“I can’t tell you any more about him,” said the Major, “for that’s all I know, except that he appears to be rich.”
“The difficulty I’m in is on account of the bishop. He’s getting to be mighty particular. I don’t say he’s wrong, mind you; only there it is. But sure, if no one in the place has anything to say against the American gentleman it’s likely he’ll turn out to be all right. But what about the fellow they want to put up the statue to?”
“What about him? I never heard tell of him before.”
“You’ll have to ask Dr. O’Grady that. He’s the only man who professes to know anything about him.”
“As I was saying to you this minute,” said Father McCormack, “I wouldn’t mind if he was a Protestant.”
“He hardly could be,” said the Major, “with that name.”
“There’s many a Protestant that might be just as well deserving of a statue as maybe a bishop. But what I’m afraid of is that this fellow might be worse. For let me tell you, Major, there’s worse things than Protestants, and I’m not saying that just because I’m talking to you. I’d say it to anyone.”
This gratified Major Kent, but it did not enable him to give any information about General John Regan.
“There’s no use asking me about him,” he said wearily. “Ask Dr. O’Grady.”
“If it was to turn out at the latter end,” said Faflier McCormack, “that he was one of those French atheists, or if he had any hand in hunting the nuns out of Portugal, the bishop wouldn’t be too well pleased when he heard that I’d been helping to put up a statue to him.”
“You’ll have to ask Dr. O’Grady. It’s no good asking me.”
“Will you tell me this, Major Kent, and I won’t ask you another question. Are you going to the meeting yourself?”
“Well now, you’re a man with a position in the place and you wouldn’t be going to a meeting of the sort unless it was all right. I’m inclined to think now that if you’re going—I wouldn’t give a thraneen for what Doyle might do. If that fellow saw half a chance of making sixpence by going to a meeting he’d go, if it was held for the purpose of breaking the windows of the Presbytery. That’s the sort of man Doyle is. And I wouldn’t mind Thady Gallagher. Thady is a kind-hearted poor fellow, though he’s a bit foolish at times; but he’s not the sort of man you could trust. He’s too fond of politics, and that’s a fact. Give Thady the opportunity of making a speech and you wouldn’t be able to keep him at home from a meeting, whatever sort of a meeting it might be. But it’s different with you, Major Kent.”