CHAPTER IV.

"Drink and speak, parrot; and squabble, swagger, swear, and discourse fustian with one's own shadow. Oh, thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast none other name to be known by, let's call thee-devil! . . . . Oh that men should put an enemy into their mouths to steal away their brains; that we should with joy, revel, pleasure, and applause, transform ourselves into beasts."

As it was now pretty clear that the brethren were intent upon a carouse, young Elliott, who was of temperate habits, thought it prudent to retire. His father and Bob Coates pressed him to remain, but he declined to do so, fearing to trust himself longer with men of such tried and unshaken loyalty, and of such extraordinary powers of absorption. Left thus to their punch and their loyalty, the brethren proceeded to enjoy themselves in real downright earnest; so they drank and chatted away, occasionally relieving the monotony by indulging in "loyal toasts," such as would amuse the curious from their original and farfetched character, and in stray snatches of song, expressive, of course, of their unswerving loyalty to the British Crown, and their determination to crush and keep down the Pope and his adherents. Throughout all this conviviality, however,

Bob Coates never lost sight of the main point, but constantly brought round the subject to the perilous position of young Elliott

"Now, Davy, my dear friend, you must positively put a stop to this courtship at once," said he, when he considered he had rendered the alderman sufficiently plastic for his purpose. "Hang it! I feel some way or other quite like a second father for William Nassau; he's a fine handsome young fellow, and it would be a sin and a scandal to allow him to fall into the snares of that crafty young Delilah yonder, whose meretricious charms appear to have dazzled his boyish fancy."

"I tell you, Bob, you need be under no apprehensions on the subject," interrupted Elliott: "I have forbidden William Nassau to marry the girl, and I am sure he will not disobey me; so make your mind easy-for so long as David Elliott is above ground he will not allow the blood of his ancestors to be profaned."

"Bless you, Davy-bless you!" returned Coates, wringing his kinsman's hand with strong emotion; 66 'you have removed a heavy load from my heart,-yet still there is one precaution I would advise you to adopt."

"Out with it, Bob!" was the alderman's reply, as he helped himself to a fresh supply of King Billy's Cordial.

"I tell you what it is," returned Coates, speaking in a subdued voice, but with great deliberation, “I would have you call upon the mother of this young famale, and come to a proper understanding with her. Trust me,

she can very easily put a stop to the courtship that's going on, if she likes: why not send her daughter out of the way, I ask ?"

This suggestion met with the cordial approval of the alderman, who assured his friend that he would not fail to act upon it, and that accordingly he would wait upon the Widow Lonergan on the subject.

"Don't lose a day in doing so-every hour's delay is fraught with dangerous consequences," returned Coates.

"I'll call upon her, please God, to-morrow," said Elliott, "and lay the whole case before her. It's just possible," he added, a new light seeming to burst upon him, "that she has never received the letter I wrote her, for the girl herself may have intercepted it."

But you can set mother. Spake

"Exactly so," returned Bob Coates, briskly; "I'll lay a small wager the widow never saw your letter at all. Young famales like her are so full of artifice, that I'm confident she was on the watch, and the moment she got possession of it destroyed it. all right on an interview with her firmly, but very respectfully, to her. Tell her that, apart from the girl being a Papist, and all belonging to her, she is no match for a son of your's, and that she must look somewhere else for a son-in-law; and, my life upon it, you'll soon put an extinguisher upon the affair. As for William Nassau, we can have no difficulty in providing him with a suitable partner, who will amply console him for the one he'll have lost

"There are Protestant maidens more lovely by far, Who would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar."

E

And the sly old fox screwed up one eye, and surveyed his kinsman anxiously with the other. He had thrown out a strong hint in favour of his daughter, which he doubted not his friend would act upon at once. He was disappointed, however, for the alderman made no sign, and the hint, strong though it was, fell useless to the ground. Finding that his friend was abstracted, and not likely to avail himself of his suggestions, he thought it better not to waste his ammunition further, but to wait for another occasion, when he could make his missiles go home with effect to the mark.

"Yes, Bob, I'll call upon the Widow Lonergan tomorrow," said Elliott, "and I'll clench the business for ever."

"Bravo! Davy, bravo!" exclaimed old Coates, emptying his tumbler at a draught, and rapturously shaking his kinsman's hand. "All right and tight, my boy! that's the way to do business, Davy."

“Ay, ay, I think so," returned his friend, looking around triumphantly.

Having now got the alderman into a pliable humour, or, in other words, pretty nearly "half seas over," Bob Coates determined to make the most of his opportunity, and to extort a promise from his friend to give his brother Orangemen a grand dinner, or, as he was in the habit of terming such, "a jollification;" for truth obliges us to add that old Coates was an epicure and a glutton, as well as a drunkard, and dearly loved "the pleasures of the table"-as indulgence in the good things of this life has been termed-which his own limited means

precluded him from indulging in to the extent he desired. The wily old fellow made his approaches skilfully, and succeeded, as will be seen, to the full extent of his expectations

66

'Davy," said he, "I've a favour to ask from you, which I know you'll comply with-in fact, it's due to yourself to do so."

"Let's hear it, old boy," returned the alderman, poking up the fire goodhumouredly.

"Well, the fact is," continued Coates, "I've as good as promised some of the brethren that you mean to give them a dinner soon-a rale right down loyal affair, you know-such as will prove beyond all question that, however William Nassau may have acted, you are true blue yourself to the back bone."

"If that's all the favour you ask, Bob, 'tis granted at once. I'll give you such a spread, Sir, as will surprise and astonish you all. Give a dinner!" repeated the alderman; "you shall have such a banquet, Sir, as shall become a household word in the Lodge; for I'll lay you all up for a month after it; and as for yourself, I'll give you a fit of the gout, my boy." And, greatly to old Coates's delight, he touched him jocularly in the ribs, throwing him into a fit of mingled coughing and laughter that threatened to be attended with dangerous consequences. Having with some difficulty recovered himself, the old fellow crowed aloud with joy, and gleefully rubbed his hands together, as if the impending fit of the gout was a blessing to be highly appreciated, continuing to exclaim at intervals-"Davy,