I will become the best thief in all Erin ! ' he cried , and paid no heed when his mother shook her head and murmured something about ` the bridge of Dublin . ' Every evening after dark the Shifty Lad went to the home of the Black Gallows Bird , and many were the new tricks he learned . By-and-by he was allowed to go out with the Bird and watch him at work , and at last there came a day when his master though that he had grown clever enough to help in a big robbery . ` There is a rich farmer up there on the hill , who has just sold all his fat cattle for much money and has bought some lean ones which will cost him little . Now it happens that , while he has received the money for the fat cattle , he has not yet paid the price of the thin ones , which he has in the cowhouse . To-morrow he will go to the market with the money in his hand , so to-night we must get at the chest . When all is quiet we will hide in the loft . ' There was no moon , and it was the night of Hallowe'en , and everyone was burning nuts and catching apples in a tub of water with their hands tied , and playing all sorts of other games , till the Shifty Lad grew quite tired of waiting for them to get to bed . The Black Gallows Bird , who was more accustomed to the business , tucked himself up on the hay and went to sleep , telling the boy to wake him when the merry-makers had departed . But the Shifty Lad , who could keep still no longer , crept down to the cowshed and loosened the heads of the cattle which were tied , and they began to kick each other and bellow , and made such a noise that the company in the farmhouse ran out to tie them up again . Then the Shifty Lad entered the room and picked up a big handful of nuts , and returned to the loft , where the Black Rogue was still sleeping . At first the Shifty Lad shut his eyes too , but very soon he sat up , and taking a big needle and thread from his pocket , he sewed the hem of the Black Gallows Bird 's coat to a heavy piece of bullock 's hide that was hanging at his back . By this time the cattle were all tied up again , but as the people could not find their nuts they sat round the fire and began to tell stories . ' I will crack a nut , ' said the Shifty Lad . ` You shall not , ' cried the Black Gallows Bird ; ` they will hear you . ' ' I do n't care , ' answered the Shifty Lad . ' I never spend Hallowe'en yet without cracking a nut ' ; and he cracked one . ` Some one is cracking nuts up there , ' said one of the merry-makers in the farmhouse . ` Come quickly , and we will see who it is . '
He spoke loudly , and the Black Gallows Bird heard , and ran out XXXXX the loft , dragging the big leather hide after him which the Shifty Lad had sewed to his coat .
after at for from in of that to while with