y to Flora's room, despite the protests of
Mother Nolan.

"To-morrow ye'll be mine or ye'll be his," he said, staring fixedly at
the frightened girl. "To-morrow mornin' him an' me bes a-goin' to fight
for ye--an' the man what lives will have ye! Ye put the name o' coward
on to me--but I bain't no coward! I fights fair--an' the best man wins.
I could kill him now, if I was a coward."

Flora's face was as white as the pallid figure on the cross above the
chimney.

"You _are_ a coward!--and a beast!" she cried from dry lips. "If you
kill him my curse shall be with you until your dying day--and
afterwards--forever."

"Then ye can tell him to go away, an' I won't be killin' him," said the
man.

"Tell him--to go--away?"

"Aye--that ye've no need o' him. Send him away. Tell him ye means to
marry wid me."

"No," whispered the girl. And then, "Do you mean to--give him a
chance?--to fight him fair?"

"Aye, man to man--an' as sure as the divil fetched him to Chance Along
I'll kill him wid these hands! An' then--an' then ye'll be mine--an'
when Father McQueen comes in June 'twill be time for the weddin'--for
that part o' it. Ye've put the names o' coward an' beast on to me--an'
by Saint Peter, ye'll live to change them names or to know them!"

Some color came back to Flora's cheeks and her clear eyes shone to their
depths.

"If you fight fair," she said, faintly but steadily, "he will give you
what you deserve. I am not afraid. God will be with him--and he is the
better man!"

The skipper laughed, then stooped suddenly, caught her in his arms and
kissed her on the lips. Next moment he flung her aside and dashed from
the room, almost overturning Mother Nolan in his flight. At the door of
the kitchen he came face to face with Mary Kavanagh. He tried to pass
her without pausing, but she stood firm on the threshold and held him
for a moment or two with her strong arms. Her gray eyes were blazing.

"I sees the Black One a-ridin' on yer back!" she cried, in a voice of
horror and disgust. "I sees his face over yer shoulder--aye, an' his arm
around yer neck like a rope!"

He looked at her for a moment, and then quickly away as he forced her
violently aside.

"An' the hell-fire in yer eyes!" she cried.

The skipper was free of her by then and out of the house; but he turned
and stared at her with a haggard face and swiftly dulling eyes.

"The curse bes on me!" he whispered. "It bes in me vitals now--like I
had kilt hi