thing worse. But
nobody had a word to say against her any other way. She was a good
enough housekeeper, washing and making and mending for Anthony, and
minding the children. Seven of them there was, and all boys."

The easterly breeze freshened as the night fell I could see the great
eye of the lighthouse blinking at me on the weather side of the boat.
It became necessary to go about, but I gave the order to Peter very
reluctantly. He handled the head-sheets, and then, instead of settling
down in his old place, leaned his elbows on the coaming and stared into
the sea. We were steadily approaching the lighthouse. I felt that I must
run the risk of asking him a question.

"What happened in the end?" I asked.

"The end, is it? Well, in the latter end she left him. But there was
things happened before that. Whether it was the way the priests talked
to him about her--there was a priest in it them times that was too fond
of interfering, and that's what some of them are--or whether there was
goings-on within in the inside of the house that nobody knew anything
about--and there might have been, for you couldn't tell what one of them
ones might do or mightn't Whatever way it was, Anthony took to drinking
more than he ought. There was poteen made on the island then, and whisky
was easy come by if a man wanted it, and Anthony took too much of it."

Peter paused and then passed judgment, charitably, on Anthony's conduct
"I wouldn't be too hard on a man for taking a drop an odd time."

I was glad to hear Peter say that I myself had found it necessary from
time to time, for the sake of an old friendship, not to be too hard on
Peter.

"Nobody would have blamed him," Peter went on, "if he had behaved
himself when he had a drop taken; but that's what he didn't seem able
to do. He bet her. Sore and heavy he bet her, and that's what no woman,
whether she was a natural woman or one of the other kind, could be
expected to put up with. Not that she said a word. She didn't. Nor
nobody would have known that he bet her if he hadn't token to beating
the young lads along with her. It was them told what was going on.
But there wasn't one on the island would interfere. The people did
be wondering that she didn't put the fear of God into Anthony; but of
course that's what she couldn't do on account of his having the cloak
hid away from her. So long as he had that she was bound to put up with
whatever he did. But it wasn't for ever.

"The hou