Free Ebooks - THE EMIGRANTS OF AHADARRA.

THE EMIGRANTS OF AHADARRA.

By William Carleton

CHAPTER I.--A strong Farmer's Establishment and Family.

It was one summer morning, about nine o'clock, when a little man, in
the garb and trim of a mendicant, accompanied by a slender but rather
handsome looking girl about sixteen, or it may be a year more, were upon
their way to the house of a man, who, from his position in life, might
be considered a wealthy agriculturist, and only a step or two beneath
the condition of a gentleman farmer, although much more plain and rustic
in his manners. The house and place had about them that characteristic
appearance of abundance and slovenly neglect which is, unfortunately,
almost peculiar to our country. The house was a long slated one, and
stood upon a little eminence, about three or four hundred yards from the
highway. It was approached by a broad and ragged boreen or mock avenue,
as it might be called, that was in very good keeping with the premises
to which it led. As you entered it from the road, you had to pass
through an iron gate, which it was a task to open, and which, when
opened, it was another task to shut. In consequence of this difficulty,
foot passengers had made themselves a way upon each side of it, through
which they went to and came from the house; and in this they were
sanctioned by the example of the family themselves, who, so long as
these side paths were passable, manifested as much reluctance to open or
close the gate as any one else.

The month was May; and nothing could be more delightful and exhilarating
than the breeze which played over the green fields that were now radiant
with the light which was flooded down upon them from the cloudless sun.
Around them, in every field, were the tokens of that pleasant labor
from which the hopes of ample and abundant harvests always spring. Here,
fixed in the ground, stood the spades of a boon* of laborers, who, as
was evident from that circumstance, were then at breakfast; in another
place might be seen the plough and a portion of the tackle lying beside
it, being expressive of the same fact. Around them, on every side, in
hedges, ditches, green fields, and meadows, the birds seemed
animated into joyous activity or incessant battle, by the business of
nest-building or love. Whilst all around, from earth and air, streamed
the ceaseless voice of universal melody and song.

* A considerable number of men working together.

On reaching the gate, Peety Dhu and his pretty daughter turned up
towards the house we have alluded to--which was the residence of a man
named Burke. On reaching it they were observed by a couple of large
dogs, who, partaking of the hospitable but neglected habits of the
family, first approached and looked at them for a moment, then wagged
their tails by way of welcome, and immediately scampered off into the
kitchen to forage for themselves.

Burke's house and farmyard, though strongly indicative of wealth and
abundance in the owner, were, notwithstanding, evidently the property
of a man whose mind was far back in a knowledge of agriculture, and the
industrial pursuits that depend upon it. His haggard was slovenly in the
extreme, and his farmyard exceedingly offensive to most of the senses;
everything lay about in a careless and neglected manner;--wheelbarrows
without their trundles--sacks for days under the rain that fell from
the eaves of the houses--other implements embedded in mud--car-houses
tumbling down--the pump without a handle--the garden-gate open, and the
pigs hard at work destroying the vegetables, and rooting up the garden
in all directions. In fact, the very animals about the house were
conscious of the character of the people, and acted accordingly. If one
of the dogs, for instance, was hunted at the pigs, he ran in an apparent
fury towards that which happened to be nearest him, which merely lifted
its head and listened for a time--the dog, with loud and boisterous
barking, seizing its ear, led it along for three or four yards in that
position, after which, upon the pig demurring to proceed any further,
he very quietly dropped it and trotted in again, leaving the destructive
animal to resume its depredations.

The house inside bore the same character. Winter and summer the
hall-door, which had long lost the knocker, lay hospitably open. The
parlor had a very equivocal appearance; for the furniture, though
originally good and of excellent materials, was stained and dinged and
hacked in a manner that denoted but little sense of care or cleanliness.
Many of the chairs, although not worn by age, wanted legs or backs,
evidently from ill-usage alone--the grate was without fire-irons--a
mahogany bookcase that stood in a recess to the right of the fireplace,
with glass doors and green silk blinds, had the glass all broken and
the silk stained almost out of its original color; whilst inside of
it, instead of books, lay a heterogeneous collection of garden seeds
in brown paper--an almanac of twenty years' standing, a dry ink-bottle,
some broken delf, and a large collection of blue-moulded shoes and
boots, together with an old blister of French flies, the lease of their
farm, and a great number of their receipts for rent. To crown all, the
clock in the other recess stood cobwebbed about the top, deprived of the
minute hand, and seeming to intimate by its silence that it had given
note of time's progress to this idle and negligent family to no purpose.

On the drawing-room stairs there lay what had once been a carpet, but
so inseparable had been their connection that the stairs were now worn
through it, and it required a sharp eye to distinguish such fragments
of it as remained from the color of the dirty boards it covered and the
dust that lay on both.

On entering the kitchen, Peety and his little girl found thirteen or
fourteen, in family laborers and servants of both sexes, seated at a
long deal table, each with a large wooden noggin of buttermilk and a
spoon of suitable dimensions, digging as if for a wager into one or
other of two immense wooden bowls of stirabout, so thick and firm in
consistency that, as the phrase goes, a man might dance on it. This,
however, was not the only picture of such enjoyment that the kitchen
afforded. Over beside the dresser was turned upon one side the huge pot
in which the morning meal had been made, and at the bottom of which,
inside of course, a spirit of rivalry equally vigorous and animated, but
by no means so harmonious, was kept up by two dogs and a couple of pigs,
which were squabbling and whining and snarling among each other, whilst
they tugged away at the scrapings, or residuum, that was left behind
after the stirabout had been emptied out of it. The whole kitchen, in
fact, had a strong and healthy smell of food--the dresser, a huge one,
was covered with an immense quantity of pewter, wood, and delf; and it
was only necessary to cast one's eye towards the chimney to perceive, by
the weighty masses of black hung beef and the huge sides and flitches
of deep yellow bacon which lined it, that plenty and abundance, even to
overflowing, predominated in the family.

The "chimney-brace" projected far out over the fire-place towards the
floor, and under it on each side stretched two long hobs or chimney
corner seats, on which nearly a dozen persons could sit of a winter
evening. Mrs. Burke, a smart, good-looking little woman, though somewhat
advanced in years, kept passing in a kind of perpetual motion from
one part of the house to the other, with a large bunch of bright
keys jingling at one side, and a huge house-wife pocket, with a round
pin-cushion dangling beside it, at the other. Jemmy Burke himself,
a placid though solemn-faced man, was sitting on the hob in question
complacently smoking his pipe, whilst over the glowing remnants of an
immense turf fire hung a singing kettle, and beside it on three crushed
coals was the teapot, "waitin'," as the servants were in the habit of
expressing it, "for the masther and misthress's breakfast."

Peety, who was well known and a great favorite on his rounds, received a
warm and hospitable welcome from Jemmy Burke, who made him and the girl
sit upon the hob, and immediately ordered them breakfast.

"Here, Nancy Devlin, get Peety and the girsha their skinfuls of
stirabout an' milk. Sit over to the fire, alanna, an' warm yourself."

"Warm, inagh!" replied Peety; "why, sure it's not a fire sich a blessed
mornin' as this she'd want--an' a blessed mornin' it is, glory be to
God!"

"Troth, an' you're right, sure enough, Peety," replied the good-natured
farmer; "a blessed saison it is for gettin' down the crops. Go over
there, now, you an' the girsha, to that other table, an'--whish!--kick
them pigs an' dogs out o' the house, an' be d--d to them! One can't hear
their ears for them--you an' the girsha, an' let us see what you can
do. Nancy, achora, jist dash a gawliogue o' sweet milk into their
noggins--they're not like us that's well fed every day--. it's but
seldom they get the likes, the creatures--so dash in a brave gawliogue
o' the sweet milk for them. Take your time, Peety,--aisy, alanna, 'till
you get what I'm sayin; it'll nourish an put strinth in you."

"Ah, Misther Burke," replied Peety, in a tone of gratitude peculiar to
his class, "you're the ould* man still--ever an' always the large heart
an' lavish hand--an' so sign's on it--full an' plinty upon an' about
you--an' may it ever be so wid you an' yours, a chierna, I pray. An how
is the misthress, sir?"

* That is to say, the same man still.

"Throth, she's very well, Peety--has no raison to complain, thank God!"

"Thank God, indeed! and betther may she be, is my worst wish to her--an'
Masther Hycy, sir?--but I needn't ax how he is. Isn't the whole country
ringin' wid his praises;--the blessin' o' God an you, acushla"--this
was to Nancy Devlin, on handing them the new milk--"draw over, darlin',
nearer to the table--there now"--this to his daughter, whom he settled
affectionately to her food. "Ay, indeed," he proceeded, "sure there's
only the one word of it over the whole Barony we're sittin' in--that
there's neither fetch nor fellow for him through the whole parish. Some
people, indeed, say that Bryan M'Mahon comes near him; but only some,
for it's given up to Masther Hycy all to pieces."

"Faix, an' I for one, although I'm his father--amn't I, Rosha?" he
added, good-humoredly addressing his wife, who had just come into the
kitchen from above stairs.

"Throth," said the wife, who never replied with good humor unless when
addressed as Mrs. Burke, "you're ill off for something to speak about.
How are you, Peety? an' how is your little girl?"

"In good health, ma'am, thank God an' you; an' very well employed at the
present time, thanks to you still!"

To this Mrs. Burke made no reply; for it may be necessary to state
here, that although she was not actually penurious or altogether without
hospitality, and something that might occasionally be termed charity,
still it is due to honest Jemmy to inform the reader in the outset,
that, as Peety Dhu said, "the large heart and the lavish hand"
were especially his own. Mrs. Burke was considered to have been
handsome--indeed, a kind of rustic beauty in her day--and, like many of
that class, she had not been without a due share of vanity, or perhaps
we might say coquetry, if we were to speak the truth. Her teeth were
good, and she had a very pretty dimple in one of her cheeks when she
smiled, two circumstances which contributed strongly to sustain her good
humor, and an unaccountable tendency to laughter, when the poverty
of the jest was out of all proportion to the mirth that followed it.
Notwithstanding this apparently light and agreeable spirit, she was both
vulgar and arrogant, and labored under the weak and ridiculous ambition
of being considered a woman of high pretensions, who had been most
unfortunately thrown away, if not altogether lost, upon a husband whom
she considered as every way unworthy of her. Her father had risen into
the possession of some unexpected property when it was too late to
bestow upon her a suitable education, and the consequence was that, in
addition to natural vanity, on the score of beauty, she was a good
deal troubled with purse-pride, which, with a foolish susceptibility of
flattery, was a leading feature in her disposition. In addition to this,
she was an inveterate and incurable slattern, though a gay and lively
one; and we need scarcely say that whatever she did in the shape
of benevolence or charity, in most instances owed its origin to the
influences of the weaknesses she was known to possess.

Breakfast, at length, was over, and the laborers, with an odd hiccup
here and there among them, from sheer repletion, got their hats and
began to proceed towards the farm.

"Now, boys," said Jemmy, after dropping a spittle into his pipe,
pressing it down with his little finger, and putting it into his
waistcoat pocket, "see an' get them praties down as soon as you can, an'
don't work as if you intended to keep your Christmas there; an' Paddy
the Bounce, I'll thank you to keep your jokes an' your stories to
yourself, an' not to be idlin' the rest till afther your work's done.
Throth it was an unlucky day I had anything to do wid you, you divartin'
vagabone--ha! ha! ha! When I hired him in the Micklemas fair," proceeded
Jemmy, without addressing himself to any particular individual, "he
killed me wid laughin' to such a degree, that I couldn't refuse the
mehony whatsomever wages he axed; an' now he has the men, insteed o'
mindin' their work, dancin' through the field, an' likely to split at
the fun he tells them, ha! ha! ha! Be off, now, boys. Pettier Murphy,
you randletree, let,the girl alone. That's it Peggy, lay on him; ha!
devil's cure to you! take what you've got any way--you desarve it."

These latter observations were occasioned by a romping match that took
place between a young laborer and a good-looking girl who was employed
to drop potatoes for the men.

At length those who were engaged in the labor of the field departed in
a cheerful group, and in a few minutes the noise of a horse's feet,
evidently proceeding at a rapid trot, was heard coming up the boreen or
avenue towards the house.

"Ay," exclaimed Burke, with a sigh, "there comes Hycy at a trot, an' the
wondher is it's not a gallop. That's the way he'll get through life, I
fear; an' if God doesn't change him he's more likely to gallop himself
to the Staff an' Bag (* Beggary.) than to anything else I know. I can't
nor I won't stand his extravagance--but it's his mother's fault, an'
she'll see what it'll come to in the long run."

He had scarcely concluded when his son entered the kitchen, alternately
singing and whistling the Foxhunter's jig in a manner that betokened
exuberant if not boisterous spirits. He was dressed in top boots,
a green riding-coat, yellow waistcoat, and drab cassimere small
clothes--quite in jockey trim, in fact.

Hycy rather resembled his father in the lineaments of his face, and was,
consequently, considered handsome. He was about the middle size, and
remarkably well proportioned. In fact, it would be exceedingly difficult
to find a young fellow of manlier bearing or more striking personal
attractions. His features were regular, and his complexion fresh and
youthful looking, and altogether there was in his countenance and whole
appearance a cheerful, easy, generous, unreflecting dash of character
that not only made him a favorite on first acquaintance, but won
confidence by an openness of manner that completely disarmed suspicion.
It might have been observed, however, that his laugh, like his mother's,
never, or at least seldom, came directly from the heart, and that there
was a hard expression about his otherwise well-formed mouth, such as
rarely indicated generosity of feeling, or any acquaintance with the
kinder impulses of our nature. He was his mother's pet and favorite, and
her principal wish was that he should be looked upon and addressed as
a gentleman, and for that purpose she encouraged him to associate with
those only whose rank and position in life rendered any assumption of
equality on his part equally arrogant and obtrusive. In his own family
his bearing towards his parents was, in point of fact, the reverse
of what it ought to have been. He not only treated his father with
something bordering on contempt, but joined his mother in all that
ignorant pride which kept her perpetually bewailing the fate by which
she was doomed to become his wife. Nor did she herself come off better
at his hands. Whilst he flattered her vanity, and turned her foibles
to his own advantage, under the guise of a very dutiful affection, his
deportment towards her was marked by an ironical respect, which was the
more indefensible and unmanly because she could not see through it. The
poor woman had taken up the opinion, that difficult and unintelligible
language was one test of a gentleman; and her son by the use of such
language, let no opportunity pass of confirming her in this opinion, and
establishing his own claims to the character.

"Where did you ride to this mornin' Misther Hycy?"

"Down to take a look at Tom Burton's mare, Crazy Jane, ma'am:--

"'Away, my boys, to horse away,
The Chase admits of no delay--'"

"Tom Burton!" re-echoed the father with a groan; "an so you're in Tom
Burton's hands! A swindlin', horse-dalin' scoundrel that would chate St.
Pether. Hycy, my man, if you go to look for wool to Tom you'll come home
shorn."

"'Our vicar still preaches that Peter and Poule
Laid a swinging long curse on the bonny brown bowl,
That there's wrath and despair--"

Thank you, father--much obliged; you entertain a good opinion of me."

"Do I, faith? Don't be too sure of that."

"I've bought her at any rate," said Hycy--"thirty-five's the figure; but
she's a dead bargain at fifty."

"Bought her!" exclaimed the father; "an' how, in God's name, do you
expect to pay for her?"

"By an order on a very excellent, worthy man and
gentleman-farmer--ycleped James Burke, Esquire--who has the honor
of being father to that ornament of the barony, Hycy Burke, the
accomplished. My worthy sire will fork out."

"If I do, that I may--"

"Silence, poor creature!" said his wife, clapping her hand upon his
mouth--"make no rash or vulgar oaths. Surely, Misther Burke--"

"How often did I bid you not to misther me? Holy scrapers, am I to be
misthered and pesthered this way, an' my name plane Jemmy Burke!"

"You see, Hycy, the vulgarian will come out," said his mother. "I say,
Misther Burke, are you to see your son worse mounted at the Herringstown
Hunt than any other gentleman among them? Have you no pride?

"No, thank God! barin' that I'm an honest man an' no gentleman; an', as
for Hycy, Rosha--"

"Mrs. Burke, father, if you please," interposed Hycy; "remember who your
wife is at all events."

"Faith, Hycy, she'll come better off if I forget that same; but I tell
you that instead of bein' the laughin'-stock of the same Hunt, it's
betune the stilts of a plough you ought to be, or out in the fields
keepin' the men to their business."

"I paid three guineas earnest money, at all events," said the son; "but
'it matters not,' as the preacher says--

"'When I was at home I was merry and frisky,
My dad kept a pig and my mother sold whiskey'--

Beg pardon, mother, no allusion--my word and honor none--to you I mean--

"'My uncle was rich, but would never be aisy
Till I was enlisted by Corporal Casey.'

Fine times in the army, Mr. Burke, with every prospect of a speedy
promotion. Mother, my stomach craves its matutinal supply--I'm in
excellent condition for breakfast."

"It's ready. Jemmy, you'll--Misther Burke, I mane--you'll pay for
Misther Hycy's mare."

"If I do--you'll live to see it, that's all. Give the boy his
breakwhist."

"Thank you, worthy father--much obliged for your generosity--

"'Oh, love is the soul of a nate Irishman
He loves all that's lovely, loves all that he can,
With his sprig of--'

Ah, Peety Dhu, how are you, my worthy peripatetic? Why, this daughter
of yours is getting quite a Hebe on our hands. Mrs. Burke,
breakfast--breakfast, madam, as you love Hycy, the accomplished." So
saying, Hycy the accomplished proceeded to the parlor we have described,
followed by his maternal relative, as he often called his mother.

"Well, upon my word and honor, mother," said the aforesaid Hycy, who
knew and played upon his mother's weak points, "it is a sad thing to see
such a woman as you are, married to a man who has neither the spirit nor
feelings of a gentleman--my word and honor it is."

"I feel that, Hycy, but there's no help for spilt milk; we must only
make the best of a bad bargain. Are you coming to your breakfast," she
shouted, calling to honest Jemmy, who still sat on the hob ruminating
with a kind of placid vexation over his son's extravagance--"your tay's
filled out!"

"There let it," he replied, "I'll have none of your plash to-day; I tuck
my skinful of good stiff stirabout that's worth a shipload of it. Drink
it yourselves--I'm no gintleman."

"Arrah, when did you find that out, Misther Burke?" she shouted back
again.

"To his friends and acquaintances it is anything but a recent disco
very," added Hycy; and each complimented the observation of the other
with a hearty laugh, during which the object of it went out to the
fields to join the men.

"I'm afraid it's no go, mother," proceeded the son, when breakfast was
finished--"he won't stand it. Ah, if both my parents were of the
same geometrical proportion, there would be little difficulty in this
business; but upon my honor and reputation, my dear mother, I think
between you and me that my father's a gross abstraction--a most
substantial and ponderous apparition."

"An' didn't I know that an' say that too all along?" replied his mother,
catching as much of the high English from him as she could manage:
"however, lave the enumeration of the mare to me. It'll go hard or I'll
get it out of him."

"It is done," he replied; "your stratagetic powers are great, my dear
mother, consequently it is left in your hands."

Hycy, whilst in the kitchen, cast his eye several times upon the
handsome young daughter of Peety Dhu, a circumstance to which we owe the
instance of benevolent patronage now about to be recorded.

"Mother," he proceeds, "I think it would be a charity to rescue that
interesting little girl of Peety Dhu's from a life of mendicancy."

"From a what?" she asked, staring at him.

"Why," he replied, now really anxious to make himself understood--"from
the disgraceful line of life he's bringin' her up to. You should take
her in and provide for her."

"When I do, Hycy," replied his mother, bridling, "it won't be a beggar's
daughter nor a niece of Philip Hogan's--sorrow bit."

"As for her being a niece of Hogan's, you know it is by his mother's
side; but wouldn't it be a feather in her cap to get under the
protection of a highly respectable woman, though? The patronage of a
person like you, Mrs. Burke, would be the making of her--my word and
honor it would."

"Hem!--ahem!--do you think so, Hycy?"

"Tut, mother--that indeed!--can there be a doubt about it?"

"Well then, in that case, I think she may stay--that is, if the father
will consent to it."

"Thank you, mother, for that example of protection and benevolence. I
feel that all my virtues certainly proceed from your side of the house
and are derived from yourself--there can be no doubt of that."

"Indeed I think so myself, Hycy, for where else would you get them? You
have the M'Swiggin nose; an' it can't be from any one else you take your
high notions. All you show of the gentleman, Hycy, it's not hard to name
them you have it from, I believe."

"Spoken like a Sybil. Mother, within the whole range of my female
acquaintances I don't know a woman that has in her so much of the
gentleman as yourself--my word and honor, mother."

"Behave, Hycy--behave now," she replied, simpering; "however truth's
truth, at any rate."

We need scarcely say that the poor mendicant was delighted at the notion
of having his daughter placed in the family of so warm and independent a
man as Jemmy Burke. Yet the poor little fellow did not separate from the
girl without a strong manifestation of the affection he bore her. She
was his only child--the humble but solitary flower that blossomed for
him upon the desert of life.

"I lave her wid you," he said, addressing Mrs. Burke with tears in his
eyes, "as the only treasure an' happiness I have in this world. She is
the poor man's lamb, as I have hard read out of Scripture wanst; an' in
lavin' her undher your care, I lave all my little hopes in this world
wid her. I trust, ma'am, you'll guard her an' look afther her as if she
was one of your own."

This unlucky allusion might have broken up the whole contemplated
arrangement, had not Hycy stepped in to avert from Peety the offended
pride of the patroness.

"I hope, Peety," he said, "that you are fully sensible of the honor Mrs.
Burke does you and your daughter by taking the girl under her protection
and patronage?"

"I am, God knows."

"And of the advantage it is to get her near so respectable a woman--so
highly respectable a woman?"

"I am, in troth."

"And that it may be the making of your daughter's fortune?"

"It may, indeed, Masther Hycy."

"And that there's no other woman of high respectability in the parish
capable of elevating her to the true principles of double and simple
proportion?"

"No, in throth, sir, I don't think there is."

"Nor that can teach her the newest theories in dogmatic theology and
metaphysics, together with the whole system of Algebraic Equations if
the girl should require them?"

"Divil another woman in the barony can match her at them by all
accounts," replied Peety, catching the earnest enthusiasm of Hycy's
manner.

"That will do, Peety; you see yourself, mother," he added, taking her
aside and speaking in a low voice, "that the little fellow knows right
well the advantages of having her under your care and protection;
and it's very much to his credit, and speaks very highly for his
metempsychosis that he does so--hem!"

"He was always a daicent, sinsible, poor creature of his kind," replied
his mother "besides, Hycy, between you and me, she'll be more than worth
her bit."

"There now, Peety," said her son, turning towards the mendicant; "it's
all settled--wait now for a minute till I write a couple of notes, which
you must deliver for me."

Peety sat accordingly, and commenced to lay down for his daughter's
guidance and conduct such instructions as he deemed suitable to the
situation she was about to enter and the new duties that necessarily
devolved upon her.

In due time Hycy appeared, and placing two letters in Peety's hands,
said--"Go, Peety, to Gerald Cavanagh's, of Fenton's Farm, and if you
can get an opportunity, slip that note into Kathleen's hands--this, mark,
with the corner turned down--you won't forget that?"

"No, sir."

"Very well--you're then to proceed to Tom M'Mahon's, and if you find
Bryan, his son, there, give him this; and if he's at the mountain farm
of Ahadarra, go to him. I don't expect an answer from Kathleen Cavanagh,
but I do from Bryan M'Mahon; and mark me, Peety."

"I do, sir."

"Are you sure you do?"

"Sartin, sir."

"Silent as the grave then is the word in both cases--but if I ever
hear--"

"That's enough, Masther Hycy; when the grave spakes about it so will I."

Peety took the letters and disappeared with an air rendered important
by the trust reposed in him; whilst Mrs. Burke looked inquiringly at her
son, as if her curiosity were a good deal excited.

"One of them is to Kate or Kathleen Cavanagh, as they call her," said
Hycy, in reply to her looks; "and the other for Bryan M'Mahon, who is
soft and generous--_probatum est_. I want to know if he'll stand for
thirty-five--and as for Kate, I'm making love to her, you must know."

"Kathleen Cavanagh," replied his mother; "I'll never lend my privileges
to sich match."

"Match!" exclaimed Hycy, coolly.

"Ah," she replied warmly; "match or marriage will never--"

"Marriage!" he repeated, "why, my most amiable maternal relative, do
you mean to insinuate to Hycy the accomplished, that he is obliged to
propose either match or marriage to every girl he makes love to? What a
prosaic world you'd have of it, my dear Mrs. Burke. This, ma'am, is
only an agreeable flirtation--not but that it's possible there may
be something in the shape of a noose matrimonial dangling in the
background. She combines, no doubt, in her unrivalled person, the
qualities of Hebe, Venus, and Diana--Hebe in youth, Venus in beauty, and
Diana in wisdom; so it's said, but I trust incorrectly, as respects one
of them--good-bye, mother--try your influence as touching Crazy Jane,
and report favorably--

"'Friend of my soul, this goblet sip,
'Twill chase the pensive tear. &c.'"

CHAPTER II.--Gerald Cavanagh and his Family

--Tom M'Mahon's return from Dublin.

The house of Gerald Cavanagh, though not so large as that of our
kind-hearted friend, Jemmy Burke, was a good specimen of what an Irish
farmer's residence ought to be. It was distant from Burke's somewhat
better than two miles, and stood almost, immediately inside the highway,
upon a sloping green that was vernal through the year. It was in
the cottage style, in the form of a cross, with a roof ornamentally
thatched, and was flanked at a little distance by the office-houses.
The grass was always so close on this green, as to have rather the
appearance of a well kept lawn. The thorn-trees stood in front of it,
clipped in the shape of round tables, on one of which, exposed to all
weathers, might be seen a pair of large churn-staves, bleached into a
white, fresh color, that caused a person to long for the butter they
made. On the other stood a large cage, in which was imprisoned a
blackbird, whose extraordinary melody had become proverbial in the
neighborhood. Down a little to the right of the hall-door, a pretty
winding gravelled pathway led to a clear spring well that was
overshadowed by a spreading white-thorn; and at each gable stood a
graceful elder or mountain-ash, whose red berries during the autumn had
a fine effect, and contrasted well with the mass of darker and larger
trees, by which the back portion of the house and the offices was almost
concealed. Both the house and green were in an elevated position, and
commanded a delightful expanse of rich meadows to the extent of nearly
one hundred acres, through which a placid river wound its easy way, like
some contented spirit that glides calmly and happily through the gentle
vicissitudes of an untroubled life.

As Peety Dhu, whilst passing from the residence of our friend Jemmy
Burke to that of Gerald Cavanagh, considered himself in his vocation,
the reader will not be surprised to hear that it was considerably past
noon! when he arrived at Fenton's Farm; for by this name the property
was known on a portion of which the Cavanaghs lived. It might be about
the hours of two or three o'clock, when Peety, on arriving at the gate
which led into Cavanagh's house, very fortunately saw his daughter
Kathleen, in the act of feeding the blackbird aforementioned; and
prudently deeming this the best opportunity of accomplishing his
mission, he beckoned her to approach him. The good-natured girl did so:
saying at the same time--"What is the matter, Peety?--do you want me?
Won't you come into the kitchen?"

"Thank you, avourneen, but I can't; I did want you, but it was only to
give you this letther. I suppose it will tell you all. Oh, thin, is it
any wondher that you should get it, an' that half the parish should be
dyin' in love wid you? for, in troth, it's enough to make an ould man
feel young agin even to look at you. I was afraid they might see me
givin' you the letther from the windy, and that's what made me sign to
you to come to me here. Good-bye _a colleen dhas_ (* Pretty girl.)--an'
it's you that's that sure enough."

The features, neck, and bosom of the girl, on receiving this
communication, were overspread with one general blush, and she stood,
for a few moments, irresolute and confused. In the mean time Peety had
passed on, and after a pause of a few minutes, she looked at the letter
more attentively, and slowly broke it open. It was probably the first
epistle she had ever received, and we need scarcely say that, as a
natural consequence, she was by no means quick in deciphering written
hand. Be this as it may, after having perused a few lines she started,
looked at the bottom for the name, then at the letter again; and as her
sister Hanna joined her, that brow on which a frown had been seldom ever
seen to sit, was now crimson with indignation.

"Why, gracious goodness!" exclaims Hanna, "what is this, Kathleen?
Something has vexed you!--ha! a love-letter, too! In airnest, what ails
you? an' who is the letter from, if it's fair to ax?"

"The letter is not for me," replied Kathleen, putting it into her
sister's hand, "but when you read it you won't wonder that I'm angry."

As Hanna began to go slowly through it, she first laughed, but on
proceeding a little further her brow also reddened, and her whole
features expressed deep and unequivocal resentment. Having concluded the
perusal of this mysterious document, she, looked at her sister, who, in
return, gazed upon her.

"Well, Kathleen, after all," said Hanna, "it's not worth while losing
one's temper about it. Never think of it again; only to punish him, I'd
advise you, the next time you see Peety, to send it back."

"You don't suppose, Hanna, that I intended to keep it; but indeed," she
added, with a smile; "it is not worth while bein' angry about."

As the sisters stood beside each other, holding this short conversation,
it would be difficult to find any two females more strikingly dissimilar
both in figure, features, and complexion. Hanna was plain, but not
disagreeable, especially when her face became animated with good humor.
Her complexion, though not at all of a sickly hue, was of that middle
tint which is neither pale nor sallow, but holds an equivocal position
between both. Her hair was black, but dull, and without that peculiar
gloss which accompanies either the very snowy skin of a fair beauty,
or, at least, the rich brown hue of a brunette. Her figure was in no way
remarkable, and she was rather under the middle size.

Her sister, however, was a girl who deserves at our hands a more
accurate and lengthened description. Kathleen Cavanagh was considerably
above the middle size, her figure, in fact, being of the tallest; but no
earthly form could surpass it in symmetry, and that voluptuous fulness
of outline, which, when associated with a modest and youthful style of
beauty, is, of all others, the most fascinating and irresistible. The
whiteness of her unrivalled skin, and the gloss of health which shone
from it were almost dazzling. Her full bust, which literally glowed with
light and warmth, was moulded with inimitable proportion, and the masses
of rich brown hair that shaded her white and expansive forehead, added
incredible attractions to a face that was remarkable not only for
simple beauty in its finest sense, but that divine charm of ever-varying
expression which draws its lights and shadows, and the thousand graces
with which it is accompanied, directly from the heart. Her dark eyes
were large and flashing, and reflected by the vivacity or melancholy
which increased or over-shadowed their lustre, all those joys or
sorrows, and various shades of feeling by which she was moved, whilst
her mouth gave indication of extraordinary and entrancing sweetness,
especially when she smiled.

Such was Kathleen Cavanagh, the qualities of whose mind were still
superior to the advantages of her person. And yet she shone not forth at
the first view, nor immediately dazzled the beholder by the brilliancy
of her charms. She was unquestionably a tall, fine looking country girl,
tastefully and appropriately dressed; but it was necessary to see her
more than once, and to have an opportunity of examining her, time after
time, to be able fully to appreciate the surprising character of her
beauty, and the incredible variety of those changes which sustain its
power and give it perpetual novelty to the heart and eye. It was, in
fact, of that dangerous description which improves on inspection, and
gradually develops itself upon the beholder, until he feels the full
extent of its influence, and is sensible, perhaps, when too late, that
he is its helpless and unresisting victim.

Around the two thorn-trees we have alluded to were built circular seats
of the grassy turf, on which the two sisters, each engaged in knitting,
now sat chatting and laughing with that unrestrained good humor and
familiarity which gave unquestionable proof of the mutual confidence
and affection that subsisted between them. Their natural tempers and
dispositions were as dissimilar as their persons. Hanna was lively and
mirthful, somewhat hasty, but placable, quick in her feelings of either
joy or sorrow, and apparently not susceptible of deep or permanent
impressions; whilst Kathleen, on the other hand, was serious, quiet, and
placid--difficult to be provoked, of great sweetness of temper, with a
tinge of melancholy that occasionally gave an irresistible charm to her
voice and features, when conversing upon any subject that was calculated
to touch the heart, or in which she felt deeply. Unlike her sister, she
was resolute, firm, and almost immutable in her resolutions; but that
was because her resolutions were seldom hasty or unadvised, but the
result of a strong feeling of rectitude and great good sense. It is
true she possessed high feelings of self-respect, together with an
enthusiastic love for her religion, and a most earnest zeal for its
advancement; indeed, so strongly did these predominate in her mind, that
any act involving a personal slight towards herself, or indifference to
her creed and its propagation, were looked upon by Kathleen as crimes
for which there was no forgiveness. If she had any fellings, it was in
these two points they lay. But at the same time, we are bound to say,
that the courage and enthusiasm of Joan of Arc had been demanded of her
by the state and condition of her country and her creed, she would
have unquestionably sacrificed her life, if the sacrifice secured the
prosperity of either.

Something of their difference of temperament might have been observed
during their conversation, while sitting under the white thorn. Every
now and then, for instance, Hanna would start up and commence a
series of little flirtations with the blackbird, which she called her
sweetheart, and again resume her chat and seat as before; or she would
attempt to catch a butterfly as it fluttered about her, or sometimes
give it pursuit over half the green, whilst Kathleen sat with laughing
and delighted eyes, and a smile of unutterable sweetness on her lips,
watching the success of this innocent frolic. In this situation we must
now leave them, to follow Peety, who is on his way to deliver the other
letter to Bryan M'Mahon.

Our little black Mercury was not long in arriving at the house of Tom
M'Mahon, which he reached in company with that worthy man himself, whom
he happened to overtake near Carriglass where he lived. M'Mahon seemed
fatigued and travel-worn, and consequently was proceeding at a slow pace
when Peety overtook him. The latter observed this.

"Why, thin, Tom," said he, after the first salutations had passed, "you
look like a man that had jist put a tough journey over him."

"An' so I ought, Peety," he replied, "for I have put a tough journey
over me."

"Musha where were you, thin, if it's fair to ax?" inquired Peety; "for
as for me that hears everything almost, the never a word I heard o'
this."

"I was in Dublin, thin, all the way," replied the farmer, "strivin' to
get a renewal o' my laise from ould Squire Chevydale, the landlord; an'
upon my snuggins, Peety, you may call a journey to Dublin an' home agin
a tough one--devil a doubt of it. However, thank God, here we are at
home; an' blessed be His name that we have a home to come to; for,
afther all, what place is like it? Throth, Peety, my heart longed for
these brave fields of ours--for the lough there below, and the wild
hills above us; for it wasn't until I was away from them that I felt how
strong the love of them was in my heart."

M'Mahon was an old but hale man, with a figure and aspect that were much
above the common order even of the better class of peasants. There could
be no mistaking the decent and composed spirit of integrity which was
evident in his very manner; and there was something in his long flowing
locks, now tinged with gray, as they rested upon his shoulders, that
gave an air of singular respect to his whole appearance.

On uttering the last words he stood, and looking around him became so
much affected that his eyes filled with tears. "Ay," said he, "thank
God that we have our place to come to, an' that we will still have it to
come to, and blessed be His name for all things! Come, Peety," he added,
after a pause, "let us see how they all are inside; I'm longin' to see
them, especially poor, dear Dora; an'--God bless me! here she is!--no,
she ran back to tell them--but ay--oh, ay! here she is again, my darlin'
girl, comin' to meet me."

He had scarcely uttered the words when an interesting, slender girl,
about eighteen, blushing, and laughing, and crying, all at once, came
flying towards him, and throwing her white arms about his neck, fell
upon his bosom, kissed him, and wept with delight at his return.

"An' so, father dear, you're back to us! My gracious, we thought you'd
never come home! Sure you worn't sick? We thought maybe that you took
ill, or that--that--something happened you; and we wanted to send Bryan
after you--but nothing happened you?--nor you worn't sick?"

"You affectionate, foolish darlin', no, I wasn't sick; nor nothing ill
happened me, Dora."

"Oh, thank God! Look at them," she proceeded, directing his attention
to the house, "look at them all crowdin' to the door--and here's Shibby,
too, and Bryan himself--an' see my mother ready to lep out of herself
wid pure joy--the Lord be praised that you're safe back!"

At this moment his second daughter ran to him, and a repetition of
welcome similar to that which he received from Dora took place. His son
Bryan grasped his hand, and said, whilst a tear stood even in his eye,
that he was glad to see him safe home. The old man, in return, grasped
his hand with an expression of deep feeling, and after having inquired
if they had been all well in his absence, he proceeded with them to the
house. Here the scene was still more interesting. Mrs. M'Mahon stood
smiling at the door, but as he came near, she was obliged once or twice
to wipe away the tears with the corner of her handkerchief. We have
often observed how much fervid piety is mingled with the affections of
the Irish people when in a state of excitement; and this meeting between
the old man and his wife presented an additional proof of it.

"Blessed be God!" exclaimed his wife, tenderly embracing* him, "blessed
be God, Tom darlin', that you're safe back to us! An' how are you,
avourueen? an' wor you well ever since? an' there was nothin--musha, go
out o' this, Ranger, you thief--oh, God forgive me! what am I sayin'?
sure the poor dog is as glad as the best of us--arrah, thin, look at the
affectionate crathur, a'most beside himself! Dora, avillish, give him
the could stirabout that's in the skillet, jist for his affection, the
crathur. Here, Ranger--Ranger, I say--oh no, sorra one's in the house
now but yourself, Tom. Well, an' there was nothing wrong wid you?"

"Nothin', Nancy, thanks be to the Almighty--down, poor fellow--there
now, Ranger--och, behave, you foolish dog--musha, see this!"

"Throth, Tom," continued his loving wife, "let what will happen, it's
the last journey ever we'll let you take from us. Ever an' ever, there
we wor thinkin' an' thinkin' a thousand things about you. At one time
that something happened you; then that you fell sick an' had none but
strangers about you. Throth we won't; let what will happen, you must
stay wid vis."

"Indeed an' I never knew how I loved the place, an' you all, till I
went; but, thank God, I hope it's the last journey ever I'll have to
take from either you or it."

"Shibby, run down to--or do you, Dora, go, you're the souplest--to Paddy
Mullen's and Jemmy Kelly's, and the rest of the neighbors, an' tell them
to come up, that your father's home. Run now, acushla, an' if you fall
don't wait to rise; an' Shibby, darlin', do you whang down a lot o' that
bacon into rashers, 'your father must be at death's door wid hunger;
but wasn't it well that I thought of having the whiskey in, for you see
afther Thursday last we didn't know what minute you'd dhrop in on us,
Tom, an' I said it was best to be prepared. Give Peety a chair, the
crature; come forrid, Peety, an' take a sate; an' how are you? an' how
is the girsha wid you, an' where is she?"

To these questions, thus rapidly put, Peety returned suitable answers;
but indeed Mrs. M'Mahon did not wait to listen to them, having gone to
another room to produce the whisky she had provided for the occasion.

"Here," she said, reappearing with a huge bottle in one hand and a glass
in the other, "a sip o' the right sort will help you afther your long
journey; you must be tired, be coorse, so take this."

"Aisy, Bridget," exclaimed her husband, "don't fill it; you'll make me
hearty." (* tipsy)

"Throth an' I will fill it," she replied, "ay, an' put a heap on it.
There now, finish that bumper."

The old man, with a smiling and happy face, received the glass, and
taking his wife's hand in his, looked at her, and then upon them all,
with an expression of deep emotion. "Bridget, your health; childre', all
your healths; and here's to Carriglasa, an' may we long live happy in
it, as we will, plase God! Peety, not forgettin' you!"

We need hardly say that the glass went round, nor that Peety was not
omitted in the hospitality any more than in the toast.

"Here, Bryan," said Mrs. M'Mahon, "lay that bottle on the dresser, it's
not worth while puttin' it past till the neighbors comes up; an' it's
they that'll be the glad neighbors to see you safe back agin, Tom."

In this she spoke truth. Honest and hearty was the welcome he received
from them, as with sparkling eyes and a warm grasp they greeted him
on his return. Not only had Paddy Mullin and Jemmy Kelly run up in
haste--the latter, who had been digging in his garden, without waiting
to put on his hat or coat--but other families in the neighborhood, young
and old, crowded in to welcome him home---from Dublin--for in that lay
the principal charm. The bottle was again produced, and a holiday spirit
now prevailed among them. Questions upon questions were put to him with
reference to the wonders they had heard of the great metropolis--of
the murders and robberies committed upon travellers--the kidnapping of
strangers from the country--the Lord Lieutenant's Castle, with three
hundred and sixty-four windows in it, and all the extraordinary sights
and prodigies which it is supposed to contain. In a few minutes after
this friendly accession to their numbers had taken place, a youth
entered about nineteen years of age--handsome, tall, and well-made--in
fact, such a stripling as gave undeniable promise of becoming a fine,
powerful young man. On being handed a glass of whiskey he shook hands
with M'Mahon, welcomed him home, and then drank all their healths by
name until he came to that of Dora, when he paused, and, coloring,
merely nodded towards her. We cannot undertake to account for this
omission, nor do more than record what actually happened. Neither do we
know why Dora blushed so deeply as she did, nor why the sparkling and
rapid glance which she gave him in return occasioned him to look down
with an appearance of confusion and pain. That some understanding
subsisted between young Cavanagh--for he was Gerald's son--and Dora
might have been evident to a close observer; but in truth there was
at that moment no such thing as a close observer among them, every eye
being fixed with impatience and curiosity upon Tom M'Mahon, who had now
most of the conversation to himself, little else being left to the share
of his auditors than the interjectional phrases and exclamations of
wonder at his extraordinary account of Dublin.

"But, father," said Bryan, "about the business that brought you there?
Did you get the Renewal?"

"I got as good," replied the simple-hearted old man, "an' that was the,
word of a gintleman--an' sure they say that that's the best security in
the world."

"Well, but how was it?" they exclaimed, "an' how did it happen that you
didn't get the Lease itself?"

"Why, you see," he proceeded in reply, "the poor gintleman was near his
end--an' it was owin' to Pat Corrigan that I seen him at all--for Pat,
you know, is his own man. When I went in to where he sat I found Mr.
Fethertonge the agent wid him: he had a night-cap on, an' was sittin'
in a big armchair, wid one of his feet an' a leg swaythed wid flannel. I
thought he was goin' to write or sign papers. 'Well, M'Mahon,' says
he--for he was always as keen as a briar, an' knew me at once--'what do
you want? an' what has brought you from the country?' I then spoke to him
about the new lease; an' he said to Fethertonge, 'prepare M'Mahon's
lease, Fothertonge;--you shall have a new lease, M'Mahon. You are an
honest man, and your family have been so for many a long year upon
our property. As my health is unsartin,' he said, turning to Mr.
Fethertonge, 'I take Mr. Fethertonge here to witness, that in case
anything should happen me I give you my promise for a renewal--an' not
only in my name alone, but in my son's; an' I now lave it upon him to
fulfil my intentions an' my words, if I should not live to see it done
myself. Mr. Fethertonge here has brought me papers to sign, but I am not
able to hould a pen, or if I was I'd give you a written promise; but
you have my solemn word, I fear my dyin' word, in Mr. Fethertonge's
presence--that you shall have a lease of your farm at the ould rint. It
is such tenants as you we want, M'Mahon, an' that we ought to encourage
on our property. Fethertonge, do you in the mane time see that a lease
is prepared for M'Mahon; an' see, at all events, that my wishes shall be
carried into effect.' Sich was his last words to me, but he was a corpse
on the next day but one afterwards."

"It's jist as good," they exclaimed with one voice; "for what is
betther, or what can be betther than _the word of an Irish gentleman?_"

"What ought to be betther, at all events?" said Bryan. "Well, father, so
far everything is right, for there is no doubt but his son will fulfil
his words--Mr. Fethertonge himself isn't the thing; but I don't see why
he should be our enemy. We always stood well with the ould man, an' I
hope will with the son. Come, mother, move the bottle again--there's
another round in it still; an' as everything looks so well and our mind
is aisy, we'll see it to the bottom."

The conversation was again resumed, questions were once more asked
concerning the sights and sounds of Dublin, of which one would imagine
they could scarcely ever hear enough, until the evening was tolerably
far advanced, when the neighbors withdrew to their respective homes, and
left M'Mahon and his family altogether to themselves.

Peety, now that the joy and gratulation for the return of their
father had somewhat subsided, lost no time in delivering Hycy Burke's
communication into the hands of Bryan. The latter, on opening it,
started with surprise not inferior to that with which Kathleen Cavanagh
had perused the missive addressed to her. Nor was this all. The letter
received by Bryan, as if the matter had been actually designed by the
writer, produced the selfsame symptoms of deep resentment upon him that
the mild and gentle Kathleen Cavanagh experienced on the perusal of her
own. His face became flushed and his eye blazed with indignation as
he went through its contents; after which he once more looked at the
superscription, and notwithstanding the vehement passion into which it
had thrown him, he was ultimately obliged to laugh.

"Peety," said he, resuming his gravity, "you carried a letter from Hycy
Burke to Kathleen Cavanagh to-day?"

"Who says that?" replied Peety, who could not but remember the solemnity
of his promise to that accomplished gentleman.

"I do, Peety."

"Well, I can't help you, Bryan, nor prevent you from thinking so,
sure--stick to that."

"Why, I know you did, Peety."

"Well, acushla, an' if you do, your only so much the wiser."

"Oh, I understand," continued Bryan, "it's a private affair, or intended
to be so--an' Mr. Hycy has made you promise not to spake of it."

"Sure you know all about it, Bryan; an' isn't that enough for you? Only
what answer am I to give him?"

"None at present, Peety; but say I'll see himself in a day or two."

"That's your answer, then?"

"That's all the answer I can give till I see himself, as I said."

"Well, good-bye, Bryan, an' God be wid you!"

"Good-bye, Peety!" and thus they parted.

CHAPTER III.--Jemmy Burke Refuses to be, Made a Fool Of

--Hycy and a Confidant

Hycy Burke was one of those persons who, under the appearance of a
somewhat ardent temperament, are capable of abiding the issue of
an event with more than ordinary patience. Having not the slightest
suspicion of the circumstance which occasioned Bryan M'Mahon's
resentment, he waited for a day of two under the expectation that his
friend was providing the sum necessary to accommodate him. The third
and fourth days passed, however, without his having received any reply
whatsoever; and Hycy, who had set his heart upon Crazy Jane, on
finding that his father--who possessed as much firmness as he did of
generosity--absolutely refused to pay for her, resolved to lose no more
time in putting Bryan's friendship to the test. To this, indeed, he was
urged by Burton, a wealthy but knavish country horse-dealer, as we said,
who wrote to him that unless he paid for her within a given period, he
must be under the necessity of closing with a person who had offered
him a higher price. This message was very offensive to Hycy, whose
great foible, as the reader knows, was to be considered a gentleman, not
merely in appearance, but in means and circumstances. He consequently
had come to the determination of writing again to M'Mahon upon the same
subject, when chance brought them together in the market of Ballymacan.

