“To all this, and more besides, Bryan listened, but never a word did he say until he smoked nearly all the Czar’s tobacco, and burnt all his matches; and then all of a sudden he ses, ‘Leave it to me,’ ses he. ‘I can get you a bodyguard.’
“‘I wouldn’t doubt you,’ ses the Czar, as he slipped him a guinea. ‘You can have this,’ ses he, ‘as you wouldn’t have any of my daughters and be made the Duke of Siberia. But we’ll none the less be friends,’ ses he. ‘Life is a tragedy or a comedy according to the way you look at it.’
“‘The world’s a stage,’ says Bryan, ‘but most of the actors don’t know how to act: they are only supers at best!’
“‘That’s so,’ ses the Czar. ‘But what about my bodyguard?’
“‘I’m thinking of it,’ ses Bryan. ‘Do you know my brother Larry?’
“‘No,’ says the Czar, ‘the pleasure isn’t mine.
“‘Well, he’s a second corporal in the Ballygarvan Lancers, and he’s a great friend of the sergeant’s, and between us I think we can find a bodyguard.’
“And as true as I’m telling you, after supper that night the Czar of Russia marched through the streets of Cahermore with a bodyguard of the Ballygarvan Lancers behind and before him, and Bryan out in front leading the way, with a gun on his shoulder and a sword by his side, and everybody taking off their hats to him as he passed.”
“And what happened to the Czar?” inquired the stranger.
“He went on board his warship and sacked all his generals, admirals, and Grand Dukes, and when he went back to Russia, he sent over his architect and masons to build a house for Bryan, and that’s the house in the valley beyond.”