16 PRECOCIOUS TALENT. 



both delph and dancing. I suffered nothing in person, but my 

 less-fortunate valet got a black eye from a Connemara gentle- 

 man, who, unluckily for poor Travers, mistook him for the 

 master of the ceremonies, with whom he of Connemara was at 

 feud. 



For the present, farewell. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Loss of a Waiter Precocious Talent The Mad Major and the Mendi- 

 cants of Mullingar Cursing an Adjutant Death of Denis O'Farrell. 



IT was noon when I arose, and the inmates of the Mitre 

 were still in exquisite confusion. Breakfast, after much delay, 

 w r as provided by the agency of the housemaid. She apologized 

 for the non-attendance of the waiter, at present a patient in 

 the Infirmary ; he having, in the course of the entertainment, 

 been ejected from the window by a pleasant gentleman of 

 Loughrea. 



Anxious to be off as soon as possible, I ordered the horses 

 to ; but an unforeseen difficulty occurred in removing my 

 luggage to the carriage, as the door was blocked up four deep 

 by a gang of beggars. With relation to the sizes of the respec- 

 tive places, the lazaroni of Naples are far out-numbered by the 

 mendicants of Tuam. A trace broke at starting, and thus 

 enabled me to form a pretty correct idea of this multitude. I 

 reckoned to fifty-seven, arid then became confused. Although 

 beset on every side, I was proof against importunity, and 

 refused parting with a sixpence. Cursing was next tried ; and 

 to the curious in that accomplishment, I would suggest a week's 

 residence at the Mitre. One boy, a cripple in a dish, excelled 

 the united talent of the remainder. English and Irish epithets 

 were with him " common as household words ;" he used both 

 languages with surpassing fluency, and there was an originality 

 of conception in his style of execration, which was what the 

 Cockneys call most refreshing. This precocious prodigy could 

 not be much above fifteen ; and, if he lives, will in this pecu- 

 liar department of national eloquence be without a parallel. I 

 have " erst while" passed through Billingsgate, when the fair ; 



