ken chair against
the wall, as frantically as if she were trying to conceal the evidence
of a crime. Then she sank down on a sofa and burst into tears. "The poor
creature!" she wept. "The poor ol' man. Poor Dinny!"

Mrs. Byrne folded her arms. "Mary Cregan," she said, in hoarse disgust,
"when yuh've done makin' a fool o' yerself, I'll trouble yuh to listen
to _me_. _Now!_ If y' ever breathe a word o' this to Cregan, he'll laugh
himself blind! Mind yuh that! He'll not believe yuh. No one'll believe
yuh. No one! An' if yuh don't want somethin' turrible to happen, yuh'll
say nothin', but yuh'll behave yerself like a decent married woman an'
go to church an' say yer prayers against trouble. That woman with the
cards says whatever th' old Nick puts into her head to say."

Mrs. Cregan cried: "She saw it in me hand!"

Mrs. Byrne drew herself up like a prophetess. "Dip yer hand in holy
water, an' yuh'll hear no more of it. Now, then. Behave yerself."

"I was wishin' it!" she wailed. "I was wishin' somethin' 'd happen to
him to leave me free here in m' own home!"

"An' that," Mrs. Byrne said, "is the judgment o' heaven on yuh fer
carin' more fer yer dishes than yuh did fer yer husband. Yuh're a good
manager, Mrs. Cregan, but yuh've been a dang poor wife. Think of yer man
first an' yer house after, an' yuh'll be a happier woman, I tell yuh."

"I will that. I will," Mrs. Cregan wept, "if he's spared to me."

"Never fear," Mrs. Byrne said drily. "He'll be spared to yuh."

* * * * *

And he _has_ been spared to her. At first he was suspicious of her
subdued manner and remorseful gentleness; and for a long time he
watched her, very warily, with an eye for treachery. Then he understood
that she had succumbed to his masterful handling of her, and he was
masculinely proud of his conquest.

[Illustration: "MRS. CREGAN SAT AS IF SHE WERE WAITING FOR HER TURN TO
ENTER A CONFESSIONAL."]

Mrs. Cregan is beginning to hope that she has warded off the predicted
bad fortune by her devoutness, but she still has her fears. "Twas the
doin's o' the divil," she says to Mrs. Byrne.

"He had a hand in it, no doubt," Mrs. Byrne agrees. "An' how's Cregan?"
she says, "Well, I'm glad o' that.... An' the new dishes?... Good luck
to them. Yuh're off early to church again."

YOUNG HENRY AND THE OLD MAN

BY JOHN M. OSKISON

The ranchman and I were discussing courage. I had that day seen young
Henry Thoma