Litchfield enquirer., 1875-06-03
THE EsHEaplEss ,soRsEsss-

THE EHEaplFss 'toFsEsass-
 ssGad speed you, and safe journey f
 you, Charley, "ejaculated the master of tn
 little shebeen house at BallyhOoley, aftc
 his old friend and good customer, Charle
 Culnane, who- at length had turned hi
 face homeward with the prospect of a
 dreary a ride and as dark night as eve
 feif upon the BiackWate along who's
 ba nks he Nas about to journey.
 Charley 0nlnans knewfhe country sel
 ana was, moreover, as bold and as =darin
 rider as any Mallow boy that ever raj
 tied four-year-oid upon Drumrue race
 course. He had gone to Fermoy in tn
 morning, as well for the purpose of pu,
 chasing some ingredients reduired for tn
 Christmas dinner by his wlfe, as to gratlf
 his own vanity by having new reiDs fitse'
 to his snaffie, in which he intended show
 ing off the old mare. at the approachin
 St. Stephens Day Hunt. s-a f-<l..
 Charley did not get out of Fermoy til
 late; for, although he was not one of you
 very particular sort in anything relating
 to the common occurrences of life, yet il all the appointments connected witi
 hunting, riding, leaping, in short, in what ever was connected with the old mare Charley, the saddler said, ''was the devi to plase." An illustration of this fastidi ousness was afforded by his going such
 long distance for his snaffie bridle Nal Joy was full twelve miles nearer Charley
 farm (which lay just three-quarters of {
 mile below Carrick) than Fermoy, bu
 Charley had quarrelled with all the Mallo, saddlers, and no one would content hin in all particulars but honest Mike Toone. of Fermon, who used to assert, and wht will doubt it, that he could stitch saddl. better than the lord lieutenant. a1thouol they made him all as ono king over Ire land. sssseAs sssse 5ssss.e- sr--
 The delay in the arrangement of tht snafie brldle did not allow Charlay to pay so long a visit as he had first intended tc his old friend ard gossip, Con. Buckley of the harp of Erin. Con, however, knew the value of time, and insisted upon Char ley making good use of what he had te spare. ''I won't hother you waiting fol water, Charley, because I think you'll have enough of the same before you gel home; so drink off your liquor, man: it's as good parliament as ever a gentleman tasted" -s-s-.4-f,s
 Charley, 1t must be confessed nothing 10th, drank success to Con, and success tC the jolly Harp of Erin, with it's head oi beauty and its strings of the hair of gold, and to their better acquaintance. and so on, from the bottom of his sou1, until the bottom of the bottle reminded him that Carrick was at the bottom of the hill on the other side of Castietown Roche, and that he had got no further on his road than his gossip's at Balleyhooley, close to the big gate at Connamore. Catching hold of his Ollskin hat, therefore, while Con Buckley went to the cupboard for an other bottle of the ''real stuff, The regular ly, as he termed ii, ,bolted from his friend s ,darted to the stable, frightened his girths, and put the old mare into a canter towards home.
 Charley cantered gayly, regardless of the rain. which as his friend Con had an- fell in torrents. The good g old entrants and rasins were careful lx packed between the folds of his yeo- many cloak. which Charley. aIo was proud UE suOwIrs s-----ss~ sIIU Royal Mallow Light Horse Volunteers D always strapped before him, and took care never to destroy the military effect by put ting it on.
 Notwithstanding that the visit to the jolly Harp of Erin" had little increased the natural complacency of his mind, the of his new snaffie reins began to disturb him, and then followed a train of more anxious thoughts that were ever by the dreaded defeat of the pride of his long anticipated turnout on St. Stevens day. In an hour of good fel- lowship, when his heart was warm and his head not over cool, Charley had backed the old mare against Mr. Jepson's bay fil- ley, Desdemonia, for neat hundred, and he now felt sore misgivings as to ths pru- dence of the match.
 He now arrived at the bottom of Kill cummer Hill, and his eye fell upOn the old walls that belonged, in former times, Lo the Knights Tempiar; but the silent gloom ofruin was broken only by the heavy rain which splashed and battered on the gravestones. He then looked up at the sky 10 see If there was, among the any hopes for mercy on his new snafie reins, and no sooner was his head by an object SO extraordinary as almost led him Co doubt the evidence of his sens- es. The head, apparently. of white horse, with short, cropped ears. large open nostrils, and immense eyes, seemed to follow him rapidly. No connection with body, legs or rider could possibly be traced. The head advanced Charley $ old mare. too, was moved by the unnat- ural sight, and snorting violently. increas- ed her trOt up the hill.
 The head moved forward and passed on; Charley pursuing it with astonished gaze, and wondering by what means. and for W hat purpose, this detached, head thus proceeded through the ar. and did not see the corresponding body untll he was suddenly startled by finding 1t close to his side. Charley turned to examine what was thus so socially jogging on with him, when a most unexampled apparition pre- scented itself to his view A figure, whose heigt he computed to be at least eight feet, wes seated upon the body and legs of a white horse, fulleighteen hands high. In this measuEment Charley could not be for hispwn mare was exactly fifteen hands high, and the body that thus logged alongside he could at once deter mine. as at last three and half hands Alter the first feeling of astontshment waszeser, hsexelaimed, ssI'm sold now for everl" but still he directed his attention to this extraordimfy body and having examined 1t with the eye of a aconnoisseur. he proceeded to reeonnoitre the figure so unusually mounted, who had hitherto re- mained perfectly mute, Wishing to see whether his companions silence was from bad temper, want of conversational pow CT, or from the distaste of water; and the fesir that tlie opening uf his mouth might subject him to having it filled with rain. he endeavored to catch agglimpsei of his companioafs face In order te form an opin- ion on that point But his vision failed to carry him further than the top of the collar of figures coat, which was a scarlet single breasted hunting frock, having g waist of a wary oldzfashionsd cnt, reaching to the saddle, with two huge shining but tons At Abonta yards distance behind. ''I ought to see farther than this, too, thought Charley, s.alfhongh he is mounted on his high horse, like my cousin Darby who was male barony constable last week unless it's Cons whiskey has blinded ma entirely. However. see farther he could not. and after straining his eyes for con siderable tisne to 70 purpose. he exclaim ed, wlthS pure vexatlOn. ssBY the biz