[Ill.u.s.tration: 368]

"Yes, he put a heavy charge of slugs into Merl's horse as he was getting through the mill-race, and the beast flung up and threw his rider into the stream. Scanlan dismounted and gathered him up, discharging his pistol at some country fellow who was rushing forward; they say the man has lost an eye. They got off, however, and, gaining the shelter of the Cro' Martin wood, they managed to escape at last, and reached this about six o'clock, their clothes in tatters, their horses lamed, and themselves lamentable objects of fatigue and exhaustion. Since that, no one but the doctor has seen Merl, and Scanlan only goes out with an escort of police."

"All this sounds very like 'sixty years ago,'" said Repton, laughing.

"I'm afraid it does, and I half dread what the English newspapers may say under the heading of 'Galway Barbarities.'"

"By Jove! I must say I like it; that is," said Repton, hesitating and confused, "I can see some palliation for the people in such an outburst of generous but misdirected feeling. The old name has still its spell for their hearts; and even superst.i.tions, sir, are better than incredulity!"

"But of what avail is all this? The law must and will be vindicated. It may cost some lives, on the road, but Mr. Merl must reach his journey's end, at last."

"He may deem the sport, as I have known some men do tiger-hunting, not worth the danger," said Repton. "You and I, Mr. Nelligan, acclimated, as I may say, to such incidents, would probably not decline the t.i.tle to an estate, whose first step in possession should be enforced by the blunderbuss; but make the scene Africa, and say what extent of territory would you accept of, on the compact of enforcing your claim against the natives? Now, for all the purposes of argument, to this c.o.c.kney's appreciation, these countrymen of ours are Africans."

"I can well understand his terror," said Nelligan, thoughtfully. "I 'm sure the yell that followed him through the gap of Kyle-a-Noe will ring in his heart for many a day. It was there the pursuit was hottest. As they came out, a stranger, who had been here during the winter,--a Mr.

Barry--"

"What of _him?_ What did _he_ do?" broke in Repton, with great eagerness.

"He stood upon an old wall, and hurrahed the people on, calling out, 'Five gold guineas to the man who will hurl that fellow into the lake.'"

"He said that?" cried Repton.

"Yes, and waved his hat in encouragement to the mob! This was deposed in evidence before the bench; and Scanlan's affidavit went on to say, that when the temper of the people seemed to relent, and the ardor of their pursuit to relax, this man's presence invariably rallied all the energies of mischief, and excited the wildest pa.s.sions of the populace."

"Who or what is he supposed to be?" asked the lawyer.

"Some say, a returned convict,--a banker that was transported thirty years ago for forgery; others, that he is Con O'Hara, that killed Major Stackpoole in the famous duel at Bunratty Castle. Magennis swears that he remembers the face well; at all events, there is a mystery about him, and when he came into the shop below stairs--"

"Oh, then, you have seen him yourself?"

"Yes; he came in on Monday last, and asked for some glazed gunpowder, and if we had bullets of a large mould to fit his pistols. They were curiosities in their way; they were made in America, and had a bore large as your thumb."

"You had some conversation with him?"

"A few words about the country and the crops. He said he thought we had good prospects for the wheat, and, if we should have a fine harvest, a good winter was like to follow. Meaning that, with enough to eat, we should have fewer outrages in the dark nights, and by that I knew he was one acquainted with the country. I said as much, and then he turned fiercely on me, and remarked, 'I never questioned you, sir, about your hides and tallow and ten-penny nails, for they were _your_ affairs; please, then, to pay the same deference to _me_ and _mine_.' And before I could reply he was gone."

"It was a rude speech," said Repton, thoughtfully; "but many men are morose from circ.u.mstances whose natures are full of kindliness and gentleness."

"It was precisely the impression this stranger made upon me. There was that in his manner which implied a hard lot in life,--no small share of the shadiest side of fortune; and even when his somewhat coa.r.s.e rebuke was uttered, I was more disposed to be angry with myself for being the cause than with him who made it."

"Where is he stopping just now?"

"At Kilkieran, I have heard; but he has been repeatedly back and forward in the town here during the week, though for the last few days I have not seen him. Perhaps he has heard of Scanlan's intention to summons him for aiding and abetting an a.s.sault, and has kept out of the way in consequence."

"_He_ keep out of the way!" cried Repton; "you never mistook a man more in your life!"

"You are acquainted with him, then?" said Nelligan, in amazement.

"That am I, sir. No one knows him better, and on my knowledge of the man it was that I apologized for his incivility to yourself. If I cannot say more, Mr. Nelligan, it is not because I have any mistrust in your confidence, but that my friend's secret is, in his own charge, and only to be revealed at his own pleasure."

