swine; while
just above the shutter's edge a row of swallows had their nests, where
the brooding owners twittered in the early summer morning, as she rose
with the sunrise and went about her work. A relief at first, the duties
Kitty had undertaken grew heavier with the months, till at last the
kindly heart of the owner's wife was touched, and a new _regime_ of rest
ensued.

Eight months after that fatal Orange Day, James Hartigan, Jr., was born
in the little room over the yard; and baby wailings were added to the
swallows' chirps and the squeals of pigs. Mother Downey, rough and
rawboned to the eye, now appeared in guardian-angel guise, and the
widow's heart was deeply touched by the big, free kindness that events
had discovered in the folk about her. Kitty was of vigorous stock; in a
week she was up, in a fortnight seemed well; and in a month was at her
work, with little Jim--named for his father and grandfather--in hearing,
if not in sight.

Then, quite suddenly, Mrs. Downey died. A big, gaunt woman, she had the
look of strength; but the strength was not there; and a simple malady
that most would have shaken off was more than she could fight. With her
husband and Kitty by the bed, she passed away; and her last words were:
"Be good--to--Kitty, John--and--Little Jim."

It was an easy promise for John Downey to give and a pleasant
undertaking to live up to. Before his wife had been dead three months,
John Downey had assured Kitty that she might become Mrs. Downey Number
Two as early as she pleased. It was not by any means the first offer
since her loss. Indeed, there were few free men in Links who would not
have been glad to marry the winsome, young, energetic widow.

But all her heart was on her boy, and until she could see that it was
best for him she would take no second partner. Downey's proposal was a
puzzle to her; he was a big, strong, dull, moderately successful,
unattractive man. But he had a good business, no bad habits, and was
deeply in love with her.

It was the thought of little Jim that settled it. Downey showed genuine
affection for the child. To give him a father, to have him well
educated--these were large things to Kitty and she consented. As soon as
the late Mrs. Downey should have been laid away for six months, the
wedding was to be and Kitty moved to other lodgings meanwhile. But
Fate's plans again disagreed with Kitty's. A few weeks after her
consent, the town was startled by the news that J