have roused himself. He would have followed Dr. O'Grady back to
Ballymoy and would have had the satisfaction of gloating over the
first of a long series of annoying difficulties. But the Major, though
confident that trouble would come, had no hope that it would begin as
soon as it did.

Dr. O'Grady was riding back to Ballymoy on his bicycle when he met Mrs.
Ford, the wife of the stipendiary magistrate. She was walking briskly
along the road which led out of the town. This fact at once aroused a
feeling of vague uneasiness in the doctor's mind. Mrs. Ford was a stout
lady of more than fifty years of age. She always wore clothes which
seemed, and probably were, much too tight for her. Her husband's
position and income entitled him to keep a pony trap, therefore Mrs.
Ford very seldom walked at all. Dr. O'Grady had never before seen her
walk quickly. It was plain, too, that on this occasion Mrs. Ford was
walking for the mere sake of walking, a most unnatural thing for her
to do. The road she was on led nowhere except to Major Kent's house,
several miles away, and it was quite impossible to suppose that she
meant to call on him. She had, as Dr. O'Grady knew, quarrelled seriously
with Major Kent two days earlier.

Dr. O'Grady, slightly anxious and very curious, got off his bicycle
and approached Mrs. Ford on foot. He noticed at once that her face was
purple in colour. It was generally red, and the unaccustomed exercise
she was taking might account for the darker shade. Dr. O'Grady, arriving
within a few yards of her, took off his hat very politely. The purple of
Mrs. Ford's face darkened ominously.

"Nice day," said Dr. O'Grady. "How's Mr. Ford?"

Mrs. Ford acknowledged this greeting with a stiff, scarcely perceptible
bow. Dr. O'Grady realised at once that she was angry, very seriously
angry about something. Under ordinary circumstances Mrs. Ford's anger
would not have caused Dr. O'Grady any uneasiness. She was nearly always
angry with someone, and however angry she might be she would be obliged
to call on Dr. O'Grady for assistance if either she or her husband fell
ill. There was no other doctor in the neighbourhood. The simplest and
easiest thing, under the circumstances, would have been to pass on
without comment, and to wait patiently until Mrs. Ford either caught
influenza or was so deeply offended with someone else as to forget her
anger against him. Society in small country towns is held together very
largely by the