e was going to church to hear a sermon from a great preacher,
and she begged the Shifty Lad, as the neighbours called him from the
tricks he played, to come with her. But he only laughed and declared
that he did not like sermons, adding:

'However, I will promise you this, that the first trade you hear named
after you come out from church shall be my trade for the rest of my
life.'

These words gave a little comfort to the poor woman, and her heart was
lighter than before as she bade him farewell.

When the Shifty Lad thought that the hour had nearly come for the sermon
to be over, he hid himself in some bushes in a little path that led
straight to his mother's house, and, as she passed along, thinking of
all the good things she had heard, a voice shouted close to her ear
'Robbery! Robbery! Robbery!' The suddenness of it made her jump. The
naughty boy had managed to change his voice, so that she did not know
it for his, and he had concealed himself so well that, though she peered
about all round her, she could see no one. As soon as she had turned
the corner the Shifty Lad came out, and by running very fast through
the wood he contrived to reach home before his mother, who found him
stretched out comfortably before the fire.

'Well, have you got any news to tell me?' asked he.

'No, nothing; for I left the church at once, and did not stop to speak
to anyone.'

'Oh, then no one has mentioned a trade to you?' he said in tones of
disappointment.

'Ye--es,' she replied slowly. 'At least, as I walked down the path a
voice cried out "Robbery! Robbery! Robbery!" but that was all.'

'And quite enough too,' answered the boy. 'What did I tell you? That is
going to be my trade.'

'Then your end will be hanging at the bridge of Dublin,' said she. But
there was no sleep for her that night, for she lay in the dark thinking
about her son.

'If he is to be a thief at all, he had better be a good one. And who is
there that can teach him?' the mother asked herself. But an idea came
to her, and she arose early, before the sun was up, and set off for the
home of the Black Rogue, or Gallows Bird, who was such a wonderful thief
that, though all had been robbed by him, no one could catch him.

'Good-morning to you,' said the woman as she reached the place where the
Black Gallows Bird lived when he was not away on his business. 'My son
has a fancy to learn your trade. Will you be kind enough to teach him?'

'If he is clever, I d