These strange sounds were first heard when he had surmounted the Alps of the alphabet, and attacked the A, B, _abs_; and from morning till night I could obtain no reply to any question I asked him, without having a string of _abs_ and _obs_ tacked to it, till my brains and patience could scarce bear the repetition. Soon after, still sailing away on the stream of learning, that notable piece of literature the ‘Read-a-made-aisy’ got into his hands, of which he made such excellent use, that in a few days he could append a sort of poetical illustration to his replies, according as my queries were shaped, and sometimes he let fly a squib at me through their medium. I’ll give you a sample of our colloquies:-- ‘Ah, then, Jimmy, did you shoot any birds this morning?’ ‘One big fella, sur, choke-full ov the currans,’ quoth Jimmy, bringing in as chorus, ‘A was an archer that shot at a frog.’ ‘Well, what shall we have for dinner to-day, Jimmy?’ ‘_Mait_ to be sure, sur--B was a butcher that kept a big dog.’ ‘Right, Jimmy, well thought of! Down with you as fast as you can to Doyle the butcher’s, and see what meat he has got. I think our friend the _constable_ will dine with me to-day.’ ‘I will, sur,’ said Jimmy. ‘C was a captain all covered with lace.’ ‘And,’ continued I, ‘as my dinner won’t be very splendid, and I’m sure to have it very vilely cooked, I’ll bring forth a bottle or two of my _supernaculum_--the rale mountain dew.’ ‘Ay, ay, sur,’ responds Jimmy. ‘D was a drunkard that had a red face.’