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Show ) IRISH CHARACTER SKETCHES. 5 I : I The Village Virago or Scold. i ! i . i ; (Written for The Jntermountain Cath- ' i : I ' I olic.) -If j PpPP5' Cole, commonly called Peg the ; I Barge, Is seated on her own doorstep. ' ', She is a woman of about 65. with high ? j cheek bones, large mouth and small, J ; bright, sunken eyes. Locks of gray . I ; i ' I hair fall at each side of her wrinkled j forehead, from beneath a worn frilled s j ' linen cap, a cap that seems not to have known the saving virtues of soap and , ; water for many a Ions day. Seated t ' there, this quiet August afternoon, with one bony back hand supporting her s I ' i pointed chin on which a few cat hairs : . I ; prow, and the other holding a long sally ' : - rod with which she seemingly heats I ' time on tine ground. Peg looks a verlta- ' i ' ble Sybil In prophesy. A large flock of ' ' i hungry seese with a still hungrier-look- . i Ing gander gobble up some raw potatoes r that are scattered here and there on the 5 i - ' , street before her door. A lean, shaggy j i goat, with but one horn is tethered by i means of a hay rope to a wheelbarrow. i , and Judging from the goat's frenzied , walk within its bounds and its piteous i j . Meat, we canie to the conclusion that f ?: ' Joe Rooney's 'haycock over the way i I E 1 i would not be at all safe if Peg's goat : , j , got her liberty. Monarch of that little j village, none dare dispute Peg Cole's i I right, none dared call into question hr s j I k. word. Jim Scully, the village loafer, I I I peeps round the adjacent corner and. ill! seeing Peg. quickly withdraws his head 5 i I . fgain, muttering to himself, "She's reg-3.1: reg-3.1: j nlatin' her timper." Jim. that dreads ! J ' not man or woman or a sQuadron of !! i Scotch Grays in full gallop, feels a cold i j shivering run down his back at the very I sight even of that gray-haired old wo-; wo-; man. "Her tongue, boys." Jim would ; f say. is always goin'. even in her sleep. 1 i an' it crushes yeh like Murty Crimes' j big mill whecjf" Father Tom. the loved , . parish priest, taking his daily walk in j I i. j ihe chapol yard, seees his beautiful i I . flower beds that he admires and values MS I so much, torn up an dtrampled upon J i ; I and the verdant closely cropped grass ,. i around strewn with droppings. f, : ! ! Ah! he cries out. taking off his berets' beret-s' :x j ta in dismay, and heaving a frienzled i ! ! figh. Ah! he cries. Pes: the P.arges' ; r again. Oh! what am I to do with 1 ! I that woman and her geese, but I'm pow- : i f i rless, powerless asainst her netting his 1 Hands fall 1e:e?ert1y by his side. What r ! j "xn I do when the holy misf.ioucrs have i f ! j failed to convert her? l i John Dowd. the huckster, or Johnny i j 'om Lately, sitting in his shop behind I ! The counter rises hastily, so hastily that s i i in "is haste he lays down a copy of the I f Yrk Examiner which ho is just read- i I j ! 'njr on some rolls of fresh butter fa f , monstrous thing to do in his eyes), and i t j with a more obsequious bow than usual, t- I an3 a smile that an angel would envy, ! : j says: " I j i Ah! Mrs. Cole, I'm rale glad to pep i . f yh. How do yeh do? What can I get i ;. for yeh? Yis, ma'am, in wan second . S ' I i I'll have these things for yeh. Won't I 5 ! yeh take a chair while I'm gettin' thim? : f I And when John Pmvd had served Peg I ; I "ole with her necessaries, she usually . took her exit from John's shop thus: i I ; "Goood mornin'. Dowd. an' thank yeh. i I I haven't any money now to pay yeh." ; I and with those words on her lips the ! j j small, sunken eyes would glint danger- f f ! ously at Dowd and dare- he question -J 5 ' that arrangement. ' ! "Oh, don't mention paymint. Mrs. ; ' J ' Dowd: any time will do whin it's con- i j ; vanient." I i "But, Dowd," and Peg comes back ' ! ' ! from th ? door. ! $ i Mrs. Cole." all servility and at- I ' j J tent ion. "I heard on yisterday, Dowd, I ' f from Cauth Doonan's gossoon (boy) t i that yej; dog worrit (worried) me geese' I ( i sind Peg's black bony hand thumps the ! j ' counter, j ; "The skints above! an" do vch tell me f Irs. Cole, drowned that dog will be j ; this morthial minute. Drowned he'll be. , I pledge yeh me unmorthial honour! j Tin. Mrs. Cole this morthial minute for his transgressions agin yer geese," and ' t Johnny Come Lately rushes from be- I I , hind his counter as if to put his threat into execution, j I - Jack McCormack or Garibaldi, the i ; maiI car driver, he who has a joke and I , a gay word for every passer-by, pre- i tends to be searching