“How are you, Jack?” said Moll, “and how’s the rest of ye, man dear?”
By that word, “the rest,” she meant his wife, the other part of him. But Miss O’Farrell took it up wrong.
“The Rest?” she said; “why, that name fits Mrs. Caffrey like her skin! And it’s you that are the lucky man, Jack Caffrey, to have Rest! For there’s nothing like rest, in all this wide world!”
With that, she gave a little sob or sigh; it may have been because she was out of breath, for she was walking very fast. What else could it be? What trouble could be on the likes of Miss O’Farrell, living in a fine house, with full and plenty of everything she could want in it, and no one to interfere with her, except the father, and he doted down on her, his only child?
“Won’t you come in and take a heat of the fire, miss?” said Mrs. Caffrey, coming to the door very smiling. It would do you good to see her, she was so nice and quiet and easy-going. Nothing ever hurried her or put her about.
“I’m afraid I haven’t time to-day, thank you, Mrs. Caffrey,” said the young lady, and off she went, at a sweep’s trot, you might say; and left them standing there, Mrs. Caffrey with her hands under her apron, looking after her till she was out of sight.
All that remained in Peetcheen’s mind. He was just after coming from the well, he and the next smallest child, with a can of water slung on a stick between them. It was pretty heavy, and they got it hard to carry it; although before they had it landed into the kitchen for their mother, more than half of it had spilled out, because they could not keep it steady. And when they were rid of their burden, whatever the other child did, Peetcheen just went off to rest himself; what he was just in time to hear Miss O’Farrell say was such a good thing!
But without any such word from her, rest was a thing Peetcheen was always ready for. He took after the mother in that. If there was no stool ready for him ... and in houses like Caffrey’s furniture is never too plentiful; nothing is, except children; every seat there was, two would be wanting it; and the same with the food ... well Peetcheen would just step aside, and wait.
Truth to tell, he was one of the sort that really is anxious for nothing so much as to keep out of the way, and will let every one else get in ahead of them. Above all, with work. Whenever there was talk of a job to be done, Peetcheen was the last to make any attempt at it; frightened, as it were, at the thought of it. This is how it came about that when all the others of the Caffrey family went off, one here, another there, according as a chance turned up, and as many as could to America, Peetcheen was left on at home.
At Ardenoo, there was nothing scarcer than work; unless, maybe, money. The labour went out when the machines came in. The tillage was all given up, in any case. Every side you could see only grass farms, that there would be no labour wanted for, only a herd with his collie-dog. The farmers are blamed for this, but why would they not do what would bring them in the best return? It’s only human nature, that nothing can alter, only God, for every one to do the best he can for himself.