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summary of changes in the fourth edition
a unique approach
My basic premise is that software development tools in all languages come with
large libraries, and many data structures are part of these libraries. I envision an
eventual shift in emphasis of data structures courses from implementation to use. In this
book I take a unique approach by separating the data structures into their specification
and subsequent implementation and taking advantage of an already existing data
structures library, the Java Collections API.
A subset of the Collections API suitable for most applications is discussed in a
single chapter (Chapter 6) in Part Two. Part Two also covers basic analysis techniques,
recursion, and sorting. Part Three contains a host of applications that use the
Collections API’s data structures. Implementation of the Collections API is not shown
until Part Four, once the data structures have already been used. Because the
Collections API is part of Java, students can design large projects early on, using
existing software components.
Despite the central use of the Collections API in this text, it is neither a book on the
Collections API nor a primer on implementing the Collections API specifically; it
remains a book that emphasizes data structures and basic problem-solving techniques.
Of course, the general techniques used in the design of data structures are applicable to
the implementation of the Collections API, so several chapters in Part Four include
Collections API implementations. However, instructors can choose the simpler
implementations in Part Four that do not discuss the Collections API protocol. Chapter
6, which presents the Collections API, is essential to understanding the code in Part
Three. I attempted to use only the basic parts of the Collections API.
Many instructors will prefer a more traditional approach in which each data structure
is defined, implemented, and then used. Because there is no dependency between
material in Parts Three and Four, a traditional course can easily be taught from this
book.
prerequisites
java
This textbook presents material using the Java programming language. Java is a
language that is often examined in comparison with C++. Java offers many benefits, and
programmers often view Java as a safer, more portable, and easier-to-use language than
C++.
The use of Java requires that some decisions be made when writing a textbook. Some
of the decisions made are as follows:
1. The minimum required compiler is Java 5. Please make sure you are using a
compiler that is Java 5-compatible.
2. GUIs are not emphasized. Although GUIs are a nice feature in Java, they seem
to be an implementation detail rather than a core Data Structures topic. We do
not use Swing in the text, but because many instructors may prefer to do so, a
brief introduction to Swing is provided in Appendix B.
3. Applets are not emphasized. Applets use GUIs. Further, the focus of the course
is on data structures, rather than language features. Instructors who would like
to discuss applets will need to supplement this text with a Java reference.
4. Inner classes are used. Inner classes are used primarily in the implementation
of the Collections API, and can be avoided by instructors who prefer to do so.
5. The concept of a pointer is discussed when reference variables are
introduced. Java does not have a pointer type. Instead, it has a reference type.
However, pointers have traditionally been an important Data Structures topic
that needs to be introduced. I illustrate the concept of pointers in other
languages when discussing reference variables.
6. Threads are not discussed. Some members of the CS community argue that
multithreaded computing should become a core topic in the introductory
programming sequence. Although it is possible that this will happen in the
future, few introductory programming courses discuss this difficult topic.
7. Some Java 5 features are not used. Including:
Static imports, not used because in my opinion it actually makes the code harder
to read.
Enumerated types, not used because there were few places to declare public
enumerated types that would be usable by clients. In the few possible places, it
did not seem to help the code’s readability.
text organization
Part One consists of four chapters that describe the basics of Java used throughout the
text. Chapter 1 describes primitive types and illustrates how to write basic programs in
Java. Chapter 2 discusses reference types and illustrates the general concept of a
pointer—even though Java does not have pointers—so that students learn this important
Data Structures topic. Several of the basic reference types (strings, arrays, files, and
Scanners) are illustrated, and the use of exceptions is discussed. Chapter 3 continues
this discussion by describing how a class is implemented. Chapter 4 illustrates the use
of inheritance in designing hierarchies (including exception classes and I/O) and
generic components. Material on design patterns, including the wrapper, adapter, and
decorator patterns can be found in Part One.
Part Two focuses on the basic algorithms and building blocks. In Chapter 5 a
complete discussion of time complexity and Big-Oh notation is provided. Binary search
is also discussed and analyzed. Chapter 6 is crucial because it covers the Collections
API and argues intuitively what the running time of the supported operations should be
for each data structure. (The implementation of these data structures, in both
Collections API-style and a simplified version, is not provided until Part Four). This
chapter also introduces the iterator pattern as well as nested, local, and anonymous
classes. Inner classes are deferred until Part Four, where they are discussed as an
implementation technique. Chapter 7 describes recursion by first introducing the notion
of proof by induction. It also discusses divide-and-conquer, dynamic programming, and
backtracking. A section describes several recursive numerical algorithms that are used
to implement the RSA cryptosystem. For many students, the material in the second half
of Chapter 7 is more suitable for a follow-up course. Chapter 8 describes, codes, and
analyzes several basic sorting algorithms, including the insertion sort, Shellsort,
mergesort, and quicksort, as well as indirect sorting. It also proves the classic lower
bound for sorting and discusses the related problems of selection. Finally, Chapter 9 is
a short chapter that discusses random numbers, including their generation and use in
randomized algorithms.
Part Three provides several case studies, and each chapter is organized around a
general theme. Chapter 10 illustrates several important techniques by examining games.
Chapter 11 discusses the use of stacks in computer languages by examining an algorithm
to check for balanced symbols and the classic operator precedence parsing algorithm.
Complete implementations with code are provided for both algorithms. Chapter 12
discusses the basic utilities of file compression and cross-reference generation, and
provides a complete implementation of both. Chapter 13 broadly examines simulation
by looking at one problem that can be viewed as a simulation and then at the more
classic event-driven simulation. Finally, Chapter 14 illustrates how data structures are
used to implement several shortest path algorithms efficiently for graphs.
Part Four presents the data structure implementations. Chapter 15 discusses inner
classes as an implementation technique and illustrates their use in the ArrayList
implementation. In the remaining chapters of Part Four, implementations that use simple
protocols (insert, find, remove variations) are provided. In some cases, Collections
API implementations that tend to use more complicated Java syntax (in addition to
being complex because of their large set of required operations) are presented. Some
mathematics is used in this part, especially in Chapters 19–21, and can be skipped at
the discretion of the instructor. Chapter 16 provides implementations for both stacks
and queues. First these data structures are implemented using an expanding array, then
they are implemented using linked lists. The Collections API versions are discussed at
the end of the chapter. General linked lists are described in Chapter 17. Singly linked
lists are illustrated with a simple protocol, and the more complex Collections API
version that uses doubly linked lists is provided at the end of the chapter. Chapter 18
describes trees and illustrates the basic traversal schemes. Chapter 19 is a detailed
chapter that provides several implementations of binary search trees. Initially, the basic
binary search tree is shown, and then a binary search tree that supports order statistics
is derived. AVL trees are discussed but not implemented, but the more practical red–
black trees and AA-trees are implemented. Then the Collections API TreeSet and
TreeMap are implemented. Finally, the B-tree is examined. Chapter 20 discusses hash
tables and implements the quadratic probing scheme as part of HashSet and HashMap,
after examination of a simpler alternative. Chapter 21 describes the binary heap and
examines heapsort and external sorting.
