"Sure, an' silk dresses an' straw hats wi' ribbon on them, an—"
"Will shoes in the chest be?" Pancho was very anxious; he had never had a pair of shoes in all his six years.
Bridget beamed. "Not i' the chest; but I'll be tellin' ye how ye'll come by them. When we get there we'll look about for a blackthorn-bush—an' there—like as not—in undther it—will be a wee man wi' a leather apron across his knee—the leprechaun, big as life!"
"What's him?"
"Faith I'm tellin' ye—'tis the faery cobbler. An' the minute he slaps the tail of his eye on us he'll sing out: 'Hello, Pancho an' Sandy an' Susan an' all o' yez. I've your boots finished, just.' An' wi' that he'll fetch down the nine pairs an' hand them round."
A sigh of blissful contentment started from the cot by the door, burbled down the length of the ward, and vanished out of the window. Is there anything dearer to the pride of a child than boots—new boots?
Bridget took up the dropped thread and went on. "An' afther that the leprechaun reaches for his crock o' gold an' pulls out a penny. Ye can buy anythin' i' the whole world wi' a faery penny."
"Anythinks!" said Michael, skeptically.
"That's what I said."
"Could yer buy a dorg?" Peter asked, opening one renegade eye.