And--Jack! that's another thing makes me think what I tell ye.
He was for ever talking as if the place was coming to me, and I've two brothers older than myself, let alone my sister.

But ye might as well reason with the rock of Croagh Patrick! Well, if he didn't ask my father to let him and me run round in the hooker with a load of sea-weed for Tim Brady's farm, and of course we got leave, and started as pleasant as could be; barring that if Barney'd been a year or two younger, there'd have been wigs on the green over the cold potatoes, before we got off." "_Wigs on the green over cold potatoes ?_" I repeated, in bewilderment.
"Tst! tst! little Saxon! I mean we'd have had a row over the provisions.
It wasn't too hours' run round to Tim Brady's, and I found the old man stowing away half-a-peck of cold boiled potatoes, and big bottles of tea, and goodness knows what.

'Is it for ballast ye're using the potatoes, Barney ?' says I.'Mind your own business, Master Dennis'-- (and I could see he was cross as two sticks),--'and leave the provisioning to them that understands it,' says he.

'How many meals d'ye reckon to eat between this and Tim Brady's ?' I went on, just poking my fun at him, when--would ye believe it ?--the old fellow fired up like a sky-rocket, and asked me if I grudged him the bit of food he ate, and Heaven knows what besides.

'Is it Dennis O'Moore you're speaking to ?' says I, for I've not got the squire's easy temper, GOD forgive me! We were mighty near to a quarrel, Jack, I can tell ye, but some shadow of a notion flitting across my brain that the dear soul was not responsible entirely, stopped my tongue, and something else stopped his which I didn't know till we got to Tim Brady's, and found that all we wanted with him was to borrow his boat, and that the sea-weed business was no better than a blind; for Barney had planned it all out that we were to go down to Galway and fetch the new ploughs home in the hooker, to save the cost of the land-carriage.