al more exciting events, which we will not spoil for you, the
Earl dies, and to everyone's surprise Denham is not only revealed as our
original young acquaintance, Dermot, but the lawyer states that Dermot's
father was in the line of succession to the Earldom. This makes Dermot
the new Earl. Cheers all round, but who wants to be saddled with a
derilict castle and a bankrupt estate?

A beautifully written book, one of Kingston's best. It is very hard to
see why it is so little known.

________________________________________________________________________
THE HEIR OF KILFINNAN, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON.

PREFACE.

The following tale contains materials for a full-sized novel, but my
readers probably will not object to have them condensed into a single
modest volume.

The scene of a considerable portion of the story is laid on the coast of
Ireland, where the peasantry mostly speak the native Irish, and I have
therefore translated what my characters say into ordinary English rather
than into the generally received brogue, which would be, coming from
their lips, as inappropriate as Spanish or Dutch.

When English is spoken, it sounds somewhat high-flown, but is certainly
purer than the language of the same class in England. Thus, my hero
talks more like a well-educated young gentleman than a humble fisher
lad. If that is considered a defect, I hope that it may be redeemed by
the stirring incidents with which the tale abounds, and that old and
young may alike find as much amusement as they expect in its perusal.

WHGK.

CHAPTER ONE.

The west coast of Ireland presents scenery of the most beautiful and
romantic character. Here grey peaks rise up amidst verdure of emerald
green; trees of varied hue come feathering down close to the water;
yellow sands line the shores of many lonely bays; dark rocks of
fantastic shape extend out into the ocean, while deep blue lochs mirror
on their bosoms the varied forms of the surrounding heights. On the
south-west part of the coast a wide bay is to be found. At the extreme
southern end, up a deep loch, a castle, the seat of an ancient family,
reared its towers high above the waters. The bay came sweeping round at
some places with a hard sandy beach; then, again, the ground rose,
leaving but a narrow ledge between the foot of the cliffs and the
waters. Thus the shore extended on for some distance, forming a lofty
headland, when it again sank to its former level. A reef