"Something you should be ashamed of! Look there at old Mason."
She pointed to where an old man was crossing the road, a dilapidated wreck of humanity, for Mason was the champion drunkard of Grey Town.
"It is such an old man as that you will become," said Molly.
Desmond flushed crimson at her words, and he turned in repressed fury on her.
"Mind your own business," he said. "Reform your old age pensioners, and kindly allow me to look after myself."
Therewith he went on his way, leaving her to look after him with tears in her eyes.
"Wouldn't I give my life for Desmond!" she thought, as she watched him until he turned a corner. For his part, indignation overcame every other feeling. He was sufficiently young to resent interference, and to forget for the moment the bonds of friendship that bound him to Molly Healy.
Turning to climb upwards to the Presbytery, the girl met Denis Quirk. Like Kathleen O'Connor, Molly Healy was not quite sure how she regarded the manager of "The Mercury." He was always brusque and unapproachable, yet she infinitely preferred his attitude to the polish of Gerard.
"Looking at Desmond?" he laughed.