Ah, no, indeed, sir. Sure I hardly touch the pint at all with the pains. My wife is home in the bed and I have to take care of her too. There’s great laziness in the world, Creagh. And Mr. Kane says to the people on the queue, Did ye hear that, ladies? Great laziness, isn’t there? And the women say, Oh, there is, indeed, Mr. Kane, great laziness. Mr.  Creagh  gets  his  docket  to  see  the  doctor,  the  queue  moves ahead and Mr. Kane is ready for Mam. The public assistance, is that what you want, woman, the relief? ’Tis, Mr. Kane. And where’s your husband? Oh, he’s in England, but— England,  is  it? And  where  is  the  weekly  telegram,  the  big  five pounds? He didn’t send us a penny in months, Mr. Kane. Is that a fact? Well,we know why,don’t we? We know what the men of Ireland are up to in England.We know there’s the occasional Limer- ickman seen trotting around with a Piccadilly tart, don’t we? He looks out at the people on the queue and they know they’re supposed to say,We do, Mr. Kane, and they know they’re supposed to smile and laugh or things will go hard with them when they reach the platform.They know he might turn them over to Mr. Coffey and he’s notorious for saying no to everything. Mam tells Mr. Kane that Dad is in Coventry and nowhere near Pic- cadilly and Mr. Kane takes off his glasses and stares at her.What’s this? Are we having a little contradiction here? Oh, no, Mr. Kane, God no. I want you to know, woman, that it is the policy here to give no relief to women with husbands in England. I want you to know you’re taking the bread from the mouths of more deserving people who stayed in this country to do their bit. Oh, yes, Mr. Kane. And what’s your name? McCourt, sir. That’s not a Limerick name.Where did you get a name like that? My husband, sir. He’s from the North. He’s from the North and he leaves you here to get the relief from the Irish Free State. Is this what we fought for, is it? I don’t know, sir. 233