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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16007-0.txt b/16007-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cd29b74 --- /dev/null +++ b/16007-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3495 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dead Boxer, by William Carleton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Dead Boxer + The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two + +Author: William Carleton + +Illustrator: M. L. Flanery + +Release Date: June 7, 2005 [EBook #16007] +Last Updated: March 1, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DEAD BOXER *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +THE DEAD BOXER. + + +By William Carleton + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +One evening in the beginning of the eighteenth century--as nearly as we +can conjecture, the year might be that of 1720--some time about the end +of April, a young man named _Lamh Laudher_ O'Rorke, or Strong-handed +O'Eorke, was proceeding from his father's house, with a stout oaken +cudgel in his hand, towards an orchard that stood at the skirt of a +country town, in a part of the kingdom which, for the present, shall be +nameless. Though known by the epithet of _Lamh Laudher_, his Christian +name was John; but in those time(s) Irish families of the same name +were distinguished from each other by some indicative of their natural +position, physical power, complexion, or figure. One, for instance, +was called _Parra Ghastha_, or swift Paddy, from his fleetness of foot; +another, _Shaun Buie_, or yellow Jack, from his bilious look; a third, +_Micaul More_, or big Michael, from his uncommon size; and a fourth, +_Sheemus Ruah_, or red James, from the color of his hair. These +epithets, to be sure, still occur in Ireland, but far less frequently +now than in the times of which we write, when Irish was almost the +vernacular language of the country. It was for a reason similar to those +just alleged, that John O'Rorke was known as _Lamh Laudher_ O'Rorke; +he, as well as his forefathers for two or three generations, having been +remarkable for prodigious bodily strength and courage. The evening was +far advanced as O'Rorke bent his steps to the orchard. The pale, but +cloudless sun hung over the western hills, and sun upon the quiet gray +fields that kind of tranquil radiance which, in the opening of summer, +causes many a silent impulse of delight to steal into the heart. Lamh +Laudher felt this; his step was slow, like that of a man who, without +being capable of tracing those sources of enjoyment which the spirit +absorbs from the beauties of external nature, has yet enough of +uneducated taste and feeling within him, to partake of the varied feast +which she presents. + +As he sauntered thus leisurely along he was met by a woman rather +advanced in years, but still unusually stout and muscular, considering +her age. She was habited in a red woollen petticoat that reached but +a short distance below the knee, leaving visible two stout legs, from +which dangled a pair of red garters that bound up her coarse blue hose. +Her gown of blue worsted was pinned up, for it did not meet around her +person, though it sat closely about her neck. Her grizzly red hair, +turned up in front, was bound by a dowd cap without any border, a +circumstance which, in addition to a red kerchief, tied over it, and +streaming about nine inches down the back, gave to her _tout ensemble_ +a wild and striking expression. A short oaken staff, hooked under the +hand, completed the description of her costume. Even on a first glance +there appeared to be something repulsive in her features, which had +evidently been much exposed to sun and storm. By a closer inspection one +might detect upon their hard angular outline, a character of cruelty and +intrepidity. Though her large cheek-bones stood widely asunder, yet her +gray piercing eyes were very near each other; her nose was short and +sadly disfigured by a scar that ran tranversely across it, and her chin, +though pointed, was also deficient in length. Altogether, her whole +person had something peculiar and marked about it--so much so, indeed, +that it was impossible to meet her without feeling she was a female of +no ordinary character and habits. + +Lamh Laudher had been, as we have said, advancing slowly along the +craggy road which led towards the town, when she issued from an +adjoining cabin and approached him. The moment he noticed her he stood +still, as if to let her pass and uttered one single exclamation of +chagrin and anger. + +“_Ma shaughth milia mollach ort, a calliagh!_ My seven thousand curses +on you for an old hag,” said he, and haying thus given vent to his +indignation at her appearance, he began to retrace his steps as if +unwilling to meet her. + +“The son of your father needn't lay the curse upon us so bitterly all +out, Lamh Laudher!” she exclaimed, pacing at the same time with vigorous +steps until she overtook him. + +The young man looked at her maimed features, and as if struck by some +sudden recollection, appeared to feel regret for the hasty malediction +he had uttered against her. “Nell M'Collum,” said he, “the word was +rash; and the curse did not come from my heart. But, Nell, who is there +that doesn't curse you when they meet you? Isn't it well known that to +meet you is another name for falling in wid bad luck? For my part I'd go +fifty miles about rather than cross you, if I was bent on any business +that my heart 'ud be in, or that I cared any thing about.” + +“And who brought the bad luck upon me first?” asked the woman. “Wasn't +it the husband of the mother that bore you? Wasn't it his hand that +disfigured me as you see, when I was widin a week of bein' dacently +married? Your father, Lamh Laudher was the man that blasted my name, and +made it bitther upon tongue of them that mintions it.” + +“And that was because he wouldn't see one wid the blood of Lamh Laudher +in his veins married to a woman that he had reason to think--I don't +like to my it, Nelly--but you know it is said that there was darkness, +and guilt, too, about the disappearin' of your child. You never cleared +that up, but swore revenge night and day against my father, for only +preventin' you from bein' the ruination of his cousin. Many a time, too, +since that, has asked you in my own hearing what became of the boy.” + +The old woman stopped like one who had unexpectedly trod with bare foot +upon something sharp enough to pierce the flesh to the bone, and even +to grate against it. There was a strong, nay, a fearful force of anguish +visible in what she felt. Her brows were wildly depressed from their +natural position, her face became pale, her eyes glared upon O'Rorke as +if he had planted a poisoned arrow in her breast, she seized him by the +arm with a hard pinching grip, and looked for two or three minutes in +his face, with an appearance of distraction. O'Rorke, who never feared +man, shrunk from her touch, and shuddered under the influence of what +had been, scarcely without an exception, called the “bad look.” The +crone held him tight, however, and there they stood, with their eyes +fixed upon each other. From the gaze of intense anguish, the countenance +of Nell M'Collum began to change gradually to one of unmingled +exultation; her brows were raised to their proper curves, her color +returned, the eye corruscated with a rapid and quivering sense of +delight, the muscles of the mouth played for a little, as if she strove +to suppress a laugh. At length O'Rorke heard a low gurgling sound +proceed from her chest; it increased; she pressed his arm more tightly, +and in a loud burst of ferocious mirth, which she immediately subdued +into a condensed shriek that breathed the very luxury of revenge, she +said-- + +“_Lamh Laudher Oge_, listen--ax the father of you, when you see him, +what has become _of his own child_--of the first that ever God sent him; +an' listen again--when he tells me what has become of mine, I'll tell +him what has become of his, Now go to Ellen--but before you go, let +me _cuggher_ in your ear that I'll blast you both. I'll make the _Lamh +Laudhers, Lamh Lhugs_. I'll make the strong arm the weak arm afore I've +done wid 'em.” + +She struck the point of her stick against the pavement, until the iron +ferrule with which it was bound dashed the fire from the stones, after +which she passed on, muttering threats and imprecations as she left him. + +O'Rorke stood and looked after her with sensations of fear and +astonishment. The age was superstitious, and encouraged a belief in the +influence of powers distinct from human agency. Every part of Ireland +was filled at this time with characters, both male and female, precisely +similar to old Nell M'Collum.. The darkness in which this woman walked, +according to the opinions of a people but slightly advanced in knowledge +and civilization, has been but feebly described to the reader. To meet +her, was considered an omen of the most unhappy kind; a circumstance +which occasioned the imprecation of Lamh Laudher. She was reported +to have maintained an intercourse with the fairies, to be capable +of communicating the blight of an evil eye, and to have carried on a +traffic which is said to have been rather prevalent in Ireland at the +time we speak of--namely, that of kidnapping. The speculations with +reference to her object in perpetrating the crimes were strongly +calculated to exhibit the degraded state of the people at that period. +Some said that she disposed of the children to a certain class of +persons in the metropolis, who subsequently sent them to the colonies, +when grown, at an enormous profit. Others maintained that she never +carried them to Dublin at all, but insisted that, having been herself +connected with the fairies, she possessed the power of erasing, by +some secret charm, the influence of baptismal protection, and that she +consequently acted as agent for the “gentry” to whom she transferred +them. Even to this day it is the opinion in Ireland, that the “good +people” themselves cannot take away a child, except through the +instrumentality of some mortal residing with them, who has been +baptized; and it is also believed that no baptism can secure children +from them, except that in which the priest has been desired to baptize +them with an especial view to their protection against fairy power. + +Such was the character which this woman bore; whether unjustly or not, +matters little. For the present it is sufficient to say, that after +having passed on, leaving Lamh Laudher to proceed in the direction he +had originally intended, she bent her steps towards the head inn of the +town. Her presence here produced some cautious and timid mirth of which +they took care she should not be cognizant. The servants greeted her +with an outward show of cordiality, which the unhappy creature easily +distinguished from the warm kindness evinced to vagrants whose history +had not been connected with evil suspicion and mystery. She accordingly +tempered her manner and deportment towards them with consummate skill. +Her replies to their inquiries for news were given with an appearance +of good humor; but beneath the familiarity of her dialogue there lay an +ambiguous meaning and a cutting sarcasm, both of which were tinged with +a prophetic spirit, capable, from its equivocal drift, of being applied +to each individual whom she addressed. Owing to her unsettled life, and +her habit of passing from place to place, she was well acquainted with +local history. There lived scarcely a family within a very wide circle +about her, of whom she did not know every thing that could possibly be +known; a fact of which she judiciously availed herself by allusions +in general conversations that were understood only by those whom they +concerned. These mysterious hints, oracularly thrown out, gained her the +reputation of knowing more than mere human agency could acquire, and of +course she was openly conciliated and secretly hated. + +Her conversation with the menials of the inn was very short and +decisive. + +“Sheemus,” said she to the person who acted in the capacity of waiter, +“where's Meehaul Neil?” + +“Troth, Nell, dacent woman,” replied the other, “myself can't exactly +say that. I'll be bound he's on the _Esker_, looking afther the sheep, +poor crathurs, durin' Andy Connor's illness in the small-pock. Poor +Andy's very ill, Nell, an' if God hasn't sed it, not expected; glory be +to his name!” + +“Is Andy ill?” inquired Nell; “and how long?” + +“Bedad, going on ten days.” + +“Well,” said the woman, “I knew nothin' about that; but I want to see +Meehaul Neil, and I know he's in the house.” + +“Faix he's not, Nelly, an' you know I wouldn't tell you a lie about it.” + +“Did you get the linen that was stolen from your masther?” inquired Nell +significantly, turning at the same time a piercing glance on the waiter; +“an' tell me,” she added, “how is Sally Lavery, and where is she?” + +“It wasn't got,” he replied, in a kind of stammer; “an' as to Sally, the +nerra one o' me knows any thing about her, since she left this.” + +“Sheemus,” replied Nell, “you know that Meehaul Neil is in the house; +but I'll give you two choices, either to bring me to the speech of him, +or else I'll give your masther the name of the thief that stole his +linen; ay! the name of the thief that resaved it. I name nobody at +present; an' for that matther, I know nothin'. Can't all the world tell +you that Nell M'Cullum knows nothin'!” + +“_Ghe dhevin_, Nelly,” said the waiter, “maybe Meehaul is in the house +unknownst to me. I'll try, any how, an' if he's to the fore, it won't be +my fault or he'll see you.” + +Nell, while the waiter went to inform Meehaul, took two ribbons out of +her pocket, one white and the other black, both of which she folded into +what would appear to a bystander to be a simple kind of knot. When the +innkeeper's son and the waiter returned to the hall, the former asked +her what the nature of her business with him might be. To this she made +no reply, except by uttering the word husht! and pulling the ends, first +of the white ribbon, and afterwards of the black. The knot of the first +slipped easily from the complication, but that of the black one, after +gliding along from its respective ends, became hard and tight in the +middle. + +“_Tha sha marrho!_ life passes and death stays,” she exclaimed. “Andy +Connor's dead, Meehaul Neil; an' you may tell your father that he must +get some one else to look afther his sheep. Ay! he's dead!--But that's +past. Meehaul, folly me; it's you I want, an' there's no time to be +lost.” + +She passed out as she spoke, leaving the waiter in a state of wonder +at the extent of her knowledge, and of the awful means by which, in his +opinion, she must have acquired it. + +Meehaul, without uttering a syllable, immediately walked after her. The +pace at which she went was rapid and energetic, betokening a degree of +agitation and interest on her part, for which he could not account. +As she had no object in bringing him far from the house, she availed +herself of the first retired spot that presented itself, in order to +disclose the purport of her visit. “Meehaul Neil,” said she, “we're now +upon the Common, where no ear can hear what passes between us. I ax have +you spirit to keep your sister Ellen from shame and sorrow?” The young +man started, and became strongly excited at such a serious prelude to +what she was about to utter. + +“_Millia diououl!_ woman, why do you talk about shame or disgrace comin' +upon any sister of mine?” What villain dare injure her that regards his +life? My sisther! Ellen Neil! No, no! the man that 'ud only think of +that, I'd give this right hand a dip to the wrist in the best blood of +his heart.” + +“Ay, ay! it's fine spakin': but you don't know the hand you talk of. +It's one that you had better avoid than meet. It's the strong hand, an' +the dangerous one when vexed. You know Lamh Laudher Oge?” + +Meelmul started again, and the crone could perceive by his manner that +the nature of the communication she was about to make had been already +known to him, though not, she was confident, in so dark and diabolical a +shape as that in which she determined to put it. + +“Lamh Laudher Oge!” he exclaimed; “surely you don't mane to say that he +has any bad design upon Ellen! It's not long since I gave him a caution +to drop her, an' to look out for a girl fittin' for his station. Ellen +herself knows what he'll get, if we ever catch him spakin' to her again. +The day will never come that his faction and ours can be friends.” + +“You did do that, Meehaul,” replied Nell, “an' I know it; but what 'ud +you think if he was so cut to the heart by your turnin' round upon +his poverty, that he swore an oath to them that I could name, bindin' +himself to bring your sister to a state of shame, in order to punish you +for your words? That 'ud be great glory over a faction that they hate.” + +“Tut, woman, he daren't swear such an oath; or, if he swore it fifty +times over on his bare knees, he'd ate the stones off o' the pavement +afore he'd dare to act upon it. In the first place, I'd prepare him +for his coffin, if he did; an' in the next, do you think so inanely +of Ellen, as to believe that she would bring disgrace an' sorrow upon +herself and her family? No, no, Nell; the old _dioul's_ in you, or +you're beside yourself, to think of such a story. I've warned her +against him, and so did we all; an' I'm sartin' this minute, that +she'd not go a single foot to change words with him, unknownst to her +friends.” + +The old woman's face changed from the expression of anxiety and +importance that it bore, to one of coarse glee, under which, to those +who had penetration sufficient to detect it, lurked a spirit of hardened +and reckless ferocity. + +“Well, well,” she replied, “sure I'm proud to hear what you tell me. +How is poor Nanse M'Collum doin' wid yez? for I hadn't time to see her +a while agone. I hope she'll never be ashamed or afraid of her aunt, +any how. I may say, I'm all that's left to the good of her name, poor +girshah.” + +“What 'ud ail her?” replied Meehaul; “as long a' she's honest an' +behaves herself, there's no fear of her. Had you nothing elsa to say to +me, Nell?” + +The same tumultuous expression of glee and malignity again lit up the +features of the old woman, as she looked at him, and replied, with +something like contemptuous hesitation, “Why, I don't know that. If +you had more sharpness or sinse I might say--Meehaul Neil,” she added, +elevating her voice, “what do you think I could say, this sacred moment! +Your sister! Why she's a good girl!--true enough that: but how long she +may be so's another affair. Afeard! Be the ground we stand on, man dear, +if you an' all belongin' to you, had eyes in your heads for every day in +the year, you couldn't keep her from young Lamh Laudher. Did you hear +anything?” + +“I'd not believe a word of it,” said Meehaul calmly, and he turned to +depart. + +“I tell you it's as true as the sun to the dial,” replied Nell; “and I +tell you more, he's wid her this minnit behind your father's orchard! +Ay! an' if you wish you may see them together wid your own eyes, an' +sure if you don't b'lieve me, you'll b'lieve them. But, Meehaul, +take care of him; for he has his fire-arms; if you meet him don't go +empty-handed, and I'd advise you to have the first shot.” + +“Behind the orchard,” said Meehaul, astonished; “where there?” + +“Ay, behind the orchard, where they often war afore. Where there? Why, +if you want to know that, sittin' on one of the ledges in the Grassy +Quarry. That's their sate whenever they meet; an' a snug one it is for +them that don't like their neighbors' eyes to be upon them. Go now an' +satisfy yourself, but watch them at a distance, an', as you expect to +save your sister, don't breathe the name of Nell M'Collum to a livin' +mortal.” + +Meehaul Neil's cheek flushed with deep resentment on hearing this +disagreeable intelligence. For upwards of a century before there had +subsisted a deadly feud between the Neils and Lamh Laudhers, without +either party being able exactly to discover the original fact from +which their enmity proceeded. This, however, in Ireland, makes little +difference. It is quite sufficient to know that they meet and fight upon +every possible opportunity, as hostile factions ought to do, without +troubling themselves about the idle nonsense of inquiring why they +hate and maltreat each other. For this reason alone, Meehaul Neil was +bitterly opposed to the most distant notion of a marriage between his +sister and young Lamh Laudher. There were other motives also which +weighed, with nearly equal force, in the consideration of this subject. +His sister Ellen was by far the most beautiful girl of her station in +the whole country,--and many offers, highly advantageous, and far above +what she otherwise could have expected, had been made to her. On the +other hand, Lamh Laudher Oge was poor, and by no means qualified in +point of worldly circumstances to propose for her, even were hereditary +enmity out of the question. All things considered, the brother and +friends of Ellen would rather have seen her laid in her grave, than +allied to a comparatively poor young man, and their bitterest enemy. + +Meehaul had but little doubt as to the truth of what Nell M'Collum told +him. There was a saucy and malignant confidence in her manner, which, +although it impressed him with a sense of her earnestness, left, +nevertheless, an indefinite feeling of dislike against her on his mind. +He knew that her motive for disclosure was not one of kindness or regard +for him or for his family. Nell M'Collum had often declared that “the +wide earth did not carry a bein' she liked or loved, but one--not even +excepting herself, that she hated most of all.” This however was not +necessary to prove that she acted rather from the gratification of some +secret malice, than from the principle of benevolence. The venomous +leer of her eye, therefore, and an accurate knowledge of her character, +induced him to connect some apprehension of approaching evil with the +unpleasant information she had just given him. + +“Well,” said Meehaul, “if what you say is true, I'll make it a black +business to Lamh Laudher. I'll go directly and keep my eye on them; an' +I'll have my fire-arms, Nell; an' by the life that's in me, he'll taste +them if he provokes me; an Ellen knows that.” Having thus spoken he left +her. + +The old woman stood and looked after him with a fiendish complacency. + +“A black business, will you?” she exclaimed, repeating his words in +a soliloquy;--“do so--an' may all that's black assist you in it! Dher +Chiernah, I'll do it or lose a fall--I'll make the Lamh Laudhers the +Lamh Lhugs afore I've done wid 'em. I've put a thorn in their side this +many a year, that'll never come out; I'll now put one in their marrow, +an' let them see how they'll bear that. I've left _one_ empty chair at +their hearth, an' it 'll go hard wid me but I'll lave another.” + +Having thus expressed her hatred against a family to whom she attributed +the calamities that had separated her from society, and marked her as +a being to be avoided and detested, she also departed from the Common, +striking her stick with peculiar bitterness into the ground as she went +along. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +In the mean time young Lamh Laudher felt little suspicion that the +stolen interview between him and Ellen Neil was known. The incident, +however, which occurred to him on his way to keep the assignation, +produced in his mind a vague apprehension which he could not shake off. +To meet a red-haired woman, when going on any business of importance, +was considered at all times a bad omen, as it is in the country parts +of Ireland unto this day; but to meet a female familiar with forbidden +powers, as Nell M'Collum was supposed to be, never failed to produce +fear and misgiving in those who met her. Mere physical courage was no +bar against the influence of such superstitions; many a man was a +slave to them who never knew fear of a human or tangible enemy. They +constituted an important part of the popular belief! for the history of +ghosts and fairies, and omens, was, in general, the only kind of lore +in which the people were educated; thanks to the sapient traditions of +their forefathers. + +When Nell passed away from Lamh Laudher, who would fain have flattered +himself that by turning back on the way, until she passed him, he had +avoided meeting her, he once more sought the place of appointment, at +the same slow pace as before. On arriving behind the orchard, he found, +as the progress of the evening told him, that he had anticipated the +hour at which it had been agreed to meet. He accordingly descended the +Grassy Quarry, and sat on a mossy ledge of rock, over which the brow of +a little precipice jutted in such a manner as to render those who sat +beneath, visible only from a particular point. Here he had scarcely +seated himself when the tread of a foot was heard, and in a few minutes +Nanse M'Collum stood beside him. + +“Why, thin, bad cess to you, Lamh Laudher,” she exclaimed, “but it's a +purty chase I had afther you.” + +“Afther me, Nanse? and what's the commission, _cush gastha_ +(lightfoot)?” + +“The sorra any thing, at all, at all, only to see if you war here. Miss +Ellen sent me to tell you that she's afeard she can't come this evenin', +unknownst to them.” + +“An' am I not to wait, Nanse?” + +“Why, she says she--_will_ come, for all that, if she can; but she +bid me take your stick from you, for a rason she has, that she'll tell +yourself when she sees you.” + +“Take my stick! Why Nanse, _ma colleen baun_, what can she want with my +stick? Is the darlin' girl goin' to bate any body?” + +“Bad cess to the know _I_ know, Lamh Laudher, barrin' it be to lay on +yourself for stalin' her heart from her. Why thin, the month's mether o' +honey to you, soon an' sudden, how did you come round her at all?” + +“No matter about that, Nanse; but the family's bitther against me?--eh?” + +“Oh, thin, in trogs, it's ill their common to hate you as they do; but +thin, you see, this faction-work will keep yees asundher for ever. Now +gi' me your stick, an' wait, any way, till you see whether she comes or +not.” + +“Is it by Ellen's ordhers you take it, Nanse?” + +“To be sure--who else's? but the divil a one o' me knows what she means +by it, any how--only that I daren't go back widout it.” + +“Take it, Nanse; she knows I wouldn't refuse her my heart's blood, let +alone a bit of a kippeen.” + +“A bit of a kippeen! Faix, this is a quare kippeen! Why, it would fell a +bullock.” + +“When you see her, Nanse, tell her to make haste, an' for God's sake not +to disappoint me. I can't rest well the day I don't meet her.” + +“Maybe other people's as bad, for that matter; so good night, an' the +mether o' honey to you, soon an' sudden! Faix, if any body stand in my +way now, they'll feel the weight of this, any how.” + +After uttering the last words, she brandished the cudgel and +disappeared. + +Lamh Laudher felt considerably puzzled to know what object Ellen could +have had in sending the servant maid for his staff. Of one thing, +however, he was certain, that her motive must have had regard to his +own safety; but how, or in what manner, he could not conjecture. It is +certainly true some misgivings shot lightly across his imagination, +on reflecting that he had parted with the very weapon which he usually +brought with him to repel the violence of Ellen's friends, should he be +detected in an interview with her. He remembered, too, that he had +met unlucky Nell M'Collum, and that the person who deprived him of his +principal means of defence was her niece. He had little time, however, +to think upon the subject, for in a few minutes after Nanse's departure, +he recognized the light quick step of her whom he expected. + +The figure of Ellen Neil was tall, and her motions full of untaught +elegance and natural grace. Her countenance was a fine oval; her +features, though not strictly symmetrical, were replete with animation, +and her eyes sparkled with a brilliancy indicative of a warm heart and a +quick apprehension. Flaxen hair, long and luxuriant, decided, even at a +distant glance, the loveliness of her skin, than which the unsunned snow +could not be whiter. If you add to this a delightful temper, buoyant +spirits, and extreme candor, her character, in its strongest points, is +before you. + +On reaching the bottom of the Grassy Quarry, as it was called, she +peered under the little beetling cliff that overhung the well-known +ledge on which Lamh Laudher sat. + +“I declare, John,” said she, on seeing him, “I thought at first you +weren't here.” + +“Did you ever know me to be late!--” said John, taking her by the hand, +and placing her beside him; “and what would you a' done, Ellen, if I +hadn't been here?” + +“Why, run home as if the life was lavin' me, for fear of seein' +something.” + +“You needn't be afeard, Ellen, dear; nothing could harm you, at all +events. However, puttin' that aside, have you any betther tidin's than +you had when we met last?” + +“I wish to heaven I had, John! but indeed I have far worse; ay, a +thousand times worse. They have all joined against me, an' I'm not to +see or speak to you at all.” + +“That's hard,” replied Lamh Laudher, drawing his breath tightly; “but +I know where it comes from. I think your father might be softened a +little, ay, a great deal, if it wasn't for your brother Meehaul.” + +“Indeed, Lamh Laudher, you're wrong in that; my father's as bitther +against you as he is. It was only on Tuesday evenin' last that they told +me, one an' all they would rather see me a corpse than your wife. Indeed +an' deed, John, I doubt it never can be.” + +“There,” replied John, “I see plain enough that they'll gain you over +at last. That will be the end of it: but if you choose to break the vows +and promises that passed between us, you may do so.” + +“Oh! Lamh Laudher,” said Ellen, affected at the imputation contained in +his last observation; “don't you treat me with such suspicion. I suffer +enough for your sake, as it is. For nearly two years, a day has hardly +passed that my family hasn't wrung the burnin' tears from my eyes on +your account. Haven't I refused matches that any young woman in my +station of life ought to be I proud to accept?” + +“You did, Ellen, you did; but still I know how hard it is for you to +hould out against the persecution you suffer at home. No, no, Ellen +dear, I never doubted you for one minute. All I wondher at is, that such +a girl as you ever could think of one so humble as I am, compared to +what you'd have a right to expect an' could get.” + +“Well, but if I'm willin' to prefer you, John?” said Ellen, with a +smile. + +“One thing I know, Ellen,” he replied, “an' that is, that I'm far from +bein' worthy of you; an' I ought, if I had a high enough spirit, to try +to turn you against me, if it was only that you might marry a man that +'ud have it in his power to make you happier than ever I'll be able to +do; any way, than ever it's likely I'll be able to do.” + +“I don't think, John, that ever money or the wealth of the world made a +man an' wife love one another yet, if they didn't do it before; but it +has often put their hearts against one another.” + +“I agree wid you in that, Ellen; but you don't know how my heart sinks +when I think of your an' my own poverty. My poor father, since the +strange disappearance of little Alice, never was able to raise his head; +and indeed my mother was worse. If the child had died, an' that we knew +she slept with ourselves, it would be a comfort. But not to know what +became of her--whether she was drowned or kidnapped--that was what +crushed their hearts. I must say that since I grew up, we're improvin'; +an' I hope, God willin', now that my father laves the management of the +farm to myself, we'll still improve more an' more. I hope it for their +sakes, but--more, if possible, for yours. I don't know what I wouldn't +do to make you happy, Ellen. If my life could do it, I think I could lay +it down to show the love I bear you. I could take to the highway and rob +for your sake, if I thought it would bring me means to make you happy.” + +Ellen was touched by his sincerity, as well as by the tone of manly +sorrow with which he spoke. His last words, however, startled her, when +she considered the vehement manner in which he uttered them. + +“John,” said she, alarmed, “never, while you have life, let me hear a +word of that kind out of your lips. No--never, for the sake of heaven +above us, breathe it, or think of it. But, I'll tell you something, an' +you must hear it, an' bear it too, with patience.” + +“What is it, Ellen! If it's fair an' manly, I'll be guided by your +advice.” + +“Meehaul has threatened to--to--I mane to say, that you musn't have any +quarrel with him, if he meets you or provokes you. Will you promise +this?” + +“Meenaul has threatened to strike me, has he? An' I, a Lamh Laudher, am +to take a blow from a Neil, an' to thank him, I suppose, for givin' it.” + +Ellen rose up and stood before him. + +“Lamh Laudher,” said she, “I must now try your love for me in earnest. +A lie I cannot tell no more than I can cover the truth. My brother has +threatened to strike you, an' as I said afore, you must bear it for his +sister's sake.” + +“No, _dher Chiernah_, never. That, Ellen, is goin' beyant what I'm able +to bear. Ask me to cut off my right hand for your sake, an' I'll do it; +ask my life, an' I'll give it: but to ask a Lamh Laudher to bear a +blow from a Neil--never. What! how could I rise my face afther such a +disgrace? How could I keep the country wid a Neil's blow, like the stamp +of a thief upon my forehead, an' me the first of my own faction, as your +brother is of his. No--never!” + +“An' you say you love me, John?” + +“Betther than ever man loved woman.” + +“No, man--you don't,” she replied; “if you did, you'd give up something +for me. You'd bear that for my sake, an' not think it much. I'm +beginin' to believe, Lamh Laudher, that if I was a poor portionless +girl, it wouldn't be hard to put me out of your thoughts. If it was only +for my own sake you loved me, you'd not refuse me the first request I +ever made to you; when you know, too, that if I didn't think more of you +than I ought, I'd never make it.” + +“Ellen, would you disgrace me? Would you wish me to bear the name of a +coward? Would you want my father to turn me out of the house? Would you +want my own faction to put their feet upon me, an' drive me from among +them?” + +“John,” she replied, bursting into tears, “I do know that it's a sore +obligation to lay upon you, when everything's taken into account; but +if you wouldn't do this for me, who would you do it for? Before heaven, +John, I dread a meetin' between you an' my brother, afther what he tould +me; an' the only way of preventin' danger is for you not to strike him. +Oh, little you know what I have suffered these two days for both your +sakes! Lamh Laudher Oge, I doubt it would be well for me if I had never +seen your face.” + +“Anything undher heaven but what you want me to do, Ellen.” + +“Oh! don't refuse me this, John. I ask it, as I said, for both your +sake, an' for my own sake. Meehaul wouldn't strike an unresistin' man. +I won't lave you till you promise; an' if that won't do, I'll go down on +my. knees an' ask you for the sake of heaven above, to be guided by me +in this.” + +“Ellen, I'll lave the country to avoid him, if that'll plase you.” + +“No--no--no, John: that doesn't plase me. Is it to lave your father +an' family, an' you the staff of their support? Oh, John, give me your +promise. Here on my two knees I ask it from you, for my own, for your +own, and for the sake of God above us! I know Meehaul. If he got a blow +from you on my account, he'd never forgive it to either you or me.” + +She joined her hands in supplication to him as she knelt, and the tears +chased each other like rain down her cheeks. The solemnity with which +she insisted on gaining her point staggered Lamh Laudher not a little. + +“There must be something undher this,” he replied, “that makes you set +your heart on it so much. Ellen, tell me the truth; what is it?” + +“If I loved you less, John, an' my brother too, I wouldn't care so much +about it. Remember that I'm a woman, an' on my knees before you. A +blow from you would make him take your life or mine, sooner than that I +should become your wife. You ought to know his temper.” + +“You know, Ellen, I can't at heart refuse you any thing. I will not +strike your brother.” + +“You promise, before God, that no provocation will make you strike him.” + +“That's hard, Ellen; but--well, I do; before God, I won't--an' it's for +your sake I say it. Now, get up, dear, get up. You have got me to do +what no mortal livin' could bring me to but yourself. I suppose that's +what made you send Nanse M'Collum for my staff?” + +“Nancy M'Collum! When?” + +“Why, a while ago. She tould me a quare enough story, or rather no story +at all, only that you couldn't come, an' you could come, an' I was to +give up my staff to her by your ordhers.” + +“She tould you false, John. I know nothing about what you say.” + +“Well, Ellen,” replied Lamh Laudher, with a firm seriousness of manner, +“you have brought me into danger. I doubt, without knowin' it. For my +own part, I don't care so much. Her unlucky aunt met me comin' here this +evenin', and threatened both our family and yours. I know she would sink +us into the earth if she could. Either she or your brother is at the +bottom of this business, whatever it is. Your brother I don't fear; but +she is to be dreaded, if, all's true that's said about her.” + +“No, John--she surely couldn't have the heart to harm, you an' me. Oh, +but I'm light now, since you did what I wanted you. No harm can come +between you and Meehaul; for I often heard him say, when speakin' +about his faction fights, that no one but a coward would, strike an +unresistin' man. Now come and see me pass the Pedlar's Cairn, an' +remember that you'll thank me for what I made you do this night. Come +quickly--I'll be missed.” + +They then passed on by a circuitous and retired path that led round the +orchard, until he had conducted her in safety beyond the Pedlar's Cairn, +which was so called from a heap of stones that had been loosely piled +together, to mark the spot as the scene of a murder, whose history, thus +perpetuated by the custom of every passenger casting a stone upon the +place, constituted one of the local traditions of the neighborhood. + +After a tender good-night, given in a truly poetical manner under the +breaking light of a May moon, he found it necessary to retrace his steps +by a path which wound round the orchard, and terminated in the public +entrance to the town. Along this suburban street he had advanced but a +short way, when he found himself overtaken and arrested by his bitter +and determined foe, Meehaul Neil. The connection betwixt the promise +that Ellen had extorted from him and this rencounter with her brother +flashed upon him forcibly: he resolved, however, to be guided by her +wishes, and with this purpose on his part, the following dialogue took +place between the heads of the rival factions. When we say, however, +that Lamh Laudher was the head of his party, we beg to be understood as +alluding only to his personal courage and prowess; for there were in it +men of far greater wealth and of higher respectability, so far as mere +wealth could confer the latter. + +“Lamh Laudher,” said Meehaul, “whenever a Neil spakes to you, you may +know it's hot in friendship.” + +“I know that, Meehaul Neil, without hearin' it from you. Spake, what +have you to say?” + +“There was a time,” observed the other, “when you and I were enemies +only because our cleaveens were enemies but now there is, an' you know +it, a blacker hatred between us.” + +“I would rather there was not, Meehaul; for my own part, I have no +ill-will against either you or yours, all you know that; so when you +talk of hatred, spake only for yourself.” + +“Don't be mane, man,” said Neil; “don't make them that hates you despise +you into the bargain.” + +Lamh Laudher turned towards him fiercely, and his eye gleamed with +passion; but he immediately recollected himself, and simply said-- + +“What is your business with me this night, Meehaul Neil?” + +“You'll know that soon enough--sooner, maybe, than you wish. I now ask +you to tell me, if you are an honest man, where you have been?” + +“I am as honest, Meehaul, as any man that ever carried the name of Neil +upon him, an' yet I won't tell you that, till you show me what right you +have to ask me.” + +“I b'lieve you forget that I'm Ellen Neil's brother: now, Lamh Laudher, +as her brother, I choose to insist on your answering me.” + +“Is it by her wish?” + +“Suppose I say it is.” + +“Ay! but I won't suppose that, till you lay your right hand on your +heart, and declare as an honest man, that--tut, man--this is nonsense. +Meehaul, go home--I would rather there was friendship between us.” + +“You were with Ellen, this night in the! Grassy Quarry.” + +“Are you sure of that?” + +“I saw you both--I watched you both; you left her beyond the Pedlar's +Cairn, an' you're now on your way home.” + +“An' the more mane you, Meehaul, to become a spy upon a girl that +you know is as pure as the light from heaven. You ought to blush for +doubtin' sich a sister, or thinkin' it your duty to watch her as you +do.” + +“Lamh Laudher, you say that you'd rather there was no ill-will between +us.” + +“I say that, God knows, from my heart out.” + +“Then there's one way that it may be so. Give up Ellen; you'll find it +for your own interest to do so.” + +“Show me that, Meehaul.” + +“Give her up, I say, an' then I may tell you.” + +“Meehaul, good-night. Go home.” + +They had now entered the principal street of the town, and as they +proceeded in what appeared to be an earnest, perhaps a friendly +conversation, many of their respective acquaintances, who lounged in the +moonlight about their doors, were not a little surprised at seeing them +in close conference. When Lamh Laudher wished him good night, he +had reached an off street which led towards his father's house, a +circumstance at which he rejoiced, as it would have been the means, he +hoped, of terminating a dialogue that was irksome to both parties. He +found himself, however, rather unexpectedly and rudely arrested by his +companion. + +“We can't part, Lamh Laudher,” said Meehaul seizing him by the collar, +“'till this business is settled--I mane till you promise to give my +sister up.” + +“Then we must stand here, Meehaul, as long as we live--an' I surely +won't do that.” + +“You must give her up, man.” + +“Must! Is it must from a Neil to a Lamh Laudher? You forgot yourself, +Meehaul: you are rich now, an' I'm poor now; but any old friend can tell +you the differ between your grandfather an' mine. Must, indeed!” + +“Ay; must is the word, I say; an' I tell you that from this spot you +won't go till you swear it, or this stick--an' it's a good one--will +bring you to submission.” + +“I have no stick, an' I suppose I may thank you for that.” + +“What do you mane?” said Neil; “but no matter--I don't want it. +There--to the divil with it;” and as he spoke he threw it over the roof +of the adjoining house. + +“Now give up my sister or take the consequence.” + +“Meehaul, go home, I say. You know I don't fear any single man that ever +breathed; but, above all men on this earth, I wish to avoid a quarrel +with you. Do you think, in the mean time, that even if I didn't care a +straw for your sister, I could be mane enough to let myself be bullied +out of her by you, or any of your faction? Never, Meehaul; so spare your +breath, an' go home.” + +Several common acquaintances had collected about them, who certainly +listened to this angry dialogue between the two faction leaders with +great interest. Both were powerful men, young, strong, and muscular. +Meehaul, of the two, was taller, his height being above six feet, +his strength, courage, and activity, unquestionably very great. Lamh +Laudher, however, was as fine a model of physical strength, just +proportion, and manly beauty as ever was created; his arms, in +particular, were of terrific strength, a physical advantage so peculiar +to his family as to occasion the epithet by which it was known. He had +scarcely uttered the reply we have I written, when Meehaul, with his +whole! strength, aimed a blow at his stomach, which the other so far +turned aside, as to bring it I higher up on his chest. He staggered +back, after receiving it, about seven or eight yards, but did not fall. +His eye literally blazed, and for a moment he seemed disposed to act! +under the strong impulse of self-defence. The solemnity of his promise +to Ellen, however, recurred to him in time to restrain his uplifted +arm. By a strong and sudden effort he endeavored to compose himself, and +succeeded. He approached Meehaul, and with as much calmness as he could +assume, said-- + +“Meehaul, I stand before you an' you may strike, but I won't return your +blows: I have reasons for it, but I tell you the truth.” + +“You won't fight?” said Meehaul, with mingled rage and scorn. + +“No,” replied the other, “I won't fight you.” + +A murmur of “shame” and “coward” was heard from those who had been drawn +together by their quarrel. + +“_Dher ma chorp_,” they exclaimed with astonishment, “but Lamh Laudher's +afeard of him!