The Legend of the Phantom Highwayman Read Online Free PDF

queuing for the shop where the water was sold. As they moved forward, Cowlick pointed out the sign. It said: ‘Maxwell’s Well Makes Well’ .
    Tapser smiled. ‘He has a funny sense of humour all right.’ He looked up at the tall, turreted building that rose high above the shop out of the side of the glen. The castle itself was marked ‘Private’ and two big Alsatian dogs roamed the grounds behind a high wire fence. ‘And it’s a funny sort of hotel. I don’t see any guests.’
    â€˜That’s because Max doesn’t run it as an hotel any more,’ said Cowlick. ‘I told you that.’
    They were in the shop now, and while the tourists bought their bottles of water the four of them edged up to where the supplies were stacked on shelves like large bottles of white lemonade.
    When he thought no one was looking, Tapser took down a bottle and unscrewed the cap, but before he could sniff it, a strong hand clamped on his shoulder and a man with a foreign accent enquired if he was going to buy it.
    â€˜I … I’d like to,’ replied Tapser somewhat nervously.
    â€˜But we haven’t got the money,’ said Róisín, coming to his aid.
    â€˜Then you have no business in here,’ growled the man.
    â€˜But Mr van Weshal said we could come,’ Tapser protested.
    The man ignored him and marched them towards the door. There they met Prince and, sensing that the man was being distinctly unfriendly to his young master, the collie bared his teeth in a snarl.
    The man released Tapser and ordered, ‘Get out, all of you. And take that dog with you. It is not hygienic to have animals in a shop. And do not come back in here unless you wish to buy something.’
    Outside, Tapser pulled his jacket back into place and remarked, ‘They’re not very friendly, are they?’
    â€˜They’re like that,’ Cowlick told him. ‘Max is the same. It’s all business and they don’t stand for any nonsense.’
    â€˜No, they sure don’t, do they?’ said a tourist who had seen what happened. She had pink hair and matching glasses, and it was obvious she was an American.
    Her husband gave Tapser’s red hair a friendly wigging and said, ‘I thought all you Irishmen had black curly hair.’
    â€˜Hugh Rua had red hair too,’ said Tapser defensively.
    â€˜Oh yeah, Red Hugh, the Highwayman of the Glen,’ said the man. ‘We read about him in our guide book. Well, maybe it’s the red-haired ones that are wild. Say, why did that guy throw you out anyhow?’
    Tapser shrugged. ‘Because we were looking at the bottles.’
    â€˜You mean to say he threw you out just because of that?’ said the woman. ‘Well, here, have one of ours. You’re more than welcome.’
    They all protested, but the woman added, ‘Go on, why not for goodness sakes. After all, it’s only water.’
    So it was, as they found when they tested the bottle on the way back into town.
    â€˜So much for that idea,’ remarked Róisín.
    â€˜Well it could have been poteen,’ said Tapser. ‘And Max could have been smuggling it out that way. After all, there was poteen in the other bottle we found.’
    â€˜Well if Max isn’t using his bottles to smuggle poteen, who is?’ asked Cowlick.
    â€˜And where is it coming from?’ wondered Róisín.
    â€˜Peppi seems to think there’s a big still hidden away somewhere up in the mountains, and that’s where it’s coming from,’ said Rachel.
    â€˜But how come one of the bottles ended up in the sea?’ said Cowlick. ‘That’s the funny part of it.’
    â€˜What do you really think of Peppi?’ Tapser asked.
    â€˜We like him,’ replied Rachel.
    â€˜But we sometimes wonder about him,’ said Róisín.
    â€˜You mean the woollen gloves?’
    â€˜I suppose so,’ said