would have been man to man, but he always had spoiled
Jimmy; now who was to blame that he was spoiled?

Dannie was very tired, his face throbbed and ached painfully, and it
was a sight to see. His bed never had looked so inviting, and never had
the chance to sleep been further away. With a sigh, he buttoned his
coat, twisted an old scarf around his neck, and started for the barn.
There was going to be a black frost. The cold seemed to pierce him. He
hitched to the single buggy, and drove to town. He went to Casey's, and
asked for Jimmy.

"He isn't here," said Casey.

"Has he been here?" asked Dannie.

Casey hesitated, and then blurted out, "He said you wasn't his keeper,
and if you came after him, to tell you to go to Hell."

Then Dannie was sure that Jimmy was in the back room, drying his
clothing. So he drove to Mrs. Dolan's, and asked if Mary were there for
the night. Mrs. Dolan said she was, and she was going to stay, and he
might tell Jimmy Malone that he need not come near them, unless he
wanted his head laid open. She shut the door forcibly.

Dannie waited until Casey closed at eleven, and to his astonishment
Jimmy was not among the men who came out. That meant that he had drank
lightly after all, slipped from the back door, and gone home. And yet,
would he do it, after what he had said about being afraid? If he had
not drank heavily, he would not go into the night alone, when he had
been afraid in the daytime. Dannie climbed from the buggy once more,
and patiently searched the alley and the street leading to the footpath
across farms. No Jimmy. Then Dannie drove home, stabled his horse, and
tried Jimmy's back door. It was unlocked. If Jimmy were there, he
probably would be lying across the bed in his clothing, and Dannie knew
that Mary was in town. He made a light, and cautiously entered the
sleeping room, intending to undress and cover Jimmy, but Jimmy was not
there.

Dannie's mouth fell open. He put out the light, and stood on the back
steps. The frost had settled in a silver sheen over the roofs of the
barns and the sheds, and a scum of ice had frozen over a tub of
drippings at the well. Dannie was bitterly cold. He went home, and
hunted out his winter overcoat, lighted his lantern, picked up a heavy
cudgel in the corner, and started to town on foot over the path that
lay across the fields. He followed it to Casey's back door. He went to
Mrs. Dolan's again, but everything was black and silent there. T