Ireland -- Fiction; Land League (Ireland) -- Fiction; Land tenure -- Fiction; Political fiction
"How has it gone with Flory?" he asked. Then Edith told the tale as
it had to be told of Florian, and of what had happened because of the
evidence he had given. He had come forward under the hands of Captain
Yorke Clayton and repeated his whole story, giving it in testimony
before the magistrates. He declared it all exactly as he had done
before in the presence of his father and his sister and Captain
Clayton. And he had sworn to it, and had had his deposition read to
him. He was sharp enough, and understood well what he was doing. The
other two men were brought up to support him,--the old man Terry and
Con Heffernan. They of course had not been present at the examination
of Flory, and were asked,--first one and then the other,--what they
knew of the transactions of the afternoon on which the waters had
been let in on the meadows of Ballintubber. They knew nothing at all,
they said. They "disremembered" whether they had been there on the
occasion, "at all, at all." Yes; they knew that the waters had been
in upon the meadows, and they believed that they were in again still.
They didn't think that the meadows were of much good for this year.
They didn't know who had done it, "at all, at all." People did be
saying that Mr. Florian had done it himself, so as to spite his
father because he had turned Catholic. They couldn't say whether Mr.
Florian could do it alone or not. They thought Mr. Florian and Peter,
the butler, and perhaps one other, might do it amongst them. They
thought that Yorke Clayton might perhaps have been the man to help
him. They didn't know that Yorke Clayton hadn't been in the county
at that time. They wished with all their hearts that he wasn't there
now, because he was the biggest blackguard they had ever heard tell
of.
Such was the story which was now told to Frank of the examination
which took place in consequence of Florian's confession. The results
were that Pat Carroll was in Galway jail, committed to take his trial
at the next assizes in August for the offence which he had committed;
and that Florian had been bound over to give evidence. "What does
Florian do with himself?" his brother asked.
"I am afraid he is frightened," said Ada.
"Of course he is frightened," said her sister. "How should he not
be frightened? These men have been telling him for the last six
months that they would surely murder him if he turned round and gave
evidence against them. Oh, Frank, I fear that I have been wrong in
persuading him to tell the truth."
"Not though his life were sacrificed to-morrow. To have kept the
counsels of such a ruffian as that against his own father would have
been a disgrace to him for ever. Does not my father think of sending
him to England?"
"He says that he has not the money," said Edith.
"Is it so bad as that with him?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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