Excerpt from Miriam Lucas

On a very hot afternoon in the early summer of 188-two young Trinity students rode leisurely along the precipitous highway that runs from Cuskinny Bay in the Great Island to that particularly romantic and picturesque spot, known as the East Ferry. They had passed through Cuskinny demesne, and on the borders of the little bay had held an academical discussion about the advisability of bathing there. Hugh Ireton, the elder of the two, who was the laziest, but most popular man in his college, was emphatically for stopping and plunging in, especially as the tide was just on the ebb, and the huge boulders that obstruct the bay were not visible. Arthur Ashley voted a direct negative.

"I came out for a plunge in the briny", he said. "'Twas for that we borrowed our gallant steeds, but I have a decided objection to an amalgam of fresh and salt water. I take my liquor neat, externally as well as internally."

And Hugh Ireton, too lazy to offer resistance to the superior will, acquiesced, and they rode on in silence. When they came opposite Redington House, Ireton again pointed to the clear blue waves beneath, that were just then asleep under the sun, with only a thin collar of foam to mark that they were living. Ashley shook his head.

"The same objection holds here, " he said. "I shall have no estuary water, nor diluted seawater today. I must have the Atlantic, or nothing."

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.