MR GIVEEN 25 



too much for Mr Giveen's head. He had, however. 



two pastimes that kept his own and his neighbours' 

 hands full. Collecting news and distributing it was 

 one of these pastimes, making love was the other. 

 Small as was Drumboyne, and few as were the 

 gentry distributed around, jVIr Giveen's gossiping 

 propensities had aheady created much mischief, 

 and there was not a girl or unmarried woman 

 within a range of fifteen miles that jVIr Giveen had 

 not either made eyes at or love to. 



The strange thing is that he could have been 

 married several times ; there were girls in Drum- 

 boyne who would have swallowed Mr Giveen for 

 the sake of the bungalow and the small income 

 which popular report made big, but he was not 

 a marrying man; on the other hand, he was a 

 most moral man. He made love just for the sake 

 of making love. It is an Irish habit. The 

 question of bringing a governess to Drumgool 

 House had been held in abeyance for some time 

 on account of Mr Giveen. 



Mr French knew quite well that anything with 

 petticoats on it and in the way of a lady would 

 cause his cousin to infest the house. However, 

 Effie's education had to be considered. 



" Sure," said Mr French to himself, " it'll be all 

 right if I get one old enough." 



It was only this morning that he broke the news. 



" Dick," said Mr French, " there's a governess 

 coming for Efiie." 



" A what did you say? " asked Mr Giveen, 



