le word
he said. Finigan, swollen with an indignation which he could no longer
suppress, and stimulated by a glass or two of whiskey, took three or
four of the neighbors over to a corner, where, whilst his eyes rested on
Dennis with a most withering expression of scorn, he exclaimed--"Here,
hand me that manual, and get out o' my way, you illiterate nonentity and
most unsufferable appendage to religion."

He then took the book, and going over to the coffin, read in a loud
and sonorous voice the _De Profundis_ and other prayers for the dead,
casting his eyes from time to time upon the unfortunate clerk with a
contemptuous bitterness and scorn that, for force of expression, could
not be surpassed. When he had concluded, he looked around him with a
sense of lofty triumph that was irresistible in its way. "There," said
he, "is something like accent and quantity for you--there is something
that may, without derogation to religion, be called respectable
perusal--an' yet to say that a man like me, wid classical
accomplishments and propensities from my very cradle, should be set
aside for that illiterate vulgarian, merely because, like every other
janius, I sometimes indulge in the delectable enjoyment of a copious
libation, is too bad."

This in fact was the gist of his resentment against O'Grady. He had been
in the habit for some time of acting as clerk to the priest, who bore
with his "copious libations," as he called them, until common decency
rendered it impossible to allow him any longer the privilege of taking a
part as clerk in the ceremonies of religion.

When this was over, a rustic choir, whom the parish clerk had organized,
and in a great measure taught himself, approached the body and sang a
hymn over it, after which the preparations for its removal began to be
made.

Ever since the death of his wife, Thomas M'Mahon could not be prevailed
upon to taste a morsel of food. He went about from place to place,
marked by such evidences of utter prostration and despair that it was
painful to look upon him, especially when one considered the truth,
purity, and fervor of the affection that had subsisted between him and
the inestimable woman he had lost. The only two individuals capable of
exercising any influence upon him now were Bryan and his daughter Dora;
yet even they could not prevail upon him to take any sustenance. His
face was haggard and pale as death, his eyes red and bloodshot, and his
very body, which had al