and he was carried down to the
cabin. He had often asked his father if he might see the bargemen's
cabin; and his father had promised him that the next time they went to
the canal he should go on board a barge and see the cabin; but his
father had gone away to the wars. Now he was in the bargemen's cabin,
and he wondered if they were going to give him supper and if he would
be a bargeman himself when he grew up to be a man.

Some miles further the boat bumped the edge of the bridge, and on the
other side of the bridge there was the lock, and he heard the lock gate
shut behind the boat and the water pour into the lock; the lock seemed
a long time filling, and he was frightened lest the lock-man might come
down to the cabin, for there was no place where he could hide.

After passing through the lock one of the men came down to see him, and
he was taken on deck, and in the calm of the evening Ulick came to look
upon the bargemen as his good angels. They gave him some of their
supper, and when they arrived at the next lock they made their beds on
the deck, the night being so warm. It seemed to Ulick that he had never
seen the night before, and he watched the sunset fading streak by
streak, and imagined he was the captain of a ship sailing in the
Shannon. The stars were so bright that he could not sleep, and it
amused him to make up a long story about the bargemen snoring by his
side. The story ended with the sunset, and then the night was blue all
over, and raising himself out of his blanket, he watched the moonlight
rippling down the canal. Then the night grew grey. He began to feel
very cold, and wrapped himself in his blanket tightly, and the world
got so white that Ulick grew afraid, and he was not certain whether it
would not be better to escape from the boat and run away while
everybody slept.

He lay awake maturing his little plan, seeing the greyness pass away
and the sky fill up with pink and fleecy clouds.

One of the men roused, and, without saying a word, went to fetch a
horse from the stables, and another went to boil the kettle in the
cabin, and Ulick asked if he might help him; and while he blew the fire
he heard the water running into the lock, and thought what a fool they
were making of the lock-keeper, and when the boat was well on its way
towards the next lock the steersman called him to come up, and they
breakfasted together. Ulick would have wished this life to go on for
ever, but the following day