'Presently the father came in, and didn't know him; and when he heard what the wife had said, he was vexed, and said: "A thousand men might come the road, and not one of them do what that travelling man did. And I am sorry, sir," he said, "that my wife gave you such a reason."

'Then the potatoes were ready, and they were put on a skip for the dinner; and they asked the gentleman to help himself; and they gave him a knife but it had but half a blade; and they said they were sorry to have no better a one to give him. But he peeled his potatoes with that.

'And then some one came in and asked would the young people come in and join a dance, for there was a piper in the next house. And the stranger asked to go with them. But at every dance-house there is a blackguard, and there was one there; and he began to mock at the strange gentleman.

And one of his brothers that didn't know he was his brother, said to the blackguard: "It's a very mean thing of you to mock at a stranger." But he went on doing it.

'Then the stranger got up and went over to where his sister was, and slipped a letter into her ap.r.o.n that told who he was. And then he quenched the dip-candle over her, that was lighting the house, and he made for the man that mocked him, and gave him a blow that sent him into the hearth, and then he made away.

'And it was a long time before they could find the candle; and when it was lighted, the man was found dead on the hearth. And the sister read the letter; but she did not tell it was her own brother had come home.

'But after that he got a good place in the West Indies, and sent for them all there.'

Then an old man said: 'I was minding a man in the hospital one time, and he was lying quiet in the bed; and the priest came in to see him, Father Kearns. And all of a sudden he made one leap, and was out of the bed, and bade the priest to be off out of that. And the priest made for the door; and I stood in the way of the man till he got out; and then I got out myself, and shut the door. He was brought away to Ballinasloe Asylum after. But if it wasn't for me, Father Kearns wouldn't have got safe out.

'That's my story.'

The first old man said: 'There was a man one time went to the market to sell a cow; and he sold her, and he took a drop of drink after; and instead of going home, he went into a sort of a barn where there was straw stored, and he fell asleep there.

'And in the night some men came in, and he heard them talking. And they had a lot of silver plate with them, they were after stealing from some house in the town, and they were hiding it in the straw till they would come and bring it away again.

'And he said nothing, and kept quiet till morning; and then he went out; and the people in the town were talking of nothing else but the great robbery of silver plate in the night. And no one knew who had done it; and the man came forward, and told them where the silver plate was, and who the men were that stole it; and the things were found, and the men convicted. But he did not let on how he had come to know it, or that he had slept in the barn.

'So he got a great name; and when he went home, his landlord heard of it; and he sent for him, and he said: "I am missing things this good while, and the last thing I lost was a diamond ring. Tell me who was it stole that," he said. "I can't tell you," said the man. "Well," said the landlord, "I will lock you up in a room for three days; and if you can't tell me by the end of that time who stole the ring, I'll put you to death."

'So he was locked up; and in the evening the butler brought him in his supper. And when he saw evening was come, he said: "There's one of them," meaning there was one of the three days gone.

'But the butler went down stairs in a great fright; for he was one of the servants that had stolen the ring, and he said to the others: "He knew me, and he said, 'There's one of them.' And I won't go near him again," he said; "but let one of you go."

'So the next evening the cook went up with the supper, and when she came in, he said the same way as before: "There's two of them," meaning there was another day gone. And the cook went down like the butler had gone, making sure he knew that she had a share in the robbery.

'The next day the third of the servants--that was the housemaid--brought him his supper; and he gave a great sigh, and said: "There's the third of them." So she went down and told the others; and they agreed it was best to make a confession to him; and they went and told him of their robberies; and they brought him the diamond ring; and they asked him to try and screen them some way; so he said he would do his best for them, and he said: "I see a big turkey-gobbler out in the yard; and what you had best do is to open his mouth," he said, "and to force the ring down it."

'So they did that. And then the landlord came up and asked could he tell him where the thief was to be found. "Kill that turkey-gobbler in the yard," he said, "and see what can you find in him." So they killed the turkey-gobbler, and cut him open, and there they found the diamond ring.