After the usual preliminary inquiries as to health, Hycy opened the
matter:--

"I asked you to lend me five-and-thirty pounds to secure Crazy Jane,"
said he, "and you didn't even answer my letter. I admit I'm pretty
deeply in your debt, as it is, my dear Bryan, but you know I'm safe."

"I'm not at this moment thinking much of money matters, Hycy; but,
as you like plain speaking, I tell you candidly that I'll lend you no
money."

Hycy's manner changed all at once; he looked at M'Mahon for nearly a
minute, and said in quite a different tone--

"What is the cause of this coldness, Bryan? Have I offended you?"

"Not knowingly--but you have offended me; an' that's all I'll say about
it."

"I'm not aware of it," replied the other---"my word and honor I'm not."

Bryan felt himself in a position of peculiar difficulty; he could not
openly quarrel with Hycy, unless he made up his mind to disclose the
grounds of the dispute, which, as matters then stood between him and
Kathleen Cavanagh, to whom he had not actually declared his affection,
would have been an act of great presumption on his part.

"Good-bye, Hycy," said he; "I have tould you my mind, and now I've done
with it."

"With all my heart!" said the other--"that's a matter of taste on your
part. You're offended, you say; yet you choose to put the offence in
your pocket. It's all right, I suppose--but you know best. Good-bye
to you, at all events," he added; "be a good boy and take care of
yourself."

M'Mahon nodded with good-humored contempt in return, but spoke not.

"By all that deserves an oath," exclaimed Hycy, looking bitterly after
him, "if I should live to the day of judgment I'll never forgive you
your insulting conduct this day--and that I'll soon make you feel to
your cost!"

This misunderstanding between the two friends caused Hycy to feel much
mortification and disappointment. After leaving M'Mahon, he went through
the market evidently with some particular purpose in view, if one could
judge from his manner. He first proceeded to the turf-market, and looked
with searching eye among those who stood waiting to dispose of their
loads. From this locality he turned his steps successively to other
parts of the town, still looking keenly about him as he went along. At
length he seemed disappointed or indifferent, it was difficult to say
which, and stood coiling the lash of his whip in the dust, sometimes
quite unconsciously, and sometimes as if a wager depended on the success
with which he did it--when, on looking down the street, he observed a
little broad, squat man, with a fiery red head, a face almost scaly with
freckles, wide projecting cheek-bones, and a nose so thoroughly of the
saddle species, that a rule laid across the base of it, immediately
between the eyes, would lie close to the whole front of his face. In
addition to these personal accomplishments, he had a pair of strong bow
legs, terminating in two broad, flat feet, in complete keeping with
his whole figure, which, though not remarkable for symmetry, was
nevertheless indicative of great and extraordinary strength. He wore
neither stockings nor cravat of any kind, but had a pair of strong
clouted brogues upon his feet; thus disclosing to the spectator two legs
and a breast that were covered over with a fell of red close hair that
might have been long and strong enough for a badger. He carried in his
hand a short whip, resembling a carrot in shape, and evidently of such
a description as no man that had any regard for his health would wish to
come in contact with, especially from the hand of such a double-jointed
but misshapen Hercules as bore it.

"Ted, how goes it, my man?"

"_Ghe dhe shin dirthu, a dinaousal?_" replied Ted, surveying him with a
stare.

"D--n you!" was about to proceed from Hycy's lips when he perceived
that a very active magistrate, named Jennings, stood within hearing. The
latter passed on, however, and Hycy proceeded:--"I was about to abuse
you, Ted, for coming out with your Irish to me," he said, "until I saw
Jennings, and then I _had_ you."

"Throgs, din, Meeisther Hycy, I don't like the _Bairlha_ (* English
tongue)--'caise I can't sphake her properly, at all, at all. Come you
'out wid the Gailick fwhor me, i' you plaise, Meeisther Hycy."

"D--n your Gaelic!" replied Hycy--"no, I won't--I don't speak it."

"The Laud forget you for that!" replied Ted, with a grin; "my ould
grandmudher might larn it from you--hach, ach, ha!"

"None of your d--d impertinence, Ted. I want to speak to you."

"Fwhat would her be?" asked Ted, with a face in which there might be
read such a compound of cunning, vacuity, and ferocity as could rarely
be witnessed in the same countenance.

"Can you come down to me to-night?"

"No; I'll be busy."

"Where are you at work now?"

"In Glendearg, above."

"Well, then, if you can't come to me, I must only go to you. Will you be
there tonight? I wish to speak to you on very particular business."

"Shiss; you _will_, dhin, wanst more?" asked the other, significantly.

"I think so."

"Shiss--ay--vary good. Fwen will she come?"

"About eleven or twelve; so don't be from about the place anywhere."

"Shiss---dhin--vary good. Is dhat all?"

"That's all now. Are your turf _dry_ or _wet_* to-day?"

* One method of selling Poteen is by bringing in kishes of
turf to the neighboring markets, when those who are up to
the secret purchase the turf, or pretend to do so; and while
in the act of discharging the load, the Keg of Poteen is
quickly passed into the house of him who purchases the
turf.--Are your turf wet or dry? was, consequently, a pass-
word.

"Not vary dhry," replied Ted, with a grin so wide that, as was
humorously said by a neighbor of his, "it would take a telescope to
enable a man to see from the one end of it to the other."

Hycy nodded and laughed, and Ted, cracking his whip, proceeded up the
town to sell his turf.

Hycy now sauntered about through the market, chatting here and there
among acquaintances, with the air of a man to whom neither life nor
anything connected with it could occasion any earthly trouble. Indeed,
it mattered little what he felt, his easiness of manner was such that
not one of his acquaintances could for a moment impute to him the
possibility of ever being weighed down by trouble or care of any kind;
and lest his natural elasticity of spirits might fail to sustain this
perpetual buoyancy, he by no means neglected to fortify himself with
artificial support. Meet him when or where you might, be it at six
in the morning or twelve at night, you were certain to catch from his
breath the smell of liquor, either in its naked simplicity or disguised
and modified in some shape.

His ride home, though a rapid, was by no means a pleasing one. M'Mahon
had not only refused to lend him the money he stood in need of, but
actually quarrelled with him, as far as he could judge, for no other
purpose but that he might make the quarrel a plea for refusing him. This
disappointment, to a person of Hycy's disposition, was, we have seen,
bitterly vexatious, and it may be presumed that he reached home in
anything but an agreeable humor. Having dismounted, he was about to
enter the hall-door, when his attention was directed towards that of the
kitchen by a rather loud hammering, and on turning his eyes to the
spot he found two or three tinkers very busily engaged in soldering,
clasping, and otherwise repairing certain vessels belonging to that warm
and spacious establishment. The leader of these vagrants was a man named
Philip Hogan, a fellow of surprising strength and desperate character,
whose feats of hardihood and daring had given him a fearful notoriety
over a large district of the country. Hogan was a man whom almost every
one feared, being, from confidence, we presume, in his great strength,
as well as by nature, both insolent, overbearing, and ruffianly in the
extreme. His inseparable and appropriate companion was a fierce and
powerful bull-dog of the old Irish breed, which he had so admirably
trained that it was only necessary to give him a sign, and he would
seize by the throat either man or beast, merely in compliance with the
will of his master. On this occasion he was accompanied by two of his
brothers, who were, in fact, nearly as impudent and offensive ruffians
as himself. Hycy paused for a moment, seemed thoughtful, and tapped his
boot with the point of his whip as he looked at them. On entering the
parlor he found dinner over, and his father, as was usual, waiting to
get his tumbler of punch.

"Where's my mother?" he asked--"where's Mrs. Burke?"

On uttering the last words he raised his voice so as she might
distinctly hear him.

"She's above stairs gettin' the whiskey," replied his father, "and God
knows she's long enough about it."

Hycy ran up, and meeting her on the lobby, said, in a low, anxious
voice--

"Well, what news? Will he stand it?"

"No," she replied, "you may give up the notion--he won't do it, an'
there's no use in axin' him any more."

"He won't do it!" repeated the son; "are you certain now?"

"Sure an' sartin. I done all that could be done; but it's worse an'
worse he got."

Something escaped Hycy in the shape of an ejaculation, of which we are
not in possession at present; he immediately added:--

"Well, never mind. Heavens! how I pity you, ma'am--to be united to such
a d--d--hem!--to such a--a--such a--gentleman!"

Mrs. Burke raised her hands as if to intimate that it was useless to
indulge in any compassion of the kind.

"The thing's now past cure," she said; "I'm a marthyr, an' that's all
that's about it. Come down till I get you your dinner."

Hycy took his seat in the parlor, and began to give a stave of the "Bay
of Biscay:"--

"'Loud roar'd the dreadful thunder,
The rain a deluge pours;
The clouds were rent asunder
By light'ning's vivid--'

By the way, mother, what are those robbing ruffians, the Hogans, doing
at the kitchen door there?"

"Troth, whatever they like," she replied. "I tould that vagabond,
Philip, that I had nothing for them to do, an' says he, 'I'm the best
judge of that, Rosha Burke.' An, with that he walks into the kitchen,
an' takes everything that he seen a flaw in, an' there he and them sat
a mendin' an' sotherin' an' hammerin' away at them, without ever sayin'
'by your lave.'"

"It's perfectly well known that they're robbers," said Hycy, "and the
general opinion is that they're in connection with a Dublin gang, who
are in this part of the country at present. However, I'll speak to the
ruffians about such conduct."

He then left the parlor, and proceeding to the farmyard, made a signal
to one of the Hogans, who went down hammer in hand to where he stood.
During a period of ten minutes, he and Hycy remained in conversation,
but of what character it was, whether friendly or otherwise, the
distance at which they stood rendered it impossible for any one to
ascertain. Hycy then returned to dinner, whilst his father in the
meantime sat smoking his pipe, and sipping from time to time at his
tumbler of punch. Mrs. Burke, herself, occupied an arm-chair to the
left of the fire, engaged at a stocking which was one of a pair that she
contrived to knit for her husband during every twelve months; and on
the score of which she pleaded strong claims to a character of most
exemplary and indefatigable industry.

"Any news from the market, Hycy?" said his father.

"Yes," replied Hycy, in that dry ironical tone which he always used to
his parents--"rather interesting--Ballymacan is in the old place."

"Bekaise," replied his father, with more quickness than might be
expected, as he whiffed away the smoke with a face of very sarcastic
humor; "I hard it had gone up a bit towards the mountains--but I knew
you wor the boy could tell me whether it had or not--ha!--ha!--ha!"

This rejoinder, in addition to the intelligence Hycy had just received
from his mother, was not calculated to improve his temper. "You may
laugh," he replied; "but if your respectable father had treated you in a
spirit so stingy and beggarly as that which I experience at your hands,
I don't know how you might have borne it."

"My father!" replied Burke; "take your time, Hycy--my hand to you, he
had a different son to manage from what I have."

"God sees that's truth," exclaimed his wife, turning the expression to
her son's account.

"I was no gentleman, Hycy," Burke proceeded.

"Ah, is it possible?" said the son, with a sneer. "Are you sure of that,
now?"

"Nor no spendthrift, Hycy."

"No," said the wife, "you never had the spirit; you were ever and always
a _molshy_." (* A womanly, contemptible fellow)

"An' yet _molshy_ as I was," he replied, "you wor glad to catch me.
But Hycy, my good boy, I didn't cost my father at the rate of from a
hundre'-an'-fifty to two-hundre'-a-year, an' get myself laughed at and
snubbed by my superiors, for forcin' myself into their company."

"Can't you let the boy ait his dinner in peace, at any rate?" said his
mother. "Upon my credit I wouldn't be surprised if you drove him away
from us altogether."

"I only want to drive him into common sense, and the respectful feeling
he ought to show to both you an' me, Rosha," said Burke; "if he expects
to have either luck or grace, or the blessing of God upon him, he'll
change his coorses, an' not keep breakin' my heart as he's doin'."

"Will you pay for the mare I bought, father?" asked Hycy, very
seriously. "I have already told you, that I paid three guineas earnest;
I hope you will regard your name and family so far as to prevent me from
breaking my word--besides leading the world to suppose that you are a
poor man."

"Regard my name and family!" returned the father, with a look of
bitterness and sorrow; "who is bringin' them into disgrace, Hycy?"

"In the meantime," replied the son, "I have asked a plain question, Mr.
Burke, and I expect a plain answer; will you pay for the mare?"

"An' supposin' I don't?"

"Why, then, Mr. Burke, if you don't you won't, that's all."

"I must stop some time," replied his father, "an' that is now. I wont
pay for her."

"Well then, sir, I shall feel obliged, as your respectable wife has just
said, if you will allow me to eat, and if possible, live in peace."

"I'm speakin' only for your--"

"That will do now--hush--silence if you please."

"Hycy dear," said the mother; "why would you ax him another question
about it? Drop the thing altogether."

"I will, mother, but I pity you; in the meantime, I thank you, ma'am, of
your advice."

"Hycy," she continued, with a view of changing the conversation; "did
you hear that Tom M'Bride's dead?"

"No ma'am, but I expected it; when did he die?"

Before his father could reply, a fumbling was heard at the hall-door;
and, the next moment, Hogan, thrust in his huge head and shoulders began
to examine the lock by attempting to turn the key in it.

"Hogan, what are you about?" asked Hycy.

"I beg your pardon," replied the ruffian; "I only wished to know if the
lock wanted mendin'--that was all, Misther Hycy."

"Begone, sirra," said the other; "how dare you have the presumption to
take such a liberty? you impudent scoundrel! Mother, you had better pay
them," he added; "give the vagabonds anything they ask, to get rid of
them."

Having dined, her worthy son mixed a tumbler of punch, and while
drinking it, he amused himself, as was his custom, by singing snatches
of various songs, and drumming with his fingers upon the table; whilst
every now and then he could hear the tones of his mother's voice in high
altercation with Hogan and his brothers. This, however, after a time,
ceased, and she returned to the parlor a good deal chafed by the
dispute.

"There's one thing I wonder at," she observed, "that of all men in the
neighborhood, Gerald Cavanagh would allow sich vagabonds as they an Kate
Hogan is, to put in his kiln. Troth, Hycy," she added, speaking to him
in a warning and significant tone of voice, "if there wasn't something
low an' mane in him, he wouldn't do it."

"'Tis when the cup is smiling before us.
And we pledge unto our hearts--'

"Your health, mother. Mr. Burke, here's to you! Why I dare say you are
right, Mrs. Burke. The Cavanagh family is but an upstart one at best;
it wants antiquity, ma'am--a mere affair of yesterday, so what after all
could you expect from it?"

Honest Jemmy looked at him and then groaned. "An upstart
family!--that'll do--oh, murdher--well, 'tis respectable at all events;
however, as to havin' the Hogans about them--they wor always about them;
it was the same in their father's time. I remember ould Laghlin Hogan,
an' his whole clanjamfrey, men an' women, young an' old, wor near six
months out o' the year about ould Gerald Cavanagh's--the present man's
father; and another thing you may build upon--that whoever ud chance
to speak a hard word against one o' the Cavanagh family, before Philip
Hogan or any of his brothers, would stand a strong chance of a shirtful
o' sore bones. Besides, we all know how Philip's father saved Mrs.
Cavanagh's life about nine or ten months after her marriage. At any
rate, whatever bad qualities the vagabonds have, want of gratitude isn't
among them."

"'------That are true, boys, true,
The sky of this life opens o'er us,
And heaven--'

M'Bride, ma'am, will be a severe loss to his family."

"Throth he will, and a sarious loss--for among ourselves, there was none
o' them like him."

"'Gives a glance of its blue--'

"I think I ought to go to the wake to-night. I know it's a bit of a
descent on my part, but still it is scarcely more than is due to a
decent neighbor. Yes, I shall go; it is determined on."

"'I ga'ed a waefu' gate yestreen,
A gate I fear I'll dearly rue;
I gat my death frae twa sweet een,
Twa lovely een o' bonnie blue.'

"Mine are brown, Mrs. Burke--the eyes you wot of; but alas! the family is
an upstart one, and that is strongly against the Protestant interest in
the case. Heigho!"

Jemmy Burke, having finished his after-dinner pipe and his daily tumbler
both together, went out to his men; and Hycy, with whom he had left the
drinking materials, after having taken a tumbler or two, put on a strong
pair of boots, and changed the rest of his dress for a coarser 'suit,
bade his mother a polite good-bye, and informed her, that as he intended
to be present at M'Bride's wake he would most probably not return until
near morning.

CHAPTER IV.--A Poteen Still-House at Midnight--Its Inmates.

About three miles in a south-western direction from Burke's residence,
the country was bounded by a range of high hills and mountains of a very
rugged and wild, but picturesque description. Although a portion of
the same landscape, yet nothing could be more strikingly distinct in
character than the position of the brown wild hills, as contrasted with
that of the mountains from which they abutted. The latter ran in long
and lofty ranges that were marked by a majestic and sublime simplicity,
whilst the hills were of all shapes and sizes, and seemed as if cast
about at random. As a matter of course the glens and valleys that
divided them ran in every possible direction, sometimes crossing and
intersecting each other at right angles, and sometimes running parallel,
or twisting away in opposite directions. In one of those glens that lay
nearest the mountains, or rather indeed among them, was a spot which
from its peculiar position would appear to have been designed from the
very beginning as a perfect paradise for the illicit distiller. It was a
kind of back chamber in the mountains, that might, in fact, have escaped
observation altogether, as it often did. The approach to it was by a
long precipitous glen, that could be entered only at its lower end, and
seemed to terminate against the abrupt side of the mountain, like a
cul de sac. At the very extremity, however, of this termination, and a
little on the right-hand side, there was a steep, narrow pass leading
into a recess which was completely encompassed by precipices. From this
there was only one means of escape independently of the gut through
which it was entered. The moors on the side most approachable were
level, and on a line to the eye with that portion of the mountains which
bounded it on the opposite side, so that as one looked forward the space
appeared to be perfectly continuous, and consequently no person could
suspect that there lay so deep and precipitous a glen between them.

In the northern corner of this remarkable locality, a deep cave, having
every necessary property as a place for private distillation, ran under
the rocks, which met over it in a kind of gothic arch. A stream of water
just sufficient for the requisite purposes, fell in through a fissure
from above, forming such a little subterraneous cascade in the cavern
as human design itself could scarcely have surpassed in felicity of
adaptation to the objects of an illicit distiller.

To this cave, then, we must take the liberty of transporting our
readers, in order to give them an opportunity of getting a peep at
the inside of a Poteen Still-house, and of hearing a portion of
conversation, which, although not remarkable for either elegance or
edification, we are, nevertheless, obliged to detail, as being in some
degree necessary to the elucidation of our narrative. Up in that end
which constituted the termination of the cave, and fixed upon a large
turf fire which burned within a circle of stones that supported it, was
a tolerably-sized Still, made of block-tin. The mouth of this Still was
closed by an air-tight cover, also of tin, called the Head, from which a
tube of the same metal projected into a large keeve, or condenser, that
was kept always filled with cool water by an incessant stream from the
cascade we have described, which always ran into and overflowed it. The
arm of this head was fitted and made air-tight, also, into a spiral tube
of copper, called the Worm, which rested in the water of the cooler; and
as it consisted of several convolutions, like a cork-screw, its office
was to condense the hot vapor which was transmitted to it from the
glowing Still into that description of spirits known as poteen. At the
bottom of this cooler, the Worm terminated in a small cock or spigot,
from which the spirits projected in a slender stream, about the
thickness of a quill, into a vessel placed for its reception. Such was
the position of the Still, Head, and Worm, when in full operation.
Fixed about the cave, upon rude stone stillions, were the usual vessels
requisite for the various processes through which it was necessary to
put the malt, before the wort, which is its first liquid shape, was
fermented, cleared off, and thrown into the Still to be singled; for
our readers must know that distillation is a double process, the first
product being called singlings, and the second or last, doublings--which
is the perfect liquor. Sacks of malt, empty vessels, piles of turf,
heaps of grains, tubs of wash, and kegs of whiskey, were lying about in
all directions, together with pots, pans, wooden trenchers, and dishes,
for culinary uses. The seats were round stones and black bosses which
were made of a light hard moss found in the mountains and bogs, and
frequently used as seats in rustic chimney corners. On entering, your
nose was assailed by such a mingled stench of warm grains, sour barm,
putrid potato skins, and strong whiskey, as required considerable
fortitude to bear without very unequivocal tokens of disgust.

The persons assembled were in every way worthy of the place and its
dependencies. Seated fronting the fire was our friend Teddy Phats, which
was the only name he was ever known by, his wild, beetle brows lit into
a red, frightful glare of savage mirth that seemed incapable, in its
highest glee, to disengage itself entirely from an expression of the
man's unquenchable ferocity. Opposite to him sat a tall, smut-faced,
truculent-looking young fellow, with two piercing eyes and a pair of
grim brows, which, when taken into conjunction with a hard, unfeeling
mouth, from the corners of which two right lines ran down his chin,
giving that part of his face a most dismal expression, constituted
a countenance that matched exceedingly well with the visage of Teddy
Phats. This worthy gentleman was a tinker, and one of Hogan's brothers,
whom we have already introduced to our readers. Scattered about the fire
and through the cavern were a party of countrymen who came to purchase
whiskey for a wedding, and three or four publicans and shebeenmen who
had come on professional business. Some were drinking, some indulging in
song, and some were already lying drunk or asleep in different parts
of this subterraneous pandemonium. Exalted in what was considered the
position of honor sat a country hedge-schoolmaster, his mellow eye
beaming with something between natural humor, a sense of his own
importance, and the influence of pure whiskey, fresh it is called, from
the Still-eye.

"Here, Teddy," said one of the countrymen, "will you fill the bottle
again."

"No," replied Teddy, who though as cunning as the devil himself, could
seldom be got to speak anything better than broken English, and that of
such a character that it was often scarcely intelligible.

"No," he replied; "I gav'd you wan bottle 'idout payment fwhor her, an'
by shapers I won't give none oder."

"Why, you burning beauty, aren't we takin' ten gallons, an' will you
begrudge us a second bottle?"

"Shiss--devil purshue de bottle more ye'll drunk here 'idout de
_airigad_, (* Money) dat's fwhat you will."

"Teddy," said the schoolmaster, "I drink propitiation to you as a
profissional gintle-man! No man uses more indepindent language than you
do. You are under no earthly obligation to Messrs. Syntax and Prosody.
Grammar, my worthy friend, is banished as an intruder from your
elocution, just as you would exclude a gauger from your Still-house."

"Fwhat about de gagur!" exclaimed Teddy, starting; "d--n him an'
shun-tax an' every oder tax, rint an' all--hee! hee! hee!"

We may as well let our readers know, before we proceed farther, that in
the opinion of many, Teddy Phats understood and could speak English as
well as any man of his station in the country. In fairs or markets, or
other public places, he spoke, it is true, nothing but Irish unless in a
private way, and only to persons in whom he thought he could place every
confidence. It was often observed, however, that in such conversations
he occasionally arranged the matter of those who could use only English
to him, in such a way as proved pretty clearly that he must have
possessed a greater mastery over that language than he acknowledged. We
believe the fact to be, however, that Teddy, as an illicit distiller,
had found it, on some peculiar occasions connected with his profession,
rather an inconvenient accomplishment to know English. He had given some
evidence in his day, and proved, or attempted to prove, a few alibies on
behalf of his friends; and he always found, as there is good reason to
believe, that the Irish language, when properly enunciated through the
medium of an interpreter, was rather the safer of the two, especially
when resorted to within the precincts of the country court-house and in
hearing of the judge.

"You're a fool, Teddy," said Hogan; "let them drink themselves;
blind--this liquor's paid for; an' if they lose or spill it by the 'way,
why, blazes to your purty mug, don't you know they'll have to pay for
another cargo."

Teddy immediately took the hint.

"Barney Brogan," he shouted to a lubberly-looking, bullet-headed cub,
half knave, half fool, who lived about such establishments, and acted
as messenger, spy, and vidette; "listen hedher! bring Darby Keenan dere
dat bottle, an' let 'em drink till de grace o' God comes on 'em--ha, ha,
ha!"

"More power to you, Vaynus," exclaimed Keenan; "you're worth a thousand
pounds, quarry weight."

"I am inclined to think, Mr. Keenan," said the schoolmaster, "that you
are in the habit occasionally of taking slight liberties wid the haythen
mythology. Little, I'll be bound, the divine goddess of beauty ever
dreamt she'd find a representative in Teddy Phats."

"Bravo! masther," replied Keenan, "you're the boy can do--only that
English is too tall for me. At any rate," he added, approaching the
worthy preceptor, "take a spell o' this--it's a language we can all
understand."

"You mane to say, Darby," returned the other, "that it's a kind of
universal spelling-book amongst us, and so it is--an alphabet aisily
larned. Your health, now and under all circumstances! Teddy, or
Thaddeus, I drink to your symmetry and inexplicable proportions; and
I say for your comfort, my worthy distillator, that if you are not so
refulgent in beauty as Venus, you are a purer haythen."

"Fwhat a bloody fwhine _Bairlha_ man the meeisther is," said Teddy, with
a grin. "Fwhaicks, meeisthur, your de posey of Tullyticklem, spishilly
wid Captain Fwhiskey at your back. You spake de Bairlha up den jist all
as one as nobody could understand her--ha, ha, ha!"

The master, whose name was Finigan, or, as he wished to be called,
O'Finigan, looked upon Teddy and shook his head very significantly.

"I'm afraid, my worthy distallator," he proceeded, "that the proverb
which says '_latet anguis in herba_,' is not inapplicable in your
case. I think I can occasionally detect in these ferret-like orbs
that constitute such an attractive portion of your beauty, a passing
scintillation of intelligence which you wish to keep _a secretis_, as
they say."

"Mr. Finigan," said Keenan, who had now returned to his friends, "if
you wouldn't be betther employed to-morrow, you'd be welcome to the
weddin'."

"Many thanks, Mr. Keenan," replied Finigan; "I accept your hospitable
offer wid genuine cordiality. To-morrow will be a day worthy of a white
mark to all parties concerned. Horace calls it chalk, which is probably
the most appropriate substance with which the records of matrimonial
felicity could be registered, _crede experto_."

"At any rate, Misther Finigan, give the boys a holiday to-morrow, and be
down wid us airly."

"There is not," replied Finigan, who was now pretty well advanced, "I
believe widin the compass of written or spoken language--and I might
on that subject appeal to Mr. Thaddeus O'Phats here, who is a good
authority on that particular subject, or indeed on any one that involves
the beauty of elocution--I say, then, there is not widin the compass of
spoken language a single word composed of two syllables so delectable
to human ears, as is that word 'dismiss,' to the pupils of a _Plantation
Seminary_; (* A modest periphrasis for a Hedge-School) and I assure you
that those talismanic syllables shall my youthful pupils hear correctly
pronounced to-morrow about ten o'clock."

Whilst O'Finigan was thus dealing out the king's English with such
complacent volubility--a volubility that was deeply indebted to the
liquor he had taken--the following dialogue took place in a cautious
under-tone between Batt Hogan and Teddy.

"So Hycy the sportheen is to be up here to-night?"

"Shiss."

"B--t your shiss! can't you spake like a Christian?"

"No, I won't," replied the other, angrily; "I'll spake as I likes."

"What brings him up, do you know?"

"Bekaise he's goin' to thry his misfortune upon _her_ here," he replied,
pointing to the still. "_You'll_ have a good job of her, fwhedher or
no."

"Why, will he want a new one, do you think?"

"Shiss, to be sure--would ye tink I'd begin to _run_ (* A slang phrase
for distilling) for him on dis ould skillet? an' be de token moreover,
dat wouldn't be afther puttin' nothin' in your pockets--hee! hee! hee!"

"Well, all that's right--don't work for him widout a new one complate,
Teddy--Still, Head, and Worm."

"Shiss, I tell you to be sure I won't--he thried her afore, though."

"Nonsense!--no he didn't."

"Ah, ha! ay dhin--an' she milked well too--a good cow--a brave
_cheehony_ she was for him."

"An' why did he give it up?"

"Fwhy--fwhy, afeard he'd be diskivered, to be sure; an' dhin shure he
couldn't hunt wid de _dinnaousais_--wid de gentlemans."

"An' what if he's discovered now?"

"Fwhat?--fwhy so much the worsher for you an' me: he's ginerous now an'
den, anyway; but a great rogue afther all, fwher so high a hid as he
carries."

"If I don't mistake," proceeded Hogan, "either himself or his family,
anyhow, will be talked of before this time to-morrow."

"Eh, Batt?" asked the other, who had changed his position and sat beside
him during this dialogue--"how is dhat now?"

"I don't rightly know--I can't say," replied Hogan, with a smile
murderously grim but knowing--"I'm not up; but the sportheen's a made
boy, I think."

"_Dher cheerna!_ you _are_ up," said Teddy, giving him a furious glance
as he spoke; "there must be no saycrits, I say."

"You're a blasted liar, I tell you--I am not, but I suspect--that's
all."

"What brought you up dhis night?" asked Teddy, suspiciously.

"Because I hard he was to come," replied his companion; "but whether or
not I'd be here."

"_Tha sha maigh_--it's right--may be so--shiss, it's all right, may be
so--well?"

Teddy, although he said it was all right, did not seem however to think
so. The furtive and suspicious glance which he gave Hogan from under his
red beetle brows should be seen in order to be understood.

"Well?" said Hogan, re-echoing him--"it is well; an' what is more, my
Kate is to be up here wid a pair o' geese to roast for us, for we must
make him comfortable. She wint to thry her hand upon somebody's roost,
an' it'll go hard if she fails!"

"Fwhail!" exclaimed Teddy, with a grin--"ah, the dioual a fwhail!"

"An' another thing--he's comin' about Kathleen Cavanagh--Hycy is. He
wants to gain our intherest about her!"

"Well, an' what harm?"

"Maybe there is, though, it's whispered that he--hut! doesn't he say
himself that there isn't a girl of his own religion in the parish he'd
marry--now I'd like to see them married, Teddy, but as for anything
else--"

"Hee! hee! hee!--well," exclaimed Teddy, with a horrible grimace that
gave his whole countenance a facequake, "an' maybe he's right. Maybe it
'udn't be aisy to get a colleen of his religion--I tink his religion is
fwhere Phiddher Fwhite's estate is--beyant the beyands, Avhere the mare
foaled the fwhiddler--hee! hee! hee!"

"He had better thry none of his sckames wid any of the Cavanaghs,"
said Bat, "for fraid he might be brought to bed of a mistake some fine
day--that's all I say; an' there's more eyes than mine upon him."

This dialogue was nearly lost in the loudness of a debate which had
originated with Keenan and certain of his friends in the lower part of
the still-house. Some misunderstanding relative to the families of the
parties about to be united had arisen, and was rising rapidly into a
comparative estimate of the prowess and strength of their respective
factions, and consequently assuming a very belligerent aspect, when a
tall, lank, but powerful female, made her appearance, carrying a large
bundle in her hand.

"More power, Kate!" exclaimed Hogan. "I knew she would," he added,
digging Teddy's ribs with his elbow.

"Aisy, man!" said his companion; "if you love me, say so, but don't hint
it dat way."

"Show forth, Kate!" proceeded her husband; "let us see the
prog--hillo!--oh, holy Moses! what a pair o' beauties!"

He then whipped up a horn measure, that contained certainly more than
a naggin, and putting it under the warm spirits that came out of the
still-eye, handed it to her. She took it, and coming up towards the
fire, which threw out a strong light, nodded to them, and, without
saying a word, literally pitched it down her throat, whilst at the same
time one of her eyes presented undeniable proofs of a recent conflict.
We have said that there were several persons singing and dancing,
and some asleep, in the remoter part of the cave; and this was true,
although we refrained from mingling up either their mirth or melody with
the conversation of the principal personages. All at once, however,
a series of noises, equally loud and unexpected, startled melodists,
conversationalists, and sleepers all to their legs. These were no other
than the piercing cackles of two alarmed geese which Hogan's wife had
secured from some neighboring farmer, in order to provide a supper for
our friend Hycy.

"Ted," said the female, "I lost my knife since I came out, or they'd be
quiet enough before this; lend me one a minute, you blissed babe."

"Shiss, to be sure, Kate," he replied, handing her a large clasp knife
with a frightful blade; "an', Kate, whisper, woman alive--you're bought
up, I see."

"How is that, you red rascal?"

"Bekaise, don't I see dat de purchaser has set his mark upon ye?--hee!
hee! hee!" and he pointed to her eye* as he spoke.

* A black eye is said to be the devil's mark.

"No," she replied, nodding towards her husband, "that's his handy work;
an' ye divil's clip!" she added, turning to Teddy, "who has a betther
right?"

She then bled the geese, and, looking about her, asked--

"Have you any wet hay or straw in the place?"

"Ay, plenty of bote," replied Teddy; "an' here's de greeshavigh ready."

She then wrapped the geese, feathers and all, separately in a covering
of wet hay, which she bound round them with thumb-ropes of the same
material, and clearing away a space among the burning ashes, placed each
of them in it, and covered them up closely.

"Now," said she, "put down a pot o' praities, and we won't go to bed
fastin'."

The different groups had now melted into one party, much upon the same
principle that the various little streamlets on the mountains around
them all run, when swollen by a sudden storm, into some larger torrent
equally precipitous and turbulent. Keenan, who was one of those
pertinacious fellows that are equally quarrelsome and hospitable when in
liquor, now resumed the debate with a characteristic impression of the
pugilistic superiority of his family:--

"I am right, I say: I remember it well, for although I wasn't there
myself, my father was, an' I often h'ard him say--God rest his
sowl!"--here he reverently took off his hat and looked upwards--"I often
h'ard him say that Paddy Keenan gave Mullin the first knock-down blow,
an' Pether--I mane no disrespect, but far from it--give us your hand,
man alive--you're going to be married upon my shisther to-morrow,
plaise God!--masther, you'll come, remimber? you'll be as welcome as the
flowers o' May, masther--so, Pether, as I was sayin'--I mane no offince
nor disrespect to you or yours, for you are, an' ever was, a daisent
family, an' well able to fight your corner when it came upon you--but
still, Pether--an' for all that--I say it--an' I'll stand to it--I'll
stand it--that's the chat!--that, man for man, there never was one
o' your seed, breed, or generation able to fight a Keenan--that's the
chat!--here's luck!

"'Oh, 'twas in the month of May,
When the lambkins sport and play,
As I walked out to gain raycrayation,
I espied a comely maid.
Sequestrin' in the shade--
On her beauty I gazed wid admiraytion,'

No, Pether, you never could; the Mullins is good men--right good men,
but they couldn't do it."

"Barney," said the brother of the bridegroom, "you may thank God that
Pether is going to be married to your sisther to-morrow as you say, or
we'd larn you another lesson--eh, masther? That's the chat too--ha! ha!
ha! To the divil wid sich impedence!"

"Gintlemen," said Finigan, now staggering down towards the parties, "I
am a man of pacific principles, acquainted wid the larned languages,
wid mathematics, wid philosophy, the science of morality according to
Fluxions--I grant you, I'm not college-bred; but, gintlemen, I never
invied the oysther in its shell--for, gintlemen, I'm not ashamed of
it, but I acquired--I absorbed my laming, I may say, upon locomotive
principles."

"Bravo, masther!" said Keenan; "that's what some o' them couldn't say--"

"Upon locomotive principles. I admit Munster, gintlemen--glorious
Kerry!--yes, and I say I am not ashamed of it. I do plead guilty to the
peripatetic system: like a comet I travelled during my juvenile days--as
I may truly assert wid a slight modicum of latitude" (here he lurched
considerably to the one side)--"from star to star, until I was able to
exhibit all their brilliancy united simply, I can safely assert, in my
own humble person. Gintlemen, I have the honor of being able to write
'Philomath' after my name--which is O'Finigan, not Finigan, by any
means--and where is the oyster in his shell could do that? Yes, and
although they refused me a sizarship in Trinity College--for what will
not fear and envy do?

"'Tantaene animis celesiibus irae'

Yet I have the consolation to know that my name is seldom mentioned
among the literati of classical Kerry--_nudis cruribus_ as they
are--except as the Great O'Finigan! In the mane time--"

"Bravo, Masther!" exclaimed Keenan, interrupting him. "Here, Ted!
another bottle, till the Great O'Finigan gets a glass of whiskey."

"Yes, gintlemen," proceeded O'Finigan, "the alcohol shall be accepted,
_puris naturalibus_--which means, in its native--or more properly--but
which comes to the same thing--in its naked state; and, in the mane
time, I propose the health of one of my best benefactors--Gerald
Cavanagh, whose hospitable roof is a home--a domicilium to erudition
and respectability, when they happen, as they ought, to be legitimately
concatenated in the same person--as they are in your humble servant; and
I also beg leave to add the pride of the barony, his fair and virtuous
daughter, Kathleen, in conjunction wid the I accomplished son of another
benefactor of mine--honest James Burke--in conjunction, I say, wid his
son, Mr. Hyacinth. Ah, gintlemen--Billy Clinton, you thievin' villain!
you don't pay attention; I say, gintlemen, if I myself could deduct
a score of years from the period of my life, I should endeavor to run
through the conjugations of _amo_ in society wid that pearl of beauty.
In the mane time--"

"Here's her health, masther," returned Keenan, "an' her father's too,
an' Hycy Burke's into the bargain--is there any more o' them? Well, no
matter." Then turning to his antagonist, he added, "I say agin, thin,
that a Mullin's not a match for a Keenan, nor never was--no, nor never
will be! That's the chat! and who's afeard to say it? eh, masther?"

"It's a lie!" shouted one of the opposite party; "I'm able to lick e'er
a Keenan that ever went on nate's leather--an' that's my chat."

A blow from Keenan in reply was like a spark to gunpowder. In a moment
the cavern presented a scene singularly tragic-comic; the whole party
was one busy mass of battle, with the exception of Ted and Batt, and the
wife of the latter, who, having first hastily put aside everything that
might be injured, stood enjoying the conflict with most ferocious glee,
the schoolmaster having already withdrawn himself to his chair. Even
Barney Broghan, the fool, could not keep quiet, but on the contrary,
thrust himself into the quarrel, and began to strike indiscriminately at
all who came in his way, until an unlucky blow on the nose happening,
to draw his claret very copiously, he made a bound up behind the sill,
uttering a series of howlings, as from time to time he looked at his own
blood, that were amusing in the extreme. As it happened, however, the
influence of liquor was too strong upon both parties to enable them
to inflict on each other any serious injury. Such, however, was the
midnight pastime of the still-house when our friend Hycy entered.

"What in the devil's name--or the guager's--which is worse--" he asked,
addressing himself to Batt and Teddy, "is the meaning of all this?"

"Faith, you know a'most as much about it," replied Hogan, laughing, "as
we do; they got drunk, an' that accounts for it."

"Mr. Burke," said Finigan, who was now quite tipsy; "I am delighted to
be able to--to--yes, it is he," he added, speaking to himself--"to see
you well."

"I have my doubts as to that, Mr. Finigan," replied Hycy.

"Fame, Mr. Burke," continued the other, "has not been silent with regard
to your exploits. Your horsemanship, sir, and the trepid pertinacity
with which you fasten upon the reluctant society of men of rank, have
given you a notorious celebrity, of which your worthy father, honest
Jemmy, as he is called, ought to be justly proud. And you shine, Mr.
Burke, in the loves as well as in the--_tam veneri quam_--I was about to
add _Marti_, but it would be inappropriate, or might only remind you
of poor Biddy Martin. It is well known you are a most accomplished
gintleman, Mr. Burke--_homo fadus ad unguem--ad unguem_."

Hycy would have interrupted the schoolmaster, but that he felt puzzled
as to whether he spoke seriously or ironically; his attention besides
was divided between him and the party in conflict.

"Come," said he, addressing Hogan and Teddy, "put an end to this work,
and why did you, you misbegotten vagabond," he added, turning to the
latter, "suffer these fellows to remain here when you knew I was to come
up?"

"I must shell my fwisky," replied Teddy, sullenly, "fwhedher you come or
stay."

"If you don't clear the place of them instantly," replied Hycy, "I shall
return home again."

Hogan seemed a good deal alarmed at this intimation, and said--"Ay,
indeed, Terry, we had better put them out o' this."

"Fwhor fwhat?" asked Teddy, "dere my best customers shure--an' fwlay
would I quarrel wid 'em all fwor wan man?"

"Good-night, then, you misshapen ruffian," said Burke, about to go.

"Aisy, Mr. Burke," said. Hogan; "well soon make short work wid them.
Here, Ted, you devil's catch-penny, come an' help me! Hillo, here!" he
shouted, "what are you at, you gallows crew? Do you want to go to the
stone jug, I say? Be off out o' this--here's the guager, blast him, an'
the sogers! Clear out, I tell you, or every mother's son of you will
sleep undher the skull and cross-bones to-night." (* Meaning the County
Prison)

"Here you, Barney," whispered Teddy, who certainly did not wish that
Burke should return as he came; "here, you great big fwhool you, give
past your yowlin' dere--and lookin' at your blood--run out dere, come in
an' shout the gauger an' de sogers."

Barney, who naturally imagined that the intelligence was true, complied
with the order he had received in a spirit of such alarming and dreadful
earnestness, that a few minutes found the still-house completely cleared
of the two parties, not excepting Hogan himself, who, having heard
nothing of Teddy's directions to the fool, took it now for granted that
that alarm was a real one, and ran along with the rest. The schoolmaster
had fallen asleep, Kate Hogan was engaged in making preparations for
supper at the lower end of the casern, and the fool had been dispatched
to fetch Hogan himself back, so that Hycy now saw there was a good
opportunity for stating at more length than he could in the market the
purpose of his visit.

"Teddy," said he, "now that the coast's clear, let us lose no time in
coming to the point. You are aware that Bryan M'Mahon has come into the
mountain farm of Ahadarra by the death of his uncle."

"Shiss; dese three years."

"You will stick to your cursed brogue," said the other; "however, that's
your own affair. You are aware of this?"

"I am."

"Well, I have made my mind up to take another turn at this," and he
tapped the side of the still with his stick; "and I'll try it there. I
don't know a better place, and it is much more convenient than this."

Teddy looked at him from under his brows, but seemed rather at a loss to
comprehend his meaning.

"Fwor fhy 'ud you go to Ahadarra?"

"It's more convenient, and quite as well adapted for it as this place,
or nearly."

"Well! Shiss, well?"

"Well; why that's all I have to say about it, except that I'm not to be
seen or known in the business at all--mark that."

"Shiss--well? De Hogans must know it?"

"I am aware of that; we couldn't go on without them. This running of
your's will soon be over; very well. You can go to Ahadarra to-morrow
and pitch upon a proper situation for a house. These implements will
do."

"No, dey won't; I wouldn't tink to begin at all wid dat ould skillet.
You must get de Hogans to make a new Still, Head and Worm, an' dat will
be money down."

"Very well; I'll provide the needful; let Philip call to me in a day or
two."

"Dat Ahadarra isn't so safe," said Teddy. "Fwhy wouldn't you carry it on
here?" and he accompanied the query with a piercing-glance as he spoke.

"Because," replied Hycy, "I have been seen here too often already, and
my name must not in any way be connected with your proceedings. This
place, besides, is now too much known. It's best and safest to change
our bob, Ted."

"Dere's trewt in dhat, anyhow," said the other, now evidently more
satisfied as to Hycy's motive in changing. "But," he added, "as you
is now to schange, it 'ud be gooder to shange to some better place nor
Ahadarra."

"I know of none better or safer," said Burke.

"Ay, fifty," returned his companion, resuming his suspicious looks; "but
no matther, any way you must only plaise yerself--'tis all the shame to
me."

"Ahadarra it must be then," said the other, "and that ends it."

"Vary well, den, Ahadarra let her be," said Ted, and the conversation on
this subject dropped.

The smuggler's supper now made it's appearance. The geese were
beautifully done, and as Hycy's appetite had got a keen stimulus by his
mountain walk, he rendered them ample justice.

"Trot," said Teddy, "sich a walk as you had droo de mountains was enough
to sharpen anybody's appetite."

Hogan also plied him with punch, having provided himself with sugar for
that express purpose. Hycy, however, was particularly cautious, and for
a long time declined to do more than take a little spirits and water. It
was not, in fact, until he had introduced the name of Kathleen Cavanagh
that he consented to taste punch. Between the two, however, Burke's
vanity was admirably played on; and Hogan wound up the dialogue by
hinting that Hycy, no matter how appearances might go, was by no means
indifferent to the interesting daughter of the house of Cavanagh.

At length, when the night was far advanced, Burke rose, and taking his
leave like a man who had forgotten some appointment, but with a very
pompous degree of condescension, sought his way in the direction of
home, across the mountains.

He had scarcely gone, when Hogan, as if struck by a sudden recollection,
observed as he thought it would be ungenerous to allow him, at that
hour of the night, to cross the mountains by himself. He accordingly
whispered a few words to his wife, and left them with an intention, as
he said, to see Mr. Hycy safe home.

CHAPTER V.--Who Robbed Jemmy Burke?

On the second morning after the night described in the last chapter,
Bryan M'Mahon had just returned to his father's house from his farm in
Ahadarra, for the purpose of accompanying him to an Emigration auction
in the neighborhood. The two farms of Carriglass and Ahadarra had been
in the family of the M'Mahon's for generations, and were the property
of the same landlord. About three years previous to the period of our
narrative, Toal M'Mahon, Bryan's uncle, died of an inflammatory attack,
leaving to his eldest nephew and favorite the stock farm of Ahadarra.
Toal had been a bachelor who lived wildly and extravagantly, and when he
died Bryan suceeeded to the farm, then as wild, by the way, and as much
neglected as its owner had been, with an arrear of two years' rent upon
it. In fact the house and offices had gone nearly to wreck, and when
Bryan entered into occupation he found that a large sum of money
should be expended in necessary improvements ere the place could
assume anything like a decent appearance. As a holding, however, it
was reasonable; and we may safely assert that if Toal M'Mahon had been
either industrious or careful he might have lived and died a wealthy
man upon it. As Ahadarra lay in the mountain district, it necessarily
covered a large space; in fact it constituted a townland in itself. The
greater portion of it, no doubt, was barren mountain, but then there
were about three hundred acres of strong rough land that was either
reclaimed or capable of being so. Bryan, who had not only energy and
activity, but capital to support both, felt, on becoming master of a
separate farm, that peculiar degree of pride which was only natural to
a young and enterprising man. He had now a fair opportunity, he thought,
of letting his friends see what skill and persevering exertion could
do. Accordingly he commenced his improvements in a spirit which at
least deserved success. He proceeded upon the best system then known to
intelligent agriculturalists, and nothing was left undone that he deemed
necessary to work out his purposes. He drained, reclaimed, made fences,
roads, and enclosures. Nor did he stop here. We said that the house and
offices were in a ruinous state when they came into his possession, and
the consequence was that he found it necessary to build a new dwelling
house and suitable offices, which he did on a more commodious and
eligible site. Altogether his expenditure on the farm could not have
been less than eight hundred pounds at the period of the landlord's
death, which, as the reader knows is that at which we have commenced our
narrative.

