MEMOIR OF A GENTLEMAN. 273 



"Had I been ten times over the tame wretch I was, 

 I could not he insensible to the deep treachery of this worth- 

 less woman, who had ruined my property, and would now 

 incarcerate my person. In spite of remonstrances upon its 

 apparent inhospitality, I abandoned the 'impious feast,' 

 and while my absence was neither missed nor regarded, 

 I stole from the accursed spot, and by bribing a wandering 

 stocking-man, was enabled to make my way to the coast, and 

 procure a fishing-boat to place myself beyond the power of 

 arrest. The same bad luck appeared to follow me : the 

 drunkenness of the scoundrels threatened to interrupt my 

 escape, and even place my life in peril. From these mishaps 

 you have delivered me, and by your prompt assistance I shall 

 effect my retreat from a country I must ever recollect with 

 horror. When I reach England, I will seek reparation for 

 my injuries ; and though all besides is gone, I shall at least 

 endeavour to liberate myself from the worthless woman who 

 abused a weak and too confiding husband. 



" Alas ! gentlemen, what a stream of misfortunes will 

 sometimes originate in a trifle. A Margate steamer entailed 

 a life of suffering upon me. My fortune vanished, my wife 

 deceived me laughed at by my friends, and ridiculed by my 

 enemies from all these complicated misfortunes, I have 

 learned but one simple fact Alas ! ' That I should never do 

 for Galway !' " 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



Morning alarm Death of the otter-killer General grief Night ex- 

 cursion Herring-fishery Our reception Beal fires The wake The 

 funeral Anecdote of a dog A deserted house. 



I SLEPT soundly : my servant found me still a-bed, when 

 he came at his customary hour ; as he unclosed the curtains 

 I heard a hum of voices, and appearances of domestic 

 hurry were visible ; next . moment the well-known Currakeen, 

 whose celebrity as a courier is truly remarkable, passed the 

 window at a " killing pace." I found upon inquiry, that 

 the otter-killer was dying, and that ' the runner" I had 

 just observed, had been dispatched for Father Andrew. 



T 



