"
So the cobbler held up his right foot, and the fairy man rubbed that
with the tail of his green coat.
When all was done the cobbler's feet seemed to tingle, and then to
itch, and then to smart, and then to burn. And at last he began to
dance, and he danced all round the Rath (the fairy man laughing and
holding his sides), and then round and round again. And he danced till
he cried out with weariness, and tried to shake the shoes off. But
they stuck fast, and the fairies drove him over, the ditch, and
through the prickly furze-bushes, and he danced away. Where he danced
to, I cannot tell you. Whether he ever got rid of the fairy shoes, I
do not know. The jewels never were more than wayside pebbles, and they
were swept out when his cabin was cleaned, which was not too soon, you
may be sure.
All this happened long ago; but there are those who say that the
covetous cobbler dances still, between sunset and sunrise, round
Murdoch's Rath.
THE LITTLE DARNER.
In days gone by there lived a poor widow who had brought up her only
child so well that the little lass was more helpful and handy than
many a grown-up person.
When other women's children were tearing and dirtying their clothes,
clamouring at their mothers' skirts for this and that, losing and
breaking and spoiling things, and getting into mischief of all kinds,
the widow's little girl, with her tiny thimble on her finger, could
patch quite neatly.
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