Evening star., 1901-05-11
Copyright. 1901, by Seumas MacManus.)

And he was divil. if ever there was one
! in human shape. was Hughey No divil-
/ mert, mischief of any shape, make or
/ form was too bad for him. HI was up to
! ali sorts of trickery and cheating and de-
/ fudhering and blarneying by means of
/ W hich he could either gain a something for
/ himself, or, what seemed to satisfy him
| fully as much. make a laughing stock of a
! decent Ballynapookaite AS Mick Neddy
Maury put it, he had "a bakers dozen of
! divils in him. iviry wan of them the size of
| a hedgehog Doherty the Divil was in
/ every ones mouth, and Doherty the Divil
! was feared by all; still he contrived to earn
a good livelihood around Ballynapooka, be-
/ cause he was the principal miscellaneous
| laborer in the locality, and the good people
! who mistrusted him had very often to de-
/ pend on him in a pinch
| Jenny McGornigIe was that cross be-
/ tween a shOpkeeper and farmer which
! was the predominant type in BaIlynapooka.
| In the springtime of the year Jenny want
| cd his plot of SeawraCk cut, for the pur-
/ pose of manuring the land He was casting
| about for laborers to do the work and
| coming across an acquaintance. he asked
| him If he had lately seen Hughey Doherty.
Why, what would Yer be wantin with
| HuShey Doherty now?" said Paddy Bro
| gan.
Why" said Jenny. its in regards Of
IL. L
| the merra; and Ia lake to have my wee
| plot cut"
Are ye goin' with them yerself?"
ell, no; L must look afther the shap.
There's no wan to keep eye to it if
| went away"
An yere gon' to send men down to
cut yer wraCk with no other head over
| them than Hughey Doherty. an expect
| lNCrHthlnS to go on rIght?' said Paddy
| CyuiCally.
Och said Jenny. with confident
shake of the head, thrust me for that"
for Jenny had the highest possible oninion
herty. or man of them till l see the last
bud of wrack left up in the yard here with
| Il e
Well said Paddy, as he turned to go.
still doubtfully sinking his head" maoIe
it'll be all right enough"
'Blatheration. Paddy" said Jenny,
sure when | see the wrack there with me
own eyes what more do l need? How could
| DOherty thrick NE then?"
oh, l don't know how he could thrick
ye." said Paddy. All 1 know is that he's
III III To thrlck the very, ould divil himself
HoWlVir. | darsay maybe yen escape"
Escape, laughed Jenny derisivelv.
ESCAPE! Troth, Paddy. yell find Jenny
-acGonnisie too cute a bird to be caught
thriCk me-
Jenny soon found out Doherty. and en-
Sased nm Tor the following morning At
the appointed hour all the laborers were
(
ders from the cut bird, the master. pre-
paratory to setting out for the scene of
their days labor which was along the coast
soHle l9ur miles distant. Now. cutting
Wrack differs from other empIoyments in
somuCh as the hours during which the
laborers work must necessar rily be regulated
by the tide. The rocks on which the crop
! OF wrack grows are, more or less laid
bare by the receding tide; but it is ONLY
at spring-tide that the whole extent is
barred; and consequently only at spring.
tide is 1t cut, the men commencing their
work as the tide goes out and being
forced TO quit it. of course as the tide
again returns. This being so. laborers en-
ployed at this work have generally finished
at an early hour. and employers who are
economical give them no dinner till they
return from their work at the early hour
in the evening. Then by giving them a
final meal, one meal in the day is saved
Jenny McGonnigle. as matter of course,
being cute bird, came under the economi-
cal head. Hughey Doherty suspected that
and remarked in naive manner as he was
departing that he suspected the shore
would be a hungry country that day But
Jenny took no notice of the remark what
soever. Accordingly Hughey had to come
closer to the point.
What time. said he. will we be afther
eXDectin' the dinner down."
Dinner" said Jenny in affected sur
prise. rs 1t a dinner ye'd be akin down to
the shore to ye. an 1t time till ye be
up here agane? Upon me socks. if ye wait
/
ye yell be atm the whangs out of Yer
boots afore it raiches ye. Dinner indeed.
ie will get dinner, an thumpin' good
wan. too. It'll be smokin' hot on the table
for ye when ye come back"
''Troth, then" said Hughey. well be
hungry afore raich back here"
That's all the betther." said Jenny
Yell be able to ait the more The big
mills grindin' away, an as long as there's
grain of corn to go into the hopper don't
be afeerd of bein the worse Of hunger"
-"Ay. but"-begun Hughey.
The big mills grindn' away inter-
rupted Jenny.
But consither'-began Hughey again.
The big mills grindin' away said
Jenny.
The hunger 'nl"-again essayed Hughey.
Don't mention hunger" said Jenny,
for the big mills grindin' away!"
"'Troth," said Hughey to his fellow
Workmen, as they proceeded on their Jour-
ney, he can afford to have his wee joke
| at expense this mornin' and laugh at
| it; but never you mind; my name isn't
| Iiughey Doherty If l don't make him
! laugh out of the wrong side of his mouth
! yet"
They reached the scene of their labors,
| and wrought away diligently for a number
| OF hours. for they had been made aware
| by Jenny that. he could not accom-
| pany them to the work, he would not pay
| them until he should see the wrack in the
| yard, and thus satisfy himself that they
| had honestly ear rned a days pay When
/ 1t approached II O'Clock Hughey straight
| ened himself, looked at the sun, and then
| remarked that he considered it a fair din
| ner time.
| 'Faix. indeed. II Is all that" said several
! of the men. they proceeded with their
| work. but may whistle for our din
Ier."
! BY no Names" replied Hughey as, to
! the astOnishment of his companions, he
| proceeded to invest himself with his coat
| by no manner of names: it's betther call
| for 1t than whistle for 1t any day. Come
| along. men. l thought I heerd some of
| yez pass the remark that yez was hungry"
| so. in throgs. We did. But where are
| ye goin'. or what do ye name? Sure, there
| was dinner orGhered for us"
| Not lakely." said Hughey but sure
! they say God helps them that helps them
! selves When no wan ordhered it for us.
sure. thanks be to Providence we can or
| dher 1t for ourselves"
| An who. in the name of all that's won-
! derful. is gon' to pay for it?"
| Who should pay for it. I'd lake to know.
but the ould curmudgeon we're cuttin the
| wrack for?'
| But sure"
Now. let there be no more butts about