[{"node":{"title":"Hanna171","Collections":"Part Two","Contributor":"Linen Hall Library","Coverage":"1951","Creator":"Linen Hall Library","Date":"Thursday, April 7, 2016","Format":"TIFF","Identifier":"Hanna171","Item Description":"Manuscript","Keywords":"Beach, Death","Language":"English","Path":"https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/content/hanna171","Publisher":"Linen Hall Library","Relation":"Linen Hall Library","Rights":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA","Scanned image":{"src":"https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/sites/default/files/Hanna171_0.jpg","alt":""},"Source":"LHL Archive","Transcript":"\ufeff165\n\naway from Rathard, but indolence, fear of a rebuff, and a\nreluctance to see Sarah step into his place in the household\nhad combined to frustrate him and keep him tied to his old\nhome.\n\nAnd all the time he knew that the people of the town-\nlands were watching them, nodding, whispering, turning their\neyes up at the hill farm, until that whispering and insinuatio\nand obloquy had merged into a popular judgement. But he had\nalways promised himself that he would always anticipate the\nactual word and render it harmless by some swift action, such\nas marriage. Now Andrew's misadventure had brought it very\nclose to him, swiftly and without warning, and he had been\nunprepared, in his indolence and indecision.\n\nPerhaps it was already too late? At that thought he\nstopped abruptly on the steep descent to the lough. Perhaps\nno woman would look at him now. He might never get the\nchance to show that he was wholesome and honest in heart\nand worthy of affection. That would mean going away from\nhis own countryside. He almost cried out at that thought,\nfor love of his own scene was very deep in him, and the\nhouse on Knocknadreemally was inextricably woven into his\ndreams.\n\nHis feet rattled on the loose stones of the beach as\nhe crossed towards the boathouse. The keel rollers, like\nslow burrowing animals, had settled down into the shingle\nand sand. He tore them up and laid them close together\nunder the bow of tne dinghy, as he heaved the boat forward\nthe top of the rudderboard crumbled to dust in his hands,\nand he saw how dried and sprung were the curving timbers of\nthe skin. A faint squealing noise made him turn round. He\nhad uncovered the nest of a brown rat in a fragment of rope\nunder the boat, as he turned he saw the sinhous body of the\nbitch-rat disappear into the dry-stone wall of the shed. He\ntrampled the blind puling creatures to death and kicked their\nbodies out onto the shingle.\n","Type":"Text"}}]