Mated from the Morgue: A Tale of the Second EmpireO'Shea, John Augustus
History
Mated from the Morgue: A Tale of the Second Empire
O'Shea, John Augustus
France -- History -- Second Empire, 1852-1870 -- Fiction
[5] The typical name of the Irishman, but spelt 'patte' (paw), is a
common word to dogs in France. This may explain why O'Hara fancied he
had hit on the animal's name.
[6] The smaller island close by the Morgue.
[7] The soldier must have meant catafalque. The French _militaire_ from
the country is as fond of words of learned length as Goldsmith's village
schoolmaster.
[8] An anecdote of this nature is also told of Wilson, the eminent
landscape-painter. Doffing his coat one day for a game of tennis at
Rome, the picture of a splendid waterfall was discovered by way of
lining to his waistcoat.
[9] This may strike such of my readers as never have enjoyed the
confidence of a canine friend, as drawing too largely on their
credulity; but I assure them, and 'I'm serious--so are all men upon
paper'--that I had a dog once, of the Irish retriever breed, which
carried my hat after me for the length of two streets from where it had
been knocked off my head by some ruffian in an affray. I lost the same
dog in Whitechapel, and it found its way home to St. John's Wood, across
the breadth of crowded London.
[10] Margaret the milliner.
[11] My son, hearken to thy aged grandsire. Thou wert born but
yesterday, and I am nearing the gate of death. Fly, for ever fly, this
ungrateful soil that refuses thee life. On yonder ship, where the crowd
embark, thou goest to seek the United States, those climates in the
bosom of plenty, where twenty united peoples live happily together. Fear
not the storms of the Atlantic; seek America; there thy lot will be
sweeter. At the dawn of day thou hast commenced thy work under the gray
sky in the bleak winters. I have seen thy strength and courage worn out
tilling the fields of some duke and peer, whose steps have never trodden
his domain; far from Ireland he travels in state. Unfortunate, the
dearth is near. Quit for ever this sojourn of misery. In cultivating the
fertile savannahs, preserve thy faith if thou wouldst prosper: make thy
adieus to our barren furrows; we must part. Take this silver, the fruit
of long sacrifices, a crust of bread is enough for me; the sea is fair,
the winds blow soft; go, my child--thy grandsire blesses thee!
[12] Greenhorn, Johnny Raw.
End of Project Gutenberg's Mated from the Morgue, by John Augustus O'Shea
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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