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"The young fella with the foxy mustash is Docthor Lyden," whispered an informant in response to a question, "and the owld lad that's lookin' at ye now is Heraty, that owns the shop above " At this juncture an emissary from the Bench very kindly offered us seats within the rood-screen. We took them, on a high wooden settle, beside the magisterial table, and the business of the court proceeded.

Lyden; "sure he had all the women wild below at my shop th' other night sayin' his wife was the finest woman in Ireland! Upon my soul he had!" "If I said that," growled the unfortunate Sweeny, "it was a lie for me." "Don't ye think it might be a good thing now," suggested the indefatigable doctor, in his mournful tuneful voice, "to call a few witnesses to give evidence as to whether Mrs.

"We may assume, then," said Dr. Lyden amiably, "that the sheep walked out into Sweeny's end of the lake and drowned herself there on account of the spite there was between the two families." The court tittered. A dingy red showed itself among the grizzled hairs and wrinkles on Sweeny's cheek. In Ireland a point can often be better carried by sarcasm than by logic.

"Yes, and the other two eight and nine, I suppose?" commented Dr. Lyden. The defendant remained silent. "Do ye see now how well he began with the youngest the way we'd think 'twas the eldest!" resumed Dr. Lyden. "I think we may assume that a gorsoon male or female of eight or nine years is capable of setting a dog on the sheep." Here Darcy spoke again.

The clerk, a well-dressed young gentleman, whose attitude had throughout been one of the extremest aloofness, made an entry in his book with an aggressively business-like air. "Well, that's all right," remarked Dr. Lyden, getting lazily on his legs and looking round for his hat; "it's a funny thing, but I notice that the defendant brought the exact sum required into court with him." "I did!

Heraty, holding up his hand. "Stop! The Lord's not intherferin' in this case at all! It's me an' Doctor Lyden has it to settle." No one seemed to find anything surprising in this pronouncement; it was accepted as seriously as any similar statement of the Prophet Samuel to the Children of Israel, and was evidently meant to imply that abstract justice might be expected.

"Well, well; how easy it is to frighten the police!" remarked the Chairman, following them with a regretful eye. "I suppose, afther all, we'd betther put a price on the sheep and have done with it. Now, doctor, what shall we give Darcy? I suppose if we gave him 8s. compensation and 2s. costs we'd not be far out?" Dr. Lyden, already in the act of charging his pipe, nodded his head.

Heraty, to whose imagination a vision of a plumed or feathered sheep seemed to offer nothing unusual, "remember that now, William!" Dr. Lyden looked at his watch. "Don't you think Sweeny might go on with his defence?" he remarked. "About the children, Sweeny how many have ye?" "I have four." "And how old are they?" "There's one o' thim is six years an another o' thim is seven "

"They're usually one or the other," said Doctor Lyden solemnly, and in a stupendous brogue. It was the first time he had spoken; he leaned back, with his hands in his pockets, and surveyed with quiet but very bright eyes the instant grin that illumined the faces of the tapestry. "Sure William himself is no bad judge of gorsoons," said Mr. Heraty.

"He says there isn't one of the neighbours but got great annoyance by the same dog, yer worship, and that when the dog'd be out by night hunting, there wouldn't be a yard o' wather in the lakes but he'd have it barked over." "It appears," observed Dr. Lyden serenely, "that the dog, like the gorsoons, was of both sexes." "Well, well, no matther now; we'll hear what the defendant has to say.