ys of County Monaghan from which he came,
of the lovely, distant island, the low hills and green meadows of which
seemed the more beautiful when imagination viewed them from this place
of grime and snow.

Then he was versed in the life of the cities of the North, of Detroit,
and the lumber camps of Michigan, and finally of Chicago, where he had
worked in a planing mill. And afterwards came the hint of romance, the
feeling that strange things had happened to him in that great city,
so strange and so intimate that they might not be spoken of. He spoke
wistfully of a sudden leaving, a breaking of old ties, a flight into
a strange world, ending in this dreary valley, and Ettie listened, her
dark eyes gleaming with pity and with sympathy--those two qualities
which may turn so rapidly and so naturally to love.

McMurdo had obtained a temporary job as bookkeeper for he was a
well-educated man. This kept him out most of the day, and he had not
found occasion yet to report himself to the head of the lodge of the
Eminent Order of Freemen. He was reminded of his omission, however, by
a visit one evening from Mike Scanlan, the fellow member whom he had met
in the train. Scanlan, the small, sharp-faced, nervous, black-eyed man,
seemed glad to see him once more. After a glass or two of whisky he
broached the object of his visit.

"Say, McMurdo," said he, "I remembered your address, so I made bold
to call. I'm surprised that you've not reported to the Bodymaster. Why
haven't you seen Boss McGinty yet?"

"Well, I had to find a job. I have been busy."

"You must find time for him if you have none for anything else. Good
Lord, man! you're a fool not to have been down to the Union House and
registered your name the first morning after you came here! If you run
against him--well, you mustn't, that's all!"

McMurdo showed mild surprise. "I've been a member of the lodge for over
two years, Scanlan, but I never heard that duties were so pressing as
all that."

"Maybe not in Chicago."

"Well, it's the same society here."

"Is it?"

Scanlan looked at him long and fixedly. There was something sinister in
his eyes.

"Isn't it?"

"You'll tell me that in a month's time. I hear you had a talk with the
patrolmen after I left the train."

"How did you know that?"

"Oh, it got about--things do get about for good and for bad in this
district."

"Well, yes. I told the hounds what I thought of them."

"By the Lord, you'll be a man