reached the end of the quay his mouth was
quite dry inside and his legs were shaking under him. He looked round
with eyes which were strikingly bloodshot. There was no sign of Joseph
Antony Kinsella's boat on the long stretch of water between him and the
stone perch. If he could have articulated at all he would have sworn.
Being unable to swear he groaned deeply and took his oar again. The punt
wobbled forward very much as a fat duck walks.

When he reached Delgipish he looked round again. A mile out beyond the
stone perch he saw a boat moving slowly towards him. His eyes served him
badly and although he could see the splash of the oars in the water
he could not make out who the rower was. A man of weaker character,
suffering the same physical torture, would have allowed himself to drift
on the shore of Delginish and there would have awaited the coming of the
boat he had seen. But Patsy the smith was brave. He was also nerved by
the extreme importance of his mission. It was absolutely necessary that
something should happen to prevent Joseph Antony bringing his boat to
Rosnacree harbour. The sight of one brown sail and then another stealing
round the end of the quay gave him fresh courage. Timothy Sweeny and
Peter Walsh had done their work on shore. He was determined not to fail
in carrying through his part of a masterly scheme.

For twenty minutes Patsy the smith sculled on. It seemed to him
sometimes as if each sway of his body, each tug of his tired arms must
be the last possible. Yet he succeeded in going on. He dared not look
round lest the boat he had seen should prove after all not to be the one
he sought. Such a disappointment would, he knew, be more than he could
bear. At last the splash of oars reached his ears and he heard himself
hailed by name. The voice was Kinsella's. The relief was too much for
Patsy. He sat down on the thwart behind him and was violently sick.
Kinsella laid his boat alongside the punt and looked calmly at his
friend. Not until the worst spasms were over did he speak.

"Faith, Patsy," he said, "it must have been a terrible drenching you
gave yourself last night, and the stuff was good too, as good as ever I
seen. What has you in the state you're in at all?"

The sickness had to some extent revived Patsy the smith. He was able to
speak, though with difficulty.

"Go back out of that," he said.

"And why would I go back?"

"Timothy Sweeny says you're to go back, for if you come in to