to some one or other.

"After corrousing away till evening, they'd then set off to a dance; and
when they'd stay there till it would be late, he should see her home, of
coorse, never parting till they'd settle upon meeting another day.

"At last they got fairly tired of this, and resolved to take one another
for better for worse. Indeed they would have done this long ago, only
that they could never get as much together as would pay the priest.
Howandever, Larry spoke to his brother, who was a sober, industrious
boy, that had laid by his _scollops_ for the windy-day,* and tould him
that Sally Lowry and himself were going to yoke for life. Tom was a
well-hearted, friendly lad, and thinking that Sally, who bore a good
name for being such a clane sarvint, would make a good wife, he lent
Larry two guineas, which along with two more that Sally's aunt, who
had no childhre of her own, gave her, enabled them to over their
difficulties and get married. Shortly after this, his brother Tom
followed his example; but as he had saved something, he made up to Val
Slevin's daughter, that had a fortune of twenty guineas, a cow and a
heifer, with two good chaff beds and bedding.

* In Irish the proverb is--"Ha naha la na guiha la na
scuilipagh:" that is, the windy or stormy day is not that on
which the scollops should be cut. Scollops are osier twigs,
sharpened at both ends, and inserted in the thatch, to bind
it at the eave and rigging. The proverb inculcates
preparation for future necessity.

"Soon after Tom's marriage, he comes to Larry one day and says 'Larry,
you and I are now going to face the world; we're both young', healthy,
and willin' to work--so are our wives; and it's bad if we can't make out
bread for ourselves, I think.'

"'Thrue for you, Tom,' says Larry, 'and what's to hinder us? I only wish
we had a farm, and you'd see we'd take good bread out of it: for my
part there's not another _he_ in the country I'd turn my back upon for
managing a farm, if I had one.'

"' Well,' says the other, 'that's what I wanted to overhaul as we're
together; Squire Dickson's steward was telling me yesterday, as I
was coming up from my father-in-law's, that his master has a farm of
fourteen acres to set at the present time; the one the Nultys held, that
went last spring to America--'twould be a dacent little take between
us.'

"'I know every inch of it,' says Larry, 'and good strong land it is, but
it wa