Part Five contains material suitable for use in a more advanced course or for general
reference. The algorithms are accessible even at the first-year level. However, for
completeness, sophisticated mathematical analyses that are almost certainly beyond the
reach of a first-year student were included. Chapter 22 describes the splay tree, which
is a binary search tree that seems to perform extremely well in practice and is
competitive with the binary heap in some applications that require priority queues.
Chapter 23 describes priority queues that support merging operations and provides an
implementation of the pairing heap. Finally, Chapter 24 examines the classic disjoint
set data structure.
The appendices contain additional Java reference material. Appendix A lists the
operators and their precedence. Appendix B has material on Swing, and Appendix C
describes the bitwise operators used in Chapter 12.
chapter dependencies
Generally speaking, most chapters are independent of each other. However, the
following are some of the notable dependencies.
Part One (Tour of Java): The first four chapters should be covered in their
entirety in sequence first, prior to continuing on to the rest of the text.
Chapter 5 (Algorithm Analysis): This chapter should be covered prior to
Chapters 6 and 8. Recursion (Chapter 7) can be covered prior to this chapter,
but the instructor will have to gloss over some details about avoiding inefficient
recursion.
Chapter 6 (The Collections API): This chapter can be covered prior to or in
conjunction with material in Part Three or Four.
Chapter 7 (Recursion): The material in Sections 7.1–7.3 should be covered
prior to discussing recursive sorting algorithms, trees, the Tic-Tac-Toe case
study, and shortest-path algorithms. Material such as the RSA cryptosystem,
dynamic programming, and backtracking (unless Tic-Tac-Toe is discussed) is
otherwise optional.
Chapter 8 (Sorting Algorithms): This chapter should follow Chapters 5 and 7.
However, it is possible to cover Shellsort without Chapters 5 and 7. Shellsort
is not recursive (hence there is no need for Chapter 7), and a rigorous analysis
of its running time is too complex and is not covered in the book (hence there is
little need for Chapter 5).
Chapter 15 (Inner Classes and Implementations of ArrayLists): This material
should precede the discussion of the Collections API implementations.
Chapters 16 and 17 (Stacks and Queues/Linked Lists): These chapters may be
covered in either order. However, I prefer to cover Chapter 16 first because I
believe that it presents a simpler example of linked lists.
Chapters 18 and 19 (Trees/Binary Search Trees): These chapters can be
covered in either order or simultaneously.
separate entities
mathematics
I have attempted to provide mathematical rigor for use in Data Structures courses that
emphasize theory and for follow-up courses that require more analysis. However, this
material stands out from the main text in the form of separate theorems and, in some
cases, separate sections or subsections. Thus it can be skipped by instructors in courses
that deemphasize theory.
In all cases, the proof of a theorem is not necessary to the understanding of the
theorem’s meaning. This is another illustration of the separation of an interface (the
theorem statement) from its implementation (the proof). Some inherently mathematical
material, such as Sections 7.4 (Numerical Applications of Recursion), can be skipped
without affecting comprehension of the rest of the chapter.
course organization
A crucial issue in teaching the course is deciding how the materials in Parts Two–Four
are to be used. The material in Part One should be covered in depth, and the student
should write one or two programs that illustrate the design, implementation, testing of
classes and generic classes, and perhaps object-oriented design, using inheritance.
Chapter 5 discusses Big-Oh notation. An exercise in which the student writes a short
program and compares the running time with an analysis can be given to test
comprehension.
In the separation approach, the key concept of Chapter 6 is that different data
structures support different access schemes with different efficiency. Any case study
(except the Tic-Tac-Toe example that uses recursion) can be used to illustrate the
applications of the data structures. In this way, the student can see the data structure and
how it is used but not how it is efficiently implemented. This is truly a separation.
Viewing things this way will greatly enhance the ability of students to think abstractly.
Students can also provide simple implementations of some of the Collections API
components (some suggestions are given in the exercises in Chapter 6) and see the
difference between efficient data structure implementations in the existing Collections
API and inefficient data structure implementations that they will write. Students can
also be asked to extend the case study, but again, they are not required to know any of
the details of the data structures.
Efficient implementation of the data structures can be discussed afterward, and
recursion can be introduced whenever the instructor feels it is appropriate, provided it
is prior to binary search trees. The details of sorting can be discussed at any time after
recursion. At this point, the course can continue by using the same case studies and
experimenting with modifications to the implementations of the data structures. For
instance, the student can experiment with various forms of balanced binary search trees.
Instructors who opt for a more traditional approach can simply discuss a case study
in Part Three after discussing a data structure implementation in Part Four. Again, the
book’s chapters are designed to be as independent of each other as possible.
exercises
Exercises come in various flavors; I have provided four varieties. The basic In Short
exercise asks a simple question or requires hand-drawn simulations of an algorithm
described in the text. The In Theory section asks questions that either require
mathematical analysis or asks for theoretically interesting solutions to problems. The In
Practice section contains simple programming questions, including questions about
syntax or particularly tricky lines of code. Finally, the Programming Projects section
contains ideas for extended assignments.
pedagogical features
The Key Concepts section lists important terms along with definitions and page
references.
The Common Errors section at the end of each chapter provides a list of
commonly made errors.
References for further reading are provided at the end of most chapters.
supplements
A variety of supplemental materials are available for this text. The following resources
are available at http://www.aw.com/cssupport for all readers of this textbook:
Source code files from the book. (The On the Internet section at the end of each
chapter lists the filenames for the chapter’s code.)
In addition, the following supplements are available to qualified instructors. To access
them, visit http://www.pearsonhighered.com/cs and search our catalog by title for Data
Structures and Problem Solving Using Java. Once on the catalog page for this book,
select the link to Instructor Resources.
PowerPoint slides of all figures in the book.
Instructor’s Guide that illustrates several approaches to the material. It includes
samples of test questions, assignments, and syllabi. Answers to select exercises
are also provided.
acknowledgments
Many, many people have helped me in the preparation of this book. Many have already
been acknowledged in the prior edition and the related C++ version. Others, too
numerous to list, have sent e-mail messages and pointed out errors or inconsistencies in
explanations that I have tried to fix in this edition.
