And as I rode I heard
shots, and turned to see; but my horse stumbled on a hole and we fell
together, and when I waked, I saw that the poor beast's legs were broken.
So I ended its misery, and made my way as best I could by the stars to
your house; but I turned sick and fainted at the door, and knew no more
until this hour. . . . You thought me dead, father?"
The priest bowed his head, and said: "These are strange, sad things, my
child; and they shall seem stranger to you when you hear all."
"When I hear all! Ah, tell me, father, do you know Shon McGann? Can you
take me to him?"
"I know him, but I do not know where he is. He left the Pipi Valley
eighteen months ago, and I never saw him afterwards; still I doubt not he
is somewhere on the plains, and we shall find him--we shall find him,
please Heaven."
"Is he a good lad, father?"
"He is brave, and he was always kind. He came to me before he left the
valley--for he had trouble--and said to me: 'Father, I am going away, and
to what place is far from me to know, but wherever it is, I'll live a
life that's fit for men, and not like a loafer on God's world;' and he
gave me money for masses to be said--for the dead."
The girl put out her hand. "Hush! hush!" she said. "Let me think.
Masses for the dead.... What dead? Not for me; he thought me dead long,
long ago.
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