ou are
coming, and that he is to use the money to your advantage, and to
hand it over to you whenever you choose to ask for it. Your master
is coming down to stay for a month with me, and Colonel O'Brien
has granted leave for you to accompany him.'

"I thanked him heartily, as you may believe, sir; though, as I
said, I wanted no reward for obeying your orders, and for the
share I took in that little skirmish. After I came out, I looked
into the purse, which was mighty heavy, expecting to find a
handful of crowns; and it fairly staggered me when I found that it
was full of gold pieces, and on counting them, found that there
were a hundred louis. Never did I dream that I should be so rich.
Why, your honour, when I lave the regiment, which will not be for
many a long year, I hope, I shall be able to settle down
comfortably, for the rest of my life, in a snug little shebeen, or
on a bit of land with a cottage and some pigs, and maybe a cow or
two; and it is all to your honour I owe it, for if you hadn't
given the word, it would never have entered my head to attack a
gentleman's house, merely because I heard a woman scream."

"Well, I am heartily glad, Mike; and I hope that you will take it
straight to the agent's, and not break in upon it, by treating
half the regiment to drink."

"I will, your honour. It was given me to stow away for the time
when I might want it, and though I don't say that my own
inclinations would not lead me to trate a few of the boys, I feel
that I ought to do what the gentleman told me."

"Certainly you should, Mike. If you once began to spend it in that
way, it is not one louis, but five or more, that would disappear
in a few hours. I am heartily glad that the baron has so
handsomely rewarded you for the service, and if you like, I will
go round with you this afternoon to his agent, and see the money
safely deposited."

"Thank you, your honour. I sha'n't feel easy, as long as I have
got it in my pouch. I should suspict everyone who came near me,
and should never dare take my hand off it, lest someone else might
put his in."

"You are a lucky fellow, Kennedy," O'Neil said, when Desmond told
his two comrades of the arrangements that had been made. "And, if
you go on like this, the regiment will believe that any good
fortune that may fall to its lot is the result of your luck."

"I really do not like having leave given to me, when I have been
such a short time in the regiment. It does not se