University of Oregon monthly., March 01, 1908, Image 16

U N IV E R SIT Y O F OREGON«.MONTHLY
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wind sweeping unobstructed up river, was blowing a perfect gale,
stirring up the water so that our little house rocked from side to
side like a cradle. Inside all was warmth and light, the; odor from
the oil h eater and the steam that came in from the gajiey/: mixed
with the smoke from our :,p$pis all tended to fascinate me the
mope. ^ p p e n /o v e r,, we s '^ l ^ c k p n b u r; chairs, and .listened ,!® the
call of th^w ayes beating-^gainst^our §cow. It seemed like,the call
of Some wild anim at hungry, and 'eager for i& prey.' Ghostly
Stories flitted through my mind and my friend Beaumont seemed far
away in a Mue’^pjoke that nbky hung likd^t cloud midway between
the table and ceiling and caused the tiny flame in our • hanging
lamp, to glow, a dull Ted.
I Tft&s roused by a- s t n $ g q ; ^ l ’0 ’/from Without.- At 'fir$fcwT
was unable to-make, put what i^ w as/b u t sdpn distinguished a mouth
orgdm and a fiddle,. ; Ay The music bedarne more audible over the
the. Storm I feil t-o listening. W ith each lull in the storm
laughter and shqittmg * could he- heard/
“Finnegan is .entertaining his countrymen ¿ag&in this; evening/.’
remarked Beaumont. j$M ust be tapping the keg' already,”
“They are a^greaLset,” he went on in ahswer tb 'm y inquiring
gyz<^. ‘ “There are
families/of Irish descent and every
Saturday night they " /gather down at old man Finnegan^'-and sing
and dance -ay longI asbthey fare/able to shuffle th e ir'fe e t Every
Sunday morning t h e r e o f an empty keg on the back4 porch; and
occasionally there i s 'a black* e y e f ^ a bloody n p si/ip the, crowd.
These facial b le m is h ^ however, are never a sign Of- any deep-
seated quarrel, but are rather the result of; too mufti, friendliness.”
z During the preyiouslWmmer, while hrs folks’w,e/^ taking an
extended trip, through th e '’East, .Beaumont h a d ’closed up' their
h^use in the residence district ^rid moved down to the Moonbeam,
which he defHin* winter-mooring'dm order that he could reach his
work moredeasily. While slumming it thus he-made1 many friends
and really had a/ verypenjoyahle time.
“Yott see,” he said, in explaining his' experience afterwards, “in
this* little polony, for .that is what it really1 is/, there are about forty
families “and all seem-;td think thJ^T are«.Responsible in some way
for th e' other’s happiness pib-this life, an d y b u c a n n ^ imagine how
nice-all this wprks out. ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself’ com esnearer
being exemplified here than arty place I have ever been.”-
. By morning all traces',o f the storm had disappeared,, and
when we arose at,‘-sLyell a latephoun—the- sun was shining bright