been worse if I had not detected you in time.' Whist, whist,' says she, 'don't waken my mother that's asleep in the room after bein' up so late last night; if you think there was any fellow in the house, sarch it; shut the door, and sarch.' Well, the ould fellow fell to sarchin', and to be sure I was not there; he seemed completely bewildered, and did not know what to make of the matter. Molly began to cry, and run off to a neighbour's house, saying that she would not marry one who promised so badly in the beginning. Dooris, who was certainly in love with her, if an ould man can be in love, sat down at the fire, and began to muse over what he had seen. He took another bout at sarchin' through the house, but av coorse found nothin'; he sat down again and began to pause and think, when the ould mother, who pretended to be asleep in the roon, but hard all that went on, came up wipin' her eyes, and says she, Good morrow to you both. What both ?' says he, who are you talkin' to ?' 'Oh! savoul deherin,' says she, I thought there were two of you in it;' and, wipin' her eyes again, is there not two of you sittin' at the fire.' 'No, no, woman, there is only myself in it,' says he, 'you are ravin'.' 'Oh!' says she, I broke my fast with scallions and salt this mornin', and when one does that, they think they see two where there's only one.' Ah! by this and by that,' says he, that explains every thing. When I was going out this mornin', I was afraid of meetin' the fargurthe, and I ate a scallion and salt that was on the dresser ; I did not go far when I turned back to give Molly some directions about the weddin', and when I came to the window and looked in, I thought I saw a fellow sittin' with her at breakfast. I was going to break off the whole business, and she is gone away cryin' to a neighbour's house; I find I wronged her, so send for her and let us be all happy.' The weddin' went on that very evenin'. Dooris took the wife home with him, and from that day to this, good morrow to you both' is a cant word quite common about Clonthumper, but the ould fellow, av coorse, never knew the meanin' of it."

"You never paid a visit to Molly after the wedding ?" said Paddy Barry, with peculiar emphasis, as he run his fingers over the harp.

"No, faith," says Jack, "for I had to fly the country in a few days after, about another matter which I need not menshin, but you may be sure it was not for buildin' churches."

The night having waxed late, the company below stairs separated, highly pleased with Paddy Barry's music and poetry, and the humorous stories of Jack Gormly.

CHAPTER IV.

MARRIAGE OF OLD HAWK THE CELEBRATED DOCTOR O'LEARY-STRANGE VICISSITUDES,

MRS. FOGARTY and all her household were on the qui vive at an early hour on the morning after Kate's arrival. The good old lady assumed an air of consequence and dignity suited to the importance and dignity of the occasion; every heart was light and gay except that of poor Kate, who spent a sleepless night, resolving upon what course she should pursue, and whilst she was inclined to obey the commands of her parents, should they persevere in their determination of having her married to old Norberry, she thought it would be only right to fulfil the promise she had made to O'Kelly of writing to him before that event should take place. When she appeared at breakfast her mother was somewhat alarmed at perceiving that she was overpowered by a load of grief which she could ill conceal. She said:

"Cheer up, my dear child, cheer up, and make us all happy; Mr. Norberry will be here presently, the dresses will be bought, and every thing will be ready for the wedding to-morrow; and sure, Mr. Norberry is, after all, a fine looking man, such as many a fine lady in Dublin would be delighted to get, and if it was for nothing but to make the Cavanaghs die of envy, sure it is a fine thing to marry him. Recollect, Kate dear, the coach and the footmen; for although he may not buy you one now, he will hereafter, and you must in the end have all his money, and it is well known that he is one of the richest men in Dublin. Come, Kate, cheer up; I tell you, you will get up on your right side the day you will be married to him: for my part I never heard of a girl have such luck."

"Indeed, mother," replied Kate, "I would do any thing under heaven that you would command me, because I know you have my happiness at heart, but the marriage cannot take place so soon as you say, for I am under a promise to write to some friends in the country before that time.

"Oh! I see," said the mother, "you are dreaming about that sergeant, who, I would almost swear, is married already, and when I look back and think of the escape I had myself, it is

enough to make me hurry on the matter without a moment's delay. Come, Kate, Mr. Norberry will be here immediately, and if you look so ill and melancholy when he comes as you do now, the match may be broken off, and we will be all ruined; but, above all, the Cavanaghs will be laughing at us, for the report is all through the neighbourhood that you are to be married in a day or two, and if any disappointment was to take place we would be mocked and laughed at through all Dublin."

Kate entered into a long train of reasoning to show the impropriety of having the marriage celebrated so hastily, and concluded by a positive refusal to consent until she fulfilled her promise of writing to the country.

"Why, for that matter," said the mother, "you could write to the country this moment and get married the next; all you promised was, that you would write before the marriage took place."

"That won't do," rejoined Kate; "the condition is, that I shall not only take time to write but to receive an answer; and although in the end I will obey my parents, even if my life were to be sacrificed, I will not consent to be married until after I write to the country and hear from it too; besides, propriety and decency would be outraged by marrying a man after a few hours' acquaintance."

