin th" time come f"r th" thrain to lave, th" girls was up to th" lines; an" "twas, "Mike, love, ye"ll come back alive, won"t ye?" an" "Pat, there does be a pair iv yarn socks in th" hoomp on ye"er back. Wear thim, lad. They"ll be good f"r ye"er poor, dear feet." An" off they wint.
"Well, some come back, an" some did not come back. An" some come back with no rale feet f"r to put yarn socks on thim. Mulligan quit down somewhere in Kentucky; an" th" las" wurruds he was heard to utter was, "Lay me down, boys, an" save th" flag." An there was manny th" other that had nawthin" to say but to call f"r a docthor; f"r "tis on"y, d"ye mind, th" heroes that has somethin" writ down on typewriter f"r to sind to th" newspapers whin they move up. Th" other lads that dies because they cudden"t r-run away,-not because they wudden"t,-they dies on their backs, an" calls f"r th" docthor or th" priest. It depinds where they"re shot.
"But, annyhow, no wan iv thim lads come back to holler because he was in th" war or to war again th" men that shot him. They wint to wurruk, carryin" th" hod "r shovellin" cindhers at th" rollin" mills. Some iv thim took pinsions because they needed thim; but divvle th" wan iv thim ye"ll see paradin" up an" down Ar-rchey Road with a blue coat on, wantin" to fight th" war over with Schwartzmeister"s bar-tinder that niver heerd iv but wan war, an" that th" rites iv sivinty-sivin. Sare a wan. No, faith. They"d as lave decorate a confeatherate"s grave as a thrue pathrite"s. All they want is a chanst to go out to th" cimitry; an", faith, who doesn"t enjoy that? No wan that"s annything iv a spoort.
"I know hundherds iv thim. Ye know Pat Doherty, th" little man that lives over be Grove Sthreet. He inlisted three times, by dad, an" had to stand on his toes three times to pa.s.s. He was that ager. Well, he looks to weigh about wan hundherd an" twinty pounds; an" he weighs wan fifty be raison iv him havin" enough lead to stock a plumber in his stomach an" his legs. He showed himsilf wanst whin he was feelin" gay. He looks like a sponge. But he ain"t. He come in here Thursdah night to take his dhrink in quite; an" says I, "Did ye march to-day?" "Faith, no," he says, "I can get hot enough runnin" a wheelbarrow without makin" a monkey iv mesilf dancin" around th" sthreets behind a band." "But didn"t ye go out to decorate th" graves?" says I. "I hadn"t th" price," says he, "Th" women wint out with a gyranium to put over Sarsfield, the first born," he says.
"Just thin Morgan O"Toole come in, an" laned over th" ba-ar. He"s been a dillygate to ivry town convention iv th" Raypublicans since I dinnaw whin. "Well," says he, "I see they"re pilin" it on," he says. "On th" dead?" says I, be way iv a joke. "No," he says; "but did ye see they"re puttin" up a monnymint over th" rebils out here be Oakwoods?" he says. "By gar," he says, "tis a disgrace to th" mim"ries iv thim devoted dead who died f"r their counthry," he says. "If," he says, "I cud get ninety-nine men to go out an" blow it up, I"d be th" hundherth," he says. "Yes," says I, "ye wud," I says. "Ye"d be th" last," I says.
"Doherty was movin" up to him. "What rig"mint?" says he. "What"s that?" says O"Toole. "Did ye inlist in th" army, brave man?" says Pat. "I swore him over age," says I. "Was ye dhrafted in?" says th" little man. "No," says O"Toole. "Him an" me was in th" same cellar," says I. "Did ye iver hear iv Ree-saca, "r Vicksburg, "r Lookout Mountain?" th" little man wint on. "Did anny man iver shoot at ye with annything but a siltzer bottle? Did ye iver have to lay on ye"er stummick with ye"er nose burrid in th" Lord knows what while things was whistlin" over ye that, if they iver stopped whistlin", "d make ye"er backbone look like a broom? Did ye iver see a man that ye"d slept with th" night before cough, an" go out with his hands ahead iv his face? Did ye iver have to wipe ye"er most intimate frinds off ye"er clothes, whin ye wint home at night? Where was he durin" th" war?" he says. "He was dhrivin" a grocery wagon f"r Philip Reidy," says I. "An" what"s he makin" th" roar about?" says th" little man. "He don"t want anny wan to get onto him," says I.