--the _garran bane's_ in him, now that he finds he has met +his match.” + +“Why, hard fortune to you, Lamh Laudher, will you take a blow from a +Neil? Are you goin' to disgrace your name?” + +“I won't fight him,” replied he to whom they spoke, and the uncertainty +of his manner was taken for want of courage. + +“Then,” said Meehaul, “here, before witnesses, I give you the coward, +that you may carry the name to the last hour of your life.” + +He inflicted, when uttering the words, a blow with his open hand on Lamh +Laudher's cheek, after which he desired the spectators to bear witness +to what he had done. The whole crowd was mute with astonishment, not a +murmur more was heard; but they looked upon the two rival champions, and +then upon each other with amazement. The high-minded young man had but +one course to pursue. Let the consequence be what it might, he could +not think for a moment of compromising the character of Ellen, nor +of violating his promise, so solemnly given; with a flushed cheek, +therefore, and a brow redder even with shame than indignation, he left +the crowd without speaking' a word, for he feared that by indulging in +any further recrimination on the subject, his resolution might give way +under the impetuous resentment which he curbed in with such difficulty. + +Meehaul Neil paused and looked after him, equally struck with surprise +and contempt at his apparent want of spirit. + +“Well,” he exclaimed to those who stood about him, “by the life within +me, if all the parish had sworn that Lamh Laudher Oge was a coward, I'd +not a b'lieved them!” + +“Faix, Misther Neil, who would, no more, than yourself?” they replied; +“devil the likes of it ever we seen! The young fellow that no man could +stand afore five minutes!” + +“That is,” replied others, “bekase he never met a man that would fight +him. You see when he did, how he has turned out. One thing any how is +clear enough--after this he can never rise his head while he lives.” + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +Meehaul now directed his steps homewards, literally stunned by the +unexpected cowardice of his enemy. On approaching his father's door, he +found Nell M'Collum seated on a stone bench, waiting his arrival. +The moment she espied him she sprang to her feet, and with her usual +eagerness of manner, caught the breast of his coat, and turning him +round towards the moonlight, looked eagerly into his face. + +“Well,” she inquired, “did he show his fire-arms? Well? What was done?” + +“Somebody has been making a fool of you, Nell,” replied Meehaul; “he +had neither fire-arms, nor staff, nor any thing else; an' for my part, I +might as well have left mine at home.” + +“Well, but, _douol_, man, what was done? Did you smash him? Did you +break his bones?” + +“None of that, Nell, but worse; he's disgraced for ever. I struck him, +an' he refused to fight me; he hadn't a hand to raise. + +“No! _Dher Chiernah_, he had not; an' he may thank Nell M'Collum for +that. I put the weakness over him. But I've not done wid him yet. I'll +make that family curse the day they crossed Nell M'Collum, if I should +go down for it. Not that I have any ill will to the boy himself, but the +father's heart's in him, an' that's the way, Meehaul, I'll punish the +man that was the means of lavin' me as I am.” + +“Nell, the devil's in your heart,” replied Meehaul, “if ever he was in +mortal's. Lave me, woman: I can't bear your revengeful spirit, an' what +is more, I don't want you to interfere in this business, good, bad, or +indifferent. You bring about harm, Nell; but who has ever known you to +do good?” + +“Ay! ay!” said the hag, “that's the cuckoo song to Nell; she does harm, +but never does good! Well, may my blackest curse wither the man that +left Nell to hear that, as the kindest word that's spoke either to her +or of her! I don't blame you. Meehaul--I blame nobody but him for it +all. Now a word of advice before you go in; don't let on to Ellen that +you know of her meetin' him this night;--an' reason good,--if she thinks +you're watchin' her, she'll be on her guard--'ay, an' outdo you in spite +of your teeth. She's a woman--she's a woman. Good night, an' mark him +the next time betther.” + +Meehaul himself--had come to the same determination and from the same +motive. + +The consciousness of Lamh Laudher's public disgrace, and of his +incapability to repel it, sank deep into his heart. The blood in his +veins became hot and feverish when he reflected upon the scornful and +degrading insult he had just borne. Soon after his return home, his +father and mother both noticed the singularly deep bursts of indignant +feeling with which he appeared to be agitated. For some time they +declined making any inquiry as to its cause, but when they saw at length +the big scalding tears of shame and rage start from his flashing eyes, +they could no longer restrain their concern and curiosity. + +“In the name of heaven, John,” said they, “what has happened to put you +in such a state as you're in?” + +“I can't tell you,” he replied; “if you knew it, you'd blush with +burnin' shame--you'd curse me in your heart. For my part, I'd rather be +dead fifty times over than livin', after what has happened this night.” + +“An' why not tell us, Lamh Laudher?” + +“I can't father; I couldn't stand upright afore you and spake it. I'd +sink like a guilty man in your presence; an' except you want to drive me +distracted, or perjured, don't ask me another question about it. You'll +hear it too soon.” + +“Well, we must wait,” said the father; “but I'm sure, John, you'd +not do anything unbecomin' a man. For my part, I'm not unasy on your +account, for except to take an affront from a Neil, there's nothing you +would do could shame me.” + +This was a' fresh stab to the son's wounded pride, for which he was not +prepared. With a stifled groan he leaped to his feet, and rushing from +the kitchen, bolted himself up in his bed-room. + +His parents, after he had withdrawn, exchanged glances. + +“That went home to him,” said the father; “an' as sure as death, the +Neils are in it, whatever it is. But by the crass that saved us, if he +tuck an affront from any of them, without payin' them home double, he is +no son of mine, an' this roof won't cover him another night. Howsomever +we'll see in the morn-in', plase God!” + +The mother, who was proud of his courage and prowess, scouted with great +indignation the idea of her son's tamely putting up with an insult from +any of the opposite faction. + +“Is it he bear an affront from a Neil! arrah, don't make a fool of +yourself, old man! He'd die sooner. I'd stake my life on him.” + +The night advanced, and the family had retired to bed; but their son +attempted in vain to sleep. A sense of shame overpowered him keenly. +He tossed and turned, and groaned, at the contemplation of the disgrace +which he knew would be heaped on him the following day. What was to be +done? How was he to wipe it off? There was but one method, he believed, +of getting his hands once more free; that was to seek Ellen, and gain +her permission to retract his oath on that very night. With this purpose +he instantly dressed, himself, and quietly unbolting his own door, +and that of the kitchen, got another staff, and passed out to seek her +father's inn. + +The night had now become dark, but mild and agreeable; the repose of man +and nature was deep, and save his own tumultuous thoughts every thing +breathed an air of peace and rest. At a quick but cautious pace he soon +reached the inn, and without much difficulty passed into the garden, +from which he hoped to be able to make himself known to Ellen. In this, +to his great mortification, he was disappointed; the room in which she +slept, being on the third story, presented a window, it is true, to the +garden; but how was he to reach it, or hold a dialogue with her, even +should she recognize him, without being overheard by some of the family? +All this might have occurred to him at home, had he been sufficiently +cool for reflection. As it was, the only method of awakening her that he +could think of was to throw up several handsful of small pebbles against +the window. This he tried without any effect. Pebbles sufficiently large +to reach the window would have broken the glass, so that he felt himself +compelled to abandon every hope of speaking to her that night. With +lingering and reluctant steps he left the garden, and stood for some +time before the front of the house, leaning against an upright stone, +called the market cross. Here he had not been more than two minutes, +when he heard footsteps approaching, and on looking closely through +the darkness, he recognized the figure of Nell M'Collum, as it passed +directly to the kitchen window. Here the crone stopped, peered in, and +with caution gave one of the panes a gentle tap. This was responded +to by one much louder from within, and almost immediately the door was +softly opened. From thence issued another female figure, evidently that +of Nanse M'Collum, her niece. Both passed down the street in a northern +direction, and Lamh Laudher, apprehensive that they were on no good +errand, took off his shoes, lest his footsteps might be heard, and +dogged them as they went along. They spoke little, and that in whispers, +until they had got clear of the town, when, feeling less restraint, the +following dialogue occurred to them:-- + +“Isn't it a quare thing, aunt, that she should come back to this place +at all?” + +“Quare enough, but the husband's comin' too--he's to folly her.” + +“He ought to know that he needn't come here, I think.” + +“Why, you fool, how do you know that? Sure the town must pay him fifty +guineas, if he doesn't get a customer, and that's worth comin' for. She +must be near us by this time. Husht! do you hear a car?” + +They both paused to listen, but no car was audible. + +“I do not,” replied the niece; “but isn't it odd that he lets her carry +the money, an' him trates her so badly'?” + +“Why would it be odd? Sure, she takes betther care of it, an' puts it +farther than he does. His heart's in a farden, the nager.” + +“Rody an' the other will soon spare her that trouble, any way,” replied +the niece. “Is there no one with her but the carman?” + +“Not one--hould you tongue--here's the gate where the same pair was to +meet us. Who is this stranger that Rody has picked up? I hope he's the +thing.” + +“Some red-headed fellow. Rody says he is honest. I'm wondherin', aunt, +what 'ud happen if she'd know the place.” + +“She can't, girshah--an' what if she does? She may know the place, but +will the place know her? Rody's friend says the best way is to do for +her; an' I'm afeard of her, to tell you the truth--but we'll settle that +when they come. There now is the gate where we'll sit down. Give a cough +till we try if they're------whist! here they are!” + +The voices of two men now joined the conversation, but in so low a tone, +that Lamh Laudher could not distinctly hear its purport. + +[Illustration: PAGE 91-- With stealthy pace he crept over] + +The road along which they traveled was craggy, and full of ruts, so that +a car could be heard in the silence of night at a considerable distance. +On each side the ditches were dry and shallow; and a small elder hedge, +which extended its branches towards the road, afforded Lamh Laudher +the obscurity which he wanted. With stealthy pace he crept over and sat +beneath it, determined to witness whatever incident might occur, and to +take a part in it, if necessary. He had scarcely seated himself when the +car which they expected was heard jolting about half a mile off along +the way, and the next moment a consultation took place in tones so low +and guarded, that every attempt on his part to catch its purport was +unsuccessful. This continued with much earnestness, if not warmth, until +the car came within twenty perches of the gate, when Nell exclaimed-- + +“If you do, you may--but remimber I didn't egg you on, or put it into +your hearts, at all evints. Maybe I have a child myself livin'--far from +me--an' when I think of him, I feel one touch of nature at my heart in +favor of her still. I'm black enough there, as it is.” + +“Make your mind asy,” said one of them, “you won't have to answer for +her.” + +The reply which was given to this could not be heard. + +“Well,” rejoined,Nell, “I know that. Her comin' here may not be for my +good; but--well, take this shawl, an' let the work be quick. The carman +must be sent back with sore bones to keep him quiet.” + +The car immediately reached the spot where they sat, and as it passed, +the two men rushed from the gate, stopped the horse, and struck the +carman to the earth. One of them seized him while down, and pressed +his throat, so as to prevent him from shouting. A single faint shriek +escaped the female, who was instantly dragged off the car and gagged by +the other fellow and Nanse M'Collum. + +Lamh Laudher saw there was not a moment to be lost. With the speed +of lightning he sprung forward, and with a single blow laid him who +struggled with the carman prostrate. To pass then to the aid of the +female was only the work of an instant. With equal success he struck +down the villain with whom she was struggling. Such was the rapidity of +his motions, that he had not yet had time even to speak; nor indeed did +he wish at all to be recognized in the transaction. The carman, finding +himself freed from his opponent, bounced to his legs, and came to the +assistance of his charge, whilst Lamh Laudher, who had just flung Nanse +M'Collum into the ditch, returned in time to defend both from a second +attack. The contest, however, was a short one. The two ruffians, finding +that there was no chance of succeeding, fled across the fields; and our +humble hero, on looking for Nanse and her aunt, discovered that they +also had disappeared. It is unnecessary to detail the strong terms in +which the strangers expressed their gratitude to Lamh Laudher. + +“God's grace be upon you, whoever you are, young man!” exclaimed the +carman; “for wid His help an' your own good arm, it's my downright +opinion that you saved us from bein' both robbed an' murthered.” + +“I'm of that opinion myself,” replied Lamh Laudher. + +“There is goodness, young man, in the tones of your voice,” observed the +female; “we may at least ask the name of the person who has saved our +lives?” + +“I would rather not have my name mentioned in the business,” he replied; +“a woman, or a devil, I think, that I don't wish to cross or provoke, +has had a hand in it. I hope you haven't been robbed?” he added. + +She assured him, with expressions of deep gratitude, that she had not. + +“Well,” said he, “as you have neither of you come to much harm, I would +take it as the greatest favor you could do me, if you'd never mention a +word about it to any one.” + +To this request they agreed with some hesitation. Lamh Laudher +accompanied them into the town, and saw them safely in a decent +second-rate inn, kept by a man named Luke Connor, after which he +returned to his father's house, and without undressing, fell into a +disturbed slumber until morning. + +It is not to be supposed that the circumstances attending the quarrel +between him and Meehaul Neil, on the preceding night, would pass off +without a more than ordinary share of public notice. Their relative +positions were too well known not to excite an interest corresponding +with the characters they had borne, as the leaders of two bitter and +powerful factions: but when it became certain that Meehaul Neil had +struck Lamh Laudher Oge, and that the latter refused to fight him, it +is impossible to describe the sensation which immediately spread through +the town and parish. The intelligence was first received by O'Rorke's +party with incredulity and scorn. It was impossible that he of the +Strong Hand, who had been proverbial for courage, could all at once turn +coward, and bear the blow from a Neil! But when it was proved beyond the +possibility of doubt or misconception, that he received a blow tamely +before many witnesses, under circumstances of the most degrading insult, +the rage of his party became incredible. Before ten o'clock the next +morning his father's house was crowded with friends and relations, +anxious to hear the truth from his own lips, and all, after having heard +it, eager to point out to him the only method that remained of wiping +away his disgrace, namely, to challenge Meehaul Neil. His father's +indignation knew no bounds; but his mother, on discovering the truth, +was not without that pride and love which, are ever ready to form an +apology for the feelings and errors of an only child. + +“You may all talk,” she said; “but if Lamh Laudher Oge didn't strike +him, he had good reasons for it. How do you know, an' bad cess to your +tongues, all through other, how Ellen Neil would like him after weltin' +her brother? Don't ye think she has the spirit of her faction in her as +well as another?” + +This, however, was not listened to. The father would hear of no apology +for his son's cowardice but an instant challenge. Either that or to be +driven from his father's roof the only alternatives left him. + +“Come out here,” said the old man, for the son had not left his humble +bed-room, “an' in presence of them that you have brought to shame +and disgrace, take the only plan that s left to you, an' send him a +challenge.” + +“Father,” said the young man, “I have too much of your own blood in me +to be afraid of any man--but for all that, I neither will nor can fight +Meehaul Neil.” + +“Very well,” said the father, bitterly, “that's enough. _Dher Manim_, +Oonagh, you're a guilty woman; that boy's no son of mine. If he had +my blood in him, he couldn't act as he did. Here, you intherloper, the +door's open for you; go out of it, an' let me never see the branded +face of you while you live.” The groans of the son were audible from his +bed-room. + +“I will go, father,” he replied, “an' I hope the day will come when +you'll all change your opinion of me. I can't, however, stir out till I +send a message a mile or so out of town.” + +The old man in the mean time, wept as if his son had been dead; his +tears, however, were not those of sorrow, but of shame and indignation. + +“How can I help it,” he exclaimed, “when I think of the way that the +Neils will clap their wings and crow over us! If it was from any other +family he tuck it so inanely, I wouldn't care so much; but from them! +Oh, Chiernah! it's too bad! Turn out, you villain!” + +A charge of deeper disgrace, however, awaited the unhappy young man. +The last harsh words of the father had scarcely been uttered, when three +constables came in, and inquired if his son were at home. + +“He is at home,” said the father, with tears in his eyes, “and I never +thought he would bring the blush to my face as he did by his conduct +last night.” + +“I am sorry,” said the principal of them, “for what has happened, both +on your account and his. Do you know this hat?” + +“I do know it,” replied the old man; “it belongs to John. Come out +here,” said he, “here's Tom Breen wid your hat.” + +The son left his room, and it was evident from his appearance that he +had not undressed at all during the night. The constables immediately +observed these circumstances, which they did not fail to interpret to +his disadvantage. + +“Here is your hat,” said the man who bore it; “one would think you were +travelin' all night, by your looks.” + +The son thanked him for his civility, got clean stockings, and after +arranging his dress, said to his father-- + +“I'm now ready to go, father, an' as I can't do what you want me to do, +there's nothing for me but to leave the country for a while.” + +“He acknowledged it himself,” said the father, turning to Breen; “an' in +that case, how could I let the son that shamed me live undher my roof?” + +“He's the last young man in the country I stand in,” said Breen, “that +any one who knew him would suspect to be guilty of robbery. Upon my +soul, Lamh Laudher More, I'm both grieved an' distressed at it. We're +come to arrest him,” he added, “for the robbery he committed last +night.” + +“Robbery!” they exclaimed with one voice. + +“Ay,” said the man, “robbery, no less--an' what is more, I'm afraid +there's little doubt of his guilt. Why did he lave his hat at the place +where the attempt was first made? He must come with us.” + +The mother shrieked aloud, and clapped her hands like a distressed +woman; the father's brow changed from the flushed hue of indignation, +and became pale with apprehension. + +“Oh! no, no,” he exclaimed, “John never did that. Some qualm might come +over him in the other business, but--no, no--your father knows you're +innocent of robbery. Yes, John, my blood is in you, and there you're +wronged, my son. I know you too well, in spite of all I've said to you, +to believe that, my true-hearted boy.” + +He grasped his son's hand as he spoke. + +And his mother at the same moment caught him in her arms, whilst both +sobbed aloud. A strong sense of innate dignity expanded the brow of +young Lamh Laudher. He smiled while his parents wept, although his +sympathy in their sorrow brought a tear at the same time to his +eye-lids. He declined, however, entering into any explanation, and the +father proceeded-- + +“Yes! I know you are innocent, John; I can swear that you didn't leave +this house from nine o'clock last night up to the present minute.” + +“Father,” said Lamh Laudher, “don't swear that, for it would not be +true, although you think it would. I was out the greater part of last +night.” + +His father's countenance fell again, as did those of his friends who +were present, on hearing what appeared to be almost an admission of his +guilt. + +“Go,” said the old man, “go; naburs, take him with you. If he's guilty +of this, I'll never more look upon his face. John, my heart was crushed +before, but you're likely to break it out an' out.” + +Lamh Laudher Oge's deportment, on hearing himself charged with robbery, +became dogged and sullen. The conversation, together with the sympathy +and the doubt it excited among his friends, he treated with silent +indignation and scorn. He remembered that on the night before, the +strange woman assured him she had not been robbed, and he felt that the +charge was exceedingly strange and unaccountable. + +“Come,” said he, “the sooner this business is cleared up the better. +For my part, I don't know what to make of it, nor do I care much how it +goes. I knew since yesterday evening, that bad luck was before me, at +all events, an' I suppose it must take its course, an' that I must bear +it.” + +The father had sat down, and now declined uttering a single word in +vindication of his' son. The latter looked towards him, when about to +pass out, but the old man waved his hand with sorrowful impatience, +and pointed to the door, as intimating a wish that he should forthwith +depart from under his roof. Loaded with twofold disgrace, he left his +family and his friends, accompanied by the constables, to the profound +grief and astonishment of all who knew him. + +They then conducted him before a Mr. Brooldeigh, an active magistrate of +that day, and a gentleman of mild and humane character. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +On reaching Brookleigh Hall, Lamh Laudher found the strange woman, Nell +M'Collum, Connor's servant maid, and the carman awaiting his arrival. +The magistrate looked keenly at the prisoner, and immediately glanced +with an expression of strong disgust at Nell M'Collum. The other female +surveyed Lamh Laudher with an interest evidently deep; after which +she whispered something to Nell, who frowned and shook her head, as if +dissenting from what she had heard. Lamh Laudher, on his part surveyed +the features of the female with an earnestness that seemed to absorb all +sense of his own disgrace and danger. + +“O'Rorke,” said the magistrate, “this is a serious charge against you. I +trust you may be able effectually to meet it.” + +“I must wait, your worship, till I hear fully what it is first,” replied +Lamh Laudher, “afther that I'm not afraid of clearin' myself from it.” + +The woman then detailed the circumstances of the robbery, which it +appeared took place at the moment her luggage was in the act of being +removed to her room, after which she added, rather unexpectedly--“And +now your worship, I have plainly stated the facts; but I must, in +conscience, add, that although this woman,” turning to Nell M'Collum, +“is of opinion that the young man before you has robbed me, yet I cannot +think he did.” + +“I'll swear, your worship,” said Nell, “that on passin' homewards last +night, seein' a car wid people about it, at Luke Connor's door, I stood +behind the porch, merely to thry if I knew who they wor. I seen this +Lamh Laudher wid a small oak box in his hands, an' I'll give my oath +that it was open, an' that he put his hands into it, and tuck something +out.” + +“Pray, Nell, how did it happen that you yourself were abroad at so +unseasonable an hour?” said the magistrate. + +“Every one knows that I'm out at quare hours,” replied Nell; “I'm not +like others. I know where I ought to be, at all times; but last night, +if your worship wishes to hear the truth, I was on my way to Andy +Murray's wake, the poor lad that was shepherd to the Neils.” + +“And pray, Nell,” said his worship, “how did you form so sudden an +acquaintance with this respectable looking woman?” + +“I knew her for years,” said Nell; “I've seen her in other parts of the +country often.” + +“You were more than an hour with her last night--were you not?” said his +worship. + +“She made me stay wid her,” said Nell, “bekase she was a stranger, an' +of coorse was glad to see a face she know, afther the fright she got.” + +“All very natural, Nell; but in the mean time, she might easily have +chosen a more respectable associate. Have you actually lost the sum of +six hundred pounds, my good madam?” + +“I have positively lost so much,” replied the woman, “together with the +certificate of my marriage.” + +“And how did you become acquainted with Nell M'Collum?” he inquired. + +The stranger was silent, and blushed deeply at this question; but Nell, +with more presence of mind, went over to the magistrate, and whispered +something which caused him to start, look keenly at her, and then at the +plaintiff. + +“I must have this confirmed by herself” he said in reply to Nell's +disclosure, “otherwise I shall be much more inclined to consider you the +thief than O'Rorke, whose character has been hitherto unimpeachable and +above suspicion.” + +He then beckoned the woman over to his desk, and after having first +inquired if she could write, and being replied to in the affirmative, +he placed a slip of paper before her, on which was written--“Is that +unhappy woman called Nell M'Collum, your mother?” + +“Alas! she is, sir,” replied the female, with a deep expression +of sorrow. The magistrate then appeared satisfied. “Now,” said he, +addressing O'Rorke, “state, fairly and honestly what you have to say in +reply to the charge brought against you.” + +“Please your worship,” said the young man, “you hear the woman say that +she brings no charge against me; but I can prove on oath, that Nell +M'Collum and her niece, Nanse M'Collum, along with two men that I don't +know, except that one was called Rody, met at Franklin's gate, with an +intention of robing, an' it's my firm belief, of murdering this woman.” + +He then detailed with great earnestness the incidents and conversation +of the preceding night. + +“Sir,” replied Nell, with astonishing promptness, “I can prove by two +witnesses, that, no longer ago than last night, he said he would take to +the high-road, in ordher to get money to enable him to marry Ellen Neil. +Yes, you villain, Nanse M'Collum heard every word that passed between +you and her in the grassy quarry; an' Ellen, your worship, can prove it +too, if she's sent for.” + +This had little effect on the magistrate, who at no time placed any +reliance on Nell's assertions; he immediately, however, dispatched a +summons for Nanse M'Collum. + +The carman then related all that he knew, every word of which strongly +corroborated what Lamh Laudher had said. He concluded by declaring it +to be his opinion, that the prisoner was innocent, and added, that, +according to the best of his belief, the box was not open when he left +it in the plaintiff's sleeping-room above stairs. + +The magistrate again looked keenly and suspiciously towards Nell. At +this stage of the proceedings, O'Rorke's father and mother, accompanied +by some of their friends, made their appearance. The old man, however, +declined to take any part in the vindication of his son. He stood +sullenly silent, with his arms folded and his brows knit, as much in +indignation as in sorrow. The grief of the mother was louder, for she +wept audibly. + +Ere the lapse of many minutes, the constable returned, and stated that +Nanse was not be found. + +“She has not been at her master's house since morning,” he observed, +“and they don't know where she is, or what has become of her.” + +The magistrate immediately despatched two of the constables, with strict +injunctions! to secure her, if possible. + +“In the mean time,” he added, “I will order you, Nell M'Collum, to be +strictly confined, until I ascertain whether she can be produced or not. +Your haunts may be searched with some hope of success, while you are in +durance; but I rather think we might seek for her in vain, if you were +at liberty to regulate her motions. I cannot expect,” he added, turning +to the stranger, “that you should prosecute one so nearly related to +you, even if you had proof, which you have not; but I am almost certain, +that she has been someway or other concerned in the robbery. You are a +modest, interesting woman, and I regret the loss you have sustained. At +present there are no grounds for committing any of the parties charged +with the robbery. This unhappy woman I commit only as a vagrant, until +her niece is found, after that we shall probably be able to see somewhat +farther into this strange affair.” + +“Something tells' me, sir,” replied the stranger, “that this young man +is as innocent of the robbery as the child unborn. It's not my intention +ever to think of prosecuting him. What I have done in the matter was +against my own wishes.” + +“God in heaven bless you for the words!” exclaimed the parents of +O'Rorke, each pressing her hand with delight and gratitude. The woman +warmly returned their greetings, but instantly felt her bosom heave +with a hysterical oppression under which she sank into a state of +insensibility. Lamh Laudher More and his wife were proceeding to bring +her towards the door for air, when Nell M'Collum insisted on a prior +right to render her that service. “Begone, you servant of the devil,” + exclaimed the old man, “your wicked breath is bad about any one else; +you won!t lay a hand upon her.” + +“Don't let her, for heaven's sake!” said his wife; “her eye will kill the +woman!” + +“You are not aware,” said the magistrate, “that this woman is her +daughter?” + +“Whose daughter, please your honor,” said the old man indignantly. + +“Nell M'Collum's,” he returned. + +“It's as false as hell!” rejoined O'Rorke, “beggin' your honor's pardon +for sayin' so. I mean it's false for Nell, if she says it. Nell, sir, +never had a daughter, an' she knows that; but she had a son, an' she +knows best what became of him.” + +Nell, however, resolved not to be deterred from getting-the stranger +into her own hands. With astonishing strength and fury she attempted to +drag the insensible creature from O'Rorke's grasp; but the magistrate, +disgusted at her violence, ordered two of the persons present to hold +her down. + +At length the woman began to recover. + +She sobbed aloud, and a copious flow of tears drenched her cheeks. Nell +ordered her to tear herself from O'Rorke and his wife:-- “Their hands +are bad about you,” she exclaimed, “and their son has robbed you, Mary. +Lave them, I say, or it will be worse for you.” + +The woman paid her no attention; on the contrary, she laid her head on +the bosom of O'Rorke's wife, and wept as if her heart would break. + +“God help me!” she exclaimed with a bitter sense of her situation, “I am +an unhappy, an' a heart-broken woman! For many a year I have not known +what it is to have a friendly breast to weep on.” + +She then caught O'Rorke's hand and kissed it affectionately, after which +she wept afresh; + +“Merciful heaven!” said she'--“oh, how will I ever be able to meet my +husband! and such a husband! oh, heavens pity me!” + +Both O'Rorke and his wife stood over her in tears. The latter bent her +head, kissed the stranger, and pressed her to her bosom. “May God bless +you!” said O'Rorke himself solemnly; “trust in Him, for he can see +justice done to you when man fails.” + +The eyes of Nell glared at the group like those of an enraged tigress: +she stamped her feet upon the floor, and struck it repeatedly with her +stick, as she was in the habit of doing, when moved by strong and deadly +passions. + +“You'll suffer for that, Mary,” she exclaimed; “and as for you, Lamh +Laudher More, my debt's not paid to you yet. Your son's a robber, an +I'll prove it before long; every one knows he's a coward too.” + +Mr. Brookleigh felt that there appeared to be something connected with +the transactions of the preceding night, as well as with some of the +persons who had come before him, that perplexed him not a little. He +thought that, considering the serious nature of the charge preferred +against young O'Rorke, he exhibited an apathy under it, that did not +altogether argue innocence. Some unsettled suspicions entered his mind, +but not with sufficient force to fix with certainty upon any of those +present, except Nell and Nanse M'Collum who had absconded. If Nell +were the woman's mother, her anxiety to bring the criminal to justice +appeared very natural. Then, again, young O'Rorke's father, who seemed +to know the history of Nell M'Collum, denied that she ever had a +daughter. How could he be certain that she had not, without knowing her +private life thoroughly? These circumstances appeared rather strange, if +not altogether incomprehensible; so much so, indeed, that he thought +it necessary, before they separated, to speak with O'Rorke's family in +private. Having expressed a wish to this effect, he dismissed the +other parties, except Nell, whom he intended to keep confined until the +discovery of her niece. + +“Pray,” said he to the father of our humble hero, “how do you know, +O'Rorke, that Nell M'Collum never had a daughter?” + +“Right well, your honor. I knew her since she was a child; an' from that +day to this she was never six months from this town at a time. No, no--a +son she had, but a daughter she never had.” + +“Let me ask you, young man, on what business were you abroad last night? +I expect you will answer me candidly?” + +“It's no matther,” replied young Lamh Laudher gloomily, “my character's +gone. I cannot be worse, an' I will tell no man how I spent it, till I +have an opportunity of clarin' myself.” + +“If you spent it innocently,” returned the magistrate, “you can have no +hesitation in making the disclosure we require.” + +“I will not mention it,” said the other; “I was disgraced, an' that is +enough. I think but little of the robbery.” + +Brookleigh understood him; but the last assertion, though it exonerated +him in the opinion of a man who knew something about character, went far +in that of his friends who were present to establish his guilt. + +They then withdrew; and it would have been much to young Lamh Laudher's +advantage if this private interview had never taken place. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +The next morning O'Rorke and his wife! waited upon Mr. Brookleigh to +state, that in their opinion it would be more judicious to liberate +Nell M'Collum, provided he kept a strict watch upon all her motions. +The magistrate instantly admitted both the force and ingenuity of the +thought; and after having appointed three persons to the task of keeping +her under surveillance, he set her at large. + +This was all judicious and prudent; but in the mean time, common rumor, +having first published the fact of young Lamh Laudher's cowardice, found +it an easy task to associate his name with the robbery. His very father, +after their last conference with the magistrate, doubted him; his +friends, in the most sympathetic terms, expressed their conviction of +his guilt, and the natural consequence resulting from this was, that he +found himself expelled from his paternal roof, and absolutely put out +of caste. The tide of ill-fame, in fact, set in so strongly against +him, that Ellen, startled as she had been by his threat of taking to +the highway, doubted him. The poor young man, in truth, led a miserable +life. Nanse M'Collum had not been found, and the unfavorable rumor was +still at its height, when one morning the town arose and found the walls +and streets placarded with what was in those days known as the fatal +challenge of the DEAD BOXER! + +This method of intimating his arrival had always been peculiar to that +individual, who was a man of color. No person ever discovered the +means by which he placarded his dreadful challenge. In an age of +gross superstition, numerous were the rumors and opinions promulgated +concerning this circumstance. The general impression was, that an evil +spirit attended him, by whose agency his advertisements were put up at +night; A law, it is said, then existed, that when a pugilist arrived in +any town, He might claim the right to receive the sum of fifty guineas, +provided no man in the town could be found to accept his challenge +within a given period. A champion, if tradition be true, had the +privilege of fixing only the place, not the mode and regulations of +battle. Accordingly the scene of contest uniformly selected by the Dead +Boxer was the church-yard of the town, beside a new made grave, dug at +his expense. The epithet of the Dead Boxer had been given to him, in +consequence of a certain fatal stroke by which he had been able to kill +every antagonist who dared to meet him; precisely on the same principle +that we call a fatal marksman a dead shot; and the church-yard was +selected, and the grave prepared, in order to denote the fatality +incurred by those who went into a contest with him. He was famous, too, +at athletic sports, but was never known to communicate the secret of +the fatal blow; he also taught the sword exercises, at which he was +considered to be a proficient. + +On the morning after his arrival, the town in which we have laid the +scene of this legend felt the usual impulse of an intense curiosity to +see so celebrated a character. The Dead Boxer, however, appeared to be +exceedingly anxious to gratify this natural propensity. He walked +out from the head inn, where he had stopped, attended by his servant, +merely, it would appear, to satisfy them as to the very slight chance +which the stoutest of them had in standing before a man whose blow was +so fatal, and whose frame so prodigiously Herculean. + +Twelve o'clock was the hour at which he deemed proper to make his +appearance, and as it happened also to be the market-day of the town, +the crowd which followed him was unprecedented. The old and young, the +hale and feeble of both sexes, all rushed out to see, with feelings of +fear and wonder, the terrible and far-famed Dead Boxer. The report +of his arrival had already spread far and wide into the country, +and persons belonging to every class and rank of life might be seen +hastening on horseback, and more at full speed on foot, that they might, +if possible, catch an early glimpse of him. The most sporting +characters among the nobility and gentry of the country, fighting-peers, +fire-eaters, snuff-candle squires, members of the hell-fire and +jockey clubs, gaugers, gentlemen tinners, bluff yeomen, laborers, +cudgel-players, parish pugilists, men of renown within a district of ten +square miles, all jostled each other in hurrying to see, and if possible +to have speech of, the Dead Boxer. Not a word was spoken that day, +except with reference to him, nor a conversation introduced, the topic +of which was not the Dead Boxer. In the town every window was filled +with persons standing to get a view of him; so were the tops of the +houses, the dead walls, and all the cars, gates, and available eminences +within sight of the way along which he went. Having thus perambulated +the town, he returned to the market-cross, which, as we have said, stood +immediately in front of his inn. Here, attended by music, he personally +published his challenge in a deep and sonorous voice, calling upon the +corporation in right of his championship, to produce a man in ten clear +days ready to undertake battle with him as a pugilist, or otherwise to +pay him the sum of fifty guineas out of their own proper exchequer. + +Having thus thrown down his gauntlet, the musicians played a dead march, +and there was certainly something wild and fearful in the association +produced by these strains of death and the fatality of encountering +him. This challenge he repeated at the same place and hour during three +successive days, after which he calmly awaited the result. + +In the mean time, certain circumstances came to light, which not only +developed many cruel and profligate traits in his disposition, but also +enabled the worthy inhabitants of the town to ascertain several facts +relating to his connections, which in no small degree astonished them. +The candid and modest female whose murder and robbery had been planned +by Nell M'Collum, resided with him as his wife; at least if he did not +acknowledge her as such, no person who had an opportunity of witnessing +her mild and gentle deportment, ever for a moment conceived her capable +of living with him in any other character, his conduct to her, however, +was brutal in the extreme, nor was his open and unmanly cruelty lessened +by the misfortune of her having lost the money which he had accumulated. +With Nell M'Collum he was also acquainted, for he had given orders that +she should be admitted to him whenever she deemed it necessary. Nell, +though now at large, found her motions watched with a vigilance which no +ingenuity on her part, could baffle. She knew this, and was resolved by +caution to overreach those who dogged her so closely. Her intimacy with +the Dead Boxer threw a shade of still deeper mystery around her own +character and his. Both were supposed to be capable of entering into +evil communion with supernatural beings, and both, of course, were +looked upon with fear and hatred, modified, to be sure, by the +peculiarity of their respective situations. + +Let not our readers, however, suppose that young Lamh Laudher's disgrace +was altogether lost in the wide-spread fame of the Dead Boxer. His high +reputation for generous and manly feeling had given him too strong a +hold upon the hearts of all who know him, to be at once discarded by +them from public conversation as an indifferent person. His conduct +filled them with wonder, it is true; but although the general tone of +feeling respecting the robbery was decidedly in his favor, yet there +still existed among the public, particularly in the faction that was +hostile to him, enough of doubt, openly expressed, to render it a duty +to avoid him; particularly when this formidable suspicion was joined to +the notorious fact of his cowardice in the rencounter with Meehaul Neil. +Both subjects were therefore discussed with probably an equal interest; +but it is quite certain that the rumor of Lamh Laudher's cowardice would +alone have occasioned him, under the peculiar circumstances which drew +it forth, to be avoided and branded with contumely. There was, in +fact, then in existence among the rival factions in Ireland much of the +military sense of honor which characterizes the British army at this +day; nor is this spirit even yet wholly exploded, from our humble +countrymen. Poor Lamh Laudher was, therefore, an exile from his father's +house, repulsed and avoided by all who had formerly been intimate with +him. + +There was another individual, however, who deeply sympathized in all he +felt, because she knew that for her sake it had been incurred; we allude +to Ellen Neil. Since the night of their last interview, she, too, had +been scrupulously watched by her relations. But what vigilance can +surpass the ingenuity of love? Although her former treacherous confidant +had absconded, yet the incident of the Dead Boxer's arrival had been the +means of supplying her with a friend, into whose bosom she felt that she +could pour out all the anxieties of her heart. This was no other than +the Dead Boxer's wife; and there was this peculiarity in the interest +which she took in Ellen's distress, that it was only a return of +sympathy which Ellen felt in the unhappy woman's sufferings. The conduct +of her husband was indefensible; for while he treated her with shameful +barbarity, it was evident that his bad passions and his judgment were at +variance, with respect to the estimate which he formed of her character. +In her honesty he placed every confidence, and permitted her to manage +his money and regulate his expenses; but this was merely because her +frugality and economic habits gratified his parsimony, and fostered one +of his strongest passions, which was avarice. There was something about +this amiable creature that won powerfully upon the affections of Ellen +Neil; and in entrusting her with the secret of her love, she she felt +assured that she had not misplaced it. Their private conversations, +therefore, were frequent, and their communications, unreserved on both +sides, so far as woman can bestow confidence and friendship on the +subject of her affections or her duty. This intimacy did not long escape +the prying eyes of Nell M'Collum, who soon took means to avail herself +of it for purposes which will shortly become evident. + +It was about the sixth evening after the day on which the Dead Boxer had +published his challenge, that, having noticed Nell from a window as she +passed the inn, he dispatched a waiter with a message that she should be +sent up to him. Previous to this the hag had been several times with +his wife, on whom she laid serious injunctions never to disclose to her +husband the relationship between them. The woman had never done so, for +in fact the acknowledgement of Nell, as her mother, would have been +to, any female whose feelings had not been made callous by the world, a +painful and distressing task. Nell was the more anxious on this point, +as she feared that such a disclosure would have frustrated her own +designs. + +“Well, granny,” said he, when Nell entered, “any word of the money?” + +Nell cautiously shut the door, and stood immediately fronting him, her +hand at some distance from her side, supported by her staff, and her +gray glittering eyes fixed upon him with that malicious look which she +never could banish from her countenance. + +“The money will come,” she replied, “in good time. I've a charm near +ready that'll get a clue to it. I'm watchin' him--and I'm watched +myself--an' Ellen's watched. He has hardly a house to put his head in; +but _nabockish!