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THE COLLEEN BAWN. I -()--…

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THE COLLEEN BAWN. I -()-- I CHAPTER III. How Mr. Daly, the Middleman, sat down to Breakfast. I The Dalys (a very respectable family' in middle life) occupied, at the time of which we write, a handsome cottage on the Shan- non side, a few miles from the suburban dis- trict above-mentioned, I f hey had assembled, on the morning of Eily's disappearance, a healthy and bloom- jug household of all sizes, in the principal sitting-room, for a purpose of no less import- ance than that of despatching breakfast It Htui a favourable moment for any one who llight be desirous of sketching a family pcttrre. The windows of the room, which were thrown up for the purpose of admitting the fresh morning air, open upon a trim and sloping meadow, that looked sunny and cfceexfui, with the bright green after-grass ■ Qf the season. The brow: and sheety river cashed the very margin of the little field, and bore upon its quiet- bosom (which wa9 orfy raffled by the circling eddies that en-J, apontered the advancing tide) a variety of cctft such might be supposed to indicate j the approach to a. large commercial city. | Majestic vessels, floating idly on the basined j fbxl, with sails half furled, in keeping with the languid; beauty of the scene-lighters. buri&ened to the water's edge with bricks! cc $tnd.large rafts of timber, borne onward tcfwauLs the neighbouring quays, under the guidance of a shopman's boat-hook-pleasure. beats, with gaudy pennons hanging at peak and- topmast-or turf-boats, with their un- pjcluresque and. ungraceful lading, moving* silggishly forwau' I, while their black satis seemed gasping lcr a breath to fill them; suc5 were the incidents ti:Lt gave a gjentle j ar*$pation to the prospect immediately be-1 fore the eyes of the cottage dwellera On the farther side of the river arc-se the Cra-tioe Mia, shadowed in various places by a, broken cloud, and rendered beautiful by the chwjyered appearance of the ripening till- agfo and the variety of hues that were ob- salable along their wooded sides. At in* ttferals, the front of a handsome mansion tightened up in the passing gleam of sun- stine, while the wreaths of bluet smoke, as- j ajffding at various distances from gnnongst jy trees, teoded to fclieve the idea; c€ ex- tasjpje solitude which it would otherwise have presented. The interior of the cottage was not lesa interesting to contemplate than the land- scape which lay before iL The pnncqaal 1 breakfast-table (for there were two spreadj in the room) was placed before the window, die neat and snow-like damask cloth cover- ed with fare that spoke satisfactorily for the circumstances of the proprietor, ani for the house-wifery of his help-mate. The former,1 a fair, pleasant-faced old gentleman, in a all huge buckled cravat and square-tcred shores, sonjBvvhat distrustful of the meagre bever- age which fumed out of Mrs Daly's lofty anxi shining coffee-pot, had taken his position before a cold ham and fowl which decor- ated the lower end of the table. K:s lady, a. courteous oUi personage, with a; face not leas- fair and happy than her husband's, and with eyes sparkling with good nature and la- i eRigence, did the honour of the board at, he farther end. On the opposite side., lean- tig over the back of his chair with clasped .«ands, in an attitude which had a mixture of abstraction and anxiety, sat Mr Kync Daly, the first pledge of connubial affection drat was born to this comely pair. Ha v as X -;mncr man already initiated in the rudi- ments of the legal profession; of 8 hand- some figu-re, and in manner—but something now pressed upon his spirits; which render- ed this an unfavourable occasion for de- j scribing him. A second table was laid in a arote retired portion of the room, for the accommodation cOhe younger part of the family. Several) well-burnished goblets, or 'porringers/ of thick milk, flanked the sides of this board, wliile a large dish of smooth-coated potatoes reeked up in the centre. A mimfrer of bkxxaing boys and giris., between the ages at four and twelve, were seated at this simple rejpast, eating and drinking awax with all tfijs iiappy eagerness of youthful appetite ) Not, however, that this employment occu- pied their exclusive attention, for the prattle which circulated round the table frequently became so boisterous as to drorann the con- versation of -the older people, and to call farth the angry rebuke of the master of the terrify. I The furniture of the apartment was in ac- I ocajSance with the- appearance and manners 1 of its inhabitants. The floor was hand- gomeiy carpetted, a lofty green fender forti- lied the fireplace, and supplied; Mx Daly in his facetious moments with occasions for- the frequent repetition of a favourite cunt.ndrum —"VThy is that fender Eke Westminster &95ey?"—a problem with which lie never fa-fed' to try the wit of any stranger who happened to spend a night beneath im* ioof..j The wainscoated walls were ornamented with several of the popufar primes of the day, such as Hogarth's Roast Beet-Prince Mugene—Schomberg at the Boyne—Mr Bett- ffrt'-n leaving Cato in all the glory of 'F 'i wig, fiowerid gown, and'- lacker'd chair'; I of .h" [I %r;>nd.