The Tale of Paddy Ahern

THERE ONCE WAS a lad named Paddy Ahern who trod the green hills of Limerick, Ireland, offering to help farmers with their chores in return for food and lodging. Trudging uphill and down over the country roads, day after day, wore Paddy’s shoes so thin that sometimes he wondered if he shouldn’t have apprenticed to a shoemaker. But that would have been inside work, and Paddy preferred fresh air and sunshine.

Young Paddy was slight of build, but strong. He had a pleasant face, though his short brown hair, which he cut himself, stuck out here and there under his cap. His tweed jacket may have been a mite small, but Paddy kept it clean, taking