"I TOLD YOU SO" 365 



heart-softening business in such matter-of-fact 

 fashion that their hearts must have lost contour 

 before the voyage was half over. Polly dismissed 

 them from her mind with a sigh of satisfaction, 

 and I then hoped that she would find some time 

 to devote to me, but I was disappointed. She 

 assured me that those two were safely locked in 

 the fold, but that she could not " set her mind at 

 rest " until the other two were safe. After that 

 she promised to take me in hand ; whether for 

 reward or for punishment left me guessing. 



The six and a half days finally came to an end, 

 and we debarked for Queenstown. The journey 

 across Ireland was made as quickly as slow trains 

 and a circuitous route would permit, and we 

 reached Sligo on the second day. Sir Thomas's 

 agent met us, and we drove at once to the " little 

 castle out from Sligo." It proved to be a very 

 old little castle, four miles out, overlooking the 

 bay. It was low and flat, with thick walls of 

 heavy stone pierced by a few small windows, 

 and a broad door made of black Irish oak heavily 

 studded with iron. From one corner rose a 

 square tower, thirty feet or more in height, cov- 

 ered with wild vines that twined in and out 

 through the narrow, unglazed windows. 



Within was a broad, low hall, from which 

 opened four rooms of nearly equal size. There 

 was little evidence that the castle had been in- 

 habited during recent years, though there was an 

 ancient woman care-taker who opened the great 



