“I see, Mr. Connell; I comprehend wid the greatest ase in life, the very plan for it.  We must reduce the oath to Geography, for I’m at home there, bein’ a Surveyor myself.  I’ll lay down a map o’ the parish, an’ draw the houses of your friends at their proper places, so that you’ll never be out o’ your latitude at all.”

“Faix, I doubt that, Masther—­ha, ha, ha!” replied Peter; “I’m afeard I will, of an odd time, for I’m not able to carry what I used to do; but no matther:  thry what you can do for me this time, any how.  I think I could bear the long dozen still if I didn’t make mistakes.”

O’Flaherty accordingly set himself to work; and as his knowledge, not only of the parish, but of every person and house in it, was accurate, he soon had a tolerably correct skeleton map of it drawn for Peter’s use.

“Now,” said he, “lend me your ears.”

“Faix, I’ll do no sich thing,” replied Peter—­“I know a thrick worth two of it.  Lend you my ears, inagh!—­catch me at it!  You have a bigger pair of your own nor I have—­ha, ha, ha!”

“Well, in other words, pay attintion.  Now, see this dot—­that’s your own house.”

“Put a crass there,” said Peter, “an’ thin I’ll know it’s the Crass-roads.”

“Upon my reputation, you’re right; an’ that’s what I call a good specimen of ingenuity.  I’ll take the hint from that, an’ we’ll make it a Hieroglyphical as well as a Geographical oath.  Well, there’s a crass, wid two tumblers.  Is that clear?”

“It is, it is! faix”

“Now here we draw a line to your son Dan’s.  Let me see; he keeps a mill, an’ sells cloth.  Very good.  I’ll dhraw a mill-wheel an’ a yard-wand.  There’s two tumblers.  Will you know that?”

“I see it:  go an, nothin’ can be clearer.  So far, I can’t go asthray.”

“Well, what next?  Two behind your own garden.  What metaphor for the garden?  Let me see!—­let me cogitate!  A dragon—­the Hesperides!  That’s beyant you.  A bit of a hedge will do, an’ a gate.”

“Don’t put a gate in, it’s not lucky.  You know, when a man takes to dhrink, they say he’s goin’ a gray gate, or a black gate, or a bad gate.  Put that out, an’ make the hedge longer, an’ it’ll do—­wid the two tumblers, though.”

“They’re down.  One at the Reverend Father Mulcahy’s.  How will we thranslate the priest?”

“Faix, I doubt that will be a difficquilt business.”

“Upon my reputation, I agree wid you in that, especially whin he repates Latin.  However, we’ll see.  He writes P.P. afther his name;—­pee-pee is what we call the turkeys wid.  What ‘ud you think o’ two turkeys?”

“The priest would like them roasted, but I couldn’t undherstand that.  No; put down the sign o’ the horsewhip, or the cudgel; for he’s handy, an’ argues well wid both?”

“Good!  I’ll put down the horsewhip first, an’ the cudgel alongside of it; then the tumbler, an’ there’ll be the sign o’ the priest.”