ion of a small immediate
advance, reached me from various quarters. If I went into a hayfield,
one laborer would speak to another, somewhat in this fashion

"Jerry, have ye heerd that ould Biddy McGrath was prayed for on
Sunday?"

This would be accompanied by a meaning look at me. I would stalk off
with apparent unconcern, seeking some place where I could fall unseen
to the ground and weep. I was afraid to go to Mass at the little upland
chapel at Glencullen. It is usual in Roman Catholic churches to pray
for the welfare of departed souls and for the recovery of those people
afflicted with sickness who are thought to be in danger. I used to
imagine that the priest glanced meaningly at me when he made
announcements on these subjects. This, of course, was nonsense, but
several times I noticed members of the congregation looking at me and
tittering.

I became solitary in my habits, for I dreaded meeting a human being.
For a time my health suffered to a serious degree. My tribulations
increased to such an extent that I seriously contemplated suicide. I am
convinced that this period left an indelible mark, and that not an
improving one, on my character. Where sensitive children are concerned,
chaff may be useful in hardening them, but it should not be carried
beyond a certain point.

CHAPTER II

Improved health--Jimmy Kinsella--Veld food--I abscond--Father Healy on
conversion--Father O'Dwyer and his whip--Confession--Construction of a
volcano--The Fenian outbreak--Departure for South Africa--The tuneful
soldier--Chess at sea--Madeira A gale--The Asia

My health having improved in my eleventh year, I was able to extend the
range of my walks abroad. The surrounding country was full of interest;
the scenery was lovely. The region through which the boundary common to
Wicklow and Dublin runs is full of beauty spots, and the deeper one
penetrates into Wicklow, the more delightful is the landscape. The
Dargle, Powerscourt Waterfall, Bray Head, and the Sugarloaf Mountains
were all within rambling distance of Springfield. A few miles away,
on the Dublin side, were various ruins full of rusting machinery.
These had been the sites of paper and flax mills, shut down owing
to England's fiscal policy of the early nineteenth century days.
Lead-smelting and shot-making was carried on at a spot a few miles to
the eastward. It was a great delight to see the melted metal poured
through a sieve at the top of a tower and raining down