' hard, ye understand, Coolin--drinkin', loike a
dhromedairy--ivery day enough to last a wake, an' Mary tryin' to stop me
betimes. At last I tuk the pledge--an' her on promise. An' purty, purty
she looked thin, an' shtepping light an' fine, an' the weddin' was
coming an. But wan day there was a foire, an' the police coort was
burned down, an' the gaol was that singed they let the b'ys out, an' we
rushed the police an' carried off the b'ys, an'--"

"An' ye sweltered in the juice!" broke in Coolin with flashing eyes,
proud to have roused Connor to this secret tale, which he would tell
to the Berkshires as long as they would listen, that it should go down
through a long line of Berkshires, as Coolin's tale of William Connor.

"An' I sweltered in the swill," said Connor, his eye with a cast quite
shut with emotion, and the other nearly so. "An' wance broke out agin
afther tin months' goin' wake and watery, was like a steer in the corn.
There was no shtoppin' me, an'--"

"Not Mary Haggarty aither?"

"Not Mary Haggarty aither."

"O, William Connor dear!"

"Ye may well say, 'O, William Connor dear!' 'Twas what she said day by
day, an' the heart uv me loike Phararyoh's. Thrue it is, Coolin, that
the hand uv mortial man has an ugly way uv squazin' a woman's heart dry
whin, at last, to his coaxin' she lays it tinder an' onsuspectin' on the
inside grip uv it."

"But the heart uv Mary Haggarty, Connor?"

"'Twas loike a flower under y'r fut, Coolin, an' a heavy fut is to you.
She says to me wan day, 'Ye're breakin' me heart, William Connor,' says
she. 'Thin I'll sodder it up agin wid the help uv the priest,' says
I. 'That ye will not do,' says she; 'wance broken, 'tis broke beyond
mendin'.' 'Go an wid ye, Mary Haggarty darlin',' says I, laughin' in her
face, 'hivin is y'r home.' 'Yes, I'll be goin' there, William Connor,'
says she, 'I'll be goin' there betimes, I hope.' 'How will it be?' says
I; 'be fire or wateer, Mary darlin'?' says I. 'Ye shall know whin it
comes,' says she, wid a quare look in her eye."

"An' ye did?" asked Coolin, open-mouthed and staring; for never had he
seen Connor with aught on his face but a devil-may-care smile.

"Ordered away we was next avenin', an' sorra the glimpse of Mary
Haggarty to me--for Headquarters is a lady that will not be denied. Away
we wint overseas. Shlapin' I was wan night in a troop-ship in the Bay uv
Biscay; an' I dramed I saw Mary walkin' along the cliff by--well,
'tis no