fifty bicycle
prizes; and no stranger can come to Knockcool without inspecting the
brave show of silver, medals, and china that adorn the bedroom, and
make the O'Rourkes the proudest couple in ould Donegal. Phelim O'Rourke
smokes his dudeen on a bench by the door, and invites the passer-by to
enter and examine the trophies. His trousers are held up with bits of
rope arranged as suspenders; indeed, his toilet is so much a matter of
strings that it must be a work of time to tie on his clothing in the
morning, in case he takes it off at night, which is open to doubt;
nevertheless it is he that's the satisfied man, and the luck would be
on him as well as on e'er a man alive, were he not kilt wid the cough
intirely! Mrs. Phelim's skirt shows a triangle of red flannel behind,
where the two ends of the waistband fail to meet by about six inches,
but are held together by a piece of white ball fringe. Any informality
in this part of her costume is, however, more than atoned for by the
presence of a dingy bonnet of magenta velvet, which she always dons for
visitors.

The O'Rourke family is the essence of hospitality, so their kitchen
is generally full of children and visitors; and on the occasion when
Salemina issued from the prize bedroom, the guests were so busy with
conversation that, to use their own language, divil a wan of thim clapt
eyes on the O'Rourke puppy, and they did not notice that the baste was
floundering in a tub of soft, newly made butter standing on the floor.
He was indeed desperately involved, being so completely wound up in the
waxy mass that he could not climb over the tub's edge. He looked comical
and miserable enough in his plight: the children and the visitors
thought so, and so did Francesca and I; but Salemina went directly home,
and kept her room for an hour. She is so sensitive! Och, thin, it's
herself that's the marthyr intirely! We cannot see that the incident
affects us so long as we avoid the O'Rourkes' butter; but she says,
covering her eyes with her handkerchief and shuddering: "Suppose there
are other tubs and other pup--Oh, I cannot bear the thought of it,
dears! Please change the subject, and order me two hard-boiled eggs for
dinner."

Leaving Knockcool behind us, we walk along the country road between
high, thick hedges: here a clump of weather-beaten trees, there a
stretch of bog with silver pools and piles of black turf, then a sudden
view of hazy hills, a grove of beeches, a great hous