_ I'll bring you an' him together--ay, _dher manim_, an' +I'll make him give you the first blow; afther that, if you don't give +him one, it's your own fau't.” + +“Get the money first, granny. I won't give him the blow till _it_ is +safe.” + +“Won't you?” replied the beldame; “ay, _dher Creestha_, will you, whin +you know what. I have to tell you about him an'--an'----” + +“And who, granny?” + +“_Diououl_, man, but I'm afeard to tell you, for fraid you'd kill me.” + +“Tut, Nelly; I'd not strike an Obeah-wo-man,” said he, laughing. + +“I suspect foul play between him an'--her.” + +“Eh? Fury of hell, no!” + +“He's very handsome,” said the other, “an' young--far younger than you +are, by thirteen--” + +“Go on--go on,” said the Dead Boxer, interrupting her, and clenching +his fist, whilst his eyes literally glowed like live coals, “go on--I'll +murder him, but not till--yes, I'll murder him at a blow--I will; but +no--not till you secure the money first. If I give him the blow--THE +BOX--I might never get it, granny. A dead man gives back nothing.” + +“I suspect,” replied Nell, “_arraghid_--that is the money--is in other +hands. Lord presarve us! but it's a wicked world, blackey.” + +“Where is it!” said the Boxer, with a vehemence of manner resembling +that of a man who was ready to sink to perdition for his wealth. “Devil! +and furies! where is it?” + +“Where is it?” said the imperturbable Nell; “why, manim a yeah, man, +sure you don't think that I know where it is? I suspect that your +landlord's daughter, his real sweetheart, knows something about it; but +thin, you see, I can prove nothing; I only suspect. We must watch an' +wait. You know she wouldn't prosecute him.” + +“We will watch an' wait--but I'll finish him. Tell me, Nell--fury of +hell, woman--can it be possible--no--well--I'll murder him, though; +but can it be possible that she's guilty? eh? She wouldn't prosecute +him--No--no--she would not.” + +“She is not worthy of you, blackey. Lord save us! Well, troth, I +remimber whin you wor in Lord S--'s, you were a fine young man of your +color. I did something for the young lord in my way then, an' I used to +say, when I called to see her, that you wor a beauty, barrin' the face. +Sure enough, there was no lie in that. Well, that was before you tuck +to the fightin'; but I'm ravin'. Whisper, man. If you doubt what I'm +sayin', watch the north corner of the orchard about nine to-night, an' +you'll see a meetin' between her an' O'Rorke. God be wid you! I must +go.” + +“Stop!” said the Boxer; “don't--but do get a charm for the money.” + +“Good-by,” said Nell; “_you_ a heart wid your money! No; _damnho sherry_ +on the charm ever I'll get you till you show more spunk. You! My curse +on the money, man, when your disgrace is consarned!” + +Nell passed rapidly, and with evident indignation out of the room; nor +could any entreaty on the part of the Dead Boxer induce her to return +and prolong the dialogue. + +She had said enough, however, to produce in his bosom torments almost +equal to those of the damned. In several of their preceding dialogues, +she had impressed him with a belief that young Lamh Laudher was the +person who had robbed his wife; and now to the hatred that originated in +a spirit of avarice, she added the deep and deadly one of jealousy. On +the other hand, the Dead Boxer had, in fact, begun to feel the influence +of Ellen Neil's beauty; and perhaps nothing would have given him greater +satisfaction than the removal of a woman whom he no longer loved, except +for those virtues which enabled him to accumulate money. And now, too, +had he an equal interest in the removal of his double rival, whom, +besides, he considered the spoliator of his hoarded property. The +loss of this money certainly stung him to the soul, and caused his +unfortunate wife to suffer a tenfold degree of persecution and misery. +When to this we add his sudden passion for Ellen Neil, we may easily +conceive what she must have endured. Nell, at all events, felt satisfied +that she had shaped the strong passions of her savage dupe in the way +best calculated to gratify that undying spirit of vengeance which she +had so long nurtured against the family of Lamh Laudher. The Dead Boxer, +too, was determined to prosecute his amour with Ellen Neil, not more to +gratify his lawless affection for her than his twofold hatred of Lamh +Laudher. + +At length nine o'clock arrived, and the scene must change to the +northern part of Sheemus Neil's orchard. The Dead Boxer threw a cloak +around him, and issuing through the back door of the inn, entered the +garden, which was separated from the orchard only by a low clipped hedge +of young whitethorn, in the middle of which stood of a small gate. In a +moment he was in the orchard, and from behind its low wall he perceived +a female proceeding to the north side muffled like himself in a cloak, +which he immediately recognized to be that of his wife. His teeth became +locked together with the most deadly resentment; his features twitched +with the convulsive spasms of rage, and his nostrils were distended +as if his victims stood already within his grasp. He instantly threw +himself over the wall, and nothing but the crashing weight of his tread +could have saved the lives of the two unsuspecting persons before him. +Startled, however, by the noise of his footsteps, Lamh Laudher turned +round to observe who it was that followed them, and immediately the +massy and colossal black now stripped of his cloak--for he had thrown it +aside--stood in their presence. The female instinctively drew the cloak +round her face, and Lamh Laudher was about to ask why he followed them, +when the Boxer approached him in an attitude of assault. + +With a calmness almost unparalleled under the circumstances, Lamh +Laudher desired the female by no means to cling to him. + +“If you do,” said he, “I am murdered where I stand.” + +“No,” she shrieked, “you shall not. Stand back, man, stand back, if you +murder him I will take care you shall suffer for it. Stand back. Lamh +Laudher never injured you.” + +“Ha!” exclaimed the Boxer, in reply; “why, what is this! Who have we +here?” + +Ellen, for it was she, had already thrown back the cloak from her +features, and stepped forward between them. + +“Well, I am glad it is you,” said the black, “and so may he. Come, I +shall conduct you home.” + +He caught her arm as he spoke, and drew her over to his side like an +infant. + +“Come, my pretty girl, come; I will treat you tenderly, and all I shall +ask is a kiss in return. Here, young fellow,” said he to Lamh Laudher, +with a sense of bitter triumph, “I will show you that one black kiss is +worth two white ones.” + +Heavy, hard, and energetic was the blow which the Dead Boxer received +upon the temple, as the reply of Lamh Laudher, and dead was the crash +of his tremendous body on the earth. Ellen looked around her with +amazement. + +“Come,” said she, seizing her lover's arm, and dragging him onward: +“gracious heavens! I hope you haven't killed him. Come, John, the time +is short, and we must make the most of it. That villain, as I tould you +before, is a villain. Oh! if you knew it! John, I have been the manes of +your disgrace and suffering, but I am willing to do what I can to remedy +that. In your disgrace, Ellen will be ready, in four days from this, +to become your wife. John, come to meet me no more. I will send that +villain's innocent wife to your aunt Alley's, where you now live'. I +didn't expect to see you myself; but I got an opportunity, and besides +she was too unwell to bring my message, which was to let you know what I +now tell you.” + +John, ere he replied, looked behind him at the Dead Boxer, and appeared +as if struck with some sudden thought. + +“He is movin',” said he, “an' on this night I don't wish to meet him +again; but--yes, Ellen, yes--God bless you for the words you've said; +but how could you for one minute doubt me about the robbery?” + +“I did not, John--I did not; and if I did, think of your own words at +our meetin' in the Quarry; it was a small suspicion, though--no more. +No, no; at heart I never doubted you.” + +“Ellen,” said John, “hear me. You never will become my wife till my +disgrace is wiped away. I love you too well ever to see you blush for +your husband. My mind's made up--so say no more. Ay, an' I tell you that +to live three months in this state would break my heart.” + +“Poor John!” she exclaimed, as they separated, and the words were +followed by a gush of tears, “I know that there is not one of them, in +either of the factions, so noble in heart and thought as you are.” + +“Ill prove that soon, Ellen; but never till my name is fair and clear, +an' without spot, can you be my wife. Good night, dearest; in every +thing but that I'll be guided by you.” + +They then separated, and immediately the Dead Boxer, like a drunken man, +went tottering, rather crest-fallen, towards the inn. On reaching his +own room, his rage appeared quite ungovernable; he stormed, stamped, and +raved on reflecting that any one was able to knock him down. He called +for brandy and water, with a curse to the waiter, swore deeply between +every sip, and, ultimately dispatched another messenger for Nell +M'Collum. + +“That Obeah woman's playing on me,” he exclaimed; “because my face is +black, she thinks me a fool. Furies! I neither know what she is, nor who +the other is. But I will know.” + +“Don't be too sure of that,” replied Nell, gliding into the +apartment--“You can say little, blackey, or think little, avourneen, +that I'll not know. As to who she is, you needn't ax--she won't be long +troublin' you; an' in regard to myself, I'm what you see me. Arra, _dher +ma chuirp_, man alive, I could lave you in one night that a boy in his +first _breestha_ (small clothes) could bate the marrow out of you.” + +“Where did you come from now, granny?” + +“From her room; she's sick--that was what prevented her from meetin' +Lamh Laudher.” + +“Granny, do you know who she is? I'm tired of her--sick of her.” + +“You know enough about her to satisfy you. Wasn't she a beautiful +creature when Lady S------ tuck her into the family, an' reared her till +she was fit to wait upon herself. Warn't you then sarvant to the ould +lord, an' didn't I make her marry you, something against her will, too; +but she did it to plase me. That was before 'buildin' churches' druv you +out of the family, an' made you take to the fightin' trade.” + +“Granny, you must bring this young fellow across me. Blood! woman, do +you know what he did? He knocked me down, granny--struck me senseless! +Fury of hell! Me! Only for attempting to kiss his sweetheart!” + +“Ha!” said Nell, bitterly, “keep that to yourself, for heaven's sake! +_Dher ma chuirp_, man, if it was known, his name would be higher up than +ever. Be my sowl, any how, that was the Lamh Laudher blow, my boy, an' +what that is, is well known. The devil curse him for it!” + +“Granny, you must assist me in three things. Find a clue to the +money--bring this fellow in my way, as you promised--and help me with +the landlord's daughter.” + +“Is there nothin' else?” + +“What?” + +“She's sick.” + +“Well, let her die, then; I don't care.” + +“In the other things I will help you,” said Nell; “but you must clear +your own way there. I can do every thing but that. I have a son myself, +an' my hands is tied against blood till I find him out. I could like to +see some people withered, but I can't kill.” + +“Well, except her case, we understand one another. Good night, then.” + +“You must work that for yourself. Good night.” + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +In the mean time a circumstance occurred which scarcely any person who +heard it could at first believe. About twelve o'clock the next day the +house of Lamh Laudher More was surrounded with an immense crowd, and the +whole town seemed to be in a state of peculiar animation and excitement. +Groups met, stood, and eagerly accosted each other upon some topic that +evidently excited equal interest and astonishment. + +LAMH LAUDHER OGE HAD CHALLENGED THE DEAD BOXER. + +True. On that morning, at an early hour, the proscribed young man waited +upon the Sovereign of the town, and requested to see him. Immediately +after his encounter with the black the preceding night, and while Ellen +Neil offered to compensate him for the obloquy she had brought upon his +name, he formed the dreadful resolution of sending him a challenge. In +very few words he stated his intention to the Sovereign, who looked upon +him as insane. + +“No, no,” replied that gentleman; “go home, O'Rorke, and banish the idea +out of your head; it is madness.” + +“But I say yes, yes, with great respect to you, sir,” observed Lamh +Laudher. “I've been banished from my father's house, and treated with +scorn by all that know me, because they think me a coward. Now I'll let +them know I'm no coward.” + +“But you will certainly be killed,” said,the Sovereign. + +“That's to be seen,” observed the young man; “at all events, I'd as soon +be killed as livin' in disgrace. I'll thank you, sir, as the head of the +town, to let the black know that Lamh Laudher Oge will fight him.” + +“For heaven's sake, reflect a moment upon the----” + +“My mind's made up to fight,” said the other, interrupting him. “No +power on earth will prevent me, sir. So, if you don't choose to send the +challenge, I'll bring it myself.” + +The Sovereign shook his head, as if conscious of what the result must +be. + +“That is enough,” said he; “as you are fixed on your own destruction, +the challenge will be given; but I trust you will think better of it.” + +“Let him know, if you please,” added Lamh Laudher, “that on to-morrow at +twelve o'clock we must fight.” + +The magistrate nodded, and Lamh Laudher immediately took his leave. In a +short time the intelligence spread. From the sovereign it passed to his +clerk, from the clerk to the other members of the corporation, and, ere +an hour, the town was in a blaze with the intelligence. + +“Did you hear what's reported?” was the general question. + +Lamh Laudher Oge has challenged the Dead Boxer! + +The reader already knows how bitterly public opinion had set in against +our humble hero; but it would be difficult to describe, in terms +sufficiently vivid, the rapid and powerful reaction which now took place +in his favor. Every one pitied him, praised him, remembered his former +prowess, and after finding some palliative for his degrading interview +with Meehaul Neil, concluded with expressing a firm conviction that he +had undertaken a fatal task. When the rumor had reached his parents, the +blood ran cold in their veins, and their natural affection, now roused +into energy, grasped at an object that was about to be violently removed +from it. Their friends and neighbors, as we have stated, came to their +house for the purpose of dissuading their son against so rash and +terrible an undertaking. + +“It musn't be,” said they, “for whatever was over him wid Meehaul Neil, +we know now he's no coward, an' that's enough. We musn't see him beat +dead before our eyes, at all events, where is he?” + +“He's at his aunt's,” replied the father; “undher this roof he says +he will never come till his name is cleared. Heavens above! For him to +think of fighting a man that kills every one he fights wid!” + +The mother's outcries were violent, as were those of his female +relations, whilst a solemn and even mournful spirit brooded upon the +countenances of his own faction. It was resolved that his parents and +friends should now wait upon, and by every argument and remonstrance in +their power, endeavor to change the rashness of his purpose: + +The young man received them with a kind but somewhat sorrowful, spirit. +The father, uncovered, and with his gray locks flowing down upon his +shoulders, approached him, extended his hand, and with an infirm voice +said-- + +“Give me your hand, John. You're welcome to your father's heart an' +your father's roof once more.” + +The son put his arms across his breast, and bowed his head respectfully, +but declined receiving his father's hand. + +“Not, father--father dear--not till my name is cleared.” + +“John,” said the old man, now in tears, “will you refuse me? You are my +only son, my only child, an' I cannot lose you. Your name is cleared.” + +“Father,” said the son, “I've sworn--it's now too late. My heart, +father, has been crushed by what has happened lately. I found little +charity among my friend's. I say, I cannot change my mind, for I've +sworn to fight him. And even if I had not sworn, I couldn't, as a man, +but do it, for he has insulted them that I love better than my own life. +I knew you would want to persuade me against what I'm doin'--an' that +was why I bound myself this mornin' by an oath.” + +The mother, who had been detained a few minutes behind them, now +entered, and on hearing that he had refused to decline the battle, +exclaimed-- + +“Who says that Lamh Laudher Oge won't obey his mother? Who dare say it? +Wasn't he ever and always an obedient son to me an' his father? I won't +believe that lie of my boy, no more than I ever believed a word of' what +was sed against him. _Shawn Oge aroon_, you won't refuse me, _avillish_. +What 'ud become of me, _avich ma chree_, if you fight him? Would you +have the mother's heart broken, an' our roof childless all out? We +lost one as it is--the daughter of our heart is gone, an' we don't know +how--an' now is your father an' me to lie down an' die in desolation +widout a child to shed a tear over us, or to put up one prayer for our +happiness?” + +The young man's eyes filled with tears; but his cheek reddened, and he +dashed them hastily aside. + +“No, my boy, my glorious boy, won't refuse to save his mother's heart +from breakin'; ay, and his gray-haired father's too--he won't kill us +both--my boy won't,--nor send us to the grave before our time!” + +“Mother,” said he, “if I could I--Oh! no, no. Now, it's too late--if I +didn't fight him, I'd be a perjured man. You know,” he added, smiling, +“there's something in a Lamh Laudher's blow, as well as in the Dead +Boxer's. Isn't it said, that a Lamh Laudher needn't strike two blows, +when he sends his strength with one.” + +He stretched out his powerful arm, as he spoke, with a degree of pride, +not unbecoming his youth, spirit, and amazing strength and activity. + +“Do not,” he added, “either vex me, or sink my spirits. I'm sworn, an' +I'll fight him. That's my mind, and it will not change.” + +The whole party felt, by the energy and decision with which he spoke +the last words, that he was immovable. His resolution filled them with +melancholy, and an absolute sense of death. They left him, therefore, in +silence, with the exception of his parents, whose grief was bitter and +excessive. + +When the Dead Boxer heard that he had been challenged, he felt more +chagrin than satisfaction, for his avarice was disappointed; but when he +understood from those members of the corporation who waited on him, +that Lamh Laudher was the challenger, the livid fire of mingled rage and +triumph which blazed in his large bloodshot eyes absolutely frightened +the worthy burghers. + +“I'm glad of that,” said he--“here, Joe, I desire you to go and get +a coffin made, six feet long and properly wide--we will give him room +enough; tehee! tehee! tehee!--ah! tehee! tehee! tehee! I'm glad, +gentlemen. Herr! agh! tehee! tehee! I'm glad, I'm glad.” + +In this manner did he indulge in the wild and uncouth glee of a savage +as ferocious as he was powerful. + +“We have a quare proverb here, Misther Black,” said one of the worthy +burghers, “that, be my sowl, may be you never heard!” + +“Tehee! tehee! agh! What is that?” said the Boxer, showing his white +teeth and blubber lips in a furious grin, whilst the eyes which he +fastened on the poor burgher blazed up once more, as if he was about to +annihilate him. + +“What is it, sar?” + +“Faith,” said the burgher, making towards the door, “I'll tell you +that when I'm the safe side o' the room--devil a ha'porth bar-rin' that +neither you nor any man ought to reckon your chickens before they +are hatched. Make money of that;” and after having discharged this +pleasantry at the black, the worthy burgher made a hasty exit down +stairs, followed at a more dignified pace by his companions. + +The Dead Boxer, in preparing for battle, observed a series of forms +peculiar to himself, which were certainly of an appalling character. As +a proof that the challenge was accepted, he ordered a black flag, +which he carried about with him, to wave from a window of the inn, a +circumstance which thrilled all who saw it with an awful certainty of +Lamh Laudher's death. He then gave order for the drums to be beaten, +and a dead march to be played before him, whilst he walked slowly up +the town and back, conversing occasionally with some of those who +immediately surrounded him. When he arrived nearly opposite the +market-house, some person pointed out to him a small hut that stood in a +situation isolated from the other houses of the street. + +“There,” added his informant, “is the house where Lamh Laudher Oge's +aunt lives, and where he himself has lived since he left his father's.” + +“Ah!” said the black, pausing, “is he within, do you think?” + +One of the crowd immediately inquired, and replied to him in +affirmative. + +“Will any of you,” continued the boxer, “bring me over a half-hundred +weight from the market crane? I will show this fellow what a poor chance +he has. If he is so strong in the arm and active as is reported, I +desire he will imitate me. Let the music stop a moment.” + +The crowd was now on tiptoe, and all necks were stretched over the +shoulders of those who stood before them, in order to see, if possible, +what the feat could be which he intended to perform. Having received +the half-hundred weight from the hands of the man who brought it, he +approached the widow's cottage, and sent in a person to apprize _Lamh +Laudher_ of his intention to throw it over the house, and to request +that he would witness this proof of his strength. Lamh Laudher delayed a +few minutes, and the Dead Boxer stood in the now silent crowd, awaiting +his appearance, when accidentally glancing into the door, he started as +if stung by a serpent. A flash and a glare of his fierce blazing eyes +followed. + +“Ha! damnation! true as hell!” he exclaimed, “she's with him! Ha!--the +Obeah woman was right--the Obeuh woman was right. Guilt, guilt, guilt! +Ha!” + +With terror and fury upon his huge dark features, he advanced a step or +two into the cottage, and in a voice that resembled the under-growl +of an enraged bull, said to his wife, for it was she--“You will never +repeat this--I am aware of you; I know you now! Fury! prepare yourself; +I say so to both. Ha!” Neither she nor Lamh Laudher had an opportunity +of replying to him, for he ran in a mood perfectly savage to the +half-hundred weight, which he caught by the ring, whirled it round him +two or three times, and, to the amazement of the mob who were crowded +about him, flung it over the roof of the cottage. + +Lamh Laudher had just left the cabin in time to witness the feat, as +well as to observe more closely the terrific being in his full strength +and fury, with whom he was to wage battle on the following day. Those +who watched his countenance, observed that it blanched for a moment, and +that the color came and went upon his cheek. + +“Now, young fellow,” said the Boxer, “get behind the cabin and throw +back the weight.” + +Lamh Landher hesitated, but was ultimately proceeding to make the +attempt, when a voice from the crowd, in tones that were evidently +disguised, shouted-- + +“Don't be a fool, young man; husband your strength, for you will want +it.” + +The Dead Boxer started again--“Ha!” he exclaimed, after listening +acutely, “fury of hell! are you there? ha! I'll grasp you yet, though.” + +The young man, however, felt the propriety of this friendly caution. +“The person who spoke is right,” said he, “whoever he is. I will +husband, my strength,” and he passed again into the cabin. + +The boxer's countenance exhibited dark and flitting shadows of rage. +That which in an European cheek would have been the redness of deep +resentment, appeared, on his, as the scarlet blood struggled with the +gloomy hue of his complexion, rather like a tincture that seemed to +borrow its character more from the darkness of his soul, than from the +color of his skin. His brow, black and lowering as a thunder-cloud, hung +fearfully over his eyes, which he turned upon Lamh Laudher when entering +the hut, as if he could have struck him dead with a look. Having desired +the drums to beat, and the dead march to be resumed, he proceeded along +the streets until he arrived at the inn, from the front of which the +dismal flag of death flapped slowly and heavily in the breeze. At this +moment the death-bell of the town church tolled, and the sexton of the +parish bustled through the crowd to inform him that the grave which he +had ordered to be made was ready. + +The solemnity of these preparations, joined to the almost superhuman +proof of bodily strength which he had just given, depressed every heart, +when his young and generous adversary was contrasted with him. Deep +sorrow for the fate of Lamh Laudher prevailed throughout the town; the +old men sighed at the folly of his rash and fatal obstinacy, and the +females shed tears at the sacrifice of one whom all had loved. From +the inn, hundreds of the crowd rushed to the church-yard, where they +surveyed the newly made grave with shudderings and wonder at the +strangeness of the events which had occurred in the course of the day. +The death music, the muffled drums, the black flag, the mournful tolling +of the sullen bell, together with the deep grave that lay open before +them, appeared rather to resemble the fearful pageant of a gloomy dream, +than the reality of incidents that actually passed before their eyes. +Those who came to see the grave departed with heaviness and a sad +foreboding of what was about to happen; but fresh crowds kept pouring +towards it for the remainder of the day, till the dusky shades of a +summer night drove them to their own hearths, and left the church-yard +silent. + +The appearance of the Dead Boxer's wife in the house where Lamh Laudher +resided, confirmed, in its worst sense, that which Nell M'Collum had +suggested to him. It is unnecessary to describe the desolating sweep of +passion which a man, who, like him, was the slave of strong resentments, +must have suffered. It was not only from motives of avarice and a +natural love of victory that he felt anxious to fight: to these was now +added a dreadful certainty that Lamh Laudher was the man in existence +who had inflicted on him an injury, for which nothing but the pleasure +of crushing him to atoms with his hands, could atone. The approaching +battle therefore, with his direst enemy, was looked upon by the Dead +Boxer as an opportunity of glutting his revenge. When the crowd had +dispersed, he called a waiter, and desired him to inquire if his +wife had returned. The man retired to ascertain, and the Boxer walked +backwards and forwards in a state of mind easily conceived, muttering +curses and vows of vengeance against her and Lamh Laudher. After some +minutes he was informed that she had not returned, upon which he gave +orders that on the very instant of her appearance at the inn, she should +be sent to him. The waiter's story in this instance was incorrect; +but the wife's apprehension of his violence, overcame every other +consideration, and she resolved for some time to avoid him. He had, in +fact, on more than one occasion openly avowed his jealousy of her and +O'Rorke, and that in a manner which made the unhappy woman tremble for +her life. She felt, therefore, from what had just occurred at Widow +Rorke's cabin, that she must separate herself from him, especially as +he was susceptible neither of reason nor remonstrance. Every thing +conspired to keep his bad passions in a state of tumult. Nell M'Collum, +whom he wished to consult once more upon the recovery of his money, +could not be found. This, too, galled him; for avarice, except +during the whirlwind of jealousy, was the basis of his character--the +predominant passion of his heart. After cooling a little, he called for +his servant, who had been in the habit of acting for him in the capacity +of second, and began, with his assistance, to make preparations for +to-morrow's battle. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Nothing now could exceed the sympathy which was felt for young Lamh +Laudher, yet except among his immediate friends, there was little +exertion made to prevent him from accelerating his own fate. So true +is it that public feeling scruples not to gratify its appetite for +excitement, even at the risk or actual cost of human life. His parents +and relations mourned him as if he had been already dead. The grief +of his mother had literally broken down her voice so much, that from +hoarseness, she was almost unintelligible. His aged father sat and wept +like a child; and it was in vain that any of their friends attempted to +console them. During the latter part of the day, every melancholy stroke +of the death bell pierced their hearts; the dead march, too, and the +black flag waving, as if in triumph over the lifeless body of their only +son, the principal support of their declining years, filled them with +a gloom and terror, which death, in its common shape, would not have +inspired. This savage pageant on the part, of the Dead Boxer, besides +being calculated to daunt the heart of any man who might accept his +challenge, was a cruel mockery of the solemnities of death. In this +instance it produced such a sensation as never had been felt in that +part of the country. An uneasy feeling of wild romance, mingled with +apprehension, curiosity, fear, and amazement, all conspired to work upon +the imaginations of a people in whom that quality is exuberant, until +the general excitement became absolutely painful. + +Perhaps there was not one among his nearest friends who felt more +profound regret for having been the occasion of his disgrace, and +consequently of the fate to which he had exposed him, than Meehaul Neil. +In the course of that day he sent his father to old Lamh Laudher, to +know if young O'Rorke would grant him an interview, the object of which +was to dissuade him from the battle. + +“Tell him,” said the latter, with a composure still tinged with a +sorrowful spirit, “that I will not see him to-day. To-morrow I may, +and if I don't, tell him, that for his sister's sake, he has my +forgiveness.” + +The introduction of the daughter's name shortened the father's visit, +who left him in silence. + +Ellen, however, had struggles to endure which pressed upon her heart +with an anguish bitter in proportion to the secrecy rendered necessary +by the dread of her relations. From the moment she heard of Lamh +Laudher's challenge, and saw the funeral appendages with which the Dead +Boxer had darkened the preparations for the fight, she felt her heart +sink, from a consciousness that she had been indirectly the murderess of +her lover. Her countenance became ghastly pale, and her frame was seized +with a tremor which she could hardly conceal. She would have been glad +to have shed tears, but tears were denied her. Except the Boxer's wife, +there was no one to whom she could disclose her misery; but alas! for +once, that amiable creature was incapable of affording her consolation. +She herself, felt distress resulting from both the challenge, and her +husband's jealousy, almost equal to that of Ellen. + +“I know not how it is,” said she, “but I cannot account for the interest +I feel in that young man. Yes, surely, it is natural, when we consider +that I owe my life to him. Still, independently of that, I never heard +his voice, that it did not fall upon my heart like the voice of a +friend. We must, if possible, change his mind,”, she added, wiping away +her tears; “for I know that if he fights that terrible man, he will be +killed.” + +At Ellen's request, she consented to see Lamh Laudher, with a view of +entreating him, in her name, to decline the fight. Nor were her own +solicitations less urgent. With tears and grief which could not be +affected, she besought him not to rush upon certain death--said that +Ellen could not survive it--pleaded the claims of his aged parents, +and left no argument untouched that could apply to his situation and +conduct. Lamh Laudher, however, was inexorable, and she relinquished an +attempt that she felt to be ineffectual. The direction of her husband's +attention so unexpectedly to widow Rorke's I cabin, at that moment, +and his discovery of her interview with Lamh Laudher, determined her, +previously acquainted as she had been with his jealousy, to keep out of +his reach, until some satisfactory explanation could be given. Ellen, +however, could not rest; her grief had so completely overborne all +other considerations, that she cared little, now, whether her friends +perceived it or not. On one thing, she was fixed, and that was, to +prevent Lamh Laudher from encountering the Dead Boxer. With this purpose +she wrapped herself in a cloak about ten o'clock, and careless whether +she was observed or not, went directly towards his aunt's house. About +two-thirds of the way had probably been traversed, when a man, wrapped +up in a cloak, like herself, accosted her in a low voice, not much above +a whisper. + +“Miss Neil,” said he, “I don't think it would be hard to guess where you +are going.” + +“Who are you that asks?” said Ellen. “No matter; but if you happen to +see young O'Rorke to-night, I have a message to send him that may serve +him.” + +“Who are you?” again inquired Ellen. “One that cautions you to beware of +the Dead Boxer; one that pities and respects his unfortunate wife; and +one who, as I said, can serve O'Rorke.” + +“For God's sake, then, if you can, be quick; for there's little time to +be lost,” said Ellen. + +“Give him this message,” replied the man, and he whispered half a dozen +words into her ear. + +“Is that true?” she asked him; “and may he depend upon it?” + +“He may, as there's a God above me. Good night!” He passed on at a rapid +pace. When Ellen entered his aunt's humble cabin, Lamh Laudher had just +risen from his knees. Devotion, or piety if you will, as it is in many +cases, though undirected by knowledge, may be frequently found among +the peasantry associated with objects that would appear to have little +connection with it. When he saw her he exclaimed with something like +disappointment:-- + +“Ah! Ellen dear, why did you come? I would rather you hadn't crossed me +now, darling.” + +His manner was marked by the same melancholy sedateness which we have +already described. He knew the position in which he stood, and did not +attempt to disguise what he felt. His apparent depression, however, had +a dreadful effect upon Ellen, who sat down on a stool, and threw back +the hood of her cloak; but the aunt placed a little circular arm-chair +for her somewhat nearer the fire. She declined it in a manner that +argued something like incoherence, which occasioned O'Rorke to, glance +at her most earnestly. He started, on observing the wild lustre of her +eye, and the woebegone paleness of her cheek. + +“Ellen,” said he, “how is this? Has any thing frightened you? Merciful +mother! aunt, look at her!” + +The distracted girl sank before him on her knees, locked her hands +together, and while her eyes sparkled with an unsettled light, +exclaimed-- + +“John!--John!--Lamh Laudher Oge--forgive me, before you die! I have +murdered you!” + +“Ellen love, Ellen”-- + +“Do you forgive me? do you? Your blood is upon me, Lamh Laudher Oge!” + +“Heavens above! Aunt, she's turned! Do I forgive you, my heart's own +treasure? How did you ever offend me, my darling? You. know you never +did. But if you ever did, my own Ellen, I do forgive you.” + +“But I murdered you--and that was because my brother said he would do +it--an' I got afraid, John, that he might do you harm, an' afraid to +tell you too--an'--an' so you promise me you won't fight the Dead Boxer? +Thank God! thank God! then your blood will not be upon me!” + +“Aunt, she's lost,” he exclaimed; “the brain of my _colleen dhas_ is +turned!” + +“John, won't you save me from the Dead Boxer? There's nobody able to do +it but you, Lamh Laudher Oge!” + +“Aunt, aunt, my girl's destroyed,” said John, “her heart's broke! +Ellen!” + +“But to-morrow, John--to-morrow--sure yo' won't fight him +to-morrow?