the night.

A kemp invariably closes with a dance--and a dance too upon an unusually
extensive scale. Indeed, during the whole day the fair competitors are
regaled from time to time with the enlivening strains of the fiddle or
bagpipes, and very often with the united melody of both together.

On that morning the dwelling-house and mostly all the out-offices of
Gerald Cavanagh bore, in stir and bustle, a stronger resemblance to the
activity of so many bee-hives about to swarm than to anything else
to which we can think of comparing them. Mirth in all its shapes, of
laughter, glee, and song, rang out in every direction. The booming
of wheels and the creaking of reels, the loud banter, the peals of
laughter, the sweet Irish songs that filled up the pauses of the louder
mirth, and the strains of the fiddle that ever and anon added to the
enlivening spirit of the scene, all constituted such a full and general
chorus of hilarity as could seldom be witnessed.

There were many girls present who took no part in the competition, but
who, as friends and acquaintances of Kathleen and Hanna, came to enjoy
the festive spirit of the day. Hanna herself, however, who had earned
some celebrity as a spinster, started for the honor of winning, as did
Dora M'Mahon, whose small and beautiful fingers seemed admirably adapted
for this graceful and peculiarly feminine process of Minerva. Towards
evening the neighbors assembled in considerable numbers, each interested
in the success of some peculiar favorite, whose former feats had induced
her friends to entertain on her behalf strong, if not certain, hopes of
victory. Kathleen, from a principle of generosity, patronized her young
friend, Dora M'Mahon; and Shibby M'Mahon, on the other hand, took
Hanna Cavanagh under her protection. As the evening advanced, and the
spectators and friends of the parties began to call, in order to be
present at the moment of victory, it would be difficult to witness any
assemblage of young women placed under circumstances of such striking
interest. The mirth and song and general murmur diminished by degrees,
until they altogether ceased, and. nothing was to be heard but the
perpetual cracking of the reels, the hum of the rapid wheels, and the
voices of the reelers, as they proclaimed the state of this enlivening
pool of industry. As for the fair competitors themselves, it might have
been observed that even those among them who had no, or at least but
slight pret