The Loud Halo (28 page)

‘And that man with the thatch of red hair who was always saying rude things to everybody?'

‘Oh, him!' I exclaimed. ‘Yes, I shall miss him, too.' I remembered something. ‘Did I ever tell you about the stuff he gave me to put on my hair?' My companion looked blank. ‘I'd been grumbling to him that my hair was coming out in handfuls on the comb,' I explained, ‘and he suddenly dashed off into his house and brought out a bottle of stuff which he urged me to use. He told me that many years ago, when he was working on a ship, his own hair had started to fall out. The ship had chanced to call at some little place in Portugal and there, very worried by now, he'd decided to go and find a chemist to see if he could get something to cure it. The chemist had had no English but had seemed to understand his complaint and had given him a bottle of lotion which he had indicated he should rub into his scalp morning and evening. In a couple of weeks his hair had stopped falling out and was growing thicker and stronger than ever before. His shipmates had been very impressed and when the ship had called in the little port on her return journey they had all trooped up to the chemist and laid in a stock of this wonderful hair lotion.

‘Did you use it?'

‘No,' I said. ‘After the Stallion Mixture I was a bit suspicious. I was glad I hadn't too when a friend of Mary's came and translated the instructions for me—they were in Portuguese, of course. It turned out to be “a certain cure for mange in cats and dogs and other fur-bearing animals”.'

‘His own hair was a jolly good recommendation for it,' chuckled my companion.

‘It was that same man who told me about an aunt of Janet's who used to brew whisky in her shebeen long after it was made illegal,' I resumed when we had stowed our luggage and were settled in the compartment. ‘Actually she was still alive when I first went to Bruach and I've never met a jollier old soul. She was always chock full of impishness even at eighty-two.'

‘Did she never get caught by the authorities?'

‘Not actually caught,' I replied. ‘The customs man came out one day supposedly to investigate but really he was more keen to go fishing so of course someone obliged with a boat and a crew and they kept him out a good while longer than he intended. When he came ashore he told one of the crew: “Go and get a good dram for me from Janet's aunt. Tell her I'm near freezin' to death and just make her give it to you, whatever she says.” '

‘And what happened?'

‘He got his dram all right but Janet's aunt got such a fright she went straight out and dumped the still and the rest of the stuff down what's reputed in Bruach to be a bottomless well, and she never attempted to make a drop of whisky again. The old folks have never really ceased to grumble about it. They say it was “good wild stuff” and only threepence a pint.'

‘You haven't told me these stories before,' grumbled my companion.

I smiled ‘My diaries are full of them,' I confessed. ‘Life in Bruach was crammed with similar incidents. When I'm feeling at all gloomy in the future I shall get them out and read through them to cheer myself up.'

‘Why not write another book about them?' my companion suggested.

‘No,' I replied. ‘I don't think I shall write another book about Bruach.'

The guard's whistle shrilled long and loud. The engine blew out a triumphant hiss of pilfered steam. The train braced itself for me journey.

First published in 1971 by Hutchinson & Co.

This edition published 2012 by Bello an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR Basingstoke and Oxford Associated companies throughout the world

www.panmacmillan.com/imprints/bello
www.curtisbrown.co.uk

ISBN 978-1-4472-1688-9 EPUB
ISBN 978-1-4472-1687-2 POD

Copyright © Lillian Beckwith, 1964

The right of Lillian Beckwith to be identified as the
author of this work has been asserted in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders of the material reproduced in this book. If any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publisher will be pleased to make restitution at the earliest opportunity.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The Macmillan Group has no responsibility for the information provided by any author websites whose address you obtain from this book (‘author websites').

The inclusion of author website addresses in this book does not constitute an endorsement by or association with us of such sites or the content, products, advertising or other materials presented on such sites.

This book remains true to the original in every way. Some aspects may appear out-of-date to modern-day readers. Bello makes no apology for this, as to retrospectively change any content would be anachronistic and undermine the authenticity of the original.

Bello has no responsibility for the content of the material in this book. The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not constitute an endorsement by, or association with, us of the characterization and content.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Visit
www.panmacmillan.com
to read more about all our books
and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and
news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters

so that you're always first to hear about our new releases.