--if you do--if you do he'll kill you--an' 'twas I +that--that”---- + +O'Rorke had not thought of raising her from the posture in which +she addressed him, so completely had he been overcome by the frantic +vehemence of her manner. He now snatched her up, and placed her in the +little arm-chair alluded to; but she had scarcely been seated in it, +when her hands became clenched, her head sank, and the heavy burthen of +her sorrows was forgotten in a long fit of insensibility. + +Lamh Laudher's distraction and alarm prevented him from rendering +her much assistance; but the aunt was more cool, and succeeded with +considerable difficulty in restoring her to life. The tears burst in +thick showers from her eyelids, she drew her breath vehemently and +rapidly, and, after looking wildly around her, indulged in that natural +grief which relieves the heart by tears. In a short time she became +composed, and was able to talk collectedly and rationally. + +This, indeed, was the severest trial that Lamh Laudher had yet +sustained. With all the force of an affection as strong and tender as +it was enduring and disinterested, she urged him to relinquish his +determination to meet the Dead Boxer on the following day. John soothed +her, chid her, and even bantered her, as a cowardly girl, unworthy of +being the sister of Meehaul Neil, but to her, as well as to all others +who had attempted to change his purpose, he was immovable. No; the +sense of his disgrace had sunk too deep into his heart, and the random +allusions just made by Ellen herself to the Dead Boxer's villainy, but +the more inflamed his resentment against him. + +On finding his resolution irrevocable, she communicated to him in a +whisper the message which the stranger had sent him. Lamh Laudher, +after having heard it, raised his arm rapidly, and his eye gleamed with +something like the exultation of a man who has discovered a secret that +he had been intensely anxious to learn. Ellen could now delay no longer, +and their separation resembled that of persons who never expected to +meet again. If Lamh Laudher could at this moment have affected even a +show of cheerfulness, in spite of Ellen's depression it would have given +her great relief. Still, on her part, their parting was a scene of +agony and distress which no description could reach, and on his, it +was sorrowful and tender; for neither felt certain that they would ever +behold each other in life again. + +A dark sunless morning opened the eventful day of this fearful battle. +Gloom and melancholy breathed a sad spirit over the town and adjacent +country. A sullen breeze was abroad, and black clouds drifted +slowly along the heavy sky. The Dead Boxer again had recourse to his +pageantries of death. The funeral bell tolled heavily during the whole +morning, and the black flag flapped more dismally in the sluggish blast +than before. At an early hour the town began to fill with myriads of +people. Carriages and cars, horsemen and pedestrians, all thronged in +one promiscuous stream towards the scene of interest. A dense multitude +stood before the inn, looking with horror on the death flag, and +watching for a glimpse of the fatal champion. From this place hundreds +of them passed to the house of Lamh Laudher More, and on hearing that +the son resided in his aunt's they hurried towards her cabin to gratify +themselves with a sight of the man who dared to wage battle with the +Dead Boxer. From this cabin, as on the day before, they went to the +church-yard, where a platform had already been erected beside the grave. +Against the railings of the platform stood the black coffin intended for +Lamh Laudher, decorated with black ribbons that fluttered gloomily in +the blast. The sight of this and of the grave completed the wonder and +dread which they felt. As every fresh mass of the crowd arrived, low +murmurs escaped them, they raised their heads and eyes exclaiming-- + +“Poor Lamh Laudher! God be merciful to him!” + +As the morning advanced, O'Rorke's faction, as a proof that they were +determined to consider the death of their leader as a murder, dressed +themselves in red ribbons, a custom occasionally observed in Ireland +even now, at the funerals of those who have been murdered. Their +appearance passing to and fro among the crowd made the scene with all +its associations absolutely terrible. About eleven o'clock they went +in a body to widow Rorke's, for the purpose of once more attempting +to dissuade him against the fight. Here most unexpected intelligence +awaited them--_Lamh Laudher Oge_ had disappeared. The aunt stated that +he had left the house with a strange man, early that morning, and that +he had not returned. Ere many minutes the rumor was in every part of the +town, and strong disappointment was felt, and expressed against him in +several round oaths, by the multitude in general. His father, however, +declared his conviction that his son would not shrink from what he had +undertaken, and he who had not long before banished him for cowardice, +now vouched for his courage. At the old man's suggestion, his friends +still adhered to their resolutions of walking to the scene of conflict +in a body. At twenty minutes to twelve o'clock, the black flag was +removed from the inn window, the muffled drums beat, and the music +played the same dead march as on the days of uttering the challenge. +In a few minutes the Dead Boxer, accompanied by some of the neighboring +gentry, made his appearance, preceded by the flag. From another point, +the faction of Lamb Laudher fluttering in blood-red ribbons, marched at +a solemn pace towards the church-yard. On arriving opposite his +aunt's, his mother wept aloud, and with one voice all the females +who accompanied her, raised the Irish funeral cry. In this manner, +surrounded by all the solemn emblems of death, where none was dead, +they slowly advanced until they reached the platform. The Dead Boxer, +attended by his own servant, as second, now ascended the stage, where he +stood for a few minutes, until his repeater struck twelve. That moment +he began to strip, which having done, he advanced to the middle of +the stage, and in a deep voice required the authorities of the town to +produce their champion. To this no answer was returned, for not a man of +them could account for the disappearance of Lamh Laudher. A wavy motion, +such as passes over the forest top under a low blast, stirred the +whole multitude; this was the result of many feelings, but that which +prevailed amongst them was disappointment. A second time the Dead Boxer +repeated the words, but except the stir and hum which we have described, +there was not a voice heard in reply. Lamh Laudher's very friends felt +mortified, and the decaying spirit of Lamh Laudher More rallied for a +moment. His voice alone was heard above the dead silence,-- + +“He will come, back,” said he, “my son will come; and I would now rather +see him dead than that he should fear to be a man.” + +He had scarcely spoken, when a loud cheer, which came rapidly onward, +was heard outside the church-yard. A motion and a violent thrusting +aside, accompanied by a second shout, “he's here!” gave intimation of +his approach. In about a minute, to the manifest delight of all present, +young Lamh Laudher, besmeared with blood, leaped upon the platform. +He looked gratefully at the crowd, and in order to prevent perplexing +inquiries, simply said-- + +“Don't be alarmed--I had a slight accident, but I'm not the worse of +it.” + +The cheers of the multitude were now enough to awaken the dead beneath +them; and when they had ceased, his father cried out-- + +“God support you, boy--you're my true son; an' I know you'll show them +what the Lamh Laudher blood an' the Lamh Laudher blow is.” + +The young man looked about him for a moment, and appeared perplexed. + +“I'm here alone,” said he; “is there any among you that will second me?” + +Hundreds immediately volunteered this office; but there was one who +immediately sprung upon the stage, to the no small surprise of all +present--it was Meehaul Neil. He approached Lamh Laudher and extended +his hand, which was received with cordiality. + +“Meehaul,” said O'Rorke, “I thank you for this.” + +“Do not,” replied the other; “no man has such a right to stand by you +now as I have. I never knew till this mornin' why you did not strike me +the last night we met.” + +The Dead Boxer stood with his arms folded, sometimes looking upon the +crowd, and occasionally glaring at his young' and fearless antagonist. +The latter immediately stripped, and when he “stood out erect and +undaunted upon the stage, although his proportions were perfect, and his +frame active and massy, yet when measured with the Herculean size of the +Dead Boxer, he appeared to have no chance. + +“Now,” said he to the black, “by what rules are we to fight?” + +“If you consult me,” said the other, “perhaps it is best that every man +should fight as he pleases. You decide that. I am the challenger.” + +“Take your own way, then,” said O'Rorke; “but you have a secret, +black--do you intend to use it?” + +“Certainly, young fellow.” + +“I have my secret, too,” said Lamh Laudher; “an' now I give you warning +that I will put it in practice.” + +“All fair; but we are losing time,” replied the man of color, putting +himself in an attitude. “Come on.” + +Their seconds stood back, and both advanced to the middle of the stage. +The countenance of the black, and his huge chest, resembled rather +a colossal statue of bronze, than the bust of a human being. His eye +gleamed at Lamh Laudher with baleful flashes of intense hatred. The +spectators saw, however, that the dimensions of Lamh Laudher gained +considerably by his approximation to the black. The dusky color of the +Boxer added apparently to his size, whilst the healthful light which lay +upon the figure of his opponent took away, as did his elegance, grace, +and symmetry, from the uncommon breadth and fulness of his bust. + +Several feints were made by the black, and many blows aimed, which Lamh +Laudher, by his natural science and activity, parried; at length a blow +upon the temple shot him to the boards with great violence, and the +hearts of the spectators, which were all with him, became fearfully +depressed. + +O'Rorke, having been raised, shook his head as if to throw off the +influence of the blow. Neil afterwards declared that when coming to the +second round, resentment and a sense of having suffered in the opinion +of the multitude by the blow which brought him down, had strung his +muscular power into such a state of concentration, that his arms became +as hard as oak. On meeting again he bounded at the Boxer, and by a +single blow upon the eye-brow felled him like an ox. So quickly was +it sent home, that the black had not activity to guard against it; on +seeing which, a short and exulting cheer rose from the multitude. We are +not now giving a detailed account of this battle, as if reporting it for +a newspaper; it must suffice to say, that Lamh Laudher was knocked down +twice, and the Dead Boxer four times, in as many rounds. The black, on +coming to the seventh round, laughed, whilst the blood trickled down his +face. His frame appeared actually agitated with inward glee, and indeed +a more appalling species of mirth was never witnessed. + +It was just when he approached Lamh Laudher, chuckling hideously, his +black visage reddened with blood, that a voice from the crowd shouted-- + +“He's laughing--the blow's coming--O'Rorke, remember your instructions.” + +The Boxer advanced, and began a series of feints, with the intention of +giving that murderous blow which he was never known to miss. But before +he could put his favorite stratagem in practice, the activity of O'Rorke +anticipated his _ruse_, for in the dreadful energy of his resentment he +not only forgot the counter-secret which had been, confided to him, but +every other consideration for the moment. With the spring of a tiger he +leaped towards the black, who by the act was completely thrown off his +guard. This was more than O'Rorke expected. The opportunity, however, +he did not suffer to pass; with the rapidity of lightning he struck the +savage on the neck, immediately under the ear. The Dead Boxer fell, +and from his ears, nostrils, and mouth the clear blood sprung out, +streaking, in a fearful manner, his dusky neck and chest. His second ran +to raise him, but his huge woolly head fell from side to side with an +appearance of utter lifelessness. In a few minutes, however, he rallied, +and began to snort violently, throwing his arms and limbs about him with +a quivering energy, such as, in strong men who die unwasted by disease, +frequently marks the struggle of death. At length he opened his eyes, +and after fastening them upon his triumphant opponent with one last +glare of hatred and despair, he ground his teeth, clenched his gigantic +hands, and stammering out, “Fury of hell! I--I--damnation!” This was his +last exclamation, for he suddenly plunged again, extended his shut fist +towards Lamh Laudher, as if he would have crushed him even in death, +then becoming suddenly relaxed, his head fell upon his shoulder, and +after one groan, he expired on the very spot where he had brought +together the apparatus of death for another. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +When the spectators saw and heard what had occurred, their acclamations +rose to the sky; cheer after cheer pealed from the graveyard over a +wide circuit of the country. With a wild luxury of triumph they seized +O'Rorke, placed him on their shoulders, and bore him in triumph through +every street in the town. All kinds of mad but good-humored excesses +were committed. The public houses were filled with those who had +witnessed the fight, songs were sung, healths were drank, and blows +given. The streets, during the remainder of the day, were paraded by +groups of his townsmen belonging to both factions, who on that occasion +buried their mutual animosity in exultation for his victory. + +The worthy burghers of the corporation, who had been both frightened +and disgusted at the dark display made by the Dead Boxer previous to +the tight, put his body in the coffin that had been intended for Lamh +Laudher, and without any scruple, took it up, and went in procession +with the black flag before them, the death bell again tolling, and the +musicians playing the dead march, until they deposited his body in the +inn. + +After Lamh Laudher had been chaired by the people, and borne throughout +every nook of the town, he begged them to permit him to go home. With a +fresh volley of shouts and hurras they proceeded, still bearing him in +triumph towards his father's house, where they left him, after a last +and deafening round of cheers. Our readers can easily fancy the pride of +his parents and friends on receiving him. + +“Father,” said he, “my name's' cleared. I hope I have the Lamh Laudher +blood in me still. Mother, you never doubted me, but you wor forced to +give way.” + +“My son, my son,” said the father, embracing him, “my noble boy! There +never was one of your name like you. You're the flower of us all!” + +His mother wept with joy and pressed him repeatedly to her heart; +and all his relations were as profuse as they were sincere in their +congratulations. + +“One thing troubles us,” observed his parents, “what will become of his +wife? John dear,” said his mother, “my heart aches for her.” + +“God knows and so does mine,” exclaimed the father; “there is goodness +about her.” + +“She is freed from a tyrant and a savage,” replied their son, “for he +was both, and she ought to be thankful that she's rid of him. But you +don't know that there was an attempt made on my life this mornin'.” + +On hearing this, they were all mute with astonishment. + +“In the name of heaven how, John?” they inquired with one voice. + +[Illustration: PAGE 110-- He made a stab at my neck] + +“A red-haired man came to my aunt's,” he continued, “early this mornin', +an' said if I wanted to hear something for my good, I would follow him. +I did so, an' I observed that he eyed me closely as we went along. We +took the way that turns up the Quarry, an' afther gettin' into one of +the little fir groves off the road, he made a stab at my neck, as I +stooped to tie my shoe that happened to be loose. As God would have it, +he only tore the skin above my forehead. I pursued the villain on the +spot, but he disappeared among the trees, as if the earth had swallowed +him. I then went into Darby Kavanagh's, where I got my breakfast; an' +as I was afraid that you might by pure force prevent me from meetin' the +black, I didn't stir out of it till the proper time came.” + +This startling incident occasioned much discussion among his friends, +who of course were ignorant alike of the person who had attempted his +assassination, and of the motives which could have impelled him to such +a crime. Several opinions were advanced upon the circumstance, but as +it had failed, his triumph over the Dead Boxer, as unexpected as it was +complete, soon superseded it, and many a health was given “to the best +man that ever sprung from the blood of the Lamh Laudhers!” for so +they termed him, and well had he earned the epithet. At this moment an +incident occurred which considerably subdued their enjoyment. Breen, the +constable, came to inform them that Nell McCollum, now weltering in her +blood, and at the point of death, desired instantly to see them. + +Our readers have been, no doubt, somewhat surprised at the sudden +disappearance of Nell. This artful and vindictive woman had, as we have +stated, been closely dogged through all her turnings and windings, by +the emissaries of Mr. Brookleigh. For this haunt where she was in the +habit of meeting her private friends. The preparations, however, for the +approaching fight, and the tumult it excited in the town, afforded her +an opportunity of giving her spies the slip. She went, on the evening +before the battle, to a small dark cabin in one of the most densely +inhabited parts of the town, where, secure in their privacy, she found +Nanse M'Collum, who had never left the town since the night of the +robbery, together with the man called Rody, and another hardened ruffian +with red hair. + +“_Dher ma chuirp_,” said she, without even a word of precious +salutation, “but I'll,lay my life that Lamh Laudher bates the black. In +that case he'd be higher up wid the town than ever. He knocked him down +last night.” + +“Well,” said Rody, “an' what if he does? I would feel rather satisfied +at that circumstance. I served the black dog for five years, and a more +infernal tyrant never existed, nor a milder or more amiable woman than +his wife. Now that you have his money, the sooner the devil gets himself +the better.” + +“To the black _diouol_ wid yourself an' your Englified _gosther_,” + returned Nell indignantly; “his wife! _Damno' orth_, don't make my blood +boil by speaking a word in her favor. If Lamh Laudher comes off best, +all I've struv for is knocked on the head. _Dher Chiernah_, I'll crush +the sowl of his father or I'll not die happy.” + +“Nell, you're bittherer than soot, and blacker too,” observed Rody. + +“Am I?” said Nell, “an' is it from the good crathur that was ready, the +other night, to murdher the mild innocent woman that he spakes so well +of, that we hear sich discoorse?” + +“You're mistaken there, Nelly,” replied Body; “I had no intention of +taking away her life, although I believe my worthy comrade here in the +red hair, that I helped out of a certain gaol once upon a time, had no +scruples.” + +“No, curse the scruple!” said the other. + +“I was in the act of covering her eyes and mouth to prevent her from +either knowing her old servant or making a noise,--but d---- it, I was +bent to save her life that night, rather than take it,” said Rody. + +“I know this friend of yours, Rody, but a short time,” observed Nell; +“but if he hasn't more spunk in him than yourself, he's not worth his +feedin'.” + +“Show me,” said the miscreant, “what s to be done, life or purse--an' +here's your sort for both.” + +“Come, then,” said Nell, “by the night above us, we'll thry your +mettle.” + +“Never heed her,” observed Nanse; “aunt, you're too wicked an' +revengeful.” + +“Am I?” said the aunt. “I tuck an oath many a year ago, that I'd never +die till I'd put sharp sorrow into Lamh Laudher's sowl. I punished him +through his daughter, I'll now grind the heart in him through his son.” + +“An' what do you want to be done inquired the red man. + +“Come here, an' I'll tell you that,” said Nell. + +A short conversation took place between them, behind a little partition +which divided the kitchen from two small sleeping rooms, containing a +single bed each. + +“Now,” said Nell, addressing the whole party, “let us all be ready +to-morrow, while the whole town's preparin' for the fight, to slip away +as well disguised as we can, out of the place; by that time you'll have +your business done, an' your trifle o' money earned;” she directed the +last words to the red-haired stranger. + +“You keep me out of this secret?” observed Body. + +“It's not worth knowin',” said Nell; “I was only thryin' you, Rody. It's +nothing bad. I'm not so cruel as you think. I wouldn't take the wide +world an' shed blood wid my own hands. I tried it once on Lamh Laudher +More, an' when I thought I killed him hell came into me. No; that I may +go _below_ if I would!” + +“But you would get others to do it, if you could,” said Rody. + +“I need get nobody to do it for me,” said the crone. “I could wither any +man, woman, or child, off o' the earth, wid one charm, if I wished.” + +“Why don't you wither young Lamh Laudher then?” said Rody. + +“If they fight to-morrow,” replied Nell; “mind I say if they do--an' I +now tell you they won't--but I say if they do--you'll see he'll go home +in the coffin that's made for him--an' I know how that'll happen. Now at +eleven we'll meet here if we can to-morrow.” + +The two men then slunk out, and with great caution proceeded towards +different directions of the town, for Nell had recommended them to keep +as much asunder as possible, least their grouping together might expose +them to notice. Their place of rendezvous was only resorted to on urgent +and necessary occasions. + +The next morning, a little after the appointed hour, Nell, Rody, and +Nanse McCollum, were sitting in deliberation upon their future plans of +life, when he of the red hair entered the cabin. + +“Well,” said Nell starting up--“what was done? show me?” + +The man produced a dagger slightly stained with blood. + +“_Damno orrum!_” exclaimed the aged fury, “but you've failed--an' all's +lost if he beats the black.” + +“I did fail,” said the miscreant. “Why, woman if that powerful active +fellow had got me in his hands, I'd have tasted the full length of the +dagger myself. The d----l's narrow escape I had.” + +“The curse of heaven light on you, for a cowardly dog!” exclaimed Nell, +grinding her teeth with disappointment. “You're a faint-hearted villain. +Give me the dagger.” + +“Give me the money,” said the man. + +“For what? no, consumin' to the penny; you didn't earn it.” + +“I did,” said the fellow, “or at all evints attempted it. Ay, an' I must +have it before I lave this house, an' what is more, you must lug out my +share of the black's prog.” + +“You'll get nothing of that,” said Rody; “it was Nell here, not you, who +took it.” + +“One hundred of it on the nail, this minnit,” said the man, “or I bid +you farewell, an' then look to yourselves.” + +“It's not mine,” said Rody; “if Nell shares it, I have no objection.” + +“I'd give the villain the price of a rope first,” she replied. + +“Then I am off,” said the fellow, “an' you'll curse your conduct.” + +Nell flew between him and the door, and in his struggle to get out, +she grasped at the dagger, but failed in securing it. Rody advanced to +separate them, as did Nanse, but the fellow by a strong effort attempted +to free himself. The three were now upon him, and would have easily +succeeded in preventing his escape had it not occurred to him that by +one blow he might secure the whole sum. This was instantly directed at +Rody, by a back thrust, for he stood behind him. By the rapid change of +their positions, however, the breast of Nell M'Collum received the stab +that was designed for another. + +A short violent shriek followed, as she staggered back and fell. + +“Staunch the blood,” she exclaimed, “staunch the blood, an' there may be +a chance of life yet.” + +The man threw the dagger down, and was in the act of rushing out, when +the door opened, and a posse of constables entered the house. Nell's +face became at once ghastly and horror-stricken, for she found that the +blood could not be staunched, and that, in fact, eternity was about to +open upon her. + +“Secure him!” said Nell, pointing to her murderer, “secure him, an' send +quick for Lamh Laudher More. God's hand is in what has happened! Ay, +I raised the blow for him, an' God has sent it to my own heart. Send, +too,” she added, “for the Dead Boxer's wife, an' if you expect heaven, +be quick.” + +On receiving Nell's message the old man, his son, wife, and one or two +other friends, immediately hurried to the scene of death, where they +arrived a few minutes after the Dead Boxer's wife. + +Nell lay in dreadful agony; her face was now a bluish yellow, her +eye-brows were bent, and her eyes getting dead and vacant. + +“Oh!” she exclaimed, “Andy Hart! Andy Hart! it was the black hour you +brought me from the right way. I was innocent till I met you, an' well +thought of; but what was I ever since? an' what am I now?” + +“You never met me,” said the red-haired stranger, “till within the last +fortnight.” + +“What do you mean, you unfortunate man?” asked Rody. + +“Andy Hart was my name,” said the man, “although I didn't go by it for +some years.” + +“Andy Hart!” said Nell, raising herself with a violent jerk, and +screaming, “Andy Hart! Andy Hart! stand over before me. Andy Hart! It is +his father's voice. Oh God! Strip his breast there, an' see if there's a +blood-mark on the left side.” + +“I'm beginnin' to fear something dreadful,” said the criminal, +trembling, and getting as pale as death; “there is--there is a +blood-mark on the very spot she mentions--see here.” + +“I would know him to be Andy Hart's son, God rest him!” observed Lamh +Laudher More, “any where over the world. Blessed mother of heaven!--down +on your knees, you miserable crature, down on your knees for her pardon! +You've murdhered your unfortunate mother!” + +The man gave one loud and fearful yell, and dashed himself on the +floor at his mother's feet, an appalling picture of remorse. The scene, +indeed, was a terrible one. He rolled himself about, tore his hair, and +displayed every symptom of a man in a paroxysm of madness. But among +those present, with the exception of the mother and son, there was not +such a picture of distress and sorrow, as the wife of the Dead Boxer. +She stooped down to raise the stranger up; “Unhappy man,” said she, +“look up, I am your sister!” + +“No,” said Nell, “no--no--no. There's more of my guilt. Lamh Laudher +More, I stand forrid, you and your wife. You lost a daughter long ago. +Open your arms and take her back a blameless woman. She's your child +that I robbed you of as one punishment; the other blow that I intended +for you has been struck here. I'm dyin'.” + +A long cry of joy burst from the mother and daughter, as they rushed +into each other's arms. Nature, always strongest in pure minds, even +before this denouement, had, indeed, rekindled the mysterious flame of +her own affection in their hearts. The father pressed her to his bosom, +and forgot the terrors of the sound before him, whilst the son embraced +her with a secret consciousness that she was, indeed, his long-lost +sister. + +“We couldn't account,” said her parents, “for the way we loved you +the day we met you before the magistrate; every word you said, Alice +darling, went into our hearts wid delight, an' we could hardly ever +think of your voice ever since, that the tears didn't spring to our +eyes. But we never suspected, as how could we, that you were our child.” + +She declared that she felt the same mysterious attachment to them, and +to her brother also, from the moment she heard the tones of his voice on +the night the robbery was attempted. + +“Nor could I,” said Lamh Laudher Oge, “account for the manner I loved +you.” + +Their attention was now directed to Nell, who again spoke. + +“Nanse, give her back the money I robbed her of. There was more of my +villainy, but God fought against me, an'--here--. You will find, it +along with her marriage certificate, an' the gospel she had about her +neck, when I kidnapped her, all in my pocket. Where's my son? Still, +still, bad as I am, an' bad as he is, isn't he my child? Amn't I his +mother? put his hand in mine, and let me die as a mother 'ud wish!” + +Never could there be a more striking contrast witnessed than that +between the groups then present; nor a more impressive exemplification +of the interposition of Providence to reward the virtuous and punish the +guilty even in this life. + +“Lamh Laudher More,” said she, “I once attempted to stab you, only for +preventin' your relation from marryin' a woman that you knew Andy Hart +had ruined. You disfigured my face in your anger too; that an' your +preventing my marriage, an' my character bein' lost, whin it was known +what he refused to marry me for, made me swear an oath of vengeance +against you an' yours. I may now ax your forgiveness, for I neither dare +nor will ax God's.” + +“You have mine--you have all our forgiveness,” replied the old man; +“but, Nell, ax God's, for it's His you stand most in need of--ax God's!” + +Nell, however, appeared to hear him not. + +“Is that your hand in mine, avick?” said she, addressing her son. + +“It is--it is,” said the son. “But, mother, I didn't, as I'm to stand +before God, aim the blow at you, but at Rody.” + +“Lamh Laudher!” said she, forgetting herself, “I ax your forgive----.” + +Her head fell down before she could conclude the sentence, and thus +closed the last moments of Nell M'Collum. + +After the lapse of a short interval, in which Lamh Laudher's daughter +received back her money, the certificate, and the gospel, her brother +discovered that Rody was the person who had, through Ellen Neil, +communicated to him the secret that assisted him in vanquishing the +Dead Boxer, a piece of information which saved him from prosecution. The +family now returned home, where they found Meehaul Neil awaiting their +arrival, for the purpose of offering his sister's hand and dowry to +our hero. This offer, we need scarcely say, was accepted with no sullen +spirit. But Lamh Laudher was not so much her inferior in wealth as our +readers may suppose. His affectionate sister divided her money between +him and her parents, with whom she spent the remainder of her days in +peace and tranquility. Our great-grandfather remembered the wedding, +and from him came down to ourselves, as an authentic tradition, the fact +that it was an unrivalled one, but that it would never have taken place +were it not for the terrible challenge of the Dead Boxer. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dead Boxer, by William Carleton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DEAD BOXER *** + +***** This file should be named 16007-0.txt or 16007-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/0/0/16007/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/16007-0.zip b/16007-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4847491 --- /dev/null +++ b/16007-0.zip diff --git a/16007-h.zip b/16007-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dbf0dc6 --- /dev/null +++ b/16007-h.zip diff --git a/16007-h/16007-h.htm b/16007-h/16007-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e013ed0 --- /dev/null +++ b/16007-h/16007-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4175 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Dead Boxer, by William Carleton + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd7; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dead Boxer, by William Carleton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Dead Boxer + The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two + +Author: William Carleton + +Illustrator: M. L. Flanery + +Release Date: June 7, 2005 [EBook #16007] +Last Updated: March 1, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DEAD BOXER *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + + <h1> + THE DEAD BOXER. + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By William Carleton + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img src="images/plate091.jpg" alt="Frontispiece " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img src="images/tilepage2.jpg" alt="Titlepage " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + CONTENTS + </h2> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + List of Illustrations + </h2> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0001"> Frontispiece </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0002"> Titlepage </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0003"> Page 91— With Stealthy Pace he Crept + Over </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0004"> Page 110— He Made a Stab at My Neck + </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. + </h2> + <p> + One evening in the beginning of the eighteenth century—as nearly as + we can conjecture, the year might be that of 1720—some time about + the end of April, a young man named <i>Lamh Laudher</i> O'Rorke, or + Strong-handed O'Eorke, was proceeding from his father's house, with a + stout oaken cudgel in his hand, towards an orchard that stood at the skirt + of a country town, in a part of the kingdom which, for the present, shall + be nameless. Though known by the epithet of <i>Lamh Laudher</i>, his + Christian name was John; but in those time(s) Irish families of the same + name were distinguished from each other by some indicative of their + natural position, physical power, complexion, or figure. One, for + instance, was called <i>Parra Ghastha</i>, or swift Paddy, from his + fleetness of foot; another, <i>Shaun Buie</i>, or yellow Jack, from his + bilious look; a third, <i>Micaul More</i>, or big Michael, from his + uncommon size; and a fourth, <i>Sheemus Ruah</i>, or red James, from the + color of his hair. These epithets, to be sure, still occur in Ireland, but + far less frequently now than in the times of which we write, when Irish + was almost the vernacular language of the country. It was for a reason + similar to those just alleged, that John O'Rorke was known as <i>Lamh + Laudher</i> O'Rorke; he, as well as his forefathers for two or three + generations, having been remarkable for prodigious bodily strength and + courage. The evening was far advanced as O'Rorke bent his steps to the + orchard. The pale, but cloudless sun hung over the western hills, and sun + upon the quiet gray fields that kind of tranquil radiance which, in the + opening of summer, causes many a silent impulse of delight to steal into + the heart. Lamh Laudher felt this; his step was slow, like that of a man + who, without being capable of tracing those sources of enjoyment which the + spirit absorbs from the beauties of external nature, has yet enough of + uneducated taste and feeling within him, to partake of the varied feast + which she presents. + </p> + <p> + As he sauntered thus leisurely along he was met by a woman rather advanced + in years, but still unusually stout and muscular, considering her age. She + was habited in a red woollen petticoat that reached but a short distance + below the knee, leaving visible two stout legs, from which dangled a pair + of red garters that bound up her coarse blue hose. Her gown of blue + worsted was pinned up, for it did not meet around her person, though it + sat closely about her neck. Her grizzly red hair, turned up in front, was + bound by a dowd cap without any border, a circumstance which, in addition + to a red kerchief, tied over it, and streaming about nine inches down the + back, gave to her <i>tout ensemble</i> a wild and striking expression. A + short oaken staff, hooked under the hand, completed the description of her + costume. Even on a first glance there appeared to be something repulsive + in her features, which had evidently been much exposed to sun and storm. + By a closer inspection one might detect upon their hard angular outline, a + character of cruelty and intrepidity. Though her large cheek-bones stood + widely asunder, yet her gray piercing eyes were very near each other; her + nose was short and sadly disfigured by a scar that ran tranversely across + it, and her chin, though pointed, was also deficient in length. + Altogether, her whole person had something peculiar and marked about it—so + much so, indeed, that it was impossible to meet her without feeling she + was a female of no ordinary character and habits. + </p> + <p> + Lamh Laudher had been, as we have said, advancing slowly along the craggy + road which led towards the town, when she issued from an adjoining cabin + and approached him. The moment he noticed her he stood still, as if to let + her pass and uttered one single exclamation of chagrin and anger. + </p> + <p> + “<i>Ma shaughth milia mollach ort, a calliagh!</i> My seven thousand + curses on you for an old hag,” said he, and haying thus given vent to his + indignation at her appearance, he began to retrace his steps as if + unwilling to meet her. + </p> + <p> + “The son of your father needn't lay the curse upon us so bitterly all out, + Lamh Laudher!” she exclaimed, pacing at the same time with vigorous steps + until she overtook him. + </p> + <p> + The young man looked at her maimed features, and as if struck by some + sudden recollection, appeared to feel regret for the hasty malediction he + had uttered against her. “Nell M'Collum,” said he, “the word was rash; and + the curse did not come from my heart. But, Nell, who is there that doesn't + curse you when they meet you? Isn't it well known that to meet you is + another name for falling in wid bad luck? For my part I'd go fifty miles + about rather than cross you, if I was bent on any business that my heart + 'ud be in, or that I cared any thing about.” + </p> + <p> + “And who brought the bad luck upon me first?” asked the woman. “Wasn't it + the husband of the mother that bore you? Wasn't it his hand that + disfigured me as you see, when I was widin a week of bein' dacently + married? Your father, Lamh Laudher was the man that blasted my name, and + made it bitther upon tongue of them that mintions it.” + </p> + <p> + “And that was because he wouldn't see one wid the blood of Lamh Laudher in + his veins married to a woman that he had reason to think—I don't + like to my it, Nelly—but you know it is said that there was + darkness, and guilt, too, about the disappearin' of your child. You never + cleared that up, but swore revenge night and day against my father, for + only preventin' you from bein' the ruination of his cousin. Many a time, + too, since that, has asked you in my own hearing what became of the boy.” + </p> + <p> + The old woman stopped like one who had unexpectedly trod with bare foot + upon something sharp enough to pierce the flesh to the bone, and even to + grate against it. There was a strong, nay, a fearful force of anguish + visible in what she felt. Her brows were wildly depressed from their + natural position, her face became pale, her eyes glared upon O'Rorke as if + he had planted a poisoned arrow in her breast, she seized him by the arm + with a hard pinching grip, and looked for two or three minutes in his + face, with an appearance of distraction. O'Rorke, who never feared man, + shrunk from her touch, and shuddered under the influence of what had been, + scarcely without an exception, called the “bad look.” The crone held him + tight, however, and there they stood, with their eyes fixed upon each + other. From the gaze of intense anguish, the countenance of Nell M'Collum + began to change gradually to one of unmingled exultation; her brows were + raised to their proper curves, her color returned, the eye corruscated + with a rapid and quivering sense of delight, the muscles of the mouth + played for a little, as if she strove to suppress a laugh. At length + O'Rorke heard a low gurgling sound proceed from her chest; it increased; + she pressed his arm more tightly, and in a loud burst of ferocious mirth, + which she immediately subdued into a condensed shriek that breathed the + very luxury of revenge, she said— + </p> + <p> + “<i>Lamh Laudher Oge</i>, listen—ax the father of you, when you see + him, what has become <i>of his own child</i>—of the first that ever + God sent him; an' listen again—when he tells me what has become of + mine, I'll tell him what has become of his, Now go to Ellen—but + before you go, let me <i>cuggher</i> in your ear that I'll blast you both. + I'll make the <i>Lamh Laudhers, Lamh Lhugs</i>. I'll make the strong arm + the weak arm afore I've done wid 'em.” + </p> + <p> + She struck the point of her stick against the pavement, until the iron + ferrule with which it was bound dashed the fire from the stones, after + which she passed on, muttering threats and imprecations as she left him. + </p> + <p> + O'Rorke stood and looked after her with sensations of fear and + astonishment. The age was superstitious, and encouraged a belief in the + influence of powers distinct from human agency. Every part of Ireland was + filled at this time with characters, both male and female, precisely + similar to old Nell M'Collum.. The darkness in which this woman walked, + according to the opinions of a people but slightly advanced in knowledge + and civilization, has been but feebly described to the reader. To meet + her, was considered an omen of the most unhappy kind; a circumstance which + occasioned the imprecation of Lamh Laudher. She was reported to have + maintained an intercourse with the fairies, to be capable of communicating + the blight of an evil eye, and to have carried on a traffic which is said + to have been rather prevalent in Ireland at the time we speak of—namely, + that of kidnapping. The speculations with reference to her object in + perpetrating the crimes were strongly calculated to exhibit the degraded + state of the people at that period. Some said that she disposed of the + children to a certain class of persons in the metropolis, who subsequently + sent them to the colonies, when grown, at an enormous profit. Others + maintained that she never carried them to Dublin at all, but insisted + that, having been herself connected with the fairies, she possessed the + power of erasing, by some secret charm, the influence of baptismal + protection, and that she consequently acted as agent for the “gentry” to + whom she transferred them. Even to this day it is the opinion in Ireland, + that the “good people” themselves cannot take away a child, except through + the instrumentality of some mortal residing with them, who has been + baptized; and it is also believed that no baptism can secure children from + them, except that in which the priest has been desired to baptize them + with an especial view to their protection against fairy power. + </p> + <p> + Such was the character which this woman bore; whether unjustly or not, + matters little. For the present it is sufficient to say, that after having + passed on, leaving Lamh Laudher to proceed in the direction he had + originally intended, she bent her steps towards the head inn of the town. + Her presence here produced some cautious and timid mirth of which they + took care she should not be cognizant. The servants greeted her with an + outward show of cordiality, which the unhappy creature easily + distinguished from the warm kindness evinced to vagrants whose history had + not been connected with evil suspicion and mystery. She accordingly + tempered her manner and deportment towards them with consummate skill. Her + replies to their inquiries for news were given with an appearance of good + humor; but beneath the familiarity of her dialogue there lay an ambiguous + meaning and a cutting sarcasm, both of which were tinged with a prophetic + spirit, capable, from its equivocal drift, of being applied to each + individual whom she addressed. Owing to her unsettled life, and her habit + of passing from place to place, she was well acquainted with local + history. There lived scarcely a family within a very wide circle about + her, of whom she did not know every thing that could possibly be known; a + fact of which she judiciously availed herself by allusions in general + conversations that were understood only by those whom they concerned. + These mysterious hints, oracularly thrown out, gained her the reputation + of knowing more than mere human agency could acquire, and of course she + was openly conciliated and secretly hated. + </p> + <p> + Her conversation with the menials of the inn was very short and decisive. + </p> + <p> + “Sheemus,” said she to the person who acted in the capacity of waiter, + “where's Meehaul Neil?” + </p> + <p> + “Troth, Nell, dacent woman,” replied the other, “myself can't exactly say + that. I'll be bound he's on the <i>Esker</i>, looking afther the sheep, + poor crathurs, durin' Andy Connor's illness in the small-pock. Poor Andy's + very ill, Nell, an' if God hasn't sed it, not expected; glory be to his + name!” + </p> + <p> + “Is Andy ill?” inquired Nell; “and how long?” + </p> + <p> + “Bedad, going on ten days.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said the woman, “I knew nothin' about that; but I want to see + Meehaul Neil, and I know he's in the house.” + </p> + <p> + “Faix he's not, Nelly, an' you know I wouldn't tell you a lie about it.