CHAPTER VII 



" Since I last wrote to you young Mr Dash wood 

 has left. He stayed three days. ]Mr French 

 insisted on his staying — sent for his luggage to the 

 inn at Cloyne, put him up in the best bedroom, 

 where I believe Dan O'Connell once slept, and kept 

 him up till all hours of the morning, drinking far 

 more whisky than was good for his constitution, 

 I am sure. 



" We had an awfully good time whilst he was 

 here, and the house seems a httle dull now that he 

 is gone. He asked me, before he left, might he 

 write to me and tell me how he was getting on? 

 But he hasn't written yet. He was a nice boy, 

 but irresponsible. And, talking of irresponsibiHty, 

 the word does not even vaguely describe the affairs 

 of this household. 



" I told you of the bailiff man. Well, he 

 arrived in a closed carriage from Cloyne next day, 

 and has been in bed ever since, with influenza 

 caught by exposure on the moors. He is con- 

 valescent now, and I met him in the garden this 

 morning, ' taking the air on a stick,' to use Mr 



French's expression. I believe the debt is paid 



72 