Thomas M'Mahon's family consisted of--first, his father, a grey-haired
patriarch, who, though a very old man, was healthy and in the full
possession of all his faculties; next, himself; then his wife; Bryan,
the proprietor of Ahadarra; two other sons, both younger, and two
daughters, the eldest twenty, and the youngest about eighteen. The name
of the latter was Dora, a sweet and gentle girl, with beautiful auburn
hair, dark, brilliant eyes, full of intellect and feeling, an exquisite
mouth, and a figure which was remarkable for natural grace and great
symmetry.

"Well, Bryan," said the father, "what news from Ahadarra?"

"Nothing particular from Ahadarra," replied the son, "but our
good-natured friend, Jemmy Burke, had his house broken open and robbed
the night before last."

"Wurrah deheelish" exclaimed his mother, "no, he hadn't!"

"Well, mother," replied Bryan, laughing, "maybe not. I'm afeard it's too
true though."

"An' how much did he lose?" asked his father.

"Between seventy and eighty pounds," said Bryan.

"It's too much," observed the other; "still I'm glad it's no more; an'
since the villains did take it, it's well they tuck it from a man that
can afford to lose it."

"By all accounts," said Arthur, or, as he was called, Art, "Hycy, the
sportheen, has pulled him down a bit. He's not so rich now, they say, as
he was three or four years ago."

"He's rich enough still," observed his father; "but at any rate, upon
my sowl I'm sorry for him; he's the crame of an honest, kind-hearted
neighbor; an' I believe in my conscience if there's a man alive that
hasn't an ill-wisher, he is."

"Is it known who robbed him?" asked the grandfather, "or does he suspect
anybody?"

"It's not known, of course, grandfather," replied Bryan, "or I suppose
they would be in limbo before now; but there's quare talk about it. The
Hogans is suspected, it seems. Philip was caught examinin' the hall-door
the night before; an' that does look suspicious."

"Ay," said the old man, "an' very likely they're the men. I remember
them this many a long day; it's forty years since Andy Hogan--he was
lame--Andy Boccah they called him--was hanged for the murdher of your
great-granduncle, Billy Shevlin, of Frughmore, so that they don't like
a bone in our bodies. That was the only murdher I remember of them, but
many a robbery was laid to their charge; an' every now and then
there was always sure to be an odd one transported for thievin', an'
house-breakin', and sich villainy."

"I wouldn't be surprised," said Mrs. M'Mahon, "but it was some o' them
tuck our two brave geese the night before last."

"Very likely, in throth, Bridget," said her husband; "however, as the
ould proverb has it, 'honesty's the best policy.' Let them see which of
us I'll be the best off at the end of the year."

"There's an odd whisper here an' there about another robber," continued
Bryan; "but I don't believe a word about it. No, no;--he's wild, and not
scrupulous in many things, but I always thought him generous, an' indeed
rather careless about money."

"You mane the sportheen?" said his brother Art.

"The Hogans," said the old man, recurring to the subject, as associated
with them, "would rob anybody barrin' the Cavanaghs; but I won't listen
to it, Bryan, that Hycy Burke, or the son of any honest man that ever
had an opportunity of hearin' the Word o' God, or livin' in a Christian
counthry, could ever think of robbin' his own father--his own father! I
won't listen to that."

"No, nor I, grandfather," said Bryan, "putting everything else out of
the question, its too unnatural an act. What makes you shake your head,
Art?"

"I never liked a bone in his body, somehow," replied Art.

"Ay, but my goodness, Art," said Dora, "sure nobody would think of
robbin' their own father?"

"He has been doin' little else these three years, Dora, by all
accounts," replied Art.

"Ay, but his father," continued the innocent girl; "to break into the
house at night an' rob him like a robber!"

"Well, I say, it's reported that he has been robbin' him these three
years in one shape or other," continued Art; "but here's Shibby, let's
hear what she'll say. What do you think, shibby?"

"About what, Art?"

"That Hycy Burke would rob his father!"

"Hut, tut! Art, what puts that into your head? Oh, no, Art--not at
all--to rob his father, an' him has been so indulgent to him!"

"Indeed, I agree with you, Shibby," said Bryan; "for although my opinion
of Hycy is changed very much for the worse of late, still I can't and
won't give in to that."

"An what has changed it for the worse?" asked his mother. "You an' he
wor very thick together always--eh? What has changed it, Bryan?"

Bryan began to rub his hand down the sleeve of his coat, as if freeing
it from dust, or perhaps admiring its fabric, but made no reply.

"Eh, Bryan," she continued, "what has changed your opinion of him?"

"Oh, nothing of much consequence, mother," replied her son; "but
sometimes a feather will toll one how the wind blows."

As he spoke, it might have been observed that he looked around upon the
family with an appearance of awakened consciousness that was very nearly
allied to shame. He recovered his composure, however, on perceiving
that none among them gave, either by look or manner, any indication of
understanding what he felt. This relieved him: but he soon found that
the sense of relief experienced from it was not permitted to last long.
Dora, his favorite sister, glided over to his side and gently taking
his hand in hers began to play with his fingers, whilst a roguish
laugh, that spoke a full consciousness of his secret, broke her pale but
beautiful features into that mingled expression of smiles and blushes
which, in one of her years, gives a look of almost angelic purity
and grace. After about a minute or two, during which she paused, and
laughed, and blushed, and commenced to whisper, and again stopped,
she at last put her lips to his ear and whispered:--"Bryan, I know the
reason you don't like Hycy."

"You do?" he said, laughing, but yet evidently confused in his
turn;--"well--an'--ha!--ha!--no, you fool, you don't."

"May I never stir if I don't!"

"Well, an' what is it?"

"Why, bekaise he's coortin' Kathleen Cavanagh--now!"

"An' what do I care about that?" said her brother.

"Oh, you thief!" she replied; "don't think you can play upon me. I know
your saycret."

"An' maybe, Dora," he replied, "I have my saycrets. Do you know who was
inquirin' for you to-day?"

"No," she returned, "nor I don't care either--sorra bit."

"I met James Cavanagh there below"--he proceeded, still in a whisper,
and he fixed his eyes upon her countenance as he spoke. The words,
however, produced a most extraordinary effect. A deep blush crimsoned
her whole neck and face, until the rush of blood seemed absolutely to
become expressive of pain. Her eye, however, did not droop, but turned
upon him with a firm and peculiar sparkle. She had been stooping with
her mouth near his ear, as the reader knows, but she now stood up
quickly, shook back her hair, that had been hanging in natural and
silken curls about her blushing cheeks, and exclaimed: "No--no. Let
me alone Bryan;" and on uttering these words she hurried into another
room."

"Bryan, you've vexed Dora some way," observed her sister. "What did you
say to her?"

"Nothing that vexed her, I'll go bail," he replied, laughing; "however,
as to what I said to her, Shibby, ax me no questions an' I'll tell you
no lies."

"Becaise I thought she looked as if she was angry," continued Shibby,
"an', you know, it must be a strong provocation that would anger her."

"Ah, you're fishin' now, Shibby," he replied, "and many thanks for your
good intentions. It's a saycret, an' that's all you're going to know
about it. But it's as much as 'll keep you on the look out this month
to come; and now you're punished for your curiosity--ha!--ha!--ha! Come,
father, if we're to go to Sam Wallace's auction it's time we should
think of movin'. Art, go an' help Tom Droogan to bring out the horses.
Rise your foot here, father, an' I'll put on your spur for you. We
may as well spake to Mr. Fethertonge, the agent, about the leases. I
promised we'd call on Gerald Cavanagh, to--an' he'll be waitin' for
us--hem!"

His eye here glanced about, but Dora was not visible, and he accordingly
seemed to be more at his ease. "I think, father," he added, "I must
trate you to a pair of spurs some of these days. This one, it's clear,
has been a long time in the family."

"Throth, an' on that account," replied M'Mahon, "I'm not goin' to part
wid it for the best pair that ever were made. No, no, Bryan; I like
everything that I've known long. When my heart gets accustomed to
anything or to anybody"--here he glanced affectionately at his wife--"I
can't bear to part wid them, or to think of partin' wid them."

The horses were now ready, and in a brief space he and his son were
decently mounted, the latter smartly but not inappropriately dressed;
and M'Mahon himself, with his right spur, in a sober but comfortable
suit, over which was a huge Jock, his inseparable companion in every
fair, market, and other public place, during the whole year. Indeed, it
would not be easy to find two better representatives of that respectable
and independent class of Irish yeomanry of which our unfortunate country
stands so much in need, as was this man of high integrity and his
excellent son.

On arriving at Gerald Cavanagh's, which was on their way to the auction,
it appeared that in order to have his company it was necessary they
should wait for a little, as he was not yet ready. That worthy man they
found in the act of shaving himself, seated very upright upon a chair
in the kitchen, his eyes fixed with great steadiness upon the opposite
wall, whilst lying between his legs upon the ground was a wooden dish
half filled with water, and on a chair beside him a small looking-glass,
with its backup, which, after feeling his face from time to time in an
experimental manner, he occasionally peeped into, and again laid down to
resume the operation.

In the mean time, Mrs. Cavanagh set forward a chair for Tom M'Mahon, and
desired her daughter Hannah to place one for Bryan, which she did. The
two girls were spinning, and it might have been observed that Kathleen
appeared to apply herself to that becoming and feminine employment with
double industry after the appearance of the M'Mahons. Kate Hogan was
sitting in the chimney corner, smoking a pipe, and as she took it out
of her mouth to whiff away the smoke from time to time, she turned her
black piercing eyes alternately from Bryan M'Mahon to Kathleen with a
peculiar keenness of scrutiny.

"An' how are you all up at Carriglass?" asked Mrs. Cavanagh.

"Indeed we can't complain, thank God, as the times goes," replied
M'Mahon.

"An' the ould grandfather?--musha, but I was glad to see him look so
well on Sunday last!"

"Troth he's as stout as e'er a one of us."

"The Lord continue it to him! I suppose you hard o' this robbery that
was done at honest Jemmy Burke's?"

"I did, indeed, an' I was sorry to hear it."

"A hundre' an' fifty pounds is a terrible loss to anybody in such
times."

"A hundre' an' fifty!" exclaimed M'Mahon--"hut, tut!--no; I thought it
was only seventy or eighty. He did not lose so much, did he?"

"So I'm tould."

"It was two--um--it was two--urn--urn--it was--um--um--it was two
hundre' itself," observed Cavanagh, after he had finished a portion of
the operation, and given himself an opportunity of speaking--"it war
two hundre' itself, I'm tould, an' that's too much, by a hundre' and
ninety-nine pounds nineteen shillings an' eleven pence three fardens, to
be robbed of."

"Troth it is, Gerald," replied M'Mahon; "but any way there's nothin'
but thievin' and robbin' goin'. You didn't hear that we came in for a
visit?"

"You!" exclaimed Mrs. Cavanagh--"is it robbed? My goodness, no!"

"Why," he proceeded, "we'll be able to get over it afore we die, I hope.
On ere last night we had two of our fattest geese stolen."

"Two!" exclaimed Mrs. Cavanagh--"an' at this saison of the! year, too.
Well, that same's a loss."

"Honest woman," said M'Mahon, addressing Kate Hogan, "maybe you'd give
me a draw o' the pipe?"

"Maybe so," she replied; "an' why wouldn't I? Shough! that is here!"

"Long life to you, Katy. Well," proceeded the worthy man, "if it was a
poor person that wanted them an' that took them from hardship, why God
forgive them as heartily as I do: but if they wor stole by a thief, for
thievin's sake, I hope I'll always be able to afford the loss of a pair
betther than the thief will to do without them; although God mend his or
her heart, whichever it was, in the mane time."

During this chat Bryan and Hanna Cavanagh were engaged in that
good-humored badinage that is common to persons of their age and
position.

"I didn't see you at Mass last Sunday, Bryan?" said she, laughing; "an'
that's the way you attend to your devotions. Upon my word you promise
well!"

"I seen you, then," replied Bryan, "so it seems if I haven't betther
eyes I have betther eyesight."

"Indeed I suppose," she replied, "you see everything but what you go to
see."

"Don't be too sure of that," he replied, with an involuntary glance at
Kathleen, who seemed to enjoy her sister's liveliness, as was evident
from the sweet and complacent smile which beamed upon her features.

"Indeed I suppose you're right," she replied; "I suppose you go to say
everything but your prayers."

"An' is it in conversation with Jemmy Kelly," asked Bryan, jocularly,
alluding to her supposed admirer, "that you perform your own devotions,
Miss Hanna?"

"Hanna, achora," said the father, "I think you're playin' the second
fiddle there--ha! ha! ha!"

The laugh was now general against Hanna, who laughed as loudly, however,
as any of them.

"Throth, Kathleen," she exclaimed, "you're not worth knot's o' straws
or you'd help me against this fellow here; have you nothing," she
proceeded, addressing Bryan, and nodding towards her sister, "to say
to her? Is everything to fall on my poor shoulders? Come, now," with
another nod in the same direction, "she desarves it for not assistin'
me. Who does she say her devotions with?"

"Hem--a--is it Kathleen you mane?" he inquired, with rather an
embarrassed look.

"Not at all," she replied ironically, "but my mother there--ha! ha! ha!
Come, now, we're waitin' for you."

"Come, now?" he repeated, purposely misunderstanding her--"oh, begad,
that's a fair challenge;" and he accordingly rose to approach her with
the felonious intent of getting a kiss; but Hanna started from her wheel
and ran out of the house to avoid him.

"Throth, you're a madcap, Hanna," exclaimed her mother, placidly--"an
antick crather, dear knows--her heart's in her mouth every minute of
the day; an' if she gets through the world wid it always as light, poor
girl, it'll be well for her."

"Kathleen, will you get me a towel or praskeen of some sort to wipe my
face wid," said her father, looking about for the article he wanted.

"I left one," she replied, "on the back of your chair--an' there it is,
sure."

"Ay, achora, it's you that laves nothing undone that ought to be done;
an' so it is here, sure enough."

"Why, then, Gerald," asked Tom M'Mahon, "in the name o' wonder what
makes you stick to the meal instead o' the soap when you're washin'
yourself?"

"Throth, an' I ever will, Tom, an' for a good raison--becaise it's best
for the complexion."

The unconscious simplicity with which Cavanagh uttered this occasioned
loud laughter, from which Kathleen herself was unable to refrain.

"By the piper, Gerald," said M'Mahon, "that's the best thing I h'ard
this month o' Sundays. Why, it would be enough for one o' your daughters
to talk about complexion. Maybe you paint too--ha! ha! ha!"

Hanna now put in her head, and asked "what is the fun?" but immediately
added, "Kathleen, here's a message for you."

"For me!" said Kathleen; "what is it?"

"Here's Peety Dhu's daughter, an' she says she has something to say to
you."

"An' so Rosha Burke," said Mrs. Cavanagh, "has taken her to live wid
them; I hope it'll turn out well for the poor thing."

"Will you come out, Kathleen," said Hanna, again peeping in; "she
mustn't tell it to anyone but yourself."

"If she doesn't she may keep it, then," replied Kathleen. "Tell her I
have no secrets," she added, "nor I won't have any of her keeping."

"You must go in," said Hanna, turning aside and addressing the
girl--"you must go in an' spake to her in the house."

"She can tell us all about the robbery, anyway," observed Mr. Cavanagh.
"Come in, a-colleen--what are you afeard of?"

"I have a word to say to her," said the girl--"a message to deliver; but
it must be to nobody but herself. Whisper," she proceeded, approaching
Kathleen, and about to address her.

Kathleen immediately rose, and, looking on the messenger, said, "Who is
it from, Nanny?"

"I mustn't let _them_ know," replied the girl, looking at the rest.

"Whatever it is, Or whoever it's from, you must spake it out then,
Nanny," continued Kathleen.

"It's from Hycy Burke, then," replied the girl; "he wants to know if you
have any answer for him?"

"Tell Hycy Burke," replied Kathleen, "that I have no answer for him; an'
that I'll thank him to send me no more messages."

"Hut tut! you foolish girl," exclaimed her mother, rising up and
approaching her daughter; "are you mad, Kathleen?"

"What's come over you," said the father, equally alarmed; "are you
beside yourself, sure enough, to send Hycy Burke sich a message as
that? Sit down, ma colleen, sit down, an' never mind her--don't think of
bringin' him back sich a message. Why, then," he added, "in the name o'
mercy, Kathleen, what has come over you, to trate a respectable young
man like. Hycy Burke in that style?"

"Simply, father, because I don't wish to receive any messages at all
from him."

"But your mother an' I is of a different opinion, Kathleen. We wish you
to resave messages from him; an' you know you're bound both by the laws
of God an' man to obey us an' be guided by us."

"I know I am, father," she replied; "an' I hope I haven't been an
undutiful child to either of you for so far."

"That's true, Kathleen--God sees it's truth itself."

"What message do you expect to bring back, Nanny?" said the mother,
addressing the girl.

"An answer," replied the girl, seeing that everything must be and was
above board--"an answer to the letther he sent her."

"Did he send you a letther?" asked her father, seriously; "an' you never
let us know a word about it?--did he send you a letther?"

Kathleen paused a moment and seemed to consult Hanna's looks, who had
now joined them. At length she replied, slowly, and as if in doubt
whether she ought to speak in the affirmative or not--"no, he sent me no
letter."

"Well now, take care, Kathleen," said her mother; "I seen a letther in
your hands this very mornin'."

Kathleen blushed deeply; but as if anxious to give the conversation
another turn, and so to relieve herself, she replied, "I can't prevent
you, mother, or my father either, from sending back whatever answer you
wish; but this I say that, except the one I gave already, Hycy Burke
will never receive any message or any answer to a message from me; an'
now for the present let us drop it."

"Very well," said her mother; "in the mane time, my good girsha, sit
down. Is it thrue that Jemmy Burke's house was robbed a couple o' nights
ago?"

"True enough," said the girl.

"And how much did he lose?" asked M'Mahon; "for there's disputes about
it--some say more and some say less."

"Between seventy and eighty pounds," replied Nanny; "the masther isn't
sure to a pound or so; but he knows it was near eighty, any way."

"That's just like him," said Cavanagh; "his careless way of managin'.
Many a time I wondher at him;--he slobbers everything about that you'd
think he'd beggar himself, an' yet the luck and prosperity flows to him.
I declare to my goodness I think the very dirt under his feet turns to
money. Well, girsha, an' have they any suspicion of the robbers?"

"Why," said the girl, "they talk about"--she paused, and it was
quite evident from her manner that she felt not only embarrassed, but
distressed by the question. Indeed this was no matter of surprise; for
ever since the subject was alluded to, Kate Hogan's black piercing eyes
had not once been removed from hers, nor did the girl utter a single
word in reply to the questions asked of her without first, as it were,
consulting Kate's looks.

A moment's reflection made Cavanagh feel that the question must be a
painful one to the girl, not only on her own account, but on that of
Kate herself; for even then it was pretty well known that Burke's family
entertained the strongest suspicion that the burglary had been committed
by these notorious vagabonds.

"Well, ahagur," said Cavanagh, "no matter now--it's all over unless they
catch the robbers. Come now," he added, addressing M'Mahon and his son,
"if you're for the road I'm ready."

"Is it true, Mrs. Burke," asked Bryan, "that you're goin' to have a Kemp
in your barn some o' these days?"

"True enough, indeed," replied the good woman, "an' that's true, too,
tell the girls, Bryan, and that they must come."

"Not I," said the other, laughing; "if the girls here--wishes them to
come, let them go up and ask them."

"So we will, then," replied Hanna, "an' little thanks to you for your
civility."

"I wish I knew the evenin'," said Bryan, "that I might be at
Carriglass."

"When will we go, Kathleen," asked her sister, turning slyly to her.

"Why, you're sich a light-brained cracked creature," replied Kathleen,
"that I can't tell whether you're joking or not."

"The sorra joke I'm jokin'," she replied, striving suddenly to form
her features into a serious expression. "Well, then, I have it," she
proceeded. "Some Thursday, Bryan, in the middle o' next week--now you
know I'm not jokin', Kathleen."

"Will you come, Kathleen?" inquired Bryan.

"Why, if Hanna goes, I suppose I must," she replied, but without looking
up.

"Well then I'll have a sharp look-out on Thursday."

"Come now," said Gerald, "let us move. Give the girsha something to ate
among you, for the credit of the house, before she goes back," he added.
"Paddy Toole, girth that horse tighter, I tell you; I never can get you
to girth him as he ought to be girthed."

On bidding the women good-bye, Bryan looked towards Kathleen for a
moment, and her eye in return glanced on him as he was about to go. But
that simple glance, how significant was its import, and how clearly did
it convey the whole history of as pure a heart as ever beat within a
female bosom!

CHAPTEE VI.--Nanny Peety looks mysterious

--Hycy proves himself a good Judge of Horse-Flesh.

The day was all light, and life, and animation. The crops were going
down fast in every direction, and the fields were alive and cheerful
with the voice of mirth and labor. As they got into the vicinity of
Wallace's house they overtook or were over-taken by several of their
neighbors, among whom was seen our old friend, Jemmy, or as I his
acquaintances generally called him, honest Jemmy Burke, mounted upon a
brood mare with a foal at her heels, all his other horses having been
engaged in the labor of the season.

After having sympathized with him upon the loss he had sustained,
they soon allowed the subject to drop; for it was quite clear from the
expression of care, if not of sorrow, that was legible in his face, that
the very mention of it only caused him to feel additional anxiety.

At length they reached Wallace's house, where they found a tolerably
large crowd of people waiting for the auction, which was not to commence
until the hour of one o'clock.

Sam Wallace was a respectable Protestant farmer, who finding, as he
said, that there was no proper encouragement given to men who were
anxious and disposed to improve their property, had deemed it a wiser
step to dispose of his stock and furniture than to remain as he was--not
merely with no certain prospect of being able to maintain even his
present position, but with the chances against him of becoming every day
a poorer and more embarrassed man. His brother, who like himself, after
having been on the decline for a considerable period, had emigrated to
America, where he was prospering, now urged him to follow his example
and leave a country in which he said, in language that has become a
proverb, "everything was going to the bad." Feeling that his brother's
words were unfortunately too true, Wallace, at all events, came to the
determination of following his example.

The scene at which our friends arrived was indeed a striking and
impressive one. The majority of the crowd consisted of those who
belonged either to the Protestant or Presbyterian forms of worship; and
it might be with truth asserted, that nothing could surpass the clear
unquestionable character of independent intelligence which prevailed
among them. Along with this, however, there was an obvious spirit
of dissatisfaction, partial, it is true, as to numbers, but yet
sufficiently marked as to satisfy an observer that such a people, if
united upon any particular subject or occasion, were not for a moment to
be trifled with or cajoled. Their feelings upon the day in question were
stirred into more than usual warmth. A friend, a neighbor, a man of
an old and respectable family, frugal, industrious, and loyal, as
they said, both to king and country, was now forced from want of due
encouragement from his landlord, to disturb all his old associations
of friendship and kindred, and at rather an advanced state of life
to encounter the perils of a long voyage, and subject himself and his
family to the changes and chances which he must encounter in a new
world, and in a different state of society. Indeed, the feeling which
prompted the expression of these sentiments might be easily gathered
from the character that pervaded the crowd. Not to such an extent,
however, with respect to Wallace himself or any portion of his family,
There might be observed upon him and them a quiet but resolute spirit,
firm, collected, and cheerful; but still, while there were visible no
traces of dejection or grief, it was easy to perceive that under this
decent composure there existed a calm consciousness of strong stern
feeling, whose dignity, if not so touching, was quite as impressive as
the exhibition of louder and more clamorous grief.

"Bryan," said M'Mahon to his son, as the auction was proceeding, "I'll
slip up to the agent's, and do you see if them sheep goes for a fair
value--if they do, give a bid or two any how. I'm speakin' of that lot
we wor lookin' at, next the wall there."

"I'll pay attention to it," said Bryan; "I know you'll find the agent at
home now, for I seen him goin' in a while ago; so hurry up, an' ax him
if he can say how soon we may expect the leases."

"Never fear, I will."

On entering Fethertonge's Hall, M'Mahon was treated with very marked
respect by the servant, who told him to walk into the parlor, and he
would let his master know.

"He entertains a high opinion of you, Mister M'Mahon," said he; "and I
heard him speak strongly about you the other day to some gentlemen that
dined with us--friends of the landlord's. Walk into the parlor."

In a few minutes M'Mahon was shown into Fethertonge's office, the walls
of which were, to a considerable height, lined with tin boxes, labelled
with the names of those whose title-deeds and other valuable papers they
contained.

Fethertonge was a tall, pale, placid looking man, with rather a
benevolent cast of countenance, and eyes that were mild, but very
small in proportion to the other features of his face. His voice was
exceedingly low, and still more musical and sweet than low; in fact
it was such a voice as, one would imagine, ought to have seldom been
otherwise employed than in breathing hope and, consolation to despairing
sinners on their bed of death. Yet he had nothing of either the parson
or the preacher in his appearance. So far from that he was seldom known
to wear a black coat, unless when dressed for dinner, and not very
frequently even then, for he mostly wore blue.

"M'Mahon," said he, "take a seat. I am glad to see you. How are your
family?"

"Both I an' they is well, I'm thankful to you, sir," replied the farmer.

"I hope you got safe home from the metropolis. How did you travel?"

"Troth, I walked it, sir, every inch of the way, an' a long stretch it
is. I got safe, sir, an' many thanks to you."

"That was a sudden call poor Mr. Chevydale got, but not more so than
might, at his time of life, have been expected; at all events I hope he
was prepared for it, and indeed I have reason to think he was."

"I trust in God he was, sir," replied M'Mahon; "so far as I and mine
is consarned, we have raison to wish it; he didn't forget us, Mr.
Fethertonge."

"No," said the other, after some pause, "he did not indeed forget you,
M'Mahon."

"I tuck the liberty of callin' down, sir," proceeded M'Mahon, "about
the leases he spoke of, an' to know how soon we may expect to have them
filled."

"That is for your son Bryan and yourself. How is Bryan proceeding with
Ahadarra, by the way? I spoke to him some time ago about his system of
cropping that farm, and some other matters of the kind; I must ride up
one of these days to see how he is doing. As to the leases, there is no
difficulty in the way, M'Mahon, except to get our young landlord to sign
them. That we will easily do, of course; in the meantime, do you go
on, improve your land, and strive to do something for your children,
M'Mahon; for, in this world, he that won't assist himself will find
very few that will. The leases are in Dublin; if you wish, I'll send for
them, and have them ready for the landlord's signature whenever he comes
down here; or I'll leave them in town, where I shall be more likely to
see him."

"Very well, sir," replied M'Mahon, "I lave it all in your own hands, for
I know that if you won't be my friend, you won't be my enemy."

"Well--certainly--I hope not. Will you take anything? Here, James, bring
in some brandy."

M'Mahon's protest against the brandy was anything but invincible.
Fethertonge's manner was so kind, so familiar, and his interest in the
success of himself and his family so unaffectedly warm and sincere,
that, after drinking his health, he took his leave with a light and.
happy heart.

Their journey home was a little more lively than the depression of Jemmy
Burke's mind had allowed it to be on their way to the auction. Yet
each had his own peculiar feelings, independently of those which were
elicited by the conversation. Jemmy Burke, who had tasted some of
Wallace's liquor, as indeed, with the exception of Bryan, they all did,
was consequently in a better and more loquacious humor than he had been
during the day. On this occasion his usual good fortune attended him for
it was the opinion of every one there, that he had got the best bargain
disposed of during the day--a lot of twenty-five wethers in prime
condition. Gerald Cavanagh, who had also tasted the poteen, stuck as
closely as possible to his skirts, moved thereto by a principle of
adhesion, with which our readers are already acquainted; and Bryan,
who saw and understood his motives, felt by no means comfortable at
witnessing such strong symptoms of excessive attachment. Old M'Mahon
did not speak much, for, in truth, he could not overcome the depressing
effects of the scene he had witnessed, nor of the words uttered by
Wallace, as they bade each other farewell.

Burke, however, and his companion, Cavanagh, looked like men between
whom a warm friendship was about to grow up. Whenever they came to a
public-house or a shebeen, they either dismounted and had a cordial drop
together, or took it in the saddle after touching each other's glasses
in token of love and amity. It is true some slight interruption
occurred, that disturbed the growing confidence and familiarity of their
dialogue, which interruption consisted in the endless whinnying of the
mare whenever her foal delayed a moment behind her, or in the sudden and
abrupt manner in which she wheeled about with a strong disposition to
return and look for it.

On the discovery of Burke's robbery an investigation was set on foot,
but with no prospect of success, and without in any way involving the
Hogans, who were strongly suspected. It was clearly proved that Philip
and one of his brothers slept in their usual residence--Cavanagh's
corn-kiln--on that night, but it was admitted that Batt Hogan and his
wife Kate were both abroad the greater portion of it. On them suspicion
might, indeed, very naturally have rested, were it not for the evidence
of Hycy himself, who at once admitted that he could exonerate them from
any suspicion, as he knew both how and where they had passed the night
in question. So far, therefore, the Hogans, dishonest as they were
unquestionably reputed to be, now stood perfectly exonerated from all
suspicion.

The lapse of a very few days generally cools down the ferment occasioned
by matters of this kind, especially when public curiosity is found to be
at fault in developing the whole train of circumstances connected with
them. All the in-door servants, it is true, were rigorously examined,
yet it somehow happened that Hycy could not divest himself of a
suspicion that Nanny Peety was in some way privy to the disappearance
of the money. In about three or four days he happened to see her thrust
something into her father's bag, which he carried as a mendicant, and he
could not avoid remarking that there was in her whole manner, which was
furtive and hurried, an obvious consciousness of something that was not
right. He resolved, however, to follow up the impression which he
felt, and accordingly in a few minutes after her father had taken his
departure, he brought her aside, and without giving her a moment to
concoct a reply, he asked what it was that he saw her thrusting in such
a hurried manner into his bag. She reddened like scarlet, and, after
pausing a moment, replied, "Nothing, sir, but an ould pair of shoes."

"Was that all?" he asked.

"That was all, sir," she replied.

The blush and hesitation, however, with which she answered him were
far from satisfactory; and without more ado he walked briskly down the
avenue, and overtook her father near the gate at its entrance.

"Peety," said he, "what was that your daughter Nanny put into your bag a
while ago? I wish to know?"

"Deed an its scarcely worth your while, Master Hycy," replied the
mendicant; "but since you'd like to know, it was a pair of ould brogues,
and here they are," he added, "if you wish to see them."

He laid down the bag as he spoke, and was proceeding to pull them out,
when Hycy, who felt angry with himself as well as ashamed at being
detected in such a beggarly and unbecoming act of espionage, turned
instantly back, after having vented several hearty curses upon the
unfortunate mendicant and his bags.

As he approached the hall-door, however, he met Nanny crossing into the
kitchen-yard, and from the timid and hesitating glance she cast at
him, some vague suspicion again occurred, and he resolved to enter into
further conversation with her. It struck him that she had been watching
his interview with her father, and could not avoid yielding to the
impression which had returned so strongly upon him.

"I saw your father, Nanny," he said, in as significant and dry a tone as
possible.

"Did you, sir?" said she; and he remarked that while uttering the words,
she again colored deeply and did not raise her eyes to his face.

"Yes," he replied; "but he did not bear out what you said--he had no
pair of shoes in his bag."

"Did you see what he had in it, Master Hycy?"

"Why," said he, "a--hem--a--a--I didn't look--but I'll tell you what,
Nanny, I think you look as if you were in possession of some secret. I
say so, and don't imagine you can for a moment impose upon me. I know
what your father had in his bag."

"Well then, if you do, sir," she replied, "you know the saycrit."

"So there is a secret, then?"

"So you say, Masther Hycy."

"Nanny," he proceeded, "it occurs to me now that you never underwent a
formal examination about this robbery that took place in our house."

"That wasn't my fault," she replied; "I mostly happened to be out."

"Well, but do you know anything about it?"

"Not a thing--no more than yourself, Mr. Hycy."

Her interrogator turned upon her a hard scrutinizing glance, in which
it was easy to see that she read a spirit of strong and dissatisfied
suspicion. She was evidently conscious of this; for as Hycy stood gazing
upon her, she reddened, and betrayed unequivocal symptons of confusion.

"Because, Nanny," he proceeded, "if you knew anything about it, and
didn't mention it at once to the family, you would be considered as one
of the robbers."

"An' wouldn't I be nearly as bad if I didn't?" she replied; "surely the
first thing I'd do would be to tell."

"It's very strange," observed Hycy, "that such a robbery could be
committed in a house where there are so many servants, without any clue
whatsoever to a discovery."

"Well, I don't agree with you there, Mr. Hycy--if what your father and
mother an' all o' them say is true--that it wasn't often the hall-door
was bolted at night; and that they can't say whether it was fastened on
that night or not. Sure if it wasn't, there was nothing to prevent any
one from comin' in."

"Very true, Nanny," he replied, "very true; and we have paid severely
for our negligence."

This closed the conversation, but Hycy felt that, proceed from whatever
source it might, it was impossible to dismiss certain vague suspicions
as connected with the mendicant's daughter. He determined, however,
to watch her narrowly; and somehow he could not divest himself of the
impression that she saw through his design. This incident occurred a few
days after the robbery.

Jemmy Burke, though in many respects a man of easy and indolent
character, was nevertheless a person who, as is familiarly! said,
"always keep an eye to the main chance." He was by no means over-tidy
either in his dress or farming; but it mattered little in what light you
contemplated him, you were always certain to find him a man not affected
by trifles, nor rigidly systematic in anything; but at the same time you
could not help observing that he was a man of strong points, whose life
was marked by a course of high prosperity, that seemed to flow in
upon him, as it were, by some peculiar run of good fortune. This luck,
however, was little less than the natural result of shrewd mother-wit,
happily applied to the: ordinary transactions of life, and assuming the
appearance of good fortune rather than of sound judgment, in consequence
of the simplicity of character under which it acted. Ever since the
night of the robbery, he had devoted himself more to the pipe than he
had ever been known to do before; he spoke little, too; but what he did
say was: ironical, though not by any means without a tinge of quiet but
caustic humor.

Hycy, on entering the parlor, found him! seated in an arm-chair, smoking
as usual, whilst his mother, who soon came down stairs, appeared dressed
in more than her usual finery.

"What keeps Patsy Dolan wid the car?" she inquired. "Hycy, do you see
any appearance of him?"

"No, ma'am," replied the son; "I didn't know you wanted him."

Jemmy looked at her with a good deal of surprise, and, after whiffing
away the smoke, asked--"And well, Rosha--begs pardon--Mrs. Burke--is it
a fair question to ax where you are bound for?"

"Fair enough, Mr. Burke," she replied; "but I'm not goin' to answer it."

"You're bound for a journey, ma'am, I think?"

"I'm bound for a journey, sir."

"Is it a long journey, Mrs. Burke?"

"No, indeed; it's a short journey, Mister Burke."

"Ah!" replied her husband, uttering a very significant groan; "I'm
afraid it is."

"Why do you groan, Mr. Burke?"

"Oh it doesn't signify," he replied, dryly; "it's no novelty, I believe,
to hear a man--a married man--groan in this world; only if you wor for
a long journey, I'd be glad to give you every assistance in my power."

"You hear that, Hycy; there's affection?" she exclaimed--"wishin' me to
go my long journey!"

"Would you marry again, Mr. Burke?" asked the worthy son.

"I think not," replied Jemmy. "There's gintlemen enough o' the name--I'm
afraid one too many."

"Well," exclaimed his wife, assuming something as near to her conception
of the look of a martyr as possible, "I'm sufferin' at all events; but
I know my crown's before me."

"Sich as it is," replied her husband, "I dare say it is."

"I'll not be back for a few hours, Hycy; an'--but here's the car. Come
fardher up, Patsy."

Hycy politely handed his mother out, and assisted her on the car. "Of
course, he'll discover it all," said he, laughing.

"I know he will," she replied; "but when it's over, it's over, and
that's all."

Jemmy now met his son at the hall-door, and asked him if he knew where
his mother had gone.

"I really cannot undertake to say," replied the other. "Mrs. Burke,
father, is a competent judge of her own notions; but I presume to think
that she may take a drive upon her own car, without being so severely,
if not ungenerously catechised about it. I presume to think so, sir; but
I daresay I am wrong, and that even that is a crime on my part."

His father made no reply, but proceeded at an easy and thoughtful pace
to join his men in the field where they were at labor.

Hycy, after his mother's return that evening, seemed rather in low
spirits, if one could form any correct estimate of his character by
appearances. He was very silent, and somewhat less given to those broken
snatches of melody than was his wont; and yet a close observer might
have read in his deportment, and especially in the peculiar expression
of his eye, that which seemed to indicate anything rather than
depression or gloom. His silence, to such an observer, might have
appeared rather the silence of satisfaction and triumph, than of
disappointment or vexation.

His father, indeed, saw little of him that night, in consequence of the
honest man having preferred the hob of his wealthy and spacious kitchen
to the society of his wife and son in the parlor. The next morning,
however, they met at breakfast, as usual, when Hycy, after some ironical
compliments to his father's good taste, asked him, "if he would do him
the favor to step towards the stable and see his purchase."

"You don't mane Crazy Jane?" said the other, coolly.

"I do," replied Hycy; "and as I set a high value on your opinion,
perhaps you would be kind enough to say what you think of her."

Now, Hycy never for a moment dreamt that his father would have taken him
at his word, and we need hardly say that he was a good deal disconcerted
at the cool manner in which the other expressed his readiness to do so.

"Well, Mr. Burke," he proceeded, when they had reached the stable,
"there she is. Pray what do you think of her?"

The old man looked at her from various points, passed his hand down
her limbs, clapped her on the back, felt her in different places, then
looked at her again. "She's a beauty," said he, "a born beauty like
Billy Neelin's foal; what's this you say you paid for her?"

"Thirty-five pounds."

"Tare-an-ounty, Hycy, she's dog chape--thirty-five!--why she's value for
double the sum."

"Nearly," replied Hycy, quite elevated and; getting into good humor; "is
she not really now, father, a precious bit of flesh?"

"Ah! you may swear that, Hycy; I tell you you won't act the honest man,
if you don't give him fifteen or twenty pounds over an' above what you
paid him. Tom Burton I see's too simple for you. Go and do what I bid
you; don't defraud the poor man; you have got a treasure, I tell you--a
beauty bright--an extraordinary baste--a wonderful animal--oh, dear me!
what a great purchase! Good-bye, Hycy. Bless my sowl! what a judge of
horseflesh you are!"

Having uttered these words in a tone of grave and caustic irony, he left
his worthy son in a state of chagrin almost bordering on resentment, at
the strong contempt for Crazy-Jane, implied by the excessive eulogium
he had passed upon her. This feeling, however, was on reflection
considerably checked by his satisfaction on finding that the matter was
taken by his father so coolly. He had calculated on receiving a very
stormy lecture from him the moment he should become aware of his having
the animal in his possession; and he now felt rather relieved that
he should have escaped so easily. Be this as it may, Hycy was now in
excellent spirits. Not only had Crazy Jane been secured, but there were
strong symptoms of his being in cash. In a few days after the incident
of the stable, he contrived to see Philip Hogan, with whom he appointed
a final meeting in Cavanagh's kiln on the night of the Kemp; at which
meeting, Teddy Phats and the other two Hogans were also to be present,
in order to determine upon the steps which he ultimately proposed to
take, with a view to work out his purposes, whatever those purposes may
have been.

CHAPTER VII.--The Spinster's Kemp.

A kemp, or camp, is a contest of industrial skill, or a competition
for priority in a display of rustic labor. Among men it is principally
resorted to in planting potatoes or reaping of corn, and generally only
on the day which closes the labor at each for the season; but in the
sense in which it is most usually practised and contested, it means a
trial of female skill at the spinning of linen yarn. It is, indeed,
a very cheerful assemblage of the fair sex; and, although strong and
desperate rivalry is the order of the day, yet it is conducted in
a spirit so light-hearted and amicable that we scarcely know a more
laudable or delightful recreation in country life. Its object is always
good, and its associations praiseworthy, inasmuch as they promote
industry, a spirit of becoming emulation, and principles of good will
and kindness to our neighbor.

When a kemp is about to be held, the matter soon becomes generally known
in the neighborhood. Sometimes the young women are asked, but in
most instances, so eager are they to attend it that invitations are
unnecessary. In the whiter months, and in mountain districts, it is
often as picturesque as it is pleasant. The young women usually begin
to assemble about four o'clock in the morning; and, as they always go in
groups, accompanied besides by their sweethearts or some male relatives,
each of the latter bearing a large torch of well-dried bogfir, their
voices, and songs, and loud laughter break upon the stillness of
night with a holiday feeling, made ten times more delightful by the
surrounding darkness and the hour. When they have not the torches the
spinning-wheels are carried by the males, amidst an agreeable din of
fun, banter, repartee, and jest, such as scarcely any other rustic
amusement with which we are acquainted ever occasions. On arriving at
the house where the kemp is to be held, they are placed in the barn or
some clean outhouse; but indeed the numbers are usually such as to crowd
every available place that can be procured for their accommodation. From
the moment they arrive the lively din is incessant. Nothing is heard but
laughter, conversation, songs, and anecdotes, all rising in a loud key,
among the louder humming of the spinning-wheels and the stridulous noise
of the reeds, as they incessantly crack the cuts in the hands of the
reelers, who are perpetually turning them from morning to night, in
order to ascertain the quantity which every competitor has spun; and
she, of course, who has spun most wins the kemp, and is the queen for
the night.

A kemp invariably closes with a dance--and a dance too upon an unusually
extensive scale. Indeed, during the whole day the fair competitors are
regaled from time to time with the enlivening strains of the fiddle or
bagpipes, and very often with the united melody of both together.

On that morning the dwelling-house and mostly all the out-offices of
Gerald Cavanagh bore, in stir and bustle, a stronger resemblance to the
activity of so many bee-hives about to swarm than to anything else
to which we can think of comparing them. Mirth in all its shapes, of
laughter, glee, and song, rang out in every direction. The booming
of wheels and the creaking of reels, the loud banter, the peals of
laughter, the sweet Irish songs that filled up the pauses of the louder
mirth, and the strains of the fiddle that ever and anon added to the
enlivening spirit of the scene, all constituted such a full and general
chorus of hilarity as could seldom be witnessed.

There were many girls present who took no part in the competition, but
who, as friends and acquaintances of Kathleen and Hanna, came to enjoy
the festive spirit of the day. Hanna herself, however, who had earned
some celebrity as a spinster, started for the honor of winning, as did
Dora M'Mahon, whose small and beautiful fingers seemed admirably adapted
for this graceful and peculiarly feminine process of Minerva. Towards
evening the neighbors assembled in considerable numbers, each interested
in the success of some peculiar favorite, whose former feats had induced
her friends to entertain on her behalf strong, if not certain, hopes of
victory. Kathleen, from a principle of generosity, patronized her young
friend, Dora M'Mahon; and Shibby M'Mahon, on the other hand, took
Hanna Cavanagh under her protection. As the evening advanced, and the
spectators and friends of the parties began to call, in order to be
present at the moment of victory, it would be difficult to witness any
assemblage of young women placed under circumstances of such striking
interest. The mirth and song and general murmur diminished by degrees,
until they altogether ceased, and. nothing was to be heard but the
perpetual cracking of the reels, the hum of the rapid wheels, and the
voices of the reelers, as they proclaimed the state of this enlivening
pool of industry. As for the fair competitors themselves, it might have
been observed that even those among them who had no, or at least but
slight pretensions to beauty, became actually interesting from the
excitement which prevailed. Their eyes lit by the active spirit of
rivalry within them, sparkled with peculiar brilliancy, their cheeks
became flushed or got pale as they felt themselves elevated or depressed
by the prospect or loss of victory. Nor were there wanting on this
occasion some vivid glances that were burthened, as they passed aslant,
their fair faces, with pithier feelings than those that originated from
a simple desire of victory. If truth must be told, baleful flashes,
unmeasured both in number and expression, were exchanged in a spirit
of true defiance between the interested and contending parties, as the
close of the contest approached. At length, by the proclamation of the
reelers, the great body of the competitors were thrown out, and they
consequently gave up the contest. It was now six o'clock, and the
first sound of seven o'clock by Captain Millar's bell was to close the
proceedings, and enable the reelers to proclaim the victor. Only four
names now remained to battle it out to the last; to wit, a country
farmer's daughter, named Betty Aikins, Dora M'Mahon, Hanna Cavanagh, and
a servant-girl belonging to another neighbor, named Peggy Bailly. This
ruck, as they say on the turf, was pretty well up together, but all
the rest nowhere. And now, to continue the metaphor, as is the case
at Goodwood or the Curragh, the whole interest was centered upon these
four. At the commencement of the last hour the state of the case was
proclaimed as follows: Betty Aikins, three dozen and eight cuts; Dora
M'Mahon, three dozen and seven cuts; Hanna Cavanagh, three dozen and
five cuts; and Peggy Bailly, three dozen and four cuts. Every individual
had now her own party anxious for her success, and amidst this hour of
interest how many hearts beat with all hopes and fears that are incident
even to the most circumscribed contest of human life. Opposite Dora
stood the youth whom we have already noticed, James Cavanagh, whose
salvation seemed but a very trifling thing when compared or put into
opposition with her success. Be this as it may, the moment was a most
exciting one even to those who felt no other interest than that which
naturally arises from human competition. And it was unquestionably
a beautiful thing to witness this particular contest between, four
youthful and industrious young women. Dora's otherwise pale and placid
features were now mantling, and her beautiful dark eyes flashing,
under the proud and ardent spirit of ambition, for such in fact was the
principle which now urged and animated the contest. When nearly half an
hour had passed, Kathleen came behind her, and stooping down, whispered,
"Dora, don't turn your wheel so quickly: you move the, foot-board too
fast--don't twist the thread too much, and you'll let down more."

Dora smiled and looked up to her with a grateful and flashing eye.
"Thank you, Kathleen," she replied, nodding, "I'll take your advice."
The state of the contest was then proclaimed:--Betty Aikins--three dozen
and ten cuts; Dora M'Mahon--three dozen and ten cuts; Hanna Cavanagh
--three dozen, six cuts and a half; Peggy Bailly--three dozen, five and
a half.

On hearing this, Betty Aikin's cheek became scarlet, and as it is
useless to disguise the fact, several flashing glances that partook
more of a Penthesilean fire than the fearful spirit which usually
characterizes the industrious pursuits of Minerva, were shot at generous
Dora, who sustained her portion of the contest with singular spirit and
temper.

"You may as well give it up, Dora M'Mahon," exclaimed Betty; "there
never was one of your blood could open against an Aikins--the stuff is
not in you to beat me."