For this edition I would like to thank my editor Michael Hirsch, editorial assistant
Stephanie Sellinger, senior production supervisor Marilyn Lloyd, and project manager
Rebecca Lazure and her team at Laserwords. Thanks also go to Allison Michael and
Erin Davis in marketing and Elena Sidorova and Suzanne Heiser of Night & Day
Design for a terrific cover.
Some of the material in this text is adapted from my textbook Efficient C
Programming: A Practical Approach (Prentice Hall, 1995) and is used with
permission of the publisher. I have included end-of-chapter references where
appropriate.
My World Wide Web page, , will contain
updated source code, an errata list, and a link for receiving bug reports.
M. A. W.
Miami, Florida
contents
1.2.2
1.3.2 constants
1.5.7 and
1.6 methods
1.6.1 overloading of method names
summary
key concepts
common errors
on the internet
exercises
references
2.3 strings
2.3.1 basics of string manipulation
2.4 arrays
2.4.1 declaration, assignment, and methods
2.4.3
summary
key concepts
common errors
on the internet
exercises
references
3.3 javadoc
"They may settle what they like, Kitty; but they can't make me do
what I am determined not to do; so as far as that goes, you have
nothing to fear."
"Well, Winny dear, I'm glad I know the truth; for now I won't be
afeard of crossing you, at any rate; and I know another that
wouldn't be sorry to know as much as I do."
"Ah, then now, Winny, can't you guess? or maybe it's what you know
better than I do myself."
If this was not leading Kate Mulvey to the answer most devoutly
wished for, I do not know what the meaning of the latter part of the
sentence could be. It was what the lawyers would call a "leading
question." The excitement too of Winny, during the pause which
ensued, showed very plainly the object with which she spoke, and
the anxiety she felt for the result.
Kate did not in the least misunderstand her. Perhaps she knew more
of her thoughts than Winny was aware of, and that it was not then
she found them out for the first time; for Kate was a shrewd
observer. She had gained her own object, and it was only fair she
should now permit Winny to gain hers.
"Kitty dear, there's nobody can deny what you say, and for that self-
same reason I believed what the neighbors said regarding you and
him."
"For your sake, and for his, Kitty, it could not fret me; but for my
own sake—there now, don't ask me."
"Kate Mulvey, I'll tell you the truth, as I believe you have told it to
me. For many a long day I'm striving to keep myself from liking that
boy on your account. I think, Kate, if I hadn't a penny-piece in the
world no more than yourself, I would have done my very best to
take him from you; it would have been a fair fight then, Kitty; but I
didn't like to use any odds against you, Kitty dear; and I never gave
him so much as one word to go upon."
"I'm very thankful to you, Winny dear; an' signs on the boy, he
thought you were for a high match with rich Tom Murdock; an' any
private chat Emon an' I ever had was about that same thing."
"Then he has spoken to you about me! O Kitty, dear Kitty, what used
he to be saying of me? do tell me."
"The never a word I'll tell you, Winny dear. Let him spake to
yourself; which maybe he'll do when he finds you give Tom the go-
by; but I'm book-sworn; so don't ask me."
"Well, Kitty, I'm glad I happened to come across you this morning;
for now we understand each other, and there's no fear of our
interrupting one another in our thoughts any more."
By this time the girls had wandered along the road to nearly a mile
from home. They had both gained their object, though not in the
roundabout sounding manner which we had anticipated, and they
were now both happy. They were no longer even the imaginary
rivals which it appears was all they had ever been; and as this light
broke upon them the endearing epithets of "dear" and "jewel"
became more frequent and emphatic than was usual in a
conversation of the same length.
She could not hope, however,—perhaps she did not wish,—for any
interview with Emon just then, when her change of manner,
emanating from her knowledge of facts, might draw him out, for her
heart now told her that this would surely come. She had some fears
that her father might sound her about Emon, and she wished to be
able to say with a clear conscience that he had never spoken, or
even hinted at the subject, to her; but she was determined,
nevertheless, to act toward her father, and subsequently toward Tom
Murdock, as if her troth and Emon's had been already irrevocably
plighted. She was in hopes that if she had an interview with her
father upon the subject of Tom Murdock in the first instance, the
unalterable dislike which she would exhibit to the match might save
her the horrible necessity of going through the business with the
man himself. But poor Winny had settled matters in her own mind in
an order in which they did not occur; and it so happened that,
although she thought her heart had gone through enough
excitement for one day, and that she would, for the rest of that
evening, hide beneath the happiness which was creeping over her,
yet she was mistaken.
Tom Murdock had seen her pass down the road; and hastily putting
on one of his best coats and his very best hat, he followed her,
determined to have good news in return for his father's advice; but
he was disappointed. Before he could overtake her, he perceived
that she had been joined by Kate Mulvey, and that they went
coshering away together. Of course he saw that it was "no go," as
he said, for that time; but he would watch her returning, when he
could not fail to meet her alone.
"Hang me," said he, as he saw them walking away, "if I don't think
Kate Mulvey is the finest girl of the two, and very nearly as
handsome as ever she was—some people say handsomer. If it was
not for her money, and that grand farm she'll have, I'd let her see
how soon I could get a girl in every other respect as good, if not
better, than she is. Look at the two of them: upon my faith, I think
Kate is the lightest stepper of the two."
Tom paused for a few moments, if not in his thoughts, at least in the
expression of them; for all the above had been uttered aloud. Then,
as if they had received a sudden spur which made him start, he
muttered with his usual scowl, "No, no; I'll follow it up to the death
if necessary. That whelp shall never have it to say that Tom Murdock
failed, and perhaps add, where he did not. I'll have her, by fair
means if I can; but if not, by them five crosses," and he clasped his
hands together, "she shall be mine by foul. Sure it is not possible
they are going to meet that whelp this blessed moment!" And he
dogged them at so long a distance behind that, even if their
conversation had been less interesting, they would not have been
aware of his stealthy espionage.
When they turned to return, he turned also, and was then so far
before them that, with the bushes and the bends in the road, he
could not be perceived. Thus he watched and watched, until, to his
great satisfaction, he saw them part company at Kate's house.
Winny Cavana, as we have seen, had still some distance to walk ere
she reached the lane turning up to her father's; and Kate having
gone in and shut the door, Tom strolled on, as if by mere accident,
until he met Winny on the road.
"Have you been walking far, Winny? Upon my life, it seems to agree
with you. It has improved your beauty, Winny, if that was possible."
"Tom, don't flatter me; you're always paying me compliments, and I
often told you that I did not like it. Beside, you did not let me
answer your question until you begin at your old work. I walked
about a mile of the road with Kate Mulvey."
"Kate Mulvey is a complete nice girl. You are not tired, Winny, are
you?"
"Ah, then, what would tire me? is it a mile of a walk, and the road
under my feet? I could walk to Boher-na-Milthiogue and back this
minute."
