you, never fear."

"O, it's not over yet," said Ned, as if to put a check on the other's impulsiveness. "You'll have to see Nannie some way or other, an' tell her all you intend to do, an' have her on her guard. She must give a sort of a promise to marry Flanagan, an' then ask Old Crusty to leave her free until after Lent; an' she must have some grievance or other against you. Do you understand? An' there must be nothin' done to make the old lad suspicious, an' you must have everything ready, so that there'll be no fluster or delay. An' above all, the tooth must be set ragin' mad.

"Off you pop now, a mhic o, an' more power to you. It'll be as good as a thousand pound to me to see Old Crusty's face when he finds out the whole thing. Come over Friday night an' tell me how the game is goin'. Good night, now, an' God speed you."

"Good night, Ned. I'll not fail, please God, an' I'll not forget it to you as long as I live."

And Seumas Shanley went, the glow of a great hope lighting all the way before him.

II.

When Ned M'Grane lifted the latch of Larry Boylan's kitchen door and walked into the spacious kitchen itself on the following Sunday afternoon there[Pg 14] was a look of concern on his usually jovial face, and when Larry turned his gaze from the fire to greet the visitor, the look of concern on Ned's face deepened very considerably and perceptibly, and he seemed very much perturbed. Larry sat in a crouching attitude quite close to the big fire of blazing turf-sods, a red handkerchief covering his chin, his jaws, and his ears, and knotted on top of his head. He held his hand over his mouth, and now and then he groaned most miserably and lugubriously. An old woman—the same Kitty Malone mentioned by Seumas Shanley—was working about the kitchen; no one else was to be seen.

[Pg 14]

The blacksmith was a pretty frequent and always a welcome visitor at Larry Boylan's. He was Nannie Boylan's godfather, and old Larry as well claimed relationship with the M'Grane family—usually when he wanted some work done at the forge. He was, therefore, glad to see Ned on the present occasion.

"I'm sorry to see the enemy is at you again, Larry," said Ned, as he seated himself on the stool placed before the fire for him by Kitty. "I wondered when I didn't see you at Mass to-day, an' I didn't know what was up until I met Kitty there, on the road, an' she said it was the tooth. Is it bad? 

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