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When the meal had been concluded, and only a few embers glowed upon the ground, a member of the party proposed a song, and after a little demur a young lady was prevailed upon to sing, after which song followed song in quick succession.

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Now, Nor," cried out one of the party, an officer from the neighbouring town of Derrylinn, now, Nor, it is your turn; tune up, old fellow."

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Nor otherwise Lord Norwich-looked bashful, and was understood to say he did not know anything he could sing.

"Oh, nonsense!" declared the first speaker, "you know no end of songs. Sing Kathleen Mavourneen';" and then dropping his voice, he turned to the young lady sitting next him, "when he heard we were under orders for Ireland, Norwich immediately went to a music shop and bought

'Kathleen Mavourneen' and 'Nora Crena'

-he had a vague idea Irish girls were all Kathleens and Norahs.'

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"Oh, Lord Norwich, do sing 'Kathleen Mavourneen,'" exclaimed several voices together, and thus adjured, the young man, who was stretched lazily upon the dry sand, raised himself upon his elbow and began his song.

Lord Norwich was quite young, not more than two or three-and-twenty, tall, slender, and fair-haired, with a sunburnt face, dark-lashed grey eyes, and a bright, winning smile. He had a sweet tenor voice, which, though it might lack power, was pleasant to listen to, and the words sounded melodiously through the silent woods.

Kathleen Mavourneen, awake from thy slumbers, The blue mountains glow in the sun's golden light;

Oh, where is the spell that once hung on thy numbers?
Arise in thy beauty, thou queen of my night.
Mavourneen, Mavourneen, my sad tears are falling,
To think that from Erin and thee I must part.
It may be for years, and it may be for ever,
Oh, why art thou silent, thou voice of my heart ?
Kathleen Mavourneen."

There was a good deal of hand clapping and applause when the last notes died. away, and then in the pause which followed, suddenly a voice broke forth as if in answer to Dermot's invocation

a voice so sweet, so clear,

so clear, so strong

-the whole wood seemed filled with

the divine melody.

awed by surprise into

knew from whence the

All looked around,

seemed floating in the

silence, for none

music came. It

air-as if the

spirits of the wood were singing, and the words came clear and distinct to all ears. It was Kathleen's answer.

"Oh, Dermot Astore, between waking and sleeping, I heard thy dear voice, and I wept to its lay; Every pulse of my heart the sweet measure was keeping,

Till Killarney's wild echoes had borne it away.
I know we must part, but oh! say not for ever;
That it may be for years, adds enough to my pain;
But I'll cling to the hope that though now we must

sever,

In some blessed hour I shall meet thee again,
Oh, Dermot Astore."

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By Jove!" exclaimed Lord Norwich's brother officer, Captain Ashurst, "it's Kathleen herself!"

There was a moment's pause when the magical sounds ceased, and then almost simultaneously the whole party sprang to their feet and rushed in pursuit of the unseen singer. In through the dusky trees, over fallen boughs and hidden rocks, halloing to one another with merry shouts, as they scattered in different directions. Lord

Norwich, who had been the first to spring to his feet at the conclusion of the song, turned quickly to where a large rock projected from the bank, for it seemed to him the sounds had come from hence, and clambering hastily up, by means of the overhanging branches, he reached the top. The brushwood grew thickly here, but perceiving a narrow path he pushed his way quickly through, regardless of obstacles -for once or twice he caught a glimpse of something white, which appeared to fly before him and presently emerged at the end of the glen, where a thick hedge divided it from the neighbouring fields. There was something white, apparently, trying to pass through the hedge, so Lord Norwich pressed on, and reaching the fence, grasped a portion of the mysterious white object at this moment the moon

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