nions to
the Owl of Cwm Cawlwyd_ 366

_THE SHIFTY LAD_

IN the land of Erin there dwelt long ago a widow who had an only son. He
was a clever boy, so she saved up enough money to send him to school,
and, as soon as he was old enough, to apprentice him to any trade that
he would choose. But when the time came, he said he would not be bound
to any trade, and that he meant to be a thief.

Now his mother was very sorrowful when she heard of this, but she knew
quite well that if she tried to stop his having his own way he would
only grow more determined to get it. So all the answer she made was that
the end of thieves was hanging at the bridge of Dublin, and then she
left him alone, hoping that when he was older he might become more
sensible.

One day she was going to church to hear a sermon from a great preacher,
and she begged the Shifty Lad, as the neighbours called him from the
tricks he played, to come with her. But he only laughed and declared
that he did not like sermons, adding:

'However, I will promise you this, that the first trade you hear named
after you come out from church shall be my trade for the rest of my
life.'

These words gave a little comfort to the poor woman, and her heart was
lighter than before as she bade him farewell.

When the Shifty Lad thought that the hour had nearly come for the sermon
to be over, he hid himself in some bushes in a little path that led
straight to his mother's house, and as she passed along, thinking of
all the good things she had heard, a voice shouted close to her ear
'Robbery! Robbery! Robbery!' The suddenness of it made her jump. The
naughty boy had managed to change his voice, so that she did not know it
for his, and he had concealed himself so well that, though she peered
about all round her, she could see no one. As soon as she had turned the
corner the Shifty Lad came out, and by running very fast through the
wood he contrived to reach home before his mother, who found him
stretched out comfortably before the fire.

'Well, have you got any news to tell me?' asked he.

'No, nothing; for I left the church at once, and did not stop to speak
to anyone.'

'Oh, then no one has mentioned a trade to you?' he said in tones of
disappointment.

'Ye--es,' she replied slowly. 'At least, as I walked down the path a
voice cried out "Robbery! Robbery! Robbery!" but that was all.'

'And quite enough too,' answered the boy.