Page 238 - dubliners

Browne.
‘The late lamented Patrick Morkan, our grandfather, that
is,’ explained Gabriel, ‘commonly known in his later years
as the old gentleman, was a glue-boiler.’
‘O, now, Gabriel,’ said Aunt Kate, laughing, ‘he had a
starch mill.’
‘Well, glue or starch,’ said Gabriel, ‘the old gentleman
had a horse by the name of Johnny. And Johnny used to
work in the old gentleman’s mill, walking round and round
in order to drive the mill. That was all very well; but now
comes the tragic part about Johnny. One fine day the old
gentleman thought he’d like to drive out with the quality to
a military review in the park.’
‘The Lord have mercy on his soul,’ said Aunt Kate com-
passionately.
‘Amen,’ said Gabriel. ‘So the old gentleman, as I said,
harnessed Johnny and put on his very best tall hat and his
very best stock collar and drove out in grand style from his
ancestral mansion somewhere near Back Lane, I think.’
Everyone laughed, even Mrs. Malins, at Gabriel’s man-
ner and Aunt Kate said:
‘O, now, Gabriel, he didn’t live in Back Lane, really. Only
the mill was there.’
‘Out from the mansion of his forefathers,’ continued
Gabriel, ‘he drove with Johnny. And everything went on
beautifully until Johnny came in sight of King Billy’s statue:
and whether he fell in love with the horse King Billy sits on
or whether he thought he was back again in the mill, any-
how he began to walk round the statue.’

238 Dubliners