thought her a very pretty lass, her black hair a pleasing contrast to her pale skin with a sprinkle of freckles crossing the bridge of her nose. Colleen was a year younger than he. She was his cousin, a distant one, but wasn't everyone a cousin since Adam and Eve? Their paths would meet at the stone fence marking the end of the open range.
    She lived in Armoy but stayed often in Ballymena with her mother's family. She usually stopped at the Hamill farm to rest on the trip to Ballymena. Although she was a year younger than Patrick, she knew more than he did. They had a school in Armoy and she was a good student.
    Now, with Colleen in view, Patrick paid attention to his surroundings, no more daydreaming.
    Pale blue flax topped thin stalks that rose to three feet on both sides of the path. Their abundance would assure that prices for flax and flaxen products would continue low in Ireland. His father and Hugh would have much work this winter but the pay would be small per piece. It had been this way as long as Patrick could remember, although his father told him that pay was twice as high in 1781 when Patrick had been born. With no schools in Loughguile Parish, what learning Patrick had - some reading, simple arithmetic, and thinking from facts came from his parents and Penny's Farmer Magazine. His mother lamented the lack of schools

in their part of Antrim. She told him that he had a good mind and learned things readily when he could rein in his imagination.
    In not too long of a time, Colleen saw him. She set something down and waved to him. They both hurried to the stone fence.
    "Pleasant day to you, Patrick." Colleen wore a comfortable walking dress, a bonnet that hid her fair skin from the sun, and a short jacket as protection against the wind and any rain that might bedevil her travels.
    He smiled warmly. She was his favorite friend, although he saw her too infrequently. "And to you too, Colleen. Are you coming to our house?"
    "Yes." She glanced down to check her shoes. "I've been traveling since morning. The coachman let me off at Loughguile Castle. I've got a clutch of herbs for your Ma. Then I'm off to Ballymena as usual for the summer."
    "Let me carry something for you and let's go to the house."
    She readily handed the herbs to him. "Thank you, Patrick Hamill," she said.
    Then she ran passed him. "I'll race you to the Little Giant's Bed ."