them had morethan one leg apiece, and it was hop they did instead av walking likedacint Christians. `Only one leg apiece,' says I to the bo'swain'smate.
"`One leg is enough to go to sea with,' says he; `but go and do yourduty, Rory, and keep silence when ye spake to your supairior officer.'
"It was a quare ship, boys, with a one-eyed captain and a one-leggedcrew.
"It was, maybe, a fortnight after we sailed, and maybe more, when oneday the sky grew all dark, the wind blew, and the thunders rolled andrattled, and the seas rose mountains high, and sure I thought the end ofthe world had come, and what would poor mother and Molly do without me.But short was the time given me to think, boys.
"`It's all your fault,' cried my messmates, swarming round me.
"`Out with one eye,' cries the captain.
"`Off with one leg,' cries the crew.
"`Never a one av me eyes will ye have, ye spalpeens!' I roars; `and asfor me legs, I manes to stick to the whole lot av the two av them. Comeon,' I cries; `stand up foreninst Rory if there is a bit av courageamong ye.'
"But what could one man do among so many av them, boys? And it's downthey'd have had me, and me one leg would have been off in a jiffey, if Ihadn't made the best use av the pair av them. `Bad success to ye all,'I cries, jumping on to the bowsprit, `ye bog-trotting crew; I'll trustto the tinder mercies av the sharks afore I'll stop longer among ye.'And over I leapt into the boiling sea. The water went surging into myears as I sank, but even at that moment it was me poor mother and MollyI was thinking most about, and whativer they'd do athout me at all, atall.
"Boys, when I came to the top av the wather agin, sorra a ship was to beseen anywhere; the sky was clear and blue, and the wind had all gonedown. `Rory O'Reilly!' says a voice near me.
"And with that I looks round, and what should I see, but the ugliestcraythure av an ould man that ever was born.
"`You're well rid o' the lot,' says the craythure.
"`Thrue for you,' says I; `and as ye spake so frindly loike, maybe you'dbe after tellin' me how far it is to the nearest house aventertainment.'
"`Take a howld av me tail,' says the craythure, `and sure I'll tow yethere in a twinklin'.'
"`Is it a merman ye are, then,' says I, `or the little ould man av thesea?'
"`It's a merman, sure enough,' he replied; and wi' that I catches howldav his tail, and away we goes as cheerful as ye plaze, boys, and all thetoime the ould craythure kept tellin' me about the beautiful home av themermaids beneath the blue says, and their couches av pearl and corallinehalls, and the lovely gardens, with the flowers all growing and movingwith the wash av the warm waves, and av the strange-shaped fishes withdiamonds and sparkling gems in their heads, that swim round and round ava noight to give the purty damsels light, to ate and to drink and todance in.
"`And do you dwell among all this beauty?' says I to the ugly oldcraythure.
"`What!' says he, `the loikes o' me dwell in sich places? No,' says he,`Rory O'Reilly, it's only a slave I am, for there is a moightydifference twixt a _mermaid_ and a _merman_. But here you are at theisland.'
"And with that he gave his tail a shake, and I found myself lying in thesunshine on the coral sands, with no little ould man near me at all, atall.
"Now, boys, what should happen next, but I should fall as sound asleepas a babe in its cradle. Maybe it was the pangs of hunger that wakenedme, and maybe it wasn't, for before I opened me eyes, I had opened meears, and such a confusion av swate sounds I'd never heard before, andsartainly never since.
"I kept me eyes firmly closed, wondering where I was, and trying tothink back; and think back I did to the goblin ship and its goblin crew,and the little ould man av the sea that towed me on shore with his tail.The sounds were at first like the murmur av bees, then bird songs wereadded to them, sweeter than all delicious strains av music, that stirredevery pulse in me body. And with that I opened me eyes.
"I'll give ye me word av honour, boys, and me hand on it as well, I wasso astonished at all I saw around me, that never a thing could I do atall, at all, but lie still and stare.
