he says, while a tear sthud in his
eye. 'Whin I think iv Leonidas at th' pass iv Thermometer,' he says,
'an' So-an'-so on th' field iv Marathon an' This-or-that th' Spartan
hero,' he says, 'I cannot undherstand f'r th' life iv me why th' Greeks
shud have been dhruv fr'm pillar to post be an ar-rmy iv slaves. Didn't
Leonidas, with hardly as manny men as there are Raypublicans in this
precint, hold th' pass again a savage horde?' he says. 'He did,' says I.
'He did.' 'An' didn't What's-his-name on th' field iv Marathon overcome
an' desthroy th' ravagin' armies iv Persia?' he says. 'Thrue f'r ye,'
says I. 'There's no doubt in th' wurruld about it,' I says. 'An' look at
Alexander th' Great,' he says. 'Aleck was a turror, an' no mistake,'
says I. 'An' Miltiades,' he says. 'I on'y know what I hear iv him,' says
I. 'But fr'm all accounts he must have been consid'rable iv a fellow,'
says I. 'An' in later days Marco Boozaris,' he says. 'He was th' man
that come in con-sumption's dreaded form,' says I, 'an' he was afraid iv
no man.' 'Well, thin,' says he, 'how ar-re we to account f'r this
disgrace?' he says.

"'Well,' says I, 'd'ye raymimber th' fightin' tenth precint? Ye must've
heerd ye'er father tell about it. It was famous f'r th' quality an'
quantity iv th' warfare put up in it. Ivry man in th' tenth precint cud
fight his weight in scrap-iron. Most iv thim come fr'm th' ancient
Hellenic province iv May-o; but they was a fair sprinklin' iv Greek
heroes fr'm Roscommon an' Tipperary, an' a few from th' historic spot
where th' Head iv Kinsale looks out on th' sea, an' th' sea looks up at
th' Head iv Kinsale. Th' little boys cud box befure they was out iv
skirts. Far an' wide, th' tenth precint was th' turror iv its inimies.
Ye talk about Leonidas an' th' pass iv Thermometer. Ye ought to've seen
Mike Riordan an' his fam'ly defindin' th' pollin'-place whin Eddie
Burke's brigade charged it wan fine day. That hero sthud f'r four hours
in th' dureway, ar-rmed on'y with a monkey-wrinch, an' built a wall iv
invaders in frint iv him till th' judges cud dig their way out through
th' cellar, an' escape to th' polis station.

"'F'r manny years th' tenth precint was th' banner precint iv th' Sixth
Wa-ard, an' its gallant heroes repelled all attacks by land or Healey's
slough. But, as time wint by, changes come over it. Th' Hannigans an'
Leonidases an' Caseys moved out, havin' made their pile. Some iv th'
grandest iv th' heroes died, an' the