e game with the sailors, winning
from them ha'pennies and sixpences until the captain said that I was
ruining his men, and keeping them from their duty; and, being a heretic
and a Dutchman, swore that unless I gave over he would tie me up to the
mast and give me a round dozen. This threat obliged me to be more on my
guard, though I occasionally contrived to get a game at night, and to win
sixpences and ha'pennies.

"We reached Leghorn at last, and glad I was to leave the ship and the
master, who gave me a kick as I was getting over the side, bad luck to
the dirty heretic for kicking a son of the Church, for I have always been
a true son of the Church, Shorsha, and never quarrelled with it unless it
interfered with me in my playing at cards. I left Leghorn with certain
muleteers with whom I played at cards at the baiting-houses, and who
speedily won from me all the ha'pennies and sixpences I had won from the
sailors. I got my money's worth, however, for I learnt from the
muleteers all kind of quaint tricks upon the cards, which I knew nothing
of before; so I did not grudge them what they chated me of, and when we
parted we did so in kindness on both sides. On getting to . . . I was
received into the religious house for Irishes. It was the Irish house,
Shorsha, into which I was taken, for I do not wish ye to suppose that I
was in the English religious house which there is in that city, in which
a purty set are educated, and in which purty doings are going on, if all
tales be true.

"In this Irish house I commenced my studies, learning to sing and to read
the Latin prayers of the church. 'Faith, Shorsha, many's the sorrowful
day I passed in that house learning the prayers and litanies, being half-
starved, with no earthly diversion at all, at all; until I took the cards
out of my chest and began instructing in card-playing the chum which I
had with me in the cell; then I had plenty of diversion along with him
during the times when I was not engaged in singing, and chanting, and
saying the prayers of the church; there was, however, some drawback in
playing with my chum, for though he was very clever in learning, divil a
sixpence had he to play with, in which respect he was like myself, the
master who taught him, who had lost all my money to the muleteers who
taught me the tricks upon the cards; by degrees, however, it began to be
noised about the religious house that Murtagh, from Hibrodary, {281} had
a pack of cards