SHAWN A TRA BUOY. 33 



ample amusement for " every man's master, the stomach," and 

 honest Myke might have safely ventured to dinner without his 

 " sauce piquante." 



In due time the cloth disappeared ; a bundle of split bog- 

 deal was laid upon the hearth, and speedily lighted into a 

 cheerful blaze. Old John, with the privilege of an ancient 

 retainer, conversed with us as he extracted a fresh cork for the 

 evening's potation. " Awful weather in July, sir. Well, that 

 Shawn a tra buoy* is a wonderful beast ; I knew a change of 

 weather was at hand when he rose beside the shore last night, 

 and showed his grey head and shoulders over the water." 



"Is the seal, John, a sure foreteller of an approaching 

 storm ?" 



" A certain one, sir : I remember him from I was a boy in 

 the old master's kitchen the Lord be merciful to his soul ! 

 Shawn a tra buoy's features are as familiar to me as my own ; 

 I would swear to him among a thousand." 



" You see him frequently ?" 



" Oh, yes, sir. When the salmon come in, he is every day 

 upon the yellow strand opposite the lodge : there you will see 

 him chase the fish into the shoal-water, catch them beside the 

 boats, ay, or if that fails, take them from the nets, and rob 

 the fishermen. Year after year he has returned with the 

 salmon, spending his summer on the ' tra-buoy/ and his 

 winter near Carrig-a-boddagh." 



" How has he escaped so long, John ? Has he riot been 

 often fired at ?" 



" A thousand times ; the best marksmen in the country have 

 tried him without success. People say that, like the master 

 otter, he has a charmed life ; and latterly nobody meddles 

 with him." 



Old John's narrative was interrupted by the entrance of 

 another personage ; he was a stout burly-looking man, with 

 indifferent good features, a figure of uncommon strength, and 

 a complexion of the deepest bronze. He is the schipper of 

 my cousin's hooker. After a career of perilous adventure in 

 piloting the Flushing smugglers to the coast, he has abandoned 

 his dangerous trade, to pass an honester and safer life in 

 future. 



" Well, Pattigoj what news ?" 



* Jack of the yellow strand. f A by-nam*. 



