Tarian Y Gweithiwr

THE COLLEEN bawn. -0-- Chapter III.{Continued.) j -ó- "But the story, sir ?'" said Kyrle. j "But the story.—Well, little Tom Chute (he might have been better called little Torn-tit, only that he was not half so springhdy) was a very extraordinary mail, for although he was small and fat, he was not merry nor talkative. You would have oftied him to see him walking about the Ball-mom, with ruffles that looked lake small buckles, and a queue half as long as hirTh- stff, reminding one of the handle of a pump wfcem the sucker is up—with the most: forlorn aspect in the world, as if he were looking fär a runaway wife. It was a curious anom- 41 in his character, that although he- (SSence there! my dear, will you speak to those children ?)—that although he always *6dked' miserable in the midst of society, fia really was so when out of it, and if the continued embarrassment and mortification wibdch he experienced were a stimulus which fie could not do without. Round* fat shy, artskward, and oily as he was, however, lie taBttbled his little rotund figure into ffhe fwrt of Mrs. Trenchard, who was at that ifSoe, though .a widow, one of the leading tItalles in Munster. A fair friend was the fis: to disclose this rapturous secret to poor T*5m, for he might have: known Mrs Trench- atdl for a century without being able to make it trol himself. He did not know whether ha should be moist frightened or pteased at the intelligence; but certain it is, that in tSa warmth of his first feelings, he made a, tauder of his hand to the lady, and was in- stftlv- accepted. A dashing, handsome fslfow, who had i ien rejected by her some tnae before, and v 1 so knew Chute's irresolute tamper, resolved 1, indemnify himself for tSe. mortification he had' r..cedvedl by throw- irrg some embarrassment in the wa$of the • ctnpfcials, and effected it simply enough. It ssttms the lady's accomplishments were of a very general description, for besides pay- ing the harpsichord to admiration, she coufd criltiage a horse with any hero of the County Club, and was known to join their hunting parties, and even to ride a steeple chase with eGtat. Indeed, it was generally admitted that she possessed more spirit than might have answered her purposes, or her bus- band's either. What fancy she could have t'aen to Tom Chute, I cannot for my life alanceive. Well, this fellow met Tom: going tb. her house one evening, as spruce as a water-wagtail, with his queue poking up b- hmrl, like a flag-staff in the stern of a privateer. 'Beautiful creature, isrh she?' srtrapered Toj», blushing up to the eyes; for it was another funny foible of Tarn's Co redden up like a rose whenever there was art¡ discourse of ladies—even when nobody dfeamed of anything like raillery. likautt- ftE! creature, isn't she ?' says Tom. llkmuti- í1d'; indeed,' replied1 the ether. And Tom srood on his toes, threw out his right elbow, and took snuff. 'And accomplished, I tfSak ?' 'And yery sensible,' says the other; Isa they say her late husband found, poor man, to his cost.' Tom dropped his jaw a tfltte, and looked inquisitive. But the ether, who saw that his business was done, dsgrlined aJl explanation, and' hurried off with a concluding remark, that 'the tad$wa& unquestionably a capital "Whip." Well, Tom got a sudden attack of-I doa/t know what complaint-went home that night, and sect an apology to the widow. He was not sesen near her house for a fortnight after, and a report reached her ears that he had swne notion of quitting the country. But ifhe had, she put a stop to it One motn- iflg, when Tom was looking over his hooks, Re was startled by the apparition) of a fall woman in a riding dress, with a horsewhip tÍfone hand and a case of duelling pistols in tlte other. She nodded to Tom. 