and the tent my steed had upset, out of the proceeds of
their sale; and I, to show that I was not daunted, remounted my horse.

"Have you sufficiently enjoyed the humours of the fair, Terence?" asked
Fitzgerald.

"Faith, indeed I have, and sufficient to last me a mighty long time," I
answered.

In one place there were a dozen fellows piled up, one upon another,
struggling and kicking, with their heads cut and their noses bleeding;
but few of them had lost their voices, and not one of them was mortally
wounded.

I had charged Larry not to join in any of the fights; and though he
confessed that he had been sorely tempted, he had become too well
disciplined at sea to disobey me. He came out of the fair, therefore,
with a whole skin, having employed himself for a good portion of the
time in amusing the boys and girls with some tunes on his fiddle. I
took care to see him clear of the fair, and free from danger, before we
put our horses into a trot.

The whole scene gave me some idea of the state of my native country, to
become still more unhappy before many more years were over, owing to the
misguiding of hot-headed men, and the cruel treatment of a Government
whose only notion of ruling was by stern suppression and terrorism.

We rode too fast to allow of Larry playing his fiddle, so he was obliged
to put it in its case, and trot after us.

I felt dreadfully stiff for several days after this adventure, and but
little inclined to ride, though I managed to walk about.

Denis begged me to go with him to fish in a stream which ran into the
Shannon three or four miles from the house. I agreed, for the sake of
having his society, although no adept in the art of throwing a fly.
Larry accompanied us, to carry our baskets, and the fish we intended to
bring home. We started later in the day than we had intended, so that
the best part of it had gone by before we could reach the stream.

I was more successful than I had expected, and succeeded in hooking and
landing a brace of tolerably-sized salmon,--Denis having caught twice as
many. This encouraged us to go on, and the shades of evening had
already begun to spread over the beautiful landscape before we thought
of giving in. At length Larry came up to me.

"I wouldn't be after wishing to frighten you, Mr Terence," he said in a
whisper, "but I have just now seen something I don't like."

"What is it, Larry?" I asked. "Is it in human shape, or with four
legs, a co