not tell him that
in so many words; but I do not see why I am to be ashamed
of my devotion,--seeing that I was not ashamed of my
engagement, and boasted of it to all the world. And I have
done nothing since to be ashamed of.

You have never told me a word of your young man; but the
birds of the air are more communicative than some friends.
A bird of the air has told me of you, and of Ada also, and
had made me understand that from Ada has come all that
sweetness which was to be expected from her. But from you
has not come that compliance with your fate in life which
circumstances have demanded.

Your affectionate friend,

RACHEL O'MAHONY.

It could not but be the case that Edith should be gratified by the
receipt of such a letter as this. Frank was now at home, and was
terribly down in the mouth. Boycotting had lost all its novelty at
Morony Castle. His sisters had begun to feel that it was a pleasant
thing to have their butter made for them, and pleasant also not to
be introduced to a leg of mutton till it appeared upon the table.
Frank, too, had become very tired of the work which fell to his lot,
though he had been relieved in the heaviest labours of the farm by
"Emergency" men, who had been sent to him from various parts of
Ireland. But he was thoroughly depressed in heart, as also was his
father. Months had passed by since Pat Carroll had stood in the dock
at Galway ready for his trial. He was now, in March, still kept in
Galway jail under remand from the magistrates. A great clamour was
made in the county upon the subject. Florian's murder had stirred all
those who were against the League to feel that the Government should
be supported. But there had been a mystery attached to that other
murder, perpetrated in the court, which had acted strongly on the
other side,--on behalf of the League. The murder of Terry Carroll at
the moment in which he was about to give evidence,--false evidence,
as the Leaguers said,--against his brother was a great triumph to
them. It was used as an argument why Pat Carroll should be no longer
confined, while Florian's death had been a reason why he never should
be released at all. All this kept the memory of Florian's death,
and the constant thought of it, still fresh in the minds of them all
at Morony Castle, together with the poverty which had fallen upon
them, had made the two men weary of their misfortunes. Under such
misfortunes, when