“Dublin Castle has in its possession a full list of the executive of the Cumann na mBan--this organisation of enemy spies--yet none of these women are touched, but they are left to go about their work as freely as they like. The Irish Republican Army states that it is at war with Britain; the penalty for spies is death. These women could quite logically be executed; they most certainly should be interned. But no, not a finger must be lifted against them.” “What else did you glean?” I urged. “That these gardens were much used by the Sinn Feiners. My ‘cousin’ pointed out a man loitering on a little switchback path over there near the waterfall. He warned me most of us were shadowed now and again, but in most cases it was clumsily done. He warned me Sinn Fein was everywhere, that one could trust nobody, that the rot was even in the army and the police. The question was dividing fathers against sons, and husbands against wives. He urged me to believe in nobody who was not of the brotherhood: he need not have worried on that score. “I was told to look out for men and women sitting together on the park benches--the man dictating, the woman taking shorthand notes. That’s how they often dictate their dispatches. “My ‘cousin’ went on to say that after dark motor cyclists carried the Sinn Fein dispatches through the empty streets. One passed his house at great speed at a certain hour every evening, almost to the minute. He meant to get him. “He told me, as I had guessed, that the bars were the great places for passing information. Important meetings were held in the houses of trusted people and in the private rooms of hotels with good escapes. “He ended by announcing the Irish could breed horses, grow flowers, and conspire, and that was the sum total of their qualifications.” 47 came to the end of his oration. He had told everything in a level voice, rubbing his chin on the top of his stick all the time. “That’s amusing,” I owned. “You must keep me posted.” “You’ll be wise not to see too much of us, though we’d both like to have a talk with friends. They may start shadowing me at any time, and it won’t be worth your while to be seen in bad company. I’ll tell you where I hang out; but don’t turn up often. We’ll run across each other now and then like this.” “I don’t want a bullet into me on your account,” I assured him. “Besides, I want to see as much of the other side as I can. Remember, I’m going to keep strictly neutral. Do you hear?” He grunted something, and did not seem much interested. Then he said-- “What are you doing now?” “Looking for a flat, I suppose,” I answered. “This is a good part of the town. The flats are very dirty, but you may find something. We were tied to a top floor.” “How’s that?” “The top floor has many advantages, including the fact that it can be defended better than another floor, and also that nobody has any business on your stairs.”