“Just come and talk to him a bit,” rejoined Magennis; “say you want to be trimmed about the whiskers, and he'll be a proud man to have you under his hand.”
“And the committee are satisfied with my letter?” asked Jack.
“They are, and they are not; but, on the whole, they think it's a step in the right direction to get anything out of the Martins, and, as Father Neal remarks, 'where we can pass with our head, we can put our whole body through.'”
“But what 's to be done about Nelligan? The breach with him is, I suspect, irreparable.”
“Why, it was Nelligan himself moved the first resolution in the committee, that your address be accepted as embodying the views—he said the present views—of the liberal electors.”
“You amaze me!” cried Massingbred; “and Joe, where was he?”
“Joe is off to Dublin; there 's some examination or other he must attend. But old Dan is your friend, rely upon that.”
“This is inexplicable,” muttered Jack to himself.
“We 'll go there, straight, the moment we get into the town. He 'll take it as a great compliment; and you can talk to him frankly and openly, for old Dan is a man to be trusted.”
“I wish I could guess at how this reconciliation has been effected,” muttered Jack.