"A very little time will soon tell that," replied Dora; "but indeed,
Betty, if I am doin' my best to win the kemp, I hope it's not in a bad
or unfriendly spirit, but in one of fair play and good humor."

The contest now went on for about fifteen minutes, with surpassing
interest and animation, at the expiration of which period, the seven
o'clock bell already alluded to, rang the hour for closing their labors
and determining the victory. Thus stood their relative position--Dora
M'Mahon, four hanks and three cuts; Betty Aikins, four hanks; Hanna
Cavanagh, three hanks and nine cuts; Peggy Bailly, three hanks and eight
cuts.

When this result was made known, Betty Aikins burst into a loud fit
of grief, in which she sobbed as if her very heart would break, and
Kathleen stooping down, congratulated the beautiful girl upon her
victory, kissing her at the same time as she spoke--an act of love and
kindness in which she would have joyfully been followed by several of
her male friends, if they had dared to take that delicious liberty.

The moment of victory, we believe, is that which may be relied upon as
the test of true greatness. Dora M'Mahon felt the pride of that moment
in its fullest extent, but she felt it only to influence her better and
nobler principles. After casting her eyes around to gather in, as it
were, that honest approbation which is so natural, and exchanging some
rapid glances with the youth we have alluded to, she went over to her
defeated competitor, and taking her hand said, "Don't cry, Betty, you
have no right to be ashamed; sure, as you say, it's the first time you
wor ever beaten; we couldn't all win; an' indeed if I feel proud
now, everyone knows an' says I have a right to be so; for where was
there--ay, or where is there--such a spinner as you are?

"Shake hands now an' there's a kiss for you. If I won this kemp, it was
won more by chance than by anything else."

These generous expressions were not lost on Betty; on the contrary, they
soothed her so much that she gave her hand cordially to her young and
interesting conqueress, after which they all repaired to a supper of new
milk and flummery, than which there is nothing more delicious within the
wide range of luxury. This agreeable meal being over, they repaired to
the large barn where Mickey M'Grory the fiddler, was installed in his
own peculiar orchestra, consisting of an arm-chair of old Irish oak,
brought out from Gerald Cavanagh's parlor.

It would indeed be difficult to find together such a group of happy
faces. Gerald Cavanagh and his wife, Tom M'Mahon and his better
half, and several of the neighbors, of every age and creed, were all
assembled; and, in this instance, neither gray hairs nor length of years
were looked upon as privileged from a participation in the festivities
of the evening. Among the rest, gaunt and grim, were the three Hogans,
looking through the light-hearted assemblage with the dark and sinister
visages of thorough ruffians, who were altogether incapable of joining
in the cheerful and inoffensive amusements that went forward around
them. Kate Hogan sat in an obscure corner behind the fiddler, where
she was scarcely visible, but from which she enjoyed a full view of
everything that occurred in the house.

A shebeen-man, named Parra Bradagh, father to Barney, whom the reader
has already met in the still-house, brought a cask of poteen to the
stable, where he disposed of it _sub silentio_, by which we mean without
the knowledge of Gerald Cavanagh, who would not have suffered any such
person about his place, had the circumstance been made known to him.
Among the rest, in the course of the evening, our friend O'Finigan the
Philomath made his appearance, and as was his wont very considerably
advanced in liquor. The worthy pedagogue, on inquiring for the queen
of the kemp, as he styled her, was told that he might know her by the
flowers in her hair. "There she is, masther," said one of them, "wid the
roses on her head."

"Well," said O'Finigan, looking about him with surprise, "I have, before
now, indulged in the Cerelian juice until my eyes have become possessed
of that equivocal quality called the double vision, but I must confess
that this is the first occasion on which the quality aforesaid has been
quadrupled. Instead of one queen, wid Flora's fragrant favors in her
lock, I think I see four."

Finigan indeed was right. Dora, on being presented with a simple chaplet
of flowers, as the heroine of the night, in a spirit of true magnanimity
generously divided the chaplet among her three rivals, thus, like every
brave heart, resting satisfied with the consciousness of victory, and
anxious that those who had approached her so nearly should also share in
its honors.

It is not our intention to enter into a detailed account of the dancing,
nor of the good humor which prevailed among them. It is enough to say
that the old people performed minuets and cotillions, and the young
folks, jigs, reels, and country dances; hornpipes were performed upon
doors, by rural dancers, and all the usual variations of mirth and
amusement were indulged in on the occasion.

We have said that Tom M'Mahon and his family were there, but we should
have added, with one exception. Bryan did not arrive until the evening
was far advanced, having been prevented by pressing business connected
with his farm. On making his appearance, he was greeted by a murmur of
welcomes, and many an honest hand was extended to him. Up until then
there were two individuals who observed Kathleen Cavanagh closely, and
we must ourselves admit that both came to the same conclusion. Its was
clear that during the whole evening she had been unusually pensive,
if not actually depressed, although a general observer would have seen
nothing in her beyond the natural sedateness of her manner. The two in
question were Kate Hogan and Dora M'Mahon. On Bryan's arrival, however,
the color of her cheek deeped into a richer beauty, the eye became more
sparkling, and a much slighter jest than before moved her into mirth.
Such, however, we are, and such is the mystery of our nature. It might
have been remarked that the Hogans eyed Bryan, soon after making his
appearance, with glances expressive of anything but good feeling. It was
not, however, when he first arrived, or danced with Hanna Cavanagh, that
these boding glances were turned upon him, but on the occasion of his
performing a reel with Kathleen. It might have been noticed that they
looked at him, and afterwards at each other, in a manner that could
admit of but little misapprehension.

"Philip," observed Finigan, addressing the elder Hogan,--"Philip,
the Macedonian--monarch of Macedon, I say, is not that performance
a beautiful specimen of the saltatory art? There is manly beauty, O
Philip! and modest carriage.

"'With aquil beauty formed, and aquil grace,
Hers the soft blushes of the opening morn,
And his the radiance of the risen day.'"

"It's night now, misther, if you plaise," returned Hogan, gruffly;
"but we don't want your opinion here--stick to your pothooks and
hangers--keep to your trade."

"The _pot-hooks_ and _hangers_ are more _tui generis_, you misbegotten
satyr," replied the schoolmaster; "that is, more appropriately
concatenated with your own trade than wid mine. I have no trade, sirra,
but a profession, and neither have you. You stand in the same degraded
ratio to a tradesman that a rascally quack does to a regular surgeon."

"You had better keep a civil tongue in jour head," replied Hogan,
nettled at the laughter which the schoolmaster raised at his expense.

"What! a civil tongue for you! Polite language for a rascally
sotherer of ould skillets and other anonymous utensils. Why, what
are you?--firstly, a general violation of the ten commandments; and,
secondly, a misshapen but faithful impersonation of the seven deadly
sins. Take my word for it, my worthy Macedonian, you will die any death
but a horizontal one--it's veracity I'm telling you. Yet there is some
comfort for you too--some comfort, I say again; for you who never lived
one upright hour will die an upright death. A certain official will
erect a perpendicular with you; but for that touck of Mathematics you
must go to the hangman, at whose hands you will have to receive the
rites of your church, you monstrous bog-trotting Gorgon. Mine a trade!
Shades of Academus, am I to bear this!"

Finigan was, like most of his class, a privileged man; but on this
occasion the loudness of the mirth prevented Hogan's reply from being
heard. As to violence, nobody that knew the poor pedagogue could ever
dream of using it towards him, and there is little doubt that the
consciousness of this caused him to give his tongue a license when
provoked, which he otherwise would not have dared to venture upon.
When he first made his appearance he was so far advanced in liquor as
scarcely to be able to stand, and it was quite evident that the heat of
the crowded house by no means improved him.

In about a quarter of an hour after Bryan and Kathleen had danced, the
good people of the kemp were honored by the appearance of Hycy Burke
among them--not in his jockey dress, but in a tight-fitting suit, that
set off his exceedingly well-made person to great advantage. In
fact, Hycy was a young fellow of a remarkably handsome face, full
of liveliness and apparent good humor, and a figure that was nearly
perfect. He addressed the persons present with an air of easy
condescension, and went over immediately and shook hands, in a very
cordial manner, with Gerald Cavanagh and his wife, after which he turned
round and bowed to the daughters. He then addressed Bryan, beside whom
Kathleen was sitting.

"Bryan," said he, "there will be mistakes in the best of families. I
hate enmity. How, do you do?"

Bryan nodded, and replied, "Pretty well, Hycy--how are you?"

Cavanagh and his wife were evidently quite delighted to see him; the
good man rose and made him take his own seat, and Mrs. Cavanagh paid him
every conceivable mark of attention.

"Mrs. Cavanagh," said he, after some chat, "may I be permitted to
indulge in the felicity of a dance with Miss Cavanagh?"

"Which of them?" asked the mother, and then added, without waiting for a
reply--"to be sure you may."

"The felicity of a dance! that was well expressed, Mr. Hycy; but it
was not for nothing that you broke grammatical ground under Patricius
Finigan--ah, no; the early indoctrinations will tell;--that is clear."

"I mean Miss Kathleen," replied Hycy, without paying any attention to
Finigan's observations.

"Why not?" exclaimed both; "of course you will--go over and bring her
out."

Hycy, approaching her, said, in his blandest and most persuasive manner,
"Miss Cavanagh, will you allow me the gratification of dancing a reel
with you?"

"I'm obliged to you, Mr. Burke," she replied gravely; "I have just
danced a reel with Bryan M'Mahon here, and I don't intend to dance any
more to-night."

"A simple reel?" said Hycy; "perhaps you will so far favor me? I shall
consider it as a favor, I assure you."

"Excuse me, Mr. Burke, but I won't dance any more to-night."

"That's hard," he replied, "especially as I came all the way to have
that pleasure. Perhaps you will change your mind, Miss Cavanagh?"

"I'm not in the habit of changing my mind, Mr. Burke," she replied, "and
I don't see any reason why I should do so now. I say once for all that I
won't dance any more to-night."

"What is it," asked the mother, on perceiving her hesitation; "won't she
dance wid you? Hut, tut, Kathleen, what nonsense is this? To be sure you
must dance wid Mr. Burke; don't take any refusal, Mr. Burke--is that all
you know about girls.--sure nineteen refusals is aquil to one consent.
Go over, Gerald, and make her dance wid him," she added, turning to her
husband.

"What's the matter, Kathleen, that you won't dance wid Mr. Hycy?" asked
the good man.

"Because I have danced all I will dance to-night, father."

"Tut, nonsense, you foolish girl--it's proud you ought to be that he'd
ax you. Get up and dance a reel wid him."

Hanna, who knew her sister's resolution when once formed, immediately
came to her rescue. "Don't ask her, father," she said; "the truth is,
that I believe she has a headache--however, I'll take her place--have
you any objection to me, Mr. Burke?"

None in the world--he would be very happy--only he regretted that he
could not have that pleasure also with his sister.

"Ah, Mr. Hycy--which is properly Hyacinthus," said Finigan; "I am able
to perceive that Cupid declines to be propitious in that quarter, or
perhaps it's the _irae amantium_,---which is, on being rendered into
vernacularity, a falling out of lovers; and if so, do not despair; for
as certain as it is, it will be followed by that most delectable of
processes, the _redintegratio amoris_, or the renewing of love. In fact,
he is a little better than a tyro--an ignoramus, who doesn't quarrel at
least once a week, wid the fair object of his amorous inclinations, an'
that for the sake of the reconciliaitons."

Hycy and Hanna were now about to dance, when Philip Hogan came forward,
and, with an oath, declared that Kathleen must dance--"He wouldn't see
Mr. Burke insulted that way by any such airs--and by--she must dance.
Come," said he, "what stuff is this--we'll see whether you or I is
strongest;" and as he spoke he seized her rudely by the arm, and was
about to pull her out on the floor.

Bryan M'Mahon sprung to his feet. "Let her go, you ruffian," he
exclaimed; "let her go this instant."

"No, I won't," replied the savage; "an' not for you, at any rate. Come,
Miss Kathleen, out you'll go:--for you indeed," he added, in a ferocious
parenthesis, looking at Bryan; "it's you that's the cause of all this.
Come, miss, dance you must."

The words were scarcely uttered when M'Mahon, by a single blow on the
neck, felled him like an ox, and in an instant the whole place was a
scene of wild commotion. The Hogans, however, at all times unpopular,
had no chance in an open affray on such an occasion as this. The feeling
that predominated was, that the ruffianly interference of Philip had
been justly punished; and ere many minutes the usual harmony, with the
exception of some threatening looks and ferocious under growls from the
Hogans, was restored. Hycy and Hanna then went on with their dance, and
when it was over, the schoolmaster rose to depart.

"Mr. Burke," said he, "you are and have the reputation of being a
perfect gentleman _homo factus ad unguem_--as has been said by the
learned little Roman, who, between you and me, was not overburthened
with an excess of morality. I take the liberty, jinteels, of wishing you
a good-night--_precor vobia prosperam noctem!_ Ah, I can do it yet; but
it wasn't for nothing that I practised the peripatetics in larned Kerry,
where the great O'Finigan is not yet forgotten. I shall now seek a
contiguous place of repose, until the consequences of some slight
bacchanalin libations on my part shall have dispersed themselves into
thin air."

He accordingly departed, but from the unsteadiness of his step it was
clear that, as he said, the place of his repose must be contiguous
indeed. Had he been conscious of his own motions it is not likely he
would have sought for repose in Cavanagh's kiln, then the habitation of
the Hogans. It was probably the fact of the door having been left open,
which was generally the case in summer, that induced him to enter--for
enter he did--ignorant, it is to be presumed, that the dwelling he
was about to enter was then inhabited by the Hogans, whom he very much
disrelished.

The place was nearly waste, and had a very desolate look. Scattered
around, and littered upon shake-down beds of straw, some half dozen
young besmutted savages, male and female, lay stretched in all
positions, some north, others south, without order or decency, but all
seeming in that barbarous luxury which denotes strong animal health and
an utter disregard of cleanliness and bodily comfort. Over in one of the
corners lay three or four budgets, old iron skillets, hammers, lumps of
melted lead, broken pots, a quantity of cows' horns for spoons, wooden
dishes that required clasping, old kettles that wanted repair, a couple
of cast off Poteen Stills, and a new one half made--all of which were
visible by the light of a large log of bog-fir which lay burning in the
fire-place. On looking around him, he descended a flight of stone steps
that led to the fireplace or the kiln or opening in which the fuel used
to dry the grain was always burned. This corner, which was eight or ten
feet below the other portion of the floor, being, in general, during the
summer months filled with straw, received the drowsy pedagogue, who, in
a few minutes, was as sound asleep as any of them about him.

Hycy, who was conscious of his good figure, danced two or three times
afterwards.

Dora M'Mahon had the honor of being his partner, as had one or two of
the best looking girls present. At the close of the last dance he looked
significantly at the Hogans, and nodded towards the door; after which it
might have been observed, that they slunk out one at a time, followed in
a few minutes by Kate Hycy, after some further chat with Gerald Cavanagh
and his wife, threw half a crown to Mickey M'Grory, and in his usual
courteous phraseology, through which there always ran, by the way, a vein
of strong irony, he politely wished them all a good night.

CHAPTER VIII.--Anonymous Letter with a Name to It

--Finigan's Dialogue with Hycy

The severest tax upon Hycy's powers of invention was, in consequence of
his habits of idleness, to find means of occupying his time. Sometimes,
it is true, he condescended to oversee the men while at work, but
there it was generally found that so far from keeping them to their
employment, he was a considerable drawback upon their industry. The
ordinary business of his life, however, was riding about the country,
and especially into the town of Ballymacan and home again. He was also a
regular attendant in all the neighboring fairs; and we may safely assert
that no race in the province ever came off without him.

On the second day after his interview with Teddy Phats and the Hogans,
he was riding past the post-office, when he heard the window tapped,
and, on approaching, a letter was handed out to him, which on opening he
found to contain the following communication:--

"Worthy Mr. Hyacinthus--

"A friend unknown to you, but not altogether so to fame, and one.
whom no display of the subtlest ingenuity on behalf of your acute and
sagacious intellect could ever decypher through the medium of this
epistle, begs to convey to you a valuable portion of anonymous
information. When he says that he is not unknown to fame, the assertion,
as far as it goes, is pregnant wid veracity. Mark that I say, as far
as it goes, by which is meant the assertion as well as the fame of your
friend, the inditer of this significant epistle. Forty-eight square
miles of good sound fame your not inerudite correspondent can
conscientiously lay claim to; and although there is, with regret I admit
it, a considerable portion of the square superficies alluded to, waste
and uncultivated moor, yet I can say, wid that racy touch of genial and
expressive pride which distinguishes men of letters in general, that the
other portions of this fine district are inhabited by a multitudinity
of population in the highest degree creditable to the prolific powers
of the climate. 'Tisn't all as one, then, as that thistle-browsing
quadruped. Barney Heffeman, who presumes, in imitation of his betters,
to write Philomath after his name, and whose whole extent of literary
reputation is not more than two or three beggarly townlands, whom, by
the way, he is inoculating successfully wid his own ripe and flourishing
ignorance. No, sir; nor like Gusty Gibberish, or (as he has been most
facetiously christened by his Reverence, Father O'Flaherty) Demosthenes
M'Gosther, inasmuch as he is distinguished for an aisy and prodigal
superfluity of mere words, unsustained by intelligibility or meaning,
but who cannot claim in his own person a mile and a half of dacent
reputation. However, _quid multis_ Mr. Hyacinthus; 'tis no indoctrinated
or obscure scribe who now addresses you, and who does so from causes
that may be salutary to your own health and very gentlemanly fame,
according as you resave the same, not pretermitting interests involving,
probably, on your part, an abundant portion of pecuniarity.

"In short, then, it has reached these ears, Mr. Hyacinthus, and between
you and me, they are not such a pair as, in consequence of their
longitudinity, can be copiously shaken, or which rise and fall according
to the will of the wearer; like those of the thistle-browser already
alluded to; it has reached them that you are about to substantiate a
a disreputable--excuse the phrase--co-partnership wid four of the most
ornamental villains on Hibernian earth, by which you must understand me
to mane that the villains aforesaid are not merely accomplished in all
the plain principles and practices of villainy, but finished off even
to its natest and most inganious decorations. Their whole life has been
most assiduously and successfully devoted to a general violation of the
ten commandments, as well as to the perpetual commission of the seven
deadly sins. Nay, the 'reserved cases' themselves can't escape them, and
it is well known that they wont rest satisfied wid the wide catalogue of
ordinary and general iniquity, but they must, by way of luxury, have a
lick at blasphemy, and some of the rarer vices, as often as they can,
for the villains are so fastidious that they won't put up wid
common wickedness like other people. I cannot, however, wid anything
approximating to a safe conscience, rest here. What I have said has
reference to the laws of God, but what I am about to enumerate relates
to the laws of man--to the laws of the land Wid respect, then, to them,
I do assure you, that although I myself look upon the violation of a
great number of the latter wid a very vanial squint, still, I say, I
do assure you that they have not left a single law made by Parliament
unfractured. They have gone over the whole statute-book several times,
and I believe are absolutely of opinion that the Parliament is doing
nothing. The most lynx-eyed investigator of old enactments could not
find one which has escaped them, for the villains are perfectly black
letter in that respect; and what is in proper keeping wid this, whenever
they hear of a new Act of Parliament they cannot rest either night or
day until they break it. And now for the inference: be on your
guard against this pandemonial squad. Whatever your object may be in
cultivating and keeping society wid them, theirs is to ruin you--fleece
was the word used--an I then to cut and run, leaving Mr. Hycy--the
acute, the penetrating, the accomplished--completely in the lurch. Be
influenced, then, by the amicitial admonitions of the inditer of this
correspondence. Become not a smuggler--forswear poteen. The Lord forgive
me, Mr. Hycy--no, I only wished to say forswear--not the poteen--but
any connection wid the illegal alembic from which it is distillated,
otherwise they will walk off wid the 'doublings,' or strong liquor,
leaving you nothing but the residuum or feints. Take a friend's advice,
therefore, and retrograde out of all society and connection wid the
villains I have described; or if you superciliously overlook this
warning, book it down as a fact that admits of no negation, that
you will be denuded of reputation, of honesty, and of any pecuniary
contingencies that you may happen to possess. This is a sincere advice
from

"Your Anonymous Friend,

"Patricius O'Finigan, Philomath."

After perusing this characteristic production, Hycy paused for a little,
and felt it very probable that there might be some reasonable grounds
for its production, although he could scarcely understand upon what
motive these fellows should proceed to practice treachery towards him.
That they were without principle or honesty he was perfectly satisfied;
but he knew it was their interest to keep within bounds in all matters
connected with their employment, He laughed very heartily at Finigan's
blunder--for such it evidently was--in signing his name to a document
that he intended to be anonymous.

"At all events," thought he, "I will ride over to his 'seminary,' as he
calls it, and see what he can mean, or what his object is in sending me
such a warning."

He accordingly did so, and in some twenty minutes reached a small cabin
that stood about a couple of hundred yards from the high-road. A little
bridle way led to it, as did several minor pathways, each radiating
from a different direction. It was surrounded by four or five acres of
common, where the children played from twelve to one, at which hour
Mr. O'Finigan went to the house of some wealthy benefactor to dine. The
little village of Ballydruthy, at a short distance from which it stood,
was composed of a couple dozen dwelling-houses, a chapel, a small
grocer's and publican's, together with a Pound at the entrance, through
which ran a little stream necessary to enable the imprisoned cattle to
drink.

On riding up to the school, Hycy, as he approached the door, heard his
own name repeated by at least two dozen voices.

"Here's a gintleman, masther"--"It's Misther Hycy Burke, sir "--"It is,
bedad, sir, Hycy the sportheen--"

"Him that rides the race, masther"--"Ay, an' he has on top-boots and
buckskins, an's as gran' as a gintleman--"

"Silence!" said Finigan, "silence! I say; is this proper scholastic
decorum in the presence of a stranger? Industry and taciturnity, you
reptiles, or castigation shall result. Here, Paddy Sparable," he
added, rising up--"here, you nailroad, assume my office, and rule
the establishment till I return; and, mark me, as the son of a nailer,
sirra, I expect that you will rule them with a rod of iron--ha! ha! ha!"

"Ay, but Paddy Pancake's here to-day, sir, an' he's able to welt me; so
that's it's only leathered I'd get, sir, i' you plase."

"But have you no officers? Call in aid, I ordher you. Can't you make
Sam Scaddhan and Phiddher Mackleswig there two policeman get Pancake
down--flatten him--if he prove contumacious during my absence. Pancake,
mark me, obedience is your cue, or, if not, the castigator here is your
alternative; there it is, freshly cut--ripe and ready--and you are not
to be told, at this time o' day, what portion of your corpus will catch
it. Whish-h-h!--silence! I say. How do you do, Mr. Burke? I am proud of
a visit from you, sir; perhaps you would light down and examine a class.
My Greeks are all absent to-day; but I have a beautiful class o' Romans
in the Fourth Book of Virgil--immortal Maro. Do try them, Mr. Hycy; if
they don't do Dido's death in a truly congenial spirit I am no classic.
Of one thing I can assure you, that they ought; for I pledge my
reputation it is not the first time I've made them practice the Irish
cry over it. This, however, was but natural; for it is now well known to
the learned that, if Dido herself was not a fair Hibernian, she at least
spoke excellent Irish. Ah, Mr. Hycy," he added, with a grin, "the birch
is the only pathetic switch growing! Will you come in, sir?"

"No, thank you, Mr. Finigan; but perhaps you would have the goodness
to come out for a little;" and, as he spoke, he nodded towards the
public-house. "I know the boys will be quiet until you return."

"If they don't," replied Finigan, "the alternative is in no shape
enigmatical. Mark what I've already said, gintlemen. Sparable, do you
keep a faithful journal of the delinquents; and observe that there are
offices of importance in this world besides flagellating erudition into
reptiles like you."

He then looked about him with an air of vast importance, and joined Hycy
on his way to the public-house. Having ordered in the worthy pedagogue's
favorite beverage, not forgetting something of the same kind for
himself, he addressed Finigan as follows:--

"Finigan, I received a devilish queer letter from you to-day--take your
liquor in the mean time--what did you mean by it?"

"From me, Mr. Hycy--_nego_, I say--_pugnis et calc bu nego_."

"Come, come, you know you wrote me an anonymous letter, referring to
some ridiculous copartnership or other that I can neither make head nor
tail of. Tell me candidly what you meant."

"Very good, Mr. Burke; but sure I know of old that jocularity was always
your forte--even when laying in under my own instruction that sound
classical substratum on which the superstructure of your subsequent
knowledge was erected, you were always addicted to the facetious and the
fabulous--both of which you contrived to blend together with an ease and
volubility of language that could not be surpassed."

"That is all very well; but you need not deny that you wrote me the
letter. Let me ask you seriously, what was it you warned me against?"

"_Propino tibi salulem_--here's to you. No, but let me ask you what you
are at, Mr. Hycy? You may have resaved an anonymous letter, but I am
ignorant why you should paternize it upon me."

"Why, because it has all the marks and tokens of you."

"Eh?--to what does that amount? Surely you know my handwriting?"

"Perfectly; but this is disguised evidently."

"Faith," said the other, laughing, "maybe the inditer of it was
disguised when he wrote it."

"It might be," replied Hycy; "however, take your liquor, and in the mean
time I shall feel exceedingly obliged to you, Mr. Finigan, if you will
tell me the truth at once--whether you wrote it or whether you did
not?"

"My response again is in the negative," replied Finigan--"I disclaim it
altogether. I am not the scribe, you may rest assured of it, nor can I
say who is."

"Well, then," said Hycy, "I find I must convict you yourself of the
fabulous at least; read that," said he, placing the letter in his own
hands. "Like a true Irishman you signed your name unconsciously; and now
what have you to say for yourself?"

"Simply," replied the other, "that some knave, of most fictitious
imagination, has forged my name to it. No man can say that that is my
manuscription, Mr. Hycy." These words he uttered with great coolness;
and Hycy, who was in many things a shrewd young fellow, deemed it better
to wait until the liquor, which was fast disappearing, should begin to
operate. At length, when about three-quarters of an hour had passed, he
resolved to attack his vanity.

"Well, well, Finigan, as regards this letter, I must say I feel a good
deal disappointed."

"Why so, Mr. Hycy?"

"Why, because I did not think there was any other man in the country who
could have written it."

"Eh? how is that now?"

"Faith, it's very simple; the letter is written with surprising
ability--the language is beautiful--and the style, like the land of
Canaan, flowing with milk and honey. It is certainly a most uncommon
production."

"Now, seriously, do you think so? At all events, Mr. Hycy, it was
written by a friend of yours--that's a clear case."

"I think so; but what strikes me is its surprising ability; no wonder
the writer should say that he is not unknown to fame--he could not
possibly remain in obscurity."

"Mr. Hycy, your health--I remember when you were wid me you certainly
were _facile princeps_ for a ripe judgment, even in your rudiments;
so then, you are of opinion that the epistle in question has janius?
I think myself it is no everyday production; not I believe such as
the thistle-browser Heffernan, or Misther Demosthenes M'Gosther could
achieve--the one wid his mile and a half, and the other wid his three
townlands of reputation. No, sir, to the divil I pitch them both; they
could never indite such a document. Your health, Mr. Hycy--_propino
tibi_, I say; and you are right, _ille ego_--it's a a fact; I am the
man, sir--I acknowledge the charge."

This admission having been made, we need scarcely add that an
explanation was at at once given by Finigan of the motive which had
induced him to write the letter.

"On laving the kemp," said he, "and getting into the open air--_sub
diu_, Mr. Hycy--I felt a general liquidation of my whole bodily
strength, with a strong disposition to make short excursions to the
right or to the left rather than hold my way straight a-head, with, I
must confess, an equal tendency to deposit my body on my mother earth
and enact the soporiferous. On passing Gerald Cavanagh's kiln, where
the Hogans kennel, I entered, and was greeted wid such a chorus of
sternutation as you might expect from a pigsty in midsummer, and made me
envy the unlicked young savages who indulged in it. At the period spoken
of neither you nor they had come in from the kemp. Even this is but a
dim recollection, and I remember nothing more until I overheard your
voice and theirs in dialogue as you were about to depart. After you
went, I heard the dialogue which I hinted at in the letter, between
Teddy Phats and them; and knowing my position and the misbegotten satyrs
by whom I was surrounded, I patiently waited until they were asleep,
when I quietly took my departure."

Burke could not help inferring from Finigan's manner, that he had
overheard a greater portion of their conversation on the occasion
alluded to than he seemed disposed to acknowledge.

"Now, Finigan," he said, "I feel disposed to place every confidence in
you. Will you answer candidly the question I am about to propose to you?
Did you hear Bryan M'Mahon's name mentioned?"

"You say, Mr. Hycy," replied Finigan, emptying his glass, "that you
would enthertain no apprehension in placing confidence in me?"

"Not the slightest," replied Hycy; "I believe you to be the very soul of
honor; and, besides, are you not my old master? As you say yourself, did
I not break grammatical ground, under you?"

"The soul of honor," replied the pedagogue, complacently--"that is
excellently said. Well, then, Mr. Burke, I shall not deal out my
confidence by beggarly instalments--I did hear Bryan M'Mahon's name
mentioned; and I heard a plan alluded to between you and them for
reducing him to--"

"That was all humbug, Finigan, so far as I am concerned; but for the
present I am obliged to let them suppose what you allude to, in order
to keep them honest to myself if I can. You know they have a kind of
hereditary hatred against the M'Mahons; and if I did not allow them to
take their own way in this, I don't think I could depend on them."

"Well, there is raison in that too," replied Finigan.

"I am sure, Finigan," proceeded Hycy, "that you are too honorable a man
to breathe either to Bryan M'Mahon or any one else, a single syllable
of the conversation which you overheard merely by accident. I say I
am certain you will never let it transpire, either by word of mouth or
writing. In me you may always calculate on finding a sincere friend;
and of this let me assure you, that your drink, if everything goes right
with us, won't cost you much--much! not a penny; if you had two throats
instead of one--as many necks as Hydra, we should supply them all."

"Give me your hand, Mr. Hycy--you are a gintleman, and I always said
would be one--I did, sir--I prognosticated as much years ago; and
sincerely felicitous am I that my prognostications have been verified
for so far. I said you would rise--that exaltation was before you--and
that your friends might not feel at all surprised at the elevated
position in which you will die. _Propino tibi_, again--and do not fear
that ever revelation of mine shall facilitate any catastrophe that may
await you."

Hycy looked keenly into the schoolmaster's face as he uttered the last
observation; but in the maudlin and collapsed features then before him
he could read nothing that intimated the sagacity of a double meaning.
This satisfied him; and after once more exacting from Finigan a pledge
of what he termed honorable confidence, he took his departure.

CHAPTER IX.--A Little Polities, Much Friendship, and Some Mystery

This communication determined Hycy to forego his intention for the
present, and he consequently allowed the summer and autumn to pass
without keeping up much intercourse with either Teddy Phats or the
Hogans. The truth is, that Burke, although apparently frank and candid,
was constitutionally cautious, and inclined a good deal to suspicion.
He feared that no project, the knowledge of which was held in common
with Finigan, could be long kept a secret; and for that reason he make
up his mind to postpone the matter, and allow it to die away out of the
schoolmaster's mind ere he bestowed any further attention upon it. In
the meantime, the state of the country was gradually assuming a worse
and more depressing character. The season was unfavorable; and although
we do not assert that many died of immediate famine, yet we know that
hundreds--nay, thousands--died from the consequences of scarcity and
destitution--or, in plainer words, from fever and other diseases induced
by bad and insufficient food, and an absence of the necessary comforts
of life. Indeed, at the period of our narrative, the position of Ireland
was very gloomy; but when, we may ask, has it been otherwise, within
the memory of man, or the records of history? Placed as the country was,
emigration went forward on an extensive scale,--emigration, too, of
that peculiar description which every day enfeebles and impoverishes
the country, by depriving her of all that approaches to anything like
a comfortable and independent yeomanry. This, indeed, is a kind of
depletion which no country can bear long; and, as it is, at the moment
we are writing this, progressing at a rate beyond all precedent, it will
not, we trust, be altogether uninteresting to inquire into some of the
causes that have occasioned it. Let not our readers apprehend, however,
that we are about to turn our fictitious narrative into a dissertation
on political economy. Of course the principle cause of emigration is the
poverty and depressed state of the country; and it follows naturally,
that whatever occasions our poverty will necessarily occasion
emigration. The first cause of our poverty then, is Absenteeism, which,
by drawing six or seven millions out of the country, deprives our people
of employment and means of life to that amount. The next is the general
inattention of Irish landlords to the state and condition of their
own property, and an inexcusable want of sympathy with their tenantry,
which, indeed, is only a corollary from the former; for it can hardly
be expected that those who wilfully neglect themselves will feel a
warm interest in others. The next is the evil of subletting, by which
property becomes overloaded with human beings, who, for the most part,
are bound by no ties whatsoever to the owner of the soil. He is
not their landlord, nor are they his tenants; and so far from their
interests being in any way reciprocal, they are actually adversative.
It is his interest to have them removed, and, as circumstances
unfortunately stand, it is theirs to remain, inasmuch as their
alternative is ruin since they have no place of shelter to receive them.

Political corruption, in the shape of the forty-shilling franchise, was
another cause, and one of the very worst, which led to the prostration
of the country by poverty and moral degradation, and for this the
proprietors of the soil are solely responsible. Nor can the use of the
potato, as the staple food of the laboring classes, in connection with
the truck system, and the consequent absence of money payments, in
addition to the necessary ignorance of domestic and social comforts
that resulted from them, be left out of this wretched catalogue of our
grievances. Another cause of emigration is to be found in the high and
exorbitant rents at which land is held by all classes of farmers--with
some exceptions we admit, as in the case of old leases--but especially
by those who hold under middlemen, or on the principle of subletting
generally. By this system a vast deal of distress and petty but most
harrassing oppression is every day in active operation upon the property
of the head landlord, which he can never know, and for which he is in no
other way responsible unless by having ever permitted the existence of
it for any purpose whatsoever.

In a country distracted like Ireland, it would be impossible to omit the
existence of political and religious animosity as a strong and prominent
cause of our wretched poverty, and consequently of emigration. The
priest, instead of leaving temporal affairs to temporal men, most
improperly mingles himself in the angry turmoils of politics, to which,
by his interference, he communicates a peculiar and characteristic
bitterness. The landlord, on the other hand, having his own interests to
consult, does not wish to arm a political opponent with such powers as
he knows will most assuredly be turned against himself, and consequently
often refuses to grant a lease unless to those who will pledge
themselves to support him. This state of things, involving, as it does,
much that is wrong on both sides, is, has been, and will be, a present
and permanent curse to the country--a curse, too, which, until there
is more of humanity and justice on the one side, and of education
and liberal feeling on the other, is not likely to disappear from the
country.

Though last, not least, comes the unaccountable and guilty neglect of
our legislature (if we can call it ours) in everything that pertained to
Irish interests. This, together with its almost necessary consequence of
dishonest agitation on the one hand, and well founded dissatisfaction on
the other, nearly completes the series of the causes which have produced
the poverty of the country, and, as a direct result, the emigration of
all that is most comfortable, independent, and moral among us.

This poverty, arising, as it does, from so many causes, has propagated
itself with a rapidity which is startling; for every one knows that
poverty is proverbially prolific. And yet it is a grievous anomaly to
reflect that a country so far steeped in misery and destitution as
to have nearly one-half of its population in a state of most pitiable
pauperism, possesses a soil capable of employing and maintaining three
times the number of its inhabitants. When the causes, however, which we
have just enumerated are seriously looked at and considered, we think
its extraordinary result is, after all, so very natural, that the wonder
would indeed be were the state of Ireland otherwise than it is. As
matters stand at present, and as they are likely to continue, unless
parliament shall interfere by a comprehensive measure of legislation,
we must only rest contented with seeing the industrious, moral, and
respectable portion of our countrymen abandoning the land of their
birth and affections, and nothing but the very dregs--degraded alike
by idleness and immorality--remaining behind to multiply and perpetuate
their own wretchedness and degradation.

It has been often said, and with great truth, that no man is more
devotedly attached to his native soil than an Irishman; yet it may
reasonably be asked, how this principle of attachment can be reconciled
with the strong tendency to emigration which characterizes our people.
We reply, that the tendency in question is a proof of the love of honest
industry, enterprise, and independence, by which our countrymen, when
not degraded by neglect and poverty, are actuated. It is not of this
class, however so degraded, that we now speak. On the contrary we
take the decent and respectable farmer as the subject of our
illustration--the man who, loving his native fields as if they were of
his blood, would almost as soon part with the one as the other. This man
it is, who, with the most child-like tenderness of affection towards the
land on which he and his have lived for centuries, will, nevertheless,
the moment he finds himself on the decline, and with no cheering hope
of prosperity or encouragement before him or his family, resolutely
determine to forget everything but the noble duties which he owes
to himself and them. He sees clearly, from the unhappy state of
the country, and the utter want of sympathy and attention which he
experiences at the hands of those who ought to have his interests at
heart, that if he attempt to hold his position under circumstances so
depressing and unfavorable, he must gradually sink, until he and his
become mingled with the great mass of pauperism which lies lik a an
incubus upon the energies of the country. What, therefore, can possibly
prove more strongly than this that the Irishman who is not dragged into
the swamp of degradation, in which hope and energy are paralyzed, is
strongly and heroically characterized by I those virtues of industry and
enterprise that throw their lustre over social life?

There are other and still more indefensible causes, however, which too
frequently drive the independent farmer out of the country. In too
many cases it happens that the rapacity and dishonesty of the agent,
countenanced or stimulated by the necessities and reckless extravagance
of the landlord, fall, like some unwholesome blight, upon that
enterprise and industry which would ultimately, if properly encouraged,
make the country prosperous and her landed proprietors independent men.
We allude to the nefarious and monstrous custom of ejecting tenants who
have made improvements, or, when permitted to remain, making them pay
for the improvements which they have made. A vast proportion of this
crying and oppressive evil must be laid directly to the charge of those
who fill the responsible situation of agents to property in Ireland,
than whom in general there does not exist, a more unscrupulous,
oppressive, arrogant, and dishonest class of men. Exceptions of course
there are, and many, but speaking of them as a body, we unhappily assert
nothing but what the condition of property, and of those who live upon
it, do at this moment and have for many a year testified.

Several months had now elapsed, and although the M'Mahons had waited
upon the agent once or twice since the interview which we have already
described between him and Tom, yet there seemed no corresponding anxiety
on the part of Fethertonge to have the leases prepared or executed. This
neglect or reluctance did not occasion much uneasiness to the old man,
who was full of that generous and unsuspecting confidence that his
countrymen always repose in the promise of a landlord respecting a
lease, which they look upon, or did at least, as something absolutely
inviolable and sacred, as indeed it ought to be. Bryan, however, who,
although a young man, was not destitute of either observation or the
experience which it bestows, and who, moreover, had no disposition to
place unlimited confidence in Fethertonge, began to entertain some vague
suspicions with reference to the delay. Fethertonge, however, had not
the reputation of being a harsh man, or particularly unjust in his
dealings with the world; on the contrary, he was rather liked than
otherwise; for so soft was the melody of his voice, and so irresistible
the friendship and urbanity of his manner, that many persons felt as
much gratified by the refusal of a favor from him as they did at its
being granted by another. At length, towards the close of October, Bryan
himself told his father that he would, call upon the agent and urge him
to expedite the matter of the leases. "I don't know how it is," said
he, "but some way or other I don't feel comfortable about this business:
Fethertonge is very civil and very dacent, and is well spoken of in
general; but for all that there's always a man here an' there that says
he's not to be depended on."

"Troth an' he is to be depended on," said his generous father; "his
words isn't like the words of a desaver, and it isn't till he shows the
cloven foot that I'll ever give in that he's, dishonest."

"Well," said Bryan, "I'm sure I for one hope you may be right; but, at
any rate, as he's at home now I'll start and see him."

"Do then," said his father, "bekaise I know you're a favorite of his;
for he tould me so wid his own lips."

"Well," replied the other, laughing, "I hope you're right there too;
I'm sure I have no objection;" and he accordingly set out to see
Fethertonge, but with something of an impression that the object of
his visit was not likely to be accomplished without difficulty, if
accomplished at all.

On reaching the agent's house he met a thin, tall man, named Clinton,
with a hooked nose and sinister aspect, riding down the avenue, after
having paid Fethertonge a visit. This person was the gauger of the
district, a bachelor and a man of considerable wealth, got together,
it is suspected, by practices that were not well capable of bearing the
light. His family consisted of a niece and a nephew, the latter of whom
had recently become a bosom friend of the accomplished Hycy Burke, who,
it was whispered, began to look upon Miss Clinton with a partial eye.
Hycy had got acquainted with him at the Herringstown races, where
he, Hycy, rode and won a considerable sweepstakes; and as both young
gentlemen were pretty much of the same habits of life, a very warm
intimacy had, for some time past, subsisted between them. Clinton, to
whom M'Mahon was known, addressed him in a friendly manner, and, after
some chat, he laid the point of his whip gently upon Bryan's shoulder,
so as to engage his attention.

"M'Mahon," said he, "I am glad I have met you, and I trust our meeting
will be for your good. You have had a dispute with Hycy Burke?"

"Why, sir," replied Bryan, smiling, "if I had it wasn't such as it was
worth his while to talk about."

"Well, M'Mahon, that's generously said on your part--now, listen to me;
don't allow yourself to be drawn into any illegal or illicit proceedings
by any one, friend or foe--if so, you will only put yourself into the
power of your enemies; for enemies you have, I can assure you."

"They say, sir, there is no one without them," replied Bryan, smiling;
"but so far as I am consarned, I don't exactly understand what you mane.
I have no connection with anything, either illegal or--or--wrong in any
way, Mr. Clinton, and if any one tould you so, they spoke an untruth."

"Ay, ay," said Clinton, "that may be so, and I hope it is so; but you
know that it could not be expected you would admit it even if it be
true. Will you in the mean time, be guided by a friend? I respect your
father and his family; I respect yourself, M'Mahon; and, consequently,
my advice to you is--keep out of the meshes of the law--avoid violating
it--and remember you have enemies. Now think of these words, and so
good-bye, M'Mahon! Indeed, I am glad for your own sake I met
you--good-bye!"

As he uttered the last words he dashed on and left Bryan in a state
of perfect amazement at the strange and incomprehensible nature of the
communication he had just received. Indeed, so full was his mind of the
circumstance, that forgetting all his suspicions of Fethertonge, and
urged by the ingenuous impulse of an honest heart, he could not prevent
himself in the surprise and agitation of the moment from detailing the
conversation which he had just had with the gauger.

"That is singular enough," said Fethertonge--"he named Hycy Burke,
then?"

"He did, sir."

"It is singular," proceeded the other, as if speaking to himself; "in
truth, my dear M'Mahon, we were talking about you, discussing, in fact,
the same subject not many minutes ago; and what you tell me now is only
an additional proof that Clinton, who is sometimes harshly spoken of by
the way, is a straightforward, honest man."

"What could he mane, sir?" asked Bryan, "I never had anything to do
contrary to the law--I haven't now, nor do I ever intend to have--"

"Well, I'm sure I do not know," replied the agent: "he made no illusion
of that kind to me, from a generous apprehension, I dare say, lest he
might injure you in my opinion. He only desired me not rashly to listen
to anything prejudicial to your character; for that you had enemies who
were laboring to injure you in some way--but how--he either would not
tell, or perhaps did not know. I am glad, however, he mentioned it; for
I shall be guarded should I hear anything to your prejudice."

"I tell you beforehand, sir," said Bryan, with the conscious warmth
of rectitude, "and I think I ought to know best, that if you ever hear
anything against my honesty or want of principle, or if any one should
say that I will be consarned in what's contrary to either law or
justice, you'll hear a falsehood--I don't care who it comes from--and
the man who tells you so is a liar."

"I should be sorry to believe otherwise, my dear Bryan; it would grieve
me to be forced to believe otherwise. If you suffer yourself to be drawn
into anything wrong or improper, you will be the first individual
of your family that ever brought a stain upon it. It would grieve
me--deeply would it grieve me, to witness such a blot upon so
honest--but no, I will not, for I cannot suppose it."

Bryan, whose disposition was full of good-nature and cheerfulness, could
not help bursting into a hearty laugh, on reverting to the conversation
which he had with Clinton, and comparing it with that in which they were
now engaged; both of which were founded upon some soap-bubble charge of
which he knew nothing.

"You take it lightly," said Fethertonge, with something of a serious
expression; "but remember, my dear Bryan, that I now speak as one
interested in, and, in fact, representing the other members of your
family. Remember, at all events, you are forewarned, and, in the
meantime, I thank Clinton--although I certainly would not have mentioned
names. Bryan, you can have no objection that I should speak to your
father on this subject?"

"Not the slightest, sir," replied Bryan; "spake to any one you like
about it; but, putting that aside, sir, for the present--about these
leases?"

"Why, what apprehension have you about them, Byran?"

"No apprehension, sir, sartinly; but you know yourself, Mr. Fethertonge,
that to a man like me, that's layin' out and expendin' money every day
upon Adaharra farm, and my father the same way upon Carriglass--I say,
to a man like me, to be layin' out his money, when you know yourself
that if the present landlord should refuse to carry his father's dying
words into effect--or, as you said this minute yourself, sir, if some
enemy should turn you against me, amn't I and my father and the whole
family liable to be put out, notwithstanding all the improvements we've
made, and the money we've spent in makin' them?"

"Bryan," said Fethertonge, after a pause, "every word you say is
unfortunately too true--too true--and such things, are a disgrace to the
country; indeed, I believe, they seldom occur in any country but this.
Will it in the mean time satisfy you when I state that, if old Mr.
Chevydale's intentions are not carried into effect by his son, I shall
forthwith resign my agency?"

Bryan's conscience, generous as he was, notwithstanding his suspicions,
smote him deeply on hearing this determination so unequivocally
expressed. Indeed the whole tenor of their dialogue, taken in at one
view--especially Fethertonge's intention of speaking to Tom M'Mahon upon
the mysterious subject of Bryan's suspected delinquencies against
the law--so thoroughly satisfied him of the injustice he had rendered
Fethertonge, that he was for a time silent.

At length he replied--"That, sir, is more than we could expect; but
at any rate there's one thing I'm now sartin of--that, if we're
disappointed, you won't be the cause of it."

"Yes; but of course you must put disappointment out of the question. The
landlord, will, without any doubt, grant the leases--I am satisfied of
that; indeed, there can be no doubt about it. By the way, I am anxious
to see Ahadarra and to ascertain the extent to which you have carried
your improvements. Clinton and I will probably take a ride up there some
day soon; and in the meantime do you keep improving, M'Mahon, for that's
the secret of all success--leave the rest to me. How is your father?"

"Never was better, sir, I'm thankful to you."

"And your grandfather? how does he bear up?"

"Faith, sir, wonderfully, considering his age."

