"Jack," said the old gentleman, "you don't probably know the history
and character of the Tubber Derg M'Carthys so well as I do. No man ever
required the written bond of a M'Carthy; and it was said of them, and
is said still, that the widow and orphan, the poor man or the stranger,
never sought their assistance in vain. I, myself, will go security, if
necessary, for Owen M'Carthy."
"Sir," replied Owen, "I'm thankful to you; I'm grateful to you. But
I wouldn't take the farm, or bid for it at all, unless I could bring
forrid enough to stock it as I wish, an' to lay in all that's wantin' to
work it well. It 'ud be useless for me to take it--to struggle a year
or two--impoverish the land--an' thin run away out of it. No, no; I have
what'll put me upon it wid dacency an' comfort."
"Then, since my father has taken such an interest in you, M'Carthy,
you must have the farm. We shall get leases prepared, and the business
completed in a few days; for I go to Dublin on this day week. Father,
I now remember the character of this family; and I remember, too, the
sympathy which was felt for one of them, who was harshly ejected
about seventeen or eighteen years ago, out of the lands on which his
forefathers had lived, I understand, for centuries."
"I am that man, sir," returned Owen. "It's too long a story to tell now;
but it was only out o' part of the lands, sir, that I was put.
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