see how he was
taking the suggestion. Oliver Cromwell I supposed, could not possibly
be one of his favourite heroes. But I had misjudged O'Donovan. His
sympathy with rebels of all nations was evidently stronger than his
dislike of the typical Englishman. After all, Cromwell, however
objectionable his religious views may have been, did kill a king.
O'Donovan smiled quite pleasantly at Malcolmson. I dare say that even
the idea of a new massacre of Drogheda was agreeable enough to him,
provided the inhabitants of the town were the people to whom he denied
the title of Nationalists and Malcolmson wanted to have a slap at
because they were rebels.

Then McNeice got us all back to practical business in a way that would
have delighted Cahoon. McNeice, though he does live in Dublin, has
good Belfast blood in his veins. He likes his heroics to be put on a
business basis. The immediate and most pressing problem, he reminded
us, was to secure as large a circulation as possible for _The
Loyalist_.

"You get the paper into the people's hands," he said to Malcolmson,
"and we'll get the ideas into their heads."

Malcolmson, who is certainly prepared to make sacrifices in a good
cause, offered to hire a man with a motorcycle to distribute the paper
from house to house over a wide district.

"I know the exact man we want," he said. "He knows every house in
County Antrim, and the people like him. He's been distributing Bibles
and selling illuminated texts among the farmers and labourers for
years. He's what's called a colporteur. That," he turned to O'Donovan
with his explanation, "is a kind of Scripture reader, you know."

If any one in the world except Malcolmson had suggested the employment
of a Scripture reader for the distribution of _The Loyalist_, I should
have applauded a remarkable piece of cynicism. But Malcolmson was in
simple earnest.

"Will you be able to get him?" I said. "The society which employs him
may perhaps--"

"Oh, that will be all right," said Malcolmson. "There can't be any
objection. But if there is--I happen to be a member of the committee
of the society. I'm one"--he sunk his voice modestly--"of the largest
subscribers."

I am inclined to forget sometimes that Malcolmson takes a leading part
in Church affairs. At the last meeting of the General Synod of the
Church of Ireland he said that the distribution of the Bible among the
people of Ireland was the surest means of quenching the desire for
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