diligently" in the j i ' boy of his rackety old mail car for a I , parcel, when ho sees Peg Cole coming. I ! I then looking around timidly to see 1 i I if "he is gone, he rubs his brow with !. ; j 1 the ends of his red muffler as If to wipe ' i i 'ff the beads of perspiration muttering as he does so, "That woman!" ; 1 Dan Reid, the sailor, valiant hero of the Crimea and Tahu forts, quits his ; quarter deck .on Peg's approach (Dan's ; i ' : quarter deck was a short gravel walk ; ; before his door), and entering his house ; . he says to hi? sisters Mary and Eliza I 1 'hose two magic words "She's coming'' j ! t which announcement Mary and I'"l'za seat themselves in the "comer yyith a terrified look at the door ami : j the ejaculation. "God between us and liarm" on their lips, i ' Ryan, the peeler (policeman), whose i vigilant eyes allows nothing to escape,-' . . s seef, peg- olp pulling a bundle of hav j ; ! from oe Rooney's little cock and passes I f j on with his head turned in the opposite ; t direction, at the same time sighing ' 1 j sadly to himself. "Oh! why cudn't she i . j he now like other women, bud I daren't I arrest Jier." which reflection i still r more embittered by im Scully's mock- . ! . ing voice: , - i j J "Now yeh have her. Ryan, an' why ' the blazes don't yeh nab her?" ) f ' And Joe Kooney, the owner of that r little hay cock, ha! he has caught the ! ; 1 daring robber at last, and with swift j ; punishment In his eyes he darts around i , i 'he hay cack to seize her ah! he stops : ; j suddenly with ; ; "Oh! Mrs. Cole, is that yon pulling a i I wisp ov hay out ov me cock for yer I; j .: Koat? Yer quite welcome to it am- time, Mrs. Cole, ma'am. Indeed. I wa? ! just coming neself, Mrs. f'ole. ma'am, i : to pull a wee bundle, for her. an' I hopt?. Mrs. Cole, ma'am, yer goat gives yeh - onough milk for yer tay." Mr. Mannc-rintig, the local J. P. (justice (jus-tice of the peace), stroking his broad chest pompously, says to a tramp who neglected to salute and was not at all gracious to the majesty of the law: "Do you know, my fine fellow, that I am the terror of evil-doers, and that I ould get you locked up whil e you , would be saying Jack Ttobinson?" I "Oh! indade. are yeh. Mr. Bluster," ! , ' nnswers the tramp sarcastically; walk- ing away. "Why thin, iv yeh are so powerful, don't yeh lock up Peg Cole?'' j "Mrs. Cole." murmurs Mr. Manner- ing afterwards to himself. " s the Plague spot of my life. She tramples on my dignity and despises the law 1 Yes. despises the law." clenching his i hands desperately. "I'll stand it no I longer. I'll bring peace to this village i and secure my dignity and the majesty J of the law. I'll get Mrs. Cole bound to I the peace." Half an hour afterwards I Mr. Mannering is driving through the i village. He meets Mrs. Cole, and pull- ' ing up his horse he takes off his hat ; graciously (a hat that comes off to no I one except the clergy), and says: ! " . "Good day. Mrs. Cole. I hope I see f you well. The last two dozen of eggs you brought over to my house were so nice and fresh. Bring over two dozen I more today. If you have them, and we I won't quarrel "'out the price; and f there are sr . lall potatoes in my I I if r : ,!f ; ' ' .- - i .'. . . .-. , : j. w "" " 1 '' " "' barn, and you can have them for youi geese." When Mr. Mannering reached honiv. he gave strict instructions to his housekeeper house-keeper that Mrs. Cole was to get her dinner when she came, and a glass ot whisky. And Mr. Morrow, the Protestant minister: min-ister: well, he steals so gentry by Pet-Cole Pet-Cole since that eventful day. when, in response to his gracious salute, Teg thundered after him the words: "Get out ov that, wud yeh. an don't think ye'll corn-art me, yeh haratic." And dear Dr. Gerald forgets his forcible-and oft-repeated curse. "By the Great Frederic." when he is mixing a bottle for Mrs. Cole or otherwise ministering minis-tering to her boully ills. "Oh. saints above!" says Jim Scully to him one day. "bud Doctor Jewil give that woman someinmg mat win settle her tongue. Can't yeh give her this as medicine?" and Jim pointed to a large jar of Elleman's embrocation. "By the Great Frederic." the doctor laughingly replies, "I firmly believe. Scully, that if I settled her tongue her toes would talk." v There Peg the Barge sits on her own doorstep "regulatin' her timper with the sally rod," as Jim Scully aptly puts it. and waiting to see "who dares." As she sits there, we wish, and I hope we are not uncharitable in the wish, that Peg would cultivate a sweeter temper. BY CABIN. Next week, "The Village Blacksmith." |