shall ride down to the town, and put a letter into the
post-office in time for the Dublin mail, after which you may expect me
to breakfast. But, in the meantime, I am not to go with empty pockets,"
he added; when mounting his horse at the door--"bring me some silver,
landlord, and be quick."

"How much, plase your honor?"

"Twenty or thirty shillings; but, harkee, produce my packet, that I may
be quite certain my property is safe."

"Here it is, your honor, safe and sound," replied Ned, returning from
within; "and Nancy, sir, has sent you all the silver she has, which
was One Pound Five; but I'd take it as a favor if your honor would be
contint with twenty shillings, and lave me the odd five, for you see
the case is this, sir, plase your honor, _she_," and Ned, with a
shrewd, humorous nod, pointed with his thumb over his shoulder, as he
spoke-- "she wears the ---- what you know, sir."

"Ay, I thought so," replied the stranger; "but a man of your size to be
henpecked must be a great knave, otherwise your wife would allow you
more liberty. Go in, man; you deserve no compassion in such an age of
freedom as this. I sha'n't give you a farthing till after my return, and
only then if it be agreeable to your wife."*

* Ned M'Keown was certainly a very remarkable individual,
and became, in consequence of his appearance in these pages,
a person of considerable notoriety during the latter years
of his life. His general character, and the nature of his
unsuccessful speculations, I have drawn with great truth.
There is only one point alone in which I have done him
injustice, and that is in depicting him as a henpecked
husband. The truth is, I had a kind of good humored pique in
against Ned, and for the following reasons:--The cross-roads
at which he lived formed a central point for all the
youngsters of the neighborhood to assemble for the purpose
of practising athletic exercises, of which I, in my youth,
was excessively fond. Now Ned never would suffer me to join
my young acquaintances in these harmless and healthful
sports, but on every occasion, whenever he saw me, he would
run out with,a rod or cudgel and chase me from the scene of
amusement. This, to a boy so enthusiastically devoted to
such diversions as I was, often occasioned me to give him
many a hearty malediction when at a safe distance. In fact,
he continued this p