!'

'Egad,' cried Kelly, in a tone of levity, 'if I had any friends among
the saints, I must have tried their patience pretty hard these last
eight or nine years; but who is this Mary Fitzgerald--I just caught the
name on the paper?'

'She's--she's--she's--a countrywoman of our own,' stammered out Fra
Luke, while he moved uneasily from foot to foot, and fumbled with his
hands up the sleeves of his robe.

'It was lucky for you, then, we were just talking about Ireland before
you went in. He was saying how true and staunch the Irish always showed
themselves.'

'And does he talk of them times?' asked the Fra in astonishment.

'Ay, by the hour. Sometimes it's breaking day before I go to bed, he
telling me about all his escapes and adventures. I could fill a book
with stories of his.'

'Musha! but I'd like to hear them,' cried Luke with honest enthusiasm.

'Come up here, then--let me see what evening--it mustn't be Tuesday--nor
Wednesday--maybe, indeed, I won't be back before Friday. Oh, there's the
bell now; that's for _me,_' cried he; and before he could fix the time
he hurried off to the Prince's chamber.

CHAPTER V. AFTER DARK

It was a long and weary day to the poor friar, watching for that Tuesday
evening when he should appear at the gate of the Jesuits' College and
ask for the young Fitzgerald. He felt, too, as though some amount of
responsibility had been imposed on him to which he was unequal. It
seemed to his simple intelligence as if it were a case that required
skill and dexterity. The rector might possibly ask this, or wish to know
that; and then, how was he to respect the secrecy he had pledged to the
Prince? or was he to dare to deceive the great president of the college?
Supposing, too, all these difficulties over, what of the youth himself?
How should he answer the inquiries he was certain to make--whither
he was going---with what object--and to whom? Greater than all these
personal cares was his anxiety that the boy should please his Royal
Highness; that the impression he made should be favourable; that
his look and bearing might interest the Prince and ensure his future
advancement. Let us own that Fra Luke had his grave misgivings on this
score. From all he could pick up through the servitors of the convent,
Gerald was a wild, headstrong youth, constantly 'in punishment,' and
regarded by the superiors as the great instigator of every infraction
to the discipline of the college. 'What will