o
give me this, Shorsha?' 'It is not mine to give,' said I; 'it is yours.'
'And you give it me for the gratitude you bear me?' 'Yes,' said I; 'and
for Dungarvon times of old.' 'Well, Shorsha,' said he, 'you are a broth
of a boy, and I'll take your benefaction--five pounds! Och, Jasus!' He
then put the money in his pocket, and springing up, waved his hat three
times, uttering some old Irish cry; then, sitting down, he took my hand
and said, 'Sure, Shorsha, I'll be going thither; and when I get there, it
is turning over another leaf I will be; I have learnt a thing or two
abroad; I will become a priest; that's the trade, Shorsha! and I will cry
out for repale; that's the cry, Shorsha! and I'll be a fool no longer.'
'And what will you do with your table?' said I. ''Faith, I'll be taking
it with me, Shorsha; and when I gets to Ireland I'll get it mended, and I
will keep it in the house which I shall have; and when I looks upon it, I
will be thinking of all I have undergone.' 'You had better leave it
behind you,' said I; 'if you take it with you you will, perhaps, take up
the thimble trade again before you get to Ireland, and lose the money I
am after giving you.' 'No fear of that, Shorsha; never will I play on
that table again, Shorsha, till I get it mended, which shall not be till
I am a priest, and have a house in which to place it.'

Murtagh and I then went into the town, where we had some refreshment
together, and then parted on our several ways. I heard nothing of him
for nearly a quarter of a century, when a person who knew him well,
coming from Ireland, and staying at my humble house, told me a great deal
about him. He reached Ireland in safety, soon reconciled himself with
his Church and was ordained a priest; in the priestly office he acquitted
himself in a way very satisfactory, upon the whole, to his superiors,
having, as he frequently said, learned wisdom abroad. The Popish Church
never fails to turn to account any particular gift which its servants may
possess; and discovering soon that Murtagh was endowed with considerable
manual dexterity--proof of which he frequently gave at cards, and at a
singular game which he occasionally played with thimbles--it selected him
as a very fit person to play the part of exorcist; and accordingly he
travelled through a great part of Ireland, casting out devils from people
possessed, which he afterwards exhibited, sometimes in the shape of
rabbits, and occasionally b