little hostess set about getting my breakfast, but
before it was ready she partly rinsed the dough out of a pan where
she had been kneading bread, poured some water into it, and put it
on a chair near the door. Then she hunted about the edges of the
rafters till she found a piece of soap, which she put on the back of
a chair with the towel, and told me I might wash my face. I did so
as well as I was able, in the middle of the people, and dried myself
with the towel, which was the one used by the whole family.

The morning looked as if it would turn to rain and wind, so I took
the advice I had been given and let the canoes go off without me to
the sports. After a turn on the cliffs I came back to the house to
write letters. The little hostess was washing up the breakfast
things when I arrived with my papers and pens, but she made room for
me at the table, and spread out an old newspaper for me to write on.
A little later, when she had finished her washing, she came over to
her usual place in the chimney corner, not far from where I was
sitting, sat _down_ on the floor, and took out her hairpins and
began combing her hair. As I finished each letter I had to say who
it was to, and where the people lived; and then I had to tell her if
they were married or single, how many children they had, and make a
guess at how many pounds they spent in the year, and at the number
of their servants. Just before I finished, I the younger girl came
back with three or four other young women, who were followed in a
little while by a party of men.

I showed them some photographs of the Aran Islands and Wicklow,
which they looked at with eagerness. The little hostess was
especially taken with two or three that had babies or children in
their foreground; and as she put her hands on my shoulders, and
leaned over to look at them, with the confidence that is so usual in
these places, I could see that she had her full share of the passion
for children which is powerful in all women who are permanently and
profoundly attractive. While I was telling her what I could about
the children, I saw one of the men looking with peculiar amazement
at an old photograph of myself that had been taken many years ago in
an alley of the Luxembourg Gardens, where there were many statues in
the background. 'Look at that,' he whispered in Irish to one of the
girls, pointing to the statues; 'in those countries they do have
naked people standing about in their skins.'