Читать книгу The Daughter of a Soldier: A Colleen of South Ireland онлайн

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"Well, good-bye, O'Donovan. My blessings on you," said the Rector.

A few minutes later the Rector and the boy were shown into a large, handsomely furnished dining-room at Moresland, where both Walters and O'More were waiting for him. Each man gave the Rector a hearty greeting, and each man shook hands with Dominic and looked him straight in the eyes.

A minute or two later a rough-looking wench appeared with a silver tray piled with good things, which, as Mr. O'More remarked, "The youngster may tackle while we are talking business."

"Hot that you look too well yourself, O'Brien," said Walters.

"I'd hardly know you, man," said O'More. "Come now, have a glass of whisky punch—the very best in the land. The real potheen. It's hard to get in these times when the excise officers are so sharp, but Mary there keeps me well supplied. We'll just have a grand brew, and then you can tell us what is weighing on your mind."

The Rector certainly did feel strangely weak. But when Walters prepared the potheen, as he alone knew how, and when the three men found themselves with a brimming tumblerful each, "and a little one for the kid," said O'More, they were all about to sip the cordial when O'Brien interposed.