'I uooer- sC.nd:" said she— At this moment a potato-peel, flung ffben tU side-table, whisked past Mr Italy's nose, ajfd. with happier aim, lighted on (fiat of Krince Eugene- in the print before meution- The venerable but too little rener- ? *d story-teller, who had been for the fesf v minutes endeavouring to raise hIs voice •w vs to make it audible above the increasing uproar of the young people, now turned 8Uund at this unparalleled and violent ag- rision, and confronted the daring group awful silence. Satisfied, however, with it,o sudden hush of terror which this action occasioned, and willing to reserve the borst dt wrath for a future transgression, he taro- again in silence, and directing the servant 4rtl who was in the room, to take the: poCaGo- V;Z!el. off Prince Eugene's nose, he resumed lite thread of his narrative. Cl understand,' said Mrs. Trencharcl—fe» it was no other than the widow—that you in- Ijgpd leaving Ireland?' Tom stammered 23*1 hesitated 'If my brother were Rving,' ctfcitinued the lady, 'he would horsewhip IOu; but although he is not, Hetty Trench- ed is able to fight her own way. Come, SIT, my carriage is ait the door below; either sfiep into it with me this minute, or take one « £ these pistols, and stand at the other end of the room.' Well, Tom looked as Jike a lool as my man in Ireland. He waudlit dfght, and he woudn't be horsewhipped; so the business ended in his going into the Carriage, and marrying the lady. Some persons, indeed, insinuated that Tom was deserved in the course of the day to chafe Sis shoulders two or three tmes with an ex- pression of pain, as if his change of condition ft been the result of a still harsher mode 4d reasoning that I have mentioned: but tMs part of the story is without foundation." ^h' t a bold creature," said the gewtle 5Trc Ddv. 5 n ? is it possible, sir," asked Kyrfe, 'i',¡,t this amazon- is the kind old lady whom, /"■■n • Chute attends with so much affection i-T! -nd^rness in her infirmity ?" Mi, ha! Kyrle. I see the nature of the to'.t that has wounded you, and I like you (te better for it, my boy. A good face is a pippin that grows on every hedge but a good heart, that is to say. a well-regulated CJe. is the apple of the Hesperrdes, worth CTen the'risk of ease and life itself. Kyrle assented to this sagacious aphorism •vdlh a deep sigh. OAre the Cregans and they on good terms Q)w?" askt-d Mrs. Daly. °As nuich on terms as two families of nxh opposite habits can bs, T BtQ CSutes invite the Cregans to a. family dinner once or twice in the year, and the Cregans ask the Chutes to their Killarney cottage, both of which invitatiotns are taken as French compliments, and never accepted Cregan himself hates going to Castle Chute, be- cause he has nobody there to make jovial the night with him, and young Hardress (your friend, Kyrle) is too wild a lad to con- fine himself to mere drawing-room society. Apropos, talk of 'tis a vulgar proverb, and let it pass; but there goes his trim pleasure-boat, the Nora Creina, flying down the river, and there sits the youth himself, tiller,in hand as usual. Patsy, bring me the telescope, I think I see a female dress on -board." The telescope was brought and adjusted t> to the proper focus, while a. dozen eager faces were collected about the small window, one over another, in the manner of those groups in painting, called "Studies ot Heads." | "That is he, indeed," continued Mr Daly, resting the glass on the window-frame, and directing it towards the object of their at- t^-rition—there is no mistaking that dark and handsome face, buried up as it is in the huge oiled penthouse hat, and there is hfs hunched-backed boatman, Danny Mann, or Danny the feo»rd, as the people call him since his misfortune, tending the foredieet in the bow. But that female—there is a, female there unquestionably in a blue mars- tie, with the hood brought low over her eyes, sitting on the ballast. Who can she be ?" "Perhaps Danny Mann's cousin, Catch, Coonerty," said Mrs Daly. "Or some western woman, who has come up to Limerick to purchase a, reinforcement of pins, needles, wfiisky, and Reading-made- easys for her village counter, and is getting a free passage home from young master Hardress." "Like enough, like, enough; it is just his way. Hillo.! the fellow is going to run down that fishing cot, I believe!" A hoarse cry of "Bear away t-hold up your hand was heard from the water, and reiterated! with the addition of a few ex- pletives, which those who know the energy of a boatman's dialect will understand with- out our transcribing them here.,The pleas- ure-boat, however, heedless of those rough remonstrances, and apparently indisposed to yield any portion of her way, still held her bowsprit close to the wind, and sailed on, paying no more regard to the peril of the plebeian craft, than a French aristocrat of the 'vielle cour' might be supposed to exhibit for that of a 'sans culottes,' about to be trodden down by his leaders in the Rue St. Honore. The