'Then the landlord gave him great rewards, and everyone in the country heard of him.

'And a neighbouring gentleman that heard of him said to the landlord: "I'll make a bet with you that if you bring him to dinner at my house, he won't be able to tell what is under a cover on the table." So the landlord brought him; and when he was brought in, they asked him what was in the dish with the cover; and he thought he was done for, and he said: "The fox is caught at last." And what was under the cover but a fox! So whatever name he had before, he got a three times greater name now.

'But another gentleman made the same bet with the landlord; and when they came into the dinner, there was a dish with a cover, and the man had no notion what was under it; and he said: "Robin's done this time"--his own name being Robin. And what was there under the cover but a robin! So he got great rewards after that, and he settled down and lived happy ever after.'

Then a red-faced young man said: 'There was a young man one time, and his name was Stepney St. George, and his people said it was time for him to get married; and they brought twelve young ladies to stop in the house, the way he would make a choice among them. And he used to be talking with them and walking in the garden; and there was one of them he got to like better than the rest, and the others got jealous of her, and used to be picking at her. And when Stepney saw that, he brought her out one day into a field where there was a bull, and he covered with rings and bells of gold, and a golden door in his side. And he opened the door and bade her to go in there, where she would be safe from the other eleven women.

'So she went in and he shut the door; and the others did not know where was she gone, and they were looking for her in every place. And they came to where the bull was; and they began looking at him and touching him, and just by chance one of them touched a bell, and the door opened, and there was the young lady inside. And they took her out, and brought her into the house; and she was sitting on the window-seat looking out at the river. And they pushed her over, and she fell into the water and was swept away.

'As to Stepney St. George, he was looking for her everywhere, but he could not find her. And one day he saw a poor travelling woman trying to cross the river, and she fell into it. And he thought it might be that way his own young lady was lost.

'And that put it in his mind to build a bridge across the river, and he got all the men that could be got, and they set to work. And they had a good bit of it made before night. But in the night all they had made of it was swept away. And the next day they were building again, and they sat up to watch it that night. But all the same it was all gone before morning, and they did not see anyone near it.

'The third night, Stepney St. George himself sat up to watch. And at last he saw a great black eagle, and it came flying towards the bridge; and, when it saw him, it called out: "What are you doing building this bridge to be in my way? I swept it away the last two nights, and I'll sweep it away again now." "If you do, I'll get satisfaction from you,"

said Stepney. "You will have to find me for that," she said. "And my name is Mother Longfield, and my house is at the other end of the world." And with that she went away; and Stepney followed everywhere looking for her; and at last he came to a house, and an old witch came out, and she told him her name was Mother Longfield. "And I've got you here now in my power," she said, "and you will have to do all the work I will give you to do."

'So she brought him out then to a stable; and she gave him a fork, and bade him clear out all the dung and litter that was in it. So he began the work; but for every forkful he would throw out, two would come in its place, so that at last there was no room for him in the stable, and he had to go outside.

'A young girl came up to him then, and she asked what was the matter.

And he told her all that had happened; and she said, "I will help you."

So she took out a little fork, and she went into the stable; and it wasn't long before she had it sweet and clean, that you could eat your dinner off the floor.

'He went back then to the house, and the witch was at the door, and she asked how did he get on. "Very well," he said. "I have the whole stable cleaned out, sweet and clean." She looked very sharp at him then; and she said: "Take care did Lanka Pera help you?" But he let on not to hear her, and made no answer.

'The next day she gave him a hatchet that was as blunt as a blunt knife; and she told him there was a forest he should cut down before night, or she would make an end of him. So he went to the forest and began to cut; but as he cut, it grew thicker and thicker, and the trees that were saplings in the morning were large trees before afternoon. So when he saw there was no use going on, he stopped. And then he saw the young girl again, and she said: "I am come to help you." And she took out a small hatchet, and began to cut, and before long the whole forest was levelled down.