"He must be very old now?"

"He's ninety-four, sir, and that's a long age sure enough; but I'm sorry
to say that my mother's health isn't so well."

"Why, what is the matter with her? I'm sorry to hear this."

"Indeed we can't say; she's very poorly--her appetite is gone--she has a
cough, an' she doesn't get her rest at night."

"Why don't you get medical advice?"

"So we did, sir. Dr. Sexton's attendin' her; but I don't think somehow
that he has a good opinion of her."

"Sexton's a skilful man, and I don't think she could be in better hands;
however, Bryan, I shall feel obliged if you will send down occasionally
to let me know how she gets on--once a week or so."

"Indeed we will, sir, an' I needn't say how much we feel obliged to you
for your kindness and good wishes."

"It must be more than good wishes, Bryan; but I trust that she will
get better. In the meantime leave the other matters to me, and you may
expect Clinton and I up at your farm to look some of these days."

"God forgive me," thought Bryan, as he left the hall-door, "for the
injustice I did him, by supposin' for one minute that he wasn't disposed
to act fairly towards us. My father was right; an' it was foolish of
me to put my wit against his age an' experience. Oh, no, that man's
honest--there can;t be any mistake about it."

From this topic he could not help reverting, as he pursued his way
home, to the hints he had received with respect to Hycy Burke's enemity
towards him, the cause of which he could not clearly understand. Hycy
Burke had, in general, the character of being a generous, dashing
young fellow, with no fault unless a disposition to gallantry and a
thoughtless inclination for extravagance; for such were the gentle
terms in which habits of seduction and an unscrupulous profligacy in
the expenditure of money were clothed by those who at once fleeced and
despised him, but who were numerous enough to impress those opinions
upon a great number of the people. In turning over matters as they stood
between them, he could trace Burke's enemity to no adequate cause;
nor indeed could he believe it possible that he entertained any such
inveterate feeling of hostility against him. They had of late frequently
met, on which occasion Hycy spoke to him with nearly as much cordiality
as ever. Still, however, he could not altogether free himself from
the conviction, that both Clinton and Fethertonge must have had
unquestionable grounds for the hints which they had in such a friendly
way thrown out to him.

In this mood he was proceeding when he heard the noise of horses' feet
behind, and in a few minutes Hycy himself and young Clinton overtook him
at a rapid pace. Their conversation was friendly, as usual, when Bryan,
on seeing Hycy about to dash off at the same rapid rate, said, "If you
are not in a particular hurry, Hycy, I'd wish to have a word with you."

The latter immediately pulled up, exclaiming, "a word, Bryan! ay, a
hundred--certainly. Clinton, ride on a bit, will you? till I have some
conversation with M'Mahon. Well, Bryan?"

"Hycy," proceeded Bryan, "I always like to be aboveboard. Will you allow
me to ask if you have any bad feelings against me?"

"Will you answer me another question?" replied Hycy.

"If I can I will," said Bryan.

"Well, then,"'replied Hycy, "I will answer you most candidly, Bryan--not
the slightest; but I do assure you that I thought you had such a feeling
against me."

"And you wor right, too," returned Bryan "for I really had."

"I remember," proceeded Hycy, "that when I asked you to lend me
thirty-five pounds--and by the way that reminds me that I am still
pretty deep in your debt--you would neither lend it nor give any
satisfactory reason why you refused me; now, what occasioned that
feeling, Bryan?"

"It's by the merest chance that I happen to have the cause of it in my
pocket," replied M'Mahon, who, as he spoke, handed him the letter which
Peety Dhu had delivered to him from Hycy himself. "Read that," said he,
"and I think you'll have no great trouble in understanding why I felt
as I did;--an' indeed, Hycy, to tell you the truth, I never had the same
opinion of you since." Hycy, to his utter amazement, read as follows:

"My Dear Miss Cavanagh:--

"Will you permit little Cupid, the god of Love, to enrol the name of
Hycy Burke on the long list of your adorers? And if you could corrupt
the little stone-blind divinity to blot out every name on it but my own,
I should think that a very handsome anticipation of the joys of Paradise
could be realized by that delightful fact. I say anticipation--for my
creed is, that the actual joys of Paradise exist no where, but within
the celestial circle of your ambrosial arms. That is the Paradise which
I propose to win; and you may rest assured that I shall bring the most
flaming zeal, the most fervent devotion, and all the genuine piety of
a true worshipper, to the task of attaining it. I shall carry, for
instance, a little Bible of Love in my pocket--for I am already a
divinity student or a young collegian under little Cupid aforesaid--and
I will have it all dogeared with refreshing texts for my edification.
I should state, however, that I am, as every good Christian is, awfully
exclusive in my creed; and will suffer no one, if I can prevent it, to
approach the Paradise I speak of but myself. In fact I am as jealous as
the very Deuce--whoever that personage may be--quite an Othello in my
way--a perfect raw-head-and-bloody-bones--with a sharp appetite and
teeth like a Walrus, ready to bolt my rivals in dozens. It is said,
my divine creature, or rather it is hinted, that a certain clodhopping
boor, from the congenial wilds of Ahadarra, is favored by some benignant
glances from those lights of yours that do mislead the moon. I hope this
is not so--bow wow!--ho! ho!--I smell the blood of a rival; and be he
great or small, red or black, or of any color in the rainbow, I
shall have him for my. breakfast--ho! ho! You see now, my most divine
Kathleen, what a terrible animal to all rivals and competitors for your
affections I shall be; and that if it were only for their own sakes, and
to prevent carnage and cannibalism, it will be well for you to banish
them once and forever, and be content only with myself.

"Seriously, my dear Kathleen, I believe I am half-crazed; and, if so,
you are the sole cause of it. I can think of no other object than your
beautiful self; and I need scarcely say, that I shall have neither peace
nor happiness unless I shall be fortunate enough to gain a place in your
tender bosom. As for the Ahadarra man, I am surprised you should think of
such an ignorant clodhopper--a fellow whose place Providence especially
allotted to between the stilts of a plough, and at the tail of a pair
of horses. Perhaps you would be kind enough to take a walk on Thursday
evening, somewhere near the river--where I hope I shall have an
opportunity of declaring my affection for you in person. At all events I
shall be there with the ardent expectation of meeting you.

"Ever your devoted worshipper,

"Hycy Burke.

"P.S.--Beware the clodhopper--bow wow!--ho! ho!"

On looking at the back of this singular production he was thunderstruck
to perceive that it was addressed to "Mr. Bryan M'Mahon, Ahadarra"--the
fact being that, in the hurry of the moment, he had misdirected the
letters--Bryan M'Mahon having received that which had been intended for
Kathleen, who, on the contrary, was pressingly solicited to lend him
thirty-fine pounds in order to secure "Crazy Jane."

Having perused this precious production, Hycy, in spite of his chagrin,
was not able to control a most irresistible fit of laughter, in which he
indulged for some minutes. The mistake being now discovered in Bryan's
case was necessarily discovered in that of both, a circumstance which
to Hycy, who now fully understood the mature and consequences of his
blunder, was, as we have stated, the subject of extraordinary mirth, in
which, to tell the truth, Bryan could not prevent himself from joining
him.

"Well, but after all, Bryan," said he, "what is there in this letter
to make you angry with me? Don't you see it's a piece of humbug from
beginning to end."

"I do, and I did," replied Bryan; "but at that time I had never spoken
upon the subject of love or marriage to Kathleen Cavanagh, and I had no
authority nor right to take any one to task on her account, but, at the
same time, I couldn't even then either like or respect, much less lend
money to, any man that could humbug her, or treat such a girl with
disrespect--and in that letther you can't deny that you did both."

"I grant," said Hycy, "that it was a piece of humbug certainly, but not
intended to offend her."

"I'm afraid there was more in it, Hycy," observed Bryan; "an' that if
she had been foolish or inexperienced enough to meet you or listen to
your discourse, it might a' been worse for herself. You were mistaken
there though."

"She is not a girl to be humbugged, I grant, Bryan--very far from it,
indeed; and now that you and she understand each other I will go farther
for both your sakes, and say, that I regret having written such a letter
to such an admirable young woman as she is. To tell you the truth,
Bryan, I shall half envy you the possession of such a wife."

"As to that," replied the other, smiling, "we'll keep never minding--but
you have spoken fairly and honestly on the subject of the letther,
an' I'm thankful to you; still, Hycy, you haven't answered my first
question--have you any ill feeling against me, or any intention to
injure me?"

"Neither one nor the other. I pledge you my honor and word I have no ill
feeling against you, nor any design to injure you."

"That's enough, Hycy," replied his companion; "I think I'm bound to
believe your words."

"You are, Bryan; but will you allow me to ask if any one ever told you
that I had--and if so, who was the person?"

"It's enough for you to know," said Bryan, "that whoever told it to me I
don't believe it."

"I certainly have a right to know," returned Hycy; "but as the matter
is false, and every way unfounded, I'll not press you upon it--all I can
say to satisfy you is, what I have said already--that I entertain no ill
will or unfriendly feeling towards you, and, consequently, can have no
earthly intention of doing you an injury even if I could, although at
the present moment I don't see how, even if I was willing."

"You have nothing particular that you'd wish to say to me?"

"No: devil a syllable."

"Nor a proposal of any kind to make me?"

Hycy pulled up his horse.

"Bryan, my good friend, let me look at you," he exclaimed. "Is it right
to have you at large? My word and honor I'm beginning to fear that
there's something wrong with your upper works."

"Never mind," replied Bryan, laughing, "I'm satisfied--the thing's a
mistake--so there's my hand to you, Hycy. I've no suspicion of the kind
against you and it's all right."

"What proposal, in heaven's name, could I have to make to you?"
exclaimed Hycy..

"There now," continued Bryan, "that'll do; didn't I say I was satisfied?
Move on, now and overtake your friend--by the way he's a fine horseman,
they say?"

"Very few better," said Hycy; "but some there are--and one I know--ha!
ha! ha! Good-bye, Bryan, and don't be made a fool of for nothing."

Bryan nodded and laughed, and Hycy dashed on to overtake his friend
Clinton.

M'Mahon's way home lay by Gerald Cavanagh's house, near which as he
approached he saw Nanny Peety in close conversation with Kate Hogan. The
circumstance, knowing their relationship as he did, made no impression
whatsoever upon him, nor would he have bestowed a thought upon it, had
he been left to his own will in the matter. The women separated ere he
had come within three hundred yards of them; Kate, who had evidently
been convoying her niece a part of the way, having returned in the
direction of Cavanagh's, leaving Nanny to pursue her journey home, by
which she necessarily met M'Mahon.

"Well, Nanny," said the latter, "how are you?"

"Faix, very well, I thank you, Bryan; how are all the family in
Carriglass?"

"Barring my mother, they're all well, Nanny. I was glad to hear you
got so good a place, an' I'm still betther plaised to see you look so
well--for it's a proof that you feel comfortable in it."

"Why I can't complain," she replied; "but you know there's no one widout
their throubles."

"Troubles, Nanny," said Bryan, with surprise; "why surely, Nanny,
barrin' it's love, I don't see what trouble you can have."

"Well, and may be it is," said the girl, smiling.

"Oh, in that case," replied Bryan, "I grant you're to be pitied; poor
thing, you look so ill and pale upon it, too. An' what is it like,
Nanny--this same love that's on you?"

"Faix," she replied, archly, "it's well for you that Miss Kathleen's not
to the fore or you daren't ax any one sich a question as that."

"Well done, Nanny," he returned; "do you think she knows what it's
like?"

"It's not me," she replied again, "you ought to be axin' sich a question
from; if you don't know it I dunna who ought."

"Begad, you're sharp an' ready, Nanny," replied Bryan, laughing; "well,
and how are you all in honest Jemmy Burke's?"

"Some of us good, some of us bad, and some of us indifferent, but, thank
goodness, all in the best o' health."

"Good, bad, and indifferent," replied Bryan, pausing a little. "Well,
now, Nanny, if one was to ask you who is the good in your family, what
would you say?"

"Of coorse myself," she returned; "an' stay--let me see--ay, the
masther, honest Jemmy, he and I have the goodness between us."

"And who's the indifferent, Nanny?"

"Wait," she replied; "yes--no doubt of it--if not worse--why the
mistress must come in for that, I think."

"And now for the bad, Nanny?"

She shook her head before she spoke. "Ah," she proceeded, "there would
be more in that house on the bad list than there is, if he, had his
way."

"If who had his way?"

"Masther Hycy."

"Why is he the bad among you?"

"Thank God I know him now," she replied, "an' he knows I do; but he
doesn't know how well I know him."

"Why, Nanny, are you in airnest?" asked Bryan, a good deal surprised,
and not a little interested at what he heard, "surely I thought Mr. Hycy
a good-hearted, generous young fellow that one could depend upon, at all
events?"

"Ah, it's little you know him," she replied; "and I could"--she looked
at him and paused.

"You could what?" he asked.

"I could tell you something, but I daren't."

"Daren't; why what ought you be afraid of?"

"It's no matther, I daren't an' thats enough; only aren't you an'
Kathleen Cavanagh goin' to be married?"

"We will be married, I hope."

"Well, then, keep a sharp look-out, an take care her father an' mother
doesn't turn against you some o' these days. There a many a slip between
the cup and the lip; that's all I can say, an' more than I ought; an' if
you ever mention my name, its murdhered I'll be."

"An' how is Hycy consarned in this? or is he consarned in it?"

"He is, an' he is not; I dursn't tell you more; but I'm not afraid of
him, so far from that, I could soon--but what am I sayin'? Good-bye, an'
as I said, keep a sharp lookout;" and having uttered these words, she
tripped on hastily and left him exceedingly surprised at what she had
said.

CHAPTER X.--More of the Hycy Correspondence

A Family Debate--Honest Speculations.

Kathleen's refusal to dance, at the kemp, with Hycy Burke, drew down
upon her the loud and vehement indignation of her parents, both of
whom looked upon a matrimonial alliance with the Burkes as an object
exceedingly desirable, and such as would reflect considerable credit on
themselves. Gerald Cavanagh and his wife were certainly persons of
the strictest integrity and virtue. Kind, charitable, overflowing with
hospitality, and remarkable for the domestic virtues and affections
in an extraordinary degree, they were, notwithstanding, extremely
weak-minded, and almost silly, in consequence of an over-weening
anxiety to procure "great matches" for their children. Indeed it may be
observed, that natural affection frequently assumes this shape in the
paternal heart, nor is the vain ambition confined to the Irish peasant
alone. On the contrary, it may be seen as frequently, if not more so, in
the middle and higher classes, where it has ampler scope to work, than
in humbler and more virtuous life. It is this proud and ridiculous
principle which consigns youth, and beauty, and innocence, to the arms
of some dissipated profligate of rank, merely because he happens to
inherit a title which he disgraces. There is, we would wager, scarcely
an individual who knows the world, but is acquainted with some family
laboring under this insane anxiety for connection. Sometimes it is to
be found on the paternal side, but, like most of those senseless
inconsistencies which entail little else than ridicule or ruin, and
sometimes both, upon those who are the object of them, it is, for the
most part, a female attribute.

Such as it is, however, our friend, Gerald Cavanagh, and his wife--who,
by the way, bore the domestic sceptre in all matters of importance--both
possessed it in all its amplitude and vigor. When the kemp had been
broken up that night, and the family assembled, Mrs. Cavanagh opened the
debate in an oration of great heat and bitterness, but sadly deficient
in moderation and logic.

"What on earth could you mane, Kathleen," she proceeded, "to refuse
dancin' wid such a young man--a gintleman I ought to say--as Hycy Burke,
the son of the wealthiest man in the whole parish, barring the gentry?
Where is the girl that wouldn't bounce at him?--that wouldn't lave
a single card unturned to secure him? Won't he have all his father's
wealth?--won't he have all his land when the ould man dies? and indeed
it's he that will live in jinteel style when he gets everything into
his own hands, as he ought to do, an' not go dhramin' an' dhromin' about
like his ould father, without bein' sartin whether he's alive or not.
He would be something for you, girl, something to turn out wid, an'
that one could feel proud out of; but indeed, Kathleen, as for pride
and decency, you never had as much o' them as you ought, nor do you hold
your head as high as many another girl in your place would do. Deed
and throth I'm vexed at you, and ashamed of you, to go for to hurt his
feelins as you did, widout either rhyme or raison."

"Troth," said her father, taking up the argument where she left it, "I
dunno how I'll look the respectable young man in the face afther the way
you insulted him. Why on airth wouldn't you dance wid him?"

"Because, father, I don't like him."

"An' why don't you like him?" asked her mother. "Where is there his
aquil for either face or figure in the parish, or the barony itself?
But I know the cause of it; you could dance with Bryan M'Mahon. But
take this with you--sorra ring ever Bryan M'Mahon will put on you wid
my consent or your father's, while there's any hope of Hycy Burke at any
rate."

Kathleen, during this long harangue, sat smiling and sedate, turning her
beautiful and brilliant eyes sometimes upon one parent, sometimes upon
another, and occasionally glancing with imperturbable sweetness and
good nature at her sister Hanna. At length, on getting an opportunity of
speaking, she replied,--

"Don't ask me, mother, to give anything in the way of encouragement to
Hycy Burke; don't ask me, I entrate you, for God's sake--the thing's
impossible, and I couldn't do it. I have no wish for his father's money,
nor any wish for the poor grandeur that you, mother dear, and my father,
seem to set your heart upon. I don't like Hycy Burke--I could never
like him; and rather than marry him, I declare solemnly to God, I would
prefer going into my grave."

As she uttered the last words, which she did with an earnestness that
startled them, her fine features became illuminated, as it were, with
a serene and brilliant solemnity of expression that was strikingly
impressive and beautiful.

"Why couldn't you like him, now?" asked her father; "sure, as your
mother says, there's not his aquil for face or figure within many a mile
of him?"

"But it's neither face nor figure that I look to most, father."

"Well, but think of his wealth, and the style he'll live in, I'll go
bail, when he gets married."

"That style maybe won't make his wife happy. No, father, it's neither
face, nor figure, nor style that I look to, but truth, pure affection,
and upright principle; now, I know that Hycy Burke has neither truth,
nor affection, nor principle; an' I wondher, besides, that you could
think of my ever marrying a man that has already destroyed the happiness
of two innocent girls, an' brought desolation, an' sorrow, an' shame
upon two happy families. Do you think that I will ever become the wife
of a profligate? An' is it you, father, an' still more you, mother,
that's a woman, that can urge me to think of joining my fate to that of
a man that has neither shame nor principle? I thought that if you didn't
respect decency an' truth, and a regard for what is right and proper,
that, at all events, you would respect the feelings of your child that
was taught their value."

Both parents felt somewhat abashed by the force of the truth and the
evident superiority of her character; but in a minute or two her worthy
father, from whose dogged obstinacy she inherited the firmness and
resolution for which she had ever been remarkable, again returned to the
subject.

"If Hycy Burke was wild, Kathleen, so was many a good man before him;
an' that's no raison but he may turn out well yet, an' a credit to his
name, as I have no doubt he will. All that he did was only folly
an' indiscretion--we can't be too hard or uncharitable upon our
fellow-craytures."

"No," chimed in her mother, "we can't. Doesn't all the world know that
a reformed rake makes a good husband?--an' besides, didn't them two
huzzies bring it on themselves?--why didn't they keep from him as they
ought? The fault, in such cases, is never all on one side."

Kathleen's brow and face and whole neck became crimson, as her mother,
in the worst spirit of a low and degrading ambition, uttered the
sentiments we have just written. Hanna had been all this time sitting
beside her, with one arm on her shoulder; but Kathleen, now turning
round, laid her face on her sister's bosom, and, with a pressure that
indicated shame and bitterness of heart, she wept. Hanna returned this
melancholy and distressing caress in the same mournful spirit, and both
wept together in silence.

Gerald Cavanagh was the first who felt something like shame at the
rebuke conveyed by this tearful embrace of his pure-hearted and
ingenuous daughters, and he said, addressing his wife:--

"We're wrong to defend him, or any one, for the evil he has done,
bekaise it can't be defended; but, in the mane time, every day will
bring him more sense an' experience, an' he won't repute this work;
besides, a wife would settle him down."

"But, father," said Hanna, now speaking for the first time, "there's
one thing that strikes me in the business you're talkin' about, an' it's
this--how do you know whether Hycy Burke has any notion, good, bad, or
indifferent, of marrying Kathleen?"

"Why," replied her mother, "didn't he write to her upon the subject?"

"Why, indeed, mother, it's not an easy thing to answer that question,"
replied Hanna. "She sartinly resaved a letther from him, an' indeed, I
think," she added, her animated face brightening into a smile, "that as
the boys is gone to bed, we had as good read it."

"No, Hanna, darling, don't," said Kathleen--"I beg you won't read it."

"Well, but I beg I will," she replied; "it'll show them, at any rate,
what kind of a reformation is likely to come over him. I have it here in
my pocket--ay, this is it. Now, father," she proceeded, looking at the
letter, "here is a letter, sent to my sister--'To Miss Cavanagh,' that's
what's on the back of it--and what do you think Hycy, the sportheen,
asks her to do for him?"

"Why, I suppose," replied her mother, "to run away wid him?"

"Na"

"Then to give her consent to marry him?" said her father.

"Both out," replied Hanna; "no, indeed, but to lend him five-and-thirty
pounds to buy a mare, called Crazy Jane, belonging to Tom Burton, of the
Race Road!"

"'My Dear Bryan--For heaven's sake, in addition to your other
generosities--for-which I acknowledge myself still in your debt--will
you lend me thirty-five pounds, to secure a beautiful mare belonging to
Tom Burton, of the Race Road? She is a perfect creature, and will, if I
am not quick, certainly slip through my fingers. Jemmy, the gentleman'--

"This is what he calls his father, you must know.

"'Jemmy, the gentleman, has promised to stand to me some of these
days, and pay off all my transgressions, like a good, kind-hearted,
soft-headed old Trojan as he is; and, for this reason, I don't wish to
press him now. The mare is sold under peculiar circumstances; otherwise
I could have no chance of her at such a price. By the way, when did you
see Katsey'--

"Ay, Katsey!--think of that, now--doesn't he respect your daughter
very much, father?

"'By the way, when did you see Katsey Cavanagh?--'"

"What is this you're readin' to me?" asked her father. "You don't mean
to say that this letter is to Kathleen?"

"Why, no; but so much the better--one has an opportunity now of seein'
what he is made of. The letter was intended for Bryan M'Mahon; but he
sent it, by mistake, to Kathleen. Listen---

"'When did you see Katsey Cavanagh? She certainly is not ill-looking,
and will originate you famous mountaineers. Do, like a good fellow,
stand by me at this pinch, and I will drink your health and Kat-sey's,
and that you may--' (what's this?) 'col--colonize Ahadarra with a race
of young Colossusses that the world will wonder at.

"'Ever thine,

"'H. Burke.'

"Here's more, though: listen, mother, to your favorite, that you want to
marry Kathleen to:--

"'P.S. I will clear scores with you for all in the course of a few
months, and remember that, at your marriage, I must, with my own hand,
give you away to Katsey, the fair Oolossa.'"

The perusal of this document, at least so far as they could understand
it, astonished them not a little. Until they heard it read, both had
been of the opinion that Hycy had actually proposed for Kathleen, or at
least felt exceedingly anxious for the match.

"An' does he talk about givin' her away to Bryan M'Mahon?" asked her
mother. Sorrow on his impidence!--Bryan M'Mahon indeed! Throth, it's not
upon his country side of wild mountain that Kathleen will go to live.
An' maybe, too, she has little loss in the same Hycy, for, afther all,
he's but a skite of a fellow, an' a profligate into the bargain."

"Paix an' his father," said Gerald--"honest Jemmy--tould me that he'd
have it a match whether or not."

"His father did!" exclaimed Mrs. Cavanagh; "now, did he say so, Gerald?"

"Well, in troth he did--said that he had I set his heart upon it, an'
that if she hadn't a gown to her back he'd make him marry her."

"The Lord direct us for the best!" exclaimed his wife, whose opinion of
the matter at this last piece of information had again changed in favor
of Hycy. "Sure, afther all, one oughtn't to be too sevare on so young
a man. However, as the sayin' is, 'time will tell,' an' Kathleen's own
good sense will show her what a match he'd be."

The sisters then retired to bed; but before they went, Kathleen
approached her mother, and putting an open palm affectionately upon each
of the good woman's cheeks, said, in a voice in which there was deep
feeling and affection:--

"Good-night, mother dear! I'm sure you love me, an' I know it is because
you do that you spake in this way; but I know, too, that you wouldn't
make me unhappy and miserable for the wealth of the world, much less
for Hycy Burke's share of it. There's a kiss for you, and
good-night!--there's another for you, father; God bless you! and
good-night, too. Come, Hanna darling, come!"

In this state matters rested for some time. Bryan M'Mahon, however, soon
got an opportunity of disclosing his intentions to Kathleen, if that can
be called disclosing, which was tolerably well known for a considerable
time previous to the disclosure. Between them it was arranged that he
and his father should make a formal proposal of marriage to her parents,
as the best means of bringing the matter to a speedy issue. Before this
was done, however, Gerald, at the instigation of his wife, contrived
once more to introduce the subject as if by accident, in a conversation
with Jemmy Burke, who repeated his anxiety for the match as the best way
of settling down his son, and added, that he would lay the matter before
Hycy himself, with a wish that a union should take place between them.
This interview with old Burke proved a stumbling-block in the way of
M'Mahon. At length, after a formal proposal on the behalf of Bryan, and
many interviews with reference to it, something like a compromise was
effected. Kathleen consented to accept the latter in marriage, but
firmly and resolutely refused to hear Burke's name as a lover or suitor
mentioned. Her parents, however, hoping that their influence over her
might ultimately prevail, requested that she would not engage herself to
any one for two years, at the expiration of which period, if no change
in her sentiments should take place, she was to be at liberty to marry
M'Mahon. For the remainder of the summer and autumn, and up until
November, the period at which our narrative has now arrived, or, in
other words, when Bryan M'Mahon met Nanny Peety, matters had rested
precisely in the same position. This unexpected interview with the
mendicant's daughter, joined to the hints he had already received, once
more caused M'Mahon to feel considerably perplexed with regard to Hycy
Burke. The coincidence was very remarkable, and the identity of the
information, however limited, appeared to him to deserve all the
consideration which he could bestow upon it, but above all things he
resolved, if possible, to extract the secret out of Nanny Peety.

One cause of Hycy Burke's extravagance was a hospitable habit of dining
and giving dinners in the head inn of Ballymacan. To ask any of his
associates to his father's house was only to expose the ignorance of his
parents, and this his pride would not suffer him to do. As a matter
of course he gave all his dinners, unless upon rare occasions, in Jack
Shepherd's excellent inn; but as young Clinton and he were on terms of
the most confidential intimacy, he had asked him to dine on the day in
question at his father's.

"You know, my dear Harry," he said to his friend, "there is no use in
striving to conceal the honest vulgarity of Jemmy the gentleman from you
who know it already. I may say ditto to madam, who is unquestionably the
most vulgar of the two--for, and I am sorry to say it, in addition to a
superabundant stock of vulgarity, she has still a larger assortment of
the prides; for instance, pride of wealth, of the purse, pride of--I
was going to add, birth--ha! ha! ha!--of person, ay, of beauty, if
you please--of her large possessions--but that comes under the purse
again--and lastly--but that is the only well-founded principle among
them--of her accomplished son, Hycy. This, now, being all within your
cognizance already, my dear Hal, you take a pig's cheek and a fowl with
me to-day. There will be nobody but ourselves, for when I see company at
home I neither admit the gentleman nor the lady to table. Damn it, you
know the thing would be impossible. If you wish it, however, we shall
probably call in the gentleman after dinner to have a quiz with him;
it may relieve us. I can promise you a glass of wine, too, and that's
another reason why we should keep him aloof until the punch comes. The
wine's always a _sub silencio_ affair, and, may heaven pity me, I get
growling enough from old Bruin on other subjects."

"Anything you wish, Hycy, I am your man; but somehow I don't relish the
idea of the quiz you speak of. 'Children, obey your parents,' says
Holy Scripture; and I'd as soon not help a young fellow to laugh at his
father."

"A devilish good subject he is, though--but you must know that I can
draw just distinctions, Hal. For instance, I respect his honesty--"

"And copy it, eh?"

"Certainly--I respect his integrity, too--in fact, I appreciate all his
good qualities, and only laugh at his vulgarity and foibles."

"You intend to marry, Hycy?"

"Or, in other words, to call you brother some of these days."

"And to have sons and daughters?"

"Please the fates."

"That will do," replied Clinton, dryly.

"Ho! ho!" said Hycy, "I see. Here's a mentor with a vengeance--a fellow
with a budget of morals cut and dry for immediate use--but hang all
morality, say I; like some of my friends that talk on the subject,
I have an idiosyncrasy of constitution against it, but an abundant
temperament for pleasure."

"That's a good definition," said Clinton; "a master-touch, a very
correct likeness, indeed. I would at once know you from it, and so would
most of your friends."

"This day is Friday," said Hycy, "more growling."

"Why so?"

"Why, when I eat meat on a Friday, the pepper and sauce cost me nothing.
The 'gentlemen' lays on hard, but the lady extenuates, 'in regard to
it's bein' jinteel.'"

"Well, but you have certainly no scruple yourself on the subject?"

"Yes, I have, sir, a very strong one--in favor of the meat--ha! ha! ha!"

"D--n me, whoever christened you Hycy the accomplished, hit you off."

"I did myself; because you must know, my worthy Hal, that, along with
all my other accomplishments, I am my own priest.'

"And that is the reason why you hate the clergy? eh--ha! ha! ha!"

"A hit, a hit, I do confess."

"Harke, Mr. Priest, will you give absolution--to Tom Corbet?"

"Ah! Hal, no more an' thou lovest me--that sore is yet open. Curse the
villain. My word and honor, Hal, the gentleman' was right there. He
told me at the first glance what she was. Here comes a shower, let us
move on, and reach Ballymacan, if possible, before it falls. We shall be
home in fair time for dinner afterwards, and then for my proposal,
which, by the word and honor--"

"And morality?"

"Nonsense, Harry; is a man to speak nothing but truth or Scripture in
this world?--No--which I say by the honor of a gentleman, it will be
your interest to consider and accept."

"Very well, most accomplished. We shall see, and we shall hear, and then
we shall determine."

A ham and turkey were substituted for the pig's cheek and fowl, and we
need not say that Hycy and his friend accepted of the substitution with
great complacency. Dinner having been discussed, and a bottle of wine
finished, the punch came in, and each, after making himself a stiff
tumbler, acknowledged that he felt comfortable. Hycy, however, anxious
that he should make an impression, or in other words gain his point,
allowed Clinton to grow a little warm with liquor before he opened the
subject to which he had alluded. At length, when he had reached the
proper elevation, he began:--

"There's no man, my dear Harry, speaks apparently more nonsense than I
do in ordinary chat and conversation. For instance, to-day I was very
successful in it; but no matter, I hate seriousness, certainly, when
there is no necessity for it. However, as a set-off to that, I pledge
you my honor that no man can be more serious when it is necessary than
myself. For instance, you let out a matter to me the other night that
you probably forget now. You needn't stare--I am serious enough and
honorable enough to keep as an inviolable secret everything of the kind
that a man may happen to disclose in an unguarded moment."

"Go on, Hycy, I don't forget it--I don't, upon my soul."

"I allude to M'Mahon's farm in Ahadarra."

"I don't forget it; but you know, Hycy, my boy, I didn't mention either
M'Mahon or Ahadarra."

"You certainly did not mention them exactly; but, do you think I did
not know at once both the place and the party you allude to? My word and
honor, I saw them at a glance."

"Very well, go on with your word and honor;--you are right, I did mean
M'Mahon and Ahadarra--proceed, most accomplished, and most moral--"

"Be quiet, Harry. Well, you have your eye upon that farm, and you say
you have a promise of it."

"Something like it; but the d--d landlord, Chevydale, is
impracticable--so my uncle says--and doesn't wish to disturb the
M'Mahons, although he has been shown that it is his interest to do
so--but d--n the fellow, neither he nor one of his family ever look to
their interests--d--n the fellow, I say."

"Don't curse or swear, most moral. Well, the lease of Ahadarra has
dropped, and of Carriglass too;--with Carriglass, however, we--that is
you--have nothing at all to do."

"Proceed?'

"Now, I have already told you my affection for your sister, and I have
not been able to get either yes or no out of you."

"No."

"What do you mean?"

"That you have not been able to get yes or no out of me--proceed, most
accomplished. Where do you get your brandy? This is glorious. Well!"

"Now, as you have a scruple against taking the farm in any but a decent
way, if I undertake to manage matters so as that Bryan M'Mahon shall
be obliged to give up his farm, will you support my suit with Miss
Clinton?"

"How will you do it?"

"That is what you shall not know; but the means are amply within my
power. You know my circumstances, and that I shall inherit all my
father's property."

"Come; I shall hold myself neuter--will that satisfy you? You shall
have a clear stage and no favor, which, if you be a man of spirit, is
enough."

"Yes; but it is likely I may require your advocacy with Uncle; and,
besides, I know the advantage of having an absent friend well and
favorably spoken of, and all his good points brought out."

"Crazy Jane and Tom Burton, to wit; proceed, most ingenuous!"

"Curse them both! Will you promise this--to support me so far?"

"Egad, Hycy, that's a devilish pretty girl that attends us with the hot
water, and that waited on us at dinner--eh?"

"Come, come, Master Harry, 'ware spring-guns there; keep quiet. You
don't answer?"

"But, worthy Hycy, what if Maria should reject you--discard you--give
you to the winds?--eh?"

"Even in that case, provided you support me honestly, I shall hold
myself bound to keep my engagement with you, and put M'Mahon out as a
beggar."

"What! as a beggar?"

"Ay, as a beggar; and then no blame could possibly attach to you for
succeeding him, and certainly no suspicion."

"Hum! as a beggar. But the poor fellow never offended me. Confound it,
he never offended me, nor any one else as far as I know. I don't much
relish that, Hycy."

"It cannot be done though in any other way."

"I say--how do you call that girl?--Jenny, or Peggy, or Molly, or what?"

"I wish to heaven you could be serious, Harry. If not, I shall drop the
subject altogether."

"There now--proceed, O Hyacinthus."

"How can I proceed, when you won't pay attention to me; or, what is
more, to your own interests?"

"Oh! my own interests!--well I am alive to them."

"Is it a bargain, then?"

"It is a bargain, most ingenuous, most subtle, and most conscientious
Hycy! Enable me to enter upon the farm of Ahadarra--to get possession of
it--and calculate upon my most--let me see--what's the best word--most
strenuous advocacy. That's it: there's my hand upon it. I shall support
you, Hycy; but, at the same time, you must not hold me accountable for
my sister's conduct. Beyond fair and reasonable persuasion, she must be
left perfectly free and uncontrolled in whatever decision she may come
to."

"There's my hand, then, Harry; I can ask no more."

After Clinton had gone, Hycy felt considerably puzzled as to the manner
in which he had conducted himself during the whole evening. Sometimes he
imagined he was under the influence of liquor, for he had drunk pretty
freely; and again it struck him that he manifested an indifference to
the proposal made to him, which he only attempted to conceal lest Hycy
might perceive it. He thought, however, that he observed a seriousness
in Clinton, towards the close of their conversation, which could not
have been assumed; and as he gave himself a good deal of credit for
penetration, he felt satisfied that circumstances were in a proper
train, and likely, by a little management, to work out his purposes.

Hycy, having bade him good night at the hall-door, returned again to the
parlor, and called Nanny Peety--"Nanny," said he, "which of the Hogans
did you see to-day?"

"None o' them, sir, barrin' Kate: they wor all out."

"Did you give her the message?"

"Why, sir, if it can be called a message, I did."

"What did you say, now?"

"Why, I tould her to tell whichever o' them she happened to see first,
that St. Pether was dead."

"And what did she say to that?"

"Why, sir, she said it would be a good story for you if he was."

"And what did she mean by that, do you think?"

"Faix, then, I dunna--barrin' that you're in the black books wid him,
and that you'd have a better chance of gettin' in undher a stranger that
didn't know you."

"Nanny," he replied, laughing, "you are certainly a very smart girl,
and indeed a very pretty girl--a very interesting young woman, indeed,
Nanny; but you won't listen to reason."

"To raison, sir, I'll always listen; but not to wickedness or evil."

"Will you have a glass of punch? I hope there is neither wickedness nor
evil in that."

"I'm afraid, sir, that girls like me have often found to their cost too
much of both in it. Thank you, Masther Hycy, but I won't have it; you
know I won't."

"So you will stand in your own light, Nanny?"

"I hope not, sir; and, wanst for all, Mr. Hycy, there's no use in
spakin' to me as you do. I'm a poor humble girl, an' has nothing but my
character to look to."

"And is that all you're afraid of, Nanny?"

"I'm afear'd of Almighty God, sir: an' if you had a little fear of Him,
too, Mr. Hycy, you wouldn't spake to me as you do."

"Why, Nanny, you're almost a saint on our hands."

"I'm glad to hear it, sir, for the sinners is plenty enough."

"Very good, Nanny; well said. Here's half a crown to reward your wit."

"No, no, Mr. Hycy: I'm thankful to you; but you know I won't take it."

"Nanny, are you aware that it was I who caused you to be taken into this
family?"

"No," sir; "but I think it's very likely you'll be the cause of my going
out of it."

"It certainly is not improbable, Nanny. I will have no self-willed,
impracticable girls here."

"You won't have me here long, then, unless you mend your manners, Mr.
Hycy."

"Well, well, Nanny; let us not quarrel at all events. I will be late out
to-night, so that you must sit up and let me in. No, no, Nanny, we must
not quarrel; and if I have got fond of you, how can I help it? It's very
natural thing, you know, to love a pretty girl."

"But not so natural to lave her, Mr. Hycy, as you have left others
before now--I needn't name them--widout name, or fame, or hope, or
happiness in this world."

"I won't be in until late, Nanny," he replied, coolly. "Sit up for me.
You're a sharp one, but I can't spare you yet a while;" and, having
nodded to her with a remarkably benign aspect he went out.

"Ay," said she, after he had gone; "little you know, you hardened and
heartless profligate, how well I'm up to your schemes. Little you know
that I heard your bargain this evenin' wid Clinton, and that you're now
gone to meet the Hogans and Teddy Phats upon some dark business, that
can't be good or they wouldn't be in it; an' little you know what I know
besides. Anybody the misthress plaises may sit up for you, but I won't."

CHAPTEE XI.--Death of a Virtuous Mother.

It could not be expected that Bryan M'Mahon, on his way home from
Fethertonge's, would pass Gerald Cavanagh's without calling. He had,
in his interview with that gentleman, stated the nature of his mother's
illness, but at the same time without feeling any serious apprehensions
that her life was in immediate danger. On reaching Cavanagh's, he found
that family over-+shadowed with a gloom for which he could not account.
Kathleen received him gravely, and even Hanna had not her accustomed
jest. After looking around him for a little, he exclaimed--"What is the
matther? Is anything wrong? You all look as if you were in sorrow."

Hanna approached him and said, whilst her eyes filled with tears--"We
are in sorrow, Bryan; for we are goin', we doubt, to lose a friend that
we all love--as every one did that knew her."

"Hanna, darling," said Kathleen, "this won't do. Poor girl! you are
likely to make bad worse; and besides there may, after all, be no real
danger. Your mother, Bryan," she proceeded, "is much worse than she has
been. The priest and doctor have been sent for; but you know it doesn't
follow that there is danger, or at any rate that the case is hopeless."

"Oh, my God!" exclaimed Bryan, "is it so? My mother--and such a mother!
Kathleen, my heart this minute tells me it is hopeless. I must leave
you--I must go."

"We will go up with you," said Kathleen. "Hanna, we will go up; for,
if she is in danger, I would like to get the blessing of such a woman
before she dies; but let us trust in G-od she won't die, and that it's
only a sudden attack that will pass away."

"Do so, Kathleen," said her mother; "and you can fetch us word how she
is. May the Lord bring her safe over it at any rate; for surely the
family will break their hearts afther her, an' no wondher, for where was
her fellow?"

Bryan was not capable of hearing these praises, which he knew to be
so well and so justly her due, with firmness; nor could he prevent his
tears, unless by a great effort, from bearing testimony to the depth
of his grief. Kathleen's gaze, however, was turned on him with an
expression which gave him strength; for indeed there was something noble
and. sustaining in the earnest and consoling sympathy which he read in
her dark and glorious eye. On their way to Carriglass there was little
spoken. Bryan's eye every now and then sought that of Kathleen; and
he learned, for the first time, that it is only in affliction that the
exquisite tenderness of true and disinterested love can be properly
appreciated and felt. Indeed he wondered at his own sensations; for
in proportion as his heart became alarmed at the contemplation of his
mother's loss, he felt, whenever he looked upon Kathleen, that it also
burned towards her with greater tenderness and power--so true is it
that sorrow and suffering purify and exalt all our nobler and better
emotions.

Bryan and his companions, ere they had time to reach the house, were
seen and. recognized by the family, who, from the restlessness and
uncertainty which illness usually occasions, kept moving about and
running out from time to time to watch the arrival of the priest or
doctor. On this occasion Dora came to meet them; but, alas! with what
a different spirit from that which animated her on the return of her
father from the metropolis. Her gait was now slow, her step languid;
and they could perceive that, as she approached them, she wiped away the
tears. Indeed her whole appearance was indicative of the state of
her mother; when they met her, her bitter sobbing and the sorrowful
earnestness of manner with which she embraced the sisters, wore
melancholy assurances that the condition of the sufferer was not
improved. Hanna joined her tears with hers; but Kathleen, whose sweet
voice in attempting to give the affectionate girl consolation, was more
than once almost shaken out of its firmness, did all she could to soothe
and relieve her.

On entering the house, they found a number of the neighboring females
assembled, and indeed the whole family, in consequence of the alarm
and agitation visible them, might not inaptly be compared to a brood of
domestic fowl when a hawk, bent on destruction, is seen hovering over
their heads.

As is usual with Catholic families in their state of life, there were
several of those assembled, and also some of themselves, at joint prayer
in different parts of the house; and seated by her bedside was her
youngest son, Art, engaged, with sobbing voice and eyes every now and
then blinded with tears, in the perusal, for her comfort, of Prayers for
the Sick. Tom M'Mahon himself went about every now and then clasping
his hands, and turning up his eyes to heaven in a distracted manner,
exclaiming--"Oh! Bridget, Bridget, is it come to this at last! And
you're lavin' me--you're lavin' me! Oh, my God! what will I do--how will
I live, an' what will become of me!"

On seeing Bryan, he ran to him and said,--"Oh! Bryan, to what point will
I turn?--where will I get consolation?--how will I bear it? Sure,
she was like a blessin' from heaven among us; ever full of peace, and
charity, and goodness--the kind word an' the sweet smile to all; but to
me--to me--oh! Bridget, Bridget, I'd rather die than live afther you!"

"Father, dear, your takin' it too much to heart," replied Bryan; "who
knows but God may spare her to us still? But you know that even if it's
His will to remove her from amongst us"--his voice here failed him for a
moment--"hem--to remove her from amongst us, it's our duty to submit
to it; but I hope in God she may recover still. Don't give way to sich
grief till we hear what the docthor will say, at all events. How did she
complain or get ill; for I think she wasn't worse when I left home?"

"It's all in her stomach," replied his father. "She was seized wid
cramps in her stomach, an' she complains very much of her head; but her
whole strength is gone, she can hardly spake, and she has death in her
face."

At this moment his brother Michael came to them, and
said--"Bryan--Bryan"--but he could proceed no farther.

"Whisht, Michael," said the other; "this is a shame; instead of
supportin' and cheer-in' my father, you're only doing him harm. I tell
you all that you'll find there's no raison for this great grief. Be a
man, Michael--"

"She has heard your voice," proceeded his brother, "and wishes to see
you."

This proof of her affection for him, at the very moment when he was
attempting to console others, was almost more than he could bear.
Bryan knew that he himself had been her favorite son, so far as a heart
overflowing with kindness and all the tender emotions that consecrate
domestic life and make up its happiness, could be said to have a
favorite. There was, however, that almost imperceptible partiality,
which rarely made its appearance unless in some slight and
inconsiderable circumstances, but which, for that very reason, was
valuable in proportion to its delicacy and the caution with which it
was guarded. Always indeed in some quiet and inoffensive shape was the
partiality she bore him observable; and sometimes it consisted in a
postponement of his wishes or comforts to those of her other children,
because she felt that she might do with him that which she could not
with the others--thus calculating as it were upon his greater affection.
But it is wonderful to reflect in how many ways, and through what
ingenious devices the human heart can exhibit its tenderness.

Arthur, as Bryan entered, had concluded the devotions he had been
reading for her, and relinquished to him the chair he had occupied. On
approaching, he was at once struck by the awful change for the worse,
which so very brief a period had impressed upon her features. On leaving
home that morning she appeared to be comparatively strong, and not
further diminished in flesh than a short uneasy ailment might naturally
occasion. But now her face, pallid and absolutely emaciated, had shrunk
into half its size, and was, beyond all possibility of hope or doubt,
stamped with the unequivocal impress of death.

Bryan, in a state which it is impossible to describe and very difficult
to conceive, took her hand, and after a short glance at her features,
now so full of ghastliness and the debility which had struck her down,
he stooped, and, kissing her lips, burst out into wild and irrepressible
sorrow.

"Bryan, dear," she said, after a pause, and when his grief had somewhat
subsided, "why will you give way to this? Sure it was on you I placed
my dependence--I hoped that, instead of settin' the rest an example for
weakness, you'd set them one that they might and ought to follow--I sent
for you, Bryan, to make it my request that, if it's the will of God to
take me from among you, you might support an' console the others, an'
especially your poor father; for I needn't tell you that along wid the
pain I'm bearin', my heart is sore and full o sorrow for what I
know he'll suffer when I'm gone. May the Lord pity and give him
strength!--for I can say on my dyin' bed that, from the first day I
ever seen his face until now, he never gave me a harsh word or an unkind
look, an' that you all know."

"Oh how could he, mother dear? how could any one give you that? Who
was it that ever knew you could trate you with anything but respect and
affection?"

"I hope I always struv to do my duty, Bryan, towards God an' my
childre', and my fellow-creatures; an' for that raison I'm not
frightened at death. An', Bryan, listen to the words of your dyin'
mother--"

"Oh, don't say that yet, mother," replied her son, sobbing; "don't say
so yet; who knows but God will spare your life, an' that you may be many
years with us still; they're all alarmed too much, I hope; but it's no
wondher we should, mother dear, when there's any appearance at all of
danger about you."

"Well, whether or not, Bryan, the advice I'm goin' to give you is
never out o' saison. Live always with the fear of God in your heart;
do nothing that you think will displease Him; love your
fellow-creatures--serve them and relieve their wants an' distresses as
far as you're able; be like your own father--kind and good to all about
you, not neglectin' your religious duties. Do this, Bryan, an' then when
the hour o' death comes, you'll feel a comfort an' happiness in your
heart that neither the world nor anything in it can give you. You'll
feel the peace of God there, an' you will die happy--happy."

