“From Mr. O’Grady, sur.”
Now, I knew Kildormey as well as I know this ship, and I knew O’Grady was our agent there. I would have given a good deal at that moment for a few words with him. But I knew of no Mulligans in Kildormey, although, of course, there might be. I was born myself only a few miles from the place. Now, thinks I to myself, if these two children can baffle a purser who has been twenty years on the Atlantic when they say they came from his own town almost, by the powers they deserve their passage over the ocean. I had often seen grown people try to cheat their way across, and I may say none of them succeeded on my ships.
“Where’s your father and mother?”
“Both dead, sur.”
“Who was your father?”
“He was a pinshoner, sur.”
“Where did he draw his pension?”
“I donno, sur.”
“Where did you get the money to buy your tickets?”
“The neighbors, sur, and Mr. O’Grady helped, sur.”