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you get the linen that was stolen from your masther?” inquired Nell + significantly, turning at the same time a piercing glance on the waiter; + “an' tell me,” she added, “how is Sally Lavery, and where is she?” + </p> + <p> + “It wasn't got,” he replied, in a kind of stammer; “an' as to Sally, the + nerra one o' me knows any thing about her, since she left this.” + </p> + <p> + “Sheemus,” replied Nell, “you know that Meehaul Neil is in the house; but + I'll give you two choices, either to bring me to the speech of him, or + else I'll give your masther the name of the thief that stole his linen; + ay! the name of the thief that resaved it. I name nobody at present; an' + for that matther, I know nothin'. Can't all the world tell you that Nell + M'Cullum knows nothin'!” + </p> + <p> + “<i>Ghe dhevin</i>, Nelly,” said the waiter, “maybe Meehaul is in the + house unknownst to me. I'll try, any how, an' if he's to the fore, it + won't be my fault or he'll see you.” + </p> + <p> + Nell, while the waiter went to inform Meehaul, took two ribbons out of her + pocket, one white and the other black, both of which she folded into what + would appear to a bystander to be a simple kind of knot. When the + innkeeper's son and the waiter returned to the hall, the former asked her + what the nature of her business with him might be. To this she made no + reply, except by uttering the word husht! and pulling the ends, first of + the white ribbon, and afterwards of the black. The knot of the first + slipped easily from the complication, but that of the black one, after + gliding along from its respective ends, became hard and tight in the + middle. + </p> + <p> + “<i>Tha sha marrho!</i> life passes and death stays,” she exclaimed. “Andy + Connor's dead, Meehaul Neil; an' you may tell your father that he must get + some one else to look afther his sheep. Ay! he's dead!—But that's + past. Meehaul, folly me; it's you I want, an' there's no time to be lost.” + </p> + <p> + She passed out as she spoke, leaving the waiter in a state of wonder at + the extent of her knowledge, and of the awful means by which, in his + opinion, she must have acquired it. + </p> + <p> + Meehaul, without uttering a syllable, immediately walked after her. The + pace at which she went was rapid and energetic, betokening a degree of + agitation and interest on her part, for which he could not account. As she + had no object in bringing him far from the house, she availed herself of + the first retired spot that presented itself, in order to disclose the + purport of her visit. “Meehaul Neil,” said she, “we're now upon the + Common, where no ear can hear what passes between us. I ax have you spirit + to keep your sister Ellen from shame and sorrow?” The young man started, + and became strongly excited at such a serious prelude to what she was + about to utter. + </p> + <p> + “<i>Millia diououl!</i> woman, why do you talk about shame or disgrace + comin' upon any sister of mine?” What villain dare injure her that regards + his life? My sisther! Ellen Neil! No, no! the man that 'ud only think of + that, I'd give this right hand a dip to the wrist in the best blood of his + heart.” + </p> + <p> + “Ay, ay! it's fine spakin': but you don't know the hand you talk of. It's + one that you had better avoid than meet. It's the strong hand, an' the + dangerous one when vexed. You know Lamh Laudher Oge?” + </p> + <p> + Meelmul started again, and the crone could perceive by his manner that the + nature of the communication she was about to make had been already known + to him, though not, she was confident, in so dark and diabolical a shape + as that in which she determined to put it. + </p> + <p> + “Lamh Laudher Oge!” he exclaimed; “surely you don't mane to say that he + has any bad design upon Ellen! It's not long since I gave him a caution to + drop her, an' to look out for a girl fittin' for his station. Ellen + herself knows what he'll get, if we ever catch him spakin' to her again. + The day will never come that his faction and ours can be friends.” + </p> + <p> + “You did do that, Meehaul,” replied Nell, “an' I know it; but what 'ud you + think if he was so cut to the heart by your turnin' round upon his + poverty, that he swore an oath to them that I could name, bindin' himself + to bring your sister to a state of shame, in order to punish you for your + words? That 'ud be great glory over a faction that they hate.” + </p> + <p> + “Tut, woman, he daren't swear such an oath; or, if he swore it fifty times + over on his bare knees, he'd ate the stones off o' the pavement afore he'd + dare to act upon it. In the first place, I'd prepare him for his coffin, + if he did; an' in the next, do you think so inanely of Ellen, as to + believe that she would bring disgrace an' sorrow upon herself and her + family? No, no, Nell; the old <i>dioul's</i> in you, or you're beside + yourself, to think of such a story. I've warned her against him, and so + did we all; an' I'm sartin' this minute, that she'd not go a single foot + to change words with him, unknownst to her friends.” + </p> + <p> + The old woman's face changed from the expression of anxiety and importance + that it bore, to one of coarse glee, under which, to those who had + penetration sufficient to detect it, lurked a spirit of hardened and + reckless ferocity. + </p> + <p> + “Well, well,” she replied, “sure I'm proud to hear what you tell me. How + is poor Nanse M'Collum doin' wid yez? for I hadn't time to see her a while + agone. I hope she'll never be ashamed or afraid of her aunt, any how. I + may say, I'm all that's left to the good of her name, poor girshah.” + </p> + <p> + “What 'ud ail her?” replied Meehaul; “as long a' she's honest an' behaves + herself, there's no fear of her. Had you nothing elsa to say to me, Nell?” + </p> + <p> + The same tumultuous expression of glee and malignity again lit up the + features of the old woman, as she looked at him, and replied, with + something like contemptuous hesitation, “Why, I don't know that. If you + had more sharpness or sinse I might say—Meehaul Neil,” she added, + elevating her voice, “what do you think I could say, this sacred moment! + Your sister! Why she's a good girl!—true enough that: but how long + she may be so's another affair. Afeard! Be the ground we stand on, man + dear, if you an' all belongin' to you, had eyes in your heads for every + day in the year, you couldn't keep her from young Lamh Laudher. Did you + hear anything?” + </p> + <p> + “I'd not believe a word of it,” said Meehaul calmly, and he turned to + depart. + </p> + <p> + “I tell you it's as true as the sun to the dial,” replied Nell; “and I + tell you more, he's wid her this minnit behind your father's orchard! Ay! + an' if you wish you may see them together wid your own eyes, an' sure if + you don't b'lieve me, you'll b'lieve them. But, Meehaul, take care of him; + for he has his fire-arms; if you meet him don't go empty-handed, and I'd + advise you to have the first shot.” + </p> + <p> + “Behind the orchard,” said Meehaul, astonished; “where there?” + </p> + <p> + “Ay, behind the orchard, where they often war afore. Where there? Why, if + you want to know that, sittin' on one of the ledges in the Grassy Quarry. + That's their sate whenever they meet; an' a snug one it is for them that + don't like their neighbors' eyes to be upon them. Go now an' satisfy + yourself, but watch them at a distance, an', as you expect to save your + sister, don't breathe the name of Nell M'Collum to a livin' mortal.” + </p> + <p> + Meehaul Neil's cheek flushed with deep resentment on hearing this + disagreeable intelligence. For upwards of a century before there had + subsisted a deadly feud between the Neils and Lamh Laudhers, without + either party being able exactly to discover the original fact from which + their enmity proceeded. This, however, in Ireland, makes little + difference. It is quite sufficient to know that they meet and fight upon + every possible opportunity, as hostile factions ought to do, without + troubling themselves about the idle nonsense of inquiring why they hate + and maltreat each other. For this reason alone, Meehaul Neil was bitterly + opposed to the most distant notion of a marriage between his sister and + young Lamh Laudher. There were other motives also which weighed, with + nearly equal force, in the consideration of this subject. His sister Ellen + was by far the most beautiful girl of her station in the whole country,—and + many offers, highly advantageous, and far above what she otherwise could + have expected, had been made to her. On the other hand, Lamh Laudher Oge + was poor, and by no means qualified in point of worldly circumstances to + propose for her, even were hereditary enmity out of the question. All + things considered, the brother and friends of Ellen would rather have seen + her laid in her grave, than allied to a comparatively poor young man, and + their bitterest enemy. + </p> + <p> + Meehaul had but little doubt as to the truth of what Nell M'Collum told + him. There was a saucy and malignant confidence in her manner, which, + although it impressed him with a sense of her earnestness, left, + nevertheless, an indefinite feeling of dislike against her on his mind. He + knew that her motive for disclosure was not one of kindness or regard for + him or for his family. Nell M'Collum had often declared that “the wide + earth did not carry a bein' she liked or loved, but one—not even + excepting herself, that she hated most of all.” This however was not + necessary to prove that she acted rather from the gratification of some + secret malice, than from the principle of benevolence. The venomous leer + of her eye, therefore, and an accurate knowledge of her character, induced + him to connect some apprehension of approaching evil with the unpleasant + information she had just given him. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Meehaul, “if what you say is true, I'll make it a black + business to Lamh Laudher. I'll go directly and keep my eye on them; an' + I'll have my fire-arms, Nell; an' by the life that's in me, he'll taste + them if he provokes me; an Ellen knows that.” Having thus spoken he left + her. + </p> + <p> + The old woman stood and looked after him with a fiendish complacency. + </p> + <p> + “A black business, will you?” she exclaimed, repeating his words in a + soliloquy;—“do so—an' may all that's black assist you in it! + Dher Chiernah, I'll do it or lose a fall—I'll make the Lamh Laudhers + the Lamh Lhugs afore I've done wid 'em. I've put a thorn in their side + this many a year, that'll never come out; I'll now put one in their + marrow, an' let them see how they'll bear that. I've left <i>one</i> empty + chair at their hearth, an' it 'll go hard wid me but I'll lave another.” + </p> + <p> + Having thus expressed her hatred against a family to whom she attributed + the calamities that had separated her from society, and marked her as a + being to be avoided and detested, she also departed from the Common, + striking her stick with peculiar bitterness into the ground as she went + along. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. + </h2> + <p> + In the mean time young Lamh Laudher felt little suspicion that the stolen + interview between him and Ellen Neil was known. The incident, however, + which occurred to him on his way to keep the assignation, produced in his + mind a vague apprehension which he could not shake off. To meet a + red-haired woman, when going on any business of importance, was considered + at all times a bad omen, as it is in the country parts of Ireland unto + this day; but to meet a female familiar with forbidden powers, as Nell + M'Collum was supposed to be, never failed to produce fear and misgiving in + those who met her. Mere physical courage was no bar against the influence + of such superstitions; many a man was a slave to them who never knew fear + of a human or tangible enemy. They constituted an important part of the + popular belief! for the history of ghosts and fairies, and omens, was, in + general, the only kind of lore in which the people were educated; thanks + to the sapient traditions of their forefathers. + </p> + <p> + When Nell passed away from Lamh Laudher, who would fain have flattered + himself that by turning back on the way, until she passed him, he had + avoided meeting her, he once more sought the place of appointment, at the + same slow pace as before. On arriving behind the orchard, he found, as the + progress of the evening told him, that he had anticipated the hour at + which it had been agreed to meet. He accordingly descended the Grassy + Quarry, and sat on a mossy ledge of rock, over which the brow of a little + precipice jutted in such a manner as to render those who sat beneath, + visible only from a particular point. Here he had scarcely seated himself + when the tread of a foot was heard, and in a few minutes Nanse M'Collum + stood beside him. + </p> + <p> + “Why, thin, bad cess to you, Lamh Laudher,” she exclaimed, “but it's a + purty chase I had afther you.” + </p> + <p> + “Afther me, Nanse? and what's the commission, <i>cush gastha</i> + (lightfoot)?” + </p> + <p> + “The sorra any thing, at all, at all, only to see if you war here. Miss + Ellen sent me to tell you that she's afeard she can't come this evenin', + unknownst to them.” + </p> + <p> + “An' am I not to wait, Nanse?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, she says she—<i>will</i> come, for all that, if she can; but + she bid me take your stick from you, for a rason she has, that she'll tell + yourself when she sees you.” + </p> + <p> + “Take my stick! Why Nanse, <i>ma colleen baun</i>, what can she want with + my stick? Is the darlin' girl goin' to bate any body?” + </p> + <p> + “Bad cess to the know <i>I</i> know, Lamh Laudher, barrin' it be to lay on + yourself for stalin' her heart from her. Why thin, the month's mether o' + honey to you, soon an' sudden, how did you come round her at all?” + </p> + <p> + “No matter about that, Nanse; but the family's bitther against me?—eh?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, thin, in trogs, it's ill their common to hate you as they do; but + thin, you see, this faction-work will keep yees asundher for ever. Now gi' + me your stick, an' wait, any way, till you see whether she comes or not.” + </p> + <p> + “Is it by Ellen's ordhers you take it, Nanse?” + </p> + <p> + “To be sure—who else's? but the divil a one o' me knows what she + means by it, any how—only that I daren't go back widout it.” + </p> + <p> + “Take it, Nanse; she knows I wouldn't refuse her my heart's blood, let + alone a bit of a kippeen.” + </p> + <p> + “A bit of a kippeen! Faix, this is a quare kippeen! Why, it would fell a + bullock.” + </p> + <p> + “When you see her, Nanse, tell her to make haste, an' for God's sake not + to disappoint me. I can't rest well the day I don't meet her.” + </p> + <p> + “Maybe other people's as bad, for that matter; so good night, an' the + mether o' honey to you, soon an' sudden! Faix, if any body stand in my way + now, they'll feel the weight of this, any how.” + </p> + <p> + After uttering the last words, she brandished the cudgel and disappeared. + </p> + <p> + Lamh Laudher felt considerably puzzled to know what object Ellen could + have had in sending the servant maid for his staff. Of one thing, however, + he was certain, that her motive must have had regard to his own safety; + but how, or in what manner, he could not conjecture. It is certainly true + some misgivings shot lightly across his imagination, on reflecting that he + had parted with the very weapon which he usually brought with him to repel + the violence of Ellen's friends, should he be detected in an interview + with her. He remembered, too, that he had met unlucky Nell M'Collum, and + that the person who deprived him of his principal means of defence was her + niece. He had little time, however, to think upon the subject, for in a + few minutes after Nanse's departure, he recognized the light quick step of + her whom he expected. + </p> + <p> + The figure of Ellen Neil was tall, and her motions full of untaught + elegance and natural grace. Her countenance was a fine oval; her features, + though not strictly symmetrical, were replete with animation, and her eyes + sparkled with a brilliancy indicative of a warm heart and a quick + apprehension. Flaxen hair, long and luxuriant, decided, even at a distant + glance, the loveliness of her skin, than which the unsunned snow could not + be whiter. If you add to this a delightful temper, buoyant spirits, and + extreme candor, her character, in its strongest points, is before you. + </p> + <p> + On reaching the bottom of the Grassy Quarry, as it was called, she peered + under the little beetling cliff that overhung the well-known ledge on + which Lamh Laudher sat. + </p> + <p> + “I declare, John,” said she, on seeing him, “I thought at first you + weren't here.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you ever know me to be late!—” said John, taking her by the + hand, and placing her beside him; “and what would you a' done, Ellen, if I + hadn't been here?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, run home as if the life was lavin' me, for fear of seein' + something.” + </p> + <p> + “You needn't be afeard, Ellen, dear; nothing could harm you, at all + events. However, puttin' that aside, have you any betther tidin's than you + had when we met last?” + </p> + <p> + “I wish to heaven I had, John! but indeed I have far worse; ay, a thousand + times worse. They have all joined against me, an' I'm not to see or speak + to you at all.” + </p> + <p> + “That's hard,” replied Lamh Laudher, drawing his breath tightly; “but I + know where it comes from. I think your father might be softened a little, + ay, a great deal, if it wasn't for your brother Meehaul.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, Lamh Laudher, you're wrong in that; my father's as bitther + against you as he is. It was only on Tuesday evenin' last that they told + me, one an' all they would rather see me a corpse than your wife. Indeed + an' deed, John, I doubt it never can be.” + </p> + <p> + “There,” replied John, “I see plain enough that they'll gain you over at + last. That will be the end of it: but if you choose to break the vows and + promises that passed between us, you may do so.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! Lamh Laudher,” said Ellen, affected at the imputation contained in + his last observation; “don't you treat me with such suspicion. I suffer + enough for your sake, as it is. For nearly two years, a day has hardly + passed that my family hasn't wrung the burnin' tears from my eyes on your + account. Haven't I refused matches that any young woman in my station of + life ought to be I proud to accept?” + </p> + <p> + “You did, Ellen, you did; but still I know how hard it is for you to hould + out against the persecution you suffer at home. No, no, Ellen dear, I + never doubted you for one minute. All I wondher at is, that such a girl as + you ever could think of one so humble as I am, compared to what you'd have + a right to expect an' could get.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, but if I'm willin' to prefer you, John?” said Ellen, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + “One thing I know, Ellen,” he replied, “an' that is, that I'm far from + bein' worthy of you; an' I ought, if I had a high enough spirit, to try to + turn you against me, if it was only that you might marry a man that 'ud + have it in his power to make you happier than ever I'll be able to do; any + way, than ever it's likely I'll be able to do.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think, John, that ever money or the wealth of the world made a + man an' wife love one another yet, if they didn't do it before; but it has + often put their hearts against one another.” + </p> + <p> + “I agree wid you in that, Ellen; but you don't know how my heart sinks + when I think of your an' my own poverty. My poor father, since the strange + disappearance of little Alice, never was able to raise his head; and + indeed my mother was worse. If the child had died, an' that we knew she + slept with ourselves, it would be a comfort. But not to know what became + of her—whether she was drowned or kidnapped—that was what + crushed their hearts. I must say that since I grew up, we're improvin'; + an' I hope, God willin', now that my father laves the management of the + farm to myself, we'll still improve more an' more. I hope it for their + sakes, but—more, if possible, for yours. I don't know what I + wouldn't do to make you happy, Ellen. If my life could do it, I think I + could lay it down to show the love I bear you. I could take to the highway + and rob for your sake, if I thought it would bring me means to make you + happy.” + </p> + <p> + Ellen was touched by his sincerity, as well as by the tone of manly sorrow + with which he spoke. His last words, however, startled her, when she + considered the vehement manner in which he uttered them. + </p> + <p> + “John,” said she, alarmed, “never, while you have life, let me hear a word + of that kind out of your lips. No—never, for the sake of heaven + above us, breathe it, or think of it. But, I'll tell you something, an' + you must hear it, an' bear it too, with patience.” + </p> + <p> + “What is it, Ellen! If it's fair an' manly, I'll be guided by your + advice.” + </p> + <p> + “Meehaul has threatened to—to—I mane to say, that you musn't + have any quarrel with him, if he meets you or provokes you. Will you + promise this?” + </p> + <p> + “Meenaul has threatened to strike me, has he? An' I, a Lamh Laudher, am to + take a blow from a Neil, an' to thank him, I suppose, for givin' it.” + </p> + <p> + Ellen rose up and stood before him. + </p> + <p> + “Lamh Laudher,” said she, “I must now try your love for me in earnest. A + lie I cannot tell no more than I can cover the truth. My brother has + threatened to strike you, an' as I said afore, you must bear it for his + sister's sake.” + </p> + <p> + “No, <i>dher Chiernah</i>, never. That, Ellen, is goin' beyant what I'm + able to bear. Ask me to cut off my right hand for your sake, an' I'll do + it; ask my life, an' I'll give it: but to ask a Lamh Laudher to bear a + blow from a Neil—never. What! how could I rise my face afther such a + disgrace? How could I keep the country wid a Neil's blow, like the stamp + of a thief upon my forehead, an' me the first of my own faction, as your + brother is of his. No—never!” + </p> + <p> + “An' you say you love me, John?” + </p> + <p> + “Betther than ever man loved woman.” + </p> + <p> + “No, man—you don't,” she replied; “if you did, you'd give up + something for me. You'd bear that for my sake, an' not think it much. I'm + beginin' to believe, Lamh Laudher, that if I was a poor portionless girl, + it wouldn't be hard to put me out of your thoughts. If it was only for my + own sake you loved me, you'd not refuse me the first request I ever made + to you; when you know, too, that if I didn't think more of you than I + ought, I'd never make it.” + </p> + <p> + “Ellen, would you disgrace me? Would you wish me to bear the name of a + coward? Would you want my father to turn me out of the house? Would you + want my own faction to put their feet upon me, an' drive me from among + them?” + </p> + <p> + “John,” she replied, bursting into tears, “I do know that it's a sore + obligation to lay upon you, when everything's taken into account; but if + you wouldn't do this for me, who would you do it for? Before heaven, John, + I dread a meetin' between you an' my brother, afther what he tould me; an' + the only way of preventin' danger is for you not to strike him. Oh, little + you know what I have suffered these two days for both your sakes! Lamh + Laudher Oge, I doubt it would be well for me if I had never seen your + face.” + </p> + <p> + “Anything undher heaven but what you want me to do, Ellen.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! don't refuse me this, John. I ask it, as I said, for both your sake, + an' for my own sake. Meehaul wouldn't strike an unresistin' man. I won't + lave you till you promise; an' if that won't do, I'll go down on my. knees + an' ask you for the sake of heaven above, to be guided by me in this.” + </p> + <p> + “Ellen, I'll lave the country to avoid him, if that'll plase you.” + </p> + <p> + “No—no—no, John: that doesn't plase me. Is it to lave your + father an' family, an' you the staff of their support? Oh, John, give me + your promise. Here on my two knees I ask it from you, for my own, for your + own, and for the sake of God above us! I know Meehaul. If he got a blow + from you on my account, he'd never forgive it to either you or me.” + </p> + <p> + She joined her hands in supplication to him as she knelt, and the tears + chased each other like rain down her cheeks. The solemnity with which she + insisted on gaining her point staggered Lamh Laudher not a little. + </p> + <p> + “There must be something undher this,” he replied, “that makes you set + your heart on it so much. Ellen, tell me the truth; what is it?” + </p> + <p> + “If I loved you less, John, an' my brother too, I wouldn't care so much + about it. Remember that I'm a woman, an' on my knees before you. A blow + from you would make him take your life or mine, sooner than that I should + become your wife. You ought to know his temper.” + </p> + <p> + “You know, Ellen, I can't at heart refuse you any thing. I will not strike + your brother.” + </p> + <p> + “You promise, before God, that no provocation will make you strike him.” + </p> + <p> + “That's hard, Ellen; but—well, I do; before God, I won't—an' + it's for your sake I say it. Now, get up, dear, get up. You have got me to + do what no mortal livin' could bring me to but yourself. I suppose that's + what made you send Nanse M'Collum for my staff?” + </p> + <p> + “Nancy M'Collum! When?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, a while ago. She tould me a quare enough story, or rather no story + at all, only that you couldn't come, an' you could come, an' I was to give + up my staff to her by your ordhers.” + </p> + <p> + “She tould you false, John. I know nothing about what you say.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, Ellen,” replied Lamh Laudher, with a firm seriousness of manner, + “you have brought me into danger. I doubt, without knowin' it. For my own + part, I don't care so much. Her unlucky aunt met me comin' here this + evenin', and threatened both our family and yours. I know she would sink + us into the earth if she could. Either she or your brother is at the + bottom of this business, whatever it is. Your brother I don't fear; but + she is to be dreaded, if, all's true that's said about her.” + </p> + <p> + “No, John—she surely couldn't have the heart to harm, you an' me. + Oh, but I'm light now, since you did what I wanted you. No harm can come + between you and Meehaul; for I often heard him say, when speakin' about + his faction fights, that no one but a coward would, strike an unresistin' + man. Now come and see me pass the Pedlar's Cairn, an' remember that you'll + thank me for what I made you do this night. Come quickly—I'll be + missed.” + </p> + <p> + They then passed on by a circuitous and retired path that led round the + orchard, until he had conducted her in safety beyond the Pedlar's Cairn, + which was so called from a heap of stones that had been loosely piled + together, to mark the spot as the scene of a murder, whose history, thus + perpetuated by the custom of every passenger casting a stone upon the + place, constituted one of the local traditions of the neighborhood. + </p> + <p> + After a tender good-night, given in a truly poetical manner under the + breaking light of a May moon, he found it necessary to retrace his steps + by a path which wound round the orchard, and terminated in the public + entrance to the town. Along this suburban street he had advanced but a + short way, when he found himself overtaken and arrested by his bitter and + determined foe, Meehaul Neil. The connection betwixt the promise that + Ellen had extorted from him and this rencounter with her brother flashed + upon him forcibly: he resolved, however, to be guided by her wishes, and + with this purpose on his part, the following dialogue took place between + the heads of the rival factions. When we say, however, that Lamh Laudher + was the head of his party, we beg to be understood as alluding only to his + personal courage and prowess; for there were in it men of far greater + wealth and of higher respectability, so far as mere wealth could confer + the latter. + </p> + <p> + “Lamh Laudher,” said Meehaul, “whenever a Neil spakes to you, you may know + it's hot in friendship.” + </p> + <p> + “I know that, Meehaul Neil, without hearin' it from you. Spake, what have + you to say?” + </p> + <p> + “There was a time,” observed the other, “when you and I were enemies only + because our cleaveens were enemies but now there is, an' you know it, a + blacker hatred between us.” + </p> + <p> + “I would rather there was not, Meehaul; for my own part, I have no + ill-will against either you or yours, all you know that; so when you talk + of hatred, spake only for yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't be mane, man,” said Neil; “don't make them that hates you despise + you into the bargain.” + </p> + <p> + Lamh Laudher turned towards him fiercely, and his eye gleamed with + passion; but he immediately recollected himself, and simply said— + </p> + <p> + “What is your business with me this night, Meehaul Neil?” + </p> + <p> + “You'll know that soon enough—sooner, maybe, than you wish. I now + ask you to tell me, if you are an honest man, where you have been?” + </p> + <p> + “I am as honest, Meehaul, as any man that ever carried the name of Neil + upon him, an' yet I won't tell you that, till you show me what right you + have to ask me.” + </p> + <p> + “I b'lieve you forget that I'm Ellen Neil's brother: now, Lamh Laudher, as + her brother, I choose to insist on your answering me.” + </p> + <p> + “Is it by her wish?” + </p> + <p> + “Suppose I say it is.” + </p> + <p> + “Ay! but I won't suppose that, till you lay your right hand on your heart, + and declare as an honest man, that—tut, man—this is nonsense. + Meehaul, go home—I would rather there was friendship between us.” + </p> + <p> + “You were with Ellen, this night in the! Grassy Quarry.” + </p> + <p> + “Are you sure of that?” + </p> + <p> + “I saw you both—I watched you both; you left her beyond the Pedlar's + Cairn, an' you're now on your way home.” + </p> + <p> + “An' the more mane you, Meehaul, to become a spy upon a girl that you know + is as pure as the light from heaven. You ought to blush for doubtin' sich + a sister, or thinkin' it your duty to watch her as you do.” + </p> + <p> + “Lamh Laudher, you say that you'd rather there was no ill-will between + us.” + </p> + <p> + “I say that, God knows, from my heart out.” + </p> + <p> + “Then there's one way that it may be so. Give up Ellen; you'll find it for + your own interest to do so.” + </p> + <p> + “Show me that, Meehaul.” + </p> + <p> + “Give her up, I say, an' then I may tell you.” + </p> + <p> + “Meehaul, good-night. Go home.” + </p> + <p> + They had now entered the principal street of the town, and as they + proceeded in what appeared to be an earnest, perhaps a friendly + conversation, many of their respective acquaintances, who lounged in the + moonlight about their doors, were not a little surprised at seeing them in + close conference. When Lamh Laudher wished him good night, he had reached + an off street which led towards his father's house, a circumstance at + which he rejoiced, as it would have been the means, he hoped, of + terminating a dialogue that was irksome to both parties. He found himself, + however, rather unexpectedly and rudely arrested by his companion. + </p> + <p> + “We can't part, Lamh Laudher,” said Meehaul seizing him by the collar, + “'till this business is settled—I mane till you promise to give my + sister up.” + </p> + <p> + “Then we must stand here, Meehaul, as long as we live—an' I surely + won't do that.” + </p> + <p> + “You must give her up, man.” + </p> + <p> + “Must! Is it must from a Neil to a Lamh Laudher? You forgot yourself, + Meehaul: you are rich now, an' I'm poor now; but any old friend can tell + you the differ between your grandfather an' mine. Must, indeed!” + </p> + <p> + “Ay; must is the word, I say; an' I tell you that from this spot you won't + go till you swear it, or this stick—an' it's a good one—will + bring you to submission.” + </p> + <p> + “I have no stick, an' I suppose I may thank you for that.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you mane?” said Neil; “but no matter—I don't want it. There—to + the divil with it;” and as he spoke he threw it over the roof of the + adjoining house. + </p> + <p> + “Now give up my sister or take the consequence.” + </p> + <p> + “Meehaul, go home, I say. You know I don't fear any single man that ever + breathed; but, above all men on this earth, I wish to avoid a quarrel with + you. Do you think, in the mean time, that even if I didn't care a straw + for your sister, I could be mane enough to let myself be bullied out of + her by you, or any of your faction? Never, Meehaul; so spare your breath, + an' go home.” + </p> + <p> + Several common acquaintances had collected about them, who certainly + listened to this angry dialogue between the two faction leaders with great + interest. Both were powerful men, young, strong, and muscular. Meehaul, of + the two, was taller, his height being above six feet, his strength, + courage, and activity, unquestionably very great. Lamh Laudher, however, + was as fine a model of physical strength, just proportion, and manly + beauty as ever was created; his arms, in particular, were of terrific + strength, a physical advantage so peculiar to his family as to occasion + the epithet by which it was known. He had scarcely uttered the reply we + have I written, when Meehaul, with his whole! strength, aimed a blow at + his stomach, which the other so far turned aside, as to bring it I higher + up on his chest. He staggered back, after receiving it, about seven or + eight yards, but did not fall. His eye literally blazed, and for a moment + he seemed disposed to act! under the strong impulse of self-defence. The + solemnity of his promise to Ellen, however, recurred to him in time to + restrain his uplifted arm. By a strong and sudden effort he endeavored to + compose himself, and succeeded. He approached Meehaul, and with as much + calmness as he could assume, said— + </p> + <p> + “Meehaul, I stand before you an' you may strike, but I won't return your + blows: I have reasons for it, but I tell you the truth.” + </p> + <p> + “You won't fight?” said Meehaul, with mingled rage and scorn. + </p> + <p> + “No,” replied the other, “I won't fight you.” + </p> + <p> + A murmur of “shame” and “coward” was heard from those who had been drawn + together by their quarrel. + </p> + <p> + “<i>Dher ma chorp</i>,” they exclaimed with astonishment, “but Lamh + Laudher's afeard of him!—the <i>garran bane's</i> in him, now that + he finds he has met his match.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, hard fortune to you, Lamh Laudher, will you take a blow from a Neil? + Are you goin' to disgrace your name?” + </p> + <p> + “I won't fight him,” replied he to whom they spoke, and the uncertainty of + his manner was taken for want of courage. + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said Meehaul, “here, before witnesses, I give you the coward, that + you may carry the name to the last hour of your life.” + </p> + <p> + He inflicted, when uttering the words, a blow with his open hand on Lamh + Laudher's cheek, after which he desired the spectators to bear witness to + what he had done. The whole crowd was mute with astonishment, not a murmur + more was heard; but they looked upon the two rival champions, and then + upon each other with amazement. The high-minded young man had but one + course to pursue. Let the consequence be what it might, he could not think + for a moment of compromising the character of Ellen, nor of violating his + promise, so solemnly given; with a flushed cheek, therefore, and a brow + redder even with shame than indignation, he left the crowd without + speaking' a word, for he feared that by indulging in any further + recrimination on the subject, his resolution might give way under the + impetuous resentment which he curbed in with such difficulty. + </p> + <p> + Meehaul Neil paused and looked after him, equally struck with surprise and + contempt at his apparent want of spirit. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he exclaimed to those who stood about him, “by the life within me, + if all the parish had sworn that Lamh Laudher Oge was a coward, I'd not a + b'lieved them!” + </p> + <p> + “Faix, Misther Neil, who would, no more, than yourself?” they replied; + “devil the likes of it ever we seen! The young fellow that no man could + stand afore five minutes!” + </p> + <p> + “That is,” replied others, “bekase he never met a man that would fight + him. You see when he did, how he has turned out. One thing any how is + clear enough—after this he can never rise his head while he lives.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. + </h2> + <p> + Meehaul now directed his steps homewards, literally stunned by the + unexpected cowardice of his enemy. On approaching his father's door, he + found Nell M'Collum seated on a stone bench, waiting his arrival. The + moment she espied him she sprang to her feet, and with her usual eagerness + of manner, caught the breast of his coat, and turning him round towards + the moonlight, looked eagerly into his face. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” she inquired, “did he show his fire-arms? Well? What was done?” + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been making a fool of you, Nell,” replied Meehaul; “he had + neither fire-arms, nor staff, nor any thing else; an' for my part, I might + as well have left mine at home.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, but, <i>douol</i>, man, what was done? Did you smash him? Did you + break his bones?” + </p> + <p> + “None of that, Nell, but worse; he's disgraced for ever. I struck him, an' + he refused to fight me; he hadn't a hand to raise. + </p> + <p> + “No! <i>Dher Chiernah</i>, he had not; an' he may thank Nell M'Collum for + that. I put the weakness over him. But I've not done wid him yet. I'll + make that family curse the day they crossed Nell M'Collum, if I should go + down for it. Not that I have any ill will to the boy himself, but the + father's heart's in him, an' that's the way, Meehaul, I'll punish the man + that was the means of lavin' me as I am.” + </p> + <p> + “Nell, the devil's in your heart,” replied Meehaul, “if ever he was in + mortal's. Lave me, woman: I can't bear your revengeful spirit, an' what is + more, I don't want you to interfere in this business, good, bad, or + indifferent. You bring about harm, Nell; but who has ever known you to do + good?” + </p> + <p> + “Ay! ay!” said the hag, “that's the cuckoo song to Nell; she does harm, + but never does good! Well, may my blackest curse wither the man that left + Nell to hear that, as the kindest word that's spoke either to her or of + her! I don't blame you. Meehaul—I blame nobody but him for it all. + Now a word of advice before you go in; don't let on to Ellen that you know + of her meetin' him this night;—an' reason good,—if she thinks + you're watchin' her, she'll be on her guard—'ay, an' outdo you in + spite of your teeth. She's a woman—she's a woman. Good night, an' + mark him the next time betther.” + </p> + <p> + Meehaul himself—had come to the same determination and from the same + motive. + </p> + <p> + The consciousness of Lamh Laudher's public disgrace, and of his + incapability to repel it, sank deep into his heart. The blood in his veins + became hot and feverish when he reflected upon the scornful and degrading + insult he had just borne. Soon after his return home, his father and + mother both noticed the singularly deep bursts of indignant feeling with + which he appeared to be agitated. For some time they declined making any + inquiry as to its cause, but when they saw at length the big scalding + tears of shame and rage start from his flashing eyes, they could no longer + restrain their concern and curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “In the name of heaven, John,” said they, “what has happened to put you in + such a state as you're in?” + </p> + <p> + “I can't tell you,” he replied; “if you knew it, you'd blush with burnin' + shame—you'd curse me in your heart. For my part, I'd rather be dead + fifty times over than livin', after what has happened this night.” + </p> + <p> + “An' why not tell us, Lamh Laudher?” + </p> + <p> + “I can't father; I couldn't stand upright afore you and spake it. I'd sink + like a guilty man in your presence; an' except you want to drive me + distracted, or perjured, don't ask me another question about it. You'll + hear it too soon.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, we must wait,” said the father; “but I'm sure, John, you'd not do + anything unbecomin' a man. For my part, I'm not unasy on your account, for + except to take an affront from a Neil, there's nothing you would do could + shame me.” + </p> + <p> + This was a' fresh stab to the son's wounded pride, for which he was not + prepared. With a stifled groan he leaped to his feet, and rushing from the + kitchen, bolted himself up in his bed-room. + </p> + <p> + His parents, after he had withdrawn, exchanged glances. + </p> + <p> + “That went home to him,” said the father; “an' as sure as death, the Neils + are in it, whatever it is. But by the crass that saved us, if he tuck an + affront from any of them, without payin' them home double, he is no son of + mine, an' this roof won't cover him another night. Howsomever we'll see in + the morn-in', plase God!” + </p> + <p> + The mother, who was proud of his courage and prowess, scouted with great + indignation the idea of her son's tamely putting up with an insult from + any of the opposite faction. + </p> + <p> + “Is it he bear an affront from a Neil! arrah, don't make a fool of + yourself, old man! He'd die sooner. I'd stake my life on him.” + </p> + <p> + The night advanced, and the family had retired to bed; but their son + attempted in vain to sleep. A sense of shame overpowered him keenly. He + tossed and turned, and groaned, at the contemplation of the disgrace which + he knew would be heaped on him the following day. What was to be done? How + was he to wipe it off? There was but one method, he believed, of getting + his hands once more free; that was to seek Ellen, and gain her permission + to retract his oath on that very night. With this purpose he instantly + dressed, himself, and quietly unbolting his own door, and that of the + kitchen, got another staff, and passed out to seek her father's inn. + </p> + <p> + The night had now become dark, but mild and agreeable; the repose of man + and nature was deep, and save his own tumultuous thoughts every thing + breathed an air of peace and rest. At a quick but cautious pace he soon + reached the inn, and without much difficulty passed into the garden, from + which he hoped to be able to make himself known to Ellen. In this, to his + great mortification, he was disappointed; the room in which she slept, + being on the third story, presented a window, it is true, to the garden; + but how was he to reach it, or hold a dialogue with her, even should she + recognize him, without being overheard by some of the family? All this + might have occurred to him at home, had he been sufficiently cool for + reflection. As it was, the only method of awakening her that he could + think of was to throw up several handsful of small pebbles against the + window. This he tried without any effect. Pebbles sufficiently large to + reach the window would have broken the glass, so that he felt himself + compelled to abandon every hope of speaking to her that night. With + lingering and reluctant steps he left the garden, and stood for some time + before the front of the house, leaning against an upright stone, called + the market cross. Here he had not been more than two minutes, when he + heard footsteps approaching, and on looking closely through the darkness, + he recognized the figure of Nell M'Collum, as it passed directly to the + kitchen window. Here the crone stopped, peered in, and with caution gave + one of the panes a gentle tap. This was responded to by one much louder + from within, and almost immediately the door was softly opened. From + thence issued another female figure, evidently that of Nanse M'Collum, her + niece. Both passed down the street in a northern direction, and Lamh + Laudher, apprehensive that they were on no good errand, took off his + shoes, lest his footsteps might be heard, and dogged them as they went + along. They spoke little, and that in whispers, until they had got clear + of the town, when, feeling less restraint, the following dialogue occurred + to them:— + </p> + <p> + “Isn't it a quare thing, aunt, that she should come back to this place at + all?” + </p> + <p> + “Quare enough, but the husband's comin' too—he's to folly her.” + </p> + <p> + “He ought to know that he needn't come here, I think.