handsome wedding suit, calculated, in her opinion, to make him look as brisk and gay as a young man of five-and-twenty. His coat was sky-blue, with well gilt buttons; white vest, ruffles, and tuckers; pink cravat, top boots, and small-clothes of drab cloth; conical shaped hat, and white doe-skin gloves. Being tall and well made, when thus fitted out under the superintendence of Mrs. Fogarty, and having some fifty or sixty thousand guineas at his command, he was such as many young ladies of the present day, of much higher pretensions than the bar-maid of an inn, could not find it in their hearts to refuse.

It was on the third or fourth evening after the disappearance of old Shue, and when Mr. Norberry was dressed in his wedding suit, that Queelan arrived at the door of the "Ram," accompanied by Kate. Her mother flew to receive her with an ecstasy of joy that completely overpowered the young woman. “Oh, my dear child," said she, "the greatest fortune that ever befell any people awaits us; you are destined for the highest honours; if you only marry without hesitation our old friend Mr. Norberry we will be all happy, you will be going in your coach, and the Cavanaghs, the vile clan, will die with envy. Come, my dear Kate, Mr. Norberry is inside; let me at once introduce you to him as his intended bride."

Kate, who was sensitive and gentle in her disposition, and whose memory during the journey from Tipperary had been perpetually recurring to the comely form and handsome countenance of her deliverer O'Kelly, felt as if the chill of death had crossed her heart, and all the fond hopes of a fervid imagination had been blighted in one instant. The samoom, laden with the mephitic effluvia of the poison tree of Java, could not be more destructive to the fairest flower, than were the last words of Kate's mother to the fondest hopes of her daughter. Still she was of that pliant, docile disposition, that would bear the most acute pain without repining, sooner than be the cause of pain to others.

She alighted from the " Fly," which came from its terminus at Queelan's house in Thomas-street to the "Ram," sooner than give the young bride (for such she was designated by Queelan during the journey) the trouble of walking home, or put her to the expense of procuring a chariot, and was led by her mother to their state apartment, where Old Hawk was seated, dressed in his new suit. He arose at her entrance, and she stood before him in the proud consciousness that involuntarily marks the movements of the young and innocent, before sin or sorrow draws its curtain between them and heaven.

Kate, although occasionally barmaid, or rather bookkeeper, at her father's inn, was religiously educated, and wholly a stranger to the deceits and frauds of the world. She was remarkable

for her beauty throughout Dublin, and this circumstance led the father to not permit her to attend the bar, except when such callous old gentlemen as Mr. Norberry were his customers. Perhaps a subject more worthy the pencil of an able pourtrayer of the human passions could hardly be afforded, than Kate standing before her venerable admirer, with her father and Queelan on the one side, and her mother on the other, watching with fearful anxiety the result of an interview upon which, in their opinion, their future hopes and prosperity depended. There was a graceful pride and dignity in the mien of the maiden; the glances from her dark eye flashed like lightning upon the old man, who stood trembling before her, whilst a look of gentle reproach was turned towards her parents, which seemed "Is this the fate intended for me ?"

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It is stated in oriental story, that the serpent is blinded when it gazes upon the virgin light of the emerald; and so, when vice beholds white-robed innocence in all its lustre and beauty, falls back, blinded and abashed. Old Hawk stood for a moment under the lustrous glance of her eye, through which the workings of her heart found their way, then staggered back, and fell upon the seat from which he had just arisen.

"Oh! dear me, Mr. Norberry," said Kate's mother, "what can be the matter with you? You ate little or no breakfast this morning; you seemed to be in some trouble, but I thought the sight of poor Kate would have rejoiced your heart. Run, Biddy Flanagan, bring some water and pour it on his face, and unbutton his waistcoat, which that rascally tailor made entirely too tight for him; run, Biddy, run," then turning aside to her husband, "Oh, Tom dear, he is dying! Oh, mercy be praised! if the knot had been tied an hour ago, what luck we would have had. But stop, he is recovering; he will live till the marriage is over, and then the sooner he goes the better."

Old Hawk had by this time sufficiently recovered to apologise by stating that some weakness had come over him, but that he was himself again.

The astonished maiden still remained in the same position, when her mother said, "Go forward, Kate, and give the oldwhy did I say, 'old ?'-give the gentleman your hand, it will give him courage to address you as his intended. Come, Kate, be a good girl, and do what your mother bids you." છે

Old Hawk, notwithstanding the mean and miserable habits of a life of avarice and deceit, had that pride within him which arises from the possession of wealth, coupled with being of a family that gave some names to the country who ranked amongst its aristocracy. He felt that he was humbled by the connection he was about to make, and rendered ridiculous by his exhibition before the bar-maid of a hotel. Aroused by this feel

ing, he said, when he had sufficiently rallied to be able to speak, "This young woman seems to regard me with a degree of surprise and caution that I did not expect, but it is, I suppose, that bashfulness which arises from the novelty of coming into the presence of a man of high family and large fortune. Come, my girl, don't seem abashed."

Kate, although disgusted at the rudeness of those expressions, merely said, that the novelty of the situation in which she was placed was calculated to embarrass a person of much more experience than herself.

"Come, come, Kate," said Mrs. Fogarty, advancing towards her daughter, and leading her over to Old Hawk, "give Mr. Norberry your hand; let us all be happy and pleasant together: dinner is just ready, and when we shall have dined we will talk over this happy business." Then whispering to her daughter, "Oh, Kate dear, think of the diamond necklaces, the silk gowns, the head-dresses, and the coach. Come, ladies and gentlemen, dinner is ready."

So saying, she led the way to the dining-room, where the tables were laden with the choicest viands the "Ram" could afford, and it was at that time celebrated for the best dinners given in Dublin. The feast went on, and the anxiety of Mrs. Fogarty to rally her daughter's spirits, and make her appear pleasing in the eyes of her admirer, was so intense, that she hardly knew what she said or did. Queelan formed one of the company, and astonished the whole party by a detailed account of Kate's fortunate rescue from her abductors in Tipperary, and a high eulogium upon the gallantry, manly bearing, great acquirements, and handsome person of O'Kelly, her deliverer. During bis recital the countenance of Kate varied like the glancing of the sun's rays through foliage shaken by the breeze, whilst playing upon the rippling current beneath. The countenance of Old Hawk, in which not a single outline indicative of one generous feeling remained, was unmoved, although he saw plainly enough that her affections were centred upon another object, and that he could never hope to share even the slightest portion of them; but he said with a sardonic sneer, "Foolish young women like the sight of red coats, but come, Miss Fogarty, don't be thinking of the sergeant; you will be something more respectable as the lady of the rich Norberry, than seated of a snowy day upon the top of a baggage car; come, my good girl, cheer up, the wedding must go on in a day or two."

"I like to hear that, Mr. Norberry," said the mother of Kate, "you speak like a wise man as you are; young girls, sure enough, like red coats, but the greatest misfortune that could befalt one of them would be to marry a soldier. I remember when I was a young girl there was a recruiting party in the town of Fethard,

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