314 ^^^^ Real Charlotte. 



was nothing that they expected less than that, on this wet 

 afternoon, so soon, too, after a satisfactory quarter-day, they 

 should hear the well-known rattle of the old phaeton^ and 

 see Miss Mullen, in her equally well-known hat and water- 

 proof, driving slowly past house after house, until she arrived 

 at the disreputable abode of Dinny Lydon the tailor. Hav- 

 ing turned the cushions of the phaeton upside down to keep 

 them dry, Miss Mullen knocked at the door, and was ad- 

 mitted by Mrs. Lydon, a very dirty woman, with a half- 

 finished waistcoat over her arm. 



" Oh, ye're welcome, Miss Mullen, ye're welcome ! Come 

 in out o' the rain, asthore," she said, with a manner as 

 greasy as her face. " Himself have the coat waitin' on ye 

 these three days to thry on." 



" Then I'm afraid the change for death must be on Dinny 

 if he's beginning to keep his promises," replied Charlotte, 

 adventuring herself fearlessly into the dark interior. " I'd 

 be thrown out in all me calculations, Dinny, if ye give up 

 telling me Hes." 



This was addressed through a reeking fog of tobacco 

 smoke to a half-deformed figure seated on a table by the 

 window. 



" Oh, with the help o' God I'll tell yer honour a few lies 

 yet before I die," replied Dinny Lydon, removing his pipe 

 and the hat which, for reasons best known to himself, 

 he wore while at work, and turning on Charlotte a face 

 that, no less than his name, told of Spanish, if not Jewish 

 blood. 



" Well, that's the truth, anyway," said Charlotte, with a 

 friendly laugh ; " but I won't believe in the coat being 

 ready till I see it. Didn't ye lose your apprentice since I 

 saw ye ? " 



" Is it that young gobsther ? " rejoined Mrs. Lydon 

 acridly, as she tendered her unsavoury assistance to Char- 

 lotte in the removal of her waterproof; "if that one was in 

 the house yer coat wouldn't be finished in a twelvemonth 

 with all the time Dinny lost cursing him. Faith ! it was 

 last week he hysted his sails and away with him. Mind ye, 

 'twas he was the first-class puppy ! " 



" Was it the trade he didn't hke ? " asked Charlotte ; " or 

 vyas it the skelpings he got from Dinny ? " 



