rrear with rent, and he saw that some effort must be made to compel
them to pay. He called the steward in for a consultation.

"You give very good advice, Mr Finlayson; but I will just ask you, as a
Scotchman said, `Who is to bell the cat?' You know, surely, that to
attempt to distrain for rent on some of these gentlemen would assuredly
bring a bullet through your brain or mine. It is not an easy matter to
get money out of an Irishman when he is determined not to pay, and it is
not for you or me, if we are wise men, to push the matter too hard. I
will do my best and go among them, and put it to them, whether they
would like to deprive the young heiress of her property. Perhaps,
though they will not yield to force, they may to persuasion, and I am
thankful to say, we still retain in old Ireland, the gift of blarney.
You see, sir, we shall get much more out of them in that way. I will
just ask them if they would like to attack a young lady and rifle her
pockets. Put it thus to them, and show them that if they keep back the
money they are doing the same thing. Now, we shall see, if I go on this
plan, whether those who can pay will pay, while those who cannot pay, it
is very evident, will not do so; but to my mind, there is no use turning
a man adrift in the world if you can help it. A better day may come,
and then he may prove a good tenant. If you turn him out of one
property he will just build a hut in another corner of the land, and you
will have him there starving before your eyes, and you will not be the
better for the move."

"Well, well, O'Connor, you are a wise man, I see. I will let you have
your way in that respect. We will do nothing to create an ill-feeling
against the dear young mistress, and it is for you and I who are engaged
to serve her to look after her interests. I wish she had a good husband
to help her; but it is my belief, from what I see here, that there is
not a young man in the country at all fit for her. She is a good,
gentle creature, and were she to wed one of the rollicking, harum-scarum
young fellows who are her equals, he would break her heart; and staying
at home as she does, she is not likely to meet any others, while even
abroad she saw no one to care for, or, at least, no one appeared, so
perhaps she will continue to live a maiden life, and if so, she will
require your assistance and mine as long as I remain in the world."

Nora and Sophy were relieved from much anxiety by