THE O'FARRELLY FEUD

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 June 1940, Page 10

THE O'FARRELLY FEUD

COPYRIGHT. PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

By

GEORGE A. BIRMINGHAM.

Author of “General John Regan,” “Up the Rebels,” etc., etc.

CHAPTER XII. t Continued).

They were sailing together in a boat owned by Ronnie, which he had brought round from Ballycon harbour and moored near the entrance of the creek where the fishing was done. It was a sailing dinghy of the water wag class and, like all similar boats, needed careful handling, being, as Quinn said, "a kittle sort of boat.” When Daphne was at the tiller the boat was sailed with daring rather than caution and Ronnie was continually on the alert to stave off disaster.

They were running with a free sheet before a fresh summer breeze when Daphne told the tale of her aunt’s generosity. A Queen Anne teapot was on’ the list, two old Irish cream jugs, the George. 11. salt cellars and two very old potato rings.

Ronnie gasped. “I think that’s too much,” said Daphne. “Too much! I should jolly web think it was too much. If you give Morrissy those things—-My God!” The exclamation was forced from Ronnie, partly by the thought of the consequences of offering such a bribe to Morrissy the Dictator; partly by what was happening to the boat. The wind freshened suddenly. into a light squall. The boat, after the manner of small boats on such occasions, rushed up into the wind. Daphne, who had no idea of letting a boat have her-own wilful way. pulled the tiller to windward. This was quite the right thing to do, but, luce Lady Margaret and the bribe, Daphne overdid it. The boat, checked suddenly in her yaw to windward, fell away again to her proper course, and, going too far, gybed suddenly. The boom missed Ronnie’s head by a fraction of an inch. The gunwale was driven down till the water flowed over it and, for an instant, there was a serious risk of the mast going overboard. Ronnie seized the tiller.

“That,” said Daphne, wet to the knees, but unterrified, “was rather a bang. Why did it happen?” Ronnie, though his nerve was a little shaken by his narrow escape from upsetting, chose to ignore the gybe and Daphne’s question about it. He went back to the far more serious peril oi attempting to bribe Judge Morrissy. “Listen to me, Daphne,” he said, stenly, “I’m not blaming you, but Lady Margaret really has got a wrong idea into her head.”

“I thought so,” said Daphne. “We’ll cut out the cream jugs and the potato rings. The teapot and the salt cellars will be quite enough if half what Quinn says about the value of them is true.”

“If you give him anything at all, said Ronnie, “or even try to there’ll be the very devil of a row.” "But if we don’t,” said Daphne, "he’ll decide in favour of O’Farrelly and Aunt Margaret simply couldn’t bear that.”

“He'll decide in favour of O’Farrelly in any case,' said Ronnie. “We can’t say that we didn’t cut the sinkers off his net and we've no defence to put up, absolutely none.” "That,” said Daphne, "is why we’re giving him the silver.” "But if we give him the silver, he’ll —Well, the very least he’ll do will be to award enormous damages to O’Farrelly and send the silver back to Lady Margaret witn a letter that would raise blisters on the back of a hippopotamus.' "Do you mean to say he wouldn’t like to have the silver?”

“He’d like it well enough. He’d probably give a good price for it if he. thought it were for sale. But if it’s given to him as a bribe —I tell you, Daphne, if we had the best case in the world instead of the worst Morrissy would decide against us if he thought we were trying to' get at him in any way, and if we offer him a straight down-right bribe—well, I just don’t know what might happen.” “He must be a funny kind of man,” said Daphne. “It’s not funny al all. ' All judges are like that, only Morrissy is more so than most.”

“I see,” said Daphne. “Your idea is that giving him the silver would make things worse for Aunt Margaret.” Another light squall touched the boat, but this time Ronnie was alert enough to seize the tiller before another gybe ensued. “If we're going to get back to luncheon we'd better start homeward." he said. “It’s a dead beat all the way, and even with the tide under us it will take time.”

Beating to windward, though it has perils of its own, is a far safer way of sailing in a small boat than running free. It may have been that Ronnie really wanted to be in time for luncheon or it may have been that he dreaded another gybe. But. though safer, a beat to windward, over a dancing summer sea. makes conversation difficult, especially when the helmsman is inexperienced and requires a good deal of advice.

"So do try to persuade your Aunt to give up the idea of bribing Morrissy.”

“That won't be easy.” “Keep her sailing," said Ronnie, referring to the boat, and not to Lady Margaret. “Watch the luff of your sail, and if you see it beginning to lift, let her away a bit."

