50 FIVE A GEES TOO MUCH. 



Barney had hired the dock, and demanded &quot;his 

 damages&quot; before he would allow &quot; the stuff&quot; to leave. 

 Here was a predicament my house landed, all the 

 transportation of the village ready to remove it, and 

 an obstinate Irishman named Barney barring the 

 way. He was immovable, however, insisting upon 

 &quot; his damages ;&quot; so the carts, and wagons, and trucks 

 drove away, and the Irish character came under a 

 lively discussion. The inhabitants of the Emerald 

 Isle are certainly a magnificent race, especially when 

 their biographer does not happen to own a house 

 which has strayed on their land, and does want to 

 run for alderman; and if they did not lie, steal, 

 cheat, rob, murder, get drunk, perjure themselves, 

 quarrel, fight, and insist upon damages unreasonably, 

 they would be almost as good as other nations. Bar 

 ney was evidently a superior Irishman, and, as no 

 one had ever landed a load of house at his dock be 

 fore, and probably never would again, he felt that 

 the dignity of tenants was at stake, and must be sus 

 tained. 



When these facts were reported to me I took down 

 my law-books, and prepared a rod for Mr. Barney. 

 There was the clear right to land at a public dock ; 

 there was the clear wrong of detaining property be 

 longing to another. Damages began to loom up be- 



