He had not been
able to do any work on account of his arm; his house had fallen in; he
had given up his holding and gone into the poor-house. All this was
very sad, and to avoid hearing any further unpleasantness, Bryden began
to tell them about America. And they sat round listening to him; but
all the talking was on his side; he wearied of it; and looking round
the group he recognised a ragged hunchback with grey hair; twenty years
ago he was a young hunchback, and, turning to him, Bryden asked him if
he were doing well with his five acres.

"Ah, not much. This has been a bad season. The potatoes failed; they
were watery--there is no diet in them."

These peasants were all agreed that they could make nothing out of
their farms. Their regret was that they had not gone to America when
they were young; and after striving to take an interest in the fact
that O'Connor had lost a mare and foal worth forty pounds Bryden began
to wish himself back in the slum. And when they left the house he
wondered if every evening would be like the present one. Mike piled
fresh sods on the fire, and he hoped it would show enough light in the
loft for Bryden to undress himself by.

The cackling of some geese in the road kept him awake, and the
loneliness of the country seemed to penetrate to his bones, and to
freeze the marrow in them. There was a bat in the loft--a dog howled in
the distance--and then he drew the clothes over his head. Never had he
been so unhappy, and the sound of Mike breathing by his wife's side in
the kitchen added to his nervous terror. Then he dozed a little; and
lying on his back he dreamed he was awake, and the men he had seen
sitting round the fireside that evening seemed to him like spectres
come out of some unknown region of morass and reedy tarn. He stretched
out his hands for his clothes, determined to fly from this house, but
remembering the lonely road that led to the station he fell back on his
pillow. The geese still cackled, but he was too tired to be kept awake
any longer. He seemed to have been asleep only a few minutes when he
heard Mike calling him. Mike had come half way up the ladder and was
telling him that breakfast was ready. "What kind of breakfast will he
give me?" Bryden asked himself as he pulled on his clothes. There were
tea and hot griddle cakes for breakfast, and there were fresh eggs;
there was sunlight in the kitchen and he liked to hear Mike tell of the
work he was going to do in th