Page:Shiana - Peadar Ua Laoghaire.djvu/218

204 had orders from the King that if any man's horse should not be there, the value of the horse was to be given to him. "But," said he, "how can we find out the value of the horse, when the horse is not there?"

Everyone paused. No one knew how the value of the horse could be made out when the horse was not there. There would be no sense in taking the judgment of the claimant as to the value of his own horse. Neither would there be any sense in giving good money, to the amount of the false money, to every claimant whose horse was not there to give him. What was to be done? The thing was becoming a puzzle to them all; the claimants demanding their own boldly, according as the King had ordered it to be given to them; the Captain in a fix, not knowing how much ought to be given to each claimant; and no one able to form any idea of the just value of the horses that had not been found.

Shiana spoke again.

"Let it be settled in this way," said he. "Let there be brought out here before us the best horse and the worst horse of those horses that have now been distributed. Let two judges estimate what each of these two horses is worth. Then let the large value and the small value be put together, and let the total be halved. By that settlement perhaps there will be one man who will get a little more than his right, and another who will get a little less than his right, but I don't think it is possible to make any other settlement that would come nearer to the right."

All the people shouted and clapped their hands.

"That's the talk! That's the talk!" said they. "That is a just decision!"