ght like yours, father and friend."

"Thanks and amen, Arthur. Having no claim upon you we shall be all the
more grateful. But in good time. For the present look to yourself,
closely, mind; and draw upon me, upon Louis, upon your mother, they have
the warmest hearts, for sympathy and consolation."

Not long before and Arthur Dillon would have received with the polite
indifference of proud and prosperous youth this generous offer of
sympathy and love; but now it shook him to the center, for he had
learned, at what a fearful price! how precious, how necessary, how rare
is the jewel of human love.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE WEARIN' O' THE GREEN.

By degrees the effervescence of little Ireland, in which strange land
his fortune had been cast, began to steal into his blood. Mirth ruled
the East side, working in each soul according to his limitations. It was
a wink, a smile, a drink, a passing gossoon, a sly girl, a light trick,
among the unspoken things; or a biting epigram, the phrase felicitous, a
story gilt with humor, a witticism swift and fatal as lightning; in
addition varied activity, a dance informal, a ceremonious ball, a party,
a wake, a political meeting, the visit of the district leader; and with
all, as Judy expressed it, "lashins an' lavins, an' divil a thought of
to-morrow." Indeed this gay clan kept Yesterday so deeply and tenderly
in mind that To-day's house had no room for the uncertain morrow. He
abandoned himself to the spirit of the place. The demon of reckless fun
caught him by the heels and sharpened his tongue, so that his wit and
his dancing became tonics for eyes and ears dusty with commonplace. His
mother and his chum had to admonish him, and it was very sweet to get
this sign of their love for him. Reproof from our beloved is sweeter
than praise from an enemy.

They all watched over him as if he were heir to a throne. The Senator,
busy with his approaching entrance into local politics, had already
introduced him to the leaders, who formed a rather mixed circle of
intelligence and power. He had met its kind before on the frontier,
where the common denominator in politics was manhood, not blue blood,
previous good character, wealth, nor the stamp of Harvard. A member held
his place by virtue of courage, popularity, and ability. Arthur made no
inquiries, but took everything as it came. All was novelty, all
surprise, and to his decorous and orderly disposition, all ferment. The
clan seemed to