cely with dulness, and compared him
with a pal that I had in ould Ireland, in Dungarvon times of yore, to
whom I teached Irish, telling him that he was the broth of a boy, and not
only knew the grammar of all human tongues, but the dialects of the
snakes besides; in fact, I tould him all about your own sweet self,
Shorsha, and many a dispute and quarrel had we together about our pals,
which was the cleverest fellow, his or mine.

"Well, after having been wid him about two months, I quitted him without
noise, taking away one of his tables, and some peas and thimbles; and
that I did with a safe conscience, for he paid me nothing, and was not
over free with the meat and the drink, though I must say of him that he
was a clever fellow, and perfect master of his trade, by which he made a
power of money, and bating his not being able to learn Irish, and a
certain Jewish lisp which he had, a great master of his tongue, of which
he was very proud; so much so, that he once told me that when he had
saved a certain sum of money he meant to leave off the thimbling
business, and enter Parliament; into which, he said, he could get at any
time, through the interest of a friend of his, a Tory Peer--my Lord
Whitefeather, with whom, he said, he had occasionally done business. With
the table, and other things which I had taken, I commenced trade on my
own account, having contrived to learn a few of his tricks. My only
capital was the change for half-a-guinea, which he had once let fall, and
which I picked up, which was all I could ever get from him: for it was
impossible to stale any money from him, he was so awake, being up to all
the tricks of thaives, having followed the diving trade, as he called it,
for a considerable time. My wish was to make enough by my table to
enable me to return with credit to ould Ireland, where I had no doubt of
being able to get myself ordained as priest; and, in troth,
notwithstanding I was a beginner, and without any companion to help me, I
did tolerably well, getting my meat and drink, and increasing my small
capital, till I came to this unlucky place of Horncastle, where I was
utterly ruined by the thaif in the rider's dress. And now, Shorsha, I am
after telling you my history; perhaps you will now be telling me
something about yourself?"

I told Murtagh all about myself that I deemed necessary to relate, and
then asked him what he intended to do; he repeated that he was utterly
ruined, and that he h