12 WHAT I HAVE SEEN WHILE FISHING 



had a tickling there, to provoke them to the old 

 familiar cries. Another sort of courage, and a 

 greater, came to me at this time. I could hold 

 my head to the other sex. Maiden cheeks no 

 longer rounded out with threatening laughter, as 

 they used to do, at sight of my figure and utter 

 shyness. All rules have exceptions even where 

 ladies are concerned and there was a pretty face 

 that had never laughed at me. It was from her 

 that I learned what my mother had whispered. 

 The maiden married, had a boy, a long, bony, 

 big-headed boy ; and her boy's head sometimes 

 ached, and he had frequently to miss school ; and 

 when the father expostulated, she would whisper, 

 as my mother no doubt had whispered, " Don't be 

 cross ; I am afraid that terribly big head and its 

 constant aches may mean ' water on the brain.' " 



I think my readers will forgive me these few 

 lines on my early life, as it was my Devon blood, 

 with its probable taint of superstition, and my up- 

 bringing, that made me sympathetic with Irish life 

 and Irishmen. This will explain much that would 

 otherwise seem unreal to those who have only seen 

 the blarneying side of the Irish character. Mine 

 was a real sympathy, and it unlocked their tongues 

 upon subjects which, to them, are almost too sacred 

 to discuss with strangers. 



