ge.'

"Peggy and me went into her room together; but we couldn't even get her
to speak to us for ever so long a time. All at once she cries out, 'I
can't see things as I ought. Where's the woman who suckled my baby when
I was alone by the roadside?' 'Here,' says I--'here; I've got hold
of your hand. Do tell us where we can write to about you.' 'Will you
promise to take care of my baby, and not let it go into the workhouse?'
says she. 'Yes, I promise,' says I; 'I do indeed promise with my whole
heart.' 'We'll all take care of the baby,' says Peggy; 'only you try
and cheer up, and you'll get well enough to see me on Garryowen's back,
before we leave Bangbury--you will for certain, if you cheer up a bit.'
'I give my baby,' she says, clutching tight at my hand, 'to the woman
who suckled it by the roadside; and I pray God to bless _her_ and
forgive _me,_ for Jesus Christ's sake.' After that, she lay quiet for
a minute or two. Then she says faintly, 'Its name's to be Mary. Put it
into bed to me again; I should like to touch its cheek, and feel how
soft and warm it is once more.' And I took the baby out of its crib, and
lifted it, asleep as it was, into the bed by her side, and guided her
hand up to its cheek. I saw her lips move a little, and bent down over
her. 'Give me one kiss,' she whispered, 'before I die.' And I kissed
her, and tried to stop crying as I did it. Then I says to Peggy, 'You
wait here while I run and fetch the doctor back; for I'm afraid she's
going fast.' He wasn't at home when I got to his house. I did'n't know
what to do next, when I see a gentleman in the street who looked like a
clergyman, and I asked him if he was one; and he said 'Yes;' and he
went back with me. I heard a low wailing and crying in the room, and
saw Peggy sitting on the bundle of dresses she'd brought in the morning,
rocking herself backwards and forwards as Irish people always do when
they're crying. I went to the bed, and looked through the curtains. The
baby was still sleeping as pretty as ever, and its mother's hand was
touching one of its arms. I was just going to speak to her again, when
the clergyman said 'Hush,' and took a bit of looking-glass that was set
up on the chimney-piece, and held it over her lips. She was gone. Her
poor white wasted hand lay dead on the living baby's arm.

"I answered all the clergyman's questions quite straightforward, telling
him everything I knew from beginning to end. When I'd done, Peggy starts