Excerpt from The Card-Drawer, the Half-Sir, Suil Dhuv, the Coiner While I loitered, therefore, along the shore, crushing the cast. Crab-shells and withered sea-weed under my feet, watch ing a group of country people and turf boatmen who were loading one of their heavy open craft (which lay at some distance bedded on her side in the slob), with potatoes for some inland market, and turning an impatient glance on the silent water, as it stole by half inches over the dun and weary extent of level mud that spread between the strand and channel, and gradually began to fill the ruts and foot prints about the vessel's keel, my attention was arrested by the sound of a female voice at a few paces behind. I turned round, and was presently accosted by a modest looking woman, neatly dressed in the scarlet fur-trimmed cloak, clean white cap and ribbon, which are popular among the cottage fashionables. Her business was to inform me, that her husband, Patey lagrath (the word was spoken with a slight confusion and downcast timidity of manner, which intimated that he had not long enjoyed that blissful title, ) the owner of the boat, and of a neat cottage which lay convenient, seeing a strange gentleman walking on the strand had bid her say, that he'd take it as a favour, if I'd just step in and take a chair, until the boat would be afloat, when the boy would be sure to let me know. I accepted the invitation, with suitable acknowledgments, and, following my tidy conductress, was presently shown into a neat, boarded room, furnished with a few wooden chairs, an old Gothic-panelled press, a few highly-coloured religious prints, and a plain oak table, near which was seated a personage of so singular an appearance, that I shall ven ture to describe him at full length. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.