He was so like his father, too, as he lay there,--no great guarantee for success in life was that!--and her tears fell faster as she looked at him; and fearing that her sobs might awake him, she stole silently away and left the room.
"There's the steam-whistle, mother; I can just see the smoke over the cliff. I 'm off," said he, as she had dropped off asleep.
"But your breakfast, Tony; I 'll make you a cup of tea."
"Not for the world; I 'm late enough as it is. God bless you, little woman. I 'll be back before you know that I 'm gone. Good-bye."
She could hardly trace the black speck as the boat shot out in the deep gloom of daybreak, and watched it till it rounded the little promontory, when she lost it; and then her sorrow--sorrow that recalled her great desolation--burst forth, and she cried as they only cry who are forsaken. But this was not for long. It was the passion of grief, and her reason soon vanquished it; and as she dried her tears, she said, "Have I not much to be grateful for? What a noble boy he is, and what a brave good man he may be!"
The country-house life of Ireland had--and I would say has, if I were not unhappily drawing on my memory--this advantage over that of England, that it was passed in that season when the country offered all that it had of beauty and attraction; when the grove was leafy, and the blossomy fruit-trees vied in gorgeous color with the flowery beds beneath them; when the blackbird's mellow song rang through the thicket, and the heavy plash of the trout rose above the ripple of the river; when the deep grass waved like a sea under a summer wind, and the cattle, grouped picturesquely, tempered the noonday heat beneath the spreading elms, or stood contemplatively in the stream, happy in their luxurious indolence.
What a wealth of enjoyment does such a season offer! How imperceptibly does the lovely aspect of nature blend itself day by day with every incident of our lives, stealing its peaceful influence over our troubled hearts, blunting the pangs of our disappointments, calming down the anxieties of our ambitions! How pleasant is the companionship of our book, and doubly, trebly delightful the converse of our friend! How gratefully, too, do we imbibe the health that comes with every charm of color and sound and form and odor, repeating at every step, "How beautiful the world is, and how enjoyable!"