Yet, in spite of it all, it was hard to bear him a grudge for long together.

A well-meaning young beggar if ever there was one! That very day how faithfully he had stuck at his side, assisting at dull discussions and duller purchasings, without once obtruding his own concerns .-- And here Mahony remembered their talk on the ride to town.

Purdy had expressed the wish to settle down and take a wife.

A poor friend that would be who did not back him up in this intention.
As he sidled into one of the front benches of a half-empty hall--the mesmerist, a corpse-like man in black, already surveyed its thinness from the platform with an air of pained surprise--Mahony decided that Purdy should have his chance.

The heavy rains of the day, and the consequent probable flooding of the Ponds and the Marsh, would serve as an excuse for a change of route.