“So she went, still holding him fast in her hand, and keeping her two eyes fixed on him without so much as a wink, when, all of a sudden, what do you think?
“She heard a whiz and a buzz behind her, as if all the bees in the world were humming, and the little old man cries out, ‘There go your bees a-swarming and a-going off with themselves like blazes!’
“She turned her head for no more than a second of time, but when she looked back there was nothing at all in her hand.
“He slipped out of her fingers as if he were made of fog or smoke, and sorrow a bit of him did she ever see after.” (Note 1.)
“And she never got the gold at all,” sighed Eileen.
“Never so much as a ha’penny worth,” said Grannie Malone.
“I believe I’d rather get rich in America than try to catch Leprechauns for a living,” said Larry.
“And you never said a truer word,” said Grannie. “’Tis a poor living you’d get from the Leprechauns, I’m thinking, rich as they are.”
By this time the teapot was empty, and every crumb of the cakeen was gone, and as Larry had eaten two potatoes, just as Eileen thought he would, there was little left to clear away.
It was late in the afternoon. The room had grown darker, and Grannie Malone went to the little window and looked out.