ek, and the Odyssey, for he is a very learned man,
and understands the old Irish, and various other strange languages. He
has had a dispute with Bagg. On hearing his name, he called him to him,
and, after looking at him for some time with great curiosity, said that
he was sure he was a Dane. Bagg, however, took the compliment in
dudgeon, and said that he was no more a Dane than himself, but a
true-born Englishman, and a sergeant of six years' standing."

"And what other acquaintance have you?"

"All kinds; the whole neighbourhood can't make enough of me. Amongst
others there's the clergyman of the parish and his family; such a
venerable old man, such fine sons and daughters! I am treated by them
like a son and brother--I might be always with them if I pleased; there's
one drawback, however, in going to see them; there's a horrible creature
in the house, a kind of tutor, whom they keep more from charity than
anything else; he is a Papist and, they say, a priest; you should see him
scowl sometimes at my red coat, for he hates the king, and not
unfrequently, when the king's health is drunk, curses him between his
teeth. I once got up to strike him; but the youngest of the sisters, who
is the handsomest, caught my arm and pointed to her forehead."

"And what does your duty consist of? Have you nothing else to do than
pay visits and receive them?"

"We do what is required of us, we guard this edifice, perform our
evolutions, and help the excise; I am frequently called up in the dead of
night to go to some wild place or other in quest of an illicit still;
this last part of our duty is poor mean work, I don't like it, nor more
does Bagg; though without it, we should not see much active service, for
the neighbourhood is quiet; save the poor creatures with their stills,
not a soul is stirring. 'Tis true there's Jerry Grant."

"And who is Jerry Grant?"

"Did you never hear of him? that's strange, the whole country is talking
about him; he is a kind of outlaw rebel, or robber, all three, I daresay;
there's a hundred pounds offered for his head."

"And where does he live?"

"His proper home, they say, is in the Queen's County, where he has a
band, but he is a strange fellow, fond of wandering about by himself
amidst the bogs and mountains, and living in the old castles;
occasionally he quarters himself in the peasants' houses, who let him do
just what he pleases; he is free of his money, and often does them good
tu