Yourself And the Neighbours

ome and priests might go, but the Priest's Boy went on forever. As a bouchal of eighteen, he received the distinction, "becoming the Priest's Boy of all-work"; and now, a hale and hearty lad of sixty years and six, he was Priest's Boy still?and that to all but the complete eclipse of his own right name, which, to rescue it from oblivion, we may here state was Barney Meehan. In courting days, when more thoughtless youths went rambling, Barney, an ambitious boy ever, attended Micky Rufus's night school for three whole winters, and, finding himself then possessed of a toothful or two of reading and writing, capable (without danger of dislocating his tongue) of copying a headline if it was written big enough, and able to read "aisy prent," cast about him his active left eye?a notably active eye that couldleave the other in limbo and make a living for itself?and, with characteristic pluck, aspired to be Priest's Boy. And it wasn't six months later till he found himself clothed with the proud dignity he had so daringly coveted. Yet, truth to tell, between Barney and his office honours were reciprocated; for, if the office conferred dignity on Barney (and it did), Barney carried new dignity to it, and, the manners of his time considered, almost lifted Priest's Boy into a profession, and its duties into an art. Ere Barney lifted the rod of power, the Priest's Boy ranked in the Parish next only to the Masther (who, of course, was next to the priest) ; but under Barney t...