Her spirit, animated by the purity and religious truth of this simple
but beautiful morality, kindled into pious fervor as she proceeded,
so much so indeed, that on turning her eyes towards heaven, whilst she
uttered the last words, they sparkled with the mild and serene light of
that simple but unconscious enthusiasm on behalf of all goodness which
had characterized her whole life, and which indeed is a living principle
among thousands of her humble countrywomen.

"This, dear Bryan, is the advice I gave to them all; it an' my love is
the only legacy I have to lave them. An' my darlin' Dora, Bryan--oh, if
you be kind and tendher to any one o' them beyant another, be so to
her. My darlin'Dora! Oh! her heart's all affection, an' kindness, an'
generosity. But indeed, as I said, Bryan, the task must fall to you to
strengthen and console every one o' them. Ay!--an' you must begin now.
You wor ever, ever, a good son; an' may God keep you in the right faith,
an' may my blessin' an' His be wid you for ever! Amin."

There was a solemn and sustaining spirit in her words which strengthened
Bryan, who, besides, felt anxious to accomplish to the utmost extent the
affectionate purpose which had caused her to send for him.

"It's a hard task, mother darlin," he replied; "but I'll endeavor, with
God's help, to let them see that I haven't been your son for nothing;
but you don't know, mother, that Kathleen's here, an' Hanna. They wish
to see you, an' to get your blessin'."

"Bring them in," she replied, "an' let Dora come wid them, an' stay
yourself, Bryan, becaise I'm but weak, an' I don't wish that they should
stay too long. God sees its not for want of love for the other girls
that I don't bid you bring them in, but that I don't wish to see them
sufferin' too much sorrow; but my darlin' Dora will expect to be where
Kathleen is, an' my own eyes likes to look upon her, an' upon Kathleen,
too, Bryan, for I feel my heart bound to her as if she was one of
ourselves, as I hope she will be."

"Oh, bless her! bless her! mother," he said, with difficulty, "an' tell
her them words--say them to herself. I'll go now and bring them in."

He paused, however, for a minute or two, in order to compose his voice
and features, that he might not seem to set them an example of weakness,
after which he left the apartment with an appearance of greater
composure than he really felt.

In a few minutes the four returned: Bryan, with Kathleen's hand locked
in his, and Hanna, with her arm affectionately wreathed about Dora's
neck, as if the good-hearted girl felt anxious to cherish and comfort
her under the heavy calamity to which she was about to be exposed, for
Dora wept bitterly. Mrs. M'Mahon signed to Hanna to approach, who, with
her characteristic ardor of feeling, now burst into tears herself, and
stooping down kissed her and wept aloud, whilst Dora's grief also burst
out afresh.

The sick woman looked at Bryan, as if to solicit his interference, and
the look was immediately understood by Kathleen as well as by himself.

"This is very wrong of you, Hanna," said her sister; "out of affection
and pity to them, you ought to endeavor to act otherwise. They have
enough, an' to much, to feel, without your setting them example; and,
Dora dear, I thought you had more courage than you have. All this is
only grieving and disturbing your mother; an' I hope that, for her sake,
you'll both avoid it. I know it's hard to do so, but it's the difficulty
and the trial that calls upon us to have strength, otherwise what are
we better than them that we'd condemn or think little of for their own
weakness."

The truth and moral force of the words, and the firmness of manner that
marked Kathleen as she spoke, were immediately successful. The grief
of the two girls was at once hushed; and, after a slight pause, Mrs.
M'Mahon called Kathleen to her.

"Dear Kathleen," she said, "I did hope to see the day when you'd be
one of my own family, but it's not the will of God, it appears, that I
should; however, may His will be done! I hope still that day will
come, an' that your friends won't have any longer an objection to your
marriage wid Bryan. I am his mother, an' no one has a better right to
know his heart an' his temper, an' I can say, upon my dyin' bed, that a
better heart an' a better temper never was in man. I believe, Kathleen,
it was never known that a good son ever made a bad husband. However,
if it's God's will to bring you together, He will, and if it isn't, you
must only bear it patiently."

Bryan was silent, but his eye, from time to time, turned with a long
glance of love and sorrow upon Kathleen, whose complexion became pale
and red by turns. At length Dora, after her mother had concluded, went
over to Kathleen, and putting her arms around her neck, exclaimed, "Oh!
mother dear, something tells me that Kathleen will be my sisther yet,
an' if you'd ask her to promise--"

Kathleen looked down upon the beautiful and expressive features of the
affectionate girl, and gently raising her hand she placed it upon Dora's
lips, in order to prevent the completion of the sentence. On doing so
she received a sorrowful glance of deep and imploring entreaty from
Bryan, which she returned with another that seemed to reprove him for
doubting her affection, or supposing that such a promise was even
necessary. "No, Dora dear," she said, "I could make no promise without
the knowledge of my father and mother, or contrary to their wishes; but
did you think, darling, that such a thing was necessary?" She kissed the
sweet girl as she spoke, and Dora felt a tear on her cheek that was not
her own.

Mrs. M'Mahon had been looking with a kind of mournful admiration upon
Kathleen during this little incident, and then proceeded. "She says what
is right and true; and it would be wrong, my poor child, to ask her to
give such a promise. Bryan, thry an' be worthy of that girl--oh, do! an'
if you ever get her, you'll have raison to thank God for one of the best
gifts He ever gave to man. Hanna, come here--come to me--let me put my
hand upon your head. May my blessin' and God's blessin' rest upon you
for ever more. There now, be stout, acushla machree." Hanna kissed her
again, but her grief was silent; and Dora, fearing she might not be able
to restrain it, took her away.

"Now," proceeded the dying woman, "come to me, you Kathleen, my
daughter--sure you're the daughter of my heart, as it is. Kneel down and
stay with me awhile. Why does my heart warm to you as it never did to
any one out o' my own family? Why do I love you as if you were my own
child? Because I hope you will be so. Kiss me, asthore machree."

Kathleen kissed her, and for a few moments Mrs. M'Mahon felt a shower
of warm tears upon her face, accompanied by a gentle and caressing
pressure, that seemed to corroborate and return the hope she had just
expressed. Kathleen hastily wiped away her tears, however, and once more
resuming her firmness, awaited the expected blessing.

"Now, Kathleen dear, for fear any one might say that at my dyin' hour,
I endeavored to take any unfair advantage of your feelings for my son,
listen to me--love him as you may, and as I know you do."

"Why should I deny it?" said Kathleen, "I do love him."

"I know, darlin', you do, but for all that, go not agin the will and
wishes of your parents and friends; that's my last advice to you."

She then placed her hand upon her head, and in words breathing of piety
and affection, she invoked many a blessing upon her, and upon any that
was clear to her in life, after which both Bryan and Kathleen left her
to the rest which she now required so much.

The last hour had been an interval from pain with Mrs. M'Mahon. In
the course of the day both the priest and the doctor arrived, and she
appeared somewhat better. The doctor, however, prepared them for the
worst, and in confirmation of his opinion, the spasms returned with
dreadful violence, and in the lapse of two hours after his visit,
this pious and virtuous woman, after suffering unexampled agony with a
patience and fortitude that could not be surpassed, expired in the midst
of her afflicted family.

It often happens in domestic life, that in cases where long and
undisturbed affection is for the first time deprived of its object by
death, there supervenes upon the sorrow of many, a feeling of awful
sympathy with that individual whose love for the object has been, the
greatest, and whose loss is of course the most irreparable. So was it
with the M'Mahons. Thomas M'Mahon himself could not bear to witness the
sufferings of his wife, nor to hear her moans. He accordingly left the
house, and walked about the garden and farm-yard, in a state little
short of actual distraction. When the last scene was over, and her
actual sufferings closed for ever, the outrage of grief among his
children became almost hushed from a dread of witnessing the sufferings
of their father; and for the time a great portion of their own sorrow
was merged in what they felt for him. Nor was this feeling confined
to themselves. His neighbors and acquaintances, on hearing of Mrs.
M'Mahon's death, almost all exclaimed:--

"Oh, what will become of him? they are nothing an will forget her soon,
as is natural, well as they loved her; but poor Tom, oh! what on earth
will become of him?" Every eye, however, now turned toward Bryan, who
was the only one of the family possessed of courage enough to undertake
the task of breaking the heart-rending intelligence to their bereaved
father.

"It must be done," he said, "and the sooner it's done the better; what
would I give to have my darlin' Kathleen here. Her eye and her advice
would give me the strength that I stand so much in need of. My God, how
will I meet him, or break the sorrowful tidings to him at all! The Lord
support me!"

"Ah, but Bryan," said they, "you know he looks up to whatever you say,
and how much he is advised by you, if there happens to be a doubt about
anything. Except her that's gone, there was no one--"

Bryan raised his hand with an expression of resolution and something
like despair, in order as well as he could to intimate to them, that he
wished to hear no allusion made to her whom they had lost, or that he
must become incapacitated to perform the task he had to encounter, and
taking his hat he proceeded to find his father, whom he met behind the
garden.

It may be observed of deep grief, that whenever it is excited by the
loss of what is good and virtuous, it is never a solitary passion, we
mean within the circle of domestic life. So far from that, there is not
a kindred affection under the influence of a virtuous heart, that is not
stimulated, and strengthened by its emotions. How often, for instance,
have two members of the same family rushed into each other's arms, when
struck by a common sense of the loss of some individual that was dear to
both, because it was felt that the very fact of loving the same object
had now made them dear to each other.

The father, on seeing Bryan approach, stood for a few moments and looked
at him eagerly; he then approached him with a hasty and unsettled step,
and said, "Bryan, Bryan, I see it in your face, she has left us, she has
left us, she has left us all, an' she has left me; an' how am I to live
without her? answer me that; an then give me consolation if you can."

He threw himself on his son's neck, and by a melancholy ingenuity
attempted to seduce him as it were from the firmness which he appeared
to preserve in the discharge of this sorrowful task, with a hope that he
might countenance him in the excess of his grief--"Oh," he added, "I've
have lost her, Bryan--you and I, the two that she--that--she--Your word
was everything to her, a law to her; and she was so proud out of you--I
an' her eye would rest upon you smilin', as much as to say--there's my
son, haven't I a right to feel proud of him, for he has never once vexed
his mother's heart? nayther did you, Bryan, nayther did you, but now who
will praise you as she did? who will boast of you behind your back, for
she seldom did it to your face; and now that smile of love and kindness
will never be on her blessed lips more. Sure you won't blame me,
Bryan--oh, sure above all men livin', you won't blame me for feelin' her
loss as I do."

The associations excited by the language of his father were such as
Bryan was by no means prepared to meet. Still he concentrated all
his moral power and resolution in order to accomplish the task he had
undertaken, which, indeed, was not so much to announce his mother's
death, as to support his father under it. After a, violent effort, he at
length said:--

"Are you sorry, father, because God has taken my mother to Himself?
Would you wish to have her here, in pain and suffering? Do you grudge
her heaven? Father, you were always a brave and strong, fearless man,
but what are you now? Is this the example you are settin' to us, who
ought to look up to you for support? Don't you know my mother's in
heaven? Why, one would think you're sorry for it? Come, come, father,
set your childre' an example now when they want it, that they can look
up to--be a man, and don't forget that she's in God's Glory, Come in
now, and comfort the rest."

"Ay, but when I think of what she was, Bryan; of what she was to me,
Bryan, from the first day I ever called her my wife, ay, and before it,
when she could get better matches, when she struggled, and waited, and
fought for me, against all opposition, till her father an' mother saw
her heart was fixed upon me; hould your tongue, Bryan, I'll have no one'
to stop my grief for her, where is she? where's my wife, I tell you?
where's Bridget M'Mahon?--Bridget, where are you? have you left me, gone
from me, an' must I live here widout you? must I rise in the mornin,'
and neither see you nor hear you? or must I live here by myself an'
never have your opinion nor advice to ask upon anything as I used to
do--Bridget M'Mahon, why did you leave me? where are you from me?"

"Here's Dora," said a sweet but broken voice; "here's Dora M'Mahon--your
own Dora, too--and that you love bekaise I was like her. Oh, come with
me, father, darlin'. For her sake, compose yourself and come with me.
Oh, what are we to feel! wasn't she our mother? Wasn't she?--wasn't she?
What am I sayin'? Ay, but, now--we have no mother, now!"

M'Mahon still leaned upon his son's neck, but on hearing his favorite
daughter's voice, he put his arm round to where she stood, and
clasping her in, brought her close to him and Bryan, so that the three
individuals formed one sorrowing group together.

"Father," repeated Dora, "come with me for my mother's sake."

He started. "What's that you say, Dora? For your mother's sake? I will,
darlin'--for her sake, I will. Ay, that's the way to manage me--for her
sake. Oh, what wouldn't I do for her sake? Come, then, God bless you,
darlin', for puttin' that into my head. You may make me do anything now,
Dora, jewel--if you just ax it for her sake. Oh, my God! an is it
come to this? An' am I talkin' this way?--but--well, for her sake,
darlin'--for her sake. Come, I'll go in--but--but--oh, Bryan, how can
I?"

"You know father," replied Bryan, who now held his arm, "we must all
die, and it will be well for us if we can die as she died. Didn't father
Peter say that if ever the light of heaven was in a human heart, it was
in hers?"

"Ay, but when I go in an' look upon her, an' call Bridget, she won't
answer me."

"Father dear, you are takin' it too much to heart."

"Well, it'll be the first time she ever refused to answer me--the first
time that ever her lips will be silent when I spake to her."

"But, father," said the sweet girl at his side, "think of me. Sure I'll
be your Dora more than ever, now. You know what you promised me this
minute. Oh, for her sake, and for God's sake, then, don't take it so
much to heart. It was my grandfather sent me to you, an' he says he
want's to see you, an' to spake to you."

"Oh!" he exclaimed, "My poor father, an' he won't be long afther her.
But this is the way wid all, Bryan--the way o' the world itself. We must
go. I didn't care, now, how soon I followed her. Oh, no, no."

"Don't say so, father; think of the family you have; think of how you
love them, and how they love you, father dear. Don't give way so much to
this sorrow. I know it's hard to bid you not to do it; but you know we
must strive to overcome ourselves. I hope there's happy days and years
before us still. We'll have our leases soon, you know, an' then we'll
feel firm and comfortable: an' you know you'll be--we'll all be near
where she sleeps."

"Where she sleeps. Well, there's comfort in that, Bryan--there's comfort
in that."

The old man, though very feeble, on seeing him approach, rose up and met
him. "Tom," said he, "be a man, and don't shame my white hairs nor your
own. I lost your mother, an' I was as fond of her, an' had as good a
right, too, as ever you were of her that's now an angel in heaven; but
if I lost her, I bore it as a man ought. I never yet bid you do a thing
that you didn't do, but I now bid you stop cryin', an don't fly in the
face o' God as you're doin'. You respect my white hairs, an' God will
help you as he has done!"

The venerable appearance of the old man, the melancholy but tremulous
earnestness with which he spoke, and the placid spirit of submission
which touched his whole bearing with the light of an inward piety
that no age could dim or overshadow, all combined to work a salutary
influence upon M'Mahon. He evidently made a great effort at composure,
nor without success. His grief became calm; he paid attention to other
matters, and by the aid of Bryan, and from an anxiety lest he should
disturb or offend his father by any further excess of sorrow, he was
enabled to preserve a greater degree of composure than might have been
expected.

CHAPTER XII.--Hycy Concerts a Plot and is urged to Marry.

The Hogans, who seldom missed a Wake, Dance, Cockfight or any other
place of amusement or tumult, were not present, we need scarcely assure
our readers, at the wake-house of Mrs. M'Mahon. On that night they and
Teddy Phats were all sitting in their usual domicile, the kiln, already
mentioned, expecting Hycy, when the following brief dialogue took place,
previous to his appearance:

"What keeps this lad, Hycy?" said Bat; "an' a complate lad is in his
coat, when he has it on him. Troth I have my doubts whether this same
gentleman is to be depended on."

"Gentleman, indeed," exclaimed Philip, "nothing short of that will sarve
him, shure. To be depinded on, Bat! Why, thin, its more than I'd like to
say. Howanever, he's as far in, an' farther than we are."

"There's no use in our quarrelin' wid him," said Phats, in his natural
manner. "If he's in our power, we're in his; an' you know he could
soon make the counthry too hot to hold us. Along wid all, too, he's as
revengeful as the dioule himself, if not a thrifle more so."

"If he an' Kathleen gets bothered together," said Philip, "'twould be a
good look up for us, at any rate."

Kate Hogan was the only female present, the truth being that Philip and
Ned were both widowers, owing, it was generally believed, to the brutal
treatment which their unfortunate wives received at their hands.

"Don't quarrel wid him," said she, "if you can, at any rate, till we get
him more in our power, an' that he'll be soon, maybe. If we fall out
wid him, we'd have to lave the place, an' maybe to go farther than we
intend, too. Wherever we went over the province, this you know was our
headquarters. Here's where all belongin' to us--I mane that ever died a
natural death, or drew their last breath in the counthry--rests, an' I'd
not like to go far from it."

"Let what will happen," said Philip, with an oath, "I'd lose my right
arm before Bryan M'Mahon puts a ring on Kathleen."

"I can tell you that Hycy has no notion of marry in' her, thin," said
Kate.

"How do you know that?" asked her husband.

"I've a little bird that tells me," she replied.

"Gerald Cavanagh an' his wife doesn't think so," said Philip. "They and
Jemmy Burke has the match nearly made."

"They may make the match," said Kate, "but it's more than they'll be
able to do to make the marriage. Hycy's at greater game, I tell you; but
whether he is or not, I tell you again that Bryan M'Mahon will have her
in spite of all opposition."

"May be not," said Phats; "Hycy will take care o' that; he has him set;
he'll work him a charm; he'll take care that Bryan won't be long in a
fit way to offer himself as a match for her."

"More power to him in that," said Philip; "if he makes a beggarman of
him he may depend on us to the back-bone."

"Have no hand in injurin' Bryan M'Mahon," said Kate. "Keep him from
marryin' Kathleen if you like, or if you can; but, if you're wise, don't
injure the boy."

"Why so?" asked Philip.

"That's nothing to you," she replied; "for a raison I have; and mark me,
I warn you not to do so or it'll be worse for you."

"Why, who are we afraid of, barrin Hycy himself?"

"It's no matther; there's them livin' could make you afeard, an' maybe
will, too, if you injure that boy."

"I'd just knock him on the head," replied the ferocious ruffian, "as
soon as I would a mad dog."

"Whisht," said Phats, "here's Hycy; don't you hear his foot?"

Hycy entered in a few moments afterwards, and, after the usual
greetings, sat down by the fire.

"De night's could," said Phats, resuming his brogue; "but here," he
added, pulling out a bottle of whiskey, "is something to warm de blood
in us. Will you thry it, Meeisther Hycy?"

"By-and-by--not now; but help yourselves."

"When did you see Miss Kathleen, Masther Hycy," asked Kate.

"You mean Miss Kathleen the Proud?" he replied--"my Lady Dignity--I have
a crow to pluck with her."

"What crow have you to pluck wid her?" asked Kate, fiercely. "You'll
pluck no crow wid her, or, if you do, I'll find a bag to hould the
fedhers--mind that."

"No, no," said Philip; "whatever's to be done, she must come to no
harm."

"Why, the crow I have to pluck with her, Mrs. Hogan, is--let me
see--why--to--to marry her--to bind her in the bands of holy wedlock;
and you know, when I do, I'm to give you all a house and place free
gratis for nothing during your lives--that's what I pledge myself to do,
and not a rope to hang yourselves, worthy gentlemen, as Finigan would
say. I pass over the fact," he proceeded, laughing, "of the peculiar
intimacy which, on a certain occasion, was established between Jemmy,
the gentleman's old oak drawers, and your wrenching-irons; however, that
is not the matter at present, and I am somewhat in a hurry."

"You heard," said Bat, "that Bryan M'Mahon has lost his mother?"

"I did," said the other; "poor orphan lad, I pity him."

"We know you do," said Bat, with a vindictive but approving sneer.

"I assure you," continued Hycy, "I wish the young man well."

"Durin' der lives," repeated Phats, who had evidently been pondering
over Hycy's promised gift to the Hogans;--"throth," he observed with
a grin, "dere may be something under dat too. Ay! an' she wishes Bryan
M'Mahon well," he exclaimed, raising his red eyebrows.

"Shiss," replied Hycy, mimicking him, "her does."

"But you must have de still-house nowhere but in Ahadarra for alls dat."

"For alls dats" replied the other. "Dat will do den," said Phats,
composedly. "Enough of this," said Hycy. "Now, Phats, have you examined
and pitched upon the place?"

"Well, then," replied Phats, speaking in his natural manner, "I have;
an' a betther spot isn't in Europe than there is undher the hip of
Cullamore. But do you know how Roger Cooke sarved Adam Blakely of
Glencuil?"

"Perfectly well," replied Hycy, "he ruined him."

"But we don't know it," said Ned; "how was it, Teddy?"

"Why, he set up a still on his property--an' you know Adam owns the
whole townland, jist as Bryan M'Mahon does Ahadarra--an' afther three
or four runnin she gets a bloody scoundrel to inform upon Adam, as if it
was him an' not himself that had the still. Clinton the gauger--may the
devil break his neck at any rate!--an' the redcoats--came and found all
right, Still, Head, and Worm."

"Well," said Bat, "an' how did that ruin him?"

"Why, by the present law," returned Phats, "it's the townland that must
pay the fine. Poor Adam wasn't to say very rich; he had to pay the fine,
however, and now he's a beggar--root an' branch, chick an' child out of
it. Do you undherstand that, Misther Hycy?"

"No," replied Hycy, "you're mistaken; I have recourse to the still,
because I want cash. Honest Jemmy the gentleman has taken the _sthad_
an' won't fork out any longer, so that I must either run a cast or two
every now an' then, or turn clodhopper like himself. So much I say for
your information, Mr. Phats. In the meantime let us see what's to be
done. Here, Ned, is a five-pound note to buy barley; keep a strict
account of this; for I do assure you that I am not a person to be played
on. There's another thirty-shilling note--or stay, I'll make it two
pounds--to enable you to box up the still-house and remove the vessels
and things from Glendearg. Have you all ready, Philip?" he said,
addressing himself to Hogan.

"All," replied Philip; "sich a Still, Head, and Worm, you'd not find in
Europe--ready to be set to work at a minute's notice."

"When," said Hycy, rising, "will it be necessary that I should see you
again?"

"We'll let you know," replied Phats, "when we want you. Kate here can
drop in, as if by accident, an' give the hand word."

"Well, then, good-night--stay, give me a glass of whiskey before I go;
and, before I do go, listen. You know the confidence I place in every
one of you on this occasion?"

"We do," replied Philip; "no doubt of it."

"Listen, I say. I swear by all that a man can swear by, that if a soul
of you ever breathes--I hope, by the way, that these young savages are
all asleep--"

"As sound as a top," said Bat, "everyone o' them."

"Well, if a single one of you ever breathes my name or mentions me to
a human being as in any way connected, directly or indirectly, with the
business in which we are engaged, I'll make the country too hot to hold
you--and you need no ghost to tell you how easily I could dispose of you
if it went to that."

Kate, when he had repeated these words, gave him a peculiar glance,
which was accompanied by a short abrupt laugh that seemed to have
something derisive in it.

"Is there anything to be laughed at in what I am saying, most amiable
Mrs. Hogan?" he asked.

Kate gave either a feigned or a real start as he spoke.

"Laughed at!" she exclaimed, as if surprised; "throth I wasn't thinkin
of you at all, Mr. Hycy. What wor you sayin'?"

"That if my name ever happens to be mentioned in connection with
this business, I'll send the whole kit of you--hammers, budgets,
and sothering-irons--to hell or Connaught; so think of this now, and
goodnight."

"There goes as d----d vagabond," said Ned, "as ever stretched hemp; and
only that it's our own business to make the most use we can out of him,
I didn't care the devil had him, for I don't like a bone in his skin."

"Why," said Philip, "I see what he's at now. Sure enough he'll put the
copin'-stone on Bryan. M'Mahon at any rate--that, an' if we can get the
house and place out of him--an' what need we care?"

"Send us to hell or Connaught," said Kate; "well, that's not bad--ha!
ha! ha!"

"What are you neigherin' at?" said her husband; "and what set you
a-caoklin' to his face a while ago?"

She shook her head carelessly. "No matther," she replied, "for a raison
I had."

"Would you let me know your raison, if you plaise?"

"If I plaise--ay, you did well to put that in, for I don't plaise to let
you know any more about it. I laughed bekaise I liked to laugh; an' I
hope one may do that 'ithout being brought over the coals about it. Go
to bed, an' give me another glass o' whiskey, Ted--it always makes me
sleep."

Ted had been for some minutes evidently ruminating.

"He is a good boy," said he; "but at any rate our hands is in the lion's
mouth, an' its not our policy to vex him."

Hycy, on his way home, felt himself in better spirits than he had.
been in for some time. The arrangement with young Clinton gave him
considerable satisfaction, and he now resolved to lose as little time as
possible in executing his own part of the contract. Clinton himself,
who was a thoughtless young fellow, fond of pleasure, and with no great
relish for business, was guided almost in everything by his knowing old
uncle the gauger, on whom he and his sister depended, and who looked
upon him as unfit for any kind of employment unless the management of a
cheap farm, such as would necessarily draw his attention from habits of
idleness and expense to those of application and industry. Being aware,
from common report, that M'Mahon's extensive and improvable holding in
Ahadarra was out of lease, he immediately set his heart upon it, but
knew not exactly in what manner to accomplish his designs, in securing
it if he could, without exposing himself to suspicion and a good deal of
obloquy besides. Old Clinton was one of those sheer and hardened sinners
who, without either scruple or remorse, yet think it worth while to keep
as good terms with the world as they can, whilst at the same time
they laugh and despise in their hearts all that is worthy of honor and
respect in it. His nephew, however, had some positive good, and not a
little of that light and reckless profligacy which is often mistaken for
heart and spirit. Hycy and he, though not very long acquainted, were, at
the present period of our narrative, on very intimate terms. They had,
it is true, a good many propensities in common, and these were what
constituted the bond between them. They were companions but not friends;
and Clinton saw many things in Hycy which disgusted him exceedingly, and
scarcely anything more than the contemptuous manner in which he spoke of
and treated his parents. He liked his society, because he was lively
and without any of that high and honorable moral feeling which is often
troublesome to a companion who, like Clinton, was not possessed of much
scruple while engaged in the pursuit of pleasures. On this account,
therefore, we say that he relished his society, but could neither
respect nor esteem him.

On the following morning at breakfast, his uncle asked him where he had
dined the day before.

"With Hycy Burke, sir," replied the nephew.

"Yes; that is honest Jemmy's son--a very great man in his own conceit,
Harry. You seem to like him very much."

Harry felt a good deal puzzled as to the nature of his reply. He knew
very well that his uncle did not relish Hycy, and he felt that he could
not exactly state his opinion of him without bringing in question
his own penetration and good taste in keeping his society. Then, with
respect to his sister, although he had no earthly intention of seeing
her the wife of such a person, still he resolved to be able to say to
Hycy that he had not broken his word, a consideration which would not
have bound Hycy one moment under the same circumstances.

"He's a very pleasant young fellow, sir," replied the other, "and has
been exceedingly civil and attentive to me."

"Ay!--do you like him--do you esteem him, I mean?"

"I dare say I will, sir, when I come to know him better."

"Which is as much as to say that at present you do not. So I thought.
You have a portion of good sense about you, but in a thousand things
you're a jackass, Harry."

"Thank you, sir," replied his nephew, laughing heartily; "thank you for
the compliment. I am your nephew, you know."

"You have a parcel of d----d scruples, I say, that are ridiculous. What
the devil need a man care about in this world but appearances? Mind your
own interests, keep up appearances, and you have done your duty."

"But I should like to do a little more than keep up appearances,"
replied his nephew.

"I know you would," said his uncle, "and it is for that especial reason
that I say you're carrying the ears. I'm now a long time in the world,
Masther Harry--sixty-two years--although I don't look it, nor anything
like it, and in the course of that time--or, at all events, ever
since I was able to form my own opinions, I never met a man that
wasn't a rogue in something, with the exception of--let me
see--one--two--three--four--five--I'm not able to make out the
half-dozen."

"And who were the five honorable exceptions?" asked his niece, smiling.

"They were the five fools of the parish, Maria--and yet I am wrong,
still--for Bob M'Cann was as thievish as the very devil whenever he had
an opportunity. And now, do you know the conclusion I come to from all
this?"

"I suppose," said his niece, "that no man's honest but a fool."

"Thank you, Maria, Well done--you've hit it. By the way, it's seems
M'Mahon's wife, of Carriglass, is dead."

"Is she?" said Harry; "that is a respectable family, father, by all
accounts."

"Why, they neither rob nor steal, I believe," replied his uncle. "They
are like most people, I suppose, honest in the eye of the law--honest
because the laws keep them so."

"I did not think your opinion of the world was so bad, uncle," said
Maria; "I hope it is not so bad as you say it is."

"All I can say, then," replied the old Cynic, "that if you wait till you
find an honest man for your husband, you'll die an old maid."

"Well, but excuse me, uncle, is that safe doctrine to lay down before
your nephew, or myself?"

"Pooh, as to you, you silly girl, what have you to do with it? We're
taikin' about men, now--about the world, I say, and life in general."

"And don't you wish Harry to be honest?"

"Yes, where it is his interest; and ditto to roguery, where it can be
done safely."

"I know you don't feel what you say, uncle," she observed, "nor believe
it either."

"Not he, Maria," said her brother, awakening out of a reverie; "but,
uncle, as to Hycy Burke--I don't--hem."

"You don't what?" asked the other, rising and staring at him.

His nephew looked at his sister, and was silent.

"You don't mean what, man?--always speak out. Here, help me on with
this coat. Fethertonge and I are taking a ride up tomorrow as far as
Ahadarra."

"That's a man I don't like," said the nephew. "He's too soft and too
sweet, and speaks too low to be honest."

"Honest, you blockhead! Who says he's honest?" replied his uncle. "He's
as good a thing, however, an excellent man of the world that looks to
the main point, and--keeps up appearances. Take care of yourselves;"
and with these words, accompanied with a shrewd, knavish nod that was
peculiar to him, in giving which with expression he was a perfect adept,
he left them.

When he was gone, the brother and his sister looked at each, other, and
the latter said, "Can it be possible, Harry, that my uncle is serious in
all he says on this subject?"

Her brother, who paid more regard to the principles of his sister
than her uncle did, felt great reluctance in answering her in the
affirmative, so much so, indeed, that he resolved to stretch a little
for the sake of common decency.

"Not at all, Maria; no man relishes honesty more than he does. He only
speaks in this fashion because he thinks that honest men are scarce, and
so they are. But, by-the-way, talking about Hycy Burke, Maria, how do
you like him?"

"I can't say I admire him," she replied, "but you know I have had very
slight opportunities of forming any opinion."

"From what you have seen of him, what do you think?"

"Let me see," she replied, pausing; "why, that he'll meet very few who
will think so highly of him as he does of himself."

"He thinks very highly of you, then."

"How do you know that?" she asked somewhat quickly.

"Faith, Maria, from the best authority--because he himself told me so."

"So, then, I have had the honor of furnishing you with a topic of
conversation?"

"Unquestionably, and you may prepare yourself for a surprise. He's
attached to you."

"I think not," she replied calmly.

"Why so?" he asked.

"Because, if you wish to know the truth, I do not think him capable of
attachment to any one but himself."

"Faith, a very good reason, Maria; but, seriously, if he should
introduce the subject, I trust, at all events, that you will treat him
with respect."

"I shall certainly respect myself, Harry. He need not fear that I shall
read him one of my uncle's lectures upon life and honesty."

"I have promised not to be his enemy in the matter, and I shall keep my
word."

"So you may, Harry, with perfect safety. I am much obliged to him for
his good opinion; but"--she paused.

"What do you stop at, Maria?"

"I was only about to add," she replied, "that I wish it was mutual."

"You wish it," he exclaimed. "What do you mean by that, Maria?"

She laughed. "Don't you know it is only a form of speech? a polite way
of saying that he does not rank high in my esteem?"

"Well, well," he replied, "settle that matter between you; perhaps the
devil is not so black as he's painted."

"A very unhappy illustration," said his sister, "whatever has put it
into your head.'

"Faith, and I don't know what put it there. However, all I can say in
the matter I have already said. I am not, nor shall I be, his enemy.
I'll trouble you, as you're near it, to touch the bell till George gets
the horse. I am going up to his father's, now. Shall I tell him that
John Wallace is discarded; that he will be received with smiles, and
that--"

"How can you be so foolish, Harry?"

"Well, good-bye, at any rate. You are perfectly capable of deciding for
yourself, Maria."

"I trust so," she replied. "There's George with your horse now."

"It's a blue look-up, Master Hycy," said Clinton to himself as he took
his way to Burke's. "I think you have but little chance in that quarter,
oh, most accomplished Hycy, and indeed I am not a whit sorry; but should
be very much so were it otherwise."

It is singular enough that whilst Clinton was introducing the subject
of Hycy's attachment to his sister, that worthy young gentleman was
sustaining a much more serious and vehement onset upon a similar subject
at home. Gerald Cavanagh and his wife having once got the notion of a
marriage between Kathleen and Hycy into their heads, were determined not
to rest until that desirable consummation should be brought about. In
accordance with this resolution, we must assure our readers that Gerald
never omitted any opportunity of introducing the matter to Jemmy Burke,
who, as he liked the Cavanaghs, and especially Kathleen herself, who,
indeed, was a general favorite, began to think that, although in point
of circumstances she was by no means a match for him, Hycy might do
still worse. It is true, his wife was outrageous at the bare mention of
it; but Jemmy, along with a good deal of blunt sarcasm, had a resolution
of his own, and not unfrequently took a kind of good-natured and
shrewd delight in opposing her wishes whenever he found them to be
unreasonable. For several months past he could not put his foot out of
the door that he was not haunted by honest Gerald Cavanagh, who had only
one idea constantly before him, that of raising his daughter to the rank
and state in which he knew, or at least calculated that Hycy Burke would
keep her. Go where he might, honest Jemmy was attended by honest Gerald,
like his fetch. At mass, at market, in every fair throughout the country
was Cavanagh sure to bring up the subject of the marriage; and what
was the best of it, he and his neighbor drank each other's healths so
repeatedly on the head of it, that they often separated in a state that
might be termed anything but sober. Nay, what is more, it was a fact
that they had more than once or twice absolutely arranged the whole
matter, and even appointed the day for the wedding, without either of
them being able to recollect the circumstances on the following morning.

Whilst at breakfast on the morning in question, Burke, after finishing
his first cup of tea, addressed his worthy son as follows:--

"Hycy, do you intend to live always this way?"

"Certainly not, Mr. Burke. I expect to dine on something more
substantial than tea."

"You're very stupid, Hycy, not to understand me; but, indeed, you never
were overstocked wid brains, unfortunately, as I know to my cost--but
what I mane is, have you any intention of changing your condition in
life? Do you intend to marry, or to go on spendin' money upon me at this
rate!"

"The old lecture, Mrs. Burke," said Hycy, addressing his mother.
"Father, you are sadly deficient in originality. Of late you are
perpetually repeating yourself. Why, I suppose to-morrow or next day,
you will become geometrical on our hands, or treat us to a grammatical
praxis. Don't you think it very likely, Mrs. Burke!"

"And if he does," replied his mother, "it's not the first time he has
been guilty of both; but of late, all the little shame he had, he has
lost it."

"Faith, and if I hadn't got a large stock, I'd a been run out of it this
many a day, in regard of what I had to lose in that way for you, Hycy.
However I'll thank you to listen to me. Have you any intention of
marryin' a wife?"

"Unquestionably, Mr. Burke. Not a doubt of it."

"Well, I am glad to hear it. The sooner you're married, the sooner
you'll settle down. You'll know, then, my lad, what life is."

Honest Jemmy's sarcasm was likely to carry him too far from his purpose,
which was certainly not to give a malicious account of matrimony, but,
on the contrary, to recommend it to his worthy son.

"Well, Mr. Burke," said Hycy, winking at his mother, "proceed."

"The truth is, Hycy," he added, "I have a wife in my eye for you."

"I thought as much," replied the other. "I did imagine it was there you
had her; name--Mr. Burke--name?"

"Troth, I'm ashamed, Hycy, to name her and yourself on the same day."

"Well, can't you name her to-day, and postpone me until to-morrow?"

"It would be almost a pity to have her thrown away upon you. A good and
virtuous wife, however, may do a great deal to reclaim a bad husband,
and, indeed, you wouldn't be the first profligate that was reformed in
the same way."

"Many thanks, Mr. Burke; you are quite geological this morning; isn't
he, ma'am?"

"When was he ever anything else? God pardon him! However, I know what
he's exterminatin' for; he wants you to marry Kathleen Cavanagh."

"Ay do I, Rosha; and she might make him a respectable man yet,--that is,
if any woman could."

"Geological again, mother; well, really now, Katsey Cavanagh is a
splendid girl, a fine animal, no doubt of it; all her points are good,
but, at the same time, Mr. Burke, a trifle too plebeian for Hycy the
accomplished."

"I tell you she's a devilish sight too good for you; and if you don't
marry her, you'll never get such a wife."

"Troth," answered Mrs. Burke, "I think myself there's something over
you, or you wouldn't spake as you do--a wife for Hycy--one of Gerald
Cavanagh's daughters make a wife for him!--not while I'm alive at any
rate, plaise God."

"While you're alive; well, may be not:--but sure if it plases God to
bring it about, on your own plan, I must endaivor to be contented,
Rosha; ay, an' how do you know but I'd dance at their weddin' too!
ha! ha! ha!"

"Oh, then, it's you that's the bitther pill, Jemmy Burke! but, thank
God, I disregard you at all events. It's little respect you pay to my
feelings, or ever did."

"I trust, my most amiable mother, that you won't suffer the equability
of your temper to be disturbed by anything proceeding from such an
antiphlogistic source. Allow me to say, Mr. Burke, that I have higher
game in view, and that for the present I must beg respectfully to
decline the proposal which you so kindly made, fully sensible as I am
of the honor you intended for me. If you will only exercise a little
patience, however, perhaps I shall have the pleasure ere long of
presenting to you a lady of high accomplishments, amiable manners, and
very considerable beauty."

"Not a 'Crazy Jane' bargain, I hope?"

"Really, Mr. Burke, you are pleased to be sarcastic; but as for honest
Katsey, have the goodness to take her out of your eye as soon as
possible, for she only blinds you to your own interest and to mine."

"You wouldn't marry Kathleen, then?"

"For the present I say most assuredly not," replied the son, in the same
ironical and polite tone.

"Because," continued his father, with a very grave smile, in which there
was, to say truth, a good deal of the grin visible, "as poor Gerald was
a good deal anxious about the matther, I said I'd try and make you marry
her--_to oblige him_."

Hycy almost, if not altogether, lost his equanimity by the contemptuous
sarcasm implied in these words. "Father," said he, to save trouble, and
to prevent you and me both from thrashing the wind in this manner, I
think it right to tell you that I have no notion of marrying such a girl
as Cavanagh's daughter."

"No," continued his mother, "nor if you had, I wouldn't suffer it."

"Very well," said the father; "is that your mind?"

"That's my mind, sir."

"Well, now, listen to mine, and maybe, Hycy, I'll taiche you better
manners and more respect for your father; suppose I bring your brother
home from school,--suppose I breed him up an honest farmer,--and suppose
I give him all my property, and lave Mr. Gentleman Hycy to lead a
gentleman's life on his own means, the best way he can. There now is
something for you to suppose, and so I must go to my men."

He took up his hat as he spoke and went out to the fields, leaving both
mother and son in no slight degree startled by an intimation so utterly
unexpected, but which they knew enough of him to believe was one not at
all unlikely to be acted on by a man who so frequently followed up his
own determinations with a spirit amounting almost to obstinacy.

"I think, mother," observed the latter, "we must take in sail a little;
'the gentleman' won't bear the ironical to such an extent, although he
is master of it in his own way; in other words, Mr. Burke won't bear to
be laughed at."

"Not he," said his mother, in the tone of one who was half angry at him
on that very account, "he'll bear nothing."

"D--n it, to tell that vulgar bumpkin, Cavanagh, I suppose in a state
of maudlin drunkenness, that he would make me marry his daughter--to
oblige, him!--contempt could go no further; it was making a complete
cipher of me."

"Ay, but I'm disturbed about what he said going out, Hycy. I don't
half like the face he had on him when he said it; and when he comes to
discover other things, too, money matthers--there will be no keepin the
house wid him."

"I fear as much," said Hycy; "however, we must only play our cards as
well as we can; he is an impracticable man, no doubt of it, and it is a
sad thing that a young fellow of spirit should be depending on such a--

"'Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon,
How can you bloom so fresh and fair,
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae weary fu' o' care, &c., &c.

"Well, well--I do not relish that last hint certainly, and if other
projects should fail, why, as touching the fair Katsey, it might not
be impossible that--however, time will develop. She is a fine girl, a
magnificent creature, no doubt of it, still, most maternal relative, as
I said, time will develop--by the way, Mrs. M'Mahon, the clodhopper's
mother, is to be interred to-morrow, and I suppose you and 'the
gentleman' will attend the funeral."

"Sartinly, we must."

"So shall 'the accomplished.' Clinton and I shall honor that lugubrious
ceremony with our presence; but as respecting the clodhopper himself,
meaning thereby Bryan of Ahadarra, he is provided for. What an unlucky
thought to enter into the old fellow's noddle! However, _non constat_,
as Finigan would say, time will develop."

"You're not gainin' ground with him at all events," said his mother;
"ever since that Crazy Jane affair he's changed for the worse towards
both of us, or ever since the robbery I ought to say, for he's dark and
has something on his mind ever since."

"I'm in the dark there myself, most amiable of mothers; however, as I
said just now, I say time will develop."

He then began to prepare himself for the business of the day, which
consisted principally in riding about seeking out new adventures, or, as
they term it, hunting in couples, with Harry Clinton.

CHAPTER XIII.--Mrs. M'Mahon's Funeral.

On the morning of Mrs. M'Mahon's funeral, the house as is usual in such
cases, was filled with relatives and neighbors, each and all anxious
to soothe and give comfort to the afflicted family. Protestants and
Presbyterians were there, who entered as deeply and affectionately into
the sorrow which was felt as if they were connected to them by blood.
Moving about with something like authority, was Dennis O'Grady,
the Roman Catholic Parish Clerk, who, with a semi-clerical bearing,
undertook to direct the religious devotions which are usual on such
occasions. In consequence of the dearth of schools and teachers that
then existed in our unfortunate country, it frequently happened, that
persons were, from necessity, engaged in aiding the performance of
religious duties, who were possessed of very little education, if not,
as was too often the case, absolutely and wholly illiterate. Dennis was
not absolutely illiterate, but, in good truth, he was by no means far
removed from that uncomfortable category. Finigan, the schoolmaster,
was also present; and as he claimed acquaintance with the classics,
and could understand and read with something like correctness the Latin
offices, which were frequently repeated on these occasions it would be
utterly impossible to describe the lofty scorn and haughty supercilious
contempt with which he contemplated poor Dennis, who kept muttering away
at the _Confiteor_ and _De Profundis_ with a barbarity of pronunciation
that rendered it impossible for human ears to understand a single word
he said. Finigan, swollen with an indignation which he could no longer
suppress, and stimulated by a glass or two of whiskey, took three or
four of the neighbors over to a corner, where, whilst his eyes rested on
Dennis with a most withering expression of scorn, he exclaimed--"Here,
hand me that manual, and get out o' my way, you illiterate nonentity and
most unsufferable appendage to religion."

He then took the book, and going over to the coffin, read in a loud
and sonorous voice the _De Profundis_ and other prayers for the dead,
casting his eyes from time to time upon the unfortunate clerk with a
contemptuous bitterness and scorn that, for force of expression, could
not be surpassed. When he had concluded, he looked around him with a
sense of lofty triumph that was irresistible in its way. "There," said
he, "is something like accent and quantity for you--there is something
that may, without derogation to religion, be called respectable
perusal--an' yet to say that a man like me, wid classical
accomplishments and propensities from my very cradle, should be set
aside for that illiterate vulgarian, merely because, like every other
janius, I sometimes indulge in the delectable enjoyment of a copious
libation, is too bad."

This in fact was the gist of his resentment against O'Grady. He had been
in the habit for some time of acting as clerk to the priest, who bore
with his "copious libations," as he called them, until common decency
rendered it impossible to allow him any longer the privilege of taking a
part as clerk in the ceremonies of religion.

When this was over, a rustic choir, whom the parish clerk had organized,
and in a great measure taught himself, approached the body and sang a
hymn over it, after which the preparations for its removal began to be
made.

Ever since the death of his wife, Thomas M'Mahon could not be prevailed
upon to taste a morsel of food. He went about from place to place,
marked by such evidences of utter prostration and despair that it was
painful to look upon him, especially when one considered the truth,
purity, and fervor of the affection that had subsisted between him and
the inestimable woman he had lost. The only two individuals capable of
exercising any influence upon him now were Bryan and his daughter Dora;
yet even they could not prevail upon him to take any sustenance. His
face was haggard and pale as death, his eyes red and bloodshot, and his
very body, which had always been erect and manly, was now stooped and
bent from the very intensity of his affliction.

He had been about the garden during the scene just described, and from
the garden he passed round through all the office-houses, into every one
of which he entered, looking at them in the stupid bereavement of grief,
as if he had only noticed them for the first time. On going into the
cow-house where the animals were at their food, he approached one of
them--that which had been his wife's favorite, and which would suffer
no hand to milk her but her own--"Oh, Bracky," he said, "little you know
who's gone from you--even you miss her already, for you refused for the
last three days to let any one of them milk you, when she was not here
to do it. Ah, Bracky, the kind hand and the kind word that you liked so
well will never be wid you more--that low sweet song that you loved to
listen to, and that made you turn round while she was milkin' you, an'
lick her wid your tongue from pure affection--for what was there that
had life that didn't love her? That low, sweet song, Bracky, you will
never hear again. Well, Bracky, for her sake I'm come to tell you, this
sorrowful mornin', that while I have life an' the means of keepin' you,
from me an' them she loved you will never part."

While he spoke the poor animal, feeling from the habit of instinct that
the hour of! milking had arrived, turned round and uttered once or twice
that affectionate lowing with which she usually called upon the departed
to come and relieve her of her fragrant burthen. This was more than
the heart-broken man could bear, he walked back, and entering the
wake-house, in a burst of vehement sorrow--"Oh, Bridget, my wife, my
wife--is it any wondher we should feel your loss, when your favorite,
Bracky, is callin' for you; but you won't come to her--that voice that
so often charmed her will never charm the poor affectionate creature
again."

