n long-measured sweep the waves flowed smoothly in upon the low shore
at Baldoyle of a rich evening in autumn, as a very old man tottered
feebly down to the strand and seated himself on a rock. Leaning his
crossed arms on his stout stick, he gazed steadily and calmly on the
broad expanse before him. Was it that they mirrored to him the wider
expanse of that world to which he was so rapidly tending; was it in that
measured beat he recognized the march of time, the long flow of years he
could count, and which still swept on, smooth but relentless; or was
it that the unbroken surface soothed by its very sameness a brain long
wearied by its world conflict? Whatever the cause, old Matthew Dunn came
here every evening of his life, and, seated on the self-same spot, gazed
wistfully over the sea before him.

Although his hair was snow-white and the wrinkles that furrowed his
cheeks betrayed great age, his eyes yet preserved a singular brightness,
and in their vivid glances showed that the strong spirit that reigned
within was still unquenched. The look of defiance they wore was the very
essence of the man,--one who accepted any challenge that fortune
flung him, and, whether victor or vanquished, only prepared for fresh
conflict.

There was none of the weariness so often observable in advanced age
about his features, nothing of that expression that seems to crave rest
and peace, still as little was there anything of that irritable activity
which seems at times to' counterfeit past energy of temperament; no,
he was calm, stern, and self-possessed, the man who had fought this way
from boyhood, and who asked neither grace nor favor of fortune as he
drew nigh the end of the journey!

"I knew I'd find you here," said a deep voice close to his ear. "How are
you?"

The old man looked up, and the next moment his son was in his arms.
"Davy, my own boy--Davy, I was just thinking of you; was it Friday or
Saturday you said you 'd come."

"I thought I could have been here Saturday, father, but Lord Jedburg
made a point of my dining with him yesterday; and it was a great
occasion,--three Cabinet Ministers present, a new Governor-General of
India too,--I felt it was better to remain."

"Right, Davy,--always right,--them's the men to keep company with!"

"And how are you, sir? Are you hale and stout and hearty as ever?" said
Dunn, as he threw his head back, the better to look at the old man.

"As you see me, boy: a little shaky about t