"A few hours' acquaintance!" said the mother, in an angry tone; "why, you must have known Mr. Norberry as a customer to our house for a few years; but what knowledge is there required of him beyond that of belonging to a high family, and being, I verily believe, the richest man in Dublin? Come, Kate, you shall neither write or be written to, with my consent, until after the marriage takes place, and that will be the time to give an account of your good fortune, of the fine dresses and every thing else that will astonish all our friends in the country. The marriage must certainly take place to-morrow, if Mr. Norberry wishes."

"Certainly not to-morrow, mother," said Kate; "I am so far resolved about the matter, I shall not be married to-morrow," and she walked hastily out of the room.

Just at that moment Mr. Fogarty came in almost breathless, declaring that he was undone; that an order had come from the Recorder of Dublin and three magistrates that his house should be shut up; that informations had been given against him for having it open to all the Whiteboys and bad characters that fled from Tipperary, and in consequence a mandate had been issued for the withdrawal of his license and the immediate closing up of his inn; the police were below in the bar searching for Whiteboy papers; in a word, they were utterly ruined, and he

supposed that Mr. Norberry would break off the match when he found the miserable condition they had been reduced to.

Immediately after Fogarty had made this painful announcement to his wife, Mr. Norberry entered, dressed in his new suit, and assuming an air of gaiety to which he had been long a stranger. He saw the embarrassment and confusion that existed, and upon inquiring into the cause of such a sudden order for the closing of the "Ram," he found that the informations upon which the magistrates and recorder had acted were sworn by his old friends, the two watchmen, who had but some few nights previous offered their disinterested services in conveying him home when they believed he was in a state of intoxication. He called for the order that the police had for withdrawing the license of Fogarty and shutting up his house, and saw that it was signed by Samuel Bradstreet, recorder, Hans Bailie, Perceval Hunt, and Philip Cecil, aldermen and magis

trates.

"I'll soon settle the matter for you," said Old Hawk; "these fellows are all in my power. There are two of them who owe me the last gale of interest, and the third has given me a bond with immediate execution; leave them to me. But where is Miss Fogarty? I shall not interfere about the matter if there be the slightest delay on her part to marry me. I know how to act. If there be no marriage, there shall be no interference on my part, although I shall, in any case, assist in punishing these villainous watchmen, who are perjured robbers; leave them to me."

"Oh! my dear Mr. Norberry," said Mrs. Fogarty," you are our only friend and protector; it was a kind Providence sent you to us; when Kate hears that you are our deliverer from such ruin and misfortune, she cannot hesitate a moment."

Poor Kate was here called down and made acquainted with the sudden disasters that had befallen the family, and informed that it was in her power to relieve them in an instant from utter ruin by consenting that her marriage should take place on the following day, or as soon as her venerable suitor might think proper. Her countenance assumed a death-like hue; she heaved a convulsive sigh, and in faltering accents said:

"Father and mother, do whatever you please with me; I would die for your preservation; let the marriage take place as soon as you wish, but I fear I cannot live till the ceremony is performed; I feel the chill of death about my heart." She then fell almost lifeless into the arms of her mother.

Old Hawk, who was unmoved at this affecting scene, then sat down and wrote the following note (the original of which the editor of these memoirs has in his possession) to Recorder Brad

street and the three magistrates who made the order for closing Fogarty's house:

"Mr. Recorder Bradstreet, Mr. Bailie, Mr. Hunt, and Mr. Cecil, I wish you all to know, that I am the friend of honest Fogarty, whom you seek to ruin, upon what you would find to be false information, if you had taken the trouble to inquire about it. Withdraw at once your order for shutting up his house, and I will be security for his good conduct. You all know me, and are accustomed to see me write receipts, so there can be no mistake about this. Send back your answer without delay to "N. NORBERRY."

"Go," said old Hawk to one of the satellites of power who came to execute the behests of the recorder and magistrates, "and show this letter to the gentlemen who sent you here; take it round to them separately, and when they examine it bring it back to me. If any of them doubt that the handwriting is mine, let them come here and satisfy themselves of the truth of the matter."

The fellow was off in an instant, and was not more than a couple of hours absent, when he returned with apologies from all the gentlemen for having had the misfortune to interfere with any friend of Mr. Norberry's, to whom they were under so many obligations.

When poor Kate had sufficiently recovered to be informed of what had been done, she felt that her father and his family would have been utterly ruined, were it not for the interference of her intended husband, and she thought she should willingly sacrifice herself for the attainment of such an object. She said, "Mother, I consent; do with me as you please; but I hope that heaven will soon put an end to my existence."

"Don't cry, my dear child," said the mother; "these feelings will soon be forgotten. Sure you ought to be the happiest girl in the world this day. Oh! think of the coach, the silk and satin dresses, the diamond necklace, and all those fine things which you must have very soon. You will be able, besides, to give fortunes to your little sisters, when Mr. Norberry is dead and gone. You will be all to nothing the richest and the hand somest widow in Dublin-not that I would wish poor Mr. Norberry to die soon, for I am sure he will make a good husband-a man near sixty. Oh! why did I say sixty ? I suppose he is only between forty and fifty. But a gentleman a little elderly cannot be expected to live as long as a girl of eighteen. Come, Kate, cheer up. You will be a credit to your family. The dresses will be bought this very day."