"Expelled. Well, well!"
There was a mixture of interest and anxiety in Mr. Shannon's tones.
"A good many of those small English colleges are getting broken up and the students drifting into the Army, I suppose that's the reason; but of course they'll say he's been expelled," Ulick ventured as old Susan slipped from the room and down to the loneliness of the kitchen, where she might brood to her heart's content over this glad piece of information, for she was one who well knew the story of John Brennan's mother and "poor Misther Henery Shannon."
"Is that so?" The interest of Mr. Shannon was rapidly mounting towards excitement.
"A case like that is rather hard," said Ulick.
"Yes, it will be rather hard on Mrs. Brennan, I fancy, she being so stuck-up with pride in him."
He could just barely hide his feelings of exultation.
"And John Brennan is not a bad fellow."
"I daresay he's not."
There was now a curious note of impatience in the elder man's tones as if he wished, for some reason or other, to have done speaking of the matter.