rocks yonder."

"How pretty it is,--the snuggest spot I ever saw!"

"You're a good fellow to say so," cried Tony; and his eyes swam in tears
as he turned away.

*****

What a change has come over Tony Butler within the last twenty-four
hours! All his fears and terrors as to what Skeffy would think of their
humble cottage and simple mode of life have given way, and there he
goes about from place to place, showing to his friend how comfortable
everything is, and how snug. "There are grander dining-rooms, no
doubt, but did you ever see a warmer or a 'cosier'? And as to the
drawing-room,--match the view from the window in all Europe; between
that great bluff of Fairhead and the huge precipice yonder of the
Causeway there is a sweep of coast unrivalled anywhere. Those great
rocks are the Skerries; and there, where you see that one stone-pine
tree,--there, under that cliff, is the cove where I keep my boat; not
much of a boat," added he, in a weaker voice, "because I used always to
have the cutter,--Sir Arthur's yacht Round that point there is such a
spot to bathe in; twenty feet water at the very edge, and a white gravel
bottom, without a weed. Passing up that little pathway, you gain
the ledge yonder; and there--do you mark the two stones, like
gate-piers?--there you enter Sir Arthur Lyle's demesne. You can't see
the shrubberies, for the ground dips, and the trees will only grow in
the valleys here!" And there was a despondent tenderness in the last
words that seemed to say, "If it were not for that, this would be
paradise!"

Nor was it mere politeness, and the spirit of good breeding, that made
Skeffy a genial listener to these praises. What between the sense of a
holiday, the delight of what cockneys call an "outing," the fine fresh
breezy air of the place, the breadth and space,--great elements of
expansiveness,--Skeffy felt a degree of enjoyment that amounted to
ecstasy.

"I don't wonder that you like it all, Tony," said he. "You 'll never, in
all your wanderings, see anything finer."

"I often say as much to myself," replied Tony. "As I sit here of an
evening, with my cigar, I often say, 'Why should I go over the world in
search of fortune, when I have all that one wants here,--here at my very
hand?' Don't you think a fellow might be content with it?"

"Content! I could be as happy as a king here!" and for a moment or
two Skeffy really revelled in delighted thoughts of a region where the
tinkle of a mini