'No!' he said. 'These laws which they are continually framing are too dreadful. If the testimony of one witness is to be sufficient to convict us, then, are we foredoomed; for any one may be summoned to join in the Kilmainham minuet by the malice of a discharged groom, or the greed of the meanest cowboy. Trial and evidence are not children's baubles; they were not even established for the sole purpose of punishing the guilty; their most precious use is for the security of innocence.' The little lawyer looked so horror-stricken, that both my lady and the giant burst out a-laughing. 'Come,' said the former, wresting the violoncello from his grasp, 'your music carries you too far. Lord Clare was out of sorts, and played upon your fears. Thank heaven he is no Blunderbore, or he would not be my welcome guest. Now to bed. Sara looks worn out.' 'He has no sense of right and wrong,' grumbled Curran. 'For shame! You are both good men. What a pity you can only agree in looking at each other through distorted glasses!' 'Faix, her ladyship's right,' acquiesced Cassidy, with a grin. 'You magnify the number of the informers. I should be sorry to believe there are half as many as you think.' 'Did not Tone say you were simple?' asked Curran, sadly. 'So there's some one watching the Emmetts? Can you guess? No! Nor I; but they must be warned. Clare is brewing some new devil's haricot, and will dip Arthur's ladle in it, if he may. What a net it is that they are winding about Erin! Pray God that we and ours may escape entanglement!' CHAPTER VI. MY LADY'S PROJECT. Doreen stood by the crazy sun-dial, looking at the milky way, and reflecting upon the chatter which had assailed her ears. Consigned to Moiley! The dragon of the new _régime_ was beginning to show that his hunger was insatiable. The prisons were filling apace. Lord Clare had hinted that worse was yet to come, that the shadow of the gibbet was to stretch across the earth, that hemp would soon be at a premium. But there were two Moileys--two goddesses of vengeance and retaliation, ready to strike, one for the oppressor, one for the oppressed. If their blood was roused, who might foretell what havoc they would make ere they sheathed their swords again! The rustle of my lady's skirts recalled the maiden to herself, and she perceived her aunt descending into the garden. It was seldom that my lady changed her routine in the smallest particular. What could be the cause of this sudden fancy for star-gazing? 'A lovely night,' exclaimed her ladyship. 'How sweet the roses smell! I vow it is a sin to go to bed.' 'Shane seems to think so,' returned Doreen. 'He never comes in till the small hours.' My lady looked sharply in her niece's face, but was nothing there save a settled sadness. 'Come,' she said, 'Curran and his child are gone to rest. We'll take a turn in the pleasaunce.'