ve heard that tune."

"It's just possible," said Dr. O'Grady, "that Mr. Billing may have
whistled it while he was here. I believe the people of Bolivia are fond
of it. They learned it, of course, from General John Regan. He may have
heard it from his grandmother. It's wonderful how long music survives
among the people long after the regular professional musicians have
forgotten all about it. But I mustn't interrupt you any more, Thady. You
were just making a speech about the Lord-Lieutenant. Perhaps you have
finished what you were saying. As well as I recollect we were just
settling about the statue."

"Major Kent was after saying," said Father McCor-mack, "that we couldn't
get a statue in the time."

"My friend Mr. Doyle," said Dr. O'Grady, "has a proposal to lay before
the meeting. Where's that card, Doyle, that you showed me last week?"

Doyle drew a bundle of grimy papers from his breast pocket and went
through them slowly. One, which appeared to be a letter written on
business paper, he laid on the table in front of him. At the bottom of
the bundle he came on a large card. He handed this to Father McCormack.
The printing on it was done in Curiously shaped letters, evidently
artistic in intention, with a tendency towards the ecclesiastical. Round
the outside of the card was a deep border of black, as if the owner of
it were in mourning for a near relative.

Father McCormack looked at it dubiously.

"Read it out," said Dr. O'Grady. "I'd like the Major to hear exactly
what's on it."

"'Mr. Aloysius Doyle,'" read Father McCormack.

"He's a nephew of my own," said Doyle.

"He would be," said Gallagher. "If he wasn't we'd hear nothing about
him."

He was still feeling sore about the "Battle March of King Malachi the
Brave," and was anxious to make himself disagreeable to someone. It
struck him that it would be easy to annoy Doyle by suggesting that he
was trying to do a good turn to his nephew at the expense of the statue
fund.

"I needn't tell you, gentlemen," said Doyle, with great dignity,
"that it's not on account of his being a nephew of my own that I'm
recommending him to the notice of this committee. If he was fifty times
my nephew I wouldn't mention his name without I was sure that he was as
good a man as any other for the job we have on hand."

No one, of course, believed this, but no one wanted to argue with Doyle
about it. Father McCormack went on reading from the black-edged card
which he held