“Be gorra! when a man would give four hundred for a bull, there 's no saying what he 'd stop at,” broke in Peter Hayes. “I went up to see him myself, and indeed he's a beauty, there 's no denying it,--but four hundred pound! Think of four hundred pound!” “The stable is the best thing in the place,” said Father Neal; “they 're mighty nice cattle, there, for every kind of work.” “Thanks to his niece for that,” cried Magennis; “she knows a horse with any man in the West of Ireland.” “And can break him, too,” chimed in Brierley; “I don't care what his temper is. Let Miss Mary get her hand on him, and he 'll turn out well.” “I 'm driving an old chestnut mare this minute that she trained,” said the priest; “and though she has n't a good leg amongst the four, and is touched in the wind, she 's as neat a stepper, and as easy in the mouth as a five-year-old.” “She 's a fine young woman!” said old Hayes, drinking off his glass as though toasting her to himself, “and not like any Martin ever I seen before.” “No pride about her!” said Brierley. “I wouldn't exactly say that, Matthew,” interposed Father Neal. “But her pride isn't the common kind.” “She's as proud as Lucifer!” broke in Nelligan, almost angrily. “Did you ever see her drive up to a shop-door in this town, and make the people come out to serve her, pointing with her whip to this, that, and t'other, and maybe giving a touch of the lash to the boy if he would n't be lively enough?” “Well, I 'd never call her proud,” rejoined old Hayes, “after seeing her sitting in Catty Honan's cabin, and turning the bread on the griddle for her, when Catty was ill.” “Is she handsome?” asked Massingbred, who was rather interested by the very discrepancy in the estimate of the young lady. “We can agree upon that, I believe, sir,” said the priest; “there 's no disputing about her beauty.” “I never saw her in a room,” said Magennis; “but my 'august leader' thought her masculine.” “No, no,” said Nelligan; “she 's not. She has the Martin manner,--overbearing and tyrannical,--if you like; but she can be gentle enough with women and children.” “You have certainly given me a strong curiosity to see her,” said Massingbred. “Does she always live here?” “Always. I don't believe she was ever beyond the bounds of the county in her life!” “And how does she pass her time?” asked he, with some astonishment. “She manages the whole estate,” said Nelligan; “her uncle 's a conceited old fool, incapable of anything, and lets her do what she likes; and so she drains, and plants, and encloses; makes roads, bridges, and even harbors; has all the new-fangled inventions about farming, and, if what I hear be true, is spending more money on the property than the fee-simple is worth.”