but the bequest is in volved in legal disputes and pending them the work has stopped so that like many other great undertakings in america even this is rather going to be done out of those days than doing now


in the outskirts stands a great prison called the eastern penitentiary conducted on a plan peculiar to the state of pennsyl vania


the system here is rigid strict and hopeless solitary confinement


i be lieve it in its effects to be cruel and wrong


in its intention i am well convinced that it is kind humane and meant for refor mation but i am persuaded that those who devised this system of prison disci pline and those benevolent gentlemen who carry it into execution do not know what it is that they are doing


i believe that very few men are capable of estimating the immense amount of torture and agony which this dreadful punishment prolonged for years inflicts upon the sufferers and in guessing at it myself and in reasoning from what i have seen written upon their faces and what to my certain knowledge they feel within i am only the more con vinced that there is a depth of terrible endurance in it which none but the suffer ers themselves can fathom and which no man has a right to inflict upon his fellow creature


i hold this slow and daily tam pering with the mysteries of the brain to be immeasurably worse than any tor ture of the body and because its ghastly signs and tokens are not so palpable to the eye and sense of touch as scars upon the flesh because its wounds are not upon the surface and it extorts few cries that human ears can hear therefore i the more denounce it as a secret punishment which slumbering humanity is not roused up to stay


i hesitated once debating with myself whether if i had the power of saying yes or no i would allow it to be tried in cer tain cases where the terms of imprison ment where short but now i solemnly declare that with no rewards or honours could i walk a happy man beneath the open sky by day or lie me down upon my bed at night with the consciousness that one human creature for any length of time no matter what lay suffering this unknown punishment in his silent cell and i the cause or i consenting to it in the least de gree


i was accompanied to this prison by two gentlemen officially connected with its ma nagement and passed the day in going from cell to cell and talking with the in mates


every facility was afforded me that the utmost courtesy could suggest


nothing was concealed or hidden from my view and every piece of information that i sought was openly and frankly given


the perfect order of the building cannot be praised too highly and of the excellent motives of all who are immediately con cerned in the administration of the system there can be no kind of question


between the body of the prison and the outer wall there is a spacious garden


entering it by a wicket in the massive gate we pursued the path before us to its other termination and passed into a large chamber from which seven long passages radiate


on either side of each is a long long row of low cell doors with a certain number over every one


above a gallery of cells like those below except that they have no narrow yard attached as those in the ground tier have and are somewhat smaller


the possession of two of these is supposed to compensate for the absence of so much air and exercise as can be had in the dull strip attached to each of the others in an hours time every day and therefore every prisoner in this upper story has two cells adjoining and commu nicating with each other


standing at the central point and look ing down these dreary passages the dull repose and quiet that prevails is awful


occasionally there is a drowsy sound from some lone weavers shuttle or shoemakers last but it is stifled by the thick walls and heavy dungeondoor and only serves ts make the general stillness more pro found


over the head and face of every prisoner who comes into this melancholy house a black hood is drawn and in this dark shroud an emblem of the curtain dropped between him and the living world he is led to his cell from which he never again comes forth until his whole term of imprisonment has expired


he never hears of wife or children home or friends the life or death of any single creature


he sees the prison officers but with that exception he never looks upon a human countenance or hears a human voice


he is a man buried alive to be dug out in the slow round of years and in the mean time dead to everything but torturing anxieties and horrible despair


his name and crime and term of suf fering are unknown even to the officer who delivers him his daily food


there is a number over his cell door and in a book of which the governor of the prison has one copy and the moral instructor another this is the index to his history


beyond these pages the prison has no record of his existence and though he live to be in the same cell ten weary years he has no means of knowing down to the very last hour in what part of the build ing it is situated what kind of men there are about him whether in the long winter nights there are living people near or he is in some lonely corner of the great jail with walls and passages and iron doors between him and the nearest sharer in its solitary horrors


every cell has double doors the outer one of sturdy oak the other of grated iron wherein there is a trap through which his food is handed


he has a bible and a slate and pencil and under certain restrictions has sometimes other books provided for the purpose and pen and ink and paper


his razor plate can and basin hang upon the wall or shine upon the little shelf


fresh water is laid on in every cell and he can draw it at his plea sure


during the day his bedstead turns up against the wall and leaves more space for him to work in


his loom or bench or wheel is there and there he labours sleeps and wakes and counts the seasons as they change and grows old


the first man i saw was seated at his loom at work


he had been there six years and was to remain i think three more


he had been convicted as a re ceiver of stolen goods but even after this long imprisonment denied his guilt and said he had been hardly dealt by


it was his second offence


he stopped his work when we went in took off his spectacles and answered freely to everything that was said to him but always with a strange kind of pause first and in a low thoughtful voice


he wore a paper hat of his own making and was pleased to have it noticed and com mended


he had very ingeniously manu factured a sort of dutch clock from some disregarded odds and ends and his vinegar bottle served for the pendulum


seeing me interested in this contrivance he looked up at it with a great deal of pride and said that he had been thinking of improving it and that he hoped the ham mer and a little piece of broken glass be side it would play music before long


he had extracted some colours from the yarn with which he worked and painted a few poor figures on the wall one of a female over the door he called the lady of the lake


he smiled as i looked at these con trivances to wile away the time but when i looked from them to him i saw that his lip trembled and could have counted the beating of his heart


i forget how it came about but some allusion was made to his having a wife


he shook his head at the word turned aside and covered his face with his hands


but you are resigned now said one of the gentlemen after a short pause during which he had resumed his former manner


he answered with a sigh that seemed quite reckless in its hopelessness


oh yes oh yes


i am resigned to it


and are a better man you think


well i hope so i am sure i hope i may be and time goes pretty quickly


time is very long gentle men within these four walls


he gazed about himheaven only knows how wearily


as he said these words and in the act of doing so fell into a strange stare as if he had forgotten something


a moment afterwards he sighed heavily put on his spectacles and went about his work again


in another cell there was a german sentenced to five years imprisonment for larceny two of which had just expired


with colours procured in the same manner he had painted every inch of the walls and ceiling quite beautfully


he had laid out the few feet of ground behind with ex quisite neatness and had made a little bed in the centre that looked by the bye like a grave


the taste and ingenuity he had displayed in everything were most extra ordinary and yet a more dejected heart broken wretched creature it would be difficult to imagine


i never saw such a picture of forlorn affliction and distress of mind


my heart bled for him and when the tears ran down his cheek and he took one of his visitors aside to ask with his trembling hands nervously clutching at his coat to detain him whether there was no hope of his dismal sentence being com muted the spectacle was really too painful to witness


i never saw or heard of any kind of misery that impressed me more than the wretchedness of this man


in a third cell was a tall strong black a burglar working at his proper trade of making screws and the like


his time was nearly out


he was not only a very dexterous thief but was notorious for his boldness and hardihood and for the num ber of his previous convictions


he en tertained us with a long account of his achievements which he narrated with such infinite relish that he actually seemed to lick his lips as he told us racy anec dotes of stolen plate and of old ladies whom he had watched as they sat at win dows in silver spectacles he had plainly had an eye to their metal even from the other side of the street and had after wards robbed


this fellow upon the slightest encouragement would have min gled with his professional recollections the most detestable cant but i am very much mistaken if he could have surpassed the unmitigated hypocrisy with which he declared that he blessed the day on which he came into that prison and that he would never commit another robbery as long as he lived


there was one man who was allowed as an indulgence to keep rabbits


his room baring rather a close smell in con sequence they called to him at the door to come out into the passage


he com plied of course and stood shaking his haggard face in the unwonted sunlight of the great window looking as wan and un earthly as if he had been summoned from the grave


he had a white rabbit in his breast and when the little creature getting down upon the ground stole back into the cell and he being dismissed crept timidly after it i thought it would have been very hard to say in what respect the man was the nobler animal of the two


there was an english thief who had been there but a few days out of seven years a villanous lowbrowed thinlipped fellow with a white face who had as yet no relish for visitors and who but for the additional penalty would have gladly stabbed me with his shoemakers knife


there was another german who had entered the jail but yesterday and who started from his bed when we looked in and pleaded in his broken english very hard for work


there was a poet who after doing two days work in every four andtwenty hours one for himself and one for the prison wrote verses about ships he was by trade a mariner and the maddening wine cup and his friends at home


there were very many of them


some reddened at the sight of visitors and some turned pale


some two or three had prisoner nurses with them for they were very sick and one a fat old negro whose leg had been taken off within the jail had for his attendant a classical scholar and an accomplished surgeon him self a prisoner likewise


sitting upon the stairs engaged in some slight work was a pretty coloured boy


is there no refuge for young criminals in philadelphia then said i yes but only for white children


noble aristocracy in crime


there was a sailor who had been there upwards of eleven years and who in a few months time would be free


eleven years of solitary confinement


i am very glad to hear your time is nearly out


what does he say


nothing


why does he stare at his hands and pick the flesh upon his fingers and raise his eyes for an instant every now and then to those bare walls which have seen his head turn grey


it is a way he has sometimes


does he never look men in the face and does he always pluck at those hands of his as though he were bent on parting skin and bone


it is his humour nothing more


it is his humour too to say that he does not look forward to going out that he is not glad the time is drawing near that he did look forward to it once but that was very long ago that he has lost all care for everything


it is his humour to be a helpless crushed and broken man


and heaven be his witness that he has his humour thoroughly gratified


there were three young women in ad joining cells all convicted at the same time of a conspiracy to rob their prosecu tor


in the silence and solitude of their lives they had grown to be quite beautiful


their looks were very sad and might have moved the sternest visitors to tears but not to that kind of sorrow which the con templation of the men awakens


