Page:Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories (1915).djvu/116

 Matty Hynes, and a couple of bailiffs. They belonged to men who were continually grumbling about the difficulty of earning money. It seemed obvious to Mr. Benson that any one of them would be glad to hire his boat for a reasonable sum. Matty Hynes was an older man than Mr. Benson, and had spent his whole life in Connaught. He was not sure that any boat would be available.

Mr. Benson, prompt in action as befits a man in his profession, walked down to the harbour. He found the whole five boats-owners leaning over a wall. They were studying the sky with a view to being able to foretell the weather. They were also smoking pipes. Mr. Benson greeted them cheerily.

"Boys," he said, "will any of you hire me a boat for a day?"

There was a stir of surprise and pleasurable anticipation among the men. The hiring of a boat is a very rare thing in Ballymore.

"If it's for the coal-fish that your honour's going out," said Peter Reilly, the oldest of the fishermen, "the tide will be right tomorrow afternoon."

"I've no time for fishing," said Mr. Benson. "I want to go to Inishbee."

"You might do that," said Peter Reilly, "if you had the wind. But there's no wind. You'd need four men to row that length."

"I'll have the police," said Mr. Benson.

The fishermen looked at one another doubtfully.