212 DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 



and then sat down again. Mr M'Cabe was roused at 

 this and nearly rose, and I have no doubt would have 

 aided much if he had reached his destination at the 

 other end, but the need passed away with bow seating 

 himself to his work again. 



The grandeur of this headland, the rocks of which 

 tower up from depths below to heights where your 

 eye can scarcely reach from a boat that is being tossed 

 by the waters at their base, would have impressed 

 me more had the waves been kiixJer and not played 

 such havoc with the crew. 



Mike Malley, stroke, fought a noble fight with his 

 inner self and conquered. I was sitting opposite him, 

 and was interested from start to finish. He wasted 

 no breath in talking while wrestling with the foe, 

 although his cheeks puffed out as if he had much to 

 say. I was glad to see him smile once more — not 

 a great effort — and hear him say : 'It's the currints 

 here that would make the divil himself sorry if he 

 iver wint to say, and sure yer honour would be bad 

 yerself if ye hadn't kept the whisky in ye.' Perhaps 

 it was the tossing that upset the crew, for when we 

 turned the next headland and had smoother water, 

 every man of them was himself again, and there was 

 talk of shooting. I am not fond of the gun in a boat; 

 I have shot enough to have respect for the death-dealing 

 instrument on land, and think it out of place in a 

 crowded boat, so I said, 'Let my son show you how 

 we catch our fish.' The men were very interested in 

 the tackle, and more so in what would happen if 

 a pollcick of any size should seize hold of it. Their 

 anxiety to hasten that event caused them to put an 

 earnestness in their pull that sent the boat along much 

 too fast, and some time was lost in bringing them to 

 the proper speed with so many oars at work. I saw 

 the rod tip bend in answer to a nibble at the un- 

 defended tail of the rubber worm, a taste of which 

 is generally fatal, as it proved in this case; the dis- 



