Chapter Three.
The Tale of the Leprechaun.
Grannie reached for the teapot and poured herself a cup of tea. As she sipped it, she said to the twins, “Did you ever hear of the Leprechauns? Little men they are, not half the bigness of the smallest baby you ever laid your two eyes on. Long beards they have, and little pointed caps on the heads of them.
“And it’s forever making the little brogues (shoes) they are, and you can hear the tap-tap of their hammers before you ever get sight of them at all. And the gold and silver and precious things they have hidden away would fill the world with treasures.
“But they have the sharpness of the new moon, that’s sharp at both ends, and no one can get their riches away from them at all. They do be saying that if you catch one in your two hands and never take your eyes off him, you can make him give up his money.
“But they’ve the tricks of the world to make you look the other way, the Leprechauns have. And then when you look back again, faith, they’re nowhere at all!”
“Did Mary O’Connor catch one?” asked Eileen.
“Did she now!” cried Grannie. “Listen to this. One day Mary O’Connor was sitting in her bit of garden, with her knitting in her hand, and she was watching some bees that were going to swarm.
“It was a fine day in June, and the bees were humming, and the birds were chirping and hopping, and the butterflies were flying about, and everything smelt as sweet and fresh as if it was the first day of the world.