MEMORIES OF GLENAUGH. 107 



riders, who were never known to do a useful 

 thing or an unkind act, and who were conse- 

 quently very popular with the tenants. It 

 need scarce be said that Poolgarra was in Ire- 

 land, and that the system of management 

 pursued by the owners was such as to reduce 

 the dimensions of the estate, until, when it came 

 to the hero of this tale, there was little left ot 

 the ancestral acres. But Dick Poole cared 

 naught for this. As long as he had the pri- 

 vilege of fishing and shooting over the old 

 place (and the new-comers never refused him), 

 and could procure enough of money from his 

 agent to get drunk as often as he liked, he let 

 the world wag, and saw the property slide from 

 him with the equanimity of an impecunious 

 philosopher. He had been weaned, so to speak, 

 upon the bottle. When a boy, his worthy sire 

 used to encourage him to sip stiff punch from 

 a tumbler specially reduced in dimensions to 

 suit his tender years. A gun was made for 

 him with a similar view to the fitness of things. 

 When he grew up, he was presented with a 

 larger tumbler and a bigger gun. On one 

 occasion he rode a steeplechase, and when he 