one was a young girl not twenty as i recol lect whose snowwhite room was hung with the work of some former prisoner and upon whose downcast face the sun in all its splendour shone down through the high chink in the wall where one narrow strip of bright blue sky was visible


she was very penitent and quiet had come to be resigned she said and i believe her and had a mind at peace


in a word you are happy here said one of my com panions


she struggledshe did struggle very hardto answer yes but raising her eyes and meeting that glimpse of free dom overhead she burst into tears and said she tried to be she uttered no complaint but it was natural that she should sometimes long to go out of that one cell she could not help that she sobbed poor thing


i went from cell to cell that day and every face i saw or word i heard or in cident i noted is present to my mind in all its painfulness


but let me pass them by for one more pleasant glance of a prison on the same plan which i after wards saw at pittsburgh


when i had gone over that in the same manner i asked the governor if he had any person in his charge who was shortly going out


he had one he said whose time was up next day but he had only been a prisoner two years


two years


i looked back through two years in my own lifeout of jail prosperous happy surrounded by blessings comforts and good fortuneand thought how wide a a gap it was and how long those two years passed in solitary captivity would have been


i have the face of this man who was going to be released next day before me now


it is almost memorable in its happiness than the other faces in their misery


how easy and how natural it was for him to say that the system was a good one and that the time went pretty quickcon sidering and that when a man once felt he had offended the law and must satisfy it he got along somehow and so forth


what did he call you back to say to you in that strange flutter


i asked of my conductor when he had locked the door and joined me in the passage


oh


that he was afraid the soles of his boots were not fit for walking as they were a good deal worn when he came in and that he would thank me very much to have them mended ready


those boots had been taken off his feet and put away with the rest of his clothes two years before


i took that opportunity of inquiring how they conducted themselves imme diately before going out adding that i pre sumed they trembled very much


well it not so much a trembling was the answer though they do quiver as a complete derangement of the nervous system


they cant sign their names to the book sometimes cant even hold the pen look about em without ap pearing to know why or where they are and sometimes get up and sit down again twenty times in a minute


this is when theyre in the office where they are taken with the hood on as they were brought in


when they get outside the gate they stop and look first one way and then the other not knowing which to take


sometimes they stagger as if they were drunk and sometimes are forced to lean against the fence theyre so bad but they clear off in course of time


as i walked among these solitary cells and looked at the faces of the men within them i tried to picture to myself the thoughts and feelings natural to their con dition


i imagined the hood just taken off and the scene of their captivity dis closed to them in all its dismal monotony


at first the man is stunned


his con finement is a hideous vision and his old life a reality


he throws himself upon his bed and lies there abandoned to despair


by degrees the insupportable solitude and barrenness of the place rouses him from this stupor and when the trap in his grated door is opened he humbly begs and prays for work


give me some work to do or i shall go raving mad


he has it and by fits and starts ap plies himself to labour but every now and then there comes upon him a burning sense of the years that must be wasted in that stone coffin and an agony so piercing in the recollection of those who are hidden from his view and knowledge that he starts from his seat and striding up and down the narrow room with both hands clasped on his unlifted head hears spirits tempting him to beat his brains out on the wall


again he falls upon his bed and lies there moaning


suddenly he starts up wondering whether any other man is near whether there is another cell like that on either side of him and listens keenly


there is no sound but other prisoners may be neat for all that


he remembers to have heard once when he little thought of coming here himself that the cells were so constructed that the prisoners could not hear each other though the officers could hear them


where is the nearest man upon the right r on the left


or is there one in both directions


where is he sit


ting nowwith his face to the light


or is he walking to and fro


how is he dressed


has he been here long


is he much worn away


is he very white and spec trelike


does he think of his neighbour too


scarcely venturing to breathe and lis tening while he thinks he conjures up a figure with its back towards him and ima gines it moving about in this next cell


he has no idea of the face but he is certain of the dark form of a stooping man


in the cell upon the other side he puts another figure whose face is hidden from him also


day after day and often when he wakes up in the middle of the night he thinks of these two men until he is almost distracted he never changes them


there they are always as he first imagined theman old man on the right a younger man upon the leftwhose hidden features torture him to death and have a mystery that makes him terrible


the weary days pass on with solemn pace like mourners at a funeral and slowly he begins to feel that the white walls of the cell have something dreadful in them that there colour is terrible that their smooth surface chills his blood that there is one hateful corner which torments him


every morning when he wakes he hides his face beneath the coverlet and shudders to see the ghastly ceiling looking down upon him


the blessed light of day itself peeps in an ugly phantom face through the unchangeable crevice which is his pri son window


by slow but sure degrees the terrors of that hateful corner swell until they be set him at all times invade his rest make his dreams hideous and his nights dreadful


at first he took a strange dislike to it feeling as though it gave birth in his brain to something of corres ponding shape which ought not to be there and racked his head with pains


then he began to fear it then to dream of it and of men whispering its name and pointing to it


then he could not bear to look at it nor yet to turn his back upon it


now it is every night the lurking place of a ghost a shadow a silent some thing horrible to see but whether bird or beast r muffled human shape he can not tell


when he is in his cell by day he fears the little yard without


when he is in the yard he dreads to reenter the cell


when night comes there stands the phan tom in the corner


if he have the courage to stand in its place and drive it out he had once being desperate it broods upon his bed


in the twilight and always at the same hour a voice calls to him by name as the darkness thickens his loom begins to live and even that his comfort is a hideous figure watching him till day break


again by slow degrees these horrible fancies depart from him one by one re turning sometimes unexpectedly but at longer intervals and in less alarming shapes


he has talked upon religious matters with the gentleman who visits him and has read his bible and his written a prayer upon his slate and hung it up as a kind of protection and an assu ranee of heavenly companionship


he dreams now sometimes of his children r his wife but is sure they are dead or have deserted him


he is easily moved to ters is gentle submissive and bro


kenspirited


occasionally the old agony comes back a very little thing revives it even a familiar sound r the scent of summer flowers in the air but it does not last long now for the world without has come to be the vision and this soli tary life the sad reality


if his term of imprisonment be short i mean comparatively for short it cannot bethe last half year is almost worse than all for then he thinks the prison will take fire and he be burnt in the ruins or that he is doomed to die within the walls or that he will be detained on some false charge and sentenced for another term or that something no matter what must happen to prevent his going at large


and this is natural and impossible to be rea soned against because after his long se paration from human life and his great suffering any event will appear to him more probable in the contemplation than the being restored to liberty and his fellow creatures


if his period of confinement have been very long the prospect of release be wilders and confuses him


his broken heart may flutter for a moment when he thinks of the world outside and what it thinks have been to him in all those lonely years but that is all


the celldoor has been closed too long on all its hopes and cares


better to have hanged him in the beginning than bring him to this pass and send him forth to mingle with his kind who are his kind no more


on the haggard face of every man among these prisoners the same expression sat


i know not what to liken it to


it had something of that strained attention which we see upon the faces of the blind and deaf mingled with a kind of horror as though they had all been secretly terri fied


in every little chamber that i en tered and at every grate through which i looked i seemed to see the appalling countenance


it lives in my memory with the fascination of a remarkable picture


parade before my eyes a hundred men with one among them newly released from this solitary suffering and i would point him out


the faces of the women as i hive said it humanizes and refines


whether this be because of their better nature which be elicited in solitude or because of their being gentler creatures of greater patience and longer suffering i do not know but so it is


that the punishment is never theless to my thinking fully as cruel and as wrong in then case as in that of the men i need scarcely add


my firm conviction is that independent of the mental anguish it occasionsan anguish so acute and so tremendous that all imagination of it must fall far short of the realityit wears the mind into a mor bid state which renders it unfit for the rough contact and busy action of the world


it is my fixed opinion that those who have undergone this punishment must pass into society again morally un healthy and diseased


there are many instances on record of men who have chosen or have been condemned to lives of perfect solitude but i scarcely re member one even among sages of strong and vigorous intellect where its effect has not become apparent in some dis ordered train of thought or some gloomy hallucination


what monstrous phan toms bred of despondency and doubt and born and reared in solitude have stalked upon the earth making creation ugly and darkening the face of heaven


suicides are rare among these prisoners are almost indeed unknown


but no argument in favour of the system can reasonably be deduced from this circum stance although it is very often urged


all men who have made diseases of the mind their study know perfectly well that such extreme depression and despair as will change the whole character and beat down all its powers of elasticity and selfresistance may be at work within a man and yet stop short of selfdestruction


this is a common case


that it makes the senses dull and by degrees impairs the bodily faculties i am quite sure


i remarked to those who were with me in this very establishment at philadelphia that the criminals who had been there long were deaf


they who were in the habit of seeing these men con stantly were perfectly amazed at the idea which they regarded as groundless and fancifu


and yet the very first prisoner to whom they appealedone of then own selectionconfirmed my impression which was unknown to him instantly and said with a genuine air it was impossible to doubt that he couldnt think how it hap pened but he was growing very dull of hearing


that it is a singularly unequal punishment and affects the worst man least there is no doubt


in its superior efficiency as a means of reformation compiled with that other code of regulations which allows the prisoners to work in company without communicating together i have not the smallest faith


all the instances of refor mation that were mentioned to me were of a kind that might have beenand


i have no doubt whatever in my own mind would have beenequally well brought about by the silent system with regard to such men as the negro burglar and the english thief even the most enthusiastic have scarcely any hope of their conversion


