in th' wurruld I niver knew;
but this here ol' la-ad put in his time from morn till night handin'
out contimpt an' hathred to all mankind. No wan was harder to rent
fr'm. He had some houses near Halsted Sthreet, an' I've see him
servin' five days' notices on his tenants whin' th' weather was that
cold ye cudden't see th' inside iv th' furnace-rooms at th' mill f'r
th' frost on th' window. Of all th' landlords on earth, th' Lord
deliver me fr'm an' Irish wan. Whether 'tis that fr'm niver holdin'
anny land in th' ol' counthry they put too high a fondness on their
places whin they get a lot or two over here, I don't know; but they're
quicker with th' constable thin anny others. I've seen men, that 'd
divide their last cint with ye pay night, as hard, whin it come to
gather in th' rent f'r two rooms in th' rear, as if they was an Irish
peer's agents; an' O'Brien had no such start iv binivolence to go on.
He niver seemed to pass th' poor-box in church without wantin' to
break into it. He charged cint per cint whin Casey, th' plumber,
buried his wife an' borrid money f'r th' funeral expenses. I see him
wanst chasin' th' agent iv th' Saint Vincent de Pauls down th' road
f'r darin' to ask him f'r a contribution. To look at his har-rsh red
face, as he sat at his window markin' up his accounts, ye'd know he
was hard in th' bit an' heavy in th' hand. An' so he was,--as hard an'
heavy as anny man I iver seen in all me born days.

"Well, Peter O'Brien had lived on long enough to have th' pious curses
iv th' entire parish, whin th' fire broke out, th' second fire iv
sivinty-four, whin th' damage was tin or twinty millions iv dollars
an' I lost a bull terrier be th' name iv Robert Immitt, r-runnin'
afther th' ingines. O'Brien disappeared fr'm th' r-road durin' th'
fire,--he had some property on th' South Side,--an' wasn't seen or
heerd tell iv f'r a day. Th' nex' mornin' th' rayport come in that he
was seen walkin' over th' red bridge with a baby in his arms. 'Glory
be!' says I: 'is th' man goin' to add canniballing to his other
crimes?' Sure enough, as I sthud in th' dureway, along come O'Brien,
with his hands scalded, his eyebrows gone, an' most iv his clothes
tore fr'm his back, but silent an' grim as iver, with a mite iv a girl
held tight to his breast, an' her fast asleep.

"He had a house back iv my place,--he ownded th' fifty feet frontin'
on Grove Sthreet, bought it fr'm a man named Grogan,--an' 'twas
rinted be a widdy lady