year," whispered O'Shea to his friend. "I suppose this is the reply."
And at the same time he threw the portentous envelope carelessly on the
table.

Either Heathcote felt no interest in the subject, or deemed it proper to
seem as indifferent as his host, for he never took any further notice of
the matter, but smoked away as before.

"You need n't wait," said O'Shea to Joe, who still lingered at the
door. "That fellow is bursting with curiosity now," said he, as the
man retired; "he 'd give a year's wages to know what was inside that
envelope."

"Indeed!" sighed ont Heathcote, in a tone that showed how little he
sympathized with such eagerness.

If O'Shea was piqued at this cool show of indifference, he resolved to
surpass it by appearing to forget the theme altogether; and, pushing
the bottle across the table, he said, "Did I ever tell you how it was I
first took to politics?"

"No, I think not," said Heathoote, listlessly.

"Well, it was a chance, and a mere chance; this is the way it happened.
Though I was bred to the Bar, I never did much at the law; some say
that an agreeable man, with a lively turn in conversation, plenty of
anecdote, and a rich fancy, is never a favorite with the attorneys;
the rascals always think that such a man will never make a lawyer, and
though they 'll listen to his good stories by the hour in the Hall,
devil a brief they 'll give him, nor so much as a 'declaration.' Well,
for about five years I walked about in wig and gown, joking and quizzing
and humbugging all the fellows that were getting business, and taking a
circuit now and again, but all to no good; and at last I thought I 'd
give it up, and so my friends advised me, saying, 'Get something under
the Government, Gorman; a snug place with a few hundreds a year, and be
sure take anything that 's offered you to begin with.'

"Now there was a room in Dublin Castle--it's the second down the
corridor off the private stairs--that used to be called the Poker-room.
It may be so still, for anything I know, and for this reason: it was
there all the people expecting places or appointments were accustomed
to wait. It was a fine, airy, comfortable room, with a good carpet,
easy-chairs, and always an excellent fire; and here used to meet
every day of their lives the same twenty or five-and-twenty people, one
occasionally dropping off, and another coming in, but so imperceptibly
and gradually that the gathering at last grew to be a sort of