Page:Shiana - Peadar Ua Laoghaire.djvu/247

Rh army. That left the Causeway and all it contained to the Maid of the Liss and her husband.

When that was done, all was quiet. Any day from that forward, if you happened to be passing by that house of Shiana's, you would hear, as usual, the tapping of the little hammers, the low whistling of the workmen, and the drawing and tightening of the waxed thread. If you went in you would see the soogaun chair and the malvogue, and you would hear the long heavy breathing of Shiana himself as he worked vigorously. But there was no knowing when anyone had heard "torment" or "trouble" upon the "bristly hag" from him.

You would not see Michael there. He was below at Grey Dermot's house, keeping the shop and selling the leather and receiving the money, and he felt himself to be a substantial, influential man. You would think it would not cause him a bit of surprise if he were asked to go security for half the parish.

As time went on, people used to notice that there was a change coming over the disposition and mind and habits of Shiana. Everybody knew that he had always been a peculiar man, with a peculiar disposition and a peculiar mind. They all felt convinced that no matter how intimate you might be with him you would never have any chance of getting to know the inside of his mind. But people felt, or thought they felt, that he was not the same Shiana of late. It was never his habit to talk much, but of late he scarcely spoke to anyone. When people used to speak to him, they would get very little talk out of him, but what they did get was in a low voice, and gentle.