Page:Irish In America.djvu/143

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THE LAST GRAIN OF TEA.
121

head of a large Catholic family, all good and religious, and full of worldly prosperity. Father Gordon tells many anecdotes of his missionary life among his Irish flock ; and however apparently trivial some of them may appear, they aiford glimpses of the early condition of the settlers in the wilderness. Drenched to the skin one day in spring, he was compelled to seek shelter in a -shanty ; but such was the state of that dwelling that it afforded a friendly welcome to the rain, which entered wherever it pleased through the roof ; and as the priest lay 011 the bed, composed of two logs placed in a corner, while his clothes were being dried at the fire, he was amused at witnessing the enjoyment of a brood of young ducks that were disporting themselves in a stream that ran through the cabin. It was in a short time after that he rode up to the door of Mrs. Macnamara, all the way from the county of Cork. Well, Mrs. Mac, have you anything for a poor traveller ? Deed, then, your reverence, there s a hearty welcome, and you know that ; and I have a grain of tea, and the makings of a cake and sure the re yours with a heart and a half, and so they would if they were ten times as much, said Mrs. Mac. The good woman at once set about making the cake, which was soon in a forward state of preparation, and th^n, with much solemnity, she pro ceeded to make the tea, which, in order to draw it in the most scientific manner, she placed in its little black pot on a corner of the fire, away from the blaze. Mrs. Mac s stock of candles had long been exhausted, and she was obliged to be content with the light from the hearth ; but Father Gordon had to pay his debt to the Pope, and, in order to read his closely-printed breviary, he was con stantly poking the fire with the end of a stick. Take care of the teapot, Father Gordon, dear take care of it, for your life ! remonstrated the good woman, as she observed the reckless vigour with which the priest used the improvised