"No, there is nothing of that kind. The only enemy I've got about the place, as far as I know, is one Pat Carroll. It was he and others, whom he paid to serve him, that have let the waters in upon the meadows. Eighty acres are under water at this moment. But I can bear that like a man. The worst of that is, that all the neighbours should have seen him do it, and not one of them have come forward to tell me." "That is the worst," said Mr. Blake. "There must be some terrible understanding among them, some compact for evil, when twenty men are afraid to tell what one man has been seen to do. It's fearful to think that the priests should not put a stop to it. How is Master Florian getting on with his priest?" "It's about him that I have come to speak to you," said Mr. Jones. "About Florian?" "Yes; indeed. When I tell you my story, I think you will understand that I would tell it to no one but yourself in County Galway. I fear that Florian saw the men at work upon the flood gates." "And will he not tell the truth?" "You must remember that I cannot say that I know anything. The boy declares that he saw nothing; that he knows nothing. I have no evidence; but his sisters are sure that it is so. Edith says that he certainly was present when the gates were removed. She only judges from his manner and his countenance." "What made her suspect him?" asked Mr. Blake. "Only that she saw him when the news was brought to us. Edith is not ill-natured. She would not be prone to make a story against her brother." "If Edith says so, it is so," said Mr. Blake, who among all Edith's admirers was one of the most ardent. "I don't quite say that. I only mean to express my conviction that she intends to get at the truth." "I'll wager my life upon her," said Mr. Blake. "As to the other;--well, you know, Jones, that he has turned Roman Catholic." "That means nothing," said the distressed father. "He is only ten years old. Of course he's a fool for his pains; but he would not on that account do such a deed as this." "I don't know. You must remember that he will be telling everything to the priests." "We have two priests about us," said Mr. Jones, "and I would trust them in anything. There is Father Giles at Headford, and he is as fair a man as any clergyman of our own could be. You cannot imagine that he would give such advice to my boy?" "Not Father Giles certainly," said the other man. "Then down with us at Ballintubber there is Father Malachi." "I know him too," said Mr. Blake. "He would not interfere with a boy like Florian. Is there no one else? What curate lives with Father Malachi?" "There is none with him at Ballintubber. One Brosnan lives with Father Giles." "That man is a firebrand," said Mr. Blake. "He is a wretched politician, always preaching up Home Rule." "But I do not think that even he would teach a boy to deceive his own father in such a matter as this."