nything wanting? Tell us. Yer
wish shall be gratified. Does ye wish for music? A piper an' a
fiddler too are both convaynient, an', begorra, thim fellers can bate
out-an'-out all the pipers an' fiddlers this side av the Bay av
Biscay. They're both Irishmen, so they are, an' they're our sworn
body-gyard, an' there ye have it. But, man, ye're not dhrinkin'. What
'il ye have? Here's port from Oporto--pure--none av yer vile Saxon
compounds; likewise here's sherry from Xeres. Here's marsala an'
maraschino. Here's champagne an' cognac. Here's also whiskey. What
d'ye say, me lord? Is it whiskey? Divil a doubt! I knowed
it--begorra, I knowed it by the twinkle av yer eye. Thrust to me for
findin' that out; sure it's meself that can tell a conjaynial spirit,
so it is."

Hereupon "His Majesty" began to brew a tumbler of toddy. Russell, who
was an experienced hand, gazed upon the royal proceedings with a
critical eye, but found nothing wanting. The royal hand was as
experienced as his own. The drink that resulted was equal, to say the
least of it, to anything that had ever touched his palate. He tasted,
and felt like a new man. He tasted again, and all his sorrows
vanished. He tasted for a third time, and there came over him a
feeling of peace, and content, and brotherly love to all mankind.

"His Majesty" had also been tasting, and with every taste the royal
mind seemed to assume a new phase.

"In our coort," said "His Majesty," "as at prisint constichooted, we
cannot offer the injuicemints that are held forth at Vienna, Berlin,
an' St. Paytersburg; but we can furnish some lads that can bate the
worruld. I'd like to howld a coort an' have the ladies. We'd have a
ball. Oh, but it's meself that's fond av dancin'. Do ye dance, me
lord? Sure but there's nothiu' in life like it! An' more's the pity
that I can't get here the craim av our Spanish aristocracy. But we're
too far away entirely. As for dancin'--begorra, I've seen dancin' in
my time that 'ud take yer head off!

"'Oh, it bates all the illigant dancin'
That iver was danced at a ball,
Whin Teddy came out to the crowd,
And danced upon nothin' at all--
Wid a himpin cravat round his neck
That the hangman had fixed on his head;
An' so he kept kickin' an' prancin'
Long afher he ought to be dead.
Whoor-ooo-ooo!'"

As "His Majesty" trolled out this, Russell could not help feeling
that it was decidedly out of accord with his ro