and a Williamite, to have
undertaken the charge of the child of a rebel. There is no doubt
that the weight of evidence is all on my side, but whether the
judges would decide in favour of the son of a rebel, as against a
friend of the English party, is doubtful. Possibly Lord
Godolphin's influence might be exerted in my favour. He promised
in his letter to me to do me any service in his power. Still, even
if I lose the estate, which I may well do on the ground of my
father having fought and died for the cause of James the Second, I
should still have the satisfaction of establishing my name, which
I consider of more importance than the estates."

"Sure, your honour, it's a grand thing to belong to a good old
Irish stock; but for myself, I would rather be Mike Callaghan and
have a fine estate, than Mike O'Neil without an acre of land."

Desmond smiled.

"There is common sense in what you say, Mike, but there is nothing
more unpleasant than, when you are with a number of Irish
gentlemen or Spanish grandees, who are equally proud of their
ancestors, to be unable to give any account of your family, or
even to be sure that you have a right to the name that you bear."

"Well, your honour, it is a matter of taste. As for myself, if the
whisky is good, it makes no differ to me whether they call it Cork
or Dublin, or whether it is made up in the mountains and has sorra
a name at all."

The next morning, Mrs. Rooney returned with the certificate of
baptism, and a list containing some twenty names of officers who
had been frequent visitors at James O'Carroll's. Among these
Desmond, to his satisfaction, found Arthur Dillon, Walter Burke,
Nicholas Fitzgerald, and Dominic Sheldon, all of whom now held the
rank of general in the French service, and to all of whom he was
personally known, having met them either when with Berwick or in
Spain.

"Those names are good enough," he said. "And if they can testify
to my likeness to my father, it will go a long way towards
furnishing proof, when required. All of them entered the service
under the provisions of the treaty of Limerick, and therefore
their testimony cannot be treated as that of traitors; and their
names must be as well known in England as in France.

"Now, Mike, our business here is, for the present, concluded. I
shall at once return to France, see all these officers who are
still alive, and obtain, if possible, their recognition. As I have
a year's leave, I can travel ab