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286 he would do. What they said between themselves was, "If it had been any other man than himself one might make some guess as to what he would do, but nobody ever yet made a guess about that fellow that didn't go wide of the mark."

That remark that Grey Dermot had made about Short Mary, "That she used to come for the latter part of almost every night," was a remark that set Shiana thinking.

"Well!" said he to himself, "I am in a queer position. I told her I was bound before God never to marry. Certainly I was bound not to drag her, or any other girl like her, into the danger that was before me, as I thought. That villain said he would come for me as soon as the thirteen years were spent. I was quite sure he would come. The time is spent. It is spent even without counting those three weeks. I have the purse here yet. It is as well filled as it was any day during the time. It is a great wonder that he has not come either for me or for the purse. It is hard to make out the meaning of it all. I suppose if he were coming that he would come the day he promised. I don't know what put him off it. One thing is certain enough. It was not for my good that he stayed away. He