Barty was a lengthy, languid, gentle youth, of nearly nineteen,
darkly, pallidly handsome, sweet natured, and slovenly, like his
mother, and, unlike her, poetical, idealistic, unpractical, shy, and
self-conscious. He was, at this period, working in the office of one
of the two solicitors, who, with the aid of a branch of a bank, a
Petty Sessions Court, and the imposing, plate-glass bow-windows of
Hallinan's hotel, enabled Cluhir to convince itself of its status as a
town. Further proof of the civic importance of Cluhir was found in the
existence of a debating club of very advanced political views among
its young men, of which Barty Mangan was secretary. Its membership, if
small, was select, since its Republican principles did not compel it
to admit to its privileges shop-assistants, or artisans, while they
automatically excluded members of the class that were usually referred
to in the club discussions as "Carrion Crows," or if the orator's mood
was mild, "the garrison." In Ireland the attitude of mind that is
termed, alternately, Disloyalty or Patriotism, is largely a matter of
class, and Barty Mangan's introduction of Master St. Lawrence
Coppinger, as an honorary member of the club, partook of the nature of
a shock to those of the faithful who were present at his first
appearance in the club room, a severely plain apartment, that offered
no impediment in the matter of luxury to high thinking. But the
faithful of the "Sons of Emmet" Club had nothing to fear from this
half-fledged young Carrion Crow. The English school to which Larry had
been sent had dulled the fire lit by the poems of The Spirit of the
Nation, but it had not extinguished it. It had flickered for a time,
during which Hunting had superseded Patriotism, and Mr. Jorrocks had
reigned alone; but the oratory of the Sons of Emmet, to which Larry
was now privileged to listen, had had the effect of restoring to life
and vigour the long-neglected, half-forgotten tenets of the
Companionage of Finn. Larry's store of enthusiasm was quite equal to
supplying motive power for running two engines; hunting still held its
own, and after a club debate in which he had taken an energetic part,
even the most exclusive of the Sons of Emmet admitted that Barty's
importation was worthy of the privilege that had been extended to him.

A spell of cold weather had compelled a postponement of Larry's return
to his own home. When snow and frost visit a country unused to their
atten