He turned his glass face down on the table, with an air of comic resignation. Mrs. Kelligan took the hint and refilled his glass whilst he went on:—
“Well! whin the shnakes tuk to say-bathin’ an’ forgot to come in to dhry themselves, the ould King iv thim sunk down agin into the lake, an’ Saint Pathrick rowls his eyes, an’ sez he to himself:—
“‘Musha! is it dhramin’ I am, or what? or is it laughin’ at me he is? Does he mane to defy me?‘ An’ seein’ that no notice was tuk iv him at all, he lifts his crozier, and calls out:—
“‘Hi! Here! You! Come here! I want ye!’—As he spoke, Jerry went through all the pantomime of the occasion, exemplifying by every movement the speech of both the Saint and the Snake.
“Well! thin the King iv the Shnakes puts up his head, out iv the lake, an’ sez he:—
“‘Who calls?’
“‘I do,’ says Saint Pathrick, an’ he was so much mulvathered at the Shnake presumin’ to sthay, afther he tould thim all to go, that for a while he didn’t think it quare that he could sphake at all.
“‘Well, what do ye want wid me?’ sez the Shnake.
“‘I want to know why you didn’t lave Irish soil wid all th’ other Shnakes,’ sez the Saint.
“‘Ye tould the Shnakes to go,’ sez the King, ‘an’ I am their King, so I am; and your wurrds didn’t apply to me!’ an’ with that he dhrops like a flash of lightnin’ into the lake agin.