up like a sea anemone suddenly touched.

"Your lordship's affairs won't be neglected," he said stiffly. "You
may count on that."

I felt that I could. I have the utmost confidence in Crossan's
integrity. If a body of "Papishes" of the bloodiest kind were to come
upon Crossan and capture him; if they were to condemn him to death
and, being God-fearing men, were to allow him half an hour in which to
make his soul; he would spend the time, not in saying his prayers, not
even in cursing the Pope, but in balancing the accounts of the
co-operative store, so that any auditor who took over the books
afterwards might find everything in order.

"If you really feel it to be your duty," I said, "to go round the
district working up--"

"You'll have heard of the Home Rule Bill, maybe," said Crossan.

I had heard of it, several times. After my visit to Castle Affey I
even understood it, though it was certainly a measure of great
complexity. I think I appreciated the orthodox Protestant view of it
since the day I talked to McConkey. I wanted Crossan to realize how
fully I entered into his feelings, so I quoted a phrase from one of
Babberly's speeches.

"In this supreme crisis of our country's destiny," I said, "it is the
duty of every man to do his uttermost to avert the threatened ruin of
our common Protestantism."

That ought to have pacified Crossan even if it did not rouse him to
enthusiasm. Huge crowds have cheered Babberly for saying these moving
words. But Crossan received them from me in sullen silence.

"It would be well," he said at last, "if your lordship and others like
you were more in earnest."

Crossan is not by any means a fool. I have occasionally been tempted
to think he is, especially when he talks about having his throat cut
at night; but he has always shown me in the end that he has in him a
vein of strong common sense. He recognized that I was talking bombast
when I spoke about the supreme crisis; but, curiously enough, he is
quite convinced of Babberly's sincerity when he says things of that
sort.

It was nearly an hour after Crossan left me when I recollected that I
had not found out anything about the packing-cases. The subject
somehow had not come up between us, though I fully intended that it
should. Our talk about Home Rule gave me no clue to what was in the
cases. I could scarcely suppose that they were full of gorgets for
distribution among Orangemen, defensive armour proof against the
partic