306 THE RIVER. 



put into their mouths at all, at all — divel 

 the fish can the jintlemen catch for that 

 dirty spalpeen there, the Woody black curse 

 of Cromwell upon him ! and none of them 

 will be afther coming here next season, and 

 it's you, boys, that'll be sorry for that. And 

 I'm thinking that Hector's nets should be 

 bruk,' says he ; ' and I'm thinking that you 

 are just the boys that'll be helping me,' says 

 he ; ' and there's lashins of whisky to be 

 had for the axin.' ' And that we'll do right 

 well,' says they. So it was all agreed that 

 they should meet at Mick Neil's shebeen on 

 Thursday. (Yir riverence will know Mick, 

 him as lives jist forenent Father Grath's, 

 where your riverence at times gets the laste 

 sup of whisky.) Well, we all met there, 

 sure enough ; but Thursday was a bright 

 starlight night, as bright as day, and we 

 were all afeard, so we just put it off to 

 the night afther. But that was Friday, 

 and that yir riverence knows is never a 

 looky day by say or by land, and we thin put 

 it off to Satherday. Well, then, Satherday 

 sure it was, and we all met at Mick's 

 shebeen, a huntherd dacent boys of us, and 

 a purty night it was, barring the darkness. 



