The Blue Lagoon - A Romance - Book I

"And what in the world would you be doin' with a par't in a cage?"

asked Mr Button.

"I'd let it out," replied Emmeline.

"Spakin' about lettin' par'ts out of cages, I remimber me grandfather had an ould pig," said Paddy (they were all talking seriously together like equals). "I was a spalpeen no bigger than the height of me knee, and I'd go to the sty door, and he'd come to the door, and grunt an' blow wid his nose undher it; an' I'd grunt back to vex him, an' hammer wid me fist on it, an' shout `Halloo there! halloo there!' and `Halloo to you!' he'd say, spakin' the pigs' language. `Let me out,' he'd say, `and I'll give yiz a silver shilling.' "`Pass it under the door,' I'd answer him. Thin he'd stick the snout of him undher the door an' I'd hit it a clip with a stick, and he'd yell murther Irish. An' me mother'd come out an' baste me, an' well I desarved it.

"Well, wan day I opened the sty door, an' out he boulted and away and beyant, over hill and hollo he goes till he gets to the edge of the cliff overlookin' the say, and there he meets a billy-goat, and he and the billy-goat has a division of opinion.

"`Away wid yiz!' says the billy-goat.

"`Away wid yourself!' says he.

"`Whose you talkin' to?' says t'other.

"`Yourself,' says him.

"`Who stole the eggs?' says the billy-goat.

"`Ax your ould grandmother!' says the pig.

"`Ax me ould WHICH mother?' says the billy-goat.

"`Oh, ax me--' And before he could complete the sintence, ram, blam, the ould billygoat butts him in the chist, and away goes the both of thim whirtlin' into the say below.

"Thin me ould grandfather comes out, and collars me by the scruff, and `Into the sty with you!' says he; and into the sty I wint, and there they kep' me for a fortnit on bran mash and skim milk--and well I desarved it."

They dined somewhere about eleven o'clock, and at noon Paddy unstepped the mast and made a sort of little tent or awning with the sail in the bow of the boat to protect the children from the rays of the vertical sun.

Then he took his place in the bottom of the boat, in the stern, stuck Dick's straw hat over his face to preserve it from the sun, kicked about a bit to get a comfortable position, and fell asleep.