"Have ye no news of the bailiffs, Jem?"
"I have, acushla. I left them at your dure half an hour ago, and they're now fast asleep in their warm and comfortable beds."
"They're not in our house," said Lizzie, alarmed. "Oh, Jem, Jem, what have ye done, at all, at all?"
"I'll tell ye, girl," said Jem, emphatically. "I left the gintlemin at your dure, shook hands wid them, bid them good-night, and came down here. Is that thrue, Bess?"
"Every word of it," said Bess.
"Go back to your bed, alanna," said Jem, "and have pleasant dhreams of your future. Thim gintlemin can mind theirselves."
"'T is thrue, Lizzie," said Bess. "Go home, like a good girl, and make your mind aisy."
Lizzie departed, crying softly to herself.
"What mischief have ye done, Jem?" said Bess, when she had carefully locked and bolted the door. "Some day ye'll be dancin' upon nothin', I'm thinkin'."
"Nabocklish!" said Jem, as he knelt down and piously said his prayers for the night.