PADDY GOOD AT REPARTEE. 275 



made up your mind to be constantly on the present, 

 and as constantly firing off your birding-piece, are not 

 a little annoyed and discomforted as you sink step by 

 step up to your knees, and sometimes to your middle 

 to find there are none. " Not a snipe ! Well, Paddy, 

 how's this ? " you say. " I thought you said that there 

 were plenty of snipe here ? " " Well, yer anner, and 

 so there is plinty of them, lastewise, there was 

 plinty of them same yisterday. Ah ! yer anner, sure 

 if you'd have been here yisterday, it was great fowling 

 that you would have ! Sure there were lashings of 

 J em, sure there was snipes everywhere. Sure, the 

 divil a one of me can tell your anner, where they're 

 all gane to this day ! Sure, if your anner comes back 

 to-morrow, it's great shooting may be that yer anner'll 

 have. Will I be waiting again to-morrow for yer 

 anner at the same spat ? " 



In fishing also our Irish friends are generally most 

 encouraging, and I do really believe that there is 

 only one thing, at least I have found it so, that will 

 tempt them to forget the rule of meum and tuum. 

 You may leave your money about, or any other 

 property with the greatest confidence, the only thing 

 that friend Paddy cannot stand is the golden pheasant 

 topping feather in the tail of your salmon fly ; the 



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