"But no blood must be shed," he would say again and again. "No blood must be shed. That would be too high a price to pay. Besides, it has been fully tried for hundreds of years, and nothing but bitterness and misery has come of it. And yet the Catholics must have equal rights with the Protestants." He saw only one way of bringing this about. It was by getting all the people to vote alike. Then the English rulers would see how strong and how much in earnest the Irish people were. There were years of hard work before Daniel O'Connell was able to bring about any change. At last, however, the government of England was obliged to pass a law giving Catholics the right to vote and hold office the same as Protestants. It is said that when the king signed the law he was so angry he broke the pen with which it was done, and stamped upon it. But he knew he had to do it, and there was no way out of it. [Illustration: THE MONUMENT TO DANIEL O'CONNELL.] Daniel O'Connell had won. He was the great Liberator of his religion in Great Britain. He now tried to gain a separate government for Ireland. But he did not live to finish his work. He was seized with illness. This very time was the beginning of the dreadful famine. O'Connell could not keep his mind from thinking of the sufferings of his people, and so, of course, he gained no strength. His doctors gave up hope. The great lawyer and Liberator had but one wish now. He would like to die in Rome under the blessing of the Pope. He did not live long enough to reach the religious capital of the Catholic world, but his heart was preserved and sent there, by his own wish. His body was sent to Ireland, where there was a grand funeral. A great monument stands to-day in the city of Dublin. It was built in honour of Ireland's brave helper and true lover, Daniel O'Connell. It is shaped like the round towers still standing here and there throughout Ireland. They are so old that no one knows when or why they were built. They stand tall and straight and strong and silent. But it seems as though they would say, "Look at us and think of the grand old days of Erin!" Some people think they were watch-towers from which the enemy could be discovered far away. When the people wished to build a monument to Daniel O'Connell, they thought nothing would be more proper than a copy of the old watch-towers still standing in the country and reminding every one of the old glories of Ireland. As Norah's father finished the story, the little girl got up softly and went to a drawer, from which she drew a picture. It was that of a white hound, the dog Daniel O'Connell loved so much. "Father," she said, putting her arms around his neck, "if you ever see a white hound at the fair in Killarney, please buy it for your little Norah. I will love it tenderly for the sake of that great man." CHAPTER V. KILLARNEY