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, you fool, how do you know that? Sure the town must pay him fifty + guineas, if he doesn't get a customer, and that's worth comin' for. She + must be near us by this time. Husht! do you hear a car?” + </p> + <p> + They both paused to listen, but no car was audible. + </p> + <p> + “I do not,” replied the niece; “but isn't it odd that he lets her carry + the money, an' him trates her so badly'?” + </p> + <p> + “Why would it be odd? Sure, she takes betther care of it, an' puts it + farther than he does. His heart's in a farden, the nager.” + </p> + <p> + “Rody an' the other will soon spare her that trouble, any way,” replied + the niece. “Is there no one with her but the carman?” + </p> + <p> + “Not one—hould you tongue—here's the gate where the same pair + was to meet us. Who is this stranger that Rody has picked up? I hope he's + the thing.” + </p> + <p> + “Some red-headed fellow. Rody says he is honest. I'm wondherin', aunt, + what 'ud happen if she'd know the place.” + </p> + <p> + “She can't, girshah—an' what if she does? She may know the place, + but will the place know her? Rody's friend says the best way is to do for + her; an' I'm afeard of her, to tell you the truth—but we'll settle + that when they come. There now is the gate where we'll sit down. Give a + cough till we try if they're———whist! here they are!” + </p> + <p> + The voices of two men now joined the conversation, but in so low a tone, + that Lamh Laudher could not distinctly hear its purport. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0003" id="linkimage-0003"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img src="images/plate091.jpg" + alt="Page 91-- With Stealthy Pace he Crept Over " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + The road along which they traveled was craggy, and full of ruts, so that a + car could be heard in the silence of night at a considerable distance. On + each side the ditches were dry and shallow; and a small elder hedge, which + extended its branches towards the road, afforded Lamh Laudher the + obscurity which he wanted. With stealthy pace he crept over and sat + beneath it, determined to witness whatever incident might occur, and to + take a part in it, if necessary. He had scarcely seated himself when the + car which they expected was heard jolting about half a mile off along the + way, and the next moment a consultation took place in tones so low and + guarded, that every attempt on his part to catch its purport was + unsuccessful. This continued with much earnestness, if not warmth, until + the car came within twenty perches of the gate, when Nell exclaimed— + </p> + <p> + “If you do, you may—but remimber I didn't egg you on, or put it into + your hearts, at all evints. Maybe I have a child myself livin'—far + from me—an' when I think of him, I feel one touch of nature at my + heart in favor of her still. I'm black enough there, as it is.” + </p> + <p> + “Make your mind asy,” said one of them, “you won't have to answer for + her.” + </p> + <p> + The reply which was given to this could not be heard. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” rejoined,Nell, “I know that. Her comin' here may not be for my + good; but—well, take this shawl, an' let the work be quick. The + carman must be sent back with sore bones to keep him quiet.” + </p> + <p> + The car immediately reached the spot where they sat, and as it passed, the + two men rushed from the gate, stopped the horse, and struck the carman to + the earth. One of them seized him while down, and pressed his throat, so + as to prevent him from shouting. A single faint shriek escaped the female, + who was instantly dragged off the car and gagged by the other fellow and + Nanse M'Collum. + </p> + <p> + Lamh Laudher saw there was not a moment to be lost. With the speed of + lightning he sprung forward, and with a single blow laid him who struggled + with the carman prostrate. To pass then to the aid of the female was only + the work of an instant. With equal success he struck down the villain with + whom she was struggling. Such was the rapidity of his motions, that he had + not yet had time even to speak; nor indeed did he wish at all to be + recognized in the transaction. The carman, finding himself freed from his + opponent, bounced to his legs, and came to the assistance of his charge, + whilst Lamh Laudher, who had just flung Nanse M'Collum into the ditch, + returned in time to defend both from a second attack. The contest, + however, was a short one. The two ruffians, finding that there was no + chance of succeeding, fled across the fields; and our humble hero, on + looking for Nanse and her aunt, discovered that they also had disappeared. + It is unnecessary to detail the strong terms in which the strangers + expressed their gratitude to Lamh Laudher. + </p> + <p> + “God's grace be upon you, whoever you are, young man!” exclaimed the + carman; “for wid His help an' your own good arm, it's my downright opinion + that you saved us from bein' both robbed an' murthered.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm of that opinion myself,” replied Lamh Laudher. + </p> + <p> + “There is goodness, young man, in the tones of your voice,” observed the + female; “we may at least ask the name of the person who has saved our + lives?” + </p> + <p> + “I would rather not have my name mentioned in the business,” he replied; + “a woman, or a devil, I think, that I don't wish to cross or provoke, has + had a hand in it. I hope you haven't been robbed?” he added. + </p> + <p> + She assured him, with expressions of deep gratitude, that she had not. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said he, “as you have neither of you come to much harm, I would + take it as the greatest favor you could do me, if you'd never mention a + word about it to any one.” + </p> + <p> + To this request they agreed with some hesitation. Lamh Laudher accompanied + them into the town, and saw them safely in a decent second-rate inn, kept + by a man named Luke Connor, after which he returned to his father's house, + and without undressing, fell into a disturbed slumber until morning. + </p> + <p> + It is not to be supposed that the circumstances attending the quarrel + between him and Meehaul Neil, on the preceding night, would pass off + without a more than ordinary share of public notice. Their relative + positions were too well known not to excite an interest corresponding with + the characters they had borne, as the leaders of two bitter and powerful + factions: but when it became certain that Meehaul Neil had struck Lamh + Laudher Oge, and that the latter refused to fight him, it is impossible to + describe the sensation which immediately spread through the town and + parish. The intelligence was first received by O'Rorke's party with + incredulity and scorn. It was impossible that he of the Strong Hand, who + had been proverbial for courage, could all at once turn coward, and bear + the blow from a Neil! But when it was proved beyond the possibility of + doubt or misconception, that he received a blow tamely before many + witnesses, under circumstances of the most degrading insult, the rage of + his party became incredible. Before ten o'clock the next morning his + father's house was crowded with friends and relations, anxious to hear the + truth from his own lips, and all, after having heard it, eager to point + out to him the only method that remained of wiping away his disgrace, + namely, to challenge Meehaul Neil. His father's indignation knew no + bounds; but his mother, on discovering the truth, was not without that + pride and love which, are ever ready to form an apology for the feelings + and errors of an only child. + </p> + <p> + “You may all talk,” she said; “but if Lamh Laudher Oge didn't strike him, + he had good reasons for it. How do you know, an' bad cess to your tongues, + all through other, how Ellen Neil would like him after weltin' her + brother? Don't ye think she has the spirit of her faction in her as well + as another?” + </p> + <p> + This, however, was not listened to. The father would hear of no apology + for his son's cowardice but an instant challenge. Either that or to be + driven from his father's roof the only alternatives left him. + </p> + <p> + “Come out here,” said the old man, for the son had not left his humble + bed-room, “an' in presence of them that you have brought to shame and + disgrace, take the only plan that s left to you, an' send him a + challenge.” + </p> + <p> + “Father,” said the young man, “I have too much of your own blood in me to + be afraid of any man—but for all that, I neither will nor can fight + Meehaul Neil.” + </p> + <p> + “Very well,” said the father, bitterly, “that's enough. <i>Dher Manim</i>, + Oonagh, you're a guilty woman; that boy's no son of mine. If he had my + blood in him, he couldn't act as he did. Here, you intherloper, the door's + open for you; go out of it, an' let me never see the branded face of you + while you live.” The groans of the son were audible from his bed-room. + </p> + <p> + “I will go, father,” he replied, “an' I hope the day will come when you'll + all change your opinion of me. I can't, however, stir out till I send a + message a mile or so out of town.” + </p> + <p> + The old man in the mean time, wept as if his son had been dead; his tears, + however, were not those of sorrow, but of shame and indignation. + </p> + <p> + “How can I help it,” he exclaimed, “when I think of the way that the Neils + will clap their wings and crow over us! If it was from any other family he + tuck it so inanely, I wouldn't care so much; but from them! Oh, Chiernah! + it's too bad! Turn out, you villain!” + </p> + <p> + A charge of deeper disgrace, however, awaited the unhappy young man. The + last harsh words of the father had scarcely been uttered, when three + constables came in, and inquired if his son were at home. + </p> + <p> + “He is at home,” said the father, with tears in his eyes, “and I never + thought he would bring the blush to my face as he did by his conduct last + night.” + </p> + <p> + “I am sorry,” said the principal of them, “for what has happened, both on + your account and his. Do you know this hat?” + </p> + <p> + “I do know it,” replied the old man; “it belongs to John. Come out here,” + said he, “here's Tom Breen wid your hat.” + </p> + <p> + The son left his room, and it was evident from his appearance that he had + not undressed at all during the night. The constables immediately observed + these circumstances, which they did not fail to interpret to his + disadvantage. + </p> + <p> + “Here is your hat,” said the man who bore it; “one would think you were + travelin' all night, by your looks.” + </p> + <p> + The son thanked him for his civility, got clean stockings, and after + arranging his dress, said to his father— + </p> + <p> + “I'm now ready to go, father, an' as I can't do what you want me to do, + there's nothing for me but to leave the country for a while.” + </p> + <p> + “He acknowledged it himself,” said the father, turning to Breen; “an' in + that case, how could I let the son that shamed me live undher my roof?” + </p> + <p> + “He's the last young man in the country I stand in,” said Breen, “that any + one who knew him would suspect to be guilty of robbery. Upon my soul, Lamh + Laudher More, I'm both grieved an' distressed at it. We're come to arrest + him,” he added, “for the robbery he committed last night.” + </p> + <p> + “Robbery!” they exclaimed with one voice. + </p> + <p> + “Ay,” said the man, “robbery, no less—an' what is more, I'm afraid + there's little doubt of his guilt. Why did he lave his hat at the place + where the attempt was first made? He must come with us.” + </p> + <p> + The mother shrieked aloud, and clapped her hands like a distressed woman; + the father's brow changed from the flushed hue of indignation, and became + pale with apprehension. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! no, no,” he exclaimed, “John never did that. Some qualm might come + over him in the other business, but—no, no—your father knows + you're innocent of robbery. Yes, John, my blood is in you, and there + you're wronged, my son. I know you too well, in spite of all I've said to + you, to believe that, my true-hearted boy.” + </p> + <p> + He grasped his son's hand as he spoke. + </p> + <p> + And his mother at the same moment caught him in her arms, whilst both + sobbed aloud. A strong sense of innate dignity expanded the brow of young + Lamh Laudher. He smiled while his parents wept, although his sympathy in + their sorrow brought a tear at the same time to his eye-lids. He declined, + however, entering into any explanation, and the father proceeded— + </p> + <p> + “Yes! I know you are innocent, John; I can swear that you didn't leave + this house from nine o'clock last night up to the present minute.” + </p> + <p> + “Father,” said Lamh Laudher, “don't swear that, for it would not be true, + although you think it would. I was out the greater part of last night.” + </p> + <p> + His father's countenance fell again, as did those of his friends who were + present, on hearing what appeared to be almost an admission of his guilt. + </p> + <p> + “Go,” said the old man, “go; naburs, take him with you. If he's guilty of + this, I'll never more look upon his face. John, my heart was crushed + before, but you're likely to break it out an' out.” + </p> + <p> + Lamh Laudher Oge's deportment, on hearing himself charged with robbery, + became dogged and sullen. The conversation, together with the sympathy and + the doubt it excited among his friends, he treated with silent indignation + and scorn. He remembered that on the night before, the strange woman + assured him she had not been robbed, and he felt that the charge was + exceedingly strange and unaccountable. + </p> + <p> + “Come,” said he, “the sooner this business is cleared up the better. For + my part, I don't know what to make of it, nor do I care much how it goes. + I knew since yesterday evening, that bad luck was before me, at all + events, an' I suppose it must take its course, an' that I must bear it.” + </p> + <p> + The father had sat down, and now declined uttering a single word in + vindication of his' son. The latter looked towards him, when about to pass + out, but the old man waved his hand with sorrowful impatience, and pointed + to the door, as intimating a wish that he should forthwith depart from + under his roof. Loaded with twofold disgrace, he left his family and his + friends, accompanied by the constables, to the profound grief and + astonishment of all who knew him. + </p> + <p> + They then conducted him before a Mr. Brooldeigh, an active magistrate of + that day, and a gentleman of mild and humane character. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. + </h2> + <p> + On reaching Brookleigh Hall, Lamh Laudher found the strange woman, Nell + M'Collum, Connor's servant maid, and the carman awaiting his arrival. The + magistrate looked keenly at the prisoner, and immediately glanced with an + expression of strong disgust at Nell M'Collum. The other female surveyed + Lamh Laudher with an interest evidently deep; after which she whispered + something to Nell, who frowned and shook her head, as if dissenting from + what she had heard. Lamh Laudher, on his part surveyed the features of the + female with an earnestness that seemed to absorb all sense of his own + disgrace and danger. + </p> + <p> + “O'Rorke,” said the magistrate, “this is a serious charge against you. I + trust you may be able effectually to meet it.” + </p> + <p> + “I must wait, your worship, till I hear fully what it is first,” replied + Lamh Laudher, “afther that I'm not afraid of clearin' myself from it.” + </p> + <p> + The woman then detailed the circumstances of the robbery, which it + appeared took place at the moment her luggage was in the act of being + removed to her room, after which she added, rather unexpectedly—“And + now your worship, I have plainly stated the facts; but I must, in + conscience, add, that although this woman,” turning to Nell M'Collum, “is + of opinion that the young man before you has robbed me, yet I cannot think + he did.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll swear, your worship,” said Nell, “that on passin' homewards last + night, seein' a car wid people about it, at Luke Connor's door, I stood + behind the porch, merely to thry if I knew who they wor. I seen this Lamh + Laudher wid a small oak box in his hands, an' I'll give my oath that it + was open, an' that he put his hands into it, and tuck something out.” + </p> + <p> + “Pray, Nell, how did it happen that you yourself were abroad at so + unseasonable an hour?” said the magistrate. + </p> + <p> + “Every one knows that I'm out at quare hours,” replied Nell; “I'm not like + others. I know where I ought to be, at all times; but last night, if your + worship wishes to hear the truth, I was on my way to Andy Murray's wake, + the poor lad that was shepherd to the Neils.” + </p> + <p> + “And pray, Nell,” said his worship, “how did you form so sudden an + acquaintance with this respectable looking woman?” + </p> + <p> + “I knew her for years,” said Nell; “I've seen her in other parts of the + country often.” + </p> + <p> + “You were more than an hour with her last night—were you not?” said + his worship. + </p> + <p> + “She made me stay wid her,” said Nell, “bekase she was a stranger, an' of + coorse was glad to see a face she know, afther the fright she got.” + </p> + <p> + “All very natural, Nell; but in the mean time, she might easily have + chosen a more respectable associate. Have you actually lost the sum of six + hundred pounds, my good madam?” + </p> + <p> + “I have positively lost so much,” replied the woman, “together with the + certificate of my marriage.” + </p> + <p> + “And how did you become acquainted with Nell M'Collum?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + The stranger was silent, and blushed deeply at this question; but Nell, + with more presence of mind, went over to the magistrate, and whispered + something which caused him to start, look keenly at her, and then at the + plaintiff. + </p> + <p> + “I must have this confirmed by herself” he said in reply to Nell's + disclosure, “otherwise I shall be much more inclined to consider you the + thief than O'Rorke, whose character has been hitherto unimpeachable and + above suspicion.” + </p> + <p> + He then beckoned the woman over to his desk, and after having first + inquired if she could write, and being replied to in the affirmative, he + placed a slip of paper before her, on which was written—“Is that + unhappy woman called Nell M'Collum, your mother?” + </p> + <p> + “Alas! she is, sir,” replied the female, with a deep expression of sorrow. + The magistrate then appeared satisfied. “Now,” said he, addressing + O'Rorke, “state, fairly and honestly what you have to say in reply to the + charge brought against you.” + </p> + <p> + “Please your worship,” said the young man, “you hear the woman say that + she brings no charge against me; but I can prove on oath, that Nell + M'Collum and her niece, Nanse M'Collum, along with two men that I don't + know, except that one was called Rody, met at Franklin's gate, with an + intention of robing, an' it's my firm belief, of murdering this woman.” + </p> + <p> + He then detailed with great earnestness the incidents and conversation of + the preceding night. + </p> + <p> + “Sir,” replied Nell, with astonishing promptness, “I can prove by two + witnesses, that, no longer ago than last night, he said he would take to + the high-road, in ordher to get money to enable him to marry Ellen Neil. + Yes, you villain, Nanse M'Collum heard every word that passed between you + and her in the grassy quarry; an' Ellen, your worship, can prove it too, + if she's sent for.” + </p> + <p> + This had little effect on the magistrate, who at no time placed any + reliance on Nell's assertions; he immediately, however, dispatched a + summons for Nanse M'Collum. + </p> + <p> + The carman then related all that he knew, every word of which strongly + corroborated what Lamh Laudher had said. He concluded by declaring it to + be his opinion, that the prisoner was innocent, and added, that, according + to the best of his belief, the box was not open when he left it in the + plaintiff's sleeping-room above stairs. + </p> + <p> + The magistrate again looked keenly and suspiciously towards Nell. At this + stage of the proceedings, O'Rorke's father and mother, accompanied by some + of their friends, made their appearance. The old man, however, declined to + take any part in the vindication of his son. He stood sullenly silent, + with his arms folded and his brows knit, as much in indignation as in + sorrow. The grief of the mother was louder, for she wept audibly. + </p> + <p> + Ere the lapse of many minutes, the constable returned, and stated that + Nanse was not be found. + </p> + <p> + “She has not been at her master's house since morning,” he observed, “and + they don't know where she is, or what has become of her.” + </p> + <p> + The magistrate immediately despatched two of the constables, with strict + injunctions! to secure her, if possible. + </p> + <p> + “In the mean time,” he added, “I will order you, Nell M'Collum, to be + strictly confined, until I ascertain whether she can be produced or not. + Your haunts may be searched with some hope of success, while you are in + durance; but I rather think we might seek for her in vain, if you were at + liberty to regulate her motions. I cannot expect,” he added, turning to + the stranger, “that you should prosecute one so nearly related to you, + even if you had proof, which you have not; but I am almost certain, that + she has been someway or other concerned in the robbery. You are a modest, + interesting woman, and I regret the loss you have sustained. At present + there are no grounds for committing any of the parties charged with the + robbery. This unhappy woman I commit only as a vagrant, until her niece is + found, after that we shall probably be able to see somewhat farther into + this strange affair.” + </p> + <p> + “Something tells' me, sir,” replied the stranger, “that this young man is + as innocent of the robbery as the child unborn. It's not my intention ever + to think of prosecuting him. What I have done in the matter was against my + own wishes.” + </p> + <p> + “God in heaven bless you for the words!” exclaimed the parents of O'Rorke, + each pressing her hand with delight and gratitude. The woman warmly + returned their greetings, but instantly felt her bosom heave with a + hysterical oppression under which she sank into a state of insensibility. + Lamh Laudher More and his wife were proceeding to bring her towards the + door for air, when Nell M'Collum insisted on a prior right to render her + that service. “Begone, you servant of the devil,” exclaimed the old man, + “your wicked breath is bad about any one else; you won!t lay a hand upon + her.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't let her, for heaven's sake!” said his wife; “her eye will kill the + woman!” + </p> + <p> + “You are not aware,” said the magistrate, “that this woman is her + daughter?” + </p> + <p> + “Whose daughter, please your honor,” said the old man indignantly. + </p> + <p> + “Nell M'Collum's,” he returned. + </p> + <p> + “It's as false as hell!” rejoined O'Rorke, “beggin' your honor's pardon + for sayin' so. I mean it's false for Nell, if she says it. Nell, sir, + never had a daughter, an' she knows that; but she had a son, an' she knows + best what became of him.” + </p> + <p> + Nell, however, resolved not to be deterred from getting-the stranger into + her own hands. With astonishing strength and fury she attempted to drag + the insensible creature from O'Rorke's grasp; but the magistrate, + disgusted at her violence, ordered two of the persons present to hold her + down. + </p> + <p> + At length the woman began to recover. + </p> + <p> + She sobbed aloud, and a copious flow of tears drenched her cheeks. Nell + ordered her to tear herself from O'Rorke and his wife:— “Their hands + are bad about you,” she exclaimed, “and their son has robbed you, Mary. + Lave them, I say, or it will be worse for you.” + </p> + <p> + The woman paid her no attention; on the contrary, she laid her head on the + bosom of O'Rorke's wife, and wept as if her heart would break. + </p> + <p> + “God help me!” she exclaimed with a bitter sense of her situation, “I am + an unhappy, an' a heart-broken woman! For many a year I have not known + what it is to have a friendly breast to weep on.” + </p> + <p> + She then caught O'Rorke's hand and kissed it affectionately, after which + she wept afresh; + </p> + <p> + “Merciful heaven!” said she'—“oh, how will I ever be able to meet my + husband! and such a husband! oh, heavens pity me!” + </p> + <p> + Both O'Rorke and his wife stood over her in tears. The latter bent her + head, kissed the stranger, and pressed her to her bosom. “May God bless + you!” said O'Rorke himself solemnly; “trust in Him, for he can see justice + done to you when man fails.” + </p> + <p> + The eyes of Nell glared at the group like those of an enraged tigress: she + stamped her feet upon the floor, and struck it repeatedly with her stick, + as she was in the habit of doing, when moved by strong and deadly + passions. + </p> + <p> + “You'll suffer for that, Mary,” she exclaimed; “and as for you, Lamh + Laudher More, my debt's not paid to you yet. Your son's a robber, an I'll + prove it before long; every one knows he's a coward too.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Brookleigh felt that there appeared to be something connected with the + transactions of the preceding night, as well as with some of the persons + who had come before him, that perplexed him not a little. He thought that, + considering the serious nature of the charge preferred against young + O'Rorke, he exhibited an apathy under it, that did not altogether argue + innocence. Some unsettled suspicions entered his mind, but not with + sufficient force to fix with certainty upon any of those present, except + Nell and Nanse M'Collum who had absconded. If Nell were the woman's + mother, her anxiety to bring the criminal to justice appeared very + natural. Then, again, young O'Rorke's father, who seemed to know the + history of Nell M'Collum, denied that she ever had a daughter. How could + he be certain that she had not, without knowing her private life + thoroughly? These circumstances appeared rather strange, if not altogether + incomprehensible; so much so, indeed, that he thought it necessary, before + they separated, to speak with O'Rorke's family in private. Having + expressed a wish to this effect, he dismissed the other parties, except + Nell, whom he intended to keep confined until the discovery of her niece. + </p> + <p> + “Pray,” said he to the father of our humble hero, “how do you know, + O'Rorke, that Nell M'Collum never had a daughter?” + </p> + <p> + “Right well, your honor. I knew her since she was a child; an' from that + day to this she was never six months from this town at a time. No, no—a + son she had, but a daughter she never had.” + </p> + <p> + “Let me ask you, young man, on what business were you abroad last night? I + expect you will answer me candidly?” + </p> + <p> + “It's no matther,” replied young Lamh Laudher gloomily, “my character's + gone. I cannot be worse, an' I will tell no man how I spent it, till I + have an opportunity of clarin' myself.” + </p> + <p> + “If you spent it innocently,” returned the magistrate, “you can have no + hesitation in making the disclosure we require.” + </p> + <p> + “I will not mention it,” said the other; “I was disgraced, an' that is + enough. I think but little of the robbery.” + </p> + <p> + Brookleigh understood him; but the last assertion, though it exonerated + him in the opinion of a man who knew something about character, went far + in that of his friends who were present to establish his guilt. + </p> + <p> + They then withdrew; and it would have been much to young Lamh Laudher's + advantage if this private interview had never taken place. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. + </h2> + <p> + The next morning O'Rorke and his wife! waited upon Mr. Brookleigh to + state, that in their opinion it would be more judicious to liberate Nell + M'Collum, provided he kept a strict watch upon all her motions. The + magistrate instantly admitted both the force and ingenuity of the thought; + and after having appointed three persons to the task of keeping her under + surveillance, he set her at large. + </p> + <p> + This was all judicious and prudent; but in the mean time, common rumor, + having first published the fact of young Lamh Laudher's cowardice, found + it an easy task to associate his name with the robbery. His very father, + after their last conference with the magistrate, doubted him; his friends, + in the most sympathetic terms, expressed their conviction of his guilt, + and the natural consequence resulting from this was, that he found himself + expelled from his paternal roof, and absolutely put out of caste. The tide + of ill-fame, in fact, set in so strongly against him, that Ellen, startled + as she had been by his threat of taking to the highway, doubted him. The + poor young man, in truth, led a miserable life. Nanse M'Collum had not + been found, and the unfavorable rumor was still at its height, when one + morning the town arose and found the walls and streets placarded with what + was in those days known as the fatal challenge of the DEAD BOXER! + </p> + <p> + This method of intimating his arrival had always been peculiar to that + individual, who was a man of color. No person ever discovered the means by + which he placarded his dreadful challenge. In an age of gross + superstition, numerous were the rumors and opinions promulgated concerning + this circumstance. The general impression was, that an evil spirit + attended him, by whose agency his advertisements were put up at night; A + law, it is said, then existed, that when a pugilist arrived in any town, + He might claim the right to receive the sum of fifty guineas, provided no + man in the town could be found to accept his challenge within a given + period. A champion, if tradition be true, had the privilege of fixing only + the place, not the mode and regulations of battle. Accordingly the scene + of contest uniformly selected by the Dead Boxer was the church-yard of the + town, beside a new made grave, dug at his expense. The epithet of the Dead + Boxer had been given to him, in consequence of a certain fatal stroke by + which he had been able to kill every antagonist who dared to meet him; + precisely on the same principle that we call a fatal marksman a dead shot; + and the church-yard was selected, and the grave prepared, in order to + denote the fatality incurred by those who went into a contest with him. He + was famous, too, at athletic sports, but was never known to communicate + the secret of the fatal blow; he also taught the sword exercises, at which + he was considered to be a proficient. + </p> + <p> + On the morning after his arrival, the town in which we have laid the scene + of this legend felt the usual impulse of an intense curiosity to see so + celebrated a character. The Dead Boxer, however, appeared to be + exceedingly anxious to gratify this natural propensity. He walked out from + the head inn, where he had stopped, attended by his servant, merely, it + would appear, to satisfy them as to the very slight chance which the + stoutest of them had in standing before a man whose blow was so fatal, and + whose frame so prodigiously Herculean. + </p> + <p> + Twelve o'clock was the hour at which he deemed proper to make his + appearance, and as it happened also to be the market-day of the town, the + crowd which followed him was unprecedented. The old and young, the hale + and feeble of both sexes, all rushed out to see, with feelings of fear and + wonder, the terrible and far-famed Dead Boxer. The report of his arrival + had already spread far and wide into the country, and persons belonging to + every class and rank of life might be seen hastening on horseback, and + more at full speed on foot, that they might, if possible, catch an early + glimpse of him. The most sporting characters among the nobility and gentry + of the country, fighting-peers, fire-eaters, snuff-candle squires, members + of the hell-fire and jockey clubs, gaugers, gentlemen tinners, bluff + yeomen, laborers, cudgel-players, parish pugilists, men of renown within a + district of ten square miles, all jostled each other in hurrying to see, + and if possible to have speech of, the Dead Boxer. Not a word was spoken + that day, except with reference to him, nor a conversation introduced, the + topic of which was not the Dead Boxer. In the town every window was filled + with persons standing to get a view of him; so were the tops of the + houses, the dead walls, and all the cars, gates, and available eminences + within sight of the way along which he went. Having thus perambulated the + town, he returned to the market-cross, which, as we have said, stood + immediately in front of his inn. Here, attended by music, he personally + published his challenge in a deep and sonorous voice, calling upon the + corporation in right of his championship, to produce a man in ten clear + days ready to undertake battle with him as a pugilist, or otherwise to pay + him the sum of fifty guineas out of their own proper exchequer. + </p> + <p> + Having thus thrown down his gauntlet, the musicians played a dead march, + and there was certainly something wild and fearful in the association + produced by these strains of death and the fatality of encountering him. + This challenge he repeated at the same place and hour during three + successive days, after which he calmly awaited the result. + </p> + <p> + In the mean time, certain circumstances came to light, which not only + developed many cruel and profligate traits in his disposition, but also + enabled the worthy inhabitants of the town to ascertain several facts + relating to his connections, which in no small degree astonished them. The + candid and modest female whose murder and robbery had been planned by Nell + M'Collum, resided with him as his wife; at least if he did not acknowledge + her as such, no person who had an opportunity of witnessing her mild and + gentle deportment, ever for a moment conceived her capable of living with + him in any other character, his conduct to her, however, was brutal in the + extreme, nor was his open and unmanly cruelty lessened by the misfortune + of her having lost the money which he had accumulated. With Nell M'Collum + he was also acquainted, for he had given orders that she should be + admitted to him whenever she deemed it necessary. Nell, though now at + large, found her motions watched with a vigilance which no ingenuity on + her part, could baffle. She knew this, and was resolved by caution to + overreach those who dogged her so closely. Her intimacy with the Dead + Boxer threw a shade of still deeper mystery around her own character and + his. Both were supposed to be capable of entering into evil communion with + supernatural beings, and both, of course, were looked upon with fear and + hatred, modified, to be sure, by the peculiarity of their respective + situations. + </p> + <p> + Let not our readers, however, suppose that young Lamh Laudher's disgrace + was altogether lost in the wide-spread fame of the Dead Boxer. His high + reputation for generous and manly feeling had given him too strong a hold + upon the hearts of all who know him, to be at once discarded by them from + public conversation as an indifferent person. His conduct filled them with + wonder, it is true; but although the general tone of feeling respecting + the robbery was decidedly in his favor, yet there still existed among the + public, particularly in the faction that was hostile to him, enough of + doubt, openly expressed, to render it a duty to avoid him; particularly + when this formidable suspicion was joined to the notorious fact of his + cowardice in the rencounter with Meehaul Neil. Both subjects were + therefore discussed with probably an equal interest; but it is quite + certain that the rumor of Lamh Laudher's cowardice would alone have + occasioned him, under the peculiar circumstances which drew it forth, to + be avoided and branded with contumely. There was, in fact, then in + existence among the rival factions in Ireland much of the military sense + of honor which characterizes the British army at this day; nor is this + spirit even yet wholly exploded, from our humble countrymen. Poor Lamh + Laudher was, therefore, an exile from his father's house, repulsed and + avoided by all who had formerly been intimate with him. + </p> + <p> + There was another individual, however, who deeply sympathized in all he + felt, because she knew that for her sake it had been incurred; we allude + to Ellen Neil. Since the night of their last interview, she, too, had been + scrupulously watched by her relations. But what vigilance can surpass the + ingenuity of love? Although her former treacherous confidant had + absconded, yet the incident of the Dead Boxer's arrival had been the means + of supplying her with a friend, into whose bosom she felt that she could + pour out all the anxieties of her heart. This was no other than the Dead + Boxer's wife; and there was this peculiarity in the interest which she + took in Ellen's distress, that it was only a return of sympathy which + Ellen felt in the unhappy woman's sufferings. The conduct of her husband + was indefensible; for while he treated her with shameful barbarity, it was + evident that his bad passions and his judgment were at variance, with + respect to the estimate which he formed of her character. In her honesty + he placed every confidence, and permitted her to manage his money and + regulate his expenses; but this was merely because her frugality and + economic habits gratified his parsimony, and fostered one of his strongest + passions, which was avarice. There was something about this amiable + creature that won powerfully upon the affections of Ellen Neil; and in + entrusting her with the secret of her love, she she felt assured that she + had not misplaced it. Their private conversations, therefore, were + frequent, and their communications, unreserved on both sides, so far as + woman can bestow confidence and friendship on the subject of her + affections or her duty. This intimacy did not long escape the prying eyes + of Nell M'Collum, who soon took means to avail herself of it for purposes + which will shortly become evident. + </p> + <p> + It was about the sixth evening after the day on which the Dead Boxer had + published his challenge, that, having noticed Nell from a window as she + passed the inn, he dispatched a waiter with a message that she should be + sent up to him. Previous to this the hag had been several times with his + wife, on whom she laid serious injunctions never to disclose to her + husband the relationship between them. The woman had never done so, for in + fact the acknowledgement of Nell, as her mother, would have been to, any + female whose feelings had not been made callous by the world, a painful + and distressing task. Nell was the more anxious on this point, as she + feared that such a disclosure would have frustrated her own designs. + </p> + <p> + “Well, granny,” said he, when Nell entered, “any word of the money?” + </p> + <p> + Nell cautiously shut the door, and stood immediately fronting him, her + hand at some distance from her side, supported by her staff, and her gray + glittering eyes fixed upon him with that malicious look which she never + could banish from her countenance. + </p> + <p> + “The money will come,” she replied, “in good time. I've a charm near ready + that'll get a clue to it. I'm watchin' him—and I'm watched myself—an' + Ellen's watched. He has hardly a house to put his head in; but <i>nabockish!