-ne, in the person-ot Mrs j Itf strutting among the arbours of fcer palace in a lofty tete and hoop- ed petticoat. There were also some famJy • < done by Mrs Daly in her school- > cfav. ;lch. we- feel no to say I Mat; t'iun they were pretbly framed, in j Jfest c r' • ^a'r artist, if should afso be ] ate that, contrary to the established prractire. her sketches were never re-touched tne h'-nc of t-rr msster, a fact Mr Daly fond of insinuating, and which ao one the pictures was tempted" to can in: j .estion, A small bcoK-caio, Iti- .dgC5 of the shelves harvlsome^y gilded, was suspen-led in or.e cornc^r of Che room, and, tin. examination, might be found to contcua. c) 8. considerable n.'jrr.er of woria on Irish Histon7, for which sfudy Mr Daly had a Rational predilection, a ctactnastafice much lored by all the irapatJenf Isrfeners In his fce'g hb oa rhood, an1' (same pesotpie hinted) in j ids own houseiioid; religious bocks, j f«w on cooteif and ftatwing.» The space over the lofty chimney-piece was assigned to some ornaments of a more start- ling description. A gun-rack, ond which; were suspended a long shore-gun, a brass- barrelled blunderbus, a cutlass, and a case of horse-pistols, manifested Mr Daly's deter- mination to maintain, if necessary, by force of arms, his claim to the possessions which his honest industry had! acquired. •'■'ivyrie/' said Mr Daly, putting his fork into a breast of cold goose, and locking at his son—"you had better let me put a little 'goose' (with an emphasis) on your plate. You know you are going a-wooin^ to-day." The young gentleman appeared not to hear him.. Mrs Daly, who understood more intimately the nature of her son's reflections, deprecated, by a significant look at her hus- band, the continuance of any raillery upon so delicate a subject. ClKyrle, some coffee?" said the lady of the house, but without being more success- ful in awakening the attention of the young gentleman. Mr Daly winked! at his wife. "Kyrle T" he called alotud, in a tone against which even a. lover's absence was not proof, "do you hear what your mother says t' "I ask pardon, sir-I was absent—I—what were you saying, mother?'' "She was sayings" continued Mr Daly, I with a smile, "that you were manufacturing a fine speech for Annie Chute, and; that you were just meditating whether you should de- liver it on your knees, or out of brief, as if you were addressing the Bench in the Four Courts." "For shame, my dear. Never mind him, Kyrle, I said no such thing. I wonder how I you can say that, my dear, and the childTen) listening." "Pooh! the little angels are too busy and I too innocent to pay us any attention," said Mr Daly, lowering his voice, however. "But I speaking seriously, my boy, you take this affair too deeply to heart; and whether it be our pursuit of wealth—or fame—or even in love itself, an extreme solicitude to be sue- j cessful is the surest means of defeating its J own object. Besides it argues an unquiet and unresigned condition. I have had a: j little experience, yoo. know, in affairs of this kind/' he added, smiling, and) glancing at his I fair helpmate, who blushed with the sim- plicity of a young girl. "Ah, sir," said Kyrle, as he drew nearer to the breakfast-table with a magnanimous affectation of cheerfulness, "I fea.r I have j not so good a ground' for hope as you may have had. It is very easy, sir, for one to be i resigned to disappointment when he is cer- tain of success." I "Why, I was not bidden to despair, in- deed," said Mr Daly, extending his hand to ¡ his wife, while they exchanged a quiet smile, which had in it an expresson of tenderness and of melancholy remembrance. "I have, I helive, been more fortunate than more de- j serving persons. I have never been vexed with useless fears of my wooing days, nor with vain regrets when those days were end- ed. I do not know, my dear lad, what hopes you have formed, or what prospects you may have shaped out of the future, but I will not wish vou a better fortune, than that you may t as; nearly approach to their accomplishment as i have done, and that Time may deal as ¡ fairly with you as he has done with your father." After saying this, Mr Daly leaned £ •••• iH on the table, with hit temple sup- ported by one finger, and glanced alternate- ly from his children to his wife, while he s.ng in low tone the following verse of a popular song: "How should I love the pretty creatures, While round my knees they fondly clung, To see them look their mother's features, To hear them lisp their mother's tongue! Anus when with envy Time transported I Shall think to rob- us of our joys, ¡ YouT in yuur gtrls again be courted, And I— with a glance at Kyrle— An, 1; I go wooing with the boys." ttAnd this," thought young Kyrle, in the affectionate pause that ensued, "this is the ovation which I go to decide upon this mornmg--whether my old age shall resemble the picture which I see before me, or whether T shall be doomed to creep into the wmtor of my life, a lonely, selfish, cheerless, m-vrtey-hunting old bachelor. Is not this enough to make a little solicitude excusable, I or pardonable at least ?" "ft "> long time now," resumed Mr Daly, "since I have had the pleasure of meeting Airs Chute. She was a very beautiful, but a very wild girl when I knew her. Nothing has ever been more inexplicable to me than the. choice she made of a second husband1. YoiU never saw Anne's stepfather, Tom Chute, w you would be equally astonished. Wo: saw my love, did you not?" Mrs. Daly laughed, and answered in the affirmative. "It showed, indeed, a singular taste," said Mr Daly. "I hey tell a curious story, too, about the manner of their courtship." "What was that, sir?" asked Kyrle, who felt a strong sympathetic interest in all Stories connected; with wooers and wooing. If have it, I confess, upon questionable authority; but you shall hear it, such as it is. Now, look at that young thief!" he added, laughing, and; directing Kyrle's attention to one of the children, a chubby young fellow, who, having deserted the potato-eating at the side-table, was taking advantage of the deep interest excited by the conver- sation to ov-ke a *!>•"• -n ascent upon the contents of the japanned bread-basket. Per- ceiving that he was detected, the little fellow relaxed his fingers, and drew back a little, glancing from beneath his eye-lashes, a half- ¡ dismayed and bashful look at the laughing countenance of his parent ^Charier is ro* weM said the mother, in a compassionate tone, cutting him a large wedge of her best home-made bread, which the lad began to demolish with a de- gree of rapidity that scarcely corroborated, the assertion. (To be Continued.) -:0:

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