oof that I belong to a good Irish family,
and that I have no doubt I shall be able to establish."

"And what am I to call you, your honour, now that I know you are
Captain Gerald O'Carroll, and not Desmond Kennedy, at all?"

"At any rate, I must remain Desmond Kennedy at present, Mike. It
is under that name that my safe conduct was made out, and if I
were arrested as Gerald O'Carroll, it would be no protection to
me. However, I shall not want to use it long, for it seems to me
that my first step must be to return to France, and to see some of
the officers who knew my father, and were aware of my birth. Their
testimony would be of great value, and without it there would be
little chance of your sister's evidence being believed."

"But there is the paper, your honour."

"Yes; that will show that a child was born, but the proof that I
am that child rests entirely with your sister. It might have died
when its mother did, and they would say that your sister was
trying to palm off her own child, or someone else's, as his. Of
course, Mrs. Callaghan would be able to prove that your sister
arrived immediately after the surrender of Limerick, bringing a
child with her, and that she said it was the son of James
O'Carroll; and that she went a year later to Kilkargan, and left
it there with John O'Carroll. Moreover, I could get plenty of
evidence, from those on the estate, that I was the child so left."

"The likeness that Norah saw between you and your father might be
taken as a proof, sir."

"I did not think of that, Mike. Yes, if some of these officers
will also testify to the likeness, it will greatly strengthen my
case. The chain of evidence seems pretty strong. First, there is
the certificate of my baptism, your sister's declaration that I
was entrusted to her by my mother on her deathbed, supported by
Mrs. Callaghan's declaration that three weeks later she arrived in
Cork with the child, which she told her was that of James
O'Carroll; your sister's declaration that she took me to Kilkargan
and handed me over to my uncle, which would be supported by the
evidence of the woman he first placed me with; while the servants
of the castle could prove that I was brought by a woman who, an
hour later, left the castle without speaking to anyone but my
uncle.

"John O'Carroll will find it difficult to explain why he took me
in, and who is the Kennedy of whom I was the son, and what service
he had rendered for him, a Protestant