urchase of the land. As it was, he
roused them to such a pitch of resentment that the price was slowly
reduced until it finally remained at one and a quarter times the
rightful value of the block. At this price the council purchased it.

During the conflict party feeling ran high, and personalities were
indulged in. It was at this time that the scandal was first whispered.

Who originated it, no one knew, but it flew from mouth to mouth, and it
was not the less grim for the constant repetition. Denis Quirk had a
past--an evil past--so evil indeed that his wife had divorced him in the
States. At this time the story had no substance; it was merely an ugly
rumour. Strange to say, it did not reach Denis Quirk's ears, because his
enemies repeated it among themselves, while his friends refused to
insult him by mentioning the story.

Father Healy, on hearing it, lost for once his accustomed kindliness.

"Would you be bringing such tales to me, a priest?" he asked. "Denis
Quirk is a man who goes to his duties; not by any means a saint, but a
good, honest Catholic. Tell the next man or woman who speaks about it
that scandal and detraction are steps in the ladder down to the devil's
kingdom. There are more souls lost that way than you can count."

The narrator, a well-meaning gossip, left the presbytery in
consternation, and forbore from further repetition of what was to her a
"bonne bouche." But not even Father Healy could keep the tale from
growing in magnitude and increased offensiveness.

The story came to Kathleen O'Connor's ears, and, curiously enough, she
strongly discredited it. Not that she cared for Denis Quirk, but she had
a strong sense of justice and of probability. She could not believe that
Denis Quirk, whom she regarded as an honourable man, could be guilty of
that of which he was accused. He was a hard man, rugged and deficient
in manners, but, seeing him constantly, she recognised that he was not
the sort of man to commit the crimes of which he was accused.

For this reason she was kinder to him than ever she had previously been.
Denis Quirk, although he appreciated the fact, never attributed it to
any absurd reason, such as a younger and more conceited man might have
done. In the matter of women he was absolutely humble and wanting in
vanity, for he regarded himself as hopelessly ugly and deficient in the
qualities that charm the female sex.

But poor old Mrs. Quirk had a romantic idea in her mind that t