“1 don't believe Aunt Margaret will give in about the silver unless you can think of some other way of getting the better of O’Farrelly.” - “There's no way of doing that,” said Ronnie. “Keep her up a bit now. You're right oil the wind. We’ll never get home if you don't keep her as close as she'll lie.” “I don't suppose," said Daphne, "that O Farrelly will try to bribe that judge. Its the sort of thing he might think of.” “O’Farrelly knows jolly well he'd

win the case without bribing even a witness. Besides the man's not a fool. “Which is as much as to say that Aunt Margaret is. But, look here, Ronnie, don’t you think you could persuade O’Farrelly to offer that judge something?” “No, I couldn’t. Nobody could.” "Well I don’t believe anyone can persuade Aunt Margaret not to.”

“But you’ll try, won t you. It really is a serious business and you’re the only person who has any real influence over her. I think we'd better be going about now. We’re far enough on this tack. Are you ready?” “Does that mean another of those frightful bangs? I don't wane the last one over again.”

"Not if you manage properly. Bring her up gently and keep her sailing as long as you can. Then put the tiller hard down. Til look after the sheets.”

The change of taci< was accomplished without difficulty, and Daphne was free to speak again.

“I may not be able to persuade her,” she said. “But I might manage to arrange things in such a way that your jld judge won’t be savage with us.” “That’s impossible,” said Ronnie. “The only thing’to do is to give up the bribery idea altogether.” "Then O’Farrelly will win.” “That can't be' helped,’’.said Ronnie. "We’ve just got to take what’s coming to us there.”

“I'll do my best,” said Daphne. “I say, it’s rather fine sailing this way! I do like it when she bumps down into the waves and then the spray comes ’over 'the bow. I wish poor Mousie was here. But, of course, if she was seasick she wouldn’t like it.”

Ronnie, who was getting very wet, felt sure that Mousie AVould not like it whether she eyas seasick or not. She was not the kind of girl who enjoys getting soaked with salt water. CHAPTER XV. O’Farrelly was openly exultant. He had suffered a good deal at the hands of Lady Margaret, or if not directly at her hands certainly at those of her friends and helpers. There was, of course, the financial loss, of the price he might have got for several hauls of mullet, hauls which he had been prevented from making. But it was not the money or the loss of it which weighed most heavily with O’Farrelly. Irishmen, like all other men, in the world, appreciate the value of money, and hate losing it. But Irishmen cou'nt honour, dignity and virtue —or at all events a reputation for virtue—as far above mere money. And O’Farrelly had suffered loss in these ways. The original humiliation still rankled in his mind. A man who had been forced by an old woman to strip oil most of his clothes and walk about a road in his shirt, is not likely to forget it. Nor will he cease to cherish his grudge against the woman who placed him in such a position.

He had suffered the laughter of his friends and the sneers of his enemies in Ballycon when Daphne outwitted him over the fishing. That, again, is a thing which a man finds hard to forgive, especially a man with a strong sense of personal dignity.

But worst of all was the slur cast on his moral character by the accusation of indecent conduct. O’Farrelly was a man of a great respect for religion. He went to mass every Sunday with unfailing regularity. He subscribed largely to every ecclesiastical charity started in the neighbourhood. The subscriptions might not have been quite as large as they were if the priest had not known pretty accurately what O'Farrelly’s income was and assessed him accordingly. But that did nothing to diminish the reputation of the giver in this world or perhaps the store of merit laid up in the next. To such a man a charge of immorality was particularly bitter and O’Farrelly resented it deeply. It undermined his position in the religious world as no other accusation would. And now his enemies were delivered into his hand. The cutting of his net was plainly an illegal act, and O’Farrelly was confident that the law would uphold and enforce a claim made against Lady Margaret. The amount he would recover in actual damages might be small. But the mere victory, without any damages at all, would humiliate Lady Margaret, and that was what he wanted more than anything else. It was small wonder then that he exulted, and small wonder that Ronnie became more and more .despondent. He knew —though O’Farrelly did not — of Lady Magaret’s plan to bribe the judge, and was convinced that any such attempt would make things fifty times worse than before.

Lady Margaret, who from one source or another, heard most of the gossip of Ballycon, knew all about O’Farrelly's proud bearing and continual swaggering. She felt that defeat at his hands would be intolerable and was inclined to add more and more silver to the bribe she intended to offer the judge. Ronnie's efforts to dissuade her from this course were entirely unavailing. The more he explained the dangerous futility of her plan the more Lady Margaret declared her conviction of the corruptness of everyone connected with the Irish Free State. Ronnie, who knew Morrissy the Die's reputation. foresaw that Lady Margaret and perhaps all her party would find themselves committed to prison for contempt of court. “I wish." said Daphne, “that you'd stop trying to persuade Aunt Margaret not to bribe that judge. It only irritates her and makes her most determined to do ii.” He had met her at the door one morning about a fortnight before the judge's visit Io Ballycon and was, indeed. on his way to make a final effort to turn Lady Margaret from her plan. (To be Continued)