fisherman, with many curses, backed water, and put about as rapidly as possible, but without being able to avoid the shock of the Nora Creina, who just touched their stem with sufficient force to make the cot dart forward nearly an oar's length through the water, and to lay the rowers sprawling on their backs in the bottom. Fortunately the wT:nd, which had sprung up with the returning tide, was not sufficiently strong,to render the concussion more dangerous. "Like his pr )" mother in e.'ery feature," i said Ms Daly- "It is not that while, we were speaking of the characters of the family he could not pass our window without furnishing us with f slight specimen of his own. See hotw staceiity the fellow turns cound and contemplates the confusion he has occasioned. There is his mother's grandeur blended with the hair-brained wild- Biess and idle spirit of his father." "Hardress Cregan's ia the handsomest boat in the river," said Patcy, a stout, sun-1 burnt boy—"She beat all the Galway hookers httH I—and white sails, and beautiful green < colours flying over her peak and gaff-topsail! -j from this to Beale. What a nice green Oh! how I'd like to be steering hex." j Mr Daly winked at his wife, and whisper-; ed her that he had known Rear-Admirals j come of smaller beginnings. Mrs Daly, with a shudder, replied that she should not [ wish to see him a Rear-Admiral, the navy i mis so dangerous a service. Her husband, in order to soothe her, observed that the danger was not very near at hand. In the meantime, Hardress Cregan be- cama a subject of vehement debate at the j: side table, to which the juvenile squadron had returned. One fair-haired little girl de- dared that she was bis "pet." A second claimed that distinction for herself. "He gave me and O'Deel-cake when he ? was last here," said one. "And me a stick of peppermint." [ "He gave me a"—in ai whisper—kiss»M e "And me two." "He didn't" "He did. "He dúd." CT7 I tell dadida it was you threw the l, potato-peel while ago." "Ah, ha,, tattler, tell-tale!" "Silence there !—ne! fie I-what words are » these?" said Mrs Daly—"Come, kiss and be I friends, now, both of you, and let me hear no more." The young combatants complied with her injunction, and, as the duelling paragraph sav, the affair terminated amicably." rlut I was speaking," Mr Daly resuIDed,i "of the family pride of hte Cregans. It was once manifested by Hardress's father in a, manner that might make an Englishman smile. When their little Killarney proper-; ty was left to the Cregans, amongst many other additional pieces of display that were made on the occasion, it behoved Mr Baray Cregau to erect a family vault and monu- ment in his parish-churchyard. He had scarcely, however, given directions for its construction, when he fell ill of a fever, and w p s verv near enjoying the honour of 'han- seTlinsr' the new cemetery himself." But he got over the fit, and made it one of his first cares to saunter out as far as the church and inspect the mansion whach had been prepar- ed for his reception. It was handsome Gothic monument, occupying; a retired crner of the churchyard, and shadowed over by a fine old sycamore. But Barny, who had no taste for the picturesque, was deeply mortified at finding his piece of sepulchral finery thrown so much into the shade. 'What'did I or my people do,' he said to the architect, fthat we should be sent skulking into that comer? I paid my money, and I'll have my own value for it.' The monument was accordingly got rid of, and a sporting flashiy one erected opposite the g?teway; with. the Cregani crest and. shield (in what hearald's office it was picked up I cannot take upon me to say) emblazon- ed on the frontispiece. Here it is to be hoped, the aspiring Barnaby and his pos- terity may one day rest in peace." ¡ "That would be a vain hope, I fear," said Kyrle, "at least so far as Mr Cregan is con- cerned, if it were true, as our peasantry be- i lieve, that the church-yard is frequently i, madie a scene of midnight mirth and revel, by those whose earthly carousals are long; concluded. But what relationship is there between that family and Mrs Chute. ?'' [ "She is step-sister to Mrs Cregan." "Indeed? So near?" "Most veritably; therefore, look to it They tell a story—" But the talkative old I gentleman was interruped in his anecdodcal < career by the entrance of a new actor on ¡ the scene. (To be Continued.)