priest was admiring for hadn t his reverence given him the clothes himself and if it weren t for the self same clothes he wouldn t have the pound in his pocket to give the priest to marry him it was yourself your reverence yes i remember very well pat had to tell him that there was work to be the lake had in but he didn t dare to show himself in not having any clothes to wear he had stood humbly before the priest in a pair of trousers that hardly covered his and it was as father stood examining and pitying his s poverty it had occurred to him that if he were to buy two suits of clothes in and give one to pat he might wrap the other one in a bundle and place it on the rocks on the side it was not likely that the in would remember after three months that he had sold two suits to the priest but should he remember this the explanation would be that he had bought them for pat now looking at this poor man who had come to ask him if he would marry him for a pound the priest was lost in wonder so you re going to be married pat and pat who hadn t spoken to anyone since the woman whose potatoes he had been digging had said she d as soon marry him as another began to chatter and to in his chatter there was so much to tell that he did not know how to tell it there was his rent and the woman s holding for now they would have nine acres of land money would be required to stock it and he did not know if the bank would lend him the money perhaps the priest would help him to get it but why did you come to me to marry you aren t you two miles nearer to father than you are to me pat hesitated not liking to say that he would be hard the lake set to get round father so he began to talk of the and the for hadn t he heard as he came up the street that mrs had stolen the child from mrs and had had it by the minister and he hoped to obtain the priest s sympathy by saying what a terrible thing it was that the police should allow a black to steal a catholic child and its mother a catholic and all her people before her when mrs snatched the child it hadn t been and was neither a catholic nor a the priest said pat whose knowledge did not extend very far remained silent and the priest was glad of his silence for he was thinking that in a few minutes he would catch sight of the square on the by the pine wood the day being saturday the school was empty he had thought he would like to see again the place where he and rose had stood talking together but a long field lay between the road past the and the road past the priest s house and what would it avail him to see the empty room he looked instead for the bush by which he and rose had lingered and it was a sad pleasure to think how she had gone up the road after bidding him good by but pat had begun to talk again of how he could get an advance from the bank i can back no bill for you pat but i ll give you a letter to father telling him that you can t afford to pay more than a pound the lake rose s letters were in the drawer of his writing table he unlocked it and put the packet into his pocket and when he had a little note to father he said now take this and be off with you i ve other business to attend to besides you and he called to for his now is it out bathing you re going your reverence you won t be swimming out to castle island and forgetting that you have at seven i shall be back in time he answered down the his steps and he began to regret his irritation for he would never see again it was a pity he had answered her but he couldn t go back he must think where he could hide himself and he must find a safe hiding might call might send after him saying his reverence had gone down to or any however his errand might try to seek him out and all errands will be to day he said as he hurried along the shore thinking of the different paths round the rocks and through the bushes his mind was on the big wood there he could anyone following him for while his would be going round one way he would be coming back the other but it would be lonely in the big wood and as he hurried down the old cart track he thought how he might while away an hour among the in the little spare fields at the end of the plantation watching the sunset for the lake hours would have to pass before the moon rose and the time would pass slowly under the melancholy into which the sun had not looked for thousands of years a wood had always been there the had trees in it to build and boats to reach their island castles bears and wolves had been slain in it and thinking how it was still a refuge for cats and how it was with he made his way along the shore through the rough fields he ran a little and after waiting awhile ran on again on reaching the edge of the wood he hid himself behind a bush and did not dare to 