bottles into the tatch of the house, when you thought I was listenin';"
and, as a proof of the truth of this, he brought them out, and showed
them some bottles of poteen, neatly covered up under the thatch.

Before their separation they finally planned the abduction of Kavanagh
from the Patron, on the Saturday following, and after drinking another
round went home to their respective dwellings.

In this speculation, however, they experienced a fresh disappointment;
for, ere Saturday arrived, whether in consequence of secret intimation
of their intention from Brady, or some friend, or in compliance with the
offer of a better situation, the fact was, that Mat Kavanagh had removed
to another school, distant about eighteen miles from Findramore. But
they were not to be outdone; a new plan was laid, and in the course
of the next week a dozen of the most enterprising and intrepid of the
"boys," mounted each upon a good horse, went to Mat's new residence for
the express purpose of securing him.

Perhaps our readers may scarcely believe that a love of learning was so
strong among the inhabitants of Findramore as to occasion their taking
such remarkable steps for establishing a schoolmaster among them; but
the country was densely inhabited, the rising population exceedingly
numerous, and the outcry for a schoolmaster amongst the parents of the
children loud and importunate.

The fact, therefore, was, that a very strong motive stimulated the
inhabitants of Findramore in their efforts to procure a master. The
old and middle-aged heads of families were actuated by a simple wish,
inseparable from Irishmen, to have their children educated; and the
young men, by a determination to have a properly qualified person to