</i> + I'll bring you an' him together—ay, <i>dher manim</i>, an' I'll make + him give you the first blow; afther that, if you don't give him one, it's + your own fau't.” + </p> + <p> + “Get the money first, granny. I won't give him the blow till <i>it</i> is + safe.” + </p> + <p> + “Won't you?” replied the beldame; “ay, <i>dher Creestha</i>, will you, + whin you know what. I have to tell you about him an'—an'——” + </p> + <p> + “And who, granny?” + </p> + <p> + “<i>Diououl</i>, man, but I'm afeard to tell you, for fraid you'd kill + me.” + </p> + <p> + “Tut, Nelly; I'd not strike an Obeah-wo-man,” said he, laughing. + </p> + <p> + “I suspect foul play between him an'—her.” + </p> + <p> + “Eh? Fury of hell, no!” + </p> + <p> + “He's very handsome,” said the other, “an' young—far younger than + you are, by thirteen—” + </p> + <p> + “Go on—go on,” said the Dead Boxer, interrupting her, and clenching + his fist, whilst his eyes literally glowed like live coals, “go on—I'll + murder him, but not till—yes, I'll murder him at a blow—I + will; but no—not till you secure the money first. If I give him the + blow—THE BOX—I might never get it, granny. A dead man gives + back nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “I suspect,” replied Nell, “<i>arraghid</i>—that is the money—is + in other hands. Lord presarve us! but it's a wicked world, blackey.” + </p> + <p> + “Where is it!” said the Boxer, with a vehemence of manner resembling that + of a man who was ready to sink to perdition for his wealth. “Devil! and + furies! where is it?” + </p> + <p> + “Where is it?” said the imperturbable Nell; “why, manim a yeah, man, sure + you don't think that I know where it is? I suspect that your landlord's + daughter, his real sweetheart, knows something about it; but thin, you + see, I can prove nothing; I only suspect. We must watch an' wait. You know + she wouldn't prosecute him.” + </p> + <p> + “We will watch an' wait—but I'll finish him. Tell me, Nell—fury + of hell, woman—can it be possible—no—well—I'll + murder him, though; but can it be possible that she's guilty? eh? She + wouldn't prosecute him—No—no—she would not.” + </p> + <p> + “She is not worthy of you, blackey. Lord save us! Well, troth, I remimber + whin you wor in Lord S—'s, you were a fine young man of your color. + I did something for the young lord in my way then, an' I used to say, when + I called to see her, that you wor a beauty, barrin' the face. Sure enough, + there was no lie in that. Well, that was before you tuck to the fightin'; + but I'm ravin'. Whisper, man. If you doubt what I'm sayin', watch the + north corner of the orchard about nine to-night, an' you'll see a meetin' + between her an' O'Rorke. God be wid you! I must go.” + </p> + <p> + “Stop!” said the Boxer; “don't—but do get a charm for the money.” + </p> + <p> + “Good-by,” said Nell; “<i>you</i> a heart wid your money! No; <i>damnho + sherry</i> on the charm ever I'll get you till you show more spunk. You! + My curse on the money, man, when your disgrace is consarned!” + </p> + <p> + Nell passed rapidly, and with evident indignation out of the room; nor + could any entreaty on the part of the Dead Boxer induce her to return and + prolong the dialogue. + </p> + <p> + She had said enough, however, to produce in his bosom torments almost + equal to those of the damned. In several of their preceding dialogues, she + had impressed him with a belief that young Lamh Laudher was the person who + had robbed his wife; and now to the hatred that originated in a spirit of + avarice, she added the deep and deadly one of jealousy. On the other hand, + the Dead Boxer had, in fact, begun to feel the influence of Ellen Neil's + beauty; and perhaps nothing would have given him greater satisfaction than + the removal of a woman whom he no longer loved, except for those virtues + which enabled him to accumulate money. And now, too, had he an equal + interest in the removal of his double rival, whom, besides, he considered + the spoliator of his hoarded property. The loss of this money certainly + stung him to the soul, and caused his unfortunate wife to suffer a tenfold + degree of persecution and misery. When to this we add his sudden passion + for Ellen Neil, we may easily conceive what she must have endured. Nell, + at all events, felt satisfied that she had shaped the strong passions of + her savage dupe in the way best calculated to gratify that undying spirit + of vengeance which she had so long nurtured against the family of Lamh + Laudher. The Dead Boxer, too, was determined to prosecute his amour with + Ellen Neil, not more to gratify his lawless affection for her than his + twofold hatred of Lamh Laudher. + </p> + <p> + At length nine o'clock arrived, and the scene must change to the northern + part of Sheemus Neil's orchard. The Dead Boxer threw a cloak around him, + and issuing through the back door of the inn, entered the garden, which + was separated from the orchard only by a low clipped hedge of young + whitethorn, in the middle of which stood of a small gate. In a moment he + was in the orchard, and from behind its low wall he perceived a female + proceeding to the north side muffled like himself in a cloak, which he + immediately recognized to be that of his wife. His teeth became locked + together with the most deadly resentment; his features twitched with the + convulsive spasms of rage, and his nostrils were distended as if his + victims stood already within his grasp. He instantly threw himself over + the wall, and nothing but the crashing weight of his tread could have + saved the lives of the two unsuspecting persons before him. Startled, + however, by the noise of his footsteps, Lamh Laudher turned round to + observe who it was that followed them, and immediately the massy and + colossal black now stripped of his cloak—for he had thrown it aside—stood + in their presence. The female instinctively drew the cloak round her face, + and Lamh Laudher was about to ask why he followed them, when the Boxer + approached him in an attitude of assault. + </p> + <p> + With a calmness almost unparalleled under the circumstances, Lamh Laudher + desired the female by no means to cling to him. + </p> + <p> + “If you do,” said he, “I am murdered where I stand.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” she shrieked, “you shall not. Stand back, man, stand back, if you + murder him I will take care you shall suffer for it. Stand back. Lamh + Laudher never injured you.” + </p> + <p> + “Ha!” exclaimed the Boxer, in reply; “why, what is this! Who have we + here?” + </p> + <p> + Ellen, for it was she, had already thrown back the cloak from her + features, and stepped forward between them. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I am glad it is you,” said the black, “and so may he. Come, I shall + conduct you home.” + </p> + <p> + He caught her arm as he spoke, and drew her over to his side like an + infant. + </p> + <p> + “Come, my pretty girl, come; I will treat you tenderly, and all I shall + ask is a kiss in return. Here, young fellow,” said he to Lamh Laudher, + with a sense of bitter triumph, “I will show you that one black kiss is + worth two white ones.” + </p> + <p> + Heavy, hard, and energetic was the blow which the Dead Boxer received upon + the temple, as the reply of Lamh Laudher, and dead was the crash of his + tremendous body on the earth. Ellen looked around her with amazement. + </p> + <p> + “Come,” said she, seizing her lover's arm, and dragging him onward: + “gracious heavens! I hope you haven't killed him. Come, John, the time is + short, and we must make the most of it. That villain, as I tould you + before, is a villain. Oh! if you knew it! John, I have been the manes of + your disgrace and suffering, but I am willing to do what I can to remedy + that. In your disgrace, Ellen will be ready, in four days from this, to + become your wife. John, come to meet me no more. I will send that + villain's innocent wife to your aunt Alley's, where you now live'. I + didn't expect to see you myself; but I got an opportunity, and besides she + was too unwell to bring my message, which was to let you know what I now + tell you.” + </p> + <p> + John, ere he replied, looked behind him at the Dead Boxer, and appeared as + if struck with some sudden thought. + </p> + <p> + “He is movin',” said he, “an' on this night I don't wish to meet him + again; but—yes, Ellen, yes—God bless you for the words you've + said; but how could you for one minute doubt me about the robbery?” + </p> + <p> + “I did not, John—I did not; and if I did, think of your own words at + our meetin' in the Quarry; it was a small suspicion, though—no more. + No, no; at heart I never doubted you.” + </p> + <p> + “Ellen,” said John, “hear me. You never will become my wife till my + disgrace is wiped away. I love you too well ever to see you blush for your + husband. My mind's made up—so say no more. Ay, an' I tell you that + to live three months in this state would break my heart.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor John!” she exclaimed, as they separated, and the words were followed + by a gush of tears, “I know that there is not one of them, in either of + the factions, so noble in heart and thought as you are.” + </p> + <p> + “Ill prove that soon, Ellen; but never till my name is fair and clear, an' + without spot, can you be my wife. Good night, dearest; in every thing but + that I'll be guided by you.” + </p> + <p> + They then separated, and immediately the Dead Boxer, like a drunken man, + went tottering, rather crest-fallen, towards the inn. On reaching his own + room, his rage appeared quite ungovernable; he stormed, stamped, and raved + on reflecting that any one was able to knock him down. He called for + brandy and water, with a curse to the waiter, swore deeply between every + sip, and, ultimately dispatched another messenger for Nell M'Collum. + </p> + <p> + “That Obeah woman's playing on me,” he exclaimed; “because my face is + black, she thinks me a fool. Furies! I neither know what she is, nor who + the other is. But I will know.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't be too sure of that,” replied Nell, gliding into the apartment—“You + can say little, blackey, or think little, avourneen, that I'll not know. + As to who she is, you needn't ax—she won't be long troublin' you; + an' in regard to myself, I'm what you see me. Arra, <i>dher ma chuirp</i>, + man alive, I could lave you in one night that a boy in his first <i>breestha</i> + (small clothes) could bate the marrow out of you.” + </p> + <p> + “Where did you come from now, granny?” + </p> + <p> + “From her room; she's sick—that was what prevented her from meetin' + Lamh Laudher.” + </p> + <p> + “Granny, do you know who she is? I'm tired of her—sick of her.” + </p> + <p> + “You know enough about her to satisfy you. Wasn't she a beautiful creature + when Lady S——— tuck her into the family, an' reared her + till she was fit to wait upon herself. Warn't you then sarvant to the ould + lord, an' didn't I make her marry you, something against her will, too; + but she did it to plase me. That was before 'buildin' churches' druv you + out of the family, an' made you take to the fightin' trade.” + </p> + <p> + “Granny, you must bring this young fellow across me. Blood! woman, do you + know what he did? He knocked me down, granny—struck me senseless! + Fury of hell! Me! Only for attempting to kiss his sweetheart!” + </p> + <p> + “Ha!” said Nell, bitterly, “keep that to yourself, for heaven's sake! <i>Dher + ma chuirp</i>, man, if it was known, his name would be higher up than + ever. Be my sowl, any how, that was the Lamh Laudher blow, my boy, an' + what that is, is well known. The devil curse him for it!” + </p> + <p> + “Granny, you must assist me in three things. Find a clue to the money—bring + this fellow in my way, as you promised—and help me with the + landlord's daughter.” + </p> + <p> + “Is there nothin' else?” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + “She's sick.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, let her die, then; I don't care.” + </p> + <p> + “In the other things I will help you,” said Nell; “but you must clear your + own way there. I can do every thing but that. I have a son myself, an' my + hands is tied against blood till I find him out. I could like to see some + people withered, but I can't kill.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, except her case, we understand one another. Good night, then.” + </p> + <p> + “You must work that for yourself. Good night.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. + </h2> + <p> + In the mean time a circumstance occurred which scarcely any person who + heard it could at first believe. About twelve o'clock the next day the + house of Lamh Laudher More was surrounded with an immense crowd, and the + whole town seemed to be in a state of peculiar animation and excitement. + Groups met, stood, and eagerly accosted each other upon some topic that + evidently excited equal interest and astonishment. + </p> + <p> + LAMH LAUDHER OGE HAD CHALLENGED THE DEAD BOXER. + </p> + <p> + True. On that morning, at an early hour, the proscribed young man waited + upon the Sovereign of the town, and requested to see him. Immediately + after his encounter with the black the preceding night, and while Ellen + Neil offered to compensate him for the obloquy she had brought upon his + name, he formed the dreadful resolution of sending him a challenge. In + very few words he stated his intention to the Sovereign, who looked upon + him as insane. + </p> + <p> + “No, no,” replied that gentleman; “go home, O'Rorke, and banish the idea + out of your head; it is madness.” + </p> + <p> + “But I say yes, yes, with great respect to you, sir,” observed Lamh + Laudher. “I've been banished from my father's house, and treated with + scorn by all that know me, because they think me a coward. Now I'll let + them know I'm no coward.” + </p> + <p> + “But you will certainly be killed,” said,the Sovereign. + </p> + <p> + “That's to be seen,” observed the young man; “at all events, I'd as soon + be killed as livin' in disgrace. I'll thank you, sir, as the head of the + town, to let the black know that Lamh Laudher Oge will fight him.” + </p> + <p> + “For heaven's sake, reflect a moment upon the——” + </p> + <p> + “My mind's made up to fight,” said the other, interrupting him. “No power + on earth will prevent me, sir. So, if you don't choose to send the + challenge, I'll bring it myself.” + </p> + <p> + The Sovereign shook his head, as if conscious of what the result must be. + </p> + <p> + “That is enough,” said he; “as you are fixed on your own destruction, the + challenge will be given; but I trust you will think better of it.” + </p> + <p> + “Let him know, if you please,” added Lamh Laudher, “that on to-morrow at + twelve o'clock we must fight.” + </p> + <p> + The magistrate nodded, and Lamh Laudher immediately took his leave. In a + short time the intelligence spread. From the sovereign it passed to his + clerk, from the clerk to the other members of the corporation, and, ere an + hour, the town was in a blaze with the intelligence. + </p> + <p> + “Did you hear what's reported?” was the general question. + </p> + <p> + Lamh Laudher Oge has challenged the Dead Boxer! + </p> + <p> + The reader already knows how bitterly public opinion had set in against + our humble hero; but it would be difficult to describe, in terms + sufficiently vivid, the rapid and powerful reaction which now took place + in his favor. Every one pitied him, praised him, remembered his former + prowess, and after finding some palliative for his degrading interview + with Meehaul Neil, concluded with expressing a firm conviction that he had + undertaken a fatal task. When the rumor had reached his parents, the blood + ran cold in their veins, and their natural affection, now roused into + energy, grasped at an object that was about to be violently removed from + it. Their friends and neighbors, as we have stated, came to their house + for the purpose of dissuading their son against so rash and terrible an + undertaking. + </p> + <p> + “It musn't be,” said they, “for whatever was over him wid Meehaul Neil, we + know now he's no coward, an' that's enough. We musn't see him beat dead + before our eyes, at all events, where is he?” + </p> + <p> + “He's at his aunt's,” replied the father; “undher this roof he says he + will never come till his name is cleared. Heavens above! For him to think + of fighting a man that kills every one he fights wid!” + </p> + <p> + The mother's outcries were violent, as were those of his female relations, + whilst a solemn and even mournful spirit brooded upon the countenances of + his own faction. It was resolved that his parents and friends should now + wait upon, and by every argument and remonstrance in their power, endeavor + to change the rashness of his purpose: + </p> + <p> + The young man received them with a kind but somewhat sorrowful, spirit. + The father, uncovered, and with his gray locks flowing down upon his + shoulders, approached him, extended his hand, and with an infirm voice + said— + </p> + <p> + “Give me your hand, John. You're welcome to your father's heart an' your + father's roof once more.” + </p> + <p> + The son put his arms across his breast, and bowed his head respectfully, + but declined receiving his father's hand. + </p> + <p> + “Not, father—father dear—not till my name is cleared.” + </p> + <p> + “John,” said the old man, now in tears, “will you refuse me? You are my + only son, my only child, an' I cannot lose you. Your name is cleared.” + </p> + <p> + “Father,” said the son, “I've sworn—it's now too late. My heart, + father, has been crushed by what has happened lately. I found little + charity among my friend's. I say, I cannot change my mind, for I've sworn + to fight him. And even if I had not sworn, I couldn't, as a man, but do + it, for he has insulted them that I love better than my own life. I knew + you would want to persuade me against what I'm doin'—an' that was + why I bound myself this mornin' by an oath.” + </p> + <p> + The mother, who had been detained a few minutes behind them, now entered, + and on hearing that he had refused to decline the battle, exclaimed— + </p> + <p> + “Who says that Lamh Laudher Oge won't obey his mother? Who dare say it? + Wasn't he ever and always an obedient son to me an' his father? I won't + believe that lie of my boy, no more than I ever believed a word of' what + was sed against him. <i>Shawn Oge aroon</i>, you won't refuse me, <i>avillish</i>. + What 'ud become of me, <i>avich ma chree</i>, if you fight him? Would you + have the mother's heart broken, an' our roof childless all out? We lost + one as it is—the daughter of our heart is gone, an' we don't know + how—an' now is your father an' me to lie down an' die in desolation + widout a child to shed a tear over us, or to put up one prayer for our + happiness?” + </p> + <p> + The young man's eyes filled with tears; but his cheek reddened, and he + dashed them hastily aside. + </p> + <p> + “No, my boy, my glorious boy, won't refuse to save his mother's heart from + breakin'; ay, and his gray-haired father's too—he won't kill us both—my + boy won't,—nor send us to the grave before our time!” + </p> + <p> + “Mother,” said he, “if I could I—Oh! no, no. Now, it's too late—if + I didn't fight him, I'd be a perjured man. You know,” he added, smiling, + “there's something in a Lamh Laudher's blow, as well as in the Dead + Boxer's. Isn't it said, that a Lamh Laudher needn't strike two blows, when + he sends his strength with one.” + </p> + <p> + He stretched out his powerful arm, as he spoke, with a degree of pride, + not unbecoming his youth, spirit, and amazing strength and activity. + </p> + <p> + “Do not,” he added, “either vex me, or sink my spirits. I'm sworn, an' + I'll fight him. That's my mind, and it will not change.” + </p> + <p> + The whole party felt, by the energy and decision with which he spoke the + last words, that he was immovable. His resolution filled them with + melancholy, and an absolute sense of death. They left him, therefore, in + silence, with the exception of his parents, whose grief was bitter and + excessive. + </p> + <p> + When the Dead Boxer heard that he had been challenged, he felt more + chagrin than satisfaction, for his avarice was disappointed; but when he + understood from those members of the corporation who waited on him, that + Lamh Laudher was the challenger, the livid fire of mingled rage and + triumph which blazed in his large bloodshot eyes absolutely frightened the + worthy burghers. + </p> + <p> + “I'm glad of that,” said he—“here, Joe, I desire you to go and get a + coffin made, six feet long and properly wide—we will give him room + enough; tehee! tehee! tehee!—ah! tehee! tehee! tehee! I'm glad, + gentlemen. Herr! agh! tehee! tehee! I'm glad, I'm glad.” + </p> + <p> + In this manner did he indulge in the wild and uncouth glee of a savage as + ferocious as he was powerful. + </p> + <p> + “We have a quare proverb here, Misther Black,” said one of the worthy + burghers, “that, be my sowl, may be you never heard!” + </p> + <p> + “Tehee! tehee! agh! What is that?” said the Boxer, showing his white teeth + and blubber lips in a furious grin, whilst the eyes which he fastened on + the poor burgher blazed up once more, as if he was about to annihilate + him. + </p> + <p> + “What is it, sar?” + </p> + <p> + “Faith,” said the burgher, making towards the door, “I'll tell you that + when I'm the safe side o' the room—devil a ha'porth bar-rin' that + neither you nor any man ought to reckon your chickens before they are + hatched. Make money of that;” and after having discharged this pleasantry + at the black, the worthy burgher made a hasty exit down stairs, followed + at a more dignified pace by his companions. + </p> + <p> + The Dead Boxer, in preparing for battle, observed a series of forms + peculiar to himself, which were certainly of an appalling character. As a + proof that the challenge was accepted, he ordered a black flag, which he + carried about with him, to wave from a window of the inn, a circumstance + which thrilled all who saw it with an awful certainty of Lamh Laudher's + death. He then gave order for the drums to be beaten, and a dead march to + be played before him, whilst he walked slowly up the town and back, + conversing occasionally with some of those who immediately surrounded him. + When he arrived nearly opposite the market-house, some person pointed out + to him a small hut that stood in a situation isolated from the other + houses of the street. + </p> + <p> + “There,” added his informant, “is the house where Lamh Laudher Oge's aunt + lives, and where he himself has lived since he left his father's.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” said the black, pausing, “is he within, do you think?” + </p> + <p> + One of the crowd immediately inquired, and replied to him in affirmative. + </p> + <p> + “Will any of you,” continued the boxer, “bring me over a half-hundred + weight from the market crane? I will show this fellow what a poor chance + he has. If he is so strong in the arm and active as is reported, I desire + he will imitate me. Let the music stop a moment.” + </p> + <p> + The crowd was now on tiptoe, and all necks were stretched over the + shoulders of those who stood before them, in order to see, if possible, + what the feat could be which he intended to perform. Having received the + half-hundred weight from the hands of the man who brought it, he + approached the widow's cottage, and sent in a person to apprize <i>Lamh + Laudher</i> of his intention to throw it over the house, and to request + that he would witness this proof of his strength. Lamh Laudher delayed a + few minutes, and the Dead Boxer stood in the now silent crowd, awaiting + his appearance, when accidentally glancing into the door, he started as if + stung by a serpent. A flash and a glare of his fierce blazing eyes + followed. + </p> + <p> + “Ha! damnation! true as hell!” he exclaimed, “she's with him! Ha!—the + Obeah woman was right—the Obeuh woman was right. Guilt, guilt, + guilt! Ha!” + </p> + <p> + With terror and fury upon his huge dark features, he advanced a step or + two into the cottage, and in a voice that resembled the under-growl of an + enraged bull, said to his wife, for it was she—“You will never + repeat this—I am aware of you; I know you now! Fury! prepare + yourself; I say so to both. Ha!” Neither she nor Lamh Laudher had an + opportunity of replying to him, for he ran in a mood perfectly savage to + the half-hundred weight, which he caught by the ring, whirled it round him + two or three times, and, to the amazement of the mob who were crowded + about him, flung it over the roof of the cottage. + </p> + <p> + Lamh Laudher had just left the cabin in time to witness the feat, as well + as to observe more closely the terrific being in his full strength and + fury, with whom he was to wage battle on the following day. Those who + watched his countenance, observed that it blanched for a moment, and that + the color came and went upon his cheek. + </p> + <p> + “Now, young fellow,” said the Boxer, “get behind the cabin and throw back + the weight.” + </p> + <p> + Lamh Landher hesitated, but was ultimately proceeding to make the attempt, + when a voice from the crowd, in tones that were evidently disguised, + shouted— + </p> + <p> + “Don't be a fool, young man; husband your strength, for you will want it.” + </p> + <p> + The Dead Boxer started again—“Ha!” he exclaimed, after listening + acutely, “fury of hell! are you there? ha! I'll grasp you yet, though.” + </p> + <p> + The young man, however, felt the propriety of this friendly caution. “The + person who spoke is right,” said he, “whoever he is. I will husband, my + strength,” and he passed again into the cabin. + </p> + <p> + The boxer's countenance exhibited dark and flitting shadows of rage. That + which in an European cheek would have been the redness of deep resentment, + appeared, on his, as the scarlet blood struggled with the gloomy hue of + his complexion, rather like a tincture that seemed to borrow its character + more from the darkness of his soul, than from the color of his skin. His + brow, black and lowering as a thunder-cloud, hung fearfully over his eyes, + which he turned upon Lamh Laudher when entering the hut, as if he could + have struck him dead with a look. Having desired the drums to beat, and + the dead march to be resumed, he proceeded along the streets until he + arrived at the inn, from the front of which the dismal flag of death + flapped slowly and heavily in the breeze. At this moment the death-bell of + the town church tolled, and the sexton of the parish bustled through the + crowd to inform him that the grave which he had ordered to be made was + ready. + </p> + <p> + The solemnity of these preparations, joined to the almost superhuman proof + of bodily strength which he had just given, depressed every heart, when + his young and generous adversary was contrasted with him. Deep sorrow for + the fate of Lamh Laudher prevailed throughout the town; the old men sighed + at the folly of his rash and fatal obstinacy, and the females shed tears + at the sacrifice of one whom all had loved. From the inn, hundreds of the + crowd rushed to the church-yard, where they surveyed the newly made grave + with shudderings and wonder at the strangeness of the events which had + occurred in the course of the day. The death music, the muffled drums, the + black flag, the mournful tolling of the sullen bell, together with the + deep grave that lay open before them, appeared rather to resemble the + fearful pageant of a gloomy dream, than the reality of incidents that + actually passed before their eyes. Those who came to see the grave + departed with heaviness and a sad foreboding of what was about to happen; + but fresh crowds kept pouring towards it for the remainder of the day, + till the dusky shades of a summer night drove them to their own hearths, + and left the church-yard silent. + </p> + <p> + The appearance of the Dead Boxer's wife in the house where Lamh Laudher + resided, confirmed, in its worst sense, that which Nell M'Collum had + suggested to him. It is unnecessary to describe the desolating sweep of + passion which a man, who, like him, was the slave of strong resentments, + must have suffered. It was not only from motives of avarice and a natural + love of victory that he felt anxious to fight: to these was now added a + dreadful certainty that Lamh Laudher was the man in existence who had + inflicted on him an injury, for which nothing but the pleasure of crushing + him to atoms with his hands, could atone. The approaching battle + therefore, with his direst enemy, was looked upon by the Dead Boxer as an + opportunity of glutting his revenge. When the crowd had dispersed, he + called a waiter, and desired him to inquire if his wife had returned. The + man retired to ascertain, and the Boxer walked backwards and forwards in a + state of mind easily conceived, muttering curses and vows of vengeance + against her and Lamh Laudher. After some minutes he was informed that she + had not returned, upon which he gave orders that on the very instant of + her appearance at the inn, she should be sent to him. The waiter's story + in this instance was incorrect; but the wife's apprehension of his + violence, overcame every other consideration, and she resolved for some + time to avoid him. He had, in fact, on more than one occasion openly + avowed his jealousy of her and O'Rorke, and that in a manner which made + the unhappy woman tremble for her life. She felt, therefore, from what had + just occurred at Widow Rorke's cabin, that she must separate herself from + him, especially as he was susceptible neither of reason nor remonstrance. + Every thing conspired to keep his bad passions in a state of tumult. Nell + M'Collum, whom he wished to consult once more upon the recovery of his + money, could not be found. This, too, galled him; for avarice, except + during the whirlwind of jealousy, was the basis of his character—the + predominant passion of his heart. After cooling a little, he called for + his servant, who had been in the habit of acting for him in the capacity + of second, and began, with his assistance, to make preparations for + to-morrow's battle. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. + </h2> + <p> + Nothing now could exceed the sympathy which was felt for young Lamh + Laudher, yet except among his immediate friends, there was little exertion + made to prevent him from accelerating his own fate. So true is it that + public feeling scruples not to gratify its appetite for excitement, even + at the risk or actual cost of human life. His parents and relations + mourned him as if he had been already dead. The grief of his mother had + literally broken down her voice so much, that from hoarseness, she was + almost unintelligible. His aged father sat and wept like a child; and it + was in vain that any of their friends attempted to console them. During + the latter part of the day, every melancholy stroke of the death bell + pierced their hearts; the dead march, too, and the black flag waving, as + if in triumph over the lifeless body of their only son, the principal + support of their declining years, filled them with a gloom and terror, + which death, in its common shape, would not have inspired. This savage + pageant on the part, of the Dead Boxer, besides being calculated to daunt + the heart of any man who might accept his challenge, was a cruel mockery + of the solemnities of death. In this instance it produced such a sensation + as never had been felt in that part of the country. An uneasy feeling of + wild romance, mingled with apprehension, curiosity, fear, and amazement, + all conspired to work upon the imaginations of a people in whom that + quality is exuberant, until the general excitement became absolutely + painful. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps there was not one among his nearest friends who felt more profound + regret for having been the occasion of his disgrace, and consequently of + the fate to which he had exposed him, than Meehaul Neil. In the course of + that day he sent his father to old Lamh Laudher, to know if young O'Rorke + would grant him an interview, the object of which was to dissuade him from + the battle. + </p> + <p> + “Tell him,” said the latter, with a composure still tinged with a + sorrowful spirit, “that I will not see him to-day. To-morrow I may, and if + I don't, tell him, that for his sister's sake, he has my forgiveness.” + </p> + <p> + The introduction of the daughter's name shortened the father's visit, who + left him in silence. + </p> + <p> + Ellen, however, had struggles to endure which pressed upon her heart with + an anguish bitter in proportion to the secrecy rendered necessary by the + dread of her relations. From the moment she heard of Lamh Laudher's + challenge, and saw the funeral appendages with which the Dead Boxer had + darkened the preparations for the fight, she felt her heart sink, from a + consciousness that she had been indirectly the murderess of her lover. Her + countenance became ghastly pale, and her frame was seized with a tremor + which she could hardly conceal. She would have been glad to have shed + tears, but tears were denied her. Except the Boxer's wife, there was no + one to whom she could disclose her misery; but alas! for once, that + amiable creature was incapable of affording her consolation. She herself, + felt distress resulting from both the challenge, and her husband's + jealousy, almost equal to that of Ellen. + </p> + <p> + “I know not how it is,” said she, “but I cannot account for the interest I + feel in that young man. Yes, surely, it is natural, when we consider that + I owe my life to him. Still, independently of that, I never heard his + voice, that it did not fall upon my heart like the voice of a friend. We + must, if possible, change his mind,”, she added, wiping away her tears; + “for I know that if he fights that terrible man, he will be killed.” + </p> + <p> + At Ellen's request, she consented to see Lamh Laudher, with a view of + entreating him, in her name, to decline the fight. Nor were her own + solicitations less urgent. With tears and grief which could not be + affected, she besought him not to rush upon certain death—said that + Ellen could not survive it—pleaded the claims of his aged parents, + and left no argument untouched that could apply to his situation and + conduct. Lamh Laudher, however, was inexorable, and she relinquished an + attempt that she felt to be ineffectual. The direction of her husband's + attention so unexpectedly to widow Rorke's I cabin, at that moment, and + his discovery of her interview with Lamh Laudher, determined her, + previously acquainted as she had been with his jealousy, to keep out of + his reach, until some satisfactory explanation could be given. Ellen, + however, could not rest; her grief had so completely overborne all other + considerations, that she cared little, now, whether her friends perceived + it or not. On one thing, she was fixed, and that was, to prevent Lamh + Laudher from encountering the Dead Boxer. With this purpose she wrapped + herself in a cloak about ten o'clock, and careless whether she was + observed or not, went directly towards his aunt's house. About two-thirds + of the way had probably been traversed, when a man, wrapped up in a cloak, + like herself, accosted her in a low voice, not much above a whisper. + </p> + <p> + “Miss Neil,” said he, “I don't think it would be hard to guess where you + are going.” + </p> + <p> + “Who are you that asks?” said Ellen. “No matter; but if you happen to see + young O'Rorke to-night, I have a message to send him that may serve him.” + </p> + <p> + “Who are you?” again inquired Ellen. “One that cautions you to beware of + the Dead Boxer; one that pities and respects his unfortunate wife; and one + who, as I said, can serve O'Rorke.” + </p> + <p> + “For God's sake, then, if you can, be quick; for there's little time to be + lost,” said Ellen. + </p> + <p> + “Give him this message,” replied the man, and he whispered half a dozen + words into her ear. + </p> + <p> + “Is that true?” she asked him; “and may he depend upon it?” + </p> + <p> + “He may, as there's a God above me. Good night!” He passed on at a rapid + pace. When Ellen entered his aunt's humble cabin, Lamh Laudher had just + risen from his knees. Devotion, or piety if you will, as it is in many + cases, though undirected by knowledge, may be frequently found among the + peasantry associated with objects that would appear to have little + connection with it. When he saw her he exclaimed with something like + disappointment:— + </p> + <p> + “Ah! Ellen dear, why did you come? I would rather you hadn't crossed me + now, darling.” + </p> + <p> + His manner was marked by the same melancholy sedateness which we have + already described. He knew the position in which he stood, and did not + attempt to disguise what he felt. His apparent depression, however, had a + dreadful effect upon Ellen, who sat down on a stool, and threw back the + hood of her cloak; but the aunt placed a little circular arm-chair for her + somewhat nearer the fire. She declined it in a manner that argued + something like incoherence, which occasioned O'Rorke to, glance at her + most earnestly. He started, on observing the wild lustre of her eye, and + the woebegone paleness of her cheek. + </p> + <p> + “Ellen,” said he, “how is this? Has any thing frightened you? Merciful + mother! aunt, look at her!” + </p> + <p> + The distracted girl sank before him on her knees, locked her hands + together, and while her eyes sparkled with an unsettled light, exclaimed— + </p> + <p> + “John!—John!—Lamh Laudher Oge—forgive me, before you + die! I have murdered you!” + </p> + <p> + “Ellen love, Ellen”— + </p> + <p> + “Do you forgive me? do you? Your blood is upon me, Lamh Laudher Oge!” + </p> + <p> + “Heavens above! Aunt, she's turned! Do I forgive you, my heart's own + treasure? How did you ever offend me, my darling? You. know you never did. + But if you ever did, my own Ellen, I do forgive you.” + </p> + <p> + “But I murdered you—and that was because my brother said he would do + it—an' I got afraid, John, that he might do you harm, an' afraid to + tell you too—an'—an' so you promise me you won't fight the + Dead Boxer? Thank God! thank God! then your blood will not be upon me!” + </p> + <p> + “Aunt, she's lost,” he exclaimed; “the brain of my <i>colleen dhas</i> is + turned!” + </p> + <p> + “John, won't you save me from the Dead Boxer? There's nobody able to do it + but you, Lamh Laudher Oge!” + </p> + <p> + “Aunt, aunt, my girl's destroyed,” said John, “her heart's broke! Ellen!” + </p> + <p> + “But to-morrow, John—to-morrow—sure yo' won't fight him + to-morrow?—if you do—if you do he'll kill you—an' 'twas + I that—that”—— + </p> + <p> + O'Rorke had not thought of raising her from the posture in which she + addressed him, so completely had he been overcome by the frantic vehemence + of her manner. He now snatched her up, and placed her in the little + arm-chair alluded to; but she had scarcely been seated in it, when her + hands became clenched, her head sank, and the heavy burthen of her sorrows + was forgotten in a long fit of insensibility. + </p> + <p> + Lamh Laudher's distraction and alarm prevented him from rendering her much + assistance; but the aunt was more cool, and succeeded with considerable + difficulty in restoring her to life. The tears burst in thick showers from + her eyelids, she drew her breath vehemently and rapidly, and, after + looking wildly around her, indulged in that natural grief which relieves + the heart by tears. In a short time she became composed, and was able to + talk collectedly and rationally. + </p> + <p> + This, indeed, was the severest trial that Lamh Laudher had yet sustained. + With all the force of an affection as strong and tender as it was enduring + and disinterested, she urged him to relinquish his determination to meet + the Dead Boxer on the following day. John soothed her, chid her, and even + bantered her, as a cowardly girl, unworthy of being the sister of Meehaul + Neil, but to her, as well as to all others who had attempted to change his + purpose, he was immovable. No; the sense of his disgrace had sunk too deep + into his heart, and the random allusions just made by Ellen herself to the + Dead Boxer's villainy, but the more inflamed his resentment against him. + </p> + <p> + On finding his resolution irrevocable, she communicated to him in a + whisper the message which the stranger had sent him. Lamh Laudher, after + having heard it, raised his arm rapidly, and his eye gleamed with + something like the exultation of a man who has discovered a secret that he + had been intensely anxious to learn. Ellen could now delay no longer, and + their separation resembled that of persons who never expected to meet + again. If Lamh Laudher could at this moment have affected even a show of + cheerfulness, in spite of Ellen's depression it would have given her great + relief. Still, on her part, their parting was a scene of agony and + distress which no description could reach, and on his, it was sorrowful + and tender; for neither felt certain that they would ever behold each + other in life again. + </p> + <p> + A dark sunless morning opened the eventful day of this fearful battle. + Gloom and melancholy breathed a sad spirit over the town and adjacent + country. A sullen breeze was abroad, and black clouds drifted slowly along + the heavy sky. The Dead Boxer again had recourse to his pageantries of + death. The funeral bell tolled heavily during the whole morning, and the + black flag flapped more dismally in the sluggish blast than before. At an + early hour the town began to fill with myriads of people. Carriages and + cars, horsemen and pedestrians, all thronged in one promiscuous stream + towards the scene of interest. A dense multitude stood before the inn, + looking with horror on the death flag, and watching for a glimpse of the + fatal champion. From this place hundreds of them passed to the house of + Lamh Laudher More, and on hearing that the son resided in his aunt's they + hurried towards her cabin to gratify themselves with a sight of the man + who dared to wage battle with the Dead Boxer. From this cabin, as on the + day before, they went to the church-yard, where a platform had already + been erected beside the grave. Against the railings of the platform stood + the black coffin intended for Lamh Laudher, decorated with black ribbons + that fluttered gloomily in the blast. The sight of this and of the grave + completed the wonder and dread which they felt. As every fresh mass of the + crowd arrived, low murmurs escaped them, they raised their heads and eyes + exclaiming— + </p> + <p> + “Poor Lamh Laudher! God be merciful to him!” + </p> + <p> + As the morning advanced, O'Rorke's faction, as a proof that they were + determined to consider the death of their leader as a murder, dressed + themselves in red ribbons, a custom occasionally observed in Ireland even + now, at the funerals of those who have been murdered. Their appearance + passing to and fro among the crowd made the scene with all its + associations absolutely terrible. About eleven o'clock they went in a body + to widow Rorke's, for the purpose of once more attempting to dissuade him + against the fight. Here most unexpected intelligence awaited them—<i>Lamh + Laudher Oge</i> had disappeared. The aunt stated that he had left the + house with a strange man, early that morning, and that he had not + returned. Ere many minutes the rumor was in every part of the town, and + strong disappointment was felt, and expressed against him in several round + oaths, by the multitude in general. His father, however, declared his + conviction that his son would not shrink from what he had undertaken, and + he who had not long before banished him for cowardice, now vouched for his + courage. At the old man's suggestion, his friends still adhered to their + resolutions of walking to the scene of conflict in a body. At twenty + minutes to twelve o'clock, the black flag was removed from the inn window, + the muffled drums beat, and the music played the same dead march as on the + days of uttering the challenge. In a few minutes the Dead Boxer, + accompanied by some of the neighboring gentry, made his appearance, + preceded by the flag. From another point, the faction of Lamb Laudher + fluttering in blood-red ribbons, marched at a solemn pace towards the + church-yard. On arriving opposite his aunt's, his mother wept aloud, and + with one voice all the females who accompanied her, raised the Irish + funeral cry. In this manner, surrounded by all the solemn emblems of + death, where none was dead, they slowly advanced until they reached the + platform. The Dead Boxer, attended by his own servant, as second, now + ascended the stage, where he stood for a few minutes, until his repeater + struck twelve. That moment he began to strip, which having done, he + advanced to the middle of the stage, and in a deep voice required the + authorities of the town to produce their champion. To this no answer was + returned, for not a man of them could account for the disappearance of + Lamh Laudher. A wavy motion, such as passes over the forest top under a + low blast, stirred the whole multitude; this was the result of many + feelings, but that which prevailed amongst them was disappointment. A + second time the Dead Boxer repeated the words, but except the stir and hum + which we have described, there was not a voice heard in reply. Lamh + Laudher's very friends felt mortified, and the decaying spirit of Lamh + Laudher More rallied for a moment. His voice alone was heard above the + dead silence,— + </p> + <p> + “He will come, back,” said he, “my son will come; and I would now rather + see him dead than that he should fear to be a man.” + </p> + <p> + He had scarcely spoken, when a loud cheer, which came rapidly onward, was + heard outside the church-yard. A motion and a violent thrusting aside, + accompanied by a second shout, “he's here!” gave intimation of his + approach. In about a minute, to the manifest delight of all present, young + Lamh Laudher, besmeared with blood, leaped upon the platform. He looked + gratefully at the crowd, and in order to prevent perplexing inquiries, + simply said— + </p> + <p> + “Don't be alarmed—I had a slight accident, but I'm not the worse of + it.” + </p> + <p> + The cheers of the multitude were now enough to awaken the dead beneath + them; and when they had ceased, his father cried out— + </p> + <p> + “God support you, boy—you're my true son; an' I know you'll show + them what the Lamh Laudher blood an' the Lamh Laudher blow is.” + </p> + <p> + The young man looked about him for a moment, and appeared perplexed. + </p> + <p> + “I'm here alone,” said he; “is there any among you that will second me?” + </p> + <p> + Hundreds immediately volunteered this office; but there was one who + immediately sprung upon the stage, to the no small surprise of all present—it + was Meehaul Neil. He approached Lamh Laudher and extended his hand, which + was received with cordiality. + </p> + <p> + “Meehaul,” said O'Rorke, “I thank you for this.” + </p> + <p> + “Do not,” replied the other; “no man has such a right to stand by you now + as I have. I never knew till this mornin' why you did not strike me the + last night we met.” + </p> + <p> + The Dead Boxer stood with his arms folded, sometimes looking upon the + crowd, and occasionally glaring at his young' and fearless antagonist. The + latter immediately stripped, and when he “stood out erect and undaunted + upon the stage, although his proportions were perfect, and his frame + active and massy, yet when measured with the Herculean size of the Dead + Boxer, he appeared to have no chance. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” said he to the black, “by what rules are we to fight?” + </p> + <p> + “If you consult me,” said the other, “perhaps it is best that every man + should fight as he pleases. You decide that. I am the challenger.” + </p> + <p> + “Take your own way, then,” said O'Rorke; “but you have a secret, black—do + you intend to use it?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly, young fellow.” + </p> + <p> + “I have my secret, too,” said Lamh Laudher; “an' now I give you warning + that I will put it in practice.” + </p> + <p> + “All fair; but we are losing time,” replied the man of color, putting + himself in an attitude. “Come on.” + </p> + <p> + Their seconds stood back, and both advanced to the middle of the stage. + The countenance of the black, and his huge chest, resembled rather a + colossal statue of bronze, than the bust of a human being. His eye gleamed + at Lamh Laudher with baleful flashes of intense hatred. The spectators + saw, however, that the dimensions of Lamh Laudher gained considerably by + his approximation to the black. The dusky color of the Boxer added + apparently to his size, whilst the healthful light which lay upon the + figure of his opponent took away, as did his elegance, grace, and + symmetry, from the uncommon breadth and fulness of his bust. + </p> + <p> + Several feints were made by the black, and many blows aimed, which Lamh + Laudher, by his natural science and activity, parried; at length a blow + upon the temple shot him to the boards with great violence, and the hearts + of the spectators, which were all with him, became fearfully depressed. + </p> + <p> + O'Rorke, having been raised, shook his head as if to throw off the + influence of the blow. Neil afterwards declared that when coming to the + second round, resentment and a sense of having suffered in the opinion of + the multitude by the blow which brought him down, had strung his muscular + power into such a state of concentration, that his arms became as hard as + oak. On meeting again he bounded at the Boxer, and by a single blow upon + the eye-brow felled him like an ox. So quickly was it sent home, that the + black had not activity to guard against it; on seeing which, a short and + exulting cheer rose from the multitude. We are not now giving a detailed + account of this battle, as if reporting it for a newspaper; it must + suffice to say, that Lamh Laudher was knocked down twice, and the Dead + Boxer four times, in as many rounds. The black, on coming to the seventh + round, laughed, whilst the blood trickled down his face. His frame + appeared actually agitated with inward glee, and indeed a more appalling + species of mirth was never witnessed. + </p> + <p> + It was just when he approached Lamh Laudher, chuckling hideously, his + black visage reddened with blood, that a voice from the crowd shouted— + </p> + <p> + “He's laughing—the blow's coming—O'Rorke, remember your + instructions.” + </p> + <p> + The Boxer advanced, and began a series of feints, with the intention of + giving that murderous blow which he was never known to miss. But before he + could put his favorite stratagem in practice, the activity of O'Rorke + anticipated his <i>ruse</i>, for in the dreadful energy of his resentment + he not only forgot the counter-secret which had been, confided to him, but + every other consideration for the moment. With the spring of a tiger he + leaped towards the black, who by the act was completely thrown off his + guard. This was more than O'Rorke expected. The opportunity, however, he + did not suffer to pass; with the rapidity of lightning he struck the + savage on the neck, immediately under the ear. The Dead Boxer fell, and + from his ears, nostrils, and mouth the clear blood sprung out, streaking, + in a fearful manner, his dusky neck and chest. His second ran to raise + him, but his huge woolly head fell from side to side with an appearance of + utter lifelessness. In a few minutes, however, he rallied, and began to + snort violently, throwing his arms and limbs about him with a quivering + energy, such as, in strong men who die unwasted by disease, frequently + marks the struggle of death. At length he opened his eyes, and after + fastening them upon his triumphant opponent with one last glare of hatred + and despair, he ground his teeth, clenched his gigantic hands, and + stammering out, “Fury of hell! I—I—damnation!” This was his + last exclamation, for he suddenly plunged again, extended his shut fist + towards Lamh Laudher, as if he would have crushed him even in death, then + becoming suddenly relaxed, his head fell upon his shoulder, and after one + groan, he expired on the very spot where he had brought together the + apparatus of death for another. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. + </h2> + <p> + When the spectators saw and heard what had occurred, their acclamations + rose to the sky; cheer after cheer pealed from the graveyard over a wide + circuit of the country. With a wild luxury of triumph they seized O'Rorke, + placed him on their shoulders, and bore him in triumph through every + street in the town. All kinds of mad but good-humored excesses were + committed. The public houses were filled with those who had witnessed the + fight, songs were sung, healths were drank, and blows given. The streets, + during the remainder of the day, were paraded by groups of his townsmen + belonging to both factions, who on that occasion buried their mutual + animosity in exultation for his victory. + </p> + <p> + The worthy burghers of the corporation, who had been both frightened and + disgusted at the dark display made by the Dead Boxer previous to the + tight, put his body in the coffin that had been intended for Lamh Laudher, + and without any scruple, took it up, and went in procession with the black + flag before them, the death bell again tolling, and the musicians playing + the dead march, until they deposited his body in the inn. + </p> + <p> + After Lamh Laudher had been chaired by the people, and borne throughout + every nook of the town, he begged them to permit him to go home. With a + fresh volley of shouts and hurras they proceeded, still bearing him in + triumph towards his father's house, where they left him, after a last and + deafening round of cheers. Our readers can easily fancy the pride of his + parents and friends on receiving him. + </p> + <p> + “Father,” said he, “my name's' cleared. I hope I have the Lamh Laudher + blood in me still. Mother, you never doubted me, but you wor forced to + give way.” + </p> + <p> + “My son, my son,” said the father, embracing him, “my noble boy! There + never was one of your name like you. You're the flower of us all!” + </p> + <p> + His mother wept with joy and pressed him repeatedly to her heart; and all + his relations were as profuse as they were sincere in their + congratulations. + </p> + <p> + “One thing troubles us,” observed his parents, “what will become of his + wife? John dear,” said his mother, “my heart aches for her.” + </p> + <p> + “God knows and so does mine,” exclaimed the father; “there is goodness + about her.” + </p> + <p> + “She is freed from a tyrant and a savage,” replied their son, “for he was + both, and she ought to be thankful that she's rid of him. But you don't + know that there was an attempt made on my life this mornin'.” + </p> + <p> + On hearing this, they were all mute with astonishment. + </p> + <p> + “In the name of heaven how, John?” they inquired with one voice. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0004" id="linkimage-0004"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%"> + <img src="images/plate110.jpg" alt="Page 110-- he Made a Stab at My Neck " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + “A red-haired man came to my aunt's,” he continued, “early this mornin', + an' said if I wanted to hear something for my good, I would follow him. I + did so, an' I observed that he eyed me closely as we went along. We took + the way that turns up the Quarry, an' afther gettin' into one of the + little fir groves off the road, he made a stab at my neck, as I stooped to + tie my shoe that happened to be loose. As God would have it, he only tore + the skin above my forehead. I pursued the villain on the spot, but he + disappeared among the trees, as if the earth had swallowed him. I then + went into Darby Kavanagh's, where I got my breakfast; an' as I was afraid + that you might by pure force prevent me from meetin' the black, I didn't + stir out of it till the proper time came.” + </p> + <p> + This startling incident occasioned much discussion among his friends, who + of course were ignorant alike of the person who had attempted his + assassination, and of the motives which could have impelled him to such a + crime. Several opinions were advanced upon the circumstance, but as it had + failed, his triumph over the Dead Boxer, as unexpected as it was complete, + soon superseded it, and many a health was given “to the best man that ever + sprung from the blood of the Lamh Laudhers!” for so they termed him, and + well had he earned the epithet. At this moment an incident occurred which + considerably subdued their enjoyment. Breen, the constable, came to inform + them that Nell McCollum, now weltering in her blood, and at the point of + death, desired instantly to see them. + </p> + <p> + Our readers have been, no doubt, somewhat surprised at the sudden + disappearance of Nell. This artful and vindictive woman had, as we have + stated, been closely dogged through all her turnings and windings, by the + emissaries of Mr. Brookleigh. For this haunt where she was in the habit of + meeting her private friends. The preparations, however, for the + approaching fight, and the tumult it excited in the town, afforded her an + opportunity of giving her spies the slip. She went, on the evening before + the battle, to a small dark cabin in one of the most densely inhabited + parts of the town, where, secure in their privacy, she found Nanse + M'Collum, who had never left the town since the night of the robbery, + together with the man called Rody, and another hardened ruffian with red + hair. + </p> + <p> + “<i>Dher ma chuirp</i>,” said she, without even a word of precious + salutation, “but I'll,lay my life that Lamh Laudher bates the black. In + that case he'd be higher up wid the town than ever. He knocked him down + last night.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Rody, “an' what if he does? I would feel rather satisfied at + that circumstance. I served the black dog for five years, and a more + infernal tyrant never existed, nor a milder or more amiable woman than his + wife. Now that you have his money, the sooner the devil gets himself the + better.” + </p> + <p> + “To the black <i>diouol</i> wid yourself an' your Englified <i>gosther</i>,” + returned Nell indignantly; “his wife! <i>Damno' orth</i>, don't make my + blood boil by speaking a word in her favor. If Lamh Laudher comes off + best, all I've struv for is knocked on the head. <i>Dher Chiernah</i>, + I'll crush the sowl of his father or I'll not die happy.” + </p> + <p> + “Nell, you're bittherer than soot, and blacker too,” observed Rody. + </p> + <p> + “Am I?” said Nell, “an' is it from the good crathur that was ready, the + other night, to murdher the mild innocent woman that he spakes so well of, + that we hear sich discoorse?” + </p> + <p> + “You're mistaken there, Nelly,” replied Body; “I had no intention of + taking away her life, although I believe my worthy comrade here in the red + hair, that I helped out of a certain gaol once upon a time, had no + scruples.” + </p> + <p> + “No, curse the scruple!” said the other. + </p> + <p> + “I was in the act of covering her eyes and mouth to prevent her from + either knowing her old servant or making a noise,—but d—— + it, I was bent to save her life that night, rather than take it,” said + Rody. + </p> + <p> + “I know this friend of yours, Rody, but a short time,” observed Nell; “but + if he hasn't more spunk in him than yourself, he's not worth his feedin'.” + </p> + <p> + “Show me,” said the miscreant, “what s to be done, life or purse—an' + here's your sort for both.” + </p> + <p> + “Come, then,” said Nell, “by the night above us, we'll thry your mettle.” + </p> + <p> + “Never heed her,” observed Nanse; “aunt, you're too wicked an' + revengeful.” + </p> + <p> + “Am I?” said the aunt. “I tuck an oath many a year ago, that I'd never die + till I'd put sharp sorrow into Lamh Laudher's sowl. I punished him through + his daughter, I'll now grind the heart in him through his son.” + </p> + <p> + “An' what do you want to be done inquired the red man. + </p> + <p> + “Come here, an' I'll tell you that,” said Nell. + </p> + <p> + A short conversation took place between them, behind a little partition + which divided the kitchen from two small sleeping rooms, containing a + single bed each. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” said Nell, addressing the whole party, “let us all be ready + to-morrow, while the whole town's preparin' for the fight, to slip away as + well disguised as we can, out of the place; by that time you'll have your + business done, an' your trifle o' money earned;” she directed the last + words to the red-haired stranger. + </p> + <p> + “You keep me out of this secret?” observed Body. + </p> + <p> + “It's not worth knowin',” said Nell; “I was only thryin' you, Rody. It's + nothing bad. I'm not so cruel as you think. I wouldn't take the wide world + an' shed blood wid my own hands. I tried it once on Lamh Laudher More, an' + when I thought I killed him hell came into me. No; that I may go <i>below</i> + if I would!” + </p> + <p> + “But you would get others to do it, if you could,” said Rody. + </p> + <p> + “I need get nobody to do it for me,” said the crone. “I could wither any + man, woman, or child, off o' the earth, wid one charm, if I wished.” + </p> + <p> + “Why don't you wither young Lamh Laudher then?” said Rody. + </p> + <p> + “If they fight to-morrow,” replied Nell; “mind I say if they do—an' + I now tell you they won't—but I say if they do—you'll see + he'll go home in the coffin that's made for him—an' I know how + that'll happen. Now at eleven we'll meet here if we can to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + The two men then slunk out, and with great caution proceeded towards + different directions of the town, for Nell had recommended them to keep as + much asunder as possible, least their grouping together might expose them + to notice. Their place of rendezvous was only resorted to on urgent and + necessary occasions. + </p> + <p> + The next morning, a little after the appointed hour, Nell, Rody, and Nanse + McCollum, were sitting in deliberation upon their future plans of life, + when he of the red hair entered the cabin. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Nell starting up—“what was done? show me?” + </p> + <p> + The man produced a dagger slightly stained with blood. + </p> + <p> + “<i>Damno orrum!</i>” exclaimed the aged fury, “but you've failed—an' + all's lost if he beats the black.” + </p> + <p> + “I did fail,” said the miscreant. “Why, woman if that powerful active + fellow had got me in his hands, I'd have tasted the full length of the + dagger myself. The d——l's narrow escape I had.” + </p> + <p> + “The curse of heaven light on you, for a cowardly dog!” exclaimed Nell, + grinding her teeth with disappointment. “You're a faint-hearted villain. + Give me the dagger.” + </p> + <p> + “Give me the money,” said the man. + </p> + <p> + “For what? no, consumin' to the penny; you didn't earn it.” + </p> + <p> + “I did,” said the fellow, “or at all evints attempted it. Ay, an' I must + have it before I lave this house, an' what is more, you must lug out my + share of the black's prog.” + </p> + <p> + “You'll get nothing of that,” said Rody; “it was Nell here, not you, who + took it.” + </p> + <p> + “One hundred of it on the nail, this minnit,” said the man, “or I bid you + farewell, an' then look to yourselves.” + </p> + <p> + “It's not mine,” said Rody; “if Nell shares it, I have no objection.” + </p> + <p> + “I'd give the villain the price of a rope first,” she replied. + </p> + <p> + “Then I am off,” said the fellow, “an' you'll curse your conduct.” + </p> + <p> + Nell flew between him and the door, and in his struggle to get out, she + grasped at the dagger, but failed in securing it. Rody advanced to + separate them, as did Nanse, but the fellow by a strong effort attempted + to free himself. The three were now upon him, and would have easily + succeeded in preventing his escape had it not occurred to him that by one + blow he might secure the whole sum. This was instantly directed at Rody, + by a back thrust, for he stood behind him. By the rapid change of their + positions, however, the breast of Nell M'Collum received the stab that was + designed for another. + </p> + <p> + A short violent shriek followed, as she staggered back and fell. + </p> + <p> + “Staunch the blood,” she exclaimed, “staunch the blood, an' there may be a + chance of life yet.” + </p> + <p> + The man threw the dagger down, and was in the act of rushing out, when the + door opened, and a posse of constables entered the house. Nell's face + became at once ghastly and horror-stricken, for she found that the blood + could not be staunched, and that, in fact, eternity was about to open upon + her. + </p> + <p> + “Secure him!” said Nell, pointing to her murderer, “secure him, an' send + quick for Lamh Laudher More. God's hand is in what has happened! Ay, I + raised the blow for him, an' God has sent it to my own heart. Send, too,” + she added, “for the Dead Boxer's wife, an' if you expect heaven, be + quick.” + </p> + <p> + On receiving Nell's message the old man, his son, wife, and one or two + other friends, immediately hurried to the scene of death, where they + arrived a few minutes after the Dead Boxer's wife. + </p> + <p> + Nell lay in dreadful agony; her face was now a bluish yellow, her + eye-brows were bent, and her eyes getting dead and vacant. + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” she exclaimed, “Andy Hart! Andy Hart! it was the black hour you + brought me from the right way. I was innocent till I met you, an' well + thought of; but what was I ever since? an' what am I now?” + </p> + <p> + “You never met me,” said the red-haired stranger, “till within the last + fortnight.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you mean, you unfortunate man?” asked Rody. + </p> + <p> + “Andy Hart was my name,” said the man, “although I didn't go by it for some + years.” + </p> + <p> + “Andy Hart!” said Nell, raising herself with a violent jerk, and + screaming, “Andy Hart! Andy Hart! stand over before me. Andy Hart! It is + his father's voice. Oh God! Strip his breast there, an' see if there's a + blood-mark on the left side.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm beginnin' to fear something dreadful,” said the criminal, trembling, + and getting as pale as death; “there is—there is a blood-mark on the + very spot she mentions—see here.” + </p> + <p> + “I would know him to be Andy Hart's son, God rest him!” observed Lamh + Laudher More, “any where over the world. Blessed mother of heaven!—down + on your knees, you miserable crature, down on your knees for her pardon! + You've murdhered your unfortunate mother!” + </p> + <p> + The man gave one loud and fearful yell, and dashed himself on the floor at + his mother's feet, an appalling picture of remorse. The scene, indeed, was + a terrible one. He rolled himself about, tore his hair, and displayed + every symptom of a man in a paroxysm of madness. But among those present, + with the exception of the mother and son, there was not such a picture of + distress and sorrow, as the wife of the Dead Boxer. She stooped down to + raise the stranger up; “Unhappy man,” said she, “look up, I am your + sister!” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Nell, “no—no—no. There's more of my guilt. Lamh + Laudher More, I stand forrid, you and your wife. You lost a daughter long + ago. Open your arms and take her back a blameless woman. She's your child + that I robbed you of as one punishment; the other blow that I intended for + you has been struck here. I'm dyin'.” + </p> + <p> + A long cry of joy burst from the mother and daughter, as they rushed into + each other's arms. Nature, always strongest in pure minds, even before + this denouement, had, indeed, rekindled the mysterious flame of her own + affection in their hearts. The father pressed her to his bosom, and forgot + the terrors of the sound before him, whilst the son embraced her with a + secret consciousness that she was, indeed, his long-lost sister. + </p> + <p> + “We couldn't account,” said her parents, “for the way we loved you the day + we met you before the magistrate; every word you said, Alice darling, went + into our hearts wid delight, an' we could hardly ever think of your voice + ever since, that the tears didn't spring to our eyes. But we never + suspected, as how could we, that you were our child.” + </p> + <p> + She declared that she felt the same mysterious attachment to them, and to + her brother also, from the moment she heard the tones of his voice on the + night the robbery was attempted. + </p> + <p> + “Nor could I,” said Lamh Laudher Oge, “account for the manner I loved + you.” + </p> + <p> + Their attention was now directed to Nell, who again spoke. + </p> + <p> + “Nanse, give her back the money I robbed her of. There was more of my + villainy, but God fought against me, an'—here—. You will find, + it along with her marriage certificate, an' the gospel she had about her + neck, when I kidnapped her, all in my pocket. Where's my son? Still, + still, bad as I am, an' bad as he is, isn't he my child? Amn't I his + mother? put his hand in mine, and let me die as a mother 'ud wish!” + </p> + <p> + Never could there be a more striking contrast witnessed than that between + the groups then present; nor a more impressive exemplification of the + interposition of Providence to reward the virtuous and punish the guilty + even in this life. + </p> + <p> + “Lamh Laudher More,” said she, “I once attempted to stab you, only for + preventin' your relation from marryin' a woman that you knew Andy Hart had + ruined. You disfigured my face in your anger too; that an' your preventing + my marriage, an' my character bein' lost, whin it was known what he + refused to marry me for, made me swear an oath of vengeance against you + an' yours. I may now ax your forgiveness, for I neither dare nor will ax + God's.” + </p> + <p> + “You have mine—you have all our forgiveness,” replied the old man; + “but, Nell, ax God's, for it's His you stand most in need of—ax + God's!” + </p> + <p> + Nell, however, appeared to hear him not. + </p> + <p> + “Is that your hand in mine, avick?” said she, addressing her son. + </p> + <p> + “It is—it is,” said the son. “But, mother, I didn't, as I'm to stand + before God, aim the blow at you, but at Rody.” + </p> + <p> + “Lamh Laudher!” said she, forgetting herself, “I ax your forgive——.” + </p> + <p> + Her head fell down before she could conclude the sentence, and thus closed + the last moments of Nell M'Collum. + </p> + <p> + After the lapse of a short interval, in which Lamh Laudher's daughter + received back her money, the certificate, and the gospel, her brother + discovered that Rody was the person who had, through Ellen Neil, + communicated to him the secret that assisted him in vanquishing the Dead + Boxer, a piece of information which saved him from prosecution. The family + now returned home, where they found Meehaul Neil awaiting their arrival, + for the purpose of offering his sister's hand and dowry to our hero. This + offer, we need scarcely say, was accepted with no sullen spirit. But Lamh + Laudher was not so much her inferior in wealth as our readers may suppose. + His affectionate sister divided her money between him and her parents, + with whom she spent the remainder of her days in peace and tranquility. + Our great-grandfather remembered the wedding, and from him came down to + ourselves, as an authentic tradition, the fact that it was an unrivalled + one, but that it would never have taken place were it not for the terrible + challenge of the Dead Boxer. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dead Boxer, by William Carleton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DEAD BOXER *** + +***** This file should be named 16007-h.htm or 16007-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/0/0/16007/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + </body> +</html> diff --git a/16007-h/images/plate091.jpg b/16007-h/images/plate091.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..78a7f61 --- /dev/null +++ b/16007-h/images/plate091.jpg diff --git a/16007-h/images/plate110.jpg b/16007-h/images/plate110.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bbb3dc3 --- /dev/null +++ b/16007-h/images/plate110.jpg diff --git a/16007-h/images/tilepage2.jpg b/16007-h/images/tilepage2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c74dbf6 --- /dev/null +++ b/16007-h/images/tilepage2.jpg diff --git a/16007.txt b/16007.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a128121 --- /dev/null +++ b/16007.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3494 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dead Boxer, by William Carleton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Dead Boxer + The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two + +Author: William Carleton + +Illustrator: M. L. Flanery + +Release Date: June 7, 2005 [EBook #16007] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DEAD BOXER *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +THE DEAD BOXER. + + +By William Carleton + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +One evening in the beginning of the eighteenth century--as nearly as we +can conjecture, the year might be that of 1720--some time about the end +of April, a young man named _Lamh Laudher_ O'Rorke, or Strong-handed +O'Eorke, was proceeding from his father's house, with a stout oaken +cudgel in his hand, towards an orchard that stood at the skirt of a +country town, in a part of the kingdom which, for the present, shall be +nameless. Though known by the epithet of _Lamh Laudher_, his Christian +name was John; but in those time(s) Irish families of the same name +were distinguished from each other by some indicative of their natural +position, physical power, complexion, or figure. One, for instance, +was called _Parra Ghastha_, or swift Paddy, from his fleetness of foot; +another, _Shaun Buie_, or yellow Jack, from his bilious look; a third, +_Micaul More_, or big Michael, from his uncommon size; and a fourth, +_Sheemus Ruah_, or red James, from the color of his hair. These +epithets, to be sure, still occur in Ireland, but far less frequently +now than in the times of which we write, when Irish was almost the +vernacular language of the country. It was for a reason similar to those +just alleged, that John O'Rorke was known as _Lamh Laudher_ O'Rorke; +he, as well as his forefathers for two or three generations, having been +remarkable for prodigious bodily strength and courage. The evening was +far advanced as O'Rorke bent his steps to the orchard. The pale, but +cloudless sun hung over the western hills, and sun upon the quiet gray +fields that kind of tranquil radiance which, in the opening of summer, +causes many a silent impulse of delight to steal into the heart. Lamh +Laudher felt this; his step was slow, like that of a man who, without +being capable of tracing those sources of enjoyment which the spirit +absorbs from the beauties of external nature, has yet enough of +uneducated taste and feeling within him, to partake of the varied feast +which she presents. + +As he sauntered thus leisurely along he was met by a woman rather +advanced in years, but still unusually stout and muscular, considering +her age. She was habited in a red woollen petticoat that reached but +a short distance below the knee, leaving visible two stout legs, from +which dangled a pair of red garters that bound up her coarse blue hose. +Her gown of blue worsted was pinned up, for it did not meet around her +person, though it sat closely about her neck. Her grizzly red hair, +turned up in front, was bound by a dowd cap without any border, a +circumstance which, in addition to a red kerchief, tied over it, and +streaming about nine inches down the back, gave to her _tout ensemble_ +a wild and striking expression. A short oaken staff, hooked under the +hand, completed the description of her costume. Even on a first glance +there appeared to be something repulsive in her features, which had +evidently been much exposed to sun and storm. By a closer inspection one +might detect upon their hard angular outline, a character of cruelty and +intrepidity. Though her large cheek-bones stood widely asunder, yet her +gray piercing eyes were very near each other; her nose was short and +sadly disfigured by a scar that ran tranversely across it, and her chin, +though pointed, was also deficient in length. Altogether, her whole +person had something peculiar and marked about it--so much so, indeed, +that it was impossible to meet her without feeling she was a female of +no ordinary character and habits. + +Lamh Laudher had been, as we have said, advancing slowly along the +craggy road which led towards the town, when she issued from an +adjoining cabin and approached him. The moment he noticed her he stood +still, as if to let her pass and uttered one single exclamation of +chagrin and anger. + +"_Ma shaughth milia mollach ort, a calliagh!_ My seven thousand curses +on you for an old hag," said he, and haying thus given vent to his +indignation at her appearance, he began to retrace his steps as if +unwilling to meet her. + +"The son of your father needn't lay the curse upon us so bitterly all +out, Lamh Laudher!" she exclaimed, pacing at the same time with vigorous +steps until she overtook him. + +The young man looked at her maimed features, and as if struck by some +sudden recollection, appeared to feel regret for the hasty malediction +he had uttered against her. "Nell M'Collum," said he, "the word was +rash; and the curse did not come from my heart. But, Nell, who is there +that doesn't curse you when they meet you? Isn't it well known that to +meet you is another name for falling in wid bad luck? For my part I'd go +fifty miles about rather than cross you, if I was bent on any business +that my heart 'ud be in, or that I cared any thing about." + +"And who brought the bad luck upon me first?" asked the woman. "Wasn't +it the husband of the mother that bore you? Wasn't it his hand that +disfigured me as you see, when I was widin a week of bein' dacently +married? Your father, Lamh Laudher was the man that blasted my name, and +made it bitther upon tongue of them that mintions it." + +"And that was because he wouldn't see one wid the blood of Lamh Laudher +in his veins married to a woman that he had reason to think--I don't +like to my it, Nelly--but you know it is said that there was darkness, +and guilt, too, about the disappearin' of your child. You never cleared +that up, but swore revenge night and day against my father, for only +preventin' you from bein' the ruination of his cousin. Many a time, too, +since that, has asked you in my own hearing what became of the boy." + +The old woman stopped like one who had unexpectedly trod with bare foot +upon something sharp enough to pierce the flesh to the bone, and even +to grate against it. There was a strong, nay, a fearful force of anguish +visible in what she felt. Her brows were wildly depressed from their +natural position, her face became pale, her eyes glared upon O'Rorke as +if he had planted a poisoned arrow in her breast, she seized him by the +arm with a hard pinching grip, and looked for two or three minutes in +his face, with an appearance of distraction. O'Rorke, who never feared +man, shrunk from her touch, and shuddered under the influence of what +had been, scarcely without an exception, called the "bad look." The +crone held him tight, however, and there they stood, with their eyes +fixed upon each other. From the gaze of intense anguish, the countenance +of Nell M'Collum began to change gradually to one of unmingled +exultation; her brows were raised to their proper curves, her color +returned, the eye corruscated with a rapid and quivering sense of +delight, the muscles of the mouth played for a little, as if she strove +to suppress a laugh. At length O'Rorke heard a low gurgling sound +proceed from her chest; it increased; she pressed his arm more tightly, +and in a loud burst of ferocious mirth, which she immediately subdued +into a condensed shriek that breathed the very luxury of revenge, she +said-- + +"_Lamh Laudher Oge_, listen--ax the father of you, when you see him, +what has become _of his own child_--of the first that ever God sent him; +an' listen again--when he tells me what has become of mine, I'll tell +him what has become of his, Now go to Ellen--but before you go, let +me _cuggher_ in your ear that I'll blast you both. I'll make the _Lamh +Laudhers, Lamh Lhugs_. I'll make the strong arm the weak arm afore I've +done wid 'em." + +She struck the point of her stick against the pavement, until the iron +ferrule with which it was bound dashed the fire from the stones, after +which she passed on, muttering threats and imprecations as she left him. + +O'Rorke stood and looked after her with sensations of fear and +astonishment. The age was superstitious, and encouraged a belief in the +influence of powers distinct from human agency. Every part of Ireland +was filled at this time with characters, both male and female, precisely +similar to old Nell M'Collum.. The darkness in which this woman walked, +according to the opinions of a people but slightly advanced in knowledge +and civilization, has been but feebly described to the reader. To meet +her, was considered an omen of the most unhappy kind; a circumstance +which occasioned the imprecation of Lamh Laudher. She was reported +to have maintained an intercourse with the fairies, to be capable +of communicating the blight of an evil eye, and to have carried on a +traffic which is said to have been rather prevalent in Ireland at the +time we speak of--namely, that of kidnapping. The speculations with +reference to her object in perpetrating the crimes were strongly +calculated to exhibit the degraded state of the people at that period. +Some said that she disposed of the children to a certain class of +persons in the metropolis, who subsequently sent them to the colonies, +when grown, at an enormous profit. Others maintained that she never +carried them to Dublin at all, but insisted that, having been herself +connected with the fairies, she possessed the power of erasing, by +some secret charm, the influence of baptismal protection, and that she +consequently acted as agent for the "gentry" to whom she transferred +them. Even to this day it is the opinion in Ireland, that the "good +people" themselves cannot take away a child, except through the +instrumentality of some mortal residing with them, who has been +baptized; and it is also believed that no baptism can secure children +from them, except that in which the priest has been desired to baptize +them with an especial view to their protection against fairy power. + +Such was the character which this woman bore; whether unjustly or not, +matters little. For the present it is sufficient to say, that after +having passed on, leaving Lamh Laudher to proceed in the direction he +had originally intended, she bent her steps towards the head inn of the +town. Her presence here produced some cautious and timid mirth of which +they took care she should not be cognizant. The servants greeted her +with an outward show of cordiality, which the unhappy creature easily +distinguished from the warm kindness evinced to vagrants whose history +had not been connected with evil suspicion and mystery. She accordingly +tempered her manner and deportment towards them with consummate skill. +Her replies to their inquiries for news were given with an appearance +of good humor; but beneath the familiarity of her dialogue there lay an +ambiguous meaning and a cutting sarcasm, both of which were tinged with +a prophetic spirit, capable, from its equivocal drift, of being applied +to each individual whom she addressed. Owing to her unsettled life, and +her habit of passing from place to place, she was well acquainted with +local history. There lived scarcely a family within a very wide circle +about her, of whom she did not know every thing that could possibly be +known; a fact of which she judiciously availed herself by allusions +in general conversations that were understood only by those whom they +concerned. These mysterious hints, oracularly thrown out, gained her the +reputation of knowing more than mere human agency could acquire, and of +course she was openly conciliated and secretly hated. + +Her conversation with the menials of the inn was very short and +decisive. + +"Sheemus," said she to the person who acted in the capacity of waiter, +"where's Meehaul Neil?" + +"Troth, Nell, dacent woman," replied the other, "myself can't exactly +say that. I'll be bound he's on the _Esker_, looking afther the sheep, +poor crathurs, durin' Andy Connor's illness in the small-pock. Poor +Andy's very ill, Nell, an' if God hasn't sed it, not expected; glory be +to his name!" + +"Is Andy ill?" inquired Nell; "and how long?" + +"Bedad, going on ten days." + +"Well," said the woman, "I knew nothin' about that; but I want to see +Meehaul Neil, and I know he's in the house." + +"Faix he's not, Nelly, an' you know I wouldn't tell you a lie about it." + +"Did you get the linen that was stolen from your masther?" inquired Nell +significantly, turning at the same time a piercing glance on the waiter; +"an' tell me," she added, "how is Sally Lavery, and where is she?" + +"It wasn't got," he replied, in a kind of stammer; "an' as to Sally, the +nerra one o' me knows any thing about her, since she left this." + +"Sheemus," replied Nell, "you know that Meehaul Neil is in the house; +but I'll give you two choices, either to bring me to the speech of him, +or else I'll give your masther the name of the thief that stole his +linen; ay! the name of the thief that resaved it. I name nobody at +present; an' for that matther, I know nothin'. Can't all the world tell +you that Nell M'Cullum knows nothin'!" + +"_Ghe dhevin_, Nelly," said the waiter, "maybe Meehaul is in the house +unknownst to me. I'll try, any how, an' if he's to the fore, it won't be +my fault or he'll see you." + +Nell, while the waiter went to inform Meehaul, took two ribbons out of +her pocket, one white and the other black, both of which she folded into +what would appear to a bystander to be a simple kind of knot. When the +innkeeper's son and the waiter returned to the hall, the former asked +her what the nature of her business with him might be. To this she made +no reply, except by uttering the word husht! and pulling the ends, first +of the white ribbon, and afterwards of the black. The knot of the first +slipped easily from the complication, but that of the black one, after +gliding along from its respective ends, became hard and tight in the +middle. + +"_Tha sha marrho!_ life passes and death stays," she exclaimed. "Andy +Connor's dead, Meehaul Neil; an' you may tell your father that he must +get some one else to look afther his sheep. Ay! he's dead!--But that's +past. Meehaul, folly me; it's you I want, an' there's no time to be +lost." + +She passed out as she spoke, leaving the waiter in a state of wonder +at the extent of her knowledge, and of the awful means by which, in his +opinion, she must have acquired it. + +Meehaul, without uttering a syllable, immediately walked after her. The +pace at which she went was rapid and energetic, betokening a degree of +agitation and interest on her part, for which he could not account. +As she had no object in bringing him far from the house, she availed +herself of the first retired spot that presented itself, in order to +disclose the purport of her visit. "Meehaul Neil," said she, "we're now +upon the Common, where no ear can hear what passes between us. I ax have +you spirit to keep your sister Ellen from shame and sorrow?" The young +man started, and became strongly excited at such a serious prelude to +what she was about to utter. + +"_Millia diououl!_ woman, why do you talk about shame or disgrace comin' +upon any sister of mine?" What villain dare injure her that regards his +life? My sisther! Ellen Neil! No, no! the man that 'ud only think of +that, I'd give this right hand a dip to the wrist in the best blood of +his heart." + +"Ay, ay! it's fine spakin': but you don't know the hand you talk of. +It's one that you had better avoid than meet. It's the strong hand, an' +the dangerous one when vexed. You know Lamh Laudher Oge?" + +Meelmul started again, and the crone could perceive by his manner that +the nature of the communication she was about to make had been already +known to him, though not, she was confident, in so dark and diabolical a +shape as that in which she determined to put it. + +"Lamh Laudher Oge!" he exclaimed; "surely you don't mane to say that he +has any bad design upon Ellen! It's not long since I gave him a caution +to drop her, an' to look out for a girl fittin' for his station. Ellen +herself knows what he'll