Then Fingal got up and laughed, as well he might, at his own 'cuteness; and so ends my story about Fingal.

And now I'll begin about myself.

As I said before, I am descended from the great O'Brien, who was a king in his time, but that time's past.

I suppose, as the world turns round, my children's children's posterity may be kings again, although there seems but little chance of it just now; but there's ups and downs on a grand scale, as well as in a man's own history, and the wheel of fortune keeps turning for the comfort of those who are at the lowest spoke, as I may be just now.

To cut the story a little shorter, I skip down to my great-grandfather, who lived like a real gentleman, as he was, upon his ten thousand a year.