第33章

byJosephSheridanLeFanuWithaMemoirbyALFREDPERCEVALGRAVES

INTHREEVOLUMES。

VOL。III。

CONTENTSOFVOL。III——

JIMSULIVAN’SADVENTURESINTHEGREATSNOW

ACHAPTERINTHEHISTORYOFATYRONEFAMILY

ANADVENTUREOFHARDRESSFITZGERALD，AROYALISTCAPTAIN

’THEQUAREGANDER’

BILLYMALOWNEY’STASTEOFLOVEANDGLORY

THEPURCELLPAPERS——

JIMSULIVAN’SADVENTURESINTHEGREATSNOW。

BeingaNinthExtractfromtheLegacyofthelateFrancisPurcell，P。P。ofDrumcoolagh。

JimSulivanwasadacent，honestboyasyou’dfindinthesevenparishes，an’hewasabeautifulsinger，an’anillegantdancerintirely，an’amightyplisantboyinhimself；buthehadthedivil’sbadluck，forhemarriedforlove，an’avcoorseheniverhadanasyminuteafther。

NellGormanwasthegirlhefancied，an’

abeautifulslipofagirlshewas，jisttwintytotheminutewhenhemarriedher。Shewasasroundan’ascomplateinallhershapesasafirkin，you’dthink，an’hertwocheekswasasfatan’asred，itidopenyourhearttolookatthem。

Butbeautyisnotthethingallthrough，an’asbeautifulasshewasshehadthedivil’stongue，an’thedivil’stimper，an’

thedivil’sbehaviourallout；an’itwasimpossibleforhimtobeinthehousewithherforwhileyou’dcounttinwithouthavin’

anargymint，an’assureassherizanargymintwithhimshe’dhithimawipeivaskilletorwhateverlaynexttoherhand。

Well，thiswasn’tatallplasin’toJimSulivanyoumaybesure，an’therewasscarceaweekthathisheadwasn’tplastheredup，orhisbackbintdouble，orhisnoseswelledasbigasapittaty，withthevilenceivhertimper，an’hisheartwasscaldedeverlastin’lywithhertongue；sohehadnopaceorquietnessinbodyorsoulatallatall，withthewayshewasgoin’

an。

Well，yourhonour，onecowldsnowin’

evenin’hekiminaftherhisday’sworkregulatin’themeninthefarm，an’hesatdownveryquitebythefire，forhehadascrimmidgewithherinthemornin’，an’

allhewantedwasanairivthefireinpace；

sodivilawordhesaidbutdhrewastoolan’satdownclosetothefire。Well，assoonasthewomansawhim，’Moveaff，’saysshe，’an’don’tbeinthrudin’anthefire，’saysshe。

Well，hekeptnevermindin’，an’didn’tletan’tohearawordshewassayin’，soshekimoveran’shehadaspooninherhand，an’shetookjistthesmallesttasteinlifeivtheboilin’watheroutivthepot，an’shedhroppeditdownanhisshins，an’

withthatheletaroaryou’dthinktheroofidflyaffivthehouse。

’Houldyourtongue，youbarbarrian，’

saysshe；’you’llwakenthechild，’saysshe。

’An’ifIdoneright，’sayshe，forthespoonfulofboilin’watherrizhimentirely，’I’dtakeyourself，’sayshe，’an’I’dstuffyouintothepotanthefire，an’boilyou。’

sayshe，’intocastoroil，’sayshe。

’That’spurtybehavour，’saysshe；’it’sfineusageyou’regivin’me，isn’tit？’saysshe，gettin’wickedereveryminute；’butbeforeI’mboiled，’saysshe，’thryhowyoulikeTHAT，’saysshe；an’，sureenough，beforehehadtimetoputuphisguard，shehothimaraleterribleclinkivtheironspoonacrassthejaw。

’Houldme，someivye，orI’llmurdherher，’sayshe。

’Willyou？’saysshe，an’withthatshehothimanothertintimesasgoodasthefirst。

’Byjabers，’sayshe，slappin’himselfbehind，’that’sthelastsaluteyou’llevergiveme，’sayshe；’sotakemylastblessin’，’

sayshe，’youungovernablebaste!’sayshe——an’withthathepulledanhishatan’

walkedoutivthedoor。

Well，shenevermindedawordhesaid，forheusedtosaythesamethingallasoneeverytimeshedhrewblood；an’shehadno