it seems to me that the objection that nothing wholesome or good has ever had its growth in such unnatural solitude and that even a dog or any of the more intelli gent among the beasts would pine and mope and rust away beneath its influ ence would be in itself a sufficient ar gument against this system


but when we recollect in addition how very cruel and severe it is and that a solitary life is always liable to peculiar and distinct ob jections of a most deplorable nature which have arisen here and call to mind more over that the choice is not between this system and a bad or illconsidered one but


between it and another which has worked well and is in its whole design and practice excellent there is surely more than sufficient reason for abandon ng a mode of punishment attended by so little hope or promise and fraught beyond dispute with such a host of evils


as a relief to its contemplation i will close this chapter with a curious story arising out of the same theme which was related to me on the occasion of this visit by some of the gentlemen concerned


at one of the periodical meetings of the inspectors of this prison a working man of philadelphia presented himself before the board and earnestly requested to be placed in solitary confinement


on being asked what motive could possibly prompt him to make this strange demand he answered that he had an irresistible propensity to get drunk that he was constantly indulgng it to his great misery and ruin that he had no power of re sistance that he wished to be put be yond the reach of temptation and that he could think of no better way than this


it was pointed out to him in reply that the prison was for criminals who had been tried and sentenced by the law and could not be made available for any such fanciful purposes he was exhorted to abstain from intoxicating drinks as he surely might if he would and received other very good advice with which he re tired exceedingly dissatisfied with the re sult of his application


he came again and again and again and was so very earnest and importunate that at last they took counsel together and said he will certainly qualify him self for admission if we reject him any more


let us shut him up


he will soon be glad to go away and then we shall get rid of him


so they made him sign a statement which would prevent his ever sustaining an action for false imprisonment to the effect that his incarceration was voluntary and of his own seeking they requested him to take notice that the officer in attendance had orders to release him at any hour of the day or night when he might knock upon his door for that purpose but desired him to understand that once going out he would not be ad mitted any more


these conditions agreed upon and he still remaining in the same mind he was conducted to the prison and shut up in one of the cells


in this cell the man who had not the firmness to leave a glass of liquor standing untasted on a table before himin this cell in solitary confinement and working every day at his trade of shoemaking this man remained nearly two years


his health beginning to fail at the expiration of that time the surgeon recommended that he should work occasionally in the garden and as he liked the notion very much he went about this new occupation with great cheerfulness


he was digging here one summer day very industriously when the wicket in the outer gate chanced to be left open show ing beyond the well remembered dusty road and sunburnt fields


the way was as free to him as to any man living but he no sooner raised his head and caught sight of it all shining in the light than with the involuntary instinct of a prisoner he cast away his spade scampered off as fast as his legs could carry him and never once looked back


saturday night and sunday noon at sea


concluded from our leut


thus said tbo royor to liis gallant crew tjp with the black najr down with the blue


sea song cnapter il sunday noon


s the breeze during the night continued strong and steady saucy sally having put her best foot foremost made a good leer durintr the last twelve hours of


her career


at aayugnt one soiuury b seen far away on the lee quarter one of our impatient consorts doubtless of the lateral in her head was turned in a like direction with our own yet she did not like us appear to be quite so anxious to make up for lost time


at all events she did not show anything like the quantity of drapery wherewith saucy sally was invested


propably her captain was paid htj tlie month and felt no pressing induce nient to urge him home


whatever the motive the stranger was under easy sail whilsfsaucy isally was bowling cheerily along under a superfluity of muslin every thing being stopated well up and her sails standing like boards


the joyous party of saturday night had again assembled and done justice to their ample matutinal fare


order and regularity were every where observable and crew and passengers prepared to do reverence to that day whose command to be kept holy tyas scrupulously adhered to by the excellent commander


the main deck awning was spread the capstan garnished with the glorious banner of albion was fitted to do duty for pulpit


as if in reference of the sacred rites the breeze hitherto afresh one died away to a gentle air propelling the floating sanc luarysome two knots through the water


saucy sally sported royalsand skysails with the lower foretop mast and foretop gallant studding satis braced just so far forward as to be cleverly full on the star board tack


we bad cairied the south east trade a long way across the equator being at the moment of which


i now treat


sunday th may in lati tude north longitude west


just as we were preparing to commence service we passed close by the heel of a topmast


it was covered with barnacles and was attended by three large boneta anda superb dolphin which for a brief space paid their respects to our ship ultimately however returning to the waveworn spar


what reflections this fragmcutof a ship tended to awaken was the loss of her mast her sole mishap or had the fated bark and her gallant band become the victims of the relentless deep


or worse far worse were they even then their goodly vessel stript of all her gay and lofty apparel driving a sheer hulk at the mercy of the elements no means left to gain the wishfdfor haven no hope again to list the muchloved voice of mother brother wife famine and thirst their consorts a fearful death their anticipated doom


was this trie destiny of her of the broken topmast


the ocean blabs no secrets


prayers had been said and macsawney was just about to commence blairs beau tiful discourse


on the disorders of the passions when bosy who was leaning now over the poop rail now casting a glance to leeward broke forth


i ax pardon captain but the stranger


ctaft has fetchedour wake set hisfore togant sail an is walkin up to ub like winky


what distance is he i asked mac sawney without moving muscle or fea ture


i can just make out the roach of his fore course as he rises to the swell


very good keep him in your eye and when


ive done service ill take a look at him thyself


never mind him gentlemen said the skipper with the utmost placidity to his passengers who thronged the side to catch a glimpse ol the stranger well ascertain who and what he is by and by


in the meantime let me beg your attention to the fate ol the envious haman which should prove a wholesome lesson to us all


how far macsawney benefited by the powerful discourse which he read with a clear aud earnest voice it would be difficult to tell but to judge by the lee ward looks of his auditors their thought


were at least divided and no sooner had the volume been closed than an eage rush towards the taffrail nsued


the captain after carefully replacing hi books and seeing the maindeck in it


usual position ascended the poop ladder followed by mr snuffle and odonoghue the breeze had still more subsided and the saucy sally drew he stately form lazily through the water


the strangers hull was now clearly dis cernible and instead of the scanty canvas which he had so lately shewn he had now packed every stitch that he could set which to expedite his junction h wa nost assiduously wetting


humph i ejaculated macsawney after a patient survey that fellows more anxious to speak us than lam to ex change communications with him


his actions seem suspicious to say the least and as its always best to be prepared why it may be just as well to load the waist guns these were two ineffective short ninepound gunnades with roun and canister and to send the small arm chest on deck


mr odonoghue see to my man


nivur fare sir responded the mat as an irishman invariably does nivu fareiir


arid away skipped odono fghue to execute his superiors command


gentlemen continued the captait in the quiet sententious manner whic characterized him in every emergency ive seen some of you turn up the nelb and albatrosses sharp and sure now as there may be worse hitcxlhan them comir up astern perhaps you would have no objection to a shot should they come beyond friendly hail


the hint sufficed


a general mw ensued and rifle and fowlingpiece we in instant requisition


when next returned to the deck i found the poop and maindeck awning furled the ship still continued her course but evci practicable arrangement had buen adopti for defence provided our perboverir pursuer meditated a hostile encounter


ay ay said macsawney rubbing his hands as he glanced complacently at be his mustering band this looks lifelike hi mr snuffle call the hands aft


the mate hastened to obey


my lads said the captain addressing is crew need not tell yod that the anceuvres of that fellow astern are some ting more than suspicious should he irn out to be the craft i doubt he is a nife at the throat or a walk of the plank i most likely to be our choice


now i aveno fancy for either alternative but m determined to fight the ship whilst one lank holds by another


you know


my lind lads so you that are jolly boys ill stand to it like trumps and you if lere be any such among you that feel ualmishaway with youto the coalhole


macsawney s oration was full as forcible s the most impressive harangue of the ionian cicero atleast it elicited as warm a response from his complacent uditors aho stood prepared to do his idding in


whatever manner might be re quired


thankee thankee my sons said the kipper noiv mipd me if this fellow neans mictiief the first thing hell do will le to order us to heave to


i shall obey iut mark me the moment the maintop ail is to the mast in stun sails and nainrpyiil and skysail cluelines vhatever chances there ean be no harm in ceeping the ship under easy working com nand


yon understand me my men


nd now as you value life have ready ars and willing hands


stations lads itations


by the time that these several disposi lions had been made the stranger a beautiful brig had approached within longgun shot


we that is officers and passengers were congregated upon the poopdeck in anticipationof momentarily receiving an iron summons to round to


this however did not appear to be part of the unknowns policy and whilst he was fast drawing ahead macsawney who carried on the duties of his ship as if she floated unquestioned mistress of the blue expanse ordered eight bells having taken the sun to be struck and invited his passengers to partake their customary meridian


they were in the act of de scending when bosy reported that the brig having given a broad iy aw to lee ward shewed spanish colors at her peak


these were scarcely set ere they were dipped in indication that it was their wish to speak to us


the atrocities which have degraded spains once imperial banner coupled with the rakish loom of the stranger and our proximity to the cape deverd islands the favorite resort of the lawless caused us to survey her with a curiosity in which apprehension was not slightly mingled


our doubts and fears were in course of speedy solu tion for the soiuisant spaniard had now lessened her distance to a couple of hundred yards


a more exquisite hull it was impossible to look upon long low and of exceeding beam the bow round as an apple with a cutwater sharp as a wedge from which projected a female figurehead of the most graceful propor tionsi every line was symmetry itself her bottom beautifully moulded her cop per bright as burnished gold and her run clean and fine as the heels of a racer in short the very model of what an eng lish noblemans yacht should be


