His mother wept with joy and pressed him repeatedly to her heart;
and all his relations were as profuse as they were sincere in their
congratulations.

"One thing troubles us," observed his parents, "what will become of his
wife? John dear," said his mother, "my heart aches for her."

"God knows and so does mine," exclaimed the father; "there is goodness
about her."

"She is freed from a tyrant and a savage," replied their son, "for he
was both, and she ought to be thankful that she's rid of him. But you
don't know that there was an attempt made on my life this mornin'."

On hearing this, they were all mute with astonishment.

"In the name of heaven how, John?" they inquired with one voice.

[Illustration: PAGE 110-- He made a stab at my neck]

"A red-haired man came to my aunt's," he continued, "early this mornin',
an' said if I wanted to hear something for my good, I would follow him.
I did so, an' I observed that he eyed me closely as we went along. We
took the way that turns up the Quarry, an' afther gettin' into one of
the little fir groves off the road, he made a stab at my neck, as I
stooped to tie my shoe that happened to be loose. As God would have it,
he only tore the skin above my forehead. I pursued the villain on the
spot, but he disappeared among the trees, as if the earth had swallowed
him. I then went into Darby Kavanagh's, where I got my breakfast; an'