would first be the finest scrimmage any man ever saw outside of
Ireland, and after that his lordship the Earl would say to me,--

"'O'Ruddy, my boy, my limbs are sore; can't we crack a bottle instead
of our heads over this, and make a compromise?'

"'Earl of Westport,' I'll say to him, 'a bottle will be but the
beginning of it. We'll sit down at a table and settle this debate in
ten minutes if you're reasonable.'

"He'll not be reasonable, of course, but you see what I have in my
mind."

"Brede Place," said the lawyer slowly, "is not exactly a castle, but
it's a very strong house and might be held by a dozen determined men
against an army."

"Then once let me get legally inside, and I'll hold it till the Earl
gets more sense in his head than is there at the present moment."

"Possession," said Mr. Brooks, "is nine points of the law."

"It is with a woman," said I, thinking of something else.

"It is with an estate," answered Josiah severely.

"True for you," I admitted, coming back to the point at issue, for it
was curious, in spite of the importance of the interview, how my mind
kept wandering away to a locked room in the Earl of Westport's house,
and to a shady path that ran around the edge of his garden.

"I intend to get possession of the Brede estate if I have to crack the
crown of every man at present upon it. But I am an Irishman, and
therefore a person of peace, and I wish to crack the crowns in
accordance with the law of England, so I come to you for directions
how it should be done."

"It is not my place," said Brooks, looking very sour, "to counsel a
man to break either heads or the law. In fact it is altogether illegal
to assault another unless you are in danger of your own life."

"The blessing of all the Saints be upon you," said I, "yet, ever since
I set foot in this land, coming across the boiling seas, entirely to
do a kindness to the Earl of Westport, I have gone about in fear of my
life."

"You have surely not been assaulted?" demanded Mr. Brooks, raising his
eyebrows in surprise.

"Assaulted, is it? I have been set upon in every manner that is
possible for a peace-lover to be interfered with. To tell you the
truth, no longer ago than yesterday morning, as quiet and decent a
Sunday as ever came down on London, my two innocent servants,
garrulous creatures that wouldn't hurt a fly, were lured into the high
walled garden of the Earl of Westport to see the flowers which both of
them lo