As both Godolphin and Marlborough were known to be by no means unfavourably disposed to the cause of the Stuarts, Desmond was hardly surprised at the latter part of this intimation.  Though he had but small hopes of being enabled to remain permanently at home, it was yet very welcome to him.  Certainly, if he remained in Ireland he would consider himself bound to hold himself aloof from all Jacobite plots, although, if the country rose and a French army landed, he would, unless he considered the cause a hopeless one, draw his sword on behalf of him whom he considered as his lawful sovereign.

“It is not sorry I am, your honour, to be turning my back on this country,” Mike said, as they rode out from the gate.  “The wine is good, which is more than I can say for anything else in it, except that the people are good Catholics.”

“I am starting a longer journey than you think, Mike.  I am only going to the duke, now, to ask for a year’s leave; though I do not think that I shall be absent more than a few months.”

“And where are you going, your honour, if I may make so bold as to ask?”

“I am going to Ireland, Mike.”

Mike looked at him with astonishment.

“To Ireland, your honour?  Sure they will hang you, before you set your foot a week in the country.”

“I have obtained a safe conduct, Mike, from Lord Godolphin.  You remember him, the nobleman we kidnapped?”

“Sure I remember him, your honour; and he has given you a safe conduct?  It is in luck you are, to be going back to Ireland again.”

“It is not a visit of pleasure, Mike.  I am going over to try to ascertain to which branch of my family I belong.”

“And what can it matter, your honour?  It’s a good name you have made for yourself out here.”

“I have done well enough, Mike, but I am tired of being asked, by almost every officer I meet, about my family, when in fact I know nothing myself.”

“Well, Captain, it does not seem to me worth troubling about, for if you don’t know who they are, it is little they can have done for you.”

“It would seem so, Mike.  There is a mystery about the whole affair, and I want to get to the bottom of it.”

He rode silently for some distance.  He knew that Mike would go through fire and water for him, and that, simple as he seemed, he had no ordinary amount of shrewdness; and he determined to tell him all he knew, especially as he intended to take him to Ireland with him.

“Mike,” he said at last, “I suppose you would like to pay a visit to Ireland, also?”

“I should that,” Mike said, emphatically.  “I was but eighteen when I came out here to enlist in the brigade—­that is twelve years ago now, and it is few people would be likely to know me again.”

“Well, I am thinking of taking you with me, Mike; and, as possibly you may be of use in my search, I will tell you my story.”