Page:Darby O'Gill and the Good People by Herminie Templeton Kavanagh (1903).djvu/203

Rh “That woman,” he says to himself, mighty sour, “is this minute contimplaytin’ an’ insinuatin’ that we haven’t said prayers enough for Eileen, when as it is, me two poor knees have blisters on thim as big as hin’s eggs from kneelin’. An’ if I don’t look out,” he says to himself again, “she’ll put the childher to bed and then she’s down on her knees for another hour, and me wid her; I’d never advise anyone to marry such a pious woman. I’m fairly kilt with rayligion, so I am. I must disthract her mind an’ prevent her intintions,” he says to himself.

“Maybe, Bridget,” he says, out loud, as he was readying his pipe, “it ain’t so bad afther all for Eileen. If we keep hoping for the best, we’ll chate the worst out of a few good hours at any rate,” says the knowledgeable man.

But Bridget only rowled the apron about her folded arms and shook her head sorrowful at the fire. Darby squinted carefully down the stem of his pipe, blew in it, took a sly glance at his wife, and wint on:

“Don’t you raymember, Bridget,” he says, “whin ould Mrs. Rafferty lay sick of a bad informaytion of the stomick; well, the banshee sat for a full hour keening an’ cryin’ before their house—just as it did Rh