"Oh, it isn't bad," said Dennis O'Hara. "I am not going to deny that it is a fine bit of land, and notwithstanding those big bogs to the left there, well cultivated. It might be improved by a bit of water, for instance, but it isn't for me to disparage my neighbor's property."
"My Cousin Norry has been telling me about your Lake Crena," said Evelyn. "I should like to see it!"
"So you shall, my dear; you'll admire it fine. It is as good as the sea to us; there isn't its like in all the country round. When the sun shines on its bosom it is a sight to be remembered, and as to the moonlight effects, why they're just ravishing. Come and take a walk with me on this terrace, my dear; I want to ask you about my girl Biddy. She don't seem to take to that English school of yours, and I must own that I'm scarcely surprised. That colleen of mine is a wild sort of bird-like thing, and if you have a good many primity ways at school, I don't wonder she can't abide them. Do you see much of her, Miss Percival? You look about the same age, and I suppose you are in the same class."
"I am older than Bridget," said Evelyn Percival. "Bridget is a great deal taller and bigger than any other girl of fifteen in the school."
"Well, do you see much of her?"
"Not as much as I should like. The fact is——"
"What is it, my dear? you might confide in the colleen's father; if there is anything I ought to know.
"I can't exactly say there is, except—oh, perhaps I ought not to say it."
"But, indeed, you ought. I can see by your eyes that you are a truthful, good sort of girl, and though I have only known you ten minutes, I'd like my wild colleen to be friends with you. What is it now? What's in your mind?"
"I don't at all like to tell you; but the fact is, I was most anxious to be fond of Biddy."