through which came the whisper of one of the old women:—
"Musha! talk iv the divil!"
Joyce's face grew very white; one hand instinctively grasped his riding switch, the other hung uselessly by his side. Murdock spoke:—
"I kem here expectin' to meet Phelim Joyce. I thought I'd save him the throuble of comin' wid the money." Joyce said in a husky voice:—
"What do ye mane? I have the money right enough here. I'm sorry I'm a bit late, but I had a bad accident—bruk me arrum, an' was nigh dhrownded in the Curragh Lake. But I was goin' up to ye at once, bad as I am, to pay ye yer money, Murdock." The Gombeen Man interrupted him:—
"But it isn't to me ye'd have to come, me good man. Sure, it's the sheriff, himself, that was waitin' for ye', an' whin ye didn't come"—here Joyce winced; the speaker smiled—"he done his work."
"What wurrk, acushla? " asked one of the women. Murdock answered slowly:—
"He sould the lease iv the farrum known as the Shleenanaher in open sale, in accordance wid the terrums of his notice, duly posted, and wid warnin' given to the houldher iv the lease."
There was a long pause. Joyce was the first to speak:—
"Ye're jokin', Murdock. For God's sake say ye're jokin'! Ye tould me yerself that I might have time to
