"Niver mind," replied Joe, "it will be a comfort to her any way
to hear that Ussher's gone before her; not but what they'll go
to different places, though." And then, after a time, he added,
"Ussher's black soul has gone its long journey this night with more
curses on it than there are stones on these shingles. But come on,
lads, we mustn't be standing here; we must be in Aughacashel before
sunrise, or else they'll be stopping us as we pass through the
counthry."

And again they went through the clear bright moonlight. They passed
Loch Sheen, and soon afterwards another little lake, lying also to
the left of the road, and then they found themselves in the small
village of Cashcarrigan. This they passed through silently and
quickly and without speaking a word, and having proceeded about half
a mile on the road towards Ballinamore, they again left it and took
to the fields. They went along the northern margin of Loch Dieney,
running where the ground was hard enough, at other times stepping
from one dry sod to another, through gaps and fences, which seemed as
well known to Thady's guides as the cabins in which they had passed
their lives. They left Drumshambo to their left, and at about four in
the morning they came to Loch Allen. Here they got upon a road which
for some way skirts the eastern side of the lake, along which they
ran for about a mile and a half, and then turned into a small boreen
or path, and began to ascend the mountains.

"Asy boys, now," said Corney; "we're all right when we're here; an',
by the powers! I'm hot," and the man began wiping his brow with his
sleeve.

"What, Corney, you're not blown yet!" said the other, "an' here's Mr.
Thady as fresh as a four year old. Come along, man; the sooner he's
got a snug room over his head the better he'll be. You forget he's
not accustomed to be out all night, and take his supper of moonshine,
as you are. Come along, Mr. Thady; you'll soon be where you'll get as
good a dhrop as iver man tasted, an' you'll feel a deal better when
you've got a glass or two of that stuff in you."

Thady, who, in spite of Joe's compliment as to his freshness, was so
weary that he could hardly drag his legs along, and who had seated
himself for a moment upon one of the big loose stones which were
scattered over the side of the hill, again rose, and they all resumed
their journey. They soon lost the track of the boreen, but they still
continued to ascend, keeping by the sides of