pliment to herself, he perceived that the poor creature's hand was
literally passive and cold as ice, whilst the words she attempted to
utter literally died away unspoken on her lips.

Having got about a mile from the house, his unknown friend began to
become loquacious, and related several anecdotes of successful escape
from the meshes and minions of the law, a theme in which his
two companions seemed to take singular delight; for they laughed
immoderately at every recorded victory in outwitting the legal
functionaries aforesaid.

"I was wanst upon a time," he proceeded, "taken up for a resky; (* a
rescue) the case bein' you see, that we wanted the rent and the landlord
wanted patience; so begad, at any rate, we gev the bloody bailiffs a
thrifle for themselves, and the consequence was that we brought the cows
back to a neighbor's place that belonged to another property, and the
four bailiffs, poor creatures, lay upon the ground lookin' at us, an'
never said ill we did it, for a raison they had; do you undherstand,
boys?"

"Ay, we do undherstand; the bloddy thieves; divil break his neck
that invinted rint, anyhow; sure there's no harm in wishin' that, the
villain."

"Ay, an' tides," (* Tithes) replied the other; "however, we'll settle
that first, and then the rents will soon follow them; an' sure there's
no harm in that aither."

"Well an' good:--no, divil a harm's in it;--well an' good: to make a
long story short, they grabbed me in a house up in the mountains--not
unlike Finnerty's, I think that's his name--where I was on my keepin';
so what 'ud you have of it, but we were comin' acrass the hills, jist as
it might be said we are now--only there's none of us a prisoner, thank
goodness--hem! Well, I said to myself, hit or miss, I'll thry it; I have
a pair o' legs, an' it won't be my fault or I'll put them to the best
use: an' for that raison it'll be divil take the hindmost wid us. Now
listen, boys; I started off, an' one fellow that had a pistol let bang
at me, but long life to the pistol, divil a one of it would go off; bang
again came the other chap's, but 'twas ditto repaited, and no go any
more than the other. Well, do you know now, that the third fellow--for
there was only three af them, I must tell you--the third fellow, I'm
inclined to think, was a friend at bottom; for the devil a one of him
struv to break his heart in overtakin' me. Well, by that manes, I say, I
got off from two of as double-distilled vi