see him, an’ they all gave wan great hiss, an’ then another, an’ another, like wan, two, three! An’ at the third hiss the King of the Shnakes rose up out of the wee fen at the top of the hill, wid his gold crown gleamin’—an’ more betoken it was harvest time, an’ the moon was up, an’ the sun was settin’, so the big jool in the crown had the light of both the sun an’ the moon, an’ it shone so bright that right away in Lensther the people thought the whole counthry was afire. But whin the Saint seen him, his whole forrum seemed to swell out an’ get bigger an’ bigger, an’ he lifted his crozier, an’ he pointed West, an’ sez he, in a voice like a shtorm, ‘To the say all ye shnakes! At wanst! to the say!’

[Pg 18]

“An’ in the instant, wid wan movement, an’ wid a hiss that made the air seem full iv watherfalls the whole iv the shnakes that was round the hill wriggled away into the say as if the fire was at their tails. There was so many iv them that they filled up the say out beyant to Cusheen Island, and them that was behind, had to shlide over their bodies. An’ the say piled up till it sent a wave mountains high rollin’ away across the Atlantic till it sthruck upon the shore iv America—though more betoken it wasn’t America thin, for it wasn’t discovered till long afther. An’ there was so many shnakes that they do say that all the white sand that dhrifts up on the coast from the Blaskets to[Pg 19] Achill Head is made from their bones.” Here Andy cut in:—

[Pg 19]

“But, Jerry, you haven’t tould us if the King iv the Shnakes wint too.”

“Musha! but it’s in a hurry ye are. How can I tell ye the whole laygend at wanst; an’, moreover, when me mouth is that dhry I can hardly spake at all—an’ me punch is all dhrunk——”

He turned his glass face down on the table, with an air of comic resignation. Mrs. Kelligan took the hint and refilled his glass whilst he went on:—

“Well! whin the shnakes tuk to say-bathin’ an’ forgot to come in to dhry themselves, the ould King iv thim sunk down agin into the lake, an’ Saint Pathrick rowls his eyes, an’ sez he to himself:—

“‘Musha! is it dhramin’ I am, or what? or is it laughin’ at me he is? Does he mane to defy me?‘ An’ seein’ that no notice was tuk iv him at all, he lifts his crozier, and calls out:—

“‘Hi! Here! You! Come here! I want ye!’—As he spoke, Jerry went through all the pantomime of the occasion, 

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