'I don't know what your way may be,' I replied. 'I wish to go to Sligo.'
'Ah, thin, an' it's that same Sligo, the weary be on it, that I'd be afther goin' to myself,' answered the driver. 'But your honour looks tired—manin' no offince—an' perhaps you'd take a lift in the gig?'
'Thank you; I will take a lift,' I replied, as I stepped forward and sprang quickly to the seat. 'The truth is, I feel rather tired, as you say.'
'An' has your honour walked far?' asked the driver, as the gig rolled on towards the town.
'I've walked from Ballina since morning,' I replied quietly.
'From Ballina! There, now, the Lord save us!' cried the man, as he half turned in his seat and gazed at me in astonishment. 'Why, that's a day's work for the best horse in the masther's stables.'
'Your master must keep good horses, if I may judge by the one before us,' I answered.
'The best in all the county, your honour, though I say it. There isn't a gossoon in the three baronies but knows that.'
'Your master's a bit of a sportsman, then?'
'Yes, your honour; an' if he'd stick to that, it's himself'd be the best liked man from Ballina to Ballyshannon. You wouldn't find a better rider or a warmer heart in a day's march. But thim politics has been his ruin with the people.'