His honor and the countess were seated upon the lawn in front of the house, enjoying the shade of a great tree, and Grogan tipped his hat as he approached them.
"Sure, sur, it's mesilf as has made a discovery, sur," he said, with a huge grin of satisfaction.
"Ah! indeed! I thought you might be of some use!" his honor replied, complacently. "What is the nature of your discovery, Grogan?"
"Sure, sur, it's consarnin' the girl you set me to watchin'."
"As I expected—curse her! What new devilment has she been up to?"
"Sure I did kape a civil eye on her, as yez told me to, and a bit ago she met a Dutchman on the beach, an' it's a grand plot tha be afther organizin'. The loikes av the Dutchman he ha wanted to ba sindin' a tiligraph missage to Philadelphia for tha detectives, an tha gal she did till him for a V she would stale a horse forninst your pasture an' be carryin' the missage for him hersilf, whereat he forked over the cash, and she skipped, bedad!"
His honor listened, his face growing purple with passion.
"May all the furies seize that obstinate and meddlesome little wretch!" he hissed. "She seems determined to ruin me. No amount of whippings have ever served to make her like other girls. Why didn't you stop her, Pat?"
"Sure, it was yersilf as told me to be doin' naught else but watchin' her."
"True, I had forgotten. She has probably gone so far that it would be next to useless to attempt to overhaul her now. Do you think you could mount a horse and overtake her, Pat?"