me time, an' in place iv gettin' into bed,
where did he thrun himself but into the poulthry hamper that the boys
had settled out ready for the gandher in the mornin'. An', sure enough,
he sunk down soft an' complate through the hay to the bottom; an' wid
the turnin' and roulin' about in the night, the divil a bit iv him but
was covered up as shnug as a lumper in a pittaty furrow before mornin'.

"So wid the first light, up gets the two boys that wor to take the
sperit, as they consaved, to Tipperary; an' they cotched the ould
gandher an' put him in the hamper, an' clapped a good wisp iv hay an the
top iv him, an' tied it down sthrong wid a bit iv a coard, an' med the
sign iv the crass over him, in dhread iv any harum, an' put the hamper
up an the car, wontherin' all the while what in the world was makin' the
ould bird so surprisin' heavy.

"Well, they wint along quite anasy towards Tipperary, wishin' every
minute that some iv the neighbours bound the same way id happen to fall
in with them, for they didn't half like the notions iv havin' no company
but the bewitched gandher, an' small blame to them for that same.

"But although they wor shaking in their skhins in dhread iv the ould
bird beginnin' to convarse them every minute, they did not let an to one
another, but kep singin' an' whistlin' like mad to keep the dread out iv
their hearts.

"Well, afther they wor on the road betther nor half an hour, they kem to
the bad bit close by Father Crotty's, an' there was one divil of a rut
three feet deep at the laste; an' the car got sich a wondherful chuck
goin' through it that it wakened Terence widin in the basket.

"'Bad luck to ye,' says he, 'my bones is bruck wid yer thricks; what the
divil are ye doin' wid me?'

"'Did ye hear anything quare, Thady?' says the boy that was next to the
car, turnin' as white as the top iv a mushroom; 'did ye hear anything
quare soundin' out iv the hamper?' says he.

"'No, nor you,' says Thady, turnin' as pale as himself. 'It's the ould
gandher that's gruntin' wid the shakin' he's gettin',' says he.

"'Where the divil have ye put me into?' says Terence inside. 'Bad luck
to your sowls,' says he; 'let me out, or I'll be smothered this minute,'
says he.

"'There's no use in purtending,' says the boy; 'the gandher's spakin',
glory be to God,' says he.

"'Let me out, you murdherers,' says Terence.

"'In the name iv the blessed Vargin,' says Thady, 'an' iv all the holy
saints, hould ye