Only an Irish Boy; Or, Andy Burke's Fortunes. Alger Horatio Jr.
help him if I can."
"Ellen," said Mrs. Preston the next morning, "when Mrs. Burke comes let me know."
"Yes, ma'am."
"She's come," announced Ellen, half an hour later.
Mrs. Preston rose from her seat and went into the laundry.
"Good-morning, Mrs. Preston," said Mrs. Burke.
"Good-morning," returned the other, stiffly. "Mrs. Burke, I hear that your son behaved very badly to my Godfrey yesterday."
"It isn't like Andy, ma'am," said the mother, quietly. "He's a good, well-behaved lad."
"Godfrey tells me that he made a brutal assault upon him, quite forgetting his superior position."
"Are you sure Master Godfrey didn't strike him first?" asked the mother.
"Even if he had, your son shouldn't have struck back."
"Why not?" asked Mrs. Burke, her eyes flashing with spirit, meek as she generally was.
"Because it was improper," said Mrs. Preston, decisively.
"I don't see that, ma'am. Andy isn't the boy to stand still and be struck."
"Do I understand," said Mrs. Preston, in a freezing tone, "that you uphold your son in his atrocious conduct?"
"Yes, ma'am. I stand up for Andy, for he's a good boy, and if he struck Master Godfrey it was because he was struck first."
"That is enough," said Mrs. Preston, angrily. "I shall not require your services after to-day, Mrs. Burke."
"Just as you like, ma'am," said Mrs. Burke, with quiet pride, but she thought, with a sinking heart, of the gap which this would make in her scanty income.
CHAPTER V A PROFITABLE JOB
After finishing her work at Colonel Preston's Mrs. Burke went home. She did not see Mrs. Preston again, for the latter sent her the money for her services by Ellen.
"Mrs. Preston says you're not to come next week," said Ellen.
"She told me so herself this morning. She is angry because I took the part of my boy against Master Godfrey."
"Godfrey's the hatefulest boy I ever see," said Ellen, whose grammar was a little defective. "He's always putting on airs."
"He struck my Andy, and Andy struck him back."
"I'm glad he did," said Ellen, emphatically. "I hope he'll do it again."
"I don't want the boys to fight. Andy's a peaceable lad; and he'll be quiet if he's let alone. But he's just like his poor father, and he won't let anybody trample on him."
"That's where he's right," said Ellen. "I'm sorry you're not coming again, Mrs. Burke."
"So am I, Ellen, for I need the money, but I'll stand by my boy."
"You iron real beautiful. I've heard Mrs. Preston say so often. She won't get nobody that'll suit her so well."
"If you hear of anybody else that wants help, Ellen, will you send them to me?"
This Ellen faithfully promised, and Mrs. Burke went home, sorry to have lost her engagement, but not sorry to have stood up for Andy, of whom she was proud.
Andy was at home when she returned. He had found enough to do at home to occupy him so far. The next day he meant to go out in search of employment. When his mother got back she found him cutting some brush which he had obtained from the neighboring woods.
"There, mother," he said, pointing to a considerable pile, "you'll have enough sticks to last you a good while."
"Thank you, Andy, dear. That'll save Mary and me a good deal of trouble."
There was nothing in her words, but something in her tone, which led Andy to ask:
"What's the matter, mother? Has anything happened?"
"I've got through working for Mrs. Preston, Andy."
"Got through? For to-day, you mean?"
"No; I'm not going to work there again."
"Why not?"
"She complained of you, Andy."
"What did she say, mother?" asked our hero, listening with attention.
"She said you ought not to have struck Godfrey."
"Did you tell her he struck me first?"
"Yes, I did."
"And what did she say, thin?"
"She said that you ought not to have struck him back."
"And what did you say, mother?"
"I said my Andy wasn't the boy to stand still and let anybody beat him."
"Good for you, mother! Bully for you! That's where you hit the nail on the head. And what did the ould lady say then?"
"She told me I needn't come there again to work."
"I'm glad you're not goin', mother. I don't want you to work for the likes of her. Let her do her own ironin', the ould spalpeen!"
In general, Andy's speech was tolerably clear of the brogue, but whenever he became a little excited, as at present, it was more marked. He was more angry at the slight to his mother than he would have been at anything, however contemptuous, said to himself. He had that chivalrous feeling of respect for his mother which every boy of his age ought to have, more especially if that mother is a widow.
"But, Andy, I'm very sorry for the money I'll lose."
"How much is it, mother?"
"Seventy-five cents."
"I'll make it up, mother."
"I know you will if you can, Andy; but work is hard to get, and the pay is small."
"You might go back and tell Mrs. Preston that I'm a dirty spalpeen, and maybe she'd take you back, mother."
"I wouldn't slander my own boy like that if she'd take me back twenty times."
"That's the way to talk, mother," said Andy, well pleased. "Don't you be afeared—we'll get along somehow. More by token, here's three dollars I brought home with me yisterday."
Andy pulled out from his pocket six silver half-dollars, and offered them to his mother.
"Where did you get them, Andy?" she asked, in surprise.
"Where did I get them? One way and another, by overwork. We won't starve while them last, will we?"
Andy's cheerful tone had its effect upon his mother.
"Perhaps you're right, Andy," she said, smiling. "At any rate we won't cry till it's time."
"To-morrow I'll go out and see if I can find work."
"Suppose you don't find it, Andy?" suggested his sister.
"Then I'll take in washing," said Andy, laughing. "It's an iligant washer I'd make, wouldn't I now?"
"Nobody'd hire you more than once, Andy."
By and by they had supper. If they had been alone they would have got along on bread and tea; but "Andy needs meat, for he's a growing boy," said his mother.
And so Mary was dispatched to the butcher's for a pound and a half of beefsteak, which made the meal considerably more attractive. Mrs. Burke felt that it was extravagant, particularly just as her income was diminished, but she couldn't bear to stint Andy. At first she was not going to eat, herself, meaning to save a part for Andy's breakfast; but our hero found her out, and declared he wouldn't eat a bit if his mother did not eat, too. So she was forced to take her share, and it did her good, for no one can keep up a decent share of strength on bread and tea alone.
The next morning Andy went out in search of work. He had no very definite idea where to go, or to whom to apply, but he concluded to put in an application anywhere he could.
He paused in front of the house of Deacon Jones, a hard-fisted old farmer, whose reputation for parsimony was well known throughout the village, but of this Andy, being a newcomer, was