THE BLIND SEAL. 4 1 



some appetite. That salmon at noon was disporting 

 in the sea, and this kid was fatted among the heath- 

 flowers of the mountain-glen. Kitchener and Kelly 

 could take no exception to the cookery ; and had these 

 worthies still been inhabitants of " this fair round 

 globe," the Doctor would have found 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 

 Hghted into a cheerful blaze. Old John, with the privi- 

 lege 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 1 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 



* Jack of the yellow strand. 



