takes the cows out of the byre, or the bed from anundher us, what in the
wide earth is there for him?"

The current of this lecture was never interrupted by a single
observation from Ned, who usually employed himself in silently playing
with "Bunty;" a little black cur, without a tail, and a great favorite
with Nancy; or, if he noticed anything out of its place in the house,
he would arrange it with great apparent care. In the meantime, Nancy's
wrath generally evaporated with the smoke of the pipe--a circumstance
which Ned well knew; for after she had sucked it until it emitted a
shrill, bubbling sound, like that from a reed, her brows, which wore
at other times an habitual frown, would gradually relax into a more
benevolent expression--the parenthetical curves on each side of her
mouth, formed by the irascible pursing of her lips, would become less
marked--the dog or cat, or whatever else came in her way, instead
of being kicked aside, or pursued in an underfit of digressional
peevishness, would be put out of her path with gentler force--so that
it was, in such circumstances, a matter of little difficulty to perceive
that conciliation would soon be the order of the day. Ned's conduct on
these critical occasions was very prudent and commendable: he still gave
Nancy her own way; never "jawed back to her;" but took shelter, as it
were, under his own patience, until the storm had passed, and the sun of
her good humor began to shine out again. Nancy herself, now softened
by the fumes of her own pigtail, usually made the first overtures to a
compromise, but, without departing from the practice and principles
of higher negotiators; always in an indirect manner: as, "Biddy,
avourneen," speaking to her niece, "maybe that crathur," pointing! to
Ned, "ate nothing to-day; you had better, agra! get him the could bacon
that's in the cupboard, and warm for him, upon the greeshaugh, (* hot
embers) them yallow-legs (* a kind of potato) that's in the colindher;