"and I'll
speak to Johnny Conerney about the meat that's supplied to him. You may
trust me, doctor, if that young fellow dies in Dunailin it'll not be for
want of food."

"Thanks," said Dr. Farelly; "and keep him cheerful, Flanagan, don't let
him mope. That brings me to the third point. You heard what he wrote
about the Irish Renaissance and the Celtic spirit?"

"I heard it right enough," said Flanagan, "but I'm not sure do I know
the meaning of it."

"The meaning of it," said Dr. Farelly, "is fairies, just plain, ordinary
fairies. That's what he wants, and I don't expect he'll settle down
contentedly unless he finds a few."

"Sure you know well enough, doctor, that there's no fairies in these
parts. I don't say there mightn't have been some in times past, but any
there was is now gone."

"I know that," said Dr. Farelly, "and I'm not asking you to go
beating thorn bushes in the hopes of catching one. But if this fellow,
Theophilus Lovaway--did ever you hear such a name?--if he wants fairies
he must hear about them. You'll have to get hold of a few people who go
in for that sort of thing. Now what about Patsy Doolan's mother? She's
old enough, and she looks like a witch herself."

"If the like of the talk of Patsy Doolan's mother would be giving him is
any use I'll see he's satisfied. That old woman would talk the hind leg
off a donkey about fairies or anything else if you were to give her
a pint of porter, and I'll do that. I'll give it to her regular, so I
will. I'd do more than that for you, doctor, for you're a man I like,
let alone that you're going out to foreign parts to put the fear of God
into them Germans, which is no more than they deserve."

Dr. Farelly felt satisfied that Mr. Flanagan would do his best for
Lovaway. And Mr. Flanagan was an important person. As the principal
publican in the town, the chairman of all the councils, boards, and
leagues there were, he had an enormous amount of influence. But Dr.
Farelly was still a little uneasy. He went over to the police barrack
and explained the situation to Sergeant Rahilly. The sergeant readily
promised to do all he could to make Dunailin pleasant for the new
doctor, and to keep him from getting into mischief or trouble. Only
in the matter of Lovaway's taste for Irish folk-lore and poetry the
sergeant refused to promise any help. He was quite firm about this.

"It wouldn't do for the police to be mixed up in that kind of work," he
said. "Politics ar