rp'ril,' sez she. 'You're a flirt.'

"'On me sowl I'm not,' sez I.

"'Then you're a cruel handsome man, an' that's worse,' sez she, heavin'
big sighs an' lookin' crossways.

"'You know your own mind,' sez I.

"''Twud be better for me if I did not,' she sez.

"'There's a dale to be said on both sides av that,' sez I, not thinkin'.

"'Say your own part av ut, then, Terence, darlin',' sez she; 'for begad
I'm thinkin' I've said too much or too little for an honest girl;' an'
wid that she put her arms round me neck an' kissed me.

"'There's no more to be said afther that,' sez I, kissin' her back
again. Oh, the mane scut that I was, my head ringin' wid Dinah Shadd!
How does ut come about, sorr, that whin a man has put the comether on
wan woman he's sure bound to put ut on another? 'Tis the same thing at
musketry. Wan day ev'ry shot goes wide or into the bank, an' the
next--lay high, lay low, sight or snap--ye can't get off the bull's-eye
for ten shots runnin'."

"That only happens to a man who has had a good deal of experience; he
does it without thinking," I replied.

"Thankin' you for the complimint, sorr, ut may be so; but I'm doubtin'
whether you mint ut for a complimint. Hear, now. I sat there wid Judy
on my knee, tellin' me all manner av nonsinse, an' only sayin' 'yes'
an' 'no,' when I'd much better ha' kept tongue betune teeth. An' that
was not an hour afther I had left Dinah. What I was thinkin' av I
cannot say.

"Presently, quiet as a cat, ould Mother Sheehy came in velvet-dhrunk.
She had her daughter's red hair, but 'twas bald in patches, an' I cud
see in her wicked ould face, clear as lightnin', what Judy wud be
twenty year to come. I was for jumpin' up, but Judy niver moved.

"'Terence has promust, mother,' sez she, an' the cowld sweat bruk out
all over me.

"Ould Mother Sheehy sat down of a heap, an' began playin' wid the cups.
'Thin you're a well-matched pair,' she sez, very thick; 'for he's the
biggest rogue that iver spoiled the queen's shoe-leather, an'--'

"'I'm off, Judy,' sez I. 'Ye should not talk nonsinse to your mother.
Get her to bed, girl.'

"'Nonsinse?' sez the ould woman, prickin' up her ears like a cat, an'
grippin' the table-edge. ''Twill be the most nonsinsical nonsinse for
you, ye grinnin' badger, if nonsinse 'tis. Git clear, you. I'm goin'
to bed.'

"I ran out into the dhark, me head in a stew an' me heart sick, but I
had sinse enough to see that I'd brought ut