‘I’d say what a fool!’ continued Curtis. ‘He had no need to risk his neck to achieve a station, the thing was done for him. He had a good house and a good estate in Kilkenny; I have caught salmon in the river that washes the foot of his lawn.’
‘And what has become of it; does he still own it?’
‘Not an acre—not a rood of it; sold every square yard of it to throw the money into the Fenian treasury. Rifled artillery, Colt’s revolvers, Remington’s, and Parrot guns have walked off with the broad acres.’
‘Fine fellow—a fine fellow!’ cried Nina enthusiastically.
‘That fine fellow has done a deal of mischief,’ said Kate thoughtfully.
‘He has escaped, has he not?’ asked Nina.
‘We hope not—that is, we know that he is about to sail for St. John’s by a clipper now in Belfast, and we shall have a fast steam-corvette ready to catch her in the Channel. He’ll be under Yankee colours, it is true, and claim an American citizenship; but we must run risks sometimes, and this is one of those times.’
‘But you know where he is now? Why not apprehend him on shore?’
‘The very thing we do not know, mademoiselle. I’d rather be sure of it than have five thousand pounds in my hand. Some say he is here, in the neighbourhood; some that he is gone south; others declare that he has reached Liverpool. All we really do know is about the ship that he means to sail in, and on which the second mate has informed us.’
‘And all your boasted activity is at fault,’ said she insolently, ‘when you have to own you cannot track him.’