Phil listened to all this, and felt puzzled.
“I don’t know what you mean by lazarettos,” said he, “and lepers. I did’nt know the disease was in this country.”
“Well, it is, thin,” moaned Pat. “An I’ll soon be there too, so I will.”
“Nonsense,” said Phil, impatiently. “Did you ask the priest if there was any danger?”
“Och, sure he wouldn’t be afther committin himsilf.”
“Didn’t he say anything about it?”
“He did, thin.”
“What did he say?”
“Why, he said he had lived among the lepers all his life, an visited thim almost every day; but wor as well a man as anybody. An he said the disease couldn’t be caught.”
“Did he say that?” cried Phil. “Why, of course. I knew that. You are mistaken altogether.”