But his intuition did not reconcile him to Ned's luke-warmness; he would have preferred a straight refusal.

The best trait he could discover in the lad was his affection for his sister.

This seemed genuine: he was going to see her again--getting a lift halfway, tramping the other twenty odd miles--at the end of the week.

Perhaps though, in the case of such a young opportunist, the thought of Mrs.Beamish's lavish board played no small part; for Ned had a rather lean, underfed look.

But this only occurred to Mahony afterwards.