he rink was opened at Dublin. A club of the nicest of the
nice was formed. The members practised very hard, day after day, and
evening after evening, with closed doors, until we became quite artists.
Then came the time to inform the public at large that the rink would be
open to them every afternoon and evening, reserving Tuesday and Thursday
nights for the members of the club.

From the very jump the rink was a success. The members of both sexes gave
exhibitions. We played tennis on roller-skates; we danced on
roller-skates; we held athletic sports on roller-skates, including
steeple-chases and obstacle races. In a very short time the public at
large became quite as good skaters as those who taught them, if not
better. Then came the usual development that has attended similar
enterprises ever since. Fancy dress balls, gymkhanas, carnivals and such
like, and--what was more satisfactory to the company--money rolling in
all the time. The expenses were not heavy but the dividends _were_, and,
to our surprise, we members of our company, very few in number, found
ourselves absolutely drawing a regular monthly dividend. As we were
mostly poor soldiers this was highly gratifying. I remember investing my
first dividend in buying a mate to "Mick Molloy." He was much more
expensive, you can guess, and I named him, following upon the naming of
Mick Molloy, Larry O'Keefe.

The success of our venture in Dublin led us to thirst for further
triumphs, and, at an especial meeting of the company in Dublin, it was
decided to repeat the success at Limerick. So it came about that the rink
at Limerick was started. We followed the same methods that had been
carried out in Dublin, only we had not to undergo the probationary stage
of learning to roller skate. A large party arrived from Dublin, and after
one week of real joy and fun soon made the rink a success. This made us
bold, so we exploited Cork and Waterford and our pecuniary successes
increased daily, and some of us began to think that it would be worth
while to throw up our military careers and become professional
roller-skating rink promoters. That was really my first business venture.
Others followed later on, as you will hear by and by, but not with the
same result.

Let me tell you now what happened to Mick Molloy. He was certainly a good
horse and a splendid jumper, but he had one bad fault and that was that,
every now and again, apparently for no reason whatever, except the same