"’Wurra thin,’ says he, ’is it horses that the Pooka ’ull be stalin’? Bad cess to its impidince! This ’ull niver do. Sure we’ll be ruinated entirely,’ says he. "Mind ye now, it’s my consate from phat he said, that the king wasn’t consarned much about Riley, fur he knewn that he cud get more Irishmen whin he wanted thim, but phat he meant to say was that if the Pooka tuk to horse-stalin’, he’d be ruinated entirely, so he would, for where ’ud he get another white mare? So it was a mighty sarious question an’ he retired widin himself in the coort wid a big book that he had that towld saycrets. He’d a sight av larnin’, had the king, aquel to a school-masther, an’ a head that ’ud sarcumvint a fox. "So he read an’ read as fast as he cud, an’ afther readin’ widout shtoppin’, barrin’ fur the bit an’ sup, fur siven days an’ nights, he come out, an’ whin they axed him cud he bate the Pooka now, he said niver a word, axceptin’ a wink wid his eye, as fur to say he had him. [Illustration: "He’d a sight of larnin’, had the King"] "So that day he was in the fields an’ along be the hedges an’ ditches from sunrise to sunset, collectin’ the matarials av a dose fur the Pooka, but phat he got, faith, I dunno, no more does any wan, fur he never said, but kep the saycret to himself an’ didn’t say it aven to the quane, fur he knewn that saycrets run through a woman like wather in a ditch. But there was wan thing about it that he cudn’t help tellin’, fur he wanted it but cudn’t get it widout help, an’ that was three hairs from the Pooka’s tail, axceptin’ which the charm ’udn’t work. So he towld a man he had, he’d give him no end av goold if he’d get thim fur him, but the felly pulled aff his caubeen an’ scrotched his head an’ says, ’Faix, yer Honor, I dunno phat’ll be the good to me av the goold if the Pooka gets a crack at me carkidge wid his hind heels,’ an’ he wudn’t undhertake the job on no wages, so the king begun to be afeared that his loaf was dough. "But it happen’d av the Friday, this bein’ av a Chewsday, that the Pooka caught a sailor that hadn’t been on land only long enough to get bilin’ dhrunk, an’ got him on his back, so jumped over the clift wid him lavin’ him dead enough, I go bail. Whin they come to sarch the sailor to see phat he had in his pockets, they found three long hairs round the third button av his top-coat. So they tuk thim to the king tellin’ him where they got thim, an’ he was greatly rejiced, bekase now he belaved he had the Pooka sure enough, so he ended his inchantmint.