BARNARD FALVEY (saunters into the back kitchen, picks a piece of wet paper off the floor, and tries to light it at the fire for the purpose of lighting his pipe, and after several unsuccessful attempts, he turns to Logan) Good mornin’, and God bless you, stranger.

LOGAN
Good mornin’, kindly.

FALVEY
It looks as though we were goin’ to have a spell of
fine weather.

LOGAN
Judgin’ by the way the wind is, it would seem so.

FALVEY
‘Tis splendid weather for walkin’ or tillin’ the land.

LOGAN
‘Tis good weather for anythin’.

FALVEY
All the same, ’tis a long stretch of a road from here
to Ballinore.  How far is it, I wonder?

LOGAN
Twenty miles at least.

FALVEY
Every step of it, and a long road for a man with the
rheumatics and bronchitis too.

LOGAN
And what brought you from Ballinore?

FALVEY And what would bring any poor man from his native town but lookin’ for work.  And that’s a hard thing to be doin’ when a man hasn’t a friend to help him towards a job.

LOGAN
A man can always make friends if he wants to.

FALVEY ‘Tis no easy thing for a man who hasn’t a sleutherin’ tongue and the takin’ way with him to make friends, stranger.

LOGAN
’Tis easy enough to make fine weather friends.  But
I suppose a friend isn’t worth a damn unless he can
help a man when he’s in trouble.

FALVEY To have a lot of money is the easiest way of makin’ friends.  But when a man hasn’t either money or the sleutherin’ tongue, he can’t expect to have any more of the world’s goods than myself.

LOGAN
And have you no friends at all among all the millions
of people on the face of the earth?

FALVEY The devil a one ever bothers their head about me but myself.  And what I can do for myself is hardly worth doin’ for any one.

LOGAN
After all, when a man has his health and enough to
eat, he should be contented.

FALVEY But how could you expect the likes of me to be contented when I didn’t break my fast this blessed day yet, and all I have in the world is the bit of tobacco you see in my old pipe, and unless you’re not as dacent as you look, ’tis hungry maybe I’ll be until I find a turnip field before the fall of night.

LOGAN
Would you drink a pint of porter and eat a penny bun?

FALVEY
Indeed I would, and remember the one in my prayers
who’d give them to me.

LOGAN (knocks and the publican enters) Bring this man a pint of porter and give him one of the penny buns or two that you have on the porter barrel in the shop.

DRISCOLL
Indeed I will and much good may they do him.

[Places pint of porter and bread in front of Falvey who begins to eat and drink.

FALVEY God bless your noble soul and may you be long spared to do good in the world. (As he eats) There’s no sauce like hunger, and no friend like the friend in need.