'He went back to the house whistling and singing; and he told the witch he had cut down the forest, and she asked did Lanka Pera help him. But he said she did not--for she had told him not to let on he had seen her at all.

'The third day the witch showed him a hill a good way off, and a wild horse on it; and she said what he had to do was to catch the horse, and if he did not do that, it was his last day to live.

'So he began hunting the horse, and trying to catch it; but he could never get near it at all. Then the girl came to him, and she said: "You will never be able to catch it without my help. And I will turn myself into a mare," she said; "and you can get on my back. But remember," she said, "not to put the spurs into me whatever may happen." She turned herself into a mare then, and he got on her back. And the old witch came out then and she called to Stepney: "Don't spare the spurs."

'They galloped off then after the wild horse, but they never could come up with it. And at last, in the heat of the race, Stepney forgot what the girl had said, and he pressed the spurs into the side of the mare till the blood came down.'

('Oh murder!' and a groan of pity from all the old men.)

'Then the mare fell, and the mare was gone; and it was the girl he saw before him, and her sides bleeding. And it is then he knew she was the young girl had been stolen from him at his own place after he shutting her up in the bull.

'She went then and called to the wild horse, and he came to her; and they both of them got up on him, and they went back to the witch's house. And when they got near it, the girl got up and turned herself into a mare again. And the witch came out to meet them, and she said: "I see you didn't spare the spur."

'And the witch said Stepney might have the girl if he could choose her out of thirteen. And he did that. And the witch wanted to keep her from him yet, but he wouldn't give her up; and he brought her to a house that was close by; and they made a plan to escape in the night; and they made the two horses ready to bring them away. And the girl made two cakes; and she left them with some of the servants, and she said: "The witch will be coming in to watch us for the night, and she will ask for a story; and stick a knife into one of the cakes when she asks that," she said.

'So they made off then by the back door; and the witch came to watch the house; and she said to the maid: "Tell me a story now while I'm waiting." So she stuck a knife in one of the cakes, and it began to tell a story; and the witch sat there listening to it.

'And when it was done, she asked for another story; and the maid stuck a knife in another of the cakes, and it began to tell a story. And when that was done, the witch asked for another story, and the maid stuck a knife in the third cake, and it is what it said: "The two you think you are watching are off, and are on the way back to their own home."

'When the witch heard that, she took the shape of an eagle on her; and she flew out after them, and she came in sight of them. And they looked back, and saw her coming like a big black cloud in the air; and the girl said to Stepney: "Take the bit of wood you'll find in the horse's ear, and throw it behind you." And he did that, and a great forest grew up behind them; and it is hardly the eagle could fly over it.

'Then they saw her coming again; and the girl said: "Take the drop of water you will find in the horse's other ear, and throw it down behind you." And when he did that, there was a great sea behind them; and the eagle found it hard to pa.s.s it, but it did at last.

'And when she was coming up with them again, the girl took a bit of stone was in her own horse's ear, and threw it behind them. And a great mountain rose up, that kept back the eagle for a time. And then she took a bra.s.s ball out of the other ear, and she gave it to Stepney; and bade him to throw it at a white mole that was on the eagle's breast. So he made a shot with it, and hit the eagle, and it fell dead there and then.

'Then the girl said to Stepney: "There is no danger now between us and home. But have a care," she said, "when you get home not to let a dog touch your face in any way, or you will forget me and all that has happened."

'So he said he would remember that. But when he got home and sat down in the house, his little lap-dog jumped up on him and licked his face. And on the moment he forgot all that had happened, and the girl he had brought home.

'And after a while he was going to be married to another lady, and all was ready for the wedding; and a poor-looking girl came to the door. And the servants bade her to go away, for the grand people in the house would not want her. "I think I have something would amuse them," she said. "I have a c.o.c.k and a hen that can talk the same as living people."