over to comfort him. She says,There, there, and I wonder why every- one says there there when Malachy cries. I wonder what there there means. It’s quiet at the table till Dad says,Things are terrible in America. Grandma says, Och, aye. I read it in the paper. But they say Mr. Roo- sevelt is a good man and if you stayed you might have work by now. Dad shakes his head and Grandma says, I don’t know what you’re going to do, Malachy.Things are worse here than they are in America. No work here and, God knows, we don’t have room in this house for six more people. Dad says, I thought I might get work on some of the farms. We could get a small place. Where would you stay in the meantime? says Grandma. And how would you support yourself and your family? Och, I could go on the dole, I suppose. You  can’t  get  off  a  ship  from America  and  go  on  the  dole, says Grandpa.They make you wait a while and what would you do while you’re waiting? Dad says nothing and Mam looks straight ahead at the wall. You’d be better off in the Free State, says Grandma. Dublin is big and surely there’s work there or in the farms around. You’re entitled to money from the IRA, too, says Grandpa.You did your bit and they’ve been handing out money to men all over the Free State.You could go to Dublin and ask for help.We can loan you the bus fare to Dublin.The twins can sit on your lap and you won’t have to pay for them. Dad says,Och,aye,and Mam stares at the wall with tears in her eyes. After we ate we went back to bed and next morning, all the grown-ups sat around looking sad. Soon a man came in a motor car and took us back down the road to the shop which had our trunk.They lifted the trunk up on the roof of a bus and we got into the bus. Dad said we were going to Dublin. Malachy said, What’s Dublin? but no one answered him. Dad held Eugene on his lap and Mam held Oliver. Dad looked out at the fields and told me this is where Cuchulain liked to go for a walk. I asked him where Cuchulain hit the ball into the dog’s mouth and he said a few miles away. 50