Philip had slipped back in his chair, and his head had fallen forward' on the table. He heard the old man go out; he heard his heavy step drop slowly down the stairs; he heard his foot dragging on the path outside. “Ugh cha nee! Ugh cha nee!” The word rang in his heart like a knell.
Jem-y-Lord, who had been out in the town, came back in great excitement.
“Such news, your Honour! Such splendid news!”
“What is it?” said Philip, without lifting his head.
“They're signing petitions all over the island, asking the Queen to make you Governor.”
“God in heaven!” said Philip; “that would be frightful.”
XIV.
When Philip was fit to go out, they brought up a carriage and drove him round the bay. The town had awakened from its winter sleep, and the harbour was a busy and cheerful scene. More than a hundred men had come from their crofts in the country, and were making their boats ready for the mackerel-fishing at Kinsale. There was a forest of masts where the flat hulls had been, the taffrails and companions were touched up with paint, and the newly-barked nets were being hauled over the quay.
“Good morning, Dempster,” cried the men.