thor, 'tis a
bad example ye're setting All right, thin, Lanky, ye shall come, an' ye
wish ut. An' as man tu man--I thank ye! We will all go a 'moonlightin'
tugither. Eyah!" he resumed reminiscently, "many's th' toime I mind me
ould father--God rist him!--tellin' th' tales av thim days, whin times
was harrd in Oireland, an' rints wint up an' th' pore was dhriven
well-nigh desprit. How him an' his blood-cousin, Tim Moriarty, lay wan
night for an' ould rapparee av a landlord, who'd evicted pore Tim out av
house an' home. Tim had an' ould blundherbuss, all loaded up wid bits av
nales an' screws an' such-like, wid a terribul big charrge av powther
behint ut. Four solid hours did they wait for um--forninst a hedge on
th' road he had tu come home by, from Ballymeen Fair.

"By an' by they hears um a-comin . . . a-hollerin' an' laughin' tu
umsilf, an' roarin' an' singin' 'Th' Jug av Potheen.' Full av ut, tu, by
token av th' voice av um. Tim makes all ready wid th' blundherbuss. All
av a suddint tho', th' tchune shtops, an' tho' they waits for um for
quite a toime, he niver shows up. By an' by they gets fed up wid lyin'
belly-down in th' soakin' rain. 'H-mm! mighty quare!' sez me father, 'I
wonder fwhat's happened tu th' pore ould ginthleman?' 'Let us go luk for
um?' sez Tim, wid blood in his oi, ''tis may be he's on'y shtoppin' tu
take another dhrink out av th' jug.'

"So, up th' road they goes a piece, till they comes tu a bog at th' side
av ut. An' there they finds um--head-first shtuck in th' bog--just th'
tu feet av um shtickin' out an' which boots Tim sez he can swear tu.
'Begorrah!' sez me father, 'that accounts for th' tchune shtoppin' so
suddint! Let us luk for th' jug?' Well, they hunts around for th' jug
awhile, but all they finds is his ould caubeen. So they shtuck that on
wan of his feet, an' Tim, he pins th' warrant av evictmint tu ut,
currsin' somethin' fierce th' whiles bekase he was done out av getthin' a
shot at the 'ould rapparee wid th' blundherbuss."

Slavin shook his head slowly at the conclusion of the story. "Eyah!" he
said wistfully, "many's th' toime have I heard me father tell that same
tale. They must have been shtirrin' times, thim!" In characteristic
fashion his mood suddenly changed. His face hardened, as with upraised
hand he silenced the burst of laughter he had provoked from his hearers.
"Ginthlemen!" he resumed quietly, "we're none av us cowards here, but--no
need tu remind