e in the country outside
it, but he had never seen Sheila Morgan before.

"I thought I might as well come," she said, "but I'm only here for a
while!"

Then she did not belong to the village. "Yes?..." he said.

"It's quaren dull in the country," she continued, "an' the classes'll
help to pass the time. I wish it was dancin', but!"

Dancing! They had not made any arrangements for dancing, though the
Gaels were very nimble on their feet. He glanced at Marsh reproachfully.
Why had Marsh omitted to revive the Gaelic dances?

"Perhaps," he said to Sheila, "we can have dancing classes later on...."

"I'll mebbe be gone before you have them," she answered.

"How long are you staying for?" he asked.

"I don't know. I'm stopping with my uncle Matthew ... it's him has
Hamilton's farm ... an' I'm stoppin' 'til he knows how his health'll be.
He's bad...."

He remembered Matthew Hamilton. "Is he ill?" he said.

"Aye. He's been sick this while past, an' now he's worse, an' my aunt
Kate asked me to come an' stop with them to help them in the house. He's
not near himself at all. You'd think a pity of him if you seen the way
he's failed next to nothin'.... Is it hard to learn Irish?"

"You'd better come an' try for yourself," he replied, and then he led
her up to Marsh and told him that a new pupil had come to join the
class. There was some awkwardness about names.... "Och, I never told you
my name," she said, laughing as she spoke. "Sheila Morgan!" she
continued. "I live in County Down, but I'm stayin' with my uncle
Matthew," she explained to Marsh.

"Do you know any Gaelic at all?" Marsh asked.

"No," she replied. "I never learned it. Are you goin' to have any
dancin' classes?"

Henry insisted that they ought to have had dancing classes as well as a
hurley team. "The hurley's all right for the boys," he said, "but we've
nothing for the girls...."

"But you'd want boys at the dancin' as well," Sheila interrupted. "I
can't bear dancin' with girls!"

"No, of course not," said Henry.

Marsh considered. "Who's to teach the dancing?" he asked, adding, "I
can't!"

"I'd be willin' to do that," Sheila said. "Mebbe you'd join the class
yourself, Mr. Marsh?"

Marsh laughed, but did not answer.

"It'll be great value," she went on. "There's nothin' to do in the
evenin's ... nothin' at all ... an' it's despert dull at night with
nothin' to do!..."

"I'll think about it," said Marsh. "You can begin your Gaelic study
no