, and without the slightest assistance, for
not a single gloomy by-stander would do us a hand's turn, we carry it
off to our own car, and thanks to the awe inspired by army revolvers,
Winchester rifles, one constable on the car, and those officially at
the railway station, bring our property away.

A day since there was great excitement concerning the arrival of a
daughter of the house, who was coming down to keep house for the
"boys" whose guest I am. Her brother and one of her cousins went down
on the car to meet her, armed as usual, for although they would be
comparatively safe with a lady on the car, they ran considerable risk
until she was actually on board. The train came, but not the young
lady, and as it was broad daylight her well-armed escort came back
again. Towards the hour for the arrival of the evening train there was
more anxiety. It was dark, but it was absolutely necessary to go down
to Kilmallock again, on the off chance that she might have come later
than was expected, and had forgotten to telegraph. If she had arrived
and nobody had been there to meet her, the consequences would have
been awkward. She would not, it is true, have been exposed to the
slightest insult, for except in the case of Miss Gardiner, of
Farmhill, I believe Irishmen have never forgotten their natural
gallantry so much as to insult, much less shoot at and wound, a lady.
There would, therefore, have been no fear of violence; but it is very
doubtful whether anybody would have removed her trunks from the spot
on which they had been laid down. Most assuredly no cardriver would
have dared to drive her home, and I question if any house in
Kilmallock would have afforded her shelter. However, she did not come
by the train after all, and the "boys" drove back, not without an
Irish howl to keep them company on the road.

Dinner over, the company being composed of the three "boys" and the
writer, who among them made short work of a plump turkey and a
vigorous inroad on a round of beef, besides disposing of soups,
sweets, and sherry--not a bad _menu_ under "Boycotting" rules--we,
after seeing that the front door was properly barred, bolted, and
chained, and the iron-linked shutters, relics of the Fenian time, made
equally secure, adjourned to the kitchen for a smoke, a common
practice in this part of Ireland. The kitchen, with its red-tiled
floor, is a capital smoking room, warm and cosy, and while tobacco is
leisurely puffed, and that ete