"It might be worth trying, anyway," she replied.
"Well," I said. "I'll wait till it gets a little later then I'll go to some of the cottages and ask."
It was after nine o'clock when I first ventured to a cottage. A woman opened the door to my knock, she had a bonnet on and was draping a shawl about her shoulders.
"We have been walking since early morning," I said, "and want to know if you will make us a cup of tea."
"I would," she replied, "only I've barely time to get to Mass. I'm sorry, but I can't miss Mass. I've to walk to Drogheda."
"No," I said. "It wouldn't do to miss Mass."
She came to the gate and bade me a cordial good-by. I tried two or three cottages after that, but from them all I had the same story—they were all going to Mass, so we had to go without our breakfast.
Just outside Drogheda we saw a milestone bearing the legend "Dublin 25 miles." And from then on the only excitement of our journey was to see who would be the first to spy a milestone. When we saw a milestone marked "Dublin 18 miles" we were exhilarated—Dublin seemed only a few steps away.