"I said that I would. Then they made the sign of a cross, and swore me on it. And they swore me specially to say nothing up here. And they swore me again when they met down at Tim Rafferty's house in Headford. I intended to keep my word, and I think that you ought to have let me keep it."
"But there were three others whom you saw," urged the Captain.
"There was Con Heffernan, and a man they call Lax, who had come from Lough Conn beyond Castlebar."
"He's not a man of this county."
"I think not, though I had seen him here before. He has had something to do with the Landleaguers up about Foxford."
"I think I have a speaking acquaintance with that Mr. Lax," said the Captain; and everybody could perceive that the tone of his voice was altered as he spoke about Mr. Lax. "And who was the sixth?"
"There was that old man, papa, whom they call Terry. But he wasn't doing anything in particular."
"He is the greatest blackguard on the estate," said the father.
"But we will confine ourselves to the five," said the Captain, "not forgetting Mr. Lax. What was Mr. Lax doing?"
"I can't remember what they were all doing. How is a fellow to remember them all? There were those two at the hinges, and Pat Carroll was there pulling his brother out of the water."