102 A TEAR OF LIBERTY ; OR, 



its praise ; yet still, you may take my word for it, the early and late 

 fishing on these glorious lakes is not to be despised. 



If poor Mac's politeness, not to say his reason, is to be preserved, 

 we must huiTy to the shore, and Willie must be informed that he 

 has no right whatever to improve another gentleman's property 

 against his consent. 'Twould make any Irieh saint swear to see him. 

 He has positively turaed Mr. M'Cutcheon's yacht bottom upwards ; 

 probably, too, has called her '''an old basket," and, with a stone for 

 a mallet, and an old knife instead of a caulking-iron, is actually 

 hammeiing "lint" into the seams. That fellow's impudence 

 "beats all." 



Castle Pollard is situated about the same distance from Dere- 

 veragh as Boyle and Mullingar are from their respective lakes 

 that is to say, about three miles. With such charming sites at 

 command, it seems strange that neither of these towns should have 

 availed themselves of the advantage. In the good old times, when 

 every man brewed for himself, water, perhaps, was considered a 

 dangerous element. K this be not deemed a good reason why the 

 towns above mentioned were placed as far as possible out of its 

 reach, I regret being unable to offer a better. Dereveragh, seven 

 miles long by three broad, though not possessing beauty of a striking 

 character, is yet well worth a visit for its quiet loveliness ; so, at 

 least, I thought, as we ran our boat over the pebbles into its clear 

 waters, smiling and dimpling in the summer sun. 



With a long drift before us, my Jidus Achates seated himself on 

 the bottom boards, and commenced a fly for the Erne. " I've got 

 him ! " The artist merely glances at the eddy caused by the 

 descending fish, and then, for more correct information, at the curve 

 of the rod. "He won't be ready these ten minutes." Neverthe- 

 less, the handle of the net is brought across his kness, and the 

 golden hackle wound with admirable precision at the front of each 

 roll of tinsel. Then he looks about him once more, and selects four 

 toppings of the exact length required, and sets them carefully on. 

 Shall he produce any further ? He is doubtful as to the propriety of 

 opening a paper containing sprigs of bustard, mallard, ruff, and the 



