But still Inez is a very lovely girl, and her foot never was surpassed.

She is a coquette, too, about that foot and ankle,--I rather like a woman to be so.

What a sensation she would make in England; how she would be the rage! And then I thought of home and Galway, and the astonishment of some, the admiration of others, as I presented her as my wife,--the congratulations of my friends, the wonder of the men, the tempered envy of the women.

Methought I saw my uncle, as he pressed her in his arms, say, "Yes, Charley, this is a prize worth campaigning for." The stray sounds of a guitar which came from the garden broke in upon my musings at this moment.

It seemed as if a finger was straying heedlessly across the strings.