of
it: so Terry answered, that Miss Anty was out, and had the keys with
her.

Miss Anty was so rarely out, that Barry instantly trembled again. Had
she gone to a magistrate, to swear against him? Had she run away from
him? Had she gone off with Martin?

"Where the d----l's she gone, Terry?" said he, in his extremity.

"Faix, yer honour, thin, I'm not rightly knowing; but I hear tell she's
down at the widow Kelly's."

"Who told you, you fool?"

"Well thin, yer honer, it war Judy."

"And where's Judy?"

And it ended in Judy's being produced, and the two of them, at length,
explained to their master, that the widow had come up early in the
morning and fetched her away; and Judy swore "that not a know she
knowed how it had come about, or what had induced the widow to come, or
Miss Anty to go, or anything about it; only, for shure, Miss Anty was
down there, snug enough, with Miss Jane and Miss Meg; and the widdy
war in her tantrums, and wouldn't let ony dacent person inside the
house-door--barring Biddy. And that wor all she knowed av' she wor on
the book."

The secret was now out. Anty had left him, and put herself under the
protection of Martin Kelly's mother; had absolutely defied him, after
all his threats of the preceding night. What should he do now! All his
hatred for her returned again, all his anxious wishes that she might be
somehow removed from his path, as an obnoxious stumbling-block. A few
minutes ago, he was afraid he had murdered her, and he now almost
wished that he had done so. He finished dressing himself, and then
sat down in the parlour, which had been the scene of his last night's
brutality, to concoct fresh schemes for the persecution of his sister.

In the meantime, Terry rushed down to the inn, demanding the keys, and
giving Mrs Kelly a fearful history of his master's anger. This she very
wisely refrained from retailing, but, having procured the keys, gave
them to the messenger, merely informing him, that "thanks to God's kind
protection, Miss Anty was tolerably well over the last night's work,
and he might tell his master so."

This message Terry thought it wisest to suppress, so he took the
breakfast up in silence, and his master asked no more questions. He
was very sick and pale, and could eat nothing; but he drank a quantity
of tea, and a couple of glasses of brandy-and-water, and then he
felt better, and again began to think what measures he should take,
what scheme he could concoc