aid—­the surprise of the poor quarter-master at the apparition, was scarcely greater than that of the beholders—­no one was able to afford any explanation of the circumstance, though all were assured that it must have been done in jest—­the door upon which the priest had been conveyed, afforded the clue—­they had forgotten to restore it to its place —­accordingly the different billets were examined, and at last O’Flaherty was discovered in a most commodious bed, in a large room without a door, still fast asleep, and alone; how and when he had parted from his companions, he never could precisely explain, though he has since confessed it was part of his scheme to lead them astray in the village, and then retire to the bed, which he had determined to appropriate to his sole use.

Old Ridgeway’s rage knew no bounds; he absolutely foamed with passion, and in proportion as he was laughed at his choler rose higher; had this been the only result, it had been well for poor Tom, but unfortunately the affair got to be rumoured through the country—­the inhabitants of the village learned the indignity with which the Padre had been treated; they addressed a memorial to Lord Wellington—­inquiry was immediately instituted—­O’Flaherty was tried by court martial, and found guilty; nothing short of the heaviest punishment that could be inflicted under the circumstances would satisfy the Spaniards, and at that precise period it was part of our policy to conciliate their esteem by every means in our power.  The commander-in-chief resolved to make what he called an “example,” and poor O’Flaherty—­the life and soul of his regiment—­the darling of his mess, was broke, and pronounced incapable of ever serving his Majesty again.  Such was the event upon which my poor friend’s fortune in life seemed to hinge—­he returned to Ireland, if not entirely broken-hearted, so altered that his best friends scarcely knew him; his “occupation was gone;” the mess had been his home; his brother officers were to him in place of relatives, and he had lost all.  His after life was spent in rambling from one watering place to another, more with the air of one who seeks to consume than enjoy his time; and with such a change in appearance as the alteration in his fortune had effected, he now stood before me, but altogether so different a man, that but for the well-known tones of a voice that had often convulsed me with laughter, I should scarcely have recognised him.

“Lorrequer, my old friend, I never thought of seeing you here—­this is indeed a piece of good luck.”

“Why, Tom?  You surely knew that the __ were in Ireland, didn’t you?”

“To be sure.  I dined with them only a few days ago, but they told me you were off to Paris, to marry something superlatively beautiful, and most enormously rich, the daughter of a duke, if I remember right; but certes, they said your fortune was made, and I need not tell you, there was not a man among them better pleased that I was to hear it.”