out iv it. We shmoked a pipe iv it to make frinds,
but we'd not shmoke another. 'Tis like chopped hay or tay-leaves, it
is. Will we walk back wid yer honner's glory? 'Tis only four miles, it
is. No, we bur-rn no powdher here. But on the other side, above
Athenry, 'tis there ye'll see the foin shootin'. Thims the boys for
powdher an' shot! 'Tis more than nine they shot, aye, and more than
tin it was. An' sarve thim right, if they must turn the people out,
an' have their own way. May the Lord protect ye! May angels make yer
bed this night! Long may ye live, an' yer sowl to glory!"

I had written so far, when glancing through the window, I saw a
familiar form, a rosy, healthy, florid gentleman parading on the lawn
which fronts the Railway Hotel, puffing a cigarette, briskly turning
and returning with something of the motion of a captive lion. I knew
that pinky cheek, I knew that bright blue eye; yet here, in the wilds
of Galway who could it be? He plays with two sportive spaniels, and
cries "Down, Sir, down." Thy voice bewrayeth thee, member for North
Galway! The Parnellitic Colonel Nolan, thou, _in propria persona_.
What makes he here? When the great Bill impends, why flee the festive
scene? I'll speak a little with this learned Theban. I board him, as
the French say. For a moment he regards me with suspicion--with a kind
of vade-in-retro-Satanas air--but presently he goes ahead. A fair at
Tuam, which he never misses. Has paired with somebody, Pierpoint he
thinks is the name. His vote will therefore not be lost to his side.
"Nothing will now be done before Whitsuntide. Both parties will be on
their best behaviour. The Conservatives and obstruction, the Liberals
and closure. Strategy to obtain some show of advantage at the recess
is now the little game. Knows not what will happen _re_ Home Rule. The
English Liberals not now so confident as they were. The Government may
be ruined by liquor. 'Tis the fate of Liberal Governments to be ruined
by drink. The Government of 1874 and the next Liberal Cabinet went to
the dogs on liquor. And if the English people are called upon to give
a verdict on a local option bill, the result is rather uncertain.
Chances perhaps against Mr. Gladstone. The Home Rule question is now
quite worked up. The English people are now satisfied to have Home
Rule, but some intervening question might delay its final settlement.
No, the agitation of the past four or five months had not changed the
position on