"Did you expect me to give you a stocking full of gold?" he said.
"'Deed, I did," she said sadly. "I was tould to come an' ast ye for it."
Mr M'Keown frowned. "Ah," he said; "so it was not simplicity?"
"No; it was a hape a' money," she said.
"Perhaps you can tell me the exact sum?"
"'Deed, I can," she said; "it was just ten pounds."
"Ten pounds! What madness!" he exclaimed. "And, pray, is it to build a new chapel or to convert the Jews that you have been sent to beg such a sum?"
"It's just to make Tom Kelly better," she said, the tears running down her cheeks. "He's goin' to die, and Mrs Kelly's buried eight a' them, and Jane sez she's heart bruk, and Doctor Dixey sez ten pounds'll cure him."
Mr M'Keown coughed. "Did Doctor Dixey send you to beg for the money?" she said.
She shook her head.