"
The priest smiled.
"I am, nevertheless, glad to have been of service to you, gentlemen," he
said, courteously; "at least you are Irishmen, and I have many good
friends countrymen of yours. And you have still another claim upon us all,
for are you not here to aid us to shake off this French domination? I hope
that you are comfortable, but judging from what I see and hear when
passing I fear that your lodging is a somewhat noisy one."
"You may well say that, Father; and we do our full share towards making it
so; but having the room makes all the difference to us. They have no time
to cook downstairs, and it is done by our own servants; but it is handy to
have the wine and other things within call, and if we always do as well,
we shall have good cause to feel mighty contented; for barring that we are
rather crowded, we are just as well off here as we were at home, saving
only in the quality of the spirits. Now, Father, we cannot ask you up
there, seeing that it is your own village, but if you would like to take a
walk through the camps we should be glad to show you what there is to be
seen, and can give you a little of the real cratur. It is not much of it
that we have been able to bring ashore, for the general is mighty stiff in
the matter of baggage, but I doubt whether there is one of us who did not
manage to smuggle a bottle or two of the real stuff hidden in his kit.
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