COMMUTER'S WIFE 289 



old woman used herself ! Then do yer mind the 

 three bad omens, darlint ? " 



"The rain and the owl," I answered, "but what 

 was the third ? " 



" Oh, wherra ! wherra ! Crowin' hens is common, 

 but the likes o' the last doin's is seldom known, 

 though I onct heard it out o' County Kerry, that 

 same bein' next me own.' 



" Old woman Doolan she mischanced to raise a 

 pair o' crowin' hens lasht fall, and all the neighbours 

 has beseeched her to kill them lest ill luck befall the 

 sittlement, goin' so far as to beg the priest to inter- 

 fere. But not an axe would she take to them, they 

 bein' foine layers. 



" What's amiss wid crowin' hens ? Shure now, 

 that's aisy. Ye know well the cock that crew three 

 times and give the lie to St. Peter to his shamin' ? 

 Well, the blessed saint cursed him well for his impu- 

 dence and turned him to a hen, the mother o' the 

 whole lot, and that's why, himself doing it, the curse 

 holds that firm that holy water itself can't dissholve 

 it. 



"Now what does the old devil do, unbeknownst 

 but only to me on account of the knot-hole, she 

 being stingy, but kill thim hins for the weddin' 

 f aste ! Did ye ever hear the loikes ? For we all 



