lowed suit, the appearance of the house
--a ramshackle old place beyond the
fair-grounds -- was a scandal; the chil-
dren could not be got to go to school
for any length of time, and, when they
were there, each class in which they
were put felt itself to be in disgrace,
and the dislike focused upon the in-
truders, sent them, sullen and hateful,
back to their lair. And, indeed, the
Madigan house seemed little more than
a lair. It had been rather a fine house
once, and had been built for the oc-
cupancy of the man who owned the fair-
grounds; but he choosing finally to live
in the village, had permitted the house
to fall into decay, until only a family
with no sense of order or self-respect
would think of occupying it.

When there occurred one of the rare
burglaries in the village, when anything
was missing from a clothes-line, or a
calf or pig disappeared, it was gen-
erally laid to the Madigans. Unac-
counted-for fires were supposed to be
their doing; they were accorded respon-
sibility for vicious practical jokes; and
it was generally felt that before we
were through with them they would