smoke which issued
from a rent or cleft in the top of this apartment would have discovered
them by day. Through this slight chasm, which was strictly concealed,
they received provisions, water, and fuel. In fact, it would seem as if
the whole cave had been expressly designed for the purpose to which it
was then applied, or, at least for some one of a similar nature.

On entering this, Reilly found a good fire, on which was placed a large
pot with a mess in it, which emitted a very savory odor. Around
the sides, or walls of this rock, were at least a score of heather
shake-down beds, the fragrance of which was delicious. Pots, pans, and
other simple culinary articles were there, with a tolerable stock of
provisions, not omitting a good-sized keg of mountain dew, which their
secluded position, the dampness of the place, and their absence from
free air, rendered very necessary and gratifying.

"Here!" exclaimed Father Maguire, after the feeble prelate had been
assisted to this recess, "here, now, put his lordship to bed; I have
tossed it up for him in great style! I assure you, my dear friends,
it's a shakedown fit for a prince!--and better than most of the thieves
deserve. What bed of down ever had the sweet fragrance this flowery
heather sends forth? Here, my lord--easy, now--lay him down gently, just
as a mother would her sleeping child--for, indeed, he is a child," he
whispered, "and as weak as a child; but a sound sleep will do him good,
and he'll be a new man in the morning, please God."

Upon this rough, but wholesome and aromatic couch, the exhausted prelate
was placed, where he had not been many minutes until he fell into a
profound sleep, a fact which gratified them very much, for they assured
Reilly and the priest that he had slept but a few hours each night
during the last week, and that such slumber as he did get was feverish
and unquiet.

Our good-humored friend, however, was now cordially welcomed by these
unfortunate ecclesiastics, for such, in fact, the majority of them were.
His presence seemed to them like a ray of light from the sun. His good
humor, his excellent spirits, which nothing could repress, and his
drollery kept them alive, and nothing was so much regretted by them as
his temporary absences from time to time; for, in truth, he was their
messenger, their steward, and their newsman--in fact, the only link that
connected them with external life, and the ongoings of the world abroad.
The bed i