By this time they had come to the end of the lane turning up to
Rathcash House.
"I'm glad to find you are not tired, Winny. You may as well come on
toward the cross; I have something to say to you."
Winny felt that the thing was coming, and she wished to appear as
careless and unconscious as possible. When she recollected all Kate
Mulvey had said to her, she was just in the humor to have it over.
Upon reflection, too, she was not sorry that it should so happen
before the grand passage between her and her father upon the
same subject. She could the more easily dispose of the case with
him, having already disposed of it with Tom himself. She therefore
went on, past the end of her own lane; and Tom, taking this for an
unequivocal token in his favor, was beginning to get really fond of
her—at least he thought so.
"Well, Winny, I'm very glad I happened to meet you, and that you
seem inclined to take a walk with me; for to tell you the truth,
Winny, I can't help thinking of you."
But Winny did not smile or look at him, as he had hoped she would
have done.
"You know it is, Winny dear; but I can keep the truth, in plain
English, from you no longer."
And Tom could not tell from her manner, or from the tone of her
voice, whether she was in earnest or only joking. He preferred the
former.
"Well, Winny Cavana, if you knew how much I love you, you would
surely take pity on me, my own colleen dhass."
"In earnest! Yes, Winny, by the bright sky over me—and it is not
brighter than your own eyes—I am in earnest! It is a long day now
since I first took to loving you, though it was only of late you might
have picked it out of my looks. Ah, Winny dear, if you hadn't a
penny-piece but yourself, I would have spoken to you long ago. But
there was a great deal of talk among the neighbors about the joining
of them two farms together, and I was afraid you might think—"
"I understand. You were afraid I might think it was my money and
the farm you were after, and not myself. Was not that it, Tom?"
"Just so, Winny. But I am indeed in earnest, and for yourself alone,
Winny dear; and I'm willing to prove my words by making you my
wife, and mistress of all I have coming Shraftide, God willing." And
he took her by the hand.
She withdrew it at once, after a slight struggle, and replied, "Tom
Murdock, put such a thing totally out of your head, for it can never
be—never, by the same oath you swore just now, and that is the
blue heaven above me!" And she turned back toward the lane.
"I cross, Winny. Don't say that. I know that your father and mine
would both be willing for the match. As to what your father would
do for you, Winny mavourneen, I don't care a boughalawn lui;
for I'm rich enough without a cross of his money or his land. My own
father will make over to me by lawful deed, the day you become my
wife, his house and furniture, together with the whole of his land
and cattle. Your father, I know, Winny, would do the same for you,
for he has but yourself belonging to him; and although your fortune
or your land has nothing to say to my love, yet, Winny, dear,
between us, if you will consent to my prayer, for it is nothing less,
there's few grandees in the country could compare to you,—I'll say
nothing for myself, Winny dear, only say the word."
"No, Tom, I'll say no word but what I'm after saying; and you are
only making matters worse, talking of grandeur and riches that way.
You would only be striving at what you would not be able for, nor
allowed to keep up, Tom, and as for myself, I'd look well, wouldn't I?
stuck up on a new sidecar, and a drawn bonnet and feathers, coming
down the lane of a Sunday, and the neighbors thronging to mass,—
aping my betters, and getting myself and yourself laughed at. Devil
a one, Tom, but they'd call you Lord Boher-na-Milthiogue. No,
Tom; put it out of your head; that is my first and last word to you."
And she hastened her step.
"No, Winny, you won't leave me that way, will you? By all the books
that were ever shut and opened, you may make what you please of
me. I'll never ask to put yourself or myself a pin's-point beyond what
we always were, either in grandeur or anything else. But wouldn't it
be a fine thing, Winny dear, to have our children able to hold up
their heads with the best in the county, in a manner?"
"Ay, in a manner, indeed. No, Tom; they would never be anything
but the Murdocks of Rathcashmore—grandchildren of ould Mick
Murdock and ould Ned Cavana, the common farmers."
"And what have you to say against old Mick Murdock?" exclaimed
Tom, beginning to feel that his suit was hopeless, and flaming up
inwardly in the spirit which was most natural to him.
"Take my advice, Tom Murdock"—this was the second time she had
found it necessary to overcome her antipathy to pronounce the
name—"take my advice, and never speak to me again upon the
subject. Sure, there's many a fine handsome girl would be glad to
listen to you; and I'll now ask you one question before we part.
Wouldn't it be better and fitter for you to bestow yourself and your
land upon some handsome young girl who has nothing of her own,
and was, maybe, well inclined for you, and to rise her up to be
independent, than to be striving to force yourself and it upon them
that doesn't want your land, and cannot care for yourself? Why don't
you look about you? There's many a girl in the parish as handsome,
and handsomer, than I am, that would just jump at you."
Winny had no sooner uttered these latter words than she regretted
them. She did not wish Tom Murdock to know that she had
overheard him. She was glad however to perceive that, in his anger,
he had not recognized them as a quotation from his conversation
with his father at the gate.
There was a silence now for a minute or two. Tom's blood was 'up;
his hopes of success were over, and he was determined to speak his
mind in an opposite direction.
"I'm d—d but you have, Winny Cavana; and I'll answer your
question with one much like it. And would not it be better and fitter
for you—of course it would—to bestow yourself and your fortune
and your land upon some handsome young fellow that has nothing
but his day's wages, and was well inclined for you, and to rise him
up out of poverty, than to spoil a good chance for a friend by joining
yours to them that has enough without it? Why didn't you follow up
your first question with that, Winny Cavana?" And he stopped short,
enjoying the evident confusion he had caused.
She was right. It was a mere paraphrase of her own question to him,
and only shows how two clever people may hit upon the same idea,
and express it in nearly the same language. And the question was
prompted by his suspicions in the quarter already intimated.
"Yes, I see how it is," he exclaimed, breaking the silence, and giving
way to his ungovernable temper. "But, by the hatred I bear to that
whelp, that shall never be, at all events. I'll go to your father this
moment, and let him know what's going on—"
By this time they had reached the end of the lane again; and Winny,
with her heart on fire, and her face in a flame, hurried to the house.
Fortunately, her father had not returned from the fields, and rushing
to her own room, she locked the door, took off her bonnet and cloak,
and "threw herself" (I believe that is the proper expression) upon
the bed. Perhaps a sensation novelist would add that she "burst into
an agony of tears."
CHAPTER XII.
Winny lay for nearly an hour meditating upon the past, the present,
and the future. Upon the whole she did not regret what had
occurred, either before or after she had met Tom Murdock, and she
cooled down into her accustomed self-possession sooner than she
had supposed possible.
