would not have accepted, was now outmanoeuvred by his
wife, 'who got Dora beside herself, after having placed a sister of Tom
M'Mahon's beside him.

At length, the coffin was brought out, and the keene raised over it, on
the conclusion of which it was placed in the hearse, and the procession
began to move on.

There is nothing in the rural districts of this country that so clearly
indicates the respect entertained for any family as the number of
persons which, when a death takes place in it, attend the funeral. In
such a case, the length of the procession is the test of esteem in which
the party has been held. Mrs. M'Mahon's funeral was little less than a
mile long. All the respectable farmers and bodaghs, as they call them,
or half-sirs in the parish, were in attendance, as a mark of, respect
for the virtues of the deceased, and of esteem for the integrity
and upright spirit of the family that had been deprived of her so
unexpectedly.

Hycy and his friend, Harry Clinton, of course rode together, Finigan,
the schoolmaster, keeping as near them as he could; but not so near as
to render his presence irksome to them, when he saw that they had no
wish for it.

"Well, Harry," said his companion, "what do you think of the last
scene?"

"You allude to Cavanagh's handsome young son, and the very pretty girl
that fainted, poor thing!"

"Of course I do," replied Hycy.

"Why," said the other, "I think the whole thing was very simple, and
consequently very natural. The young fellow, who is desperately in
love--there is no doubt of that--thought she had died; and upon my soul,
Hycy, there is a freshness and a purity in the strongest raptures of
such a passion, that neither you nor I can dream of. I think, however,
I can understand, or guess at rather, the fulness of heart and the
tenderness by which he was actuated."

"What do you think of Miss Cavanagh?" asked Hycy, with more of interest
than he had probably ever felt in her before.

"What do I think?" said the other, looking at him with a good deal of
surprise. "What can I think? What could any man, that has either taste
or common-sense think? Faith, Hycy, to be plain with you, I think her
one of the finest girls, if not the very finest, I ever saw. Heavens!
what would not that girl be if she had received the advantages of a
polished and comprehensive education?"

"She is very much of a lady as it is," added Hycy, "and has great
natural dignity and unstudied grace, a