"Father dear," said Bryan, "if ever you were called upon to be a man it
is now."

"But, Byran, as God is to judge me," replied his father, "the cow--her
own cow--is callin' for her in the cow-house widin--its truth--doesn't
everything miss her--even poor Bracky feels as if she was dasarted. Oh,
my God, an' what will we do--what will we do!"

This anecdote told by the sorrowing husband was indeed inexpressingly
affecting. Bryan, who had collected all his firmness with a hope of
being able to sustain his father, was so much overpowered by this
circumstance that, after two or three ineffectual attempts to soothe
him, he was himself fairly overcome, and yielded for the moment to
bitter tears, whilst the whole family broke out into one general
outburst, of sorrow, accompanied in many cases by the spectators, who
were not proof against the influence of so natural and touching an
incident.

Their neighbors and friends, in the meantime, were pouring in fast
from all directions. Jemmy Burke and his wife--the latter ridiculously
over-dressed--drove there upon their jaunting-car, which was considered
a great compliment, followed soon afterwards by Hycy and Harry Clinton
on horse-back. Gerald Cavanagh and his family also came, with the
exception of Kathleen and Hanna, who were, however, every moment
expected. The schoolmaster having finished the _De Profundis_, was,
as is usual, treated to glass of whiskey--a circumstance which just
advanced him to such a degree of fluency and easy assurance as was
necessary properly to develop the peculiarities of his character. Having
witnessed Bryan's failure at consolation, attended as it was by the
clamorous grief of the family, he deemed it his duty, especially as
he had just taken some part in the devotions, to undertake the task in
which Bryan had been so unsuccessful.

"Thomas M'Mahon," said he, "I'm disposed to blush--do you hear me, I
say? I am disposed to blush, I repate, for your want of--he doesn't hear
me:--will you pay attention? I am really disposed to blush"--and as he
uttered the words he stirred M'Mahon by shaking his shoulders two or
three times, in order to gain his attention.

"Are you?" replied the other, replying in an absent manner to his words.
"God help you then, and assist you, for it's few can do it."

"Can do what?"

"Och, I don't know; whatever you wor sayin'."

"Patience, my good friend, Thomas M'Mahon. I would call you Tom
familiarly, but that you are in affliction, and it is well known that
every one in affliction is, or at least ought to be, treated with
respect and much sympathetical consolation. You are now in deep sorrow;
but don't you knows that death is the end of all things? and believe me
there are many objects in this world which a wise and experienced man
would lose wid much greater regret than he would a mere wife. Think, for
instance, how many men there are--dreary and subdued creatures--who
dare not call their souls, if they have any, or anything else they do
possess, their own; think, I repate, of those who would give nine-tenths
of all they are worth simply to be in your present condition! Wretches
who from the moment they passed under the yoke matrimonial, to which all
other yokes are jokes, have often heard of liberty but never enjoyed it
for one single hour--the Lord help them!"

"Amen!" exclaimed M'Mahon, unconsciously.

"Yes," proceeded Finigan, "unfortunate devils whose obstinacy has been
streaked by a black mark, or which ought rather to be termed a black and
blue mark, for that is an abler and more significant illustration, Poor
quadrupeds who have lived their whole miserable lives as married men
under an iron dynasty; and who know that the thunderings of Jupiter
himself, if he were now in vogue, would be mere music compared to the
fury of a conjugal tongue when agitated by any one of the thousand
causes that set it a-going so easily. Now, Thomas, I am far from
insinuating that ever you stood in that most pitiable category, but I
know many who have--heigho!--and I know many who do, and some besides
who will; for what was before may be agin, and it will be nothing but
ascendancy armed with her iron rod on the one hand, against patience,
submission, and tribulation, wid their groans and penances on the other.
Courage then, my worthy friend; do not be overwhelmed wid grief, for
I can assure you that as matters in general go on the surface of this
terraqueous globe, the death of a wife ought to be set down as a proof
that heaven does not altogether overlook us. 'Tis true there are tears
shed upon such occasions, and for very secret reason's too, if the truth
were known. Joy has its tears as well as grief, I believe, and it is
often rather difficult, under a blessing so completely disguised as the
death of a wi--of one's matrimonial partner, to restrain them.
Come then, be a man. There is Mr. Hycy Burke, a tender-hearted young
gentleman, and if you go on this way you will have him weeping' for
sheer sympathy, not pretermitting Mr. Clinton, his companion, who
is equally inclined to be pathetic, if one can judge from apparent
symptoms."

"I'm obliged to you, Masther," replied M'Mahon, who had not heard, or
rather paid attention to, a single syllable he had uttered. "Of course
it's thruth you're savin'---it is--it is, _fureer gair_ it is; and she
that's gone from me is a proof of it. What wondher then that I should
shed tears, and feel as I do?"

The unconscious simplicity of this reply to such a singular argument for
consolation as the schoolmaster had advanced, caused many to smile,
some to laugh outright, and others to sympathize still more deeply
with M'Mahon's sorrow. Finigan's allusion to Hycy and his companion was
justified by the contrast which the appearance of each presented. Hycy,
who enjoyed his lecture on the tribulations of matrimonial life very
much, laughed as he advanced in it, whilst Clinton, who was really
absorbed in a contemplation of the profound and solemn spirit which
marked the character of the grief he witnessed, and who felt impressed
besides by the touching emblems of death and bereavement which
surrounded him, gradually gave way to the impressions that gained on
him, until he almost felt the tears in his eyes.

At this moment Kathleen and her sister Hanna entered the house, and a
general stir took place among those who were present, which was caused
by her strikingly noble figure and extraordinary beauty--a beauty which,
on the occasion in question, assumed a peculiarly dignified and majestic
character from the deep and earnest sympathy with the surrounding sorrow
that was impressed on it.

Hycy and his companion surveyed her for many minutes; and the former
began to think that after all, if Miss Clinton should fail him, Kathleen
would make an admirable and most lovely wife. Her father soon after she
entered came over, and taking her hand said, "Come with me, Kathleen,
till you shake hands wid a great friend of yours--wid Misther Burke.
This is herself, Misther Burke," he added, significantly, on putting her
hand into that of honest Jemmy, "an' I think no father need be ashamed
of her."

"Nor no father-in-law," replied Jemmy, shaking her cordially by the
hand, "and whisper, darlin'," said he, putting his mouth close to her
ear, and speaking so as that he might not be heard by others, "I hope to
see you my daughter-in-law yet, if I could only get that boy beyant to
make himself worthy of you."

On speaking he turned his eyes on Hycy, who raised himself up, and
assuming his best looks intimated his consciousness of being the object
of his father's allusion to him. He then stepped over to where she
stood, and extending his hand with an air of gallantry and good humor
said, "I hope Miss Cavanagh, who has so far honored our worthy father,
won't refuse to honor the son."

Kathleen, who had blushed at his father's words, now blushed more deeply
still; because in this instance, there was added to the blush of modesty
that of offended pride at his unseasonable presumption.

"This, Mr. Hycy," she replied, "is neither a time nor a place for empty
compliments. When the son becomes as worthy as the father, I'll shake
hands with him; but not till that time comes."

On returning to the place she had left, her eyes met those of Bryan, and
for a period that estimable and true-hearted young fellow forgot
both grief and sorrow in the rush of rapturous love which poured
its unalloyed sense of happiness into his heart. Hycy, however, felt
mortified, and bit his lip with vexation. To a young man possessed of
excessive vanity, the repulse was the more humiliating in proportion to
its publicity. Gerald Cavanagh was as deeply offended as Hycy, and his
wife could not help exclaiming aloud, "Kathleen! what do you mane? I
declare I'm ashamed of you!"

Kathleen, however, sat down beside her sister, and the matter was soon
forgotten in the stir and bustle which preceded the setting out of the
funeral.

This was indeed a trying and heart-rending scene. The faithful wife, the
virtuous mother, the kind friend, and the pious Christian, was now about
to be removed for ever from that domestic scene which her fidelity, her
virtue, her charity, and her piety, had filled with peace, and love, and
happiness. As the coffin, which had been resting upon two chairs, was
about to be removed, the grief of her family became loud and vehement.

"Oh, Bridget!" exclaimed her husband, "and is it to come to this at
last! And you are lavin' us for evermore! Don't raise the coffin," he
proceeded, "don't raise it. Oh! let us not part wid her till to-morrow;
let us know that she's undher the same roof wid us until then. An',
merciful Father, when I think where you're goin' to bring her to! Oh!
there lies the heart now widout one motion--dead and cowld--the heart
that loved us all as no other heart ever did! Bridget, my wife, don't
you hear me? But the day was that you'd hear me, an' that your kind an'
lovin' eye would turn on me wid that smile that was never broken. Where
is the wife that was true? Where is the lovin' mother, the charitable
heart to the poor and desolate, and the hand that was ever ready to aid
them that was in distress? Where are they all now? There, dead and cowld
forever, in that coffin. What has become of my wife, I say? What is
death at all, to take all we love from us this way? But sure God forgive
me for saying so, for isn't it the will of God? but oh! it is the
heaviest of all thrials to lose such a woman as she was!"

Old grandfather, as he was called, had latterly become very feeble,
and was barely able to be out of bed on that occasion. When the tumult
reached the room where he sat with some of the aged neighbors, he
inquired what had occasioned it, and being told that the coffin was
about to be removed to the hearse, he rose up.

"That is Tom's voice I hear," said he, "and I must put an end to
this." He accordingly made his appearance rather unexpectedly among them,
and approaching his son, said, putting his hand commandingly upon
his shoulder, and looking in his face with a solemn consciousness of
authority that was irresistible, "I command you, Tom, to stop. It's not
many commands that I'll ever give you--maybe this will be the last--and
it's not many ever I had occasion to give you, but now I command you to
stop and let the funeral go on." He paused for a short time and looked
upon the features of his son with a full sense of what was due to his
authority. His great age, his white hairs, his venerable looks and
bearing, and the reverence which the tremulous but earnest tones of his
voice were calculated to inspire, filled his son with awe, and he was
silent.

"Father," said he, "I will; I'll try and obey you--I will."

"God bless you and comfort you, my dear son," said the old man. "Keep
silence, now," he proceeded, addressing the others, "and bring the
coffin to the hearse at wanst. And may God strengthen and support you
all, for it's I that knows your loss; but like a good mother as she was,
she has left none but good and dutiful childre' behind her."

Poor Dora, during the whole morning, had imposed a task upon herself
that was greater than her affectionate and sorrowing heart could bear.
She was very pale and exhausted by the force of what she had felt, and
her excessive weeping; but it was observed that she now appeared to
manifest a greater degree of fortitude than any of the rest. Still,
during this assumed calmness, the dear girl, every now and then, could
not help uttering a short convulsive sob, that indicated at once her
physical debility and extraordinary grief. She was evidently incapable
of entering into conversation, or at least, averse to it, and was
consequently very silent during the whole morning. As they stooped,
however, to remove the coffin, she threw herself upon it, exclaiming,
"Mother, its your own Dora--mother--mother--don't, mother--don't lave me
don't--I won't let her go--I won't let her go! I--I--" Even before she
could utter the words she intended to say, her head sank down, and her
pale but beautiful cheek lay exactly beside the name, Bridget M'Mahon,
that was upon it.

"The poor child has fainted," they exclaimed, "bring her to the fresh
air."

Ere any one had time, however, to raise her, James Cavanagh rushed over
to the coffin, and seizing her in his arms, bore her to the street,
where he placed her upon one of the chairs that had been left there
to support the coffin until keened over by the relatives and friends,
previous to its being-placed in the hearse; for such is the custom.
There is something exceedingly alarming in a swoon to a person who
witnesses it for the first time; which was the case with James Cavanagh.
Having placed her on the chair, he looked wildly upon her; then as
wildly upon those who were crowding round him. "What ails her?" he
exclaimed--"what ails her?--she is dead!--she is dead! Dora--Dora
dear--Dora dear, can't you spake or hear me?"

Whilst he pronounced the words, a shower of tears gushed rapidly from
his eyes and fell upon her beautiful features, and in the impressive
tenderness of the moment, he caught her to his heart, and with
rapturous distraction and despair kissed her lips and exclaimed, "She is
dead!--she is dead!--an' all that's in the world is nothing to the love
I had for her!"

"Stand aside, James," said his sister Kathleen; "leave this instantly.
Forgive him, Bryan," she said, looking at her lover with a burning brow,
"he doesn't know what he is doing."

"No, Kathleen," replied, her brother, with a choking voice, "neither for
you nor for him, nor for a human crature, will I leave her."

"James, I'm ashamed of you," said Hanna, rapidly and energetically
disengaging his arms from about the insensible girl; "have! you no
respect for Dora? If you love her as you say, you could hardly act as
you did."

"Why," said he, staring at her, "what did I do?"

Bryan took him firmly by the arm, and said, "Come away, you foolish boy;
I don't think you know what you did. Leave her to the girls. There, she
is recoverin'."

She did soon recover; but weak and broken down as she was, no persuasion
nor even authority could prevail upon her to remain at home. Jemmy
Burke, who had intended to offer Kathleen a seat upon his car, which, of
course, she would not have accepted, was now outmanoeuvred by his
wife, 'who got Dora beside herself, after having placed a sister of Tom
M'Mahon's beside him.

At length, the coffin was brought out, and the keene raised over it, on
the conclusion of which it was placed in the hearse, and the procession
began to move on.

There is nothing in the rural districts of this country that so clearly
indicates the respect entertained for any family as the number of
persons which, when a death takes place in it, attend the funeral. In
such a case, the length of the procession is the test of esteem in which
the party has been held. Mrs. M'Mahon's funeral was little less than a
mile long. All the respectable farmers and bodaghs, as they call them,
or half-sirs in the parish, were in attendance, as a mark of, respect
for the virtues of the deceased, and of esteem for the integrity
and upright spirit of the family that had been deprived of her so
unexpectedly.

Hycy and his friend, Harry Clinton, of course rode together, Finigan,
the schoolmaster, keeping as near them as he could; but not so near as
to render his presence irksome to them, when he saw that they had no
wish for it.

"Well, Harry," said his companion, "what do you think of the last
scene?"

"You allude to Cavanagh's handsome young son, and the very pretty girl
that fainted, poor thing!"

"Of course I do," replied Hycy.

"Why," said the other, "I think the whole thing was very simple, and
consequently very natural. The young fellow, who is desperately in
love--there is no doubt of that--thought she had died; and upon my soul,
Hycy, there is a freshness and a purity in the strongest raptures of
such a passion, that neither you nor I can dream of. I think, however,
I can understand, or guess at rather, the fulness of heart and the
tenderness by which he was actuated."

"What do you think of Miss Cavanagh?" asked Hycy, with more of interest
than he had probably ever felt in her before.

"What do I think?" said the other, looking at him with a good deal of
surprise. "What can I think? What could any man, that has either taste
or common-sense think? Faith, Hycy, to be plain with you, I think her
one of the finest girls, if not the very finest, I ever saw. Heavens!
what would not that girl be if she had received the advantages of a
polished and comprehensive education?"

"She is very much of a lady as it is," added Hycy, "and has great
natural dignity and unstudied grace, although I must say that she has
left me under no reason to feel any particular obligations to her."

"And yet there is a delicate and graceful purity in the beauty of little
Dora, which is quite captivating," observed Clinton.

"Very well," replied the other, "I make jou a present of the two fair
rustics; give me the interesting Maria. Ah, Harry, see what education
and manner do. Maria is a delightful girl."

"She is an amiable and a good girl," said her brother; "but, in point of
personal attractions, quite inferior to either of the two we have been
speaking of."

"Finigan," said Hycy--"I beg your pardon, O'Finigan--the great
O'Finigan, Philomath--are you a good judge of beauty?"

"Why, then, Mr. Hycy," replied the pedagogue, "I think, above all
subjects, that a thorough understanding of that same comes most natural
to an Irishman. It is a pleasant topic to discuss at all times."

"Much pleasanter than marriage, I think," said Clinton, smiling.

"Ah, Mr. Clinton," replied the other, with a shrug, "_de mortuis
nil nisi bonum_; but as touching beauty, in what sense do you ask my
opinion?"

"Whether now, for instance, would your learned taste prefer Miss
Cavanagh or Miss Dora M'Mahon? and give your reasons."

"Taste, Mr. Hycy, is never, or at least seldom, guided by reason; the
question, however, is a fair one."

"One at least on a fair subject," observed Clinton.

"Very well said, Mr. Clinton," replied the schoolmaster, with a
grin--"there goes wit for us, no less--and originality besides. See what
it is to have a great janius!--ha! ha! ha!"

"Well, Mr. O'Finigan," pursued Hycy, "but about the ladies? You have not
given us your opinion."

"Why, then, they are both highly gifted wid beauty, and strongly
calculated to excite the amorous sentiments of refined and elevated
affection."

"Well done, Mr. Plantation," said Hycy; "you are improving--proceed."

"Miss Cavanagh, then," continued Finigan, "I'd say was a goddess, and
Miss M'Mahon her attendant nymph."

"Good again, O'Finigan," said Clinton; "you are evidently at home in the
mythology."

"Among the goddesses, at any rate," replied the master, with another
grin.

"Provided there is no matrimony in the question," said Clinton.

"Ah, Mr. Clinton, don't, if you please. That's a subject you may respect
yet as much as I do; but regarding my opinion of the two beauties in
question, why was it solicited, Mr. Hycy?" he added, turning to that
worthy gentlemen.

"Faith, I'm not able to say, most learned Philomath; only, is it true
that Bryan, the clodhopper, has matrimonial designs upon the fair
daughter of the regal Cavanagh?"

"_Sic vult fama_, Mr. Hycy, upon condition that a certain accomplished
young gentleman, whose surname commences with the second letter of
the alphabet, won't offer--for in that case, it is affirmed, that the
clodhopper should travel. By the way, Mr. Clinton, I met your uncle and
Mr. Fethertonge riding up towards Ahadarra this morning."

"Indeed!" exclaimed both; and as they spoke, each cast a look of inquiry
at the other.

"What could bring them to Ahadarra, gentlemen?" asked Finigan, in a tone
of voice which rendered it a nice point to determine whether it was a
simple love of knowledge that induced him to put the question, or some
other motive that might have lain within a kind of ironical gravity that
accompanied it.

"Why, I suppose a pair of good horses," replied Hycy, "and their own
inclination."

"It was not the last, at all events," said Finigan, "that ever brought
a thief to the gallows--ha! ha! ha! we must be facetious sometimes, Mr.
Hycy."

"You appear to enjoy that joke, Mr. Finigan," said Hycy, rather tartly.

"Faith," replied Finigan, "it's a joke that very few do enjoy, I think."

"What is?"

"Why, the gallows, sir--ha! ha! ha! but don't forget the O if you
plaise--ever and always the big O before Finigan--ha! ha! ha!"

"Come, Clinton," said Hycy, "move on a little. D--n that fellow!" he
cried--"he's a sneering scoundrel; and I'm half inclined to think he has
more in him than one would be apt to give him credit for."

"By the way, what could the visit to Ahadarra mean?" asked Clinton. "Do
you know anything about it, Hycy?"

"Not about this; but it is very likely that I shall cause them, or
one of them at least, to visit it on some other occasion ere long; and
that's all I can say now. Curse that keening, what a barbarous practice
it is!'

"I think not," said the other; "on the contrary, I am of opinion that
there's something strikingly wild and poetical in it something that
argues us Irish to be a people of deep feeling and strong imagination:
two of the highest gifts of intellect."

"All stuff," replied the accomplished Hycy, who, among his other
excellent qualities, could never afford to speak a good word to his
country Or her people. "All stuff and barbarous howling that we
learned from the wolves when we had them in Ireland. Here we are at the
graveyard."

"Hycy," said his friend, "it never occurred to me to thing of asking
what religion you believe in."

"It is said," replied Hycy, "that a fool may propose a question which
a wise man can't answer. As to religion, I have not yet made any
determination among the variety that is abroad. A man, however, can
be at no loss; for as every one of them is the best, it matters little
which of them he chooses. I think it likely I shall go to church with
your sister, should we ever do matrimony together. To a man like me
who's indifferent, respectability alone ought to determine."

Clinton made no reply to this; and in a few minutes afterward they
entered the churchyard, the coffin having been taken out of the hearse
and borne on the shoulders of her four nearest relatives,--Tom M'Mahon,
in deep silence and affliction, preceding it as chief mourner.

There is a prostrating stupor, or rather a kind of agonizing delirium
that comes over the mind when we are forced to mingle with crowds, and
have our ears filled with the voices of lamentation, the sounds of the
death-bell, or the murmur of many people in conversation. 'Twas thus
M'Mahon felt during the whole procession. Sometimes he thought it was
relief, and again he felt as if it was only the mere alternation of
suffering into a sharper and more dreadful sorrow; for, change as it
might, there lay tugging at his heart the terrible consciousness that
she, I the bride of his youthful love and the companion of his
larger and more manly affection--the blameless wife and the stainless
woman--was about to be consigned to the grave, and that his eyes in this
life must; never rest upon her again.

When the coffin was about to be lowered down, all the family, one after
another, clasped their arms about it, and kissed it with a passionate
fervor of grief that it was impossible to witness with firmness. At
length her husband, who had been looking on, approached it, and clasping
it in his arms like the rest, he said--"for ever and for ever, and for
ever, Bridget--but, no, gracious God, no; the day will come, Bridget,
when I will be with you here--I don't care now how soon. My happiness
is gone, asthore machree--life is nothing to me now--all's empty; and
there's neither joy, nor ease of mind, nor comfort for me any more. An'
this is our last parting--this is our last farewell, Bridget dear; but
from this out my hope is to be with you here; and if nothing else on my
bed of death was to console me, it would be, and it will be, that you
and I will then sleep together, never to be parted more. That will be my
consolation."

"Now, father dear," said Bryan, "we didn't attempt to stop or prevent
you, and I hope you'll be something calm and come away for a little."

"Best of sons! but aren't you all good, for how could you be
otherwise with her blood in your veins?--bring me away; come you, Dora
darlin'--ay, that's it--support the: blessed child between you and
Hanna, Kathleen darlin'. Oh, wait, wait till we get out of hearin, or
the noise of the clay fallin' on the coffin will kill me."

They then walked to some distance, where they remained until the "narrow
house" was nearly filled, after which they once more surrounded it until
the last sod was beaten in. This being over, the sorrowing group sought
their way home with breaking hearts, leaving behind them her whom they
had loved so well reposing in the cold and unbroken solitude of the
grave.

CHAPTER XIV.--Mysterious Letter

--Hycy Disclaims Sobriety--Ahadarra's in for it.

One day about a month after Mrs. M'Mahon's funeral, Harry Clinton was
on his way to Jemmy Burke's, when he met Nanny Peety going towards
Ballymacan.

"Well, Nanny," he inquired, "where are you bound for, now?"

"To the post-office with a letter from Masther Hycy, sir. I wanted him
to tell me who it was for, but he would not. Will you, Mr. Clinton?" and
she held out the letter to him as she spoke.

Clinton felt a good deal surprised to see that it was addressed to his
uncle, and also written in a hand which he did not recognize to be that
of Hycy Burke.

"Are you sure, Nanny," he asked, "that this letter was written by Mr.
Hycy?"

"Didn't I see him, sir?" she replied; "he wrote it before my eyes a
minute before he handed it to me. Who is it for, Mr. Clinton?"

"Why are you so very anxious to know, Nanny?" he inquired.

"Sorra thing," she replied, "but curiosity--a woman's curiosity, you
know."

"Well, Nanny, you know, or ought to know, that it would not be right in
me to tell you who the letter is for, when Mr. Hycy did not think proper
to do so."

"True enough, sir," she replied; "an I beg your pardon, Mr. Clinton, for
asking you; indeed it was wrong in me to tell you who it came from even,
bekaise Mr. Hycy told me not to let any one see it, only jist to slip it
into the post-office unknownst, as I passed it; an' that was what made
me wish to know who it was goin' to, since the thruth must be tould."

Clinton in turn now felt his curiosity stimulated as to the contents
of this mysterious epistle, and he resolved to watch, if possible, what
effect the perusal of it might have on his uncle, otherwise he was never
likely to hear a syllable that was contained in it, that worthy relative
being, from official necessity, a most uncommunicative person in all his
proceedings.

"I wonder," observed Clinton, "that Mr. Hycy would send to any one a
letter so slurred and blotted with ink as that is."

"Ay, but he blotted it purposely himself," replied Nanny, "and that too
surprised me, and made me wish to know what he could mane by it."

"Perhaps it's a love-letter, Nanny," said Clinton, laughing.

"I would like to know who it is to, at any rate," said the girl; "but
since you won't, tell me, sir, I must try and not lose my rest about it.
Good-bye, Mr. Clinton."

"Good-bye, Nanny;" and so they started.

Young Clinton, who, though thoughtless and fond of pleasure, was not
without many excellent points of character, began now to perceive,
by every day's successive intimacy, the full extent of Hycy Burke's
profligacy of morals, and utter want of all honorable principle.
Notwithstanding this knowledge, however, he felt it extremely difficult,
nay, almost impossible, to separate himself from Hycy, who was an
extremely pleasant young fellow, and a very agreeable companion when
he pleased. He had in fact gained that personal ascendancy over him, or
that licentious influence which too many of his stamp are notorious for
exercising over better men than themselves; and he found that he could
not readily throw Hyoy off, without being considerably a loser by the
act.

"I shall have nothing to do with his profligacy," said he, "or his want
of principle, and I shall let him know, at all events, that I will not
abide by the agreement or compromise entered into between us some time
since at his father's. He shall not injure an honest man for me, nor
shall I promise him even neutrality with respect to his proposal for my
sister, whom I would rather see dead a hundred times than the wife of
such a fellow."

The next morning, about half an hour before breakfast, he told his uncle
that he was stepping into town and would bring him any letters that
might be for him in the post-office. He accordingly did so, and received
two letters, one Hycy's and the other with the crest and frank of the
sitting member for the county, who was no other than young Chevydale.
His uncle was at breakfast when he handed them to him, and we need
hardly say that the M.P. was honored by instant attention. The
Still-hound read it over very complacently. "Very well," he exclaimed;
"very well, indeed, so far. Harry, we must be on the alert, now the
elections are approaching, and Chevydale will be stoutly opposed, it
seems. We must work for him, and secure as many votes as we can. It
is our interest to do so, Harry,--and he will make it our interest
besides."

"Has principle nothing to do with it, sir?"

"Principle! begad, sir," retorted the uncle, "there's no such thing as
principle--lay that down as a fact--there's no such thing in this world
as principle."

"Well, but consistency, uncle. For instance, you know you always vote on
the Tory side, and Chevydale is a Liberal and an Emancipator."

"Consistency is all d--d stuff, Harry, as principle. What does it mean?
why that if a man's once wrong he's always to be wrong--that is just the
amount of it. There's Chevydale, for instance, he has a brother who is a
rank Tory and a Commissioner of Excise, mark that; Chevydale and he play
into each other's hands, and Chevydale some of these days will sell the
Liberals, that is, if he can get good value for them. If I now vote on
the Tory side against Chevydale, his brother, the Tory Commissioner,
will be my enemy in spite of all his Toryism; but if I vote and exert
myself for Chevydale, the Liberal, I make his Tory of a brother my
friend for life. And now, talk to me about principle, or consistency
either."

His nephew could not but admit, that the instances adduced by his uncle
were admirably calculated to illustrate his argument, and he accordingly
pursued the subject no further.

"Ay!" exclaimed the Still-hound, "what d--d scrawl have we got here? Ay,
ay, why this is better than I expected."

"What is better, uncle?" said the nephew, venturing an experiment.

"Why," replied the sagacious old rascal, "for you to mind your business,
if you have any, and to let me mind mine, without making impertinent
inquiries, Master Harry." With these words he went and. locked up both
letters in his desk. As we, however, possess the power of unlocking his
desk, and reading the letter to boot, we now take the liberty of laying
it in all its graphic beauty and elegance before our readers--

"To MISTHER KLINTON, SIR:

"Af you go this nite bout seven clocks or thereaway, you'd find a
Still-Hed an' Worm At full work, in they tipper End iv The brown Glen in
Ahadarra. Sir, thrum wan iv Die amstrung's Orringemen an' a fren to the
axshize."

The gauger after breakfast again resumed the conversation as follows:--

"Have you changed your mind, Harry, regarding the Excise? because if you
have I think I may soon have an opportunity of getting you a berth."

"No, sir, I feel an insurmountable repugnance to the life of a
Still--hem."

"Go on, man, to the life of a Still-hunter. Very well. Your father's
death last year left you and your sister there dependent upon me, for
the present at least; for what could a medical man only rising into
practice, with a, family to support and educate, leave behind him?"

"Unfortunately, sir, it is too true."

"In the mean time you may leave 'unfortunate' out, and thank God that
you had the shelter of my roof to come to; and be on your knees, too,
that I was a bachelor. Well, I am glad myself that I had and have a home
for you; but still, Harry, you ought to think of doing something for
yourself; for I may not live always, you know, and beside I am not rich.
You don't relish surgery, you say?"

"I can't endure it, uncle."

"But you like farming?"

"Above every other mode of life."

"Very well, I think it's likely I shall have a good farm to put you into
before long."

"Thank you, uncle. You may rest assured that both Maria and myself are
fully sensible of the kindness we have experienced at your hands."

"Small thanks to me for that. Who the devil would I assist, if not my
brother's orphans? It is true, I despise the world, but still we must
make our use of it. I know it consists of only knaves and fools. Now, I
respect the knaves; for if it were'nt for their roguery, the world would
never work; it would stand still and be useless. The fools I despise,
not so much because they are fools, as because they would be knaves if
they could; so that, you see I return again to my favorite principle of
honesty. I am going to Ballymacan on business, so good-bye to you both."

"Uncle," said his nephew, "one word with you before you go."

"What is it?"

"Would you suffer me to offer you a word of advice, and will you excuse
me for taking such a liberty with a man of your experience?"

"Certainly, Harry, and shall always feel thankful to any one that gives
me good advice."

"If this is not good advice, it is at least well intended."

"Let us hear it first, and then we shall judge better."

"You say you will procure me a farm. Now, uncle, there is one thing
I should wish in connection with that transaction, which is, that you
would have no underhand--hem!--no private understanding of any kind with
Mr. Hycy Burke."

"Me a private understanding with Hycy Burke! What in the devil's name
has put such a crotchet as that into your head?"

"I only speak as I do, because I believe you have received a private
communication from him."

"Have I, faith! If so I am obliged to you--but I am simply ignorant of
the fact you mention; for, with my own knowledge', I never received a
line from him in my life."

"Then I must be wrong," replied Harry; "that is all."

"Wrong! Certainly you are wrong. Hycy Burke, I am told, is a compound
of great knave and gross fool, the knavery rather prevailing. But how is
this? Are not you and he inseparable?"

"He is a companion, uncle, but not a friend in the true sense--nor,
indeed, in any sense of that word. I spoke now, however, with reference
to a particular transaction, and not to his general character."

"Well, then, I have no underhand dealings with him, as you are pleased
to call them, nor ever had. I never to my knowledge received a line from
him in my life; but I tell you that if he comes in my way, and that I
can make use of him, I will. Perhaps he may serve us in the Elections.
Have you anything else to ask?"

"No sir," replied Harry, laughing. "Only I hope you will excuse me for
the liberty I took."

"Certainly, with all my heart, and you shall be always welcome to take
the same liberty. Good-bye, again."

Clinton now felt satisfied that Hycy's letter to his uncle was an
anonymous one, and although he could not divine its contents, he
still felt assured that it was in some way connected with the farm
transaction, or at all events detrimental to Bryan M'Mahon. He
consequently resolved to see Hycy, against whom, or rather against
whose principles he was beginning to entertain a strong repugnance, and
without any hesitation to repudiate the engagement he had entered into
with him.

He found Hycy at home, or rather he found him in conversation with Bat
Hogan behind his father's garden.

"What was that ruffian wanting with you, Hycy, if it's a fair question?"

"Perfectly," said Hycy, "from you; but not in sooth from your worthy
uncle."

"How is that?"

"Simply, he wants to know if I'd buy a keg of Poteen which, it seems, he
has to sell. I declined because I have a sufficiently ample stock of it
on hands."

"My uncle," said Clinton, prefers it to any other spirits; indeed, at
home he never drinks any other, and whenever he dines, thanks those who
give it the preference."

"Come in, and let us have a glass of poteen grog, in the mean time,"
said Hycy, "for it's better still in grog than in punch. It's a famous
relish for a slice of ham; but, as the Scotch say, baith's best."

Having discussed the grog and ham, the conversation went on.

"Hycy," proceeded his companion, "with respect to that foolish
arrangement or bargain we made the other night, I won't have anything
to say or do in it. You shall impoverish or ruin no honest man on my
account. I was half drunk or whole drunk, otherwise I wouldn't have
listened to such a proposal."

"What do you mean?" said Hycy, with a look of very natural surprise, and
a pause of some time, "I don't understand you."

"Don't you remember the foolish kind of stipulation we entered into with
reference to M'Mahon's farm, of Ahadarra, on the one hand, and my most
amiable (d--n me but I ought to be horsewhipped for it) sister on the
other?"

"No," replied Hycy, "devil a syllable. My word and honor, Harry."

"Well, if you don't, then, it's all right. You didn't appear to be
tipsy, though."

"I never do, Harry. In that respect I'm the d--dest, hypocritical rascal
in Europe. I'm a perfect phenomenon; for, in proportion as I get drunk
in intellect, I get sober both in my carriage and appearance. However,
in Heaven's name let me know the bargain if there was one?"

"No, no," replied his friend, "it was a disgraceful affair on both
sides, and the less that's said of it the better."

By some good deal of persuasion, however, and an additional glass
of grog, he prevailed on Clinton to repeat the substance of the
stipulation; on hearing which, as if for the first time, he laughed very
heartily.

"This liquor," he proceeded, "is a strange compound, and puts queer
notions into our head. Why if there's an honest decent fellow in Europe,
whom I would feel anxious to serve beyond another, next to yourself,
Harry, it is Bryan M'Mahon. But why I should have spoken so, I can't
understand at all. In the first place, what means have of injuring
the man? And what is stronger still, what inclination have I, or could
have--and what is still better--should have?"

"I do assure you it did not raise you in my opinion."

"Faith, no wonder, Harry, and I am only surprised you didn't speak to me
sooner about it. Still," he proceeded, smiling, 'there is one portion
of it I should not wish to see cancelled--I mean your advocacy with Miss
Clinton."

"To be plain with you, Hycy, I wash my hands out of that affair too; I
won't promise advocacy."

"Well neutrality?"

"The truth is, neither neutrality nor advocacy would avail a rush.
I have reason to think that my sister's objections against you are
insuperable."

"On what do they rest?" asked the other.

"They are founded upon your want of morals," replied Clinton.

"Well, suppose I reform my morals?"

"That is, substitute hypocrisy for profligacy; I fear, Hycy, the
elements of reformation are rather slight within you."

"Seriously, you do me injustice; and, besides, a man ought not to be
judged of his morals before marriage, but after."

"Faith, both before and after, in my opinion, Hycy. No well-educated,
right-minded girl would marry a man of depraved morals, knowing him to
be such."

"But I really am not worse than others, nor so bad as many. Neither
have I the reputation of being an immoral man. A little wild and
over-impulsive from animal spirits I may be, but all that will pass off
with the new state. No, no, d--n it, don't allow Miss Clinton to imbibe
such prejudices. I do not say that I am a saint; but I shall settle down
and bring her to church very regularly, and hear the sermon with most
edifying attention. Another glass of grog?"

"No, no."

"But I hope and trust, my dear Harry, that you have not been making
impressions against me."

"Unquestionably not. I only say you have no chance whatever in that
quarter."

"Will you allow me to try?" asked Hycy.

"I have not the slightest objection," replied the other, "because I
know how it will result."

"Very well,--thank you even for that same, my dear Harry; but, seriously
speaking, I fear that neither you nor I are leading the kind of lives we
ought, and so far I cannot quarrel with your sister's principles. On
the contrary, they enable me to appreciate her if possible still more
highly; for a clear and pure standard of morals in a wife is not only
the best fortune but the best security for happiness besides. You might
stop and dine?"

"No, thank you, it is impossible. By the way, I have already spoiled my
dinner with that splendid ham of yours. Give me a call when in town."

Hycy, after Clinton's departure, began to review his own position. Of
ultimately succeeding with Miss Clinton he entertained little doubt. So
high and confident was his vanity, that he believed himself capable of
performing mighty feats, and achieving great successes, with the fair
sex,--all upon the strength of having destroyed the reputation of two
innocent country girls. Somehow, notwithstanding his avowed attachment
for Miss Clinton, he could not help now and then reverting to the
rich beauty and magnificent form of Kathleen Cavanagh; nor was this
contemplation of his lessened by considering that, with all his
gentlemanly manners, and accomplishments, and wealth to boot, she
preferred the clod-hopper, as he called Bryan M'Mahon, to himself.

He felt considerably mortified at this reflection, and the more
especially, as he had been frequently taunted with it and laughed at
for it by the country girls, whenever he entered into any bantering
conversation. A thought now struck him by which he could, as he
imagined, execute a very signal revenge upon M'Mahon through Kathleen,
and perhaps, ultimately upon Kathleen herself, if he should succeed
with Miss Clinton; for he did not at all forgive Kathleen the two public
instances of contempt with which she had treated him. There was still,
however, another consideration. His father had threatened to bring home
his brother Edward, then destined for the church, and altogether to
change his intentions in that respect. Indeed, from the dry and caustic
manner of the old man towards him of late, he began to entertain
apprehensions upon the subject. Taking therefore all these circumstances
into consideration, he resolved in any event to temporize a little, and
allow the father to suppose that he might be prevailed upon to marry
Kathleen Cavanagh.

In the course of that evening, after dinner, while his father and he
were together and his mother not present, he introduced the subject
himself.

"I think, Mr. Burke, if I remember correctly, you proposed something
like a matrimonial union between the unrivalled Katsey Cavanagh and the
accomplished Hycy."

"I did, God forgive me."

"I have been thinking over that subject since."

"Have you, indeed," said his father; "an' am I to make Ned a priest or a
farmer?" he asked, dryly.

"The church, I think, Mr. Burke, is, or ought to be, his destination."

"So, after all, you prefer to have my money and my property, along wid
a good wife, to your brother Ned--Neddy I ought to call him, out of
compliment to you--ha! ha! ha!"

"Proceed, Mr. Burke, you are pleased to be facetious."

"To your brother Ned--Neddy--having them, and maybe along wid them the
same, wife too?"

"No, not exactly; but out of respect to your wishes.

"What's that?" said the old man, staring at him with a kind of comic
gravity--"out of respect to my wishes!"

"That's what I've said," replied the son. "Proceed."

His father looked at' him again, and replied, "Proceed yourself---it was
you introduced the subject. I'm now jack-indifferent about it."

"All I have to say," continued Hycy, "is that I withdraw my ultimate
refusal, Mr. Burke. I shall entertain the question, as they say; and
it is not improbable but that I may dignify the fair Katsey with the
honorable title of Mrs. Burke."

"I wish you had spoken a little sooner, then," replied his father,
"bekaise it so happens that Gerald Cavanagh an' I have the match between
her and your brother Ned as good as made."

"My brother Ned! Why, in the name of; all that's incredible, how could
that be encompassed?"

"Very aisily," said his father, "by the girl's waitin' for him. Ned is
rather young! yet, I grant you; he's nineteen, however, and two years
more, you know, will make him one-and-twenty--take him out o' chancery,
as they say."

"Very good, Mr. Burke, very good; in that case I have no more to say."

"Well," pursued the father, in the same dry, half-comic, half-sarcastic
voice, "but what do you intend to do with yourself?"

"As to that," replied Hycy, who felt that the drift of the conversation
was setting in against him, "I shall take due time to consider."

"What height are you?" asked the father, rather abruptly.

"I can't see, Mr. Burke, I really can't see what my height has to do
with the question."

"Bekaise," proceeded the other, "I have some notion of putting you into
the army. You spoke of it wanst yourself, remimber; but then there's an
objection even to that."

"Pray, what is the objection, Mr. Burke?"

"Why, it's most likely you'd have to fight--if you took to the milintary
trade."

"Why, upon my word, Mr. Burke, you shine in the sarcastic this evening."

"But, at any rate, you must take your chance for that. You're a fine,
active young fellow, and I suppose if they take to runnin' you won't be
the last of them."

"Good, Mr. Burke--proceed, though."

"An accordingly I have strong notions of buying you a corplar's or
a sargent's commission. A good deal of that, however, depends upon
yourself; but, as you say, I'll think of it."

Hycy, who could never bear ridicule, especially from the very man whom
he attempted to ridicule most, bounced up, and after muttering something
in the shape of an oath that was unintelligible, said, assuming all his
polite irony:--

"Do so, Mr. Burke; in the mean time I have the pleasure of wishing you a
very good evening, sir."

"Oh, a good-evening, sir," replied the old fellow, "and when you come
home from the wars a full non-commissioned officer, you'll be scowerin'
up your halbert every Christmas an' Aisther, I hope; an' telling us long
stories--of all you killed an' ate while you were away from us."

Harry Clinton, now aware that the anonymous letter which his uncle had
received that morning was the production of Hycy, resolved to watch the
gauger's motions very closely. After a great deal of reflection upon
Hycy's want of memory concerning their bargain, and upon a close
comparison between his conduct and whole manner on the night in
question, and his own account of the matter in the course of their last
interview, he could not help feeling that his friend had stated a gross
falsehood, and that the pretended want of recollection was an ingenious
after-thought, adopted for the purpose of screening himself from the
consequences of whatever injury he might inflict upon Bryan M'Mahon.

"Harry," said his uncle, as nine o'clock approached, "I am going upon
duty tonight."

"In what direction, sir? may I ask."

"Yes, you may, but I'm not bound to tell you. In this instance, however,
there is no necessity for secrecy; it is now too late to give our
gentleman the hard word, so I don't care much if I do tell you. I am
bound for Ahadarra."

"For Ahadarra--you say for Ahadarra, uncle?"

"I do, nephew."

"By heavens, he is the deepest and most consummate scoundrel
alive," exclaimed Harry; "I now see it all. Uncle, I wish to God you
would--would---I don't know what to say."

"That's quite evident, nor what to think either. In the mean time the
soldiers are waiting for me in Ballymacan, and so I must attend to my
duty, Harry."

"Is it upon the strength of the blotted letter you got this morning,
sir, that you are now acting"?"

"No, sir; but upon the strength of a sure spy dispatched this day to the
premises. I am a little too shrewd now, Master Harry, to act solely upon
anonymous information. I have been led too many devil's dances by it in
my time, to be gulled in my old age on the strength of it."

He immediately prepared himself for the excursion, mounted his horse,
that was caparisoned in a military saddle, the holsters furnished with a
case of pistols, which, with a double case that he had on his person and
two daggers, constituted his weapons of offence and defence.

Their path lay directly to the south for about two miles. Having
traversed this distance they reached cross-roads, one of which branched
towards the left and was soon lost in a rough brown upland, into
which it branched by several little pathways that terminated in little
villages or solitary farmer's houses. For about two miles more they were
obliged to cross a dark reach of waste moor, where the soil was strong
and well capable of cultivation. Having avoided the villages and more
public thoroughfares, they pushed upward until they came into the black
heath itself, where it was impossible that horses could travel in such
darkness as then prevailed; for it was past ten o'clock, near the close
of December. Clinton consequently left his horse in the care of two
soldiers on a bit of green meadow by the side of Ahadarra Lough--a small
tarn or mountain lake about two hundred yards in diameter. They then
pushed up a long round swelling hill, on the other side of which was
a considerable stretch of cultivated land with Bryan M'Mahon's new and
improved houses at the head of it. This they kept to their right until
they came in sight of the wild but beautiful and picturesque Glen of
Althadhawan, which however was somewhat beyond the distance they had to
go. At length, after breasting another hill which was lost in the base
of Cullimore, they dropped down rapidly into a deep glen through which
ran a little streamlet that took its rise not a quarter of a mile above
them, and which supplied the apparatus for distillation with soft clear
water. This they followed until near the head of the glen, where, in a
position which might almost escape even a gauger's eye, they found the
object of their search.

Tumbled around them in all directions were a quantity of gigantic
rocks thrown as it were at random during some Titanic war-fare or
diversion--between two of which the still-house was built in such a way,
that, were it not for the smoke in daylight, it would be impossible
to discover it, or at all events, to suppose that it could be the
receptacle of a human being.

On entering, Clinton and his men were by no means surprised to find
the place deserted, for this in fact was frequently the case on such
occasions. On looking through the premises, which they did by the light
of a large fire, they found precisely that which had been mentioned in
Hycy's letter--to wit, the Still, the Head, and the Worm; but with the
exception of an old broken rundlet or two, and a crazy vessel of wash
that was not worth removing, there was nothing whatsoever besides.

The Still was on the fire half filled with water, the Head was on the
Still, and the Worm was attached to the Head precisely as if they were
in the process of distillation.

"Ay," said Clinton, on seeing how matters stood, "I think I understand
this affair. It's a disappointment in one sense--but a sure enough card
in another. The fine is certain, and Ahadarra is most undoubtedly in for
it."

CHAPTER XV.--State of the Country

--Hycy's Friendship for Bryan M'Mahon--Bryan's Interview with his
Landlord.

M'Mahon's last interview with Fethertonge was of so cheering a nature,
and indicated on the part of that gentleman so much true and sterling
kindness towards the young man and his family, that he felt perfectly
satisfied on leaving him, and after having turned their conversation
over in his mind, that he might place every confidence in the assurance
he had given him. His father, too, who had never for a moment doubted
Feathertonge, felt equally gratified at Bryan's report of their
interview, as indeed did the whole family; they consequently spared
neither labor nor expense in the improvements which they were making on
their farms.