"It was in fairyland I was, sure enough. What were those beautifulbeings, I kept asking myself, that glided over the golden ground, or,with trailing, gauzy garments and flowing hair, went floating throughthe sky itself, keeping time every one of them to the dreamy rhythm ofthe music that filled the air, and didn't seem to come from anydirection in particular? Were they peris, sylphs, fays, or fairies, ora choice selection of mermaids come on shore for a dance?
"I'd fallen asleep on the snow-white sand. There was no sand here now,sure; all was green and gold, and shrubs and flowers and colouredfountains were all around me. But it was night all the same. And thestrange thing was this, every leaf and flower gave out light of its owncolour. But, glimmering down through the beautiful haze, I could seethe twinkling stars, and I offered up a prayer and felt safe.
"The music grew quicker, merrier, madder, and at last sure I couldn'tstand it a moment longer, and up I starts.
"`Och! if you plaze,' I says, `I'll mingle in the mazy dance meself, andthere isn't a boy in Ballyporeen can bate me at the rale ould Oirishjig.'
"But sure, boys, as Burns says--
"`In a moment all was dark.'
"Away went shrubs and flowers and fountains and sylphs and fairies andfays and all, and there stood poor Rory O'Reilly on the sands once more,with the wee waves frothing up at his feet, and scratching his head, andfeeling more like a fool than ever he did in his born days.
"`Well, sure,' says I to myself, `there is no knowing what to make avit. But,' I says, `a little more sleep won't hurt me, anyhow.'
"So down I lies again on the sand.
"It was daylight when I awoke again once more. But where was I now? Nofairies this time. But sure I was among the strangest race of beingsimagination could conceive av. The country all around me was honest andpurty enough; trees, fields, hills, and houses, and all might have beena part of ould Oirland itself. But the people, boys--why, it wasindiarubber they must have been made av, and nothing else. At onemoment a man would be as tall and thin as a flagstaff, next moment aboutthe shape and fashion of a bull frog. They could stretch their arms outtill twenty yards long, and make their mouths big enough to swallow asheep. It wasn't in at the door either they'd be going when enteringtheir dwellings, but straight through the keyhole.
"It was, maybe, a handy arrangement one way or the other, but troth itfrightened poor Rory O'Reilly, and as none av the ugly craytures seemedto take any notice av me, I made my feet my friends, and got quietlyaway.
Well, after wandering in this enchanted island for more than a week, andnever tasting a bit or a sup all the time, right glad I was to findmeself by the sea once more.
"Escape I must, at all hazards. But how was I to get a boat I wasthinking and wondering, when all at once me eyes fell on a greatturtle-shell.
"The very thing, boys; nothing could be easier than to make a boat andsail away in this.
"It didn't take me long either to step a mast, and to load up with fruitand with shell-fish; then I got my boat afloat, and with my jacket for asail away I went, and before long the enchanted island went down belowthe horizon, and I niver felt happier in my life before, than when I sawthe last of it."
Rory O'Reilly stopped to fill his pipe, and having done so, smokedquietly on for a few minutes, while all waited patiently for thecompletion of his yarn.
"Well, Rory," said Skipper James at last. "Go on; that isn't all,surely? How did your adventurous voyage end?"
"Is it how did it end?" said Rory. "Well, boys, there arose a terriblestorm, and the waves dashed over me, and the cowld hail and snow andrain--"
"And thunder and lightning, Rory?"
"Yes, Captain James, and thunder and lightning; but sure in the midst avit all came an angel's voice from the clouds, singing--oh! iver sosweetly--
"`There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet As the dear little vale where the waters do meet. A
h! the last link of freedom and life shall depart, Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart.'
"And by this and by that, boys, I opened me eyes again."
"Opened your eyes again, Rory?" cried the skipper.
"Yes, sure, and there I was in me own mother's cabin, and there was mysister Biddy, the darlint, standing foreninst me and singing like asylph, and sprinkling me face wid wather. And troth, boys, it was all adrame, ivery word I've been telling ye."
"Well done, Rory," cried Skipper James, "and now for a song and dance,boys, for Saturday