is the
rope twisted round the plate? If you row her round-the wrong way you'll
twist it worse than ever."

But luck favored Priscilla. When the _Tortoise_ had made one circle the
rope shook itself clear. Joseph Antony, dipping his oars gently in the
water, drew close alongside.

"I'd be sorry now," he said, "if it was to Inishbawn you were thinking
of going. Herself and the children is away off. I'd have been afraid to
leave them there with myself up at the quay with a load of gravel."

Priscilla looked at him with a smile of complete scepticism.

"It's not gravel you have there," she said.

"It's a curious thing," said Joseph Antony in an offended tone, "for you
to be saying the like of that and the boat up to the seats with gravel
before your eyes."

"I don't deny there's gravel on top," said Priscilla, "but there's
something else underneath."

Joseph Antony urged his boat further from the _Tortoise_.

"What do you mean, at all?" he said.

"I don't know what you've got," said Priscilla, "but I saw the rim of
some sort of a wooden tub sticking out of the gravel in the fore part of
the boat."

Joseph Antony began to row vigorously towards the quay. Priscilla hailed
him.

"Tell me this now," she said, "Why did you take Mrs. Kinsella and the
children off their island? Was it for fear of the rats?"

Joseph Antony lay on his oars.

"It was not rats," he said. "Why would it?"

"Was it for change of air after the fever?"

"Fever! What fever?"

"Was it because there was something on the island that it wouldn't be
nice for Mrs. Kinsella or any other woman to see?"

"It was because of a young heifer," said Joseph Antony, "that I was
after buying at the fair of Rosna-cree ere yesterday, the wickedest one
I ever seen. She had her horn druv through Jimmy's leg and pretty nearly
trampled the life out of the baby before she was an hour on the island.
If so be that you want to be scattered about, an arm here and a leg
there, as soon as you set foot on the shore you can go to Inish-bawn,
you and the young gentleman along with you. But if it's pleasure you're
looking for it would be better for you to go somewhere else for it, the
two of yez."

He spoke truculently. It was evident that Priscilla's questioning had
seriously annoyed him. He began to row again while he was speaking and
was out of earshot before Priscilla could reply. She waved her hand to
him gaily.

The trouble with the anchor rope had delayed the