“No sooner said than done; and there was a great chain of high, sharp rocks in the way of divel-face and all his clan.  ‘Now,’ says she, ’we have gained another day.’  ‘Tundher-and-turf!’ says Jack, ’what’s this for, at all, at all?—­but wait till I get you in the Immerald Isle, for this, and if you don’t enjoy happy days any how, why I’m not sitting before you on this horse, by the same token that it’s not a horse at all, but a filly though; if you don’t get the hoith of good aiting and drinking—­lashings of the best wine and whisky that the land can afford, my name’s not Jack.  We’ll build a castle, and you’ll have upstairs and downstairs—­a coach and six to ride in—­lots of sarvints to attend on you, and full and plinty of everything; not to mintion—­hem!—­not to mintion that you’ll have a husband that the fairest lady in the land might be proud of,’ says he, stretching himself up in the saddle, and giving the filly a jag of the spurs, to show off a bit; although the coaxing rogue knew that the money which was to do all this was her own.  At any rate, they spent the remainder of this day pleasantly enough, still moving on, though, as fast as they could.  Jack, every now and then, would throw an eye behind, as if to watch their pursuers, wherein, if the truth was known, it was to get a peep at the beautiful glowing face and warm lips that were breathing all kinds of fragrancies about him.  I’ll warrant he didn’t envy the king upon his throne, when he felt the honeysuckle of her breath, like the smell of Father Ned’s orchard there, of a May morning.

“When Fardorougha (* the dark man) found the great chain of rocks before him, you may set it down that he was likely to blow up with vexation; but, for all that, the first thing he blew up was the rocks—­and that he might lose little or no time in doing it, he collected all the gunpowder and crowbars, spades and pickaxes, that could be found for miles about him, and set to it, working as if it was with inch of candle.  For half a day there was nothing but boring and splitting, and driving of iron wedges, and blowing up pieces of rocks as big as little houses, until, by hard, labor, they made a passage for themselves sufficient to carry them over.  They then set off again, full speed; and great advantage they had over the poor filly that Jack and the lady rode on, for their horses were well rested, and hadn’t to carry double, like Jack’s.  The next day they spied Jack and his beautiful companion, just about a quarter of a mile before them.

“‘Now,’ says dark-brow, ’I’ll make any man’s fortune forever that will bring me them two, either living or dead, but, if possible, alive:  so, spur on, for whoever secures them, man, woman, or child, is a made man, but, above all, make no noise.’

“It was now divil take the hindmost among the bloody pack—­every spur was red with blood, and every horse smoking.  Jack and the lady were jogging on acrass a green field, not suspecting that the rest were so near them, and talking over the pleasant days they would spind together in Ireland, when they hears the hue-and-cry once more at their very heels.