The Heir of Kilfinnan | Page 2

to have made up for his want of
strength, for few boys of his age would have ventured forth to sea in a
fishing-boat of that size by themselves. Another and a larger boat had
been for some time steering a course to approach him.
"Ah! Dermot, me darlin'; and all alone too?" said a man from the boat
which now overtook him.

"Yes! my mother was ill and unable to go off, so I went by myself; an'
see, Uncle Shane, I have had a good haul for my pains."
"I see, boy, an' sure I'm glad of it," said the first speaker; "but you are
scarcely strong enough to go off alone, for should a gale spring up you
would be unable to manage that boat by yourself."
"Och! an' haven't I managed her before now in heavy weather?" replied
Dermot. "But suppose, Uncle Shane, I was lost, would you take care of
my mother? She's not so strong as she used to be; toil has worn her
down, working hard for me when I ought to have been toiling for her."
"I will," answered Shane.
"Will you swear it, uncle, by the Holy Virgin and the blessed saints?"
"I will, Dermot, as I hope for mercy in the day of trouble. But why do
you ask that question?"
"Because, uncle, as I was pulling up my nets I slipped and almost fell
overboard. I thought that had my feet been entangled, as they might
have been, I should have gone down an' been unable to regain the boat.
We none of us know what may happen: but could I feel that my mother
would be protected from want, it would nerve my arm, and make me
feel more ready for whatever lot may be in store for me."
"Boy," observed the elder fisherman, looking at his nephew, "you are
thoughtful above your years; but the saints will protect you, and I will
not forget to make an offering to Saint Nicholas, that he may watch
over you."
Thus conversing the old man and the lad steered their boats towards the
shore side by side, the former hauling in his mainsail somewhat to
lessen the speed of his boat. They parted to the northward of the
promontory described, Dermot steering for the little cove in which
stood the solitary hut already spoken of, while his uncle continued
along the shore a little further to the north.

Dermot ran his boat between two rocks, at the end of which was a small
sandy beach, where a capstan being placed he was enabled to haul her
up out of the water. As he approached, a woman was seen descending
from the hut. The same dark eyes and raven hair, though somewhat
streaked with white in her case, which characterised the boy, was
observable in the woman. Her figure was thin and wiry, giving
indication of the severe toil to which she was exposed. She was dressed
in a rough frieze petticoat, with a dark handkerchief drawn across her
bosom, and the usual red cloak and hood worn at that time by most of
the peasantry of the west of Ireland was thrown over her shoulders.
"Mother!" exclaimed the boy, "see, I have done well; I have had a
better haul than we have got for many a day."
"And may be, Dermot, we will have a better market too," observed the
woman. "It is said the Earl has come to the castle with many fine
people, and they will be wanting fish to a certainty. It would be too late
now to go, they would not see you; but to-morrow morning, as soon as
the sun is up, you shall set forth, and to be sure they'll be glad to buy
fish of my Dermot." The woman drew herself up as she spoke, and
looked towards the boy with a glance of pride, as if she would not
exchange him for any of the highest born in the land.
"How are you, mother?" asked Dermot; "have all those aches of which
you were complaining gone away? Do you feel strong again?"
"Yes; the saints were merciful; I did not forget to pray to them, and
they have heard me," answered the woman.
With her, as with most of her countrywomen, superstition, if it had not
altogether taken the place of religion, had been strangely mixed up with
it; yet she spoke in a tone of simple and touching faith, at which no one
with any feeling would have ventured to sneer.
Next morning, Dermot, laden with the finest of his fish in a basket at
his back, set off along the shores of the bay towards Kilfinnan Castle.
The approach to it was wild and picturesque. A narrow estuary, having
to be