gulp of whisky and again thought deeply. At the end
of five minutes he handed the bottle to Peter Walsh.

"Take a sup yourself," he said.

Peter Walsh took a "sup," a very large "sup," with a sigh of
appreciation. It had been very trying for him to watch Sweeny drinking
whisky while he remained dry-lipped.

"Let you go down to the kitchen," said Sweeny, "and borrow the loan of
my shot gun. There's cartridges in the drawer of the table beyond in the
room. You can take two of them."

"If it's to shoot the master," said Peter Walsh, "I'll not do it. I've a
respect for him ever since----"

"Talk sense. Do you think I want to have you hanged?"

"Hanged or drowned. The way you're talking it'll be both before I'm
through with this work."

"When you have the gun," said Sweeny, "and the cartridges in it, you'll
go round to the back yard where you were this minute and you'll fire two
shots through this window, and mind what you're at, Peter Walsh, for
I won't have every pane of glass in the back of the house broke, and I
won't have the missus' hens killed. Do you think now you can hit this
window from where you were standing in the yard?"

"Hit it! Barring the shot scatters terrible I'll put every grain of it
into some part of you if you stay where you are this minute."

"I'll not be in this chair at the time," said Sweeny. "I'll be in the
bed, and what shots come into the room will go over me with the way
you'll be shooting. But any way I'll have the mattress and the blankets
rolled up between me and harm. It'll be all the better if there's a few
grains in the mattress."

"I don't know," said Peter Walsh, "that I'll be much nearer drowning the
strange gentleman after I've shot you. But sure I'll do it if you like."

"When you have that done," said Sweeny, "and you'd better be quick about
it--you'll go down to the barrack and tell Sergeant Rafferty that he's to
come round here as quick as he can. The missus'll meet him at the door
of the shop and she'll tell him what's happened."

"I suppose then you'll offer bail for me," said Peter Walsh, "for if you
don't, no other one will, and it'll be hard for me to go out upsetting
boats if they have me in gaol for murdering you."

"It's not that she'll tell him, but a kind of a distracted story. She'll
have very little on her at the time. She has no more than an old night
dress and a petticoat this minute. I'm sorry now she has the petticoat
itself. If I'd known what would