e asleep."

The conversation was thus proceeding, when Barney _Dhal_ and young Frank
M'Kenna entered the kitchen.

In a moment all hands were extended to welcome Barney: "_Millia failte
ghud_, Barny!" "_Cead millia failte ghud_, Barny!" "Oh, Barny, did you
come at last? You're welcome." "Barny, my Trojan, how is every cart-load
of you?" "How is Granua Waile, Barny?"

"Why, thin, holy music, did you never see Barny _Dhal_ afore? Clear off
from about me, or, by the sweets of rosin, I'll play the devil an' brake
things. 'You're welcome, Barny!'--an' 'How are you, Barny?' Why thin,
piper o' Moses, don't I know I'm welcome, an' yit you must be tellin' me
what everybody knows! But sure I have great news for you all!"

"What is that, Barny?"

"Well, but can yez keep a sacret? Can yez, girls?"

"Faix can we, Barny, achora."

"Well, so can I--ha, ha, ha! Now, are,yez sarved? Come, let me to the
hob."

"Here, Barny; I'll lead you, Barny."

"No, I _have_ him; come, Barny, I'll lead you: here, achora, this is the
spot--that's it. Why, Barny," said the arch girl, as she placed him in
the corner, "sorra one o' the hob but knows you: it never stirs--ha, ha,
ha!"

"Throth, a colleen, that tongue o' yours will delude some one afore
long, if it hasn't done so already."

"But how is Granua Waile, Barny?"

"Poor Granua is it? Faith, times is hard wid her often. 'Granua,' says
I to her 'what do you say, acushla? we're axed to go to two or three
places to-day--what do you say? Do you lead, an' I'll follow: your
will is my pleasure.' 'An' where are we axed to?' says Granua, sinsible
enough. 'Why,' says I, 'to Paddy Lanigan's, to Mike Hartigan's, to
Jack Lynch's, an' at the heel o' the hunt, to Frank M'Kenna's, of the
Mountain Bar.' 'By my song,' says she, 'you may go where you plase; as
for me, I'm off to Frank M'Kenna's, one of the dacentest men in Europe,
an' his wife the same. Divil a toe I'll set a waggin' in any other place
this night,' says she; 'for 'tis there we're both well thrated wid the
best the house can afford. So,' says she, 'in the name of all that's
musical, you're welcome to the poker an' tongs anywhere else; for me,
I'm off to Frank's.' An' faith, sure enough, she took to her pumps; an'
it was only comin' over the hill there, that young Frank an' I overtuck
her: divil a lie in it."

In fact, Barney, besides being a fiddler, was a senachie of the first
water; could tell a story, or trace a genealogy as well