One grand object had been attained. Tom Murdock had come to the
point, and she had given him his final and irrevocable answer, if she
had twenty fathers thundering parental authority in her ears. A spot
of blue sky had appeared too in the east, above the outline of
Shanvilla mountain, in which the morning-star of her young life
might soon arise, and shine brightly through the flimsy clouds—or
she could call them nothing but flimsy now—which had hitherto
darkened her hopes. What if Tom Murdock was a villain?—and she
believed he was: what dared he—what could he do? Pshaw, nothing!
But, oh that the passage-of-arms between herself and her father
was over! "Then," thought she, "all might be plain sailing before
me."
But, Winny, supposing all these matters fairly over,—and the battle
with your father is likely to be as cranky and tough upon his part as
it is certain to be straightforward and determined upon yours,—there
will still be a doubtful blank upon your mind and in your heart, and
one the solution of which you cannot, even with Kate Mulvey's
assistance, seek an occasion to fill up. Ah, no, you must trust to
chance for time and opportunity for that most important of all your
interviews. And what if you be mistaken after all, and, if mistaken,
crushed for ever by the result?
Let Winny alone for that. Women seldom make a bad guess in such
a case.
Winny's mental and nervous system having both regained their
ordinary degree of composure, she left her room, and proceeded
through the house upon her usual occupations. She was not,
however, quite free from a certain degree of anxiety at the
anticipated interview with her father. He had not in any way
intimated his intention to ask certain questions touching any
communication she might have received from Tom Murdock,
together with her answers thereto; and yet she felt certain that on
the first favorable occasion he would ask the questions, without any
notice whatever. She had subsided for the day, after a very exciting
morning upon two very different subjects. Yes; she called them
different, though they were pretty much akin; and she would now
prefer a cessation of her anxiety for the remainder of that afternoon
at least.
So far she was fortunate. Her father did not come in until it was very
late; and being much fatigued by his stewardship of the day, he did
not appear inclined to enter upon any important subject, but fell
asleep in his arm-chair after a hasty and (Winny observed) scarcely-
touched dinner.
Winny was an affectionate good child. She was devotedly fond of her
father, with whose image were associated all her thoughts of
happiness and love since she was able to clasp his knees and
clamber to his lap. Even yet no absolute allegiance of a decided
nature claimed the disloyalty of her heart; but she felt that the time
was not far distant when either he must abdicate his royalty, or she
must rebel.
"It is clearly my duty now," she said to herself, "not to delay this
business about Tom, upon the chance of his being the first to speak
of it: to-morrow, before the cares and labors of the day occupy his
mind, and perhaps make him ever so little a bit cross, I will tell him
what has happened. I am afraid he will be very angry with me for
refusing that man; but it cannot be helped: not for all the gold they
both possess would I marry Tom Murdock. I shall not betray his
sordid villany, however, until all other resources fail; but I know my
father will scorn the fellow as I do when he knows the whole truth—
but ah, I have no witness," thought she, "and they will make a liar of
me."
If the old man could have ever perceived any difference in the kind
and affectionate attention so uniformly bestowed upon him by his
fond daughter, perhaps it might have been upon that night after he
awoke from a rather lengthened nap in his easy chair.
Winny had sat during the whole time gazing upon the loved features
of the sleeping old man. She could not call to mind, from the day
upon which her memory first became conscious, a single unkind or
even a harsh word which he had uttered to her. That he could be
more than harsh to others she knew, and she was now in her
nineteenth year; fifteen clear years, she might say, of unbroken
memory. She could remember her fifth birthday quite well, and so
much as a snappish word or a commanding look she had never
received from him; not, God knows, but he had good reason, many's
the time, for more than either. And there he lay now, calm, and fast
asleep, the only one belonging to her on the wide earth, and she
meditating an opposition in her heart to his plans respecting her—
all, she knew, arising from the great love he had for her, and the
frustration of which, she was aware, would vex him sore. "Oh, Tom
Murdock, Tom Murdock, why are you Tom Murdock? or Emon-a-
knock, why did I ever see you?" was the conclusion to this train of
thought, as she sat still, gazing on her sleeping father.
Here it was her father awakened; and Winny had only time to
conclude her thoughts by wondering how that fellow dare call Emon
"a whelp."
"Well, father dear," she said, "you have had a nice nap; you must
have been very tired. I wish I was a man, that I might help you on
the farm."
"Winny darlin', I wouldn't have you anything but what you are for
the world. I have not much to do at all on the farm but to poke
about, and see that the men I have at work don't rob me by idling;
and I must say I never saw honester work than what they leave
after them. But, Winny, I came across old Murdock shortly after I
went out, and he came over my land with me, and I went over his
with him, so that we had rather a long walk. I'll engage he's as tired
as what I am. I did not think his farm was so extensive as it is, or
that the land was so good, or in such to-au-op caun-di-shon." And
poor old Ned yawned and stretched himself.
She knew that if her father had got so far as where he had been
interrupted by the yawn when he was fresh after breakfast, the
whole thing would have come out. She was, however, a considerate
girl; and although she knew there was at that moment a good
opening, where a word would have brought the matter on, she knew
that the result would have completely driven rest and sleep from the
poor old man's pillow for the night, tired and fatigued as he was.
She therefore adroitly changed the conversation to his own comforts
in a cup of tea before he went to bed.
"Well, father dear, I'll soon give you what will refresh you."
While Winny was busying herself for the tea, putting down a huge
kettle of water in the kitchen, and rattling the cups and saucers until
you'd think she was trying to break them, the old man wakened up
into a train of thought not altogether dissimilar to that which Winny
herself had indulged in over his sleeping form.
Winny was quite right. The whole matter had been discussed on that
day between the old men during their perambulations round the two
farms; the respective value and condition of the land forming a
minute calculation not unconnected with the other portion of their
discourse—settlements, deeds of conveyance, etc., etc., had all been
touched upon.
Winny was right in another of her surmises, although at the time she
scarcely believed so herself. Old Murdock, taking his cue from Tom,
told old Ned that if he found Winny at all averse to marrying Tom, he
was certain young Lennon would be at the bottom of it—at least
Tom had more than hinted such to him.
Old Ned was furious at this, declaring that if Tom Murdock was never
to the fore, his daughter should never bestow his long and hard
earnings upon a pauper like that, looking for a day's wages here and
there, and as often without it as with it; how dare the likes of him
lift his eyes to his little girl! But he'd soon put a stop to that, if there
was anything in it, let what would turn up. Every penny-piece he
was worth in the world was in his own power, and there was a very
easy way of bringing Miss Winny to her senses, if she had that wild
notion in her head.
Poor old Ned, in his indignation for what he thought Winny's welfare,
forgot that she was the only being belonging to him in the world,
and that when it came to the point he would find it impossible to put
this threat of "cutting her off" into execution.
