ey say, was his quantum' between noon
an' nine o'clock; an' then he'd climb into saddle an' ride home to
his jewelled four-poster, cursin' an' mutterin', but sittin' his mare
like a man of iron.

"But one o' these fine market-days he did a thing that filled the
mouths o' the country-side.

"He was loafin' by the Pack-Horse door, just as usual, at two
o'clock, rappin' the head o' his crop on the side o' his ridin'
boots, drawin' his brows down an' lookin' out curses from under 'em
across the street to the saddler's opposite, when two drover-chaps
came up the pavement wi' a woman atween 'em.

"The woman--or maid, to call her by her proper title--was a
dark-browed slut, wi' eyes like sloes, an' hair dragged over her face
till she looked like an owl in an ivy-bush. As for the gown o' her,
'twas no better'n a sack tied round the middle, wi' a brave piece
torn away by the shoulder, where one o' the men had clawed her.

"There was a pretty dido goin' on atween the dree, an' all talkin'
together--the two men mobbin' each other, an' the girl i' the middle
callin' em every name but what they was chris'ened, wi'out
distinction o' persons, as the word goes.

"'What's the uproar?' asks Ould Wounds, stoppin' the tap-tap o' his
crop, as they comes up.

"'The woman b'longs to me,' says the first. 'I've engaged to make
her my lawful wife; an' I won't go from my word under two gallon o'
fourpenny.'

"'You agreed to hand her over for one gallon, first along,' says
t'other,' an' a bargain's a bargain.'

"Says the woman, 'You're a pair o' hair-splitting shammicks, the pair
of 'ee. An' how much beer be I to have for my weddin' portion?'
(says she)--'for that's all _I_ care about, one way or t'other.'

"Now Ould Wounds looked at the woman; an' 'tis to be thought he found
her eyeable, for he axed up sharp--

"'Would 'ee kick over these two, an' marry me, for a bottle o' gin?'

"'That would I.'

"'An' to be called My Lady--Countess o' Bellarmine?'

"'Better an' better.'

"'I shall whack 'ee.'

"'I don't care.'

"'I shall kick an' cuff an' flog 'ee like a span'el dog,' says he:
'by my body! I shall make 'ee repent.'

"'Give 'ee leave to try,' says she.

"An' that's how th' Earl o' Bellarmine courted his wife. He took her
into the bar an' treated her to a bottle o' gin on the spot. At nine
o'clock that evenin' she tuk hold of his stirrup-leather an' walked
beside 'en, afoot, up to Castle Cannick. Next day, their ban