ren. What I say is, that if the woman's own
relations had no complaint to make, what business had Simpkins to be
putting in his oar? What aggravated me was that kind of gratuitous and
unnecessary interfering."

"I quite see your point," said Meldon. "It's--"

"You've only heard the half of it," said Doyle. "The doctor's backward
in telling you, and small blame to him; but Simpkins wrote off to the
Local Government Board, preferring a lot of charges against the doctor,
and against myself as Chairman of the Board of Guardians--things you'd
wonder any man would have the face to say."

"What happened?" said Meldon.

"We've quietened them down for the present," said Doyle, "but there was a
lot of talk of a sworn enquiry. And what did Simpkins do it for if it
wasn't just the delight he takes in destroying the peace of the town?
You know very well, Mr. Meldon, the way we all pulled together here,
Catholics and Protestants, and never had any bad feeling. And where's
the good of bringing in the Local Government Board to be stirring up
strife among us? But that's not all he did, nor the half or it. He
wrote a letter last October to the Inspector-General of the Police,
complaining of the sergeant beyond, that he wasn't doing his duty."

"I wouldn't expect you to be taking the part of the police," said Meldon.
"You always went in for being a strong Nationalist."

"And so I am," said Doyle. "And so's the doctor. In a general way there
isn't two men in Ireland that hates the police worse than the doctor and
myself; but the sergeant was a decent, poor man, with a long family
dependent on him, and I never heard tell of his doing any harm to any
one."

"Perhaps," said Meldon, "that was the reason Mr. Simpkins complained of
him. After all, Doyle, we must be reasonable. What are the police for,
if it isn't to do harm to people--objectionable people? A policeman who
never injures anybody isn't worth his keep. If what you say about the
sergeant is true, or anything like true, Simpkins was evidently perfectly
justified in acting as he did."

"You won't say that," said Doyle, "when you hear the way it happened.
There's two apple trees in the garden at the back of the house Simpkins
lives in."

"I remember them," said Meldon; "but there never were any apples on them
in my time."

"There were apples on them last year," said Doyle, "however they came
there. Simpkins did be saying it was on account of the way he pruned