Old Murdock was delighted with this tirade against young Lennon,
whom he looked upon as the only real obstacle to Tom's acquisition
of land and money, to say nothing of a handsome wife.
"Be studdy with her, Ned," said he, "she has a very floostherin' way
wid her where you're concerned; I often remarked it. Don't let her
come round you, Ned, wid her pillaverin' about that 'whelp,' as Tom
calls him."
"I know that, Mick; an' with the blessing I'll spake to her in the
mornin' upon the subjict. I dunna did Tom ever spake to herself,
Mick?"
"Very well, Mick; I'll have an eye to them; maybe it would be betther
let Tom himself spake first. These girls are so dam' proud; an' I can
tell you it is betther not vex Winny."
Of course these two old men said a great deal more; but the above
is the pith of what set old Ned Cavana thinking the greater part of
the night; for the tea Winny made was very strong, and, as he said,
he was thirsty, having missed his tumbler of punch after dinner. He
fell asleep, however, much sooner than he would have done had the
sequel to his plans become known to him before he went to bed.
CHAPTER XIII.
The next morning Winny presented herself at the breakfast-table,
looking more attractive and more tidily dressed, her rich glossy hair
better brushed and smoothed down more carefully than was usual at
that hour of the day. Her daily custom, like all other country girls
who had household concerns to look after, was not to "tidy herself
up" until they had been completed. She was not ignorant, however,
of the great advantage which personal neatness added to beauty
gave a young girl who had a cause to plead. And although the man
upon whom she might have to throw herself for mercy was her
father, she was not slow on this occasion to claim their advocacy for
what they might be worth. But she had also prayed to God to guide
her in all her replies to the parent whom she was bound to honor
and obey, as well as to Love. She had not contented herself with
having set out her own appearance to the best advantage, but she
had also set out the breakfast-table in the same way. The old blue-
and-white teapot had been left on the dresser, and a dark-brown
one, with a figured plated lid, taken out of the cupboard of Sunday
china. Two cups and saucers, and plates "to match," with two real
ivory-hafted knives laid beside them. There was also some white
broken sugar in a glass bowl, which Winny had won in a lottery at
Carrick-on-Shannon from a "bazaar-man." There was nothing
extraordinary in all this for persons of their means, though, to tell
the truth, it was not the every-day paraphernalia of their breakfast-
table. Winny had not been idle either in furnishing the plates with a
piping hot potato-cake, a thing of which her father was particularly
fond, and which she often gave him; but this one had a few
carraway-seeds through it, and was supposed to be better than
usual. Then she had a couple of slices of nice thin bacon fried with
an egg, which she knew he liked too. All this was prepared, and
waiting for her father, whose fatigue of the day before had caused
him to sleep over-long.
While waiting for him, it struck Winny that he must think such
preparations out of the common, and perhaps done for a purpose.
Upon reflection she was almost sorry she had not confined her
embellishments to her own personal appearance, and even that, she
began to feel, might have been as well let alone also. But she had
little time now for reflection, for she heard her father's step, as he
came down stairs.
"Good morrow, father," she said; "how do you find yourself to-day? I
hope you rested well after your long walk yesterday."
"After a while I did, Winny; but the tea you made was very strong,
an' I didn't sleep for a long time after I went to bed."
"Well, 'a hair of the hound,' you know, father dear. I have a good
cup for you now, too; it will not do you any harm in the morning
when you have the whole day before you. And I have a nice potato-
cake for you, for I know you like it."
"Troth I b'lieve you have, Winny; an' I smell the carraways that I
like. But, Winny, sure the ould blue teapot's not broken, is it?"
"No, father; but I was busy with the potato-cake this morning, and
had not time to wash it out last night, so I took out number one to
give it an airing; and I put down the other things to match."
The portion of this excuse which was true was far greater than that
which was not; and Winny, who as a general rule was truthful, was
satisfied with it—and, reader, so must you be.
"Never mind, Winny, you are mistress here, an' I don't want any
explanation; it wasn't that made me spake; but I'd be sorry th' ould
blue teapot was bruck, for we have it since afore you were well in
your teens. You're lookin' very well this mornin', Winny agra."
"Hush, father; eat your cake, and don't talk nonsense. There's an
egg that black Poll laid this morning, and here's some butter I
finished not five minutes before you came in yesterday evening.
Shall I give you some tea?"
"If you please, Winny dear." And the old man looked at his daughter
with undeniable admiration.
But this suspense on both sides must come to an end. Old Ned, from
his conversation with Mick Murdock, had determined not to speak to
his daughter until he knew Tom had done so. But Winny did not
know this, and dreaded every moment a thunder-clap would come
which she was herself preparing for her father, and she was anxious,
if it was only for the sake of propriety, to tell her story unprovoked.
The old man now stood up from the table, saying he would be likely
to be out all day, as he was preparing to get down some wheat. But
Winny, when it came to the point, could only stammer out in a
feeble voice, that she wanted to speak to him before he went.
"Now's your time, Winny dear, for I have a great dale to do before
dinner-time; an' I must be off to the men."
Winny knew that all this was uttered under a misconception, and it
gave her but little comfort. There was one part of it, however, she
would not forget.
"Oh, father," she sobbed out upon his breast, "Tom Murdock has
asked me to marry him." And the tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Why then, Winny dear, dhry up them tears; sure I know they're on
my account, at the thoughts of partin' me; but won't you be livin' at
the doore with me while I last? Isn't it what I always hoped an'
prayed for?—och, Winny, Winny, but you're the lucky girl this day,
an' I'm the lucky man, for it will add ten years to my life."
And he kissed her yielding lips over and over again. But she did not
speak; while the big tears continued to course themselves down her
pale but beautiful cheeks.
"Don't—don't, Winny asthore; don't be crying on my account; sure I
may say we'll not have to part at all. Mick an' I have it all settled,
mavourneen; he's to build you a grand new house where th' ould
one stan's, an' I'm to furnish it from top to toe; and Mick an' I will
live here, not three hundred yards from the pair of you. Oh, Winny,
Winny, but it's I is the happy man this day! There, don't be cryin', I
tell you; sure I would not gainsay you for the world;" and he kissed
her again. But still she did not speak.
"There, Winny, there; don't be sobbin' an' cryin', I tell you. Why,
what's the matther with you, Winny mavrone?"
"Oh, father, father, it never can be!" she exclaimed in broken sobs,
and clinging to his neck closer than ever.
"I'd, father—indeed I did. I never can care for Tom Murdock; father,
I could never be happy with that man. Don't ask me to marry him."
"Is the girl mad? To be sure I will, Winny. There's but the two of you
in it an' with Mick's farm an' mine joined,—the leases are all as one
as 'free simple,'—you'd be as grand as many ladies an' gentlemen in
the county;" and he disengaged himself from her arms, and strode
toward the door.