The situation of the country and neighborhood at this period was indeed
peculiar, and such as we in this unhappy country have experienced
both before and since. I have already stated, that there was a partial
failure of the potato crop that season, a circumstance which uniformly
is the forerunner of famine and sickness. The failure, however, on that
occasion was not caused by a blight in the haulm, or to use plainer
words, by a sudden withering of the stalks, but by large portions of the
seed failing to grow. The partial scarcity, however, occasioned by this,
although it did not constitute what can with propriety be termed famine,
cause the great mass of pauperism which such a season always extends and
increases, to press so heavily upon the struggling farmers, that their
patience and benevolence became alike tired out and exhausted. This
perpetually recurring calamity acts with a most depressing effect
upon those persons in the country who have any claim to be considered
independent. It deprives them of hope, and consequently of energy, and
by relaxing the spirit of industry which has animated them, tends in
the course of time to unite them to the great body of pauperism which
oppresses and eats up the country. But let us not be misunderstood. This
evil alone is sufficiently disastrous to the industrial energies of
the class we mention; but when, in addition to this, the hitherto
independent farmer has to contend with high rents, want of sympathy in
his landlord, who probably is ignorant of his very existence, and has
never seen him perhaps in his life; and when it is considered that he is
left to the sharp practice and pettifogging, but plausible rapacity of
a dishonest agent, who feels that he is irresponsible, and may act the
petty tryant and vindictive oppressor if he wishes, having no restraint
over his principles but his interest, which, so far from restraining,
only guides and stimulates them;--when we reflect upon all this, and
feel, besides, that the political principles upon which the country is
governed are those that are calculated to promote British at the expense
of Irish interests--we say, when we reflect upon and ponder over all
this, we need not feel surprised that the prudent, the industrious,
and the respectable, who see nothing but gradual decline and ultimate
pauperism before them--who feel themselves neglected and overlooked,
and know that every sixth or seventh year they are liable to those
oppressive onsets of distress, sickness, and famine--we need not, we
repeat, feel at all surprised that those who constitute this industrious
and respectable class should fly from the evils which surround them, and
abandon, whilst they possess the power of doing so, the country in which
such evils are permitted to exist.

It is upon this principle, or rather upon these principles, and for
these reasons, that the industry, the moral feeling, the independence,
and the strength of the country have been passing out of it for
years--leaving it, season after season, weaker, more impoverished, and
less capable of meeting those periodical disasters which, we may almost
say, are generated by the social disorder and political misrule of the
country.

The fact is, and no reasonable or honest man capable of disencumbering
himself of political prejudices can deny it, that up until a recent
period the great body of the Irish people--the whole people--were mainly
looked upon and used as political instruments in the hands of the
higher classes, but not at all entitled to the possession of separate or
independent interests in their own right. It is true they were allowed
the possession of the forty-shilling franchise; but will any man say
that the existence of that civil right was a benefit to the country? So
far from that, it was a mere engine of corruption, and became, in
the hands of the Irish landlords, one of the most oppressive and
demoralizing curses that ever degraded a people. Perjury, fraud,
falsehood, and dishonesty, were its fruits, and the only legacy it
left to the country was an enormous mass of pauperism, and a national
morality comparatively vitiated and depraved, in spite of all religious
influence and of domestic affections that are both strong and tender.
Indeed it is exceedingly difficult to determine whether it has been more
injurious to the country in a political than in a moral sense. Be that
as it may, it had a powerful effect in producing the evils that we now
suffer, and our strong tendencies to social disorganization. By it the
landlords were induced, for the sake of multiplying, votes, to encourage
the subdivision of small holdings into those that were actually only
nominal or fictitious, and the consequences were, that in multiplying
votes they were multiplying families that had no fixed means of
subsistence--multiplying in fact a pauper population--multiplying not
only perjury, fraud, falsehood, and dishonesty, but destitution, misery,
disease and death. By the forty-shilling franchise, the landlords
encumbered the soil with a loose and unsettled population that
possessed within itself, as poverty always does, a fearful facility of
reproduction--a population which pressed heavily upon the independent
class of farmers and yeomen, but which had no legal claim upon the
territory of the country. The moment, however, when the system which
produced and ended this wretched class, ceased to exist, they became not
only valueless in a political sense, but a dead weight upon the energies
of the country, and an almost insuperable impediment to its prosperity.
This great evil the landlords could conjure up, but they have not been
able to lay it since. Like Frankenstein in the novel, it pursues them to
the present moment, and must be satisfied or appeased in some way, or
it will unquestionably destroy them. From the abolition of the franchise
until now, an incessant struggle of opposing interests has been going on
in the country. The "forties" and their attendants must be fed; but the
soul on which they live in its present state is not capable of at the
same time supporting them and affording his claims to the landlord; for
the food must go to England to pay the rents and the poor "forties" must
starve. They are now in the way of the landlord--they are now in the way
of the farmer--they are in fact in way of each other, and unless some
wholesome and human principle, either of domestic employment or colonial
emigration, or perhaps both, shall be adopted, they will continue to
embarrass the country, and to drive out of it, always in connection with
other causes, the very class of persons that constitute its remaining
strength.

At the present period of our narrative the neighborhood of Ballymacan
was in an unsettled and distressful state. The small farmers, and such
as held from six to sixteen acres, at a rent which they could at any
period with difficulty pay, were barely able to support themselves and
their families upon the produce of their holdings, so that the claims
of the landlord were out of the question. Such a position as this to the
unhappy class we speak of, is only another name for ruin. The bailiff,
who always lives upon the property, seeing their condition, and knowing
that they are not able to meet the coming gale, reports accordingly
to the agent, who, now cognizant that there is only one look-up for the
rent, seizes the poor man's corn and cattle, leaving himself and
his family within cold walls, and at an extinguished hearth. In this
condition were a vast number in the neighborhood of the locality laid in
our narrative. The extraordinary, but natural anxiety for holding land,
and the equally ardent spirit of competition which prevails in the
country, are always ready arguments in the mouth of the landlord and
agent, when they wish to raise the rent or eject the tenant. "If you
won't pay me such a rent, there are plenty that will. I have been
offered more than you pay, and more than I ask, and you know I must look
to my own interests!" In this case it is very likely that the landlord
speaks nothing but the truth; and as he is pressed on by his necessities
on the one hand, and the tenant on the other, the state of a country so
circumstanced with respect to landed property and its condition may be
easily conceived.

In addition, however, to all we have already detailed, as affecting
the neighborhood of Ahadarra, we have to inform our readers that the
tenantry upon the surrounding property were soon about to enjoy the
luxury of a contested election. Chevydale had been the sitting member
during two sessions of Parliament. He was, as we have already stated,
an Emancipator and Liberal; but we need scarcely say that he did not
get his seat upon these principles. He had been a convert to Liberalism
since his election, and at the approaching crisis stood, it was thought,
but an indifferent chance of being re-elected. The gentleman who had sat
before was a sturdy Conservative, a good deal bigoted in politics, but
possessing that rare and inestimable quality, or rather combination of
qualities which constitute an honest man. He was a Major Vanston, a man
of good property, and although somewhat deficient in the _suaviter in
modo_, yet in consequence of his worth and sincerity, he was rather a
favorite with the people, who in general relish sincerity and honesty
wherever they find them in public men.

Having thus far digressed, we now beg leave to resume our narrative and
once more return, from the contemplation of a state of things so painful
to the progress of those circumstances which involve the fate of our
humble individuals who constitute our _dramatis personae_.

The seizure of the distillery apparatus on M'Mahon's farm of Ahadarra,
was in a few days followed by knowledge of the ruin in which it must
necessarily involve that excellent and industrious young man. At
this time there was an act of parliament in existence against illicit
distillation, but of so recent a date that it was only when a seizure
similar to the foregoing had been made, that the people in any
particular district became acquainted with it. By this enactment the
offending individual was looked upon as having no farther violated
the laws in that case made and provided, than those who had never been
engaged in such pursuits at all. In other words, the innocent, were
equally punished with the guilty. A heavy fine was imposed--not on the
offender, but on the whole townland in which he lived; so that the
guilt of one individual was not visited as it ought to have been on the
culprit himself, but equally distributed in all its penalties upon the
other inhabitants of the district in question, who may have had neither
act nor part in any violation of the laws whatsoever.

Bryan M'Mahon, on discovering the fearful position in which it placed
him, scarcely knew on what hand to turn. His family were equally
alarmed, and with just reason. Illicit distillation had been carried to
incredible lengths for the last two or three years, and the statute in
question was enacted with, a hope that it might unite the people in a
kind of legal confederacy against a system so destructive of industry
and morals. The act, however ill-judged, and impolitic at best, was not
merely imperative,--but fraught with ruin and bloodshed. It
immediately became the engine of malice and revenge between individual
enemies--often between rival factions, and not unfrequently between
parties instigated against each other by political rancor and hatred.
Indeed, so destructive of the lives and morals of the people was it
found, that in the course of a very few years it was repealed, but not
until it had led to repeated murders and brought ruin and destruction
upon many an unoffending and industrious family.

Bryan now bethought him of the warnings he had received from the gauger
and Fethertonge, and resolved to see both, that he; might be enabled,
if possible, to trace to its source the plot that had been laid, for
his destruction. He accordingly went down to his father's at Carriglass,
where he had not been long when Hycy Burke made his appearance, "Having
come that far on his way," he said, "to see him, and to ascertain
the truth of the report that had gone abroad respecting the heavy
responsibility under which the illicit distillation had placed him."
Bryan was naturally generous and without suspicion; but notwithstanding
this, it was impossible that he should not entertain some slight
surmises touching the sincerity of Burke.

"What is this, Bryan?" said the latter. "Can it be possible that you're
in for the Fine, as report goes?"

"It's quite possible," replied Bryan; "on yesterday I got a notice of
proceedings from the Board of Excise."

"But," pursued his friend, "what devil could have tempted you to have
anything to do with illicit distillation? Didn't you know the danger of
it?"

"I had no more to do with it," replied Bryan, "than you had--nor I don't
even rightly know yet who had; though, indeed, I believe I may say it
was these vagabonds, the Hogans, that has their hands in everything
that's wicked and disgraceful. They would ruin me if they could," said
Bryan, "and I suppose it was with the hope of doing so that they set up
the still where they did."

"Well, now," replied Hycy, with an air of easy and natural generosity,
"I should be sorry to think so: they are d--d scoundrels, or rather
common ruffians, I grant you; but still, Bryan, I don't like to suspect
even such vagabonds without good grounds. Bad as we know them to be, I
have my doubts whether they are capable of setting about such an act
for the diabolical purpose of bringing you to ruin. Perhaps they merely
deemed the place on your farm a convenient one to build a still-house
in, and that they never thought further about it."

"Or what," replied Bryan, "if there was some one behind their backs who
is worse than themselves? Mightn't sich a thing as that be possible?"

"True," replied Hycy, "true, indeed--that's not improbable.
Stay--no--well it may be--but--no--I can't think it."

"What is it you can't think?"

"Why, such a thing might be," proceeded Hycy, "if you have an enemy; but
I think, Bryan, you are too well liked--and justly so too--if you will
excuse me for saying so to your face--to have any enemy capable of going
such nefarious lengths as that."

Bryan paused and seemed a good deal struck with the truth of Hycy's
observation--"There's raison, sure enough in what you say, Hycy," he
observed. "I don't know that I have a single enemy--unless the
Hogans themselves--that would feel any satisfaction in drivin' me to
destruction."

"And besides," continued Hycy, "between you and me now, Bryan, who the
devil with an ounce of sense in his head would trust such scoundrels, or
put himself in their power?"

Bryan considered this argument a still more forcible one than the other.

"That's stronger still," Re replied, "and indeed I am inclined to
think that after all, Hycy, it happened as you say. Teddy Phats I think
nothing at all about, for the poor, misshapen vagabone will distil
poteen for any one that employs him."

"True," replied the other, "I agree with you; but what's to be done,
Bryan? for that's the main point now."

"I scarcely know," replied Bryan, who now began to feel nothing but
kindness towards Hycy, in consequence of the interest which that young
fellow evidently took in his misfortune, for such, in serious truth, it
must be called. "I am the only proprietor of Ahadarra," he proceeded,
"and, as a matter of course, the whole fine falls on my shoulders."

"Ay, that's the devil of it; but at all events, Bryan, there is nothing
got in this world without exertion and energy. Mr. Chevydale,
the Member, is now at home: he has come down to canvass for the
coming-election. I would recommend you to see him at once. You know--but
perhaps you don't though--that his brother is one of the Commissioners
of Excise; so that I don't know any man who can serve you more
effectually than Chevydale, if he wishes."

"But what could he do?" asked Bryan.

"Why, by backing a memorial from you, stating the particulars, and
making out a strong case, he might get the fine reduced. I shall draw up
such a memorial if you wish."

"Thank you, Hycy--I'm obliged to you--these, I dare say, will be the
proper steps to take--thank you."

"Nonsense! but perhaps I may serve you a little in another way. I'm
very intimate with Harry Clinton, and who knows but I may be able to
influence the uncle a little through the nephew."

"It's whispered that you might do more through the niece," replied
Bryan, laughing; "is that true?"

"Nonsense, I tell you," replied Hycy, affecting confusion; "for Heaven's
sake, Bryan, say nothing about that; how did it come to your ears?"

"Faith, and that's more than I can tell you," replied the other; "but I
know I heard it somewhere of late."

"It's not a subject, of course," continued Hycy, "that I should wish to
become the topic of vulgar comment or conversation, and I'd much rather
you would endeavor to discountenance it whenever you hear it spoken of.
At all events, whether with niece or nephew," proceeded Hycy, "you may
rest assured, that whatever service I can render you, I shall not
fail to do it. You and I have had a slight misunderstanding, but on
an occasion like this, Bryan, it should be a bitter one indeed that a
man--a generous man at least,--would or ought to remember."

This conversation took place whilst Bryan was proceeding to
Fethertonge's, Hycy being also on his way home. On arriving at the turn
of the road which led to Jemmy Burke's, Hycy caught the hand of his
companion, which he squeezed with an affectionate warmth, so cordial and
sincere in its character that Bryan cast every shadow of suspicion to
the winds,

"Cheer up, Bryan, all will end better than you think, I hope. I shall
draw up a memorial for you this evening, as strongly and forcibly as
possible, and any other assistance that I can render you in this unhappy
difficulty I will do it. I know I am about ninety pounds in your debt,
and instead of talking to you in this way, or giving you fair words,
I ought rather to pay you your money. The 'gentleman,' however, is
impracticable for the present, but I trust--"

"Not a word about it," said Bryan, "you'll oblige me if you'll drop that
part of the subject; but listen, Hycy,--I think you're generous and a
little extravagant, and both is a good man's case--but that's not what
I'm going to spake about, truth's best at all times; I heard that you
were my enemy, and I was desired to be on my guard against you."

Hycy looked at him with that kind of surprise which is natural to an
innocent man, and simply said, "May I ask by whom, Bryan?"

"I may tell you some other time," replied Bryan, "but I won't now; all I
can say is, that I don't believe it, and I'm sure that ought to satisfy
you."

"I shall expect you to tell me, Bryan," said the other, and then after
returning a few steps, he caught M'Mahon's hand again, and shaking
it warmly, once more added, "God bless you, Bryan; you are a generous
high-minded young fellow, and I only wish I was like you."

Bryan, after they had separated, felt that Hycy's advice was the very
best possible under the circumstances, and as he had heard for the first
time that Chevydale was in the country, he resolved to go at once and
state to him the peculiar grievance under which he labored.

Chevydale's house was somewhat nearer Ahadarra than Fethertonge's, but
on the same line of road, and he accordingly proceeded to the residence
of his landlord. The mansion indeed was a fine one. It stood on the brow
of a gentle eminence, which commanded a glorious prospect of rich and
highly cultivated country. Behind, the landscape rose gradually until
it terminated in a range of mountains that protected the house from
the north. The present structure was modern, having been built by old
Chevydale, previous to his marriage. It was large and simple, but so
majestic in appearance, that nothing could surpass the harmony that
subsisted between its proportions and the magnificent old trees which
studded the glorious lawn that surrounded, it, and rose in thick
extensive masses that stretched far away behind the house. It stood in a
park, which for the beauties of wood and. water was indeed worthy of its
fine simplicity and grandeur--a park in which it was difficult to say
whether the beautiful, the picturesque, or the wild, predominated most.
And yet in this princely residence Mr. Chevydale did not reside more
than a month, or at most two, during the whole year.

On reaching the hall-door, M'Mahon inquired from the servant who
appeared, if he could see Mr. Chevydale.

"I'm afraid not," said the servant, "but I will see; what's your name?"

"Bryan M'Mahon, of Ahadarra, one of his tenants."

The servant returned to him in a few moments, and said, "Yes, he will
see you; follow me."

Bryan entered a library, where he found his landlord and Fethertonge
apparently engaged in business, and as he was in the act of doing so, he
overheard Chevydale saying--"No, no, I shall always see my tenants."

Bryan made his obeisance in his own plain way, and Chevydale said--"Are
you M'Mahon of Ahadarra?"

"I am, sir," replied Bryan.

"I thought you were a much older man," said Chevydale, "there certainly
must be, some mistake here," he added, looking at Fethertonge.

"M'Mahon of Ahadarra was a middle-aged man several years ago, but this
person is young enough to be his man."

"You speak of his uncle," replied Fethertonge, "who is dead. This
young man, who now owns his uncle's farm, is son to Thomas M'Mahon of
Carriglass. How is your father, M'Mahon? I hope he bears up well under
his recent loss."

"Indeed but poorly, sir," replied Bryan, "I fear he'll never be the same
man."

Chevydale here took to reading a newspaper, and in a minute or two
appeared to be altogether unconscious of Bryan's presence.

"I'm afeard, sir," said Bryan, addressing himself to the agent, who was
the only person likely to hear him, "I'm afeard, sir, that I've got into
trouble."

"Into trouble? how is that?"

"Why, sir, there was a Still, Head, and Worm found upon Ahadarra, and
I'm going to be fined for it."

"M'Mahon," replied the agent, "I am sorry to hear this, both on your own
account and that of your family. If I don't mistake, you were cautioned
and warned against this; but it was useless; yes, I am sorry for it; and
for you, too."

"I don't properly understand you, sir," said Bryan.

"Did I not myself forewarn you against having anything to do in matters
contrary to the law? You must remember I did, and on the very last
occasion, too, when you were in my office."

"I remember it right well, sir," replied Bryan, "and I say now as I did
then, that I am not the man to break the law, or have act or part in
anything that's contrary to it. I know nothing about this business,
except that three ruffianly looking fellows named Hogan, common tinkers,
and common vagabonds to boot--men that are my enemies--are the persons
by all accounts who set up the still on my property. As for myself, I
had no more to do in it or with it than yourself or Mr. Chevydale here."

"Well," replied Fethertonge, "I hope not. I should feel much
disappointed if you had, but you know, Bryan," he added, good-humoredly,
"we could scarcely expect that you should admit such a piece of folly,
not to call it by a harsher name."

"If I had embarked in it," replied M'Mahon, "I sartinly would not deny
it to you or Mr. Chevydale, at least; but, as I said before, I know
nothing more about it, than simply it was these ruffians and a fellow
named Phats, a Distiller, that set it a-working,--however, the question
is, what am I to do? If I must pay the fine for the whole townland, it
will beggar me--ruin me. It was that brought me to my landlord here," he
added; "I believe, sir, you have a brother a Commissioner of Excise?"

"Eh? what is that?" asked Chevydaie, looking up suddenly as Bryan asked
the question.

M'Mahon was obliged to repeat all the circumstances once more, as did
Feathertonge the warning he had given him against having any connection
with illegal proceedings.

"I am to get a memorial drawn up tomorrow, sir," proceeded Bryan, "and I
was thinking that by giving the Board of Excise a true statement of the
case, they might reduce the fine; if they don't, I am ruined--that's
all."

"Certainly," said his landlord, "that is a very good course to take;
indeed, your only course."

"I hope, sir," proceeded Bryan, "that as you now know the true
circumstances of the case, you'll be kind, enough to support my
petition; I believe your brother, sir, is one of the Commissioners;
you would sartinly be able to do something with him."

"No," replied Chevydaie, "I would not ask anything from him; but I
shall support your Petition, and try what I can do with the other
Commissioners. On principle, however, I make it a point never to ask
anything from my brother."

"Will I bring you the Petition, sir?" asked Bryan.

"Fetch me the Petition."

"And Bryan," said Fethertonge, raising his finger at him as if by way of
warning--and laughing--"hark ye, let this be the last."

"Fethertonge," said the landlord, "I see 'Pratt has been found guilty,
and the sentence confirmed by the Commander-in-Chief."

"You will insist on it," said Bryan, in reply to the agent, "but--"

"There now, M'Mahon," said the latter, "that will do; good day to you."

"I think it is a very harsh sentence, Fethertonge; will you touch the
bell?"

"I don't know, sir," replied the other, ringing as he spoke; "Neville's
testimony was very strong against him, and the breaking of the glass did
not certainly look like sobriety."

"I had one other word to say, gentlemen," added M'Mahon, "if you'll
allow me, now that I'm here."

Fethertonge looked at him with a face in which might be read a painful
but friendly rebuke for persisting to speak, after the other had changed
the subject. "I rather think Mr. Chevydale would prefer hearing it some
other time, Bryan."

"But you know the proverb, sir," said Bryan, smiling, "that there's no
time like the present; besides it's only a word."

"What is it?" asked the landlord.

"About the leases, sir," replied M'Mahon, "to know when it would be
convanient for you to sign them."

Chevydale looked, from Bryan to the agent, and again from the agent to
Bryan, as if anxious to understand what the allusion to leases meant.
At this moment a servant entered, saying, "The horses are at the door,
gentlemen."

"Come some other day, M'Mahon," said Fethertonge; "do you not see that
we are going out to ride now--going on our canvass? Come to my office
some other day; Mr. Chevydale will remain for a considerable time in the
country now, and you need not feel so eager in the matter."

"Yes, come some other day, Mr.--Mr.--ay--M'Mahon; if there are leases
to sign, of course I shall sign them; I am always anxious to do my duty
as a landlord. Come, or rather Fethertonge here will manage it. You know
I transact no business here; everything is done at his office, unless
when he brings me papers to sign. Of course I shall sign any necessary
paper."

Bryan then withdrew, after having received another friendly nod of
remonstrance, which seemed to say, "Why will you thus persist, when you
see that he is not disposed to enter into these matters now? Am I not
your friend?" Still, however, he did not feel perfectly at ease with the
result of his visit. A slight sense of uncertainty and doubt crept over
him, and in spite of every effort at confidence, he found that that
which he had placed in Fethertonge, if it did not diminish, was most
assuredly not becoming stronger.

CHAPTER XVI.---A Spar Between Kate and Philip Hogan

--Bryan M'Mahon is Cautioned against Political Temptation--He Seeks
Major Vanston's Interest with the Board of Excise.

The consequences of the calamity which was hanging over Bryan M'Mahon's
head, had become now pretty well understood, and occasioned a very
general and profound sympathy for the ruin in which it was likely to
involve him. Indeed, almost every one appeared to feel it more than he
himself did, and many, who on meeting him, were at first disposed to
offer him consolation, changed their purpose on witnessing his cheerful
and manly bearing under it. Throughout the whole country there was but
one family, with another exception, that felt gratified at the blow
which had fallen on him. The exception we speak of was no other than Mr,
Hycy Burke, and the family was that of the Hogans. As for Teddy
Phats, he was not the man to trouble himself by the loss of a moment's
indifference upon any earthly or other subject, saving and excepting
always that it involved the death, mutilation, or destruction in some
shape, of his great and relentless foe, the Gauger, whom he looked upon
as the impersonation of all that is hateful and villainous in life, and
only sent into this world to war with human happiness at large.
That great professional instinct, as the French say, and a strong
unaccountable disrelish of Hycy Burke, were the only two feelings that
disturbed the hardened indifference of his nature.

One night, shortly after Bryan's visit to his landlord, the Hogans and
Phats were assembled in the kiln between the hours of twelve and one
o'clock, after having drunk nearly three quarts of whiskey among
them. The young savages, as usual, after the vagabond depredations or
mischievous exercises of the day, were snoring as we have described them
before; when Teddy, whom no quantity of liquor could affect beyond a
mere inveterate hardness of brogue and an indescribable effort at mirth
and melody, exclaimed--"Fwhy, dhen, dat's the stuff; and here's bad luck
to him that paid fwor it."

"I'll not drink it, you ugly _keout_," exclaimed Philip, in his deep and
ruffianly voice; "but come--all o' yez fill up and drink my toast. Come,
Kate, you crame of hell's delights, fill till I give it. No," he added
abruptly, "I won't drink that, you leprechaun; the man that ped for it
is Hycy Burke, and I like Hycy Burke for one thing, an' I'll not dhrink
bad luck to him. Come, are yez ready?"

"Give it out, you hulk," said Kate, "an' don't keep us here all night
over it."

"Here, then," exclaimed the savage, with a grin of ferocious mirth,
distorting his grim colossal features into a smile that was frightful
and inhuman--"Here's may Bryan M'Mahon be soon a beggar, an' all his
breed the same! Drink it now, all o' yez, or, by the mortal counthryman,
I'll brain the first that'll refuse it."

The threat, in this case, was a drunken one, and on that very account
the more dangerous.

"Well," said Teddy, "I don't like to drink it; but if--"

"_Honomondiaul!_ you d----d disciple," thundered the giant, "down wid
it, or I'll split your skull!"

Teddy had it down ere the words were concluded.

"What!" exclaimed Hogan, or rather roared again, as he fastened his
blazing eyes on Kate--"what, you yalla mullotty, do you dar to refuse?"

"Ay, do dar to refuse!--an' I'd see you fizzin' on the devil's
fryin'-pan, where you'll fiz yet, afore I'd dhrink it. Come, come," she
replied, her eye blazing now as fiercely as his own, "keep quiet, I bid
you--keep calm; you ought to know me now, I think."

"Drink it," he shouted, "or I'll brain you."

"Howl him," said Teddy--"howl him; there's murdher in his eye. My soul
to happiness but he'll kill her."

"Will he, indeed?" said Bat, with a loud laugh, in which he was joined
by Ned--"will he, indeed?" they shouted. "Go on, Kate, you'll get
fair play if you want it--his eye, Teddy! ay, but look at her's, man
alive--look at her altogether! Go on, Kate--more power!"

Teddy, on looking at her again, literally retreated a few paces from
sheer terror of the tremendous and intrepid fury who now stood before
him. It was then for the first time that he observed the huge bones and
immense muscular development that stood out into terrible strength
by the force of her rising passion. It was the eye, however, and the
features of the face which filled him with such an accountable dread.
The eyes were literally blazing, and the muscles of the face, now cast
into an expression which seemed at the same time to be laughter and
fury, were wrought up and blended together in such a way as made the
very countenance terrible by the emanation of murder which seemed to
break from every feature of it. "Drink it, I say again," shouted Philip.
Kate made no reply, but, walking over to where he stood, she looked
closely into his eyes, and said, with grinding teeth--"Not if it was to
save you from the gallows, where you'll swing yet; but listen." As she
spoke her words were hoarse and low, there was a volume of powerful
strength in her voice which stunned one like the roar of a lioness.
"Here," she exclaimed, her voice now all at once rising or rather
shooting up to a most terrific scream--"here's a disgraceful death to
Hycy Burke! and may all that's good and prosperous in this world, ay,
and in the next, attend Bryan M'Mahon, the honest man! Now, Philip, my
man, see how I drink them both." And, having concluded, she swallowed
the glass of whiskey, and again drawing her face within an inch of his
she glared right into his eyes.

"Howl me," he shouted, "or I'll sthrike, an' we'll have a death in the
house."

She raised one hand and waved it behind her, as an intimation that they
should not interfere.

The laughter of the brothers now passed all bounds. "No, Kate, go on--we
won't interfere. You had better seize him."

"No," she replied, "let him begin first, if he dar."

"Howl me," shouted Philip, "she'll only be killed."

Another peal of laughter was the sole reply given to this by the
brothers. "He's goin'," they exclaimed, "he's gone--the white fedher's
in him--it's all over wid him--he's afeerd of her, an' not for nothing
either--ha! ha! ha! more power, Kate!"

Stung by the contemptuous derision contained in this language, Philip
was stepping back in order to give himself proper room for a blow, when,
on the very instant that he moved, Kate, uttering something between a
howl and a yell, dashed her huge hands into his throat--which was, as
is usual with tinkers, without a cravat--and in a moment a desperate and
awful struggle took place between them. Strong as Philip was, he found
himself placed perfectly on the defensive by the terrific grip which
this furious opponent held of his throat. So powerful was it, indeed,
that not a single instant was allowed him for the exercise of any
aggressive violence against her by a blow, all his strength being
directed to unclasp her hands from his throat that he might be permitted
to breathe. As they pulled and tugged, however, it was evident that the
struggle was going against him--a hoarse, alarming howl once or twice
broke from him, that intimated terror and distress on his part.

"That's right, Kate," they shouted, "you have him--press tight--the
windpipe's goin'--bravo! he'll soon stagger an' come down, an' then you
may do as you like."

They tugged on, and dragged, and panted, with the furious vehemence of
the exertion; when at length Philip shouted, in a voice half-stifled by
strangulation, "Let g--o--o--o, I--I sa--y--y; ah! ah! ah!"

Bat now ran over in a spirit of glee and triumph that cannot well be
described, and clapping his wife on the back, shouted--"Well done,
Kate; stick to him for half a minute and he's yours. Bravo! you clip o'
perdition, bravo!"

He had scarcely uttered the words when the giant carcass of Philip
tottered and fell, dragging Kate along with it, who never for a moment
lost or loosened her hold. Her opponent now began to sprawl and kick
out his feet from a sense of suffocation, and in attempting to call for
assistance, nothing but low, deep gurgling noises could issue from his
lips, now livid with the pressure on his throat and covered with foam.
His face, too, at all times dark and savage, became literally black, and
he uttered such sternutations as, on seeing that they were accompanied
by the diminished struggles which betoken exhaustion, induced Teddy to
rush over for the purpose of rescuing him from her clutches.

"Aisy," said the others; "let them alone--a little thing will do it
now--it's almost over--she has given him his gruel--an' divil's cure to
him--he knew well enough what she could do--but he would have it."

Faint convulsive movements were all now that could be noticed in the
huge limbs of their brother, and still the savage tigress was at his
throat, when her husband at length said:--

"It's time, Ned--it's time--she may carry it too far--he's quiet enough
now. Come away, Kate, it's all right--let him alone--let go your hoult
of him."

Kate, however, as if she had tasted his blood, would listen to no such
language; all the force, and energies, and bloody instincts of the
incarnate fury were aroused within her, and she still stuck to her
victim.

"Be japers she'll kill him," shouted Bat, rushing to her; "come,
Ned, till we unclasp her--take care--pull quickly--bloody wars, he's
dead!--Kate, you divil!--you fury of hell! let go--let go, I say."

Kate, however, heard him not, but still tugged and stuck to the throat
of Philip's quivering carcass, until by a united effort they at length
disentangled her iron clutches from it, upon which she struggled and
howled like a beast of prey, and attempted with a strength that seemed
more akin to the emotion of a devil than that of a woman to get at him
again and again, in order to complete her work.

"Come, Kate," said her husband, "you're a Trojan--by japers you're a
Trojan; you've settled him any way--is there life in him?" he asked, "if
there is, dash wather or something in his face, an' drag him up out o'
that--ha! ha! Well done, Kate; only for you we'd lead a fine life wid
him--ay! an' a fine life that is--a hard life we led until you did
come--there now, more power to you--by the livin' Counthryman, there's
not your aquil in Europe--come now, settle down, an' don't keep all
movin' that way as if you wor at him again--sit down now, an' here's
another glass of whiskey for you."

In the mean time, Ned and Teddy Phats succeeded in recovering Philip,
whom they dragged over and placed upon a kind of bench, where in a few
minutes he recovered sufficiently to be able to speak--but ever and anon
he shook his head, and stretched his neck, and drew his breath deeply,
putting his hands up from time to time as if he strove to set his
windpipe more at ease.

"Here Phil, my hairo," said his triumphant brother Bat, "take another
glass, an' may be for all so strong and murdherin' as you are wid others
you now know--an' you knew before what our woman' can do at home wid
you."

"I've--hoch--hoch--I've done wid her--she's no woman; there's a devil
in her, an' if you take my advice, it's to Priest M'Scaddhan you'd bring
her, an' have the same devil prayed out of her--I that could murdher ere
a man in the parist a'most!"

"Lave Bryan M'Mahon out," said Kate.

"No I won't," replied Phil, sullenly, and with a voice still hoarse,
"no, I won't--I that could make smash of ere a man in the parish, to be
throttled into perdition by a blasted woman. She's a devil, I say; for
the last ten minutes I seen nothin' but fire, fire, fire, as red as
blazes, an' I hard somethin' yellin', yellin', in my ears."

"Ay!" replied Kate, "I know you did--that was the fire of hell you seen,
ready to resave you; an' the noise you hard was the voices of the devils
that wor comin' for your sowl--ay, an' the voices of the two wives you
murdhered--take care then, or I'll send you sooner to hell than you
dhrame of."

The scowl which she had in return for this threat was beyond all
description.

"Oh, I have done wid you," he replied; "you're not right, I say--but
never mind, I'll put a pin in M'Mahon's collar for this--ay will I."

"Don't!" she exclaimed, in one fearful monosyllable, and then she added
in a low condensed whisper, "or if you do, mark the consequence."

"Trot, Phil," said Teddy, "I think you needn't throuble your head about
M'Mahon--he's done fwhor."

"An' mark me," said Kate, "I'll take care of the man that done for him.
I know him well, betther than he suspects, an' can make him sup sorrow
whenever I like--an' would, too, only for one thing."

"An' fwhat's dhat wan thing?" asked Phats.

"You'll know it when you're ouldher, may be," replied Kate; "but you
must be ouldher first--I can keep my own secrets, thank God, an' will,
too--only mark me all o' yez; you know well what I am--let no injury
come to Bryan M'Mahon. For the sake of one person he must be safe."

"Well," observed Teddy, "let us hear no more about them; it's all
settled that we are to set up in Glen Dearg above again--for this
Hycy,--who's sthrivin' to turn the penny where he can."

"It is," said Bat; "an', to-morrow night, let us bring the things
up--this election will sarve us at any rate--but who will come in?" (*
That is, be returned.)

"The villain of hell!" suddenly exclaimed Kate, as if to herself; "to
go to ruin the young man! That girl's breakin' her heart for what has
happened."

"What are you talkin' about?" asked her husband.

"Nothing," she replied; "only if you all intend to have any rest
to-night, throw yourselves in the shake-down there, an' go sleep. I'm
not to sit up the whole night here, I hope?"

Philip, and Ned, and Teddy tumbled themselves into the straw, and in a
few minutes were in a state of perfect oblivion.

"Hycy Burke is a bad boy, Bat," she said, as the husband was about to
follow their example; "but he is marked--I've set my mark upon him."

"You appear to know something particular about him," observed her
husband.

"Maybe I do, an' maybe I don't," she replied; "but I tell you, he's
marked--that's all--go to bed now."

He tumbled after the rest, Kate stretched herself in an, opposite
corner, and in a few minutes this savage orchestra was in full chorus.

What an insoluble enigma is woman! From the specimen of feminine
delicacy and modest diffidence which we have just presented to the
reader, who would imagine that Kate Hogan was capable of entering into
the deep and rooted sorrow which Kathleen Cavanagh experienced when made
acquainted with the calamity which was about to crush her lover. Yet so
it was. In truth this fierce and furious woman who was at once a thief,
a liar, a drunkard, and an impostor, hardened in wickedness and deceit,
had in spite of all this a heart capable of virtuous aspirations, and
of loving what was excellent and good. It is true she was a hypocrite
herself, yet she detested Hycy Burke for his treachery. She was a thief
and a liar, yet she liked and respected Bryan M'Mahon for his truth and
honesty. Her heart, however, was not all depraved; and, indeed, it is
difficult to meet a woman in whose disposition, however corrupted by
evil society, and degraded by vice, there is not to be found a portion
of the angelic essence still remaining. In the case before us, however,
this may be easily accounted for. Kate Hogan, though a hell-cat and
devil, when provoked, was, amidst all her hardened violence and general
disregard of truth and honesty, a virtuous woman and a faithful wife.
Hence her natural regard for much that was good and pure, and her strong
sympathy with the sorrow which now fell upon Kathleen Cavanagh.

Kathleen and her sister had been sitting sewing at the parlor window, on
the day Bryan had the interview we have detailed with Chevydale and the
agent, when they heard their father's voice inquiring for Hanna.

"He has been at Jemmy Burke's, Kathleen," said her sister, "and I'll
wager a nosegay, if one could get one, that he has news of this new
sweetheart of yours; he's bent, Kathleen," she added, "to have you in
Jemmy Burke's family, cost what it may."

"So it seems, Hanna."

"They say Edward Burke is still a finer-looking young fellow than Hycy.
Now, Kathleen," she added, laughing, "if you should spoil a priest
afther all! Well! un-likelier things have happened."

"That may be," replied Kathleen, "but this won't happen for all that,
Hanna. Go, there he's calling for you again."

"Yes--yes," she shouted; "throth, among you all, Kathleen, you're making
a regular go-between of me. My father thinks I can turn you round my
finger, and Bryan M'Mahon thinks--yes, I'm goin'," she answered again.
"Well, keep up your spirits; I'll soon have news for you about this
spoiled priest."

"Poor Hanna," thought Kathleen; "where was there ever such a sister? She
does all she can to keep my spirits up; but it can't be. How can I see
him ruined and beggared, that had the high spirit and the true heart?"

Hanna, her father, and mother, held a tolerably long discussion
together, in which Kathleen could only hear the tones of their voices
occasionally. It was evident, however, by the emphatic intonations of
the old couple, that they were urging some certain point, which her
faithful sister was deprecating, sometimes, as Kathleen could learn, by
seriousness, and at other times by mirth. At length she returned with
a countenance combating between seriousness and jest; the seriousness,
however, predominating.

"Kathleen," said she, "you never had a difficulty before you until now.
They haven't left me a leg to stand upon. Honest Jemmy never had any
wish to make Edward a priest, and he tells my father that it was all
a trick of the wife to get everything for her favorite; and he's now
determined to disappoint them. What will you do?"

"What would you recommend me?" asked Kathleen, looking at her with
something of her own mood, for although her brow was serious, yet there
was a slight smile upon her lips.

"Why," said the frank and candid girl, "certainly to run away with Bryan
M'Mahon; that, you know, would settle everything."

"Would it settle my father's heart," said Kathleen, "and my
mother's?--would it settle my own character?--would it be the step that
all the world would expect from Kathleen Cavanagh?--and putting all the
world aside, would it be a step that I could take in the sight of God,
my dear Hanna?"

"Kathleen, forgive me, darlin'," said her sister, throwing her arms
about her neck, and laying her head upon her shoulder; "I'm a foolish,
flighty creature; indeed, I don't know what's to be done, nor I can't
advise you. Come out and walk about; the day's dry an' fine."

"If your head makes fifty mistakes," said her sister, "your heart's an
excuse for them all; but you don't make any mistakes, Hanna, when
you're in earnest; instead of that your head's worth all our heads put
together. Come, now."

They took the Carriglass road, but had not gone far when they met Dora
M'Mahon who, as she said, "came down to ask them up a while, as the
house was now so lonesome;" and she added, with artless naivete, "I
don't know how it is, Kathleen, but I love you better now than I ever
did before. Ever since my darlin' mother left us, I can't look upon you
as a stranger, and now that poor Bryan's in distress, my heart clings to
you more and more."

Hanna, the generous Hanna's eyes partook of the affection and admiration
which beamed in Dora's, as they rested on Kathleen; but notwithstanding
this, she was about to give Dora an ironical chiding for omitting to
say anything gratifying to herself, when happening to look back, she saw
Bryan at the turn of the road approaching them.

"Here's a friend of ours," she exclaimed; "no less than Bryan M'Mahon
himself. Come, Dora, we can't go' up to Carriglass, but we'll walk back
with you a piece o' the way."

Bryan, who was then on his return from Chevydale's, soon joined them,
and they proceeded in the direction of his father's, Dora and Hanna
having, with good-humored consideration, gone forward as an advanced
guard, leaving Bryan and Kathleen to enjoy their tete-a-tete behind
them.

"Dear Kathleen," said Bryan, "I was very anxious to see you. You've
h'ard of this unfortunate business that has come upon me?"

"I have," she replied, "and I need not say that I'm sorry for it. Is it,
or will it be as bad as they report?"

"Worse, Kathleen. I will have the fine for all Ahadarra to pay myself."

"But can nothing be done. Wouldn't they let you off when they come to
hear that, although the Still was found upon your land, yet it wasn't
yours, nor it wasn't you that was usin' it?"

"I don't know how that may be. Hycy Burke tells me that they'll be apt
to reduce the fine, if I send them a petition or memorial, or whatever
they call it, an' he's to have one Written for me to-morrow."

"I'm afraid Hycy's a bad authority for anybody, Bryan."

"I don't think you do poor Hycy justice, Kathleen; he's not, in my
opinion, so bad as you think him. I don't know a man, nor I haven't
met a man that's sorrier for what has happened me; he came to see me
yesterday, and to know in what way he could serve me, an' wasn't called
upon to do so."

"I hope you're right, Bryan; for why should I wish Hycy Burke to be a
bad man, or why should I wish him ill? I may be mistaken in him, and I
hope I am."

"Indeed, I think you are, Kathleen; he's wild a good deal, I grant,
and has a spice of mischief in him, and many a worthy young fellow has
both."

"That's very true," she replied; "however, we have h'ard bad enough of
him. There's none of us what we ought to be, Bryan. If you're called
upon to pay this fine, what will, be the consequence?"

"Why, that I'll have to give up my farm--that I won't be left worth
sixpence."

"Who put the still up in Ahadarra?" she inquired. "Is it true that it
was the Hogan's?"

"Indeed I believe there's no doubt about it," he replied; "since I
left the landlord's, I have heard what satisfies me that it was them and
Teddy Phats."

Kathleen paused and sighed. "They are a vile crew," she added, after a
little; "but, be they what they may, they're faithful and honest, and
affectionate to our family; an' that, I believe, is the only good about
them. Bryan, I am very sorry for this misfortune that has come upon you.
I am sorry for your own sake."

"And I," replied Bryan, "am sorry for--I was goin' to say--yours; but
it would be, afther all, for my own. I haven't the same thoughts of you
now, dear Kathleen."

She gazed quickly, and with some surprise at him, and asked, "Why so,
Bryan?"

"I'm changed--I'm a ruined man," he replied; "I had bright hopes of
comfort and happiness--hopes that I doubt will never come to pass.
However," he added, recovering himself, and assuming a look of
cheerfulness, "who knows if everything will turnout so badly as we
fear?"

"That's the spirit you ought to show," returned Kathleen; "You have
before you the example of a good father; don't be cast down, nor look
at the dark side; but you said you had not the same thoughts of me just
now; I don't understand you."

"Do you think," he replied, with a smile, "that I meant to say my
affection for you was changed? Oh, no, Kathleen; but that my situation
is changed, or soon will be so; and that on that account we can't be the
same thing to one another that we have been."

"Bryan," she replied, "you may always depend upon this, that so long as
you are true to your God and to yourself, I will be true to you. Depend
upon this once and forever."

"Kathleen, that's like yourself, but I could not think of bringing you
to shame." He paused, and turning his eyes full upon her, added--"I'm
allowin' myself to sink again. Everything will turn out better than we
think, plaise God."

"I hope so," she added, "but whatever happens, Bryan do you always act
an open, honest, manly part, as I know you will do; act always so as
that your conscience can't accuse you, or make you feel that you have
done anything that is wrong, or unworthy, or disgraceful; and then, dear
Bryan, welcome poverty may you say, as I will welcome Bryan M'Mahon with
it."

Both had paused for a little on their way, and stood for about a minute
moved by the interest which each felt in what the other uttered. As
Bryan's eye rested on the noble features and commanding figure of
Kathleen, he was somewhat started by the glow of enthusiasm which
lit both her eye and her cheek, although he was too unskilled in the
manifestations of character to know that it was enthusiasm she felt.

They then proceeded, and after a short silence Bryan observed--"Dear
Kathleen, I know the value of the advice you are giving me, but will you
let me ask if you ever seen anything in my conduct, or heard anything in
my conversation, that makes you think it so necessary to give it to me?"

"If I ever had, Bryan, it's not likely I'd be here at your side this day
to give it to you; but you're now likely to be brought into trials and
difficulties--into temptation--and it is then that you may think maybe
of what I'm sayin' now."

"Well, Kathleen," he replied, smiling, "you're determined at all events
that the advice will come before the temptation; but, indeed, my own
dearest girl, my heart this moment is proud when I think that you are
so full of truth, an' feelin', and regard for me, as to give me such
advice, and to be able to give it. But still I hope I won't stand in
need of it, and that if the temptations you spoke of come in my way,
I will have your advice--ay, an' I trust in God the adviser, too--to
direct me."

"Are you sure, Bryan," and she surveyed him closely as she spoke--"are
you sure that no part of the temptation has come across you already?"

He looked surprised as she asked him this singular question. "I am,"
said he; "but, dear Kathleen, I can't rightly understand you. What
temptations do you mane?"

"Have you not promised to vote for Mr. Vanston, the Tory candidate, who
never in his life voted for your religion or your liberty?"

"Do you mane me, dearest Kathleen?"

"You, certainly; who else could I mean when I ask you the question?"

"Why, I never promised to vote for Vanston," he replied; "an' what is
more--but who said I did?"

"On the day before yesterday," she proceeded, "two gentlemen came to our
house to canvass votes, and they stated plainly that you had promised to
vote for them--that is for Vanston."

"Well, Kathleen, all I can say is, that the statement is not true.
I didn't promise for Vanston, and they did not even ask me. Are you
satisfied now? or whether will you believe them or me?"

"I am satisfied, dear Bryan; I am more than satisfied; for my heart
is easy. Misfortune! what signifies mere misfortune, or the loss of a
beggarly farm?"

"But, my darling Kathleen, it is anything but a beggarly farm."

Kathleen, however, heard him not, but proceeded. "What signifies
poverty, Bryan, or struggle, so long as the heart is right, and the
conscience clear and without a spot? Nothing--oh, nothing! As God is to
judge me, I would rather beg my bread with you as an honest man, true,
as I said awhile ago, to your God and your religion, than have an estate
by your side, if you could prove false to either."

The vehemence with which she uttered these sentiments, and the fire
which animated her whole mind and manner, caused them to pause again,
and Bryan, to whom this high enthusiasm was perfectly new, now saw with
something like wonder, that the tears were flowing down her cheeks.

He caught her hand and said "My own darling Kathleen, the longer I know
you the more I see your value; but make your mind easy; when I become a
traitor to either God or my religion, you may renounce me!"

"Don't be surprised at these tears, Bryan; don't, my dear Bryan; for you
may look upon them as a proof of how much I love you, and what I would
feel if the man I love should do anything unworthy, or treacherous, to
his religion or his suffering country."

"How could I," he replied, "with my own dear Kathleen, that will be a
guardian angel to me, to advise and guide me? Well, now that your mind
is aisy, Kathleen, mine I think is brighter, too. I have no doubt but
we'll be happy yet--at least I trust in God we will. Who knows but
everything may prove betther than our expectations; and as you say, they
may make a poor man of me, and ruin me, but so long as I can keep my
good name, and am true to my country, and my God, I can never complain."

CHAPTER XVII.--Interview between Hycy and Finigan

--The Former Propones for Miss Clinton--A love Scene

Hycy, after his conversation with Bryan M'Mahon, felt satisfied that he
had removed all possible suspicion from himself, but at the same time he
ransacked his mind in order to try who it was that had betrayed him to
Bryan. The Hogans he had no r