her capacity might amount to some tons


the beauty of her hull was fully equalled by her gear aloft which was taunt taper ing and well set up her lower masts cleanscraped and brightvarnished with long heads painted white


she carried courses topsails with a slub reef to make them stand better top gallant sails fore topmast staysail jib boom mainsail a thundering ringtail foretoprmast and foretop gallant studding sails her royal yards were sent doivn and her flying jib boom housed all her yards were remark ably square her canvass well cut and it was impossible to surpass the light airy tracery of her taper masts with all their mazy lines of superincumbent cordage


as we approximated we gave the meteor flag to the breeze the spanish ensign still floating at her peak


the lovely craft was under perfect command and having drawn a little before our leebeam she immediately hailed ship ahoy


hallo responded macsawney


what ships that


the saucy sally


what brig that


the vomito prieto was the answer


where are you from


the cape of good hope


heave to heave to j ive intelli gence to communicate


ay ay sung out imac


cheerily my lads round in theweather main and topsail braces


foretap there


down to gallant stunsail in with big ben clap on the topmast stunsail downhaul


thats it


wlthia will men


so


o


man royal and skysailclue lines i u in a surpiiiinglyshort space the saucy sally was reduced to top and topgallant sails jib and spanker the foreand main course hanging in the brails


the vo mito prieto was still


under sail n al


though while our ship was obeying her injunctions she had hauled up so sharp in the wind as not only to deaden her way but to drop some short distance astern


perceiving our maintopsail to the mast he once more ranged within hailing distance


ship ahoy send a boat a board ol me dye hear i brig ahoy shouted mao


no boal of mine leaves this ship


if you hay anything to communicate sendyour owt boat


send your boat this instant sir or ill fire into you


blade away i sung out the imper turbable scotchman


down on th deck lads you shall pepper him ibj s and by


a pause ensued the vessels gradually separated j the vomito prieto hove to some sixty yards forward of the sally lee beam and without further ceremon exchanged the spanish ensign for th skull and marrowbones at this mo merit both vessels had nearly lost steerag way the wind having fallen dead calm


we must be guided by circumstances raid the enptain addressing us ll but no case must we allow them to obtain glfooting on our dcck


belter go to th bottom like men than be flung into like abgs


he will no doubt seek to board under cover of his long gun


let i try but don t i implore you throw ay a shot until each of you is sure of s man every one they lose adda to our ance of escape


the captain was right in his conjecture r scarcely had he ceased speaking ere e voinito apparently satisfied with re nnoitring launched both her quarter ats full of men


no sooner had they uched the water than they sent forth a lid yell to which as fitting accompani ent the roar of their long eighteen lened its deadly throat happily without ty material injury resulting


embold led by the nonreturn of fire the boats ter brief conference under the omitos stern commenced pulling mak g somewhat of a sweep apparently with ie design of assailing the saucy sally i either quarter


divide yourselves continued the atchful mac but above all be cool i steady


ah


heexclaimed rubbing is hands with great and suddenfglee it ould be a glorious chance ill try it by eorge at the worst it can but fail


look ivea hand or two ease off the weather id haul in the lee main braces theres a its paw aloft the ship already feels it id there will be more ere long


jump ft odonoghue take the wheel run the irate alongside and dye mind me let ery mothers son of you as he wishes to e kith and kin again pay the strictest ltention to my commands


circumstances had indeed altered the cotchmans plans


at the very moment e was endeavouring to give a warm recep on to the fiveandtwenty or thirty retches armed to the teeth fast approach ig in the pirates cutters at that very loment a light air swelled the saucy allys sails


like other tropical flaws this air was extremely partial and did not yet extend to the vomito which lay a lotionless log on the water


freshening in its course at length it struck the guilty brig but too late t to save her from the grappleof


the saucy


sally who was already speeding under its influence


wo minutes sufficed to lay her alongside but few more to pour her resistless crew upon the corsairs decks and whilst the main body battled the astonished ruffians one or two secured the helm and got the brig before the wind saucy sally bear ing her faithful company her passenger riflemen picking oft


the banditti witht surprising accuracy


discomfilted on every hand the survivors hurried below leaving their trophy in the sallys power


the boats meanwhile foiled almost in the moment of possession rowed with all the energy of despair but the breeze had once more set in strong and steady and both the saucy sally and vomito were dropping them fast


their maniac yells rent the air the water flashed under the fury of their strokes and the boats were urged onwards with a strength almost superhuman


at the moment when hope must have been all but dead within them the vomito suddenly hove up in the winds eye


could itbe


had the merchant man failed and were their comrades victors


they paused upon their oars joining company as if to ponder the course proper to be pursued


brief was the space permitted for consideration


a flash a stunning report and an iron shower sped its fatal flight dashing the splintered oars from their nerveless grasp scattering in one crash the dying and the dead with the shattered skiffs that bore them in ruined fragments upon the devouring deep


one instant and the welkin tang with the howl of despairing fiends another and nought was heard save the faint and passing struggle of mortal agony fearf ill but just retribution their own trusted weapons had been turned upon themselves and odonoghue by the mouth of their boasted lung tom had sped them unannealed to their account


let me bring my narrative to a close


what was to be done with the pirate prize and her surviving crew


it was impos sible for the saucy sally to spare hands to navigate her into port and as to suffer ing her escape it was not to be dreamt of


thieves law for thieves claw said the captain


these rascals even when they do fall into the hands of our cruisers and sorry am ito say the instances of late are more than rare toooften


es capethrough some curst old bailey boggle


now as it is n t the luck of every merchantman to catch a pirate and as im a warm advocate of good old practices why ill een try back to the times of blackboard and other worthies


theiefore a long rope and a short shrift the gangway or the foreysird arm


i leave those who sit at home at ease to decide how far the practice of macsawneys jeddart justice is correct


to my thinking were pirates strung up when and where taken the seas would be clearer of them and we storytellers be deprived of one very attractive theme


in the present instance to use the cant of some of cromwells roundheads phi itat arose and executed judgment


the main hatch was opened a portion of the hold was laid bare tackle and falls were lashed to the mainstay the heavy eigh teenpounder was swayed aloft the rope that suspended it was severed the gun fell head foremost crashing through the bottom of the beautiful but evil vomito prieto


the water rushed wildly in the captors withdrew


the corsairs were left to their doom and ocean speedily and for ever shrouded them and their crimes from the ken oi mortal eye


saucy sally encountered no further adventure but in due course droppet her anchor in the bosom of the silver thames


cnxptea ii


my daring enterprise wirti the opposition pack was not long in bcin known to my school fellows andnd rai ration and envy were pretty equally balanced


the only wonder is that none of the masters had yet heard of it howe er publicschoolboys aro rarely ungenerous and as many of them looked for a row in the same boat the quieter it waa kept tho better for them


once more ihad regained my proper position as tho great sporting authority of tho school


tho only appeal from my dictum was to hells lift and it was somewhat doubtful whether that universal respondent from the life of a racehorseto madama vestriss logs and back again from madames hge to the racehorses legs was quite a match for me


his knowledge might bc more varied but was it so accurate


in a word i might have been more learned like sapete better dressedlike collarn but i was moro distinguished in tho strict senso of the word than either tho ono or tho other of them


what do you think levesen


bnid martin caradoc as he rolled into my study


martin was not quito up with mo on sporting subjects but was most precociously fast


i think said i should like to go out hunting again on that bay pony of william sons


katesgot tho back so thats all up and old swipes has just given out to the sixth form that the princess and thcduchcssof aro coming hero next week on a visit of inspec tion on their way to lord birkenheads


tho old nob gives a public feed and tho charlicbury hounds meet on the lawn


what a lark it would be to go


only i suppose old iiwould on pol any fellow nbove the fourth


its difficult to say how far his infatuation might lead him


desidos you know caradoc thow dayl aro always slow days


this was rather a shot of mine nt that timo though ray experience proves it to have been rather a giod one


theres to bo n throne erected in the upper schools and you sixthform fellows aro to pre sent an a dd ross for i wooks more holidays which of course huh will be graciously j pleased to order and then all tho masters aro to j bo presented


fancy old tnpploton backing out of tho royal presence


and then buz hob son and tho rest of the prefects and then old j swipes himself in his doctors robes with tho lictors carrying a new birch and switching block will make his most profound salaam and invito the assembled magnates to n cold collntion


and wont they feed thats all


this was nows certainly


now i am by no means suro that i cared at that time about hunt


i ing for itself liked swaggering about it nnd j the consciousness that i represented the school in the huntingfield gave mo intense satisfaction


certainly too a moro daring project than a dny


with the charlicbury from birkenhead hall nu such an occasion as this had seldom entered tho j head of a charlicbury boy


what a thing to


talk about


but where to get tho pony


oh


i


i know fivo shillings in hand due tonn applo


woman it is true and a lnn of two raorewould i meet tho difficulty by securing the services of j the longesttailed animal in the town


ho had the advantage of being a grey which made him j very cheap at tho money


birkenhead hull was only seven miles off and he was only hired to see the meet


dress was the next consideration


white cord trousers are easily turned into white cord breeches but topboots are a stubborn sort of manufacture t the best of times brown paper or pink calico might do now but they did j not happen to be the fashionable color for tops i at that time


drap cloth or leather leggings must bo bought


ah i have it


a new pair of boots to go down in tho bill and a pair of moveable tops to them by a prospective pay ment for which aoftbawdcr was to be tho security


the suggestions of the devil are always acted upon


within a week boots breeches and an old frockcoat cut down to what i conceived to be a sporting length and in which i must huvo looked like a whipperin in mourning were safo cnouih at jemmy facers ready for n start where the gallant grey waa also to meet mo to tho truly great nothing is difficult and t at onco decided upon hoing regor the day be


