Irish Wonders | Page 5

says he.
"'How can I tell?' says she.
"'Has any o' thim axed ye?' says he.
"'Hasn't they all?' says she.
"'An' which wan do ye love besht?' says he.
"'Sure how do I know?' says she, an' sorra a word more cud he get from
her be all the queshtions he cud ax.
"But he tuk a dale av bother an' thin gev it up an' says to her, 'Go an' get
the supper,' says he, 'come in the throne-room afther brekquest wid yer
mind made.' But he was afeard she'd give him throuble fur it was the
cool face she had, an' afther she was gone he set his crown over wan
ear an' scrotched his head like a tinant on quarther day widout a pinny
in his pocket, bekase he knewn that whoever the gurrul tuk, the other
five Kings cud make throuble.
"So the next mornin', the Princess towld him phat she'd do, an' whin the
Kings come that night, he walks into the kitchen where they were

shmokin', an' makin' a low bow, he says, 'God save ye,' an' they all riz
an' says, 'God save yer Holiness.' So he says, 'Bridget, go to bed
immejitly, I'll shpake to the jintlemin.' An' she wint away, lettin' an to
shmile an' consale her face, 't was the divil av a sharp gurrul she was,
an' the ould King set on the table an' towld thim phat she'd do. He
towld thim they must play fair, an' they said they would, an' thin he
towld thim the Princess wanted to see which was the besht man, so they
must have shports in her prisence, an' the next day afther the shports
they'd find out who she was goin' to marry. So they all aggrade, an'
wint home at wanst to get ready fur the shports.
"Faith, it 'ud 'uv done the sowl av ye good the next day to see the whole
av Ireland at the shports whin the contist bechune the Kings kem.
"'T was held in the field beyant, an' they made a ring an' the six young
Kings run races an' rassled an' played all the axcitin' games that was
iver knewn, aitch wid wan eye on the shports an' the other on the
Princess, that was shmilin' an thim all an' lookin' as plazed as a new
Mimber o' Parlaymint, an' so did they all, bekase, d' ye see, before the
shports begun, they was brought, wan at a time, in the coort, an' the
Princess talked wid aitch be himself, wasn't it the shly purtinder that
she was, fur whin they kem out, every wan was shmilin' to himself, as
fur to say he had a very agrayble saycret.
"So the shports was ended an' everybody wint home, barrin' thim as
shtopped at the shebeens. But sorra a wink o' shlape crassed the eyes av
wan o' the young Kings, fur the joy that was in the heart o' thim, bekase
aitch knewn he'd get the Princess.
"Whin the mornin' come, the like o' the flusthration that was in
Athenroy was niver seen afore, nor sense aither, fur [Illustration:
"DIVIL A WAN O' ME KNOWS," SAYS HE.]
"DIVIL A WAN O' ME KNOWS," SAYS HE.
whin the maid wint to call the Princess, sure she wasn't there. So they
sarched the coort from the garret to the cellar an' peeped in the well an'
found she was nowhere entirely.

"So they towld the ould King, an' says he, 'Baithershin, where is she at
all,' says he, 'an' phat'ull I be sayin' to the young Kings whin they
come.' An' there he was, a-tarin' the long white hair av him, whin the
young Kings all come.
"'God save yer Holiness,' says they to him.
"'God save ye kindly,' says he, fur wid all the sorra that was in him,
sure he didn't forgit to be perlite, bekase he was as cunnin' as a fox, an'
knewn he'd nade all his good manners to make aminds fur his dawther's
absince. So, says he, 'God save ye kindly,' says he, bowin'.
"'An' where is the Princess?' says they.
"'Divil a wan o' me knows,' says he.
"'Sure it's jokin' wid us ye are,' says the Kings.
"'Faix, I'm not,' says the ould King. 'Bad cess to the thrace av her was
seen sense she went to bed.'
"'Sure she didn't go to bed entirely,' says the maid, 'the bed wasn't
touched, an' her besht gown's gone.'
"'An' where has she gone?' says the Kings.
"'Tare an' 'ounds,' says the ould King, 'am n't I ignerant entirely? Och,
Biddy, Biddy, how cud ye sarve me so?' a-wringing his hands wid the
graif.
"Well, at firsht the Kings looked at aitch other as if the eyes 'ud lave
thim,