Jack and the Devil's Purse by Duncan Williamson Read Free Book Online Page B

been travelling a long, long way, old fellow, and the sole fell off my boot. I wonder, could you fix it for me?’
    ‘Aye, laddie, nae bother. I’ve an awful lot of work on. But seeing you’re here to wait for it, I’ll do it for you. Sit down on the chair!’
    There was a big, old-fashioned wooden chair. Willie satdown. And he took off his boot, gave it to the old cobbler. The cobbler put it on the three-legged man, the last, and he ran his hand around the sole. But just then Willie saw the curtain parting – at the back of the shop there was no door, just a curtain. And out comes this bonnie lassie with a tray with two mugs on it. Willie looked at her. Bonniest lassie he’s ever seen in his life! The old cobbler’s daughter.
    So the old cobbler says to his lassie, ‘Bring another cup. We’ve got a young man here. It’ll be a wee while before his boot’s ready. Get another mug for him!’
    The lassie went, parted the curtain and came back with another mug of tea. They sat and they cracked and they cracked. Willie tellt the cobbler his father was a farmer, and he tellt him the whole story.
    ‘Well,’ the cobbler said, ‘what kind o’ work are you used to doing?’
    ‘Well,’ said Willie, ‘I help my father. My job was mostly sorting the harness on the farm, mending the saddles and the bridles. On a rainy day.’
    ‘Ah,’ said the old cobbler, ‘if you ken about leather, laddie, you’re just the very man I want. Look beside me there! I’ve got so much work on boots, so much leather to cut, I can’t do it all myself. You wouldn’t be looking for a job, would you?’
    ‘Oh, I could do with a bit job,’ Willie says. ‘I’m running kind o’ short of money.’
    And the old man says, ‘Look, there’s an empty room upstairs. You can eat with me and my daughter. She lost her mother when she was a wee wean, and I brought her up myself.’
    Willie’s heart began to beat quick. He swallowed his spittle. He could hardly crack to the old man she was that bonnie, this lassie!
    ‘All right,’ he said, ‘old fellow, that would suit me fine.’
    ‘You got any bundles or baggage?’ said the old man.
    Willie said, ‘Just two or three sarks.’
    ‘Give them to the lassie there. She’ll take them, give them a bit wash to you seeing you’ve been on the road for a while. And come on upstairs!’
    There was a wee wooden stair at the side of the shop. And there was a beautiful wee room at the top with a bed in it, and a wash hand basin. Willie said to himself, ‘This is fine for me. I’m going no farther. I’ve found what I want.’
    So we’ll leave Willie for a wee while.
    Now Jack, after he had bade goodbye to his father and mother, took the puckle money in his pocket. Happy-go-lucky, he wasn’t worrying a damn what he did.
    He said, ‘A year’s a long time. I can enjoy myself in a year!’
    So Jack travelled on and travelled on, having a bit drink here in the pub and a bit carry-on here and there. And och, three months passed by, just passed like that! Another three months passed and he got two-three jobs, and he wouldn’t settle in a job. But he travelled on till he had no more money left, not a penny. He was broke.
    And he’s coming up this road, oh, many many miles away from where he had left his father and mother. This road goes up by this big estate and there’s two big gates.
    ‘There must be a farm up here o’ some kind,’ he said. ‘Maybe two or three farms. I’m needing to look for a job. I’ll have to get a job o’ some kind to get something to eat.’
    He was starving. He had spent all his money. But the first thing he passed was a great big mansion house. Curtains all drawn. There was not a soul about. The grass was growing round about it. It looked derelict.
    Jack said, ‘Nobody lives in there. It was used at one time. Whoever owns it made it a good house.’
    He looked all around. There were turrets on it, oh, great fancy windows and everything. The gates were