te
of the Rile Irish, an' now a Citizen o' the World. Gad, but I've
a'most a mind to buy a bit of land me own silf, an' marry the Maid o'
the Mill, fer the sake o' roundin' out the play. Man, man, it's happy
I am to-day!"

"It looks a good deal like taking advantage of another's ignorance,"
said Franklin argumentatively.

"Sir," said Battersleigh, "it's takin' advantage o' their Wisdom. The
land's worth it, as you'll see yoursilf in time. The price is naught.
The great fact is that they who own the land own the earth and its
people. 'Tis out of the land an' the sea an' the air that all the
wilth must come. Thus saith Batty the Fool. Annyhow, the money's in
the bank, an' it's proper dhrunk'll be Batty the Fool this night, an'
likewise the Hon. Cubberd Allen Wiggit-Galt, Etcetera. There's two of
me now, an' it's twice the amount I must be dhrinkin'. I swear, I feel
a thirst risin' that minds me o' Ingy in the hills, an' the mess o' the
Rile Irish wance again."

"You'll be going away," said Franklin, sadly, as he rose and took
Battersleigh by the hand. "You'll be going away and leaving me here
alone--awfully alone."

"Ned," said the tall Irishman, rising and laying, a hand upon his
shoulder, "don't ye belave I'll be lavin' ye. I've seen the worrld,
an' I must see it again, but wance in a while I'll be comin' around
here to see the best man's country on the globe, an' to meet agin the
best man I ivver knew. I'll not till why I belave it, for that I can
not do, but shure I do belave it, this is the land for you. There'll
be workin' an' thinkin' here afther you an' Batty are gone, an' maybe
they'll work out the joy an' sorrow of ut here. Don't be restless, but
abide, an' take ye root here. For Batty, it's no odds. He's seen the
worrld."

Battersleigh's words caused Franklin's face to grow still more grave,
and his friend saw and suspected the real cause. "Tut, tut! me boy,"
he said, "I well know how your wishes lie. It's a noble gyurl ye've
chosen, as a noble man should do. She may change her thought
to-morrow. It's change is the wan thing shure about a woman."

Franklin shook his head mutely, but Battersleigh showed only impatience
with him. "Go on with your plans, man," said he, "an' pay no attintion
to the gyurl! Make ready the house and prepare the bridal gyarments.
Talk with her raysonable, an' thin thry unraysonable, and if she won't
love ye peaceful, thin thry force; an' she'll folly ye th