368 A MORNING AT BALLYSHANNON. 



it had not been that you thought the people 

 were admiring you from the bridge." 



«' I wish Pat Gallagher were not now up 

 the river with the Captain," said the Par- 

 son ; " he is the boy to tell you that story — 

 more by token, as he would say, as it was to 

 his own father that it happened. 



" Pat Gallagher, the father, was not alto- 

 gether unknown to the voice of fame ; he 

 was the crack piper of the three counties, 

 and not a wedding was celebrated but Pat's 

 pipes were put in requisition — he was almost 

 as indispensable as the priest. I doubt 

 whether a marriage would have been con- 

 sidered binding without him. 



" One night, after having for six hours 

 enlivened the heels of as pretty a set of 

 boys and girls as ever assembled on the 

 shores of Lough Melvin, he was making 

 the best of his way to his home at Belleek. 

 When on passing the old fort, which you 

 must remember as our landmark in crossing 

 the great bog, he suddenly became aware of 

 the usual signs of fairy presence — the soft 

 blue light, and the burning bush that blazed 

 and blazed — though the fairy flame did not 



