“Yes, sir, sure—Cuddie, the captain’s cow itself, the crayture! I was asking you, is she saved, sir?”
“Oh, yes,” laughed Justin; “I milked her this morning for your breakfast, you know, Judith. And oh! by the way, I fed your cat and kittens, too, Judith. They, also, are quite safe.”
“Ah, thin, bad luck to thim! Are they safe itself, afther bringing their betthers to ruin sure! Faix! I wish they’d been drowned, so I do, the day I brought them on the ship to bring destruction on us all! Ah, bedad! we’ll lave them where they are, and not bring a bit of them off at all, at all!”
“But that would be cruel, Judith. And as for myself, I shall not leave the smallest living creature to perish on the ship, if any effort of mine will save it.”
“Ah, thin, sure would ye bring thim divil’s imps on the land to bring us to disthruction over agin!”
“People can’t be brought to destruction ‘over again,’ my good girl.”
“Oh, can’t they though, nather! Sure ourselves was brought to disthruction once be the shipwrack, and we may be brought to disthruction over again be wild bastes or ilse be cannibals! Whist! Lord kape us! where are yez a-going to at all, at all?” gasped Judith, breaking off suddenly in her discourse, and stopping short in her progress upon the brink of one of those chasms that cut the causeway across.
“Don’t be frightened, Judith. Stand just where you are until I help Miss Conyers over to the other side, and then I will come back for you,” said Justin, who was carefully supporting Britomarte in her difficult descent down one side of the steep.
When he had lifted her across the stream at the bottom, and helped her to climb the other side, and seen her safe upon the top, he returned to fetch Judith.
“Troth, I’ve heard tell iv the divil’s highway, but niver saw it before; and sure this must be itself!” said Judith, as she gave her hand to Mr. Rosenthal, and clambered awkwardly down the descent.