wife, he was capable, notwithstanding, of exerting a certain imaginative
faculty in a very high degree. Ellish felt that to contradict him on the
spot must lessen both him and herself in the opinion of the landlord, a
circumstance that would have given her much pain.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Connell," said Mr. Eccles; "you bear the
character of being strictly sober in your habits. You must have been
early at the bottle, too, which makes your apology rather unhappy. Of
all tipplers, he who drinks early is the worst and most incurable."

"Thrue for you, sir, but this only happens me wanst a year, your honor."

"Once a year! But, by the by, you had no appearance of being tipsy,
Peter."

"Tipsy! Bud-a'-age, your honor, I was never seen tipsy in all my life,"
said Peter,--"That's a horse of another color, sir, plase your honor."

The reader must at once perceive that Peter here was only recovering
himself from the effects of the injurious impression which his first
admission was calculated to produce against him in the mind of his
landlord. "Tipsy! No, no, sir; but the rason of it, sir, was this: it
bein' my birthday, sir, I merely tuck a sup in the mornin', in honor o'
the day. It's altogether a lucky day to me, sir!"

"Why, to be sure, every man's birthday may, probably, be called
such--the gift of existence being, I fear, too much undervalued."

"Bedad, your honor, I don't mane that, at all."