strength of England; but, were a Stuart on the throne, he would
have to listen to the wishes of the majority of his people, and
France would gain nothing by placing him there. Moreover, she
would lose the services of twenty thousand of her best soldiers,
for naturally the exiles would all return home, and what is now
the most valuable force in the French service, might then become
an equally important one in the service of Britain."

"I am glad that this priest of yours remains quietly in Kilkargan,
for, if he were to come here, and expound his views among our
regiments, he might cause quite a defection among them. At any
rate, Kennedy, I should advise you not to take to propagating his
views in the regiment. It would not add to your comfort, or ours,
and there are a good many hot-headed men who would take up the
idea that you had been infected by O'Carroll's principles."

"It would not be well for anyone to say as much to my face,"
Desmond said. "Father O'Leary is loyal to the backbone, although
he has his own ideas as to the hopelessness of our obtaining any
efficient help from Louis. He thinks that it will be far better to
trust to our friends at home, and that, even did Louis carry out
his promises, it would in the long run harm rather than benefit
King James."

"I am not saying that his view may not be correct, Kennedy. I am
only saying that the view would be a very unpopular one, among the
Brigade. We are fighting for France because we believe that
France, in turn, will aid in placing our rightful king on the
throne, and if we once entertained the notion that Louis was
deceiving us, that he had no intention of helping us, and that, if