ddy, Biddy, how cud ye sarve me so?' a-wringing his hands wid the graif.

"Well, at firsht the Kings looked at aitch other as if the eyes 'ud lave
thim, bein' all dazed like an' sarcumvinted intirely. An' thin they got
their wits about thim, an' begun to be angry.

"'It's desayvin' us ye are, ye outprobious ould villin,' says they to him.
'Musha, thin, bad cess to ye, bring out the Princess an' let her make her
chice bechune us, or it'll be the worse fur ye, ye palaverin' ould daddy
long-legs,' says they.

"'God bechune us an' harm,' says the ould King, 'sure d' ye think it's
makin' fun av ye I am, an' me spindin' more than tin pounds yestherday fur
whishkey an the shports? Faix, she's gone,' says he.

"'Where to?' says they.

"'Divil a know I know,' says he, wid the face av him gettin' red, an' wid
that word they all wint away in a tarin' rage wid him, fur they consaved,
an' shmall blame to thim, that he had her consaled in the coort an' was
shtrivin' to chate thim.

"An' they wint home an' got their armies, an' come back wid 'em that
night, an' while the ould King an' his min were all ashlape they made
these piles av airth to take the city whin the day 'ud break.

"Whin the ould King riz an' tuk a walk an the roof wid his shlippers, sure
phat 'ud he see but banners a-wavin', soords a-flashin', an' the ears av
him was deefened wid the thrumpets. 'Bad scran to the idjits,' says he;
'phat's that they're afther?' says he. 'Isn't there more nor wan woman in
the worruld, that they're makin' a bother afther Bridget?' So wid that he
ordhered his min to get ready wid their waypons, an' before the battle 'ud
begin, he wint out to thry an' make a thraty.

"While they were a-talkin', up comes wan av the King's tinants, wid a
donkey an' a load av sayweed fur the King's garden, that he'd been to
Galway afther. 'God save ye,' says he, a-touchin' his cap; 'where is the
six Kings?'

"'An' phat d'ye want, ye blaggard?' says they, lookin' lofty.

"'I've a message fur yez,' says he, 'from the young Princess,' an' whin
they heard him shpake, they all stopped to listen.

"'She sent her respicts,' says he, 'an' bid me tell yez that she was
afther kapin' her word an' lettin' yer Honors know who she was goin' to
marry. It's the King av Galway that's in it, if it's plazin' to ye, an'
she says she'll sind yez a bit av the cake. I met her lasht night in the
road ridin' wid him on a car an' had a bundle undher her arrum. Divil a
taste