Some young, extravagant people that have rich ould fathers do be spakin' to me, too; but thin, you know, I have a sowl to be saved, and am a religious man, I hope, and do my duty as sich, and that every one that has a sowl to be saved, may! _Amin, acheernah!_ "I am glad to find that your sense of duty preserves you against such strong temptations." "Then, there's another set of men--these outlaws that do be robbin' rich people's houses, and they, too, try to tempt me." "Why should they tempt you ?" "Bekaise the people, now knowin' that they're abroad, keep watch-dogs, bloodhounds, and sich useful animals, that give the alarm at night, and the robbers wishin', you see, to get them out of the way, do be temptin' me about wishin' me to pison them." "Of course you resist them ?" "Well, I hope I do; but sometimes it's hard to get over them, especially when they plant a _skean_ or a _middogue_ to one's navel, and swear great oaths that they'll make a scabbard for it of my poor ould bulg (belly)--I say, when the thieves do the business that way, it requires a grate dale of the grace o' God to deny them.

But what's any Chr'sthen 'idout the grace o' God?
May we all have it! _Amin, acheernah!_" "Well, when I marry, as I will soon, I'll call upon you; I dare say my wife will get jealous, for I love the ladies, if that's a fault." Another grin was his first reply to this, after which he said: "Well, sir, if she does, come to me." "Where in Rathfillan do you live ?" "O, anybody will tell you; inquire for ould Sol Donnel, the yarrib man, and you'll soon find me out." "But 'suppose I shouldn't wish it to be known that I called on you ?" "Eh ?" said the old villain, giving him another significant grin that once more projected the fang; "well, maybe you wouldn't.

If you want my sarvices then, come to the cottage that's built agin the church-yard wall, on the north side; and if you don't wish to be seen, why you can come about midnight, when every one's asleep." "What's this you say your name is ?" "Sol Donnel." "What do you mean by Sol ?" He turned up his red eyes in astonishment, and exclaimed: "Well, now, to think that, a larned man as you must be shouldn't know what Sol means! Well, the ignorance of you great people is unknown.
Don't you know--but you don't--oughn't you know, then, that Sol means Solomon, who was the wisest many and the biggest blaggard that ever lived! Faith, if I had lived in his day he'd be a poor customer to me, bekaise he had no shame in him; but indeed, the doin's that goes on now in holes and corners among ourselves was no shame in his time.

That's a fine bay horse you ride; would you like to have him dappled?
A dappled bay, you know, is always a great beauty." "And could you dapple him?
"Ay, as sure as you ride him." "Well, I'll think about it and let you know; there's some silver for you, and good-by, honest Solomon." Woodward then rode on, reflecting on the novel and extraordinary character of this hypocritical old villain, in whose withered and repulsive visage he could not discover a single trace of anything that intimated the existence of sympathy with his kind.

As to that, it was a _tabula rasa_, blank of all feelings except those which characterize the hyena and the fox.