220 A YEAR OF LIBERTY ; Ofi, 



and in a robe of snow. From this point to the sea its whole length 

 did not exceed three miles. As we returned, Pat's divining rods 

 gave the welcome assurance that the water had attained for the 

 present its utmost limits. It had ceased to rise, and in an hour would 

 be in order. 



If Pat hardly knew his own house, it was no wonder I failed 

 to recognise it. The hostess appeared to have yielded absolute 

 submission to the Saxon ; to have calmly resigned her sceptre, 

 relinquished the cares of state, and retired for ever from the 

 turmoil of public life. I can hardly help laughing now at the 

 aspect of affairs on our return. The spirit of reform was in full 

 activity, and the innovations in Mrs. M'Hale's dominions were 

 alarming. WilHe, in a huge pair of fishing-boots, was paddling 

 over the streaming floors, steering his way successfully through an 

 intricate mass of buckets, tubs, and boxes of sand ; trotting from 

 one part of the room to the other, all the while encouraging, 

 exhorting, and directing the labours of half a dozen old ladies, who, 

 under the unusual stimulus of a shilling a head, were working with 

 praiseworthy industry. Beds, bedsteads, and bedding had vanished. 

 Whether the colony which inhabited those ancient settlements had 

 transported themselves and their homes to a quieter shore I never 

 inquired, having no doubt of the physical capacity of those indus- 

 trious insects to have walked off with the furniture at any moment. 

 Chairs, tables, and stools were enjoying the unwonted luxury of a 

 bath in a little lake beside the house, waiting patiently till the 

 ladies had leisure to shampoo them. Floors were rapidly assuming 

 their pristine whiteness, windows were cleaned, doors washed, walls 

 swept, and in a corner was a pile of blooming heath, a couch for a 

 king. There had not been such a demand for labour in the district 

 in the memory of man. Mrs. M'Hale stood by the fire in a state 

 of such utter bewilderment as to be wholly incapable of giving 

 assistance or framing a remonstrance, staring in dull astonishment 

 as each of her chattels walked in or out of the establishment, or 

 presented itself to her wondering gaze in some new garb. In short, 

 it seemed as if the whole furniture was bent on a masking 