"Father, don't go!" she cried; "for God's sake don't leave me that
way!"
"Winny, it's what I'm greatly surprised at you, so I am. My whole life
has been spent in puttin' together a dacent little fortun' for you; I
never had one on airth I loved but yourself an' your poor mother—
God rest her sowl! I never spoke a cross word to you, Winny jewel,
since I followed her to the grave, four days after you were born; an'
now, in my old days, when I haven't long to last, you're goin' to
break my heart, an' shorten them same. Oh, Winny, Winny, say it's
only jokin' you are, an' I'll forgive you, cruel as it was."
"No, father, I'm telling you the real truth; people seldom joke with
the tears running down their cheeks; look at them, father. I know all
you say is true; and indeed it will break my own heart to oppose
you, if you do not yield. But listen here, father dear; sure after all
your love and kindness to me for the last eighteen or twenty years, I
may say, you won't go now and spoil it all by crossing my happiness
without any necessity for it. Tom put all the grandeur and wealth
before me himself, that the joining of the two farms and marrying
him would bring to me. But it is no use, father; I never liked that
man, and I never can. Oh, don't ask me, father asthore; I'm
contented and happy as I am."
"Winny, I never found you out in a lie since you could first spake, an'
I'm sure you won't tell me one now. Listen to me, Winny. Tom
Murdock is a fine, handsome young fellow, an' well to do in the
world, with a grand education, an' fit to hould his own anywhere;
and I say he's any young girl's fancy, or ought to be, at any rate.
You an' he have been reared at the doore with each other. What you
are yourself, Winny asthore, I need not say, for every one that sees
you knows it; and well they may, for sure you spake for yourself. It
seldom happens—indeed, Winny, I never knew it—that a boy an' girl
like you an' Tom, reared at the doore that way, fail but what they
take a likin' to each other. It seems Tom done his part, both as to
the likin' an' spakin', as he ought to do in both; but you, Winny, have
done neither. Now, Winny, I can't but think that's very strange, an' I
have but the one way to riddle it. Tell me now, honestly and plainly,
is there any one that cum afore Tom in his request? Answer me that,
Winny?"
"I win, father, honestly and truly. It is not that any one has come
between me and Tom that made me refuse him. The very thing that
you say, of our being reared at the door with one another, has made
me dislike him. I have seen too much of his ways, and heard too
many of his words, ever to like him, father; there is no use in trying
to make me, for I never can."
"But, Winny jewel, you have hardly answered my question yet. Are
you secretly promised, Winny, to any other young man that you're
afeard I wouldn't like? that's the plain question. The truth now,
Winny,—the truth, Winny!"
"No, father, certainly not. Tom Murdock is the only man that ever
asked me."
"Was there ever anything betune you an' young Lennon, Emon-a-
knock, as I have heard you call him myself?"
"There, father dear, don't be angry with your poor colleen; she'll do
better than to marry riches with misery. Thank God, and you, father,
she will have more than enough without coveting Tom Murdock's
share." And she held up her beautiful lips, and looked in the old
man's face with eyes swimming in tears.
Old Ned had fought the battle badly, and lost it. He bent down his
head to meet his daughter's caress, and pressed her to his heart.
"There, Winny mavourneen," he exclaimed; "I have not loved you as
the apple of my eye, since your poor mother died, for me to thwart
you now. You shall never marry Tom Murdock except with your own
free will and consent, asthore. As you say, Winny dear, we neither
want nor covet his share. But sure, Winny dear, I thought you were
for him all along."
"Oh, thank you, thank you a thousand times, father dear; that is so
like you. I knew you would not break your Winny's heart."
But Winny Cavana was too honorable, even toward the man she
hated, to tell her father of the conversation she had overheard
between old Murdock and his son at the gate. She had gained her
cause without that.
CHAPTER XIV.
Tom Murdock had no fixed purpose in anywhere he went after Winny
Cavana left him discomfited upon the road. He wandered on past
Kate Mulvey's, on toward Shanvilla, but not with any hope or wish to
come across Edward Lennon. His intentions of "dealing with him"
were yet distant and undefined. What naturally occupied his
thoughts was the humiliation he felt at Winny Cavana having refused
him. Although he had complained to his father "that he did not think
she was for him," yet upon a due consideration of his personal
appearance, and his position in the country, he felt persuaded in his
own mind that his father was right, and that nothing was required to
secure success but to go boldly and straightforward to work. Tom
had hinted to his father, although the old man had not observed it,
or if so, had taken no notice of it, that there were more reasons than
he was aware of for his wishing to secure Winny Cavana's ready
money at all events; and his exclamation when his father spoke of
only the interest, might have awakened him to the dread, at least,
that there really was some cause, with which he was unacquainted,
why he dwelt so much more on the subject of her fortune than the
land. The fact was so. Tom Murdock was a worse young man than
any one—except his immediate associates—was aware of. In
addition to his other accomplishments, perhaps I should rather say
his attributes, he possessed a degree of worldly cunning which
would have sufficed to keep any four ordinary young men out of
trouble. But he required it all, for he had four times more villany—
not to answer for, for it was unknown, but on his conscience—than
any young man of like age in the parish.
Tom Murdock had practically learned some of the above truths by his
experience in life, short as it was, better than anything he had
learned at Rathcash national school. The later part of it was what he
now feared, but did not wish to learn.
Tom could not have been in the habit of going to Dublin, to Armagh,
and Sligo (no one knew in what capacity), three or four times a year,
where he played cards and bet high, without money of his own;
supposing even that his expenses of the road (which was shrewdly
suspected) had been paid. He could not have sent half-a-dozen
young friends to America, and compromised scores of actions ere
they came before a court of law, without money. He could not have
kept a brace of greyhounds, and a race-mare, at Church's hotel in
Carrick-on-Shannon, as "Mr. Marsden's," without money; and more
money in all these cases, from the secrecy which was required, than
almost the actual cost might involve. There were other smaller
matters, too, which increased the necessity for Tom Murdock to be
always in possession of some ready cash. This, from his position as
heir to Rathcashmore, and heir presumptive, if not apparent, to
Rathcash alongside of it, he had as yet found no difficulty in
procuring upon his own personal security; and to do him justice, he
had hitherto avoided mixing up his father's name or responsibility in
any of his borrowing transactions. Then there was the usurious
interest which these money-lenders, be they private or public,
charge upon loans, to be added to Tom's liabilities. If he was
pressed by Paul, he robbed Peter to pay him; and when (after long
forbearance) he was pressed by Peter, he robbed Paul back again.
