Having made these few preliminary observations, as being suitable, in
our opinion, to the character of the incidents which follow, we proceed
at once to commence our narrative.
Arthur, or, as he was more familiarly called by the people, Art Maguire,
was the son of parents who felt and knew that they were descended from
higher and purer blood than could be boasted of by many of the families
in their neighborhood. Art's father was a small farmer, who held about
ten acres of land, and having a family of six children--three sons, and
as many daughters--he determined upon putting one or two of the former
to a trade, so soon as they should be sufficiently grown up for that
purpose. This, under his circumstances was a proper and provident
resolution to make. His farm was too small to be parceled out, as is too
frequently the case, into small miserable patches, upon each of which
a young and inconsiderate couple are contented to sit down, with the
prospect of rearing up and supporting a numerous family with wofully
inadequate means; for although it is generally a matter of certainty
that the families of these young persons will increase, yet it is a
perfectly well-known fact that the little holding will not, and the
consequence is, that families keep subdividing on the one hand, and
increasing on the other, until there is no more room left for them.
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