ll; I have had a better
haul than we have got for many a day."

"And may be, Dermot, we will have a better market too," observed the
woman. "It is said the Earl has come to the castle with many fine
people, and they will be wanting fish to a certainty. It would be too
late now to go, they would not see you; but to-morrow morning, as soon
as the sun is up, you shall set forth, and to be sure they'll be glad to
buy fish of my Dermot." The woman drew herself up as she spoke, and
looked towards the boy with a glance of pride, as if she would not
exchange him for any of the highest born in the land.

"How are you, mother?" asked Dermot; "have all those aches of which you
were complaining gone away? Do you feel strong again?"

"Yes; the saints were merciful; I did not forget to pray to them, and
they have heard me," answered the woman.

With her, as with most of her countrywomen, superstition, if it had not
altogether taken the place of religion, had been strangely mixed up with
it; yet she spoke in a tone of simple and touching faith, at which no
one with any feeling would have ventured to sneer.

Next morning, Dermot, laden with the finest of his fish in a basket at
his back, set off along the shores of the bay towards Kilfinnan Castle.
The approach to it was wild and picturesque. A narrow estuary, having
to be crossed by a bridge, almost isolated the castle from the mainland,
for the ground on which the old fortress stood was merely joined to it
by a rugged and nearly impassable ledge of rocks. The castle itself was
of considerable size and strongly built, so that it could well withstand
the gales which, from time to time, circled round it. Dermot had but
little natural timidity or shyness; yet he felt somewhat awed when,
having missed the back approach used by the servants of the
establishment, he found himself at the entrance-hall, in which a number
of well-dressed persons were assembled on their way to the
breakfast-room. Some passed him carelessly.

"Oh, here, papa, is a fisher-boy with such fine fish," said a young and
fair girl as she ran up to a tall and dignified man, who at that moment
appeared.

"Why, boy, what brought you here?" asked the gentleman.

"To sell some fish; I caught them myself," was Dermot's answer. "They
are fine and fresh. I will not bargain for the price, as I feel sure
you will give me what they are worth."

The gentleman seemed amused at the boy's composure, and stepping fo