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This son of Vulcan, a novel, by the authors of 'Ready-money Mortiboy'. (1876)
This son of Vulcan a novel by the authors of 'Readymoney Mortiboy' - 1876 Author:Walter Besant Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. Myles Cuolahan, oblivious of the children, was at his club, a select circle of Irish gentlemen who used to meet nightly, or on such nights as were... more » convenient, for the club was one of Perpetual Adoration of Bacchus, at that famous tavern the Fox and Hounds. This was a night of more than common interest, for it was Monday, and there were gathered together, quite by accident, a collection of celebrities of whom Ireland had indeed reason to be proud. There was Paddy Flinn, hero of a hundred fights, whose life and exploits are recorded in the chronicles of the P.E.; Anthony Noon, than whom none better wielded a bunch of fives; and Alick Eeed, a heavy-weight who feared not even to withstand the godlike twins, first patrons of the Art of Boxing. There was 0'Carrol, whocould prove lineal descent from the Irish kings of the same name, and now deemed it no dishonour to advance civilization as a hodman. There was Tape the "translator," of whom it is related that, being once entrusted with a pair of boots to translate,—that is, to fit with new solesj and heels—he disposed of the raw material for what it would fetch as leather in the rough, and drank the proceeds, afterwards humorously translating the boots by means of the binding of an old leather-bound volume which happened to be lying handy. He was the same man who, one Sunday morning, was left in charge of as noble a piece of beef as was ever dropped into a pot to boil, while his mates went out to drink. The temptation of thirst came upon him: I grieve to say that Mr. Tape yielded to the whisperings of the devil, took out the beef, replacing it by a lapstone, and sold it for what it would fetch in old ale. When the two mates came back in time to boil the cabbage they naturally took the joke in ill part, and the honest transl...« less