his rival the more acutely, inasmuch as he was not ignorant of the feuds
and quarrels which the former had frequently produced between friends
and neighbors, by the subtle poison of his falsehoods, which were both
wanton and malicious. He therefore advanced at an unusually brisk pace,
and had nearly reached the village, when he perceived in the distance a
person resembling Frank approaching him at a pace nearly as rapid as his
own.

"If it's Frank M'Kenna," thought he, "he must pass me, for this is his
straight line home."

It appeared, however, that he had been mistaken; for he whom he
had supposed to be the object of his enmity, crossed the field by a
different path, and seemed to be utterly ignorant of the person whom
he was about to meet--so far, at least, as a quick, free, unembarrassed
step could intimate his unacquaintance with him.

The fact, however, was, that Reillaghan, had the person whom he met
approached him more nearly, would have found his first suspicions
correct. Frank was then on his return from Gartland's, and no sooner
perceived Reillaghan, whom he immediately recognized by his great
height, than he took another path in order to avoid him. The enmity
between these rivals was, deep and implacable; aggravated on the one
hand by a sense of unmerited injury, and on the other by personal defeat
and the bitterest jealousy. For this reason neither of them wished to
meet, particularly Frank M'Kenna, who not only hated, but feared his
enemy.

Having succeeded in avoiding Reillaghan, the latter soon reached home;
but here he found the door closed, and the family, without a single
exception, in the barn, which was now nearly crowded with the youngsters
of both sexes from the surrounding villages.

Frank's arrival among them gave a fresh impulse to their mirth and
enjoyment. His manners were highly agreeable, and his spirits buoyant
almost to levity. Notwithstanding the badness of his character in the
opinion of the sober, steady, and respectable inhabitants of the parish,
yet he was a favorite with the desolate and thoughtless, and with many
who had not an opportunity of seeing him except in his most favorable
aspect. Whether he entertained on this occasion any latent design
that might have induced him to assume a frankness of manner, and an
appearance of good-humor, which he did not feel, it is difficult to
determine. Be this as it may, he made himself generally agreeable,
saw that every one was comfor