give her spirits for fresh searches, she took to drinking. She sold all
she had by degrees; but still she fancied that the lucky day would come
sooner or later, THAT WOULD PAY FOR ALL.

Goody Grope, however, reached her sixtieth year, without ever seeing this
lucky day; and now, in her old age, she was a beggar, without a house to
shelter her, a bed to lie on, or food to put into her mouth, but what she
begged from the charity of those who had trusted more than she had to
industry and less to LUCK.

"Ah, Mary, honey! give me a potato and a sup of something, for the love
o' mercy; for not a bit have I had all day, except half a glass of whisky
and a halfpenny worth of tobacco!"

Mary immediately set before her some milk, and picked a good potato out
of the bowl for her. She was sorry to see such an old woman in such a
wretched condition. Goody Grope said she would rather have spirits of
some kind or other than milk; but Mary had no spirits to give her; so she
sat herself down close to the fire, and after she had sighed and groaned
and smoked for some time, she said to Mary, "Well, and what have you done
with the treasure you had the luck to find?" Mary told her that she had
carried it to Mr. Hopkins, the agent.

"That's not what I would have done in your place," replied the old woman.
"When good luck came to you, what a shame to turn your back upon it! But
it is idle talking of what's done--that's past; but I'll try my luck in
this here castle before next St. Patrick's day comes about. I was told
it was more than twenty miles from our bog or I would have been here long
ago; but better late than never."