_The Voice._

"There is a little man
In a dirty wee shebeen,
And the spalpeens do be leppin' in the bog."

[_The voice ends on a high note, which quavers away into silence._

_Sheila._ The blessed Saints preserve us! What was that?

_Mrs. M'Gann._ Musha, don't be frightened, child! Sure, it's only poor ould
Blithero[1] Pat. (_She goes to the door and opens it._) Come in, Pat, and
have a bite an' a sup to warm ye this terrible night.

[_The old man enters. He comes slowly over to the hearth, tapping with
his stick, and seats himself in front of the fire. He seems to stare
at the glowing turf. At last he speaks._

_Blithero Pat._ Comin' over the bog I met Black Finnegan. He had a powerful
drop o' the drink on him.

_Molly._ The Saints preserve us from that man!

_Blithero Pat_ (_continuing in a dull monotone_). And Shaun M'Gann was with
him.

[Mrs. M'Gann _sits back with a look of horror on her face_.

_Aloysius._ Shaun does be a terrible man when he's on the drink.

[_The pig rises and goes out by the door, which has been left open._

_Sheila._ The crathur! 'Tis himself can't bear to hear his master
miscalled.

_Blithero Pat_ (_still continuing in the same tone_). Shaun told me to tell
ye, Mrs. M'Gann, that he was coming home the way he'd kill ye entirely.

_Jeremiah_ (_starting up quickly, as the others recoil in horror_). We must
stop him. He's coming by the bog, ye said, Pat?

_Blithero Pat._ Ay! Be the bog it is.

_Aloysius._ Come on, all of ye!

[_Exeunt hastily all but_ Blithero Pat _and the Stranger_.

[Blithero Pat _chuckles softly. He then addresses the Stranger in a
hoarse whisper._

_Blithero Pat._ Divil the bit he's comin' be the bog. He's comin' be the
cross-roads.

[_The Stranger makes no reply._ Blithero Pat _laughs hideously and
goes out_.

[Footnote 1: A Connemara word signifying blind.]

SCENE III.

[_The same. The air is heavy with the scent of stout._ Mrs. M'Gann
_sits before the fire. She still peels potatoes. The Stranger is
almost concealed behind grandfather clock number four, from the
shelter of which he peers nervously at the window, which has returned
to its original position. A heavy step is heard outside._

_Mrs. M'Gann_ (_starting up in terror_). That's Shaun's step!

[_The door is kicked open and_ Shaun _enters. He is fairly far gone in
drink. As he lo