The Man in Possession — page 29: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

24 THE MAN IN POSSESSION. day as if endeavour were strained almost to breaking point. The door opened suddenly, and Biddy appeared in walking attire and with a market basket on her arm. ‘‘Maybe you've forgotten ‘tis Christmas Eve,” she said abruptly. ‘‘And mighty inconvanient too, fall- ing on a Friday, and we with scarce anything to ate, and three days to purvide for. Might ye have a shilling or two handy, Miss Kate?” The girl roused herself with an effort, and drew a worn and shabby purse from the pocket of her dress. As she opened it her face grew even more hopeless. ‘‘Nothing buta sixpence, Biddy,” she said wearily. | ‘“‘ What’s the use of that?” ‘‘Sixpence is it?” echoed the faithful Abigail. ‘Shure, Miss Kate, the ways o’ Providence are mighty strange. Here we are living in an illigant neigh- bourhood; isn’t there a ‘Baronet’ next door, and an ‘ Honourable’ jist over the way—and Mr. O’Brien shure, he’s got one a the grand estates 1 in the south of Ireland and yet She looked significantly at the coin in the girl’s bare palm. ‘‘If you won't be offended, Miss Kate, now, there's a matter of a brooch or aring in your jules- case upstairs that’s not wanted for a month or two,” she suggested with diffidence. The girl sighed. ‘‘My mother’s jewellery,” she ' Said plaintively, ‘‘it’s—it’s rather hard, Biddy, to sell that.” ‘*Shure it’s not selling it at all I’ll be, Miss Kate, Only just taking a loan of it, for a month or so. COMicloe (Sri C(O)