"Divil a question need ye be askin'; put on the uniform; it will fit ye
to an exactness."
In vain Fernando expostulated; his friend forced him into compliance,
and, almost before he knew it, he was encased in a British uniform, and
a handsome looking officer he made. Terrence then gave him a drink at
his bottle to "steady his nerves," and told him that it was one of the
"divil's own toimes" they would have.
Fernando, despite all his staid qualities and Puritanic instincts, loved
an adventure which promised fun, and finally entered into the scheme
with a zest second only to his friend. The very idea of playing a prank
on the captain of a man-of-war was enough to induce him to engage in
almost any enterprise. They managed to escape the house without being
detected by Sukey, who was puzzling his brain over deep questions in
philosophy, and hastened down the street to a carriage which Terrence
engaged to take them to the mayor's.
There was a ticket of admission in the captain's vest, which Fernando
used, and Lord Kildee had one for himself.
As Terrence contemplated his young friend, whom the uniform fitted as
neatly as if he had grown in it, he declared that he was perfection.
Arrived at the door, Fernando, whose brain was in a whirl, found himself
suddenly hurried up a flight of marble steps to the great vestibule
where there was a flood of subdued light.
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