afther that until th' poor ol' man cud square it
with th' loot. But, whin he come out, ye cud see how his face had
hardened an' his ways changed. He was as silent as an animal, with a
sideways manner that watched ivrything. Right here in this place I seen
him stand f'r a quarther iv an' hour, not seemin' to hear a dhrunk man
abusin' him, an' thin lep out like a snake. We had to pry him loose.

"Th' ol' folks done th' best they cud with him. They hauled him out iv
station an' jail an' bridewell. Wanst in a long while they'd dhrag him
off to church with his head down: that was always afther he'd been
sloughed up f'r wan thing or another. Between times th' polis give him
his own side iv th' sthreet, an' on'y took him whin his back was
tur-rned. Thin he'd go in the wagon with a mountain iv thim on top iv
him, sway in' an' swearin' an' sthrikin' each other in their hurry to
put him to sleep with their clubs.

"I mind well th' time he was first took to be settled f'r good. I heerd
a noise in th' ya-ard, an' thin he come through th' place with his face
dead gray an' his lips just a turn grayer. 'Where ar-re ye goin',
Petey?' says I. 'I was jus' takin' a short cut home,' he says. In three
minyits th' r-road was full iv polismin. They'd been a robbery down in
Halsted Sthreet. A man that had a grocery sthore was stuck up, an' whin
he fought was clubbed near to death; an' they'd r-run Scanlan through
th' alleys to his father's house. That was as far as they'd go. They was
enough iv thim to've kicked down th' little cottage with their heavy
boots, but they knew he was standin' behind th' dure with th' big gun in
his hand; an', though they was manny a good lad there, they was none
that cared f'r that short odds.

"They talked an' palavered outside, an' telephoned th' chief iv polis,
an' more pathrol wagons come up. Some was f'r settin' fire to th'
buildin', but no wan moved ahead. Thin th' fr-ront dure opened, an' who
shud come out but th' little mother. She was thin an' pale, an' she had
her apron in her hands, pluckin' at it. 'Gintlemin,' she says, 'what is
it ye want iv me?' she says. 'Liftinant Cassidy,' she says, ''tis
sthrange f'r ye that I've knowed so long to make scandal iv me before me
neighbors,' she says. 'Mrs. Scanlan,' says he, 'we want th' boy. I'm
sorry, ma'am, but he's mixed up in a bad scrape, an' we must have him,'
he says. She made a curtsy to thim, an' wint indures. 'Twas less than a
minyit before she come ou