Part 2 (1/2)

The lady threw out a three-penny piece, as the driver stopped his car and asked Norah how far it was to the lakes of Killarney.

”Four miles, sir, if ye keep straight on this road,” was the answer.

”Do you mean four Irish miles?” asked one of the gentlemen. ”For, if you do, we have an hour's good drive before us.”

”Sure, and I always supposed a mile is a mile,” answered Norah, with a perplexed look in her eyes.

The gentleman laughed, and said, ”If you go to America when you grow up, you will find that two of our miles will almost make one of yours.”

The car pa.s.sed on, and the children stood watching the travellers out of sight.

”Isn't it grand to be travelling like that, Katie?” said her sister. ”A jaunting-car is one of the finest things in the world.”

But the people who were in the carriage did not agree with her.

”Dear me!” said the lady, ”I'm afraid of falling out whenever the horse goes fast. And as for this beautiful country, I can only see what is on one side of the road at a time.”

”I quite agree with you,” said her husband. ”I have always wanted to ride in a jaunting-car, but it is more fun to talk about it than to really do it.”

”But what is a jaunting-car?” perhaps you are wondering.

It is a carriage in which the seats are placed back to back, facing sideways. It has no top, but has big wheels and big springs underneath.

A small jaunting-car, like the one which had pa.s.sed the children, has two wheels, and seats long enough to hold four people, two on each side.

The driver's place is built out in front, reaching over the horse's back. Such a car is very light, and one horse can carry it easily.

But what the lady said was true. There was no way for the pa.s.sengers to hold on firmly. Besides this, they could see the view on only one side at a time.

A story has been told of a man who was travelling in Ireland and wished to see the country. He rode in a jaunting-car from Queenstown to Cork.

He sat on the side of the car toward the hill and did not get a single view of the river. When he went back again he changed his seat to the opposite side of the car. And still he saw nothing but the hill. It is no wonder that, when people spoke to him about the river between Cork and Queenstown, he said, ”There is no river. There is nothing to be seen except a hill.”

Do you see the joke? And do you understand the reason why he saw only one side of the country, though he travelled twice over the same road?

Norah and her little sister had just turned to go home, when they noticed the sky had grown black with heavy clouds.

”It is going to rain, Katie. We must hurry, for I fear it will thunder and lighten,” said Norah.

The children began to run. Although they did not mind the rain, they were both afraid of thunder-storms.

”There! hear that, and that!” sobbed Katie, beginning to cry. A streak of lightning had darted across the sky, followed almost instantly by a loud peal of thunder.

Down came the rain in torrents, just as the children turned from the road and entered the lane leading to their own little village. As they did so, the sound of wheels could be heard behind them.

They were in too great a hurry and too much frightened to turn around.

But as they reached their own door, the very jaunting-car they had met on the road to Killarney drove up.

The children's mother had been watching from the doorway.

”Come in, children, as fast as you can. I was near beside mesilf, I was that worried about ye.”