Herbert acknowledged that, to a certain extent, his father's illness
was a reason--only to a certain extent. It would be worse than
useless to think of waiting till his father's health should be
altogether strong. Just for the present, till Mr. Prendergast should
have gone, and perhaps for a fortnight longer, it might be well to
wait. But after that--and then he pressed very closely the hand
which rested on his arm. And so the matter was discussed between
them with language and arguments which were by no means original.

At the gate, just as Herbert was about to remount his horse, they
were encountered by a sight which for years past had not been
uncommon in the south of Ireland, but which had become frightfully
common during the last two or three months. A woman was standing
there of whom you could hardly say that she was clothed, though she
was involved in a mass of rags which covered her nakedness. Her head
was all uncovered, and her wild black hair was streaming round her
face. Behind her back hung two children enveloped among the rags in
some mysterious way; and round about her on the road stood three
others, of whom the two younger were almost absolutely naked. The
eldest of the five was not above seven. They all had the same wild
black eyes, and wild elfish straggling locks; but neither the mother
nor the children were comely. She was short ad broad in the
shoulders, though wretchedly thin; her bare legs seemed to be of
nearly the same thickness up to the knee, and the naked limbs of the
children were like yellow sticks. It is strange how various are the
kinds of physical development among the Celtic peasantry in Ireland.
In many places they are singularly beautiful, especially as
children; and even after labour and sickness shall have told on them
as labour and sickness will tell, they still retain a certain