AND HOW I HAVE CAUGHT MY FISH 165 



had been near to pouting, now shaped themselves 

 to whistle. But whistling was too tame for the 

 occasion, and he softly gave himself the first line 

 of the song he had just heard: " Cheer up, Sam, 

 don't let your spirits go down." He remembered 

 no more of the words, but he had plainly added 

 that line to his musical repertoire as a tuneful 

 luck-bringing snatch. Then, as he got calmer, 

 he gave me an account of what was likely to be 

 doing at the regatta, and who would be there. 

 "What of the horse-race, John?" "Well, sir, 

 they are saying that Adams, the coast-guardsman, 

 has borrowed a real flier, and means to beat the 

 dwarf who always wins the race, but I'm doubting 

 if he'll be able to manage it." 



Each and every adjacent island had sent com- 

 petitors to Arranmore, and also little hosts to cheer 

 them. The mainlanders were deeply interested ; 

 they had built boats which could not, they thought, 

 be beaten. Arranmore had foregathered, in all 

 its strength, to give smiling welcome to all and 

 sundry ; even the English strangers were fairly 

 lifted out and given a friendly greeting. Good- 

 natured laughter lasted all the day, and was ever 

 ready to acclaim a friend's disaster, and the crowd, 

 sportsmanlike, never failed to cheer a winner's 

 skill, no matter where he hailed from. 



The donkey-races and the extraordinary scenes 

 attending them are as indelibly fixed in my memory 

 as the coster's upset donkey-barrow and vegetables 