"I wish you would tell him that I never meant to play the spy upon him,--that my remark was a merely chance observation--"

"I promise you to do so," broke in Repton. "I promise you still more, that before he leaves this you shall have an apology from his own lips for his accidental rudeness; nay, two men that would know how to respect each other should never part under even a pa.s.sing misunderstanding. It is an old theory of mine, Mr. Nelligan, that good men's good opinions of us form the pleasantest store of our reminiscences, and I 'd willingly go a hundred miles to remove a misconception that might bring me back to the esteem of an honorable heart, though I never were to set eyes again on him who possessed it."

"I like your theory well, sir," said Nelligan, cordially.

"You 'll find the practice will reward you," said Repton.

"I confess this stranger has inspired me with great curiosity."

"I can well understand the feeling," said Repton, musing. "It is with men as with certain spots in landscape, there are chance glimpses which suggest to us the fair scenes that lie beyond our view! Poor fellow!

poor fellow!" muttered he once or twice to himself; and then starting abruptly, said, "You have made me so cordially welcome here that I am going to profit by every privilege of a guest. I 'm going to say good-night, for I have much before me on the morrow."

CHAPTER x.x.xV. HOW DIPLOMACY FAILED

Repton was up at daybreak, and at his desk. Immense folios littered the table, and even the floor around him, and the old lawyer sat amidst a chaos that it was difficult to believe was only the growth of an hour or two. All the intentness of his occupation, however, did not prevent him hearing a well-known voice in the little stable-yard beneath his window, and opening the sash he called out, "Mas-singbred, is that you?"

"Ah, Mr. Repton, are you stirring so early? I had not expected to see you for at least two hours to come. May I join you?"

"By all means; at once," was the answer. And the next moment they were together. "Where's Barry? When did you see him last?" was Repton's first question.

"For a moment, on Tuesday last; he came up here to learn if you had arrived, or when you might be expected. He seemed disappointed when I said not before the latter end of the week, and muttered something about being too late. He seemed flurried and excited. I heard afterwards that he had been somehow mixed up with that tumultuous a.s.semblage that resisted the police, and I offered to go back with him to Kilkieran, but he stopped me short, saying, 'I am not at Kilkieran;' and so abruptly as to show that my proposal was not acceptable. He then sat down and wrote a short letter, which he desired me to give you on arriving; but to deliver it with my own hand, as, if any reply were necessary, I should be ready to carry it to him. This is the letter."

Repton read it rapidly, and then, walking to the window, stood pondering over the contents.

"You know this man Merl, don't you, Ma.s.singbred?" asked Repton.

"Yes, thoroughly."

"The object of this letter is to try one last chance for an arrangement.

Barry suspects that the Jew's ambition for Irish proprietorship may have been somewhat dashed by the experience of the last few days; that he will be likely enough to weigh the advantages and disadvantages with a juster appreciation than if he had never come here, and, if such be the case, we are ready to meet with a fair and equitable offer. We'll repay him all that he advanced in cash to young Martin, and all that he won from him at play, if he surrender his reversionary claim. We'll ask no questions as to how this loan was made, or how that debt incurred. It shall be the briefest of all transactions,--a sum in simple addition, and a check for the total."

"He'll refuse,--flatly refuse it," said Ma.s.singbred. "The very offer will restore any confidence the last few days may have shaken; he'll judge the matter like the shares of a stock that are quoted higher in the market."

"You think so?"

"I'm sure of it. I'm ashamed to say, Mr. Repton, that my knowledge of the Herman Merl cla.s.s may be greater than yours. It is the one solitary point in the realm of information wherein I am probably your superior."

"There are others, and of a very different order, in which I would own you the master," said Repton. "But to our case. Suppose,--a mere supposition, if you like,--but suppose that it could be demonstrated to Mr. Merl that his claim will be not only resisted, but defeated; that the right on which he relies is valueless,--the deed not worth the stamps it bears; that this offer is made to avoid a publicity and exposure far more injurious to him than to those who now shrink from it.

What think you then?"

"Simply that he'd not believe it! He'd say, and many others would say, 'If the right lay so incontestably with these others, they 'd not give some twenty thousand pounds to compromise what they could enforce for the mere cost of a trial.'"

"Mr. Ma.s.singbred, too, would perhaps take the same view of the transaction," said Repton, half tartly.

"Not if Mr. Repton a.s.sured me that he backed the opposite opinion," said Jack, politely.