At this juncture the tooth began to ache again worse than ever, and Larry squirmed in his seat with pain.

"I was tellin' Mr. Boylan to-day," said old Kitty Malone to Ned, "that every blacksmith has a charm for the toothache, an' I was wantin' him to go up to you an' see, but he said maybe you haven't it at all. Have you it, Mr. M'Grane?"

"Well, I must be an amadán out an' out not to think of it before now," said Ned. "To be sure I have it. Every blacksmith in the world has it, but it's no use to him outside his own forge. Troth it's many a one came to me with the toothache, an' any o' them that followed my advice hadn't the pain very long."

"Do you tell me so, Ned?" asked Larry, between his groans.

"Aye, indeed," said Ned. "But some o' them is that foolish that they must run away to one o' them lads that pulls teeth, an' get themselves half murdered, an' then pay dear for it. I saw on the paper where a man died after gettin' a tooth pulled, an' I saw where a great doctor said that if you let the pain o' the toothache go on for five days one after the other, or get[Pg 17] the tooth pulled wrong, you're liable to drop dead at any minute."

[Pg 17]

"Lord bless an' save us!" said old Kitty Malone, in tones of awe and fear.

Larry looked startled.

"An' do you have the charm always, Ned?" he asked, with evident anxiety in his voice.

"Of course I do," answered Ned. "It's in my possession from the day I have my trade learned until the day I die, but I can't make use of it anywhere only in my own forge, an' with no one next or nigh me but the person I'm goin' to cure."

"Does it hurt much, Ned?"

"That's the beauty of it entirely, Larry—it doesn't hurt at all. You might as well be asleep when the charm is working on you, for all the bother or pain it gives you."

"Couldn't you do it here, Ned?"

"Not if I was to get all Ireland, an' England, an' Scotland put together, an' the Isle of Man threw on top of them. I couldn't do it anywhere only in my own forge above.

"Do you know what you'll do, Larry? Just keep that handkerchief on your head, an' put your overcoat on you an' 

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