g an' Cat an' the apples, which thayer
ain't but a handful left, but fwhat thar is is yourn. Help yerself,
choild, an' ate hearty," and she turned down the gray-looking
bedclothes to show the last half-dozen of the same rosy apples.

"Aint you afraid to sleep here alone nights, Granny?"

"Shure fwhat hev Oi to fayre? Thayer niver wuz robbers come but wanst,
an' shure I got theyer last cint aff av them. They come one night an'
broke in, an' settin' up, Oi sez, 'Now fwhat _are_ yez lukin'
fur?'

"'Money,' sez they, fur thayer was talk all round thin that Oi had
sold me cow fur $25.

"'Sure, thin, Oi'll get up an' help ye,' sez Oi, fur divil a cint hev
Oi been able to set me eyes on sense apple harvest.'"

'"We want $25, or we'll kill ye.'

"'Faith, an' if it wuz twenty-five cints Oi couldn't help it,' sez Oi,
'an' it's ready to die Oi am,' sez Oi, 'fur Oi was confessed last wake
an' Oi'm a-sayin' me prayers _this_ minit.'

"Sez the littlest wan, an' he wa'n't so little, nigh as br'ad as that
dooer, 'Hevn't ye sold yer cow?'

"'Ye'll foind her in the barrun,' sez Oi, 'though Oi hate to hev yez
disturb her slapin'. It makes her drame an' that's bad fur the milk.'

"An' next thing them two robbers wuz laffin' at each other fur fools.
Then the little wan sez:

"'Now, Granny, we'll lave ye in pace, if ye'll niver say a wurrud o'
this'--but the other wan seemed kind o' sulky.

"'Sorra a wurrud,' sez Oi, 'an' good frinds we'll be yit,' an' they
wuz makin' fur the dooer to clayer out whin I sez:

"'Howld on! Me friends can't lave me house an' naither boite nor sup;
turn yer backs an' ye plaze, till Oi get on me skirt.' An' whin Oi wuz
up an' dacint an' tould them they could luk, Oi sez, 'It's the foinest
Lung balm in the land ye shall taste,' an' the littlest feller he
starts a-coughin', oh, a turrible cough--it fair scairt me, like a
hoopin' croup--an' the other seemed just mad, and the littlest wan
made fun av him. Oi seen the mean wan wuz left-handed or let on he
wuz, but when he reached out fur the bottle he had on'y three fingers
on his right, an' they both av them had the biggest, blackest,
awfulest lukin' bairds--I'd know them two bairds agin ony place--an'
the littlest had a rag round his head, said he had a toothache, but
shure yer teeth don't ache in the roots o' yer haiyer. Then when they
wuz goin' the littlest wan put a dollar in me hand an' sez, 'It's all
we got bechuxst us, Granny.' 'Godbless ye,' sez