I only hope your Reverence will be livin' when he praches his first
sarmon. I have the dam of the coult still, an a wink's as good as a nod,
please your Reverence."

"A strong letter in his favor to the President of Maynooth will do him
no harm," said the priest.

They then joined their other friends, and in a few minutes an excellent
dinner, plain and abundant, was spread out upon the table. It consisted
of the usual materials which constitute an Irish feast in the house of
a wealthy farmer, whose pride it is to compel every guest to eat so
long as he can swallow a morsel. There were geese and fowl of all
kinds--shoulders of mutton, laughing-potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and
cabbage, together with an immense pudding, boiled in a clean sheet,
and ingeniously kept together with long straws* drawn through it in all
directions. A lord or duke might be senseless enough to look upon such
a substantial, yeoman-like meal with a sneer; but with all their wealth
and elegance, perhaps they might envy the health and appetite of those
who partook of it. When Father Finnerty had given a short grace, and the
operations of the table were commenced,--Denis looked around him with a
disappointed air, and exclaimed:

"Father Finnerty, there's only one thing, indeed I may say two, a
wantin' to complate our happiness--I mean Denis and Father Molony! What
on earth does your Reverence think can keep them?"

* This, about thirty years ago, was usual at weddings
and other feasts, where everything went upon a large
scale.

To this he received not a syllable of reply, nor did he consider it
necessary to urge the question any further at present. Father Finnerty's
powers of conversation seemed to have abandoned him; for, although
there were some few expressions loosely dropped, yet the worthy priest
maintained an obstinate silence.

At length, in due time, he began to let fall an occasional remark,
impeded considerably by hiccups, and an odd _Deo Gratias_, or _Laus
Deo_, uttered in that indecisive manner which indicates the position of
a man who debates within himself whether he ought to rest satisfied or
not.

At this moment the tramping of a horse was heard approaching the door,
and immediately every one of Denis's family ran out to ascertain whether
it was the young candidate. Loud and clamorous was their joy on finding
that they were not mistaken; he was alone, and, on arriving at the door,
dismounted slowly, and received