o doubt that, had it been known that I was in existence,
I should still have been thrust aside in order to reward his
adhesion to the cause of William, but that would have made his
position intolerable. As one who has changed his religion and his
politics, he is regarded as a traitor by the people of the barony,
and avoided by all the gentry round; but the feeling would have
been infinitely stronger, if it had been known that he was keeping
his own nephew out of his inheritance. My father was, as I
understand, immensely popular, and I doubt whether his brother
would have dared to show his face within fifty miles of Kilkargan,
had it been known that not only was he a traitor, but a usurper."

The lord lieutenant smiled.

"I am not surprised at your warmth, Mr. O'Carroll; but,
unfortunately, your case is not a solitary one. There are
thousands of men in Ireland who have suffered for the deeds of
their fathers. However, I shall understand the case better when I
have read your statement."

It was evident to Gerald that the lord chief justice, who had
taken a leading part in the prosecution and punishment of persons
known to be favourable to the Jacobite cause, was not altogether
pleased with Lord Godolphin's letter.

"A strange affair," he said. "A strange and, as it appears to me,
an unfortunate business.

"However, sir," he went on, with a changed tone; "I shall
certainly do my best to see justice done, in accordance with his
lordship's request. I will read carefully through this statement
of your claim, and, after considering it, place it in the hands of
the crown lawyers.

"But it seems to me that your own position here is a strange one,
and that you yourself are liable to arrest, as a member of a
family whose head was one of the late king's strongest adherents."

"My own position, sir, is regulated by this document, bearing the
signature of the queen and her chief minister;" and he laid the
official paper before Cox.

"That certainly settles that question," the latter said, after
perusing it. "Of course I shall, for my own satisfaction, read
your statement; but I do not wish to see any documents or proofs
you may possess in the matter. These you must, of course, lay
before your counsel. I think I can't do better than give you a
letter to Mr. Counsellor Fergusson, with whom you can go into all
particulars, and who will advise you as to the course that you had
best take."

Mr. Fergusson, although one of the