t he had not been made a lord,
or at least, a rich squire.

All at once, he heard the click, click, of the _Clericaune's_ little
hammer on his lapstone! He rose softly--parted the bushes, and there
sat the wee brogue-maker, busily at work.

The next moment, Tim had him fast in his fist, and fast he held him,
till the elf showed him where his treasure was hid.

Then, after loading himself with gold and jewels, he set the fairy
free, and went home dancing and singing in a very strange and
indecorous way. The news and the treasure he brought set his sober
family wild with joy. They had a great feast and dance over it--all to
themselves, for they were grown too grand to associate with their poor
neighbors.

Then Tim went and bought a castle, a real old castle, from an
impoverished lord--with fine furniture, pictures, horses, hounds,
plate, wines, whiskey, and a famous Banshee, who lived in an old
turret, especially built for her accommodation.

Tim took his family to this castle, and set up a splendid style of
living. Nobody was troubled with work or care now, except in the
pursuit of pleasure; and yet, to poor Tim's astonishment, nobody was
happy. He was most miserable of all, for he found it hardest to get
used to rich clothes, rich food, authority, and idleness. His wife had
her carriage--but she was always driving about in it--never at home
with him. His daughters put on fine airs, with fine clothes, and
learned to despise their ignorant old father, His sons took to bad
company, drinking, rioting, and fox-chasing--and, as they did not know
much about riding, they were always getting tumbles, and breaking their
necks. His old friends were too humble to come near him in his
grandeur, and the gentry too proud to notice such a rough, vulgar
fellow, who had got rich in some sudden, suspicious way. He had hoped
that Lord Powerscourt, at least, would visit him, "for the sake of old
times, and out of neighborly feeling just,"--and Mrs. O'Daly counted
confidently on a "betther acquaintance with her Ladyship." "An' sure,"
she said, "our young folk will be mighty thick directly, and what
should hinder the young lord from taking a fancy to our Peggy? Arrah!
they would make an ilegant match, by raison of his height an' her
shortness,--an' thin, haven't they hair of the same lively shade of
red?"

But Lord Powerscourt, who had always been a kind and affable master,
seemed put upon the very tallest stilts of his dig