Upon all these and such-like occasions, Winny Cavana's fortune,
which he said would be paid down, was the promptest guarantee he
could hold out for payment; for ultimately, he said, they could not
lose, as he must some day or other "pop into the old chap's shoes,"
and in the meantime he was paying the interest regularly.
Winny Cavana's instinct had not deceived her; but had she known
one-half as much as some of Tom Murdock's bosom friends could tell
her, she would have openly spurned him, and not have treated his
advances with even the forced consideration she had done.
How could he face his father, too? He would undoubtedly lay his
failure to the score of his own impetuous and uncouth manner of
seeking her favor; for he had often charged him with both,
particularly toward Winny Cavana. One or two of his creditors had
given up even the pretence of being civil, and had sworn "they
would go to his father for payment, if not promptly settled with."
The old man had missed him "from about the place" all the
forenoon, and had naturally set down his absence to the right cause.
He had been candid in his advice to his son, "to spake up bowldly,
and at wanst, to Winny;" and he was sincere in his belief that she
would "take him hoppin." This day, suspecting he was on the
mission, he had "kep' himself starvin'," and delayed the dinner for
his return. He had ordered Nancy Feehily to have "a young roast
goose, an' a square of bacon, an' greens, for dinner agen misther
Tom cem home." He anticipated "grand chuckling" over Tom's
success, of which he made no more doubt than he did of his own
existence.
"At last, Tom a wochal, you're cum," he said, as his son entered the
door. "But where the sorra have you been? I think Winny's at home
this betther nor two hours, for I seen her going in. Well, Tom, you
devil! didn't I tell you how it id be?—dhitidtch!" he added, making
an extraordinary noise with his tongue against the roof of his mouth,
and giving his son a poke in the ribs with his forefinger.
"No, but did not I tell you how it would be? There, father! that
bubble's burst, and I'm sorry I ever made an onshiough of myself."
"As plain as the palm of my hand, father. I put the whole thing
before her in the kindest and fondest manner ever a man spoke. I
told her how my whole heart and soul was waiting for her this three
or four years past—God forgive me for the lie."
"Amen, Tom, if it was one; but maybe it wasn't, man. You're vexed
now, Tom agra; but it won't be so. I tell you she only wants to see if
you'll folly her up afther she giving you one refusal. What did she
say, agra?"
Here Nancy Feehily brought in the roast goose and square of bacon,
with a dish of smoking "Brown's fancies" in their jackets, and a
check was given to the conversation. The old man, as he had said,
had "kep' himself starvin'," and Tom could not keep himself from a
like infirmity in his ramble through the country. He was not one of
those who permitted a mental annoyance to produce a physical
spite in return; he did not, as they say, cut his nose to vex his face,
nor quarrel with his bread and butter; so, between them, they did
ample justice to Nancy Feehily's abilities as a cook.
"You don't mane to say she refused you, Tom?" said the old man,
after the girl had left, and while he was waiting for his son to cut
him another slice of bacon.
"She did, father; but let me alone about her now: I'll tell you no
more until I make myself a rousing tumbler of punch after dinner.
She shall not take away my appetite, at all events."
Nor did she. Tom never ate a better dinner in his life, and his father
followed his example. Old Mick had taken the hint, and said no more
upon the subject. There was nothing but helping of goose, and slices
of bacon, and cutting large smiling potatoes through the middle,
with a dangerous sound of the knife upon the cloth, until the meal
was ended.
Then, when the things had been removed, and Tom had made his
rouser to his satisfaction, and his father had done the same, Tom
told him precisely what had taken place between him and Winny
Cavana.
Old Murdock listened with an attentive stare until his son had told
him all. He then put out his tongue and made another extraordinary
sound, but very different from the one already alluded to; and
exclaimed, "Bad luck to her impidence, say I!"
"Tell me, Tom, do you think that fellow Lennon is at the bottom of all
this? Did you put that to her?"
"I did, father, and she was not a bit puzzled or flustrificated about
him. She spoke of him free and easy; but she denied that there was
ever a word between them but common civility."
"An' maybe it's the thruth, Tom avic. You'll find anyhow that she'll
change her tune afther her father gets spakin' to her on the subject.
He'll be as stout as a bull, Tom; I know he will. He tould me he'd
never give in, and that he'd threaten to cut her fortun' off, and make
over his interest in the land to the church for charitable purposes, if
she tuck up the smallest notion of that pauper,—that scullion, he
called him. Don't be down about it, Tom. They say that wan swallow
makes no summer; an' I say, wan wild goose makes no winter. My
advice to you now, Tom, is, to wait a while; don't be goin' out at all,
neither here nor there for some time. I'll let on I don't know what
can be the matther with you; an' you'll see she'll come an' be
hoppin' round you like a pet robin."
"I hope you are right, father, but I don't think so; I never saw a
woman more determined in my life—she took her oath."
"I do not much care whether he does or does not as to herself; only
for that six hundred pounds, the most of which I want badly. I would
not envy any man that was tied to the like of her."
"Arra, Tom jewel, what would you want wid the most of six hundred
pounds; sure if you got it itself, you oughtn't to touch a penny of it."
Tom had not intended to say what he had said; it slipped out in his
vexation. But here his worldly cunning and self-possession came to
his aid, and he replied.
"Perhaps not, indeed, father; but there is a spot of land not far off
which will soon be in the market, I hear, and it would be no bad
speculation to buy it. I think it would pay six or seven per cent
interest." Tom knew his father's weakness for a bit of land, and was
ready enough.
"Oh, that's a horse of another color, Tom. Arra, where is it? I didn't
hear of it."
"No matter now, father. I cannot get the money, so let me alone
about it. I wish the d—l had the pair of them."
"Whist, whist, Tom avic; don't be talking in that way. Sure af it's a
safe purchase for six per cent., the money might be to be had.
Thanks be to God, we're not behouldin' to that hussey's dirty drib for
money."
Here a new light dawned upon Tom. Might he not work a few
hundreds out of his father in some way or other for this pretended
purchase, and then say that it would not be sold after all; and that
he had relodged the money, or lost it, or was robbed—or—or—
something? The thought was too vague as yet to take any
satisfactory shape; but the result upon his mind at the moment was,
that his father was too wide awake to be dealt with in that way.
"An' welcome, Tom. I like a young man to have a mind of his own,
an' to be able to strike out a good plan; an' then, if my experience
isn't able to back it up, why I spake plainly an' tell him what I think."
"My opinion is, father, that I ought to go away out of this place
altogether for a while. You know I am not one that moping about
the house and garden would answer at all. I must be out and going
about, father, or I'd lose my senses."
This was well put, both in matter and manner, and the closing words
told with crowning effect. Tom had said nothing but the fact; such
were his disposition and habits that he had scarcely exaggerated the
effects of a close confinement to the premises, while of sound bodily
health.
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