“I doubt not there’s a chair each side of the chimney, one for you and one for Mother Barry,” said Father Jerry gently.
“’Tis Ireland that never forgets the old mother,” said the older woman, “and my heart is crying out for the dear old home where I lived for eighty years.”
“Why shouldn’t we all go?” asked Danny boldly. “I’ve money enough for my passage to America, and I’d like to try my fortune in the world.”
“But what will become of me?” asked little Mary Ellen.
“’Tis you and I will buy a great dog to keep us company, and we’ll go travelling together up north to listen to the waves beating around the Giant’s Causeway, Molly darling,” her father told her.
But Danny had to give a month’s warning to Farmer Flynn, and before the time was up, a letter had reached them from Tonroe. It said that Cousin Bee, Uncle Barney’s daughter who had married a Donovan, would be glad to have Mary Ellen bide with her for a while, at her home in Roscommon County.
“So you and the doggie must travel alone to the North,” whispered Mary Ellen to her father.
And that was the way of it.
CHAPTER VIII
COUSIN BEE’S FARM IN TONROE