ff in his hand, and, first blessing himself after the
form of his church, proceeded to a strange land in quest of education.

He had not gone more than a few perches from the door, when his mother
followed him with a small bottle of holy water. "Jimmy, _a lanna
voght_," (* my poor child) said she, "here's this, an' carry it about
you--it will keep evil from you; an' be sure to take good care of the
written correckther you got from the priest an' Square Benson; an',
darlin', don't be lookin' too often at the cuff o' your coat, for feard
the people might get a notion that you have the bank-notes sewed in it.
An', Jimmy agra, don't be too lavish upon their Munster crame; they say
it's apt to give people the ague. Kiss me agin, agra; an' the heavens
above keep you safe and well till we see you once more!"

She then tenderly, and still with melancholy pride, settled his shirt
collar, which she thought did not set well about his neck, and kissing
him again, with renewed sorrow left him to pursue his journey.

M'Evoy's house was situated on the side of a dark hill--one of that
barren description which can be called neither inland nor mountain. It
commanded a wide and extended prospect, and the road along which the lad
travelled was visible for a considerable distance from it. On a small
hillock before the door sat Dominek and his wife, who, as long as their
son was visible, kept their eyes, which were nearly blinded with tears,
rivetted upon his person. It was now they gave full vent to their grief,
and discussed with painful and melancholy satisfaction all the excellent
qualities which he possessed. As James himself advanced, one neighbor
after another fell away from the train which accompanied him, not,
however, until they had affectionately embraced and bid him adieu, and
perhaps slipped, with peculiar delicacy, an additional mite into
his waistcoat pocket. After the neighbors, then followed the gradual
separation from his friends--one by one left him, as in the great
journey of life, and in a few hours he found himself accompanied only by
his favorite brother.

This to him was the greatest trial he had yet felt; long and
heartrending was their embrace. Jemmy soothed and comforted his beloved
brother, but in vain. The lad threw himself on the spot at which they
parted, and remained there until Jemmy turned an angle of the road which
brought him out of his sight, when the poor boy kissed the marks of his
brother's feet re