“Barney,” said he, “I wish to speak, to you about that villain Woodward.” “I don't at all doubt,” replied this honest and manly peasant, “that he is a villain; but at the same time, Shawn, you must remember that I am not a tory, and that I will neither aid nor assist you in your designs of murdher upon him. I received betther principles from my father and the mother who bore me; and indeed I think the same thing may be said of yourself, Shawn. Still and all, there is no doubt but that, unlike that self-willed brother of mine, you had heavy provocation to join the life you did.” “Well, Barney,” replied Shawn, in a melancholy tone of voice, “if the same oppressions were to come on us again, I think I would take another course. My die, however, is cast, and I must abide by it. What I wanted to say to you, however, is this:--You are livin' in the same house with Woodward; keep your eye on him--watch him well and closely; he is plotting evil for somebody.” “Why,” said Barney, “how do you know that?” “I have it,” replied Shawn, “from good authority. He has paid three or four midnight visits to Sol, the herb docthor, and you know that a greater old scoundrel than he is doesn't breathe the breath of life. It has been long suspected that he is a poisoner, and they say that in spite of the poverty he takes on him, he is rich and full of money. It can be for no good, then, that Woodward consults him at such unseasonable hours.” “Ay; but who the devil could he think of poisoning?” said Barney. “I see nobody he could wish to poison.” “Maybe, for all that, the deed is done,” replied Shawn. “Where, for instance, is unfortunate Granua? Who can tell that he hasn't dosed her?” “I believe him villain enough to do it,” returned the other; “but still I don't think he did. He was at home to my own knowledge the night she disappeared, and could know nothing of what became of her. I think that's a sure case.” “Well,” said Shawn, “it may be so; but in the manetime his stolen visits to the ould herb docthor are not for nothing. I end, then, as I began--keep your eye on him; watch him closely--and now, good night.”