se agreeable
to his fair companions.

"There are the MacFarlines, Livy," said Miss Kennyfeck; "and Linton, and
Lord Charles, and the rest of them. I declare, I believe they see us,
and are coming this way."

"What a bore! Is there no means of escape? Mr. Cashel, pray invent one."

"I beg pardon. What was it you said? I have been dreaming for the last
three minutes."

"Pleasant dreams I 'm certain they were," said Miss Kennyfeck, with a
very significant smile; "evoked, doubtless, by some little memory of
your life among the Cainanches."

Cashel started and grew red, while his astonishment rendered him
speechless.

"Here they come; how provoking!" exclaimed Livy.

"Who are coming?"

"Some friends of ours, who, strange to say, have the misfortune to
be peculiarly disagreeable to my sister Livy to-day, although I
have certainly seen Lord Charles contrive to make his company less
distasteful at other times."

"Oh, my dear Caroline, you know perfectly well--" broke in Olivia, with
a tone of unfeigned reproach.

"Let us ride for it, then," said Miss Kepnyfeck, without permitting her
to finish. "Now, Mr. Cashel, a canter,--a gallop, if you will."

"Quite ready," said Cashel, his animation at once returning at the bare
mention; and away they set, down a gentle slope with wooded sides, then
they gained another grassy plain, skirted with trees, at the end of
which a small picturesque cottage stood, the residence of a ranger;
passing this, they arrived at a thick wood, and then slackened their
pace, as all pursuit might be deemed fruitless. This portion of
the park, unlike the rest, seemed devoted to various experiments in
agriculture and gardening. Here were little enclosed plots of Indian
corn and Swedish turnips; here, small plantations of fruit trees. Each
succeeding secretary seemed to have left behind him some trace of his
own favorite system for the improvement of Ireland, and one might recall
the names of long-departed officials in little experimental specimens of
drainage, or fencing, or drill culture around. Less interested by these
patchwork devices, Cashel stood gazing on a beautiful white bull, who
grazed in a little paddock carefully fenced by a strong oak paling.
Although of a small breed, he was a perfect specimen of strength and
proportion, his massive and muscular neck and powerful loins contrasting
with the lanky and tendinous form of the wild animal of the prairies.

The girls had not remarked th