elevated character to her beauty.

"Young and ould, _achushla machree_, is fallin' about us in every
direction; but may the Father of Mercy spare you to us, my darlin'
child, for if anything was to happen you, where--Oh, where could we look
upon your aiquil, or find anything that could console us for your loss?"

"If it's my fate to go, father, I'll go, an if it isn't God will take
care of me; whatever comes, I'm resigned to His will."

"Ay, dear, an' you ever wor, too--and for the same raison God's blessin'
will be upon you; but what makes you look so low, avourneen? I trust in
my Saviour, you are not unwell, Mave, dear."

"Thanks be to God, no, father; but there's a thing on my mind, that's
distressin' me very much, an' I hope you'll allow me my way in it."

"I may say so, dear; because I know you wouldn't ax me for anything that
'ud be wrong to grant you. What is it, Mave?"

"It's the unhappy an' miserable state that these poor Daltons is in,"
she replied. "Father, dear, forgive me for what I'm about to say; for,
although it may make you angry, there's nothin' farther from my heart
than to give you offence."

"You needn't tell me so, Mave; you need not, indeed; but sure you know,
darlin', that unfortunately, we have nothing in our power to do for
them; I wish to the Lord we had! Didn't we do all that people in our
poor condition could do for them? Didn't you, yourself, achora, make us
send them such little assistance as we could spare?--ay, even to sharin'
I may say, our last morsel wid them; an' now, darlin', you know we
haven't it."

"I know that," she replied, as she wiped away the tears; "where is there
a poorer family than we are, sure enough? but, father, dear; we can
assist them--relieve them; ay, maybe save them--for all that."

"God be praised then!" exclaimed Sullivan; "only show me how, an' we'll
be glad to do it; for I can forget everything now, Mave, but their
distress."

"But do you know the condition they're in at this moment?" she asked,
"do you know, father, that they're stretched on the bed of sickness? I
mean Nancy an'--an' young Con, who has got into a relapse; poor Mary is
scarcely able to go about, she's so badly recovered from the fever; an'
Tom, the wild unfortunate young man, is out of his senses, they say.
Then there's nobody to look to them but Mrs. Dalton herself; an' she,
you know, has to go 'out' to ask their poor bit from the neighbors. Only
think," she proceeded, with a fre