fore ns well as tho day after in order to avoid suspicion


every position has its drawbacks


even a master of hounds is by no means unin terruptedly hilarious


mino ama tn the ahape of a blue pill and a black dose which i was obliged to swallow on the provious day and which nearly had the effect of making black white on tho second i was within un aco ol being too ill to go


never shone a finer morning than that of tho auspiciousday which i had selected for exhibit ing myself boforo tho potentates of ishirc fat birkenhead halltetout bf


bed


with a feverish impatience to bo off thc promises which


i renember to thia day


i got out of my bed


room safely and running thc gauntlet of last bell chapel and first lesson found myself at juininy


facers if getting out of school was no easy matter getting into tho white cords and moveable tops wa downright difficult


this arose by no means from tho closeness of tho fit


qui jit


sec i i might well have


exclaimed but for a


certain inadaptation of the buttons for tho button i bolos and a determination on thc part of thc tops not to join issue with tho breeches


tho longest lune has a turning and at laster tm ned iut


i cleared tho town and got by ton oclock or thereabouts to birkenhead hali


i was tl fond of breakfast as a hungry schoolboy could well he expected to be after a sharp ride and much


mental anxiety and wended my woy towards tho stable yard in fond anticipation of baromi of beef and firkins of beor


not so my humility was to bo rewarded was to go up highor thcro must havo boon a something about mo which i havo wholly lost for a gentle man who proved to bo the karl of birkenhead met me by the way and with honied words in vited me to breakfast


breakfast a hunt breakfast is a social meal i cannot say this appeared to bo so


the guests looked suspiciously nt ono nnotlo with or without reason and they only combined in i looking still more suspiciously nt me


ber lt h made her august appearance at om door bowed and attended by lier indies in waiting retired by another


champagne then loosed their tongues and in the anticipation of sport they forgot rae returned thc compliment uu der tho same genial influence it was not an easy matter to find onos horso


this was sufficiently difficult when you bad some previous acquaintance with the animal what must it liavo been io me


one thing i knew ho was groy


there were fwonty greys in tho crowd


he had a long tail so had many an one besides


this was a dilemma i never cal culated upon


at last i saw him i could have sworn to bim but even then i had to fight for him


a chailicbtiry artian rough of speecli and dirty of person claimed him for bis own


tho nffair had become serious it was now evi dently a questioner horse or no horse and i called a groom to tho rescue


i was at all events the cleanest so ho decided in my favor


i dare say ho expected


halfacrowa blessed aro they who expect nothing


little did ho know tho state of tho exchequer


however here i was at tho summit of my present ambi tion with a breakfast at birkenhead hall into the bargain


a fox was found soon as everything elso is when you know where to look for it and feel pretty certain now that ho had not been many manutes shaken from a bag into the laurel bushes


ho ran a ring and was killed beneath the car riage of ii


lt ii


tho princess in about five minutes


my career had been inglorious


with a wil ling heart rammed away across tho first field the lenco was a low rail and without attempt ing to rise we tumbled over it i was not daunted for i was a light weight then and bad full confidence in tho powers of any horse


tho second was an obstacle of less ttirmidablo na turea low gan in a broken hedge and a not impassable ditch on thc other sido


strange to say with full sails my galluut groy jumped into the ditch without any difficulty whatever and sent me neck and crop over his head


he had ono excellent qualitybc invariably got up again nnd stood purfeetly still one more fence remained to iutecept my view of tho death which was now taking pince in the field beyond


on wo gallopedand charging gallantly a muddy bank without altering our puce wo were ouce moro disposed of


on rising my natural cu riosity had i supposo been shaken to the top j and with enquiring eye i looked steadily at my i hunter


he was doubtless very good but ho i was stoneblind


i kept my own counsel for a week


sly vanity was not proof against longer concealmeut and i just as i was being raised uti sidera by my schoolfellows positively deifiol for my personal exertions in the canse of sport i found mysell on the roof of a fast coach travelling to london somowhit in advunco of tho natural holidays with nu announcement to my guardiani that my precocious talent for tho sports of tho field and my aristocratic tastes for the highest society in the land left mo nothing to learn at least al charliebury


it was decided to try oxfurd as a field mon fitted for my extended capacitylondon spurt inij hcvicxu


ulm unit foittftti


florence obrien


an irish tale continued vrom oue last


hext afternoon judith guliagher who had maintained a strict watch proclaimed to the ladies within the entrance of squire joyce into the town on horseback fol lowed by larry ryan also mounted and both bound for the cross keys to which rendezvous she pursued them with her eyes


and mighty beautiful the squire looks this same day mrs rooney maam


long life to him


and could he get a lady with a fortin now miss flory to take him out of the tearing hands of these dublin thiefs of lawyers and them rubbles father mike col lugues with and guide him and manage him and the demesne the sweetblooded soul that lie is in it there would be no fear of him yet for hes a jewel of a gentle man and always was


but will i have a raking pot of


tay ready for yourselves ladies when you come home from the ball


and if the squire get hearty after dinner as its natral enough on a patricks day devil a harm a hot


dish would do himself either mrs eooney maam


not empowered to reply


ucu wuienue was at last aressea lor this the most important ball of the season judith gallagher vowed upon her honour as a christian and that too in all sincerity that her own fosterchild was the most lovely creature that ever had walked upon munster ground and beautiful as she always was never had lookod half so lovely before since the day she entered the world


and all this i owe to my dress returned florence still adjusting her dress and smiling at the compliments of her old nurse which im afraid however suitable to my purse will scarcely pass muster among the foreign grandees tonight and your favourites the deans nieces


the


danes nieces sorrow be on the pride of em then


shew me a fitter or handsomer wear for an irish girl for a patricks day dance


and from the comb to the buckle genuine irish mttnnfnotnn


qi


ii


o


uumiuviuicj icciiia your owhpupty self


this was said as the proud nurse straightened and curved the plaits and folds of florences drapery with the fond hand which made her adjusting seem caresses not all wre irish manufacture said mrs ttooney wko liked to raisea female point of debate with the nurse and she pointed to the golden chains and green velvet fillet which confined and sustained the glossy braids and rich yet light curls of florences hair


oh cried the young lady we shall suppose those a relic of the days of malachi of the collar of gold to night i feel so very national that wish to look as irish as possible


and so you do darlin


and judy sung as she pinned and repinned srttpf nilfi rnett mat li


and yellow nas her liuir and so costly were therobos which this irish girl did arwear


malachis chains they must be and i think i remimber hearing the mhaister blest be


the place of his rest


oncet say so


and that boddice mrs kooney maam


you cannot go again that leingthe dublin weavers best green labinet with them rich deeppointlace drooping elbowcuffs and tucker of my own clearstarch


ing you cant deny to be irish maam


or at least long enough out of flanders to have be come so said florence laughing


and that full flowered white gauze skirt as thin as woven air as the ould bards sing in the ould irish sohs iot loo ong ei her florence jewel continued the nurse archly but all the better for dancing in von know bhewing them little willothewisps effect wit


bits of spanish leather slippers on them and the fennci buckles irish diamonds them you dont say fcaiu that mrs booney maam


mrs eoenev smiled and nodded assent


and the fine thread stockings of your own knitting mrs rooney and the linen chemy pure as the dew of my own spinning


is she not true irish manufacture


nay if you make an irish inventory and appraise ment of me from the shift or chemy as you call it outwards i must have done


my fan pray and go to bed judith and nurse your rheumatism for i have a notion that we shall be very late tonight


blessing on her thoughtful kindness of her poor ould nurse


but if i thought squire jack would attend the ould mistress home


well dont be displeased jewel nor bend the brows theres your fan and the green scarf


ay that way over the one shoulder and the laste little bit of the tother just peeping out by mistake och youre ft rorriifi


then


miss flnrv


lilcfi tlia ivnfpr lilv fram tho vm avliiw j ua


av vj tv uu iiultjl ajj j tausllk tlli green laves


well no more poethy judy cried florence you at least are a piece of pure irish manufacture


she disappeared following her chaperon


the st patricks day ball of portmullina was one of unusual brilliancy


it had attracted many of the leading families from the most distant parts of the neighbouring counties and towns and all the english ladies connected with the army and the church militant of that part of ireland


before florence and her friend entered the decorated room was filled with gay figures and the town dancing band were strenuouslyscraping away at the appro priate air of the night


the strain became bolder and more animated as their beautiful countrywoman she born among them iu whom the humblest citizen of portmullina took a fathers and a brothers pride


walked into the room with the step of a young queen


the fiddlers were mere fiddlers and moreotcr irish fid dlers and portmullina men and when squire jack fol lowed florence erin go bragh


burst as it were involuntarily from strings and bows und gave the first signal lor revolt


a military band trom


one ot the regi ments was also present and a young officer one of several now in attendance upon judy gallaghers favour ites the danes nieces stepped from the english group and petulantly commanded them to play the boyne water


florence felt her brow flush and her nerves tingle at this early and as it seemed premeditated insult to her party or as she thought to her country and her religion


she met the sympathetic glance


of squire joyce who stood near her though they had not exchanged words and as his eyes kindled and his cheeks glowed florence silently glided her arm through his as if to anchor him to her side and to check the passion about to blase forth


mrs rooney prudently ballasted the squire on the other arm and while a murmur of indignation circulated among the irish party florences friend major bertie hastily entered the ballroom and with a look of stern displeasure commanded the music to stop and the band to play god save the king this tune was played alternately with the irish national air


