With the knowledge that a Plantation was resolved on, the Deputy, on the 13th January, 1608, raised anew the question of Sir Randal’s “fourth.” He coolly referred to it in a letter to Cecil as “the case in controversy between Sir Randal MacDonnell and Mr. James Hamilton, concerning the fourth part of the fishery of the Bann, sometime debated before me, and order thereupon made by myself and the Council.” He went on to announce that he had “caused the King’s learned counsel here to draw the case according to the records,” and was sending it to London for the information of the Privy Council. This admission that he had acted as judge in the action might seem to show candour, but no one then was aware that MacDonnell’s fishery had been conveyed to him. The Deputy’s adjudication in Hamilton’s favour was the counterpart of his decision in O’Cahan v. O’Neill; yet, so obscure were his devices, that the fact that he was personally interested in the suit lay hidden for three centuries. The Attorney and Solicitor-General, who “drew the case according to the records,” knew the truth, but suppressed it. So, the Privy Council, unaware of the guilty secret, allowed the sequestration to be re-imposed for the third time, to the despair of Randal, who hastened to London in June, 1608. This time he met with failure there, for Chichester was now all-powerful. His journey, however, so much upset the Deputy that, to baffle MacDonnell beyond hope of recovery, he resorted to a desperate shift. It took the shape of transferring his fishery to a stranger; by which device it was hoped to raise an insurmountable obstacle in his path. To give solemnity to the stratagem, Chichester, by an act of State, gave it validity in the King’s name. On the 1st July, 1608, while MacDonnell was making his way to the steps of the Throne his “fourth” was conferred by Patent (with much other gear) on “our dear Arthur Bassett of Dublin.” Here indeed was legerdemain. James Hamilton we know; Thomas Irelande we know; Auditor Ware we know; John Wakeman we know; John King we know; Carew and Cary we know; but who was this new ensign of the brigand troupe? He appeared in the lists with vizor down, and was previously unknown to fame. The stranger, however, was no less a person than Chichester’s nephew—fresh landed a year before from Devonshire. The manufacture for him of a Patent purporting to affectionately embody the royal wishes was a masterstroke. CHAPTER XI. THE DEPUTY’S NEPHEW.