this was some sort of atonement to outraged irish feeling and in apologetic whispers to florence and her partv tjiiuf j rcu aj vi me raw insolent lad and giggling girls who had done a thing which every sensible englishman present condemned


he then re quested to be introduced to squire joyce which ceremony was daly performed by mrs rooney


florence had by this time relinquished the captive arm of the captivated squre and accepted that of her older and military ui um oiit was previously engageu to dance


pray let us keep together tonight as much as pos sible said bertie and convince those hotheaded fools around


us that the irish and english only require to know each other to become the best of friends the firmest and most faithful allies in the world


squire joyce could not choose but bow in asquiescence but it might be less cordially than if the proposition had emanated from any other man than the imagined favoured admirer of florence obrien


and why had she voluntarily taken his arm why clung to his side why so warmly sympathized in his roused feelings national and individual


why for a kvr seconds by looks and tones once again had she discovered that deep interest in bimself which her words her silence and her conduct disc aimed


in another woman the agitation of florence might have been imputed to fear to fear of quarrelling and all its disagreeable or fatal consequences fear per haps for the safety of her english admirer and upon this notion the squire ventured to say is impossible that florence obrien was hurried ino a little feminine alarm just now that she was almost afraid


it was cheering to hear squire jack trust his voice in her company at all and florence turned her kind bright face upon him


afraid j oh no


i have even the courage to avow and in a woman that is much that i never personally knew what fear was but i did fear just now lest we wild irish might suffer anger to make fools of us under the senseless provocation of that boy and those girls


the nieces of the orahge dean were at this moment passing with the young ensign who had excited the majors displeasure


the ball had not yet opened as our friends promenaded the room the disccurse following the starting note of florence turned upon female courage


courage in a woman was a quality which major bertie could not under stand or could not discriminate from the patient fortitude or the quiet unrepining endurance by which he acknow ledged so many women to be nobly distinguished


flo iww rae ior ner sex courage of a more active kind and affirmed that the same sentiment which leads the hindoo widow to mount the funeralrpile


would in other circumstances insure her to volunteer for a forlorn hope to board an enemys ship or go out to the field in vindi cation of her honour


from the grossness the brutality of personal strife and violence she admitted that thv ehcacy of a woman might recoil but yet without i quailing to mere danger


but while female cowardice remains a quality in esteem with you gentlemen con tinued florence because because may i say it


this flatters your selflove and love of mastery as many a man is exalted into a kind of hero by shame not a few women indeed all women must affect cowardice or


timidity as they gently name it or are led to do so to recommend themselves to your heroic protecting sex by their graceful helplessness and feminine terrors the pretty tremblers


will you strip us of our single virtue miss obrieh said the gallant major


worse than that i claim it for women and yet will not allow it to be a virtue at all or but a very secondary one


what more common now than the vulgar courage which makes a man go out to fight a due for any or every frivolous cause


the suicide is braver far


his act is voluntary and nine times in ten is fatal while your personal combats gentlemen


but lam venturing upon unforbidden ground


be assured however there is a far higher kind of courage than that of the duellist


yes higher as the mind transcends the body as truth error as the eternal the present i cannot she con tinued in a more different toue


perceive the courage of going out to fight


that i could do myself with entire composure were such rational appeals allowed to us women but there is a higher species of bravery active


and passive in which i fear the trial might find me woefully deficient high and irish as is my blood for i have had a womans cowardly training


after a protracted conversation in which major bertie and florence found it impossible to agree upon any satis factory definition of true courage and especially of womans courage florence was compelled to own that there was something in the lionport and indomitable spirit of a brave man which in spite of her commanded her ad miration


but as for womans courage she added i trust in heaven i shail never have an opportunity of proving to you now muun mguer man is or wliat mean by that


this was earnestly said and florence halfstarted at the deepdrawn involuntary sigh of squire john who had fixed his searching melancholy eyes upon her


the scene of her fathers death bed already present to her thoughts became more distinctly visible and the idea which had so long haunted her the half belief that john joyce participated in her dark mystery revived at this moment yet without the pain which had formerly accom


panied her terror of discovery for now she imagined that if one individual knew her secret he also sympathized in all her peculiar feelings the fracas attending the play ing of the party tunes had for some time kept back a por tion of the brilliant military and naval cortege which usually surrounded the beauty of portmullina when she appeared in public before it gathered in a triplering florence as if again terminating the more private conver sation she had been carrying on repeated shall despair major bertie of making you under stand in what womans courage rpite distinct from womans fortitude consists may have better fortune with mr joyce we both speak and understand irish the mute eloquence of squire joyces looks almost passionately acknowledged the kindness of this speech and as florence turned from him her halfvexed thought was nay john joyce too will imagine me a flirt knd a coquette a young woman notorious for levity accord ing to the report of dr fitzmaurice


i fancied i could have stood clear at least with him


the remarkable occasion upon which florence was to piuveuer woman s courage was much nearer than she could have forseen


sometimes of late she had dwelt upon the idea that her courage her proud humility might yet be shewn in the voluntary tender of her hand to her often rejected and sometimes scorned early lover could she but once again ascertain that he loved still and wera she indeed mistress of that noble russian fortune with which major bertie had alleged his old friend and her uncle had endowed her and which was the secret cause of that intimate intercourse and correspondence in which the world of portmnllina


saw matrimony as the best result


but from this contemplated act of courage her womanly pride and delicacy would assuredly have shrunk in despite of what florence called her better feelings and accident fate chance call it as we will at last achieved what with all her mental bravery and resolution florence could not have raised her little finger to accomp lish


for it gave her to the only man she had ever loved


and whom she now almost tenderly loved by a voluntary the dancing was about to commence and major ber tie led out his beautiful partner for whose sake he said he had renewed his dancing days while squire jovcc ranged in the back of the room listening in spite of himself to the conversation of two dowagers seated in front of him as in it the name of florence was minted


yes it is she the beauty of portmullina a very lovely girl more a very fine woman quite a wonder indeed m her sphere but poor thing


brought up in a strange wild way and her head turned with the admira tion and flattery of the crowd of men that always surround her it will be the greatest chance in the world that she escapes ruin censure she cannot escape


something must be ventured to catch a major re turned the deans lady to whom this was addressed aertie is evidently charmed but so


thorough a man of the world there is no calculating


lean hardly pardon him unless indeed his atten tions are meant tp shield the girl from worse mischief were but fair now that some one let miss obriens rriends know


that major bertie a widower as she must snowis id my certain knowledge and hasbeenf for ten years engaged to liis cousin lady mary bertie and only waits getting his regiment to marry her


v this conversation was as gall and wormwood to squire jack llor could he


help fancying that in her pparkling gaiety ami graceful abandon florence as she glided through tho daiice or stood in the centre of an admiring circle flashing around her smiles her wit her repartee in sallies of playful humour was vonturing too tar on forbidden ground and that she stepped out of her true place considering tho cold and censorious spirits around her


often had florence been grieved and angry with the squire but it whs now bis turn to be vexed and mortified with and for her


tho appearance of dr fitzmaurice whose late conversation florence still resented had probably stimulated her spleen or her vanity for from tho moment ho entered her behaviour had been inarkod by greater levity could florence but surmise one thousandth part of the base misconstruction to which her innocent gaiety and lightbeartedness lay her open in that frigid or vicious crowd of strangers from its oold women and corrupted men how her prido would lire


said tho priest to his friend mr joyce


that silly woman mrs illooney too is as incapable as an infant of understanding or managing her headstrong charge


guileleas as an overgrown baby herself and unsuspicious of all ill adoring florence and vquiteincapable of estimating the perils that surround her i know not what is to bo the consequence


this was bitterly said and s florence whirling past in the dance playfully brushed the frowning priest with her fan he exclaimed in irish will you degrade the womanhood cf your native land in the cold eyes of those saxons


florence stood for a moment as if transfixed ithen kissed her hand in mock reverence and danced on


the spell is upon her


cried fitzmanrico angrily and taking mr joyces arm they withdrew together to make a tour of the secondary apartments where the priests roused temper yielded after a time to the habitual sedative of the drowsy cardtables of be native dowagers


lale iiithe night mr


rooney departed quite hugging ber


self upon the matronly manoeuvre of consigning florence who rdeclared aloud she had not danced half enough to the care of squire joyce to whom she offered a bed as every public house of


entertainment in


the town was filled to overflow


she good


ady was the more clear in this sly arrangement as florence had tthat morning declared to her in sober earnest that she no more t thought of marrying major bertie than her grandfather and moreover that he was an engaged worthy honourable elderly gentleman who liked her and whom she liked and that was all


mrs rooney hod in her usual fashion cried for joy and relieved herself by whispering mysteriously or prophetically to judy gall


agher about some impending great event that would make her heart dance before midsummer eve


as soon as mrs rooney returned home judith set out for the billroom


partly to obtain a sight of so much fine company or their fine dresses which object had drawn together half the humbler womanity of portmullina but much more to bee her filigant darling lady dance with jack joyce


many changes as we have intimated had taken place in this neighbourhood since the days in which judith and her gossips riinder the decent pretext of carrying cloaks and


shawls for their ladies had been connived at in witnessing wo may say in sharing the public amusements


many was the time and oft judith rowed f that the late squire pearce and the young bucks of that day had given herself


and her likes a round of the flure while their mistresses were equipping themselves in caleches and pattens and clean heels had the lasses


shewn


to forbid the attendant girls the use of r their ears at a concert or of their eyes at a ball or a play was a monstrous innovation made in the true cold english spirit of exclusivim and her munster blood and spirit as an irish nme


fired at the rude repulse of the strange doorkeeper for in portmullina everything was become strange to her strange faces and


strange ways upon all of which judith angrily expatiated to the bystanders


she however prudently determined to wait until the company dispersed as whatever mrs rooney might have arranged florence was just as likely to overset the plan if the whim struck her and these were not times to let young jlrish girls be gallanting alone at all hours with foreign sodger officers like the danes light nieces and such flirts


the crowd became more dense around the door of the ballroom


carriages were fast drawing up to convey the company home and tie music and dancing waxed louder and merrier as the night wore on


one adventurous boy the brother of larry ryan had climbed up to a balcony and thus gained a window opened for fresh air which commanded the interior of tho ballroom


from time to time he gaily announced to the groups below what was going on within


there was a throng dance on the flure he said


the danes nieces were in it and miss nelly stampmaster at heel and toe and cover the buckle and a devils dozen or more other ladies and florence damescourt the jewel of all


it was in this manner the numerous lady obriens in the town were distinguished from each other


long life to her


the boy rapturous cheer to the unconscious object of his enthusiastic admiration was caught up and loudly reechoed by the crowd below and long life to the beauty of portmullina and squire joyce became a kind of warcry which in a few seconds was met with down with the croppies


there wa now a very flattering


prospect of a delightful row and skrivimagc when a suddon stillness and then a rush was heard overhead


the dancing stopped all at once though the music played on for some time and the boy above alluded to when eagerly interrogated shouted down that half the ladies had beeu kilt dead in a moment iu tho dance had run off hurryscurry and all within was confusion


ever a docthor or n midwife among ye down there judy gallagher was hi next exolamation and in the same instant the company rushed out pellmell every young lady trying which hould first reach the street or the lobbies and gentlemen following without hats to afford assistance


as all ceremony and order were forgotten the company had disappeared in a twinkling and squire joyce next came forward


bearing what appeared the lifeless body of florence obrien


judith with a wild deathshriek flew to her child the door of a sideroom was thrown open by major bertie and the squire entered with his lifeless burthen followed by dr fitzmauriee surgeon harrison and one or two gentlemen who had gained admission lteforo the major oould fasten the door


what is it all about asked twenty voices in the passages


and on the stairs ox in the streets


one might fancy the rooms on fire


tffis had been the very question which squire joyce waiting in a cardroom that he might at least offer to v attend florence home had put but five minutes before to his bdrvant lawrence ryan


no great matter troth larry had replied doggedly with a feeling of ancient grudge towards the young lady wlio had pro samed to slight his jewel of a mhaister


no great matter in trouth only somo one of the yonug iadies above the silly oratura being in the family way it seems danced more than was good for her and so and so all the women the ladies i iniirio ate running off and screeching like wild thingb as if the i like wa never heard of at a ball afore and sure such a place for a cryingout is but rarely chosen in culd ireland at any rate


but devil a crying among them they are too cunning entirely for that all off together like a hive of bees save herself


florence


miss obrien


cried tho half petrified gentle man while his eyes glared upon the cool speaker


ocb sorrow care and if it should beliersolf pride will have a full returned larry very coolly


vshe is from faint to faint in the hands of them redcoats she liked


so well


miserable cratur that she is


to bring shame on her name and her country


but they will take good care of her so hould yourself asy squire


shall i saddle your honours horso now


or do you take a bed with dr eitemaurice


never had the unhappy joyce felt as at this moment


the hand he had raised to knock down the man before him fell as if paralyzed by his side but rage love hate jealousy were struggling like furies in his breast in which had kindled with the maddening thirst of blood the desire to do murder upon himself florence all mankind


he rushed to the now deserted ballroom where the lights had already been nearly all extinguished as if to conseal the scene at which every one hinted but upon which no one could or would speak save the servants in mysterious whispers


major bertie who when every woman fled save herself had caught the sinking powerless florence still humanely sustained her while the bystanders remained silent or aghast


though she lay like one dead the familiar voice and tho wild tone of her earliest friend penetrated her ear


sho raised herself with a convulsive motion and bursting from her position at once precipitated herself into his arms clinging to him with a frantic grasp and exclaiming you are come at last


oh what strange horror is around me


and she stared wildly round on the dimseen faces


not one woman left


and then with a rapid change of voice and expression of face sho continued more firml releasing joyce from her first grasp but still holding by his sleeve


i remember it all now i


what dreadful weakness is this for me the bold the boastful


me of all those women to sink under such feelings


i am sick to death again


but leave ine not nnd take me not hence


i am dying but if you ever loved me


oh by the love you bear ray fathers memory i now entreat you clear m fame


take me not hence strip me naked expose mo to the eyes of those strangers but lot not shame nor doubt rest on the name of one who loved you more than she durst think of


with this preternatural this frenzied effort florence foil into convulsions which terminated in the dead faint during which she had by the directions of surgeon harrison beeu removed from the hot exhausted air of the tallroom


squire joyce dreadfully agitated and bowildered but with a crushing load off hia spirits would at once have carried her home or into dr fitzmaurices house which was quite at hand


but the reverend doctor already inexpressibly relieved now wiped tho cold perspiration from his brow and said no no her own admirable sense and spirit have saved her


and looking round to the englishmen he added bitterly and in the genuine spirit of a partisan the papist woman must not be smuggled off to have her frailty concealed by her confessor


there is guilt or frailty hidden somewhere


i wish to criminate no one but florence obrien shall have the benefit of the open ordeal she has craved


it is well the defaulter has escaped said major bertie on my honour i never imagined this was she


strongly as appear ances have been against her


yes


her own admirable presence minu


nas saveu ner


id is ny ner own command ancl sne shall not leave this save at her own desire


she shall have fair play were her acquittal the condemnation not of my country woman alone but of my only daughter


the irish priest bowed to the english soldier as if he under stood and sympathized in his honourable feelings


in the meanwhile smellingbottles cold water and all the ordinary appliances were in requisition under the direction of dr harrison and judith so far controlled herself as not even to sob or stream while she assisted hin


florence was again recovering the fugitive blood was revisit ing her lips and colouring her bosom


the closed eyelids faintly trembled


how beautiful she looked even now to the silent re spectful gazers


the surgeon motioned them farther back for now she halfopened bar eyea but again remembered all that had passed and shivered through evary articulation of her frame as sho clasped the wrist of mr joyce as if to hold him near her


compose yourself my dear madam whispered tho surgeon soothingly


only friends are near you and you will soon be quite well if you remain still and he felt her gradually steadying pulse


i am now tolerably composed dr harrison but never shall i forgive this cowardly ebbing womans blood of mine for so be traying me this womans weakness shewn by me only by me


every other lady to hrsye it out


and i alone to sink and all


to leave me i


dearest florence my child compose yourself whispered the priest alarmed by her wandering wild look


every gentleman here does homage to your purity believes you perfectly innocent


the word meant for consolation grated on the ear of florence


believes vie innocent


she exclaimed now fairly starting upon her feet and pushing aside the surgeou


every oue shall know be convinced


and before the words were well uttered she had stripped away her female drapery and stood for one moment in the snowy purity of that homespun linen of which her nurse had boasted some six hours before


she stood the proud yet blushing shi ink ing statue of maidenly modesty her arms crossed an if to con ceal her glowing bosom her face bent on her arms


a sympa thetic burst of feeling low but rapturous apprised florence absent and wrapped up as she was that the spectators were more numerous than she had reckoned up if indeed she had thought of them at all and drawing back she clutched at her nurses cloak in which she was instantly shrouded


the priest pointed the english parties not immediately interested to retire


one of them had caught the impulsive warmth of irish feeling


major bertie her land sensible frieud kissed her hand with suf fused


eyes


noble girl was his speech lean now florence better comprehend the high strain of womans courage


a feebler minded though not less amiable girl would have sunk beneath a trial like this and might have borne the unmerited stigma of dis honour until the grave covered her shame and sorrow


god shield me and mine from such trials of conraga


mur mured tho subdued florence now first melting into tears


and now good night gentlemen


good night mr joyce i cannot say how much i owe rou all


they begged the honour of attend ing her home in a body and retired while with the aid of the now clamorous judith she adjusted her dress


well sorrow go with the bits of petticoats and for them strings


never mind them jewel ill make a bundle of them and och darling what yourself had to go through


glory to his name wno gave you tnc nearti


but womans curiosity soon predominated


but is it ihe danes niece think yon to be


sure they were all the young craturs together like so many white corpses as they passed me


otth the black shame for portmullina and its jay balls


was the like ever heard of in ireland


it must be one of the foreigner ladies and no irish girl and to walk off on her own feet the bould jade whoever she was and leave my innocent child in her stade


but was it a living baby darlingor how


this was said in a sage but eager whisper and the indignant florence angrily commanded silence upon the subject then and for ever


then lord forgive me if i have offended you miss florence maam


to bo sure you are but a young bhy girl very proud as you had a right to be and without experience of the world yet but doethor harrison will be sure to tell the ould misthress and warrant me all portmullina will have a good guess before the morning all about it


judith was right


portmullina had not for a series of a years obtained so fertile and interesting subject of private discussion for man matron and maid as the mysterious catastrophe of the st patricks day ball and indeed to this day it remains a subject of local tradition


all we need tell farther on this head was tlat the balls were supended for several years next day was a busy one in the town


every young lady was early abroad save florence


there was no need that she should appear in her own vindication


her buld or her heroic conduct on the previous night was already generally known and by the generous english party as warmly applauded


she is a brave noble


spirited girl said her old champion major bertie who wan early in the eoffuohouse


her merely pulling off that womans gear of petticoats has probably prevented teverul duels and cleared her honour for murotjfltfstually tlua u dozen personal combats could have done


for example i myself must have fought so would joyoe and florence might havo re mained a damaged woman after nil


upon the enthusiastic testimony of so many honourable mor english and irish florence was accordingly unanimously acquitted of the capital charge but some of the laidie a ill held her guilty of the minor offnoo the immodesty the indelicacy


this was particularly insisted upon by mrs stampmaster and her daughter to one of whom suspicions strongly pointed and it is hard to say how the matter might locally havo been ruled save for a very striking circumstance which fairly turned tho curronfc of popular opinion


the dean and his lady yes the dean the grand protestant highborn rich english dean drove into the town that same day and went straight to tho humble dwelling of tho papist mrs kooney to congratulate miss otjrien upon her spirited conduct and to request the honour of her acquaiutanco for hm nieces who his lady whispered if not somuoh shocked by yesternights business should have waited upon tier now


half portmullina was again at fault


the other half the oath


olic half led by dr fitzmaurice still shook its lie d mysteriously


at this notable stroke of policy in the dean and im lady and fancied nelly stampmaster was after all unjustly sas pected


it now however became a fashion for all ranks and parties to extol miss obrien and when one morning about two months afterwards it was known that squire joyce hud been middenly arrested upon a charge of high treason and that dr fitzmanrioc having pronounced the nuptial benediction even in presence of the kings messengers florence had accompanied her husband to dublin and probably to a dungeon her countrymen were ready to rise iu insurrection on their behalf


to be continued


tue comic history of england


chapter i all ancient and modern writers pretend that the bold bluff brave roastbccfnndplumpud ding eating porterdrinking honesthearted englishmen came originally from the iialf


starved sour flimsy capering staywearing frogeating french and that our sweet crit ters called women with their sweet faces sweet voices and sweet tempers came from gall or gaul butno one can believe this who knows any thing about the two countries


i should think it a great deal more probable that the first eng lishman or at least the first english woman dropped down from the skies from tho name angle which is evidently derived from angelos or angel


it is true that there are more angles in a frenchman than an englishman butas the english women arc angels and always were and ever will be so wc have a right to infer that the early inhabitants of this island came from the gods and goddesses and ought to call jupiter their father


i consider it little better than im piety to say that england was peopled from france and it gauls us exceedingly


tis a long time ago since tho coasts of england were peopled


and to show that eng lishmen and frenchmen never ought to agree tito geographical figure of our island proves that a split existed between the countries from nil eternity


it was called britain from a celtic word denoting n split or tho land of fin which england now is to a dead certainty


the ancient britons according to those pro found historians pinnock and tom thumb arc said tp be remarkable for their size


no doubt they were most of them of tim nldcrmanic cut but how they could get so fat when they had nothing to cat but acorns seems rather difficult to account for especially as there was no turtle soup no mulligntawncy no turkeys and chine and no suckingpigs with onions stuffed in those days and as far as we arc acquainted with the carly state of gastronomy no city blows out


but they were englishmen and an englishman always looks big feels big and is big


the ancient britons arc said also to have been remarkable for the fairness of their complexions but were so modest as to stain their skins of a blue colour evidently proving that the early inhabitants of this country were tories and that they were pious people who not only knew how to live as above stated but also how to dye


the manners of thc britons are said to have been extremely simple


it is supposed thc y yere originally teetotallers having nothing to drink but water


next to being undressed them selves they arc said to havo worn undressed skins but to have received some complete dress trigs from the romans


the priests of the britons were called druids because they drew the money out of their pockets


there were also tho schoolmasters of those times and bad a school of method in


a large wicker idol much more effective than the park hurst establishment for young pickpockets as they were roasted like suckingpigs after the seminary process of whipping and then eaten


nee this was the first eatonor eating college


and no doubt lcd to the invention of oxford and cambridge sausages


chatter ii


julius casar was so called from his czing up on everything he could c and would have no


jnore made bones of robbing his own father than


a civic functionary would of keeping back his bccountsfor evr and a day or a rich rector un derpay ing his curate or a minister selling a place or an mr


lending his name at twoandahalf per cent in a joint stock company railroad or meetinghouse affair


in short he was as fine a specimen of a rascal as the legal profession of the ircscnt day could produce and as he made law or everybody may very properly be called the first english lawyer


mh


when cresa r saw thewlbt england he no doubt thougmjimflbblkeu pale with fright and that itilpiibrd be as easy as to get into debt in which superior accomplish ment ctesar was an adept


being also inspired with that divine maxim of get all you can and keep all you get and with a truly royal disposition of plundering those


who be thought could not help themselves not forgetting at the same time to knock the brains


out of thuse who resistedcmsar sailed from ca lais and caine to dover


when the acoruealing britons saw thc ships and soldieri of this hero they set up such a har monious discord of sweet sounds as have nevei since been heard in this country till the school masters were set singing by ixird brougham they also added thereunto such an accompani ment of wry faces as completely frightened cesar who being what was called a trump card determined not to miss dealwhere he landed the coast and the natives both being rather flat at that place


the landing of julius caesar at deal took place as follows first there was cosar with a rolling pin in one hand and a tolerably good sized fish boiler lid in the other and a tin porcupine on his hegdfr


near him were his principal officers beanfig his voracious paraphernaliasuch as iced champagne bears grease odour of violets milk of lilies hunts blacking to polish thc britons burgesss universal sauce to inspire them with taste boxing gloves to initiate them into the mysteries of science and lawyers wigs to teach them the fine arts


he had also several hundred opera dancers concert singers fancy monkeys and pet lapdogs to give them true ideas of the tonwith large cases of daffys elixir morrisons pills universal ointment pearl dentifrice and eaudecologne


tims equipped he boldly advanced but tho britons who understood hot the luxury of luxury nor the sublime ecstacy of smoking cigars rushed into the water upset the boats and terribly mauled numbers of the romans so as to make his landing in some degree a problem not very easy of solution


just at tliis moment one of the tenth legion i suppose the tonth hussars took a black bottle in his hand containing a full dose of curarjcoa and ramming it iiuo the mouth of his nearest combatant was not a little delighted to observe his ferocity immediately appeased


several other bottles of the same delicious liquor were now j handed round and in a few minutes cosar had done the natives


chapter iii


such my young friends was the issue of the first rascality and it was not long before others occurred equally interesting


thc romans held possession of britain till they could hold it no longer and then gave it up like true radicals


tho britons tilled thc land and when an abundant harvest presented itself they were agreeably surprised by a visit from the scotch wliofinracdiately set about teaching them the heavonly notion that it is better to steal than to work and that robbery ts thc most heroic of accomplishments


the britons had not been initiated into this doctrine and could not understand it


they therefore sent for the saxons who were reputed to be up to a thing or two and with their aid defeated sawney and then took the country to themselves after having knocked on thc head as many britons as they could which is supposed to be one of the best modes of making a nation contented


saxon kinos


the first saxon king of england was egbert who soon found that thc lessons of plunder taught by his nation were easily learned particularly by the danes who fired with tho spirit of con quest set fire to the saxon houses which was a burning shame you will say


but more than this they ran away with the pigs and thc women and it is difficult to say which made the most noise on the occasion


but at lost a great hero arose named alfred called the great who having cut down his ene mies as long as ho was able was at last obliged to eui himself which of course was very cutting to a king and a hero


alfred then tonk refuge in a neatherds cot tage and amused himself by milking the cows scrubbing thc milk pails rocking thc cradle with one foot watching thc pot with one eye turning the mangle with one hand and having the other odd hand eye and leg variously employed


it is true that he burnt thc cakes occasionally and got the stickbut as he taught thc english peo ple to do six things at ono time he is deservedly called a great manfor there is nothing of so great advantage to a nation as to make people do impossibilities and the maxim that it is easier to cat cakes than to bake them is the very quintessence of wisdom


chapter iv


the first enolish love story


one of tho most famous of tho characters of thc time was st dunstan who not only lcd edgar by the nose but also took old nick by thc amc protuberance using a pair of redhot tongs made for that especial purpose


but notwith standing this edgar was always ppking his poso where he had no businessand after falling out with his spiritual adviser fell into love over head and carswith a woman ho had never seen only from report


he heard it seems of a lady named elfrida who was what is usually called a beauty with out paint


her eyes were said to resemble or be like stars her lips of coral her bosom of ivory


her hair like the dark clouds of thunder her checks wore rosesher teeth were like lambs mid lier mouth a large pot of sweets about which thc bees clustered


such a set out of charms put edgar in a taking and so he immediately sent his favourite ethelwold to see and report further upon this famous beauty in


tending of course to pay his attentions jtrher if it seemed worth whilo


poor ethelwold shon he saw tiie delightful creature is saidto have felt quite alloverish and to have looked as green as a loin of veal in the dog days for to tell the trudi ho was struck all of a heap and he dont knowhowish


her


beauty was so great that he was dazzled by it as a cat is that looks into a boot polished by day and martins black ing and he fell souse into love himself like a beef steak into a batter pudding and felt himself in a fix


upon his return to the king who of course was anxious to hear whether the young lady was such a nice gal as had been represented ethelwold told him that her beauty was all my eye and betty martin and


that her temper was so bad that it would ba quite impossible to drive her in a snaffle and that if a curbwas attempted she would ba sure to kick over thc trace and bolt whereupon the king was satisfied the young woman would not do for him and told etholwold he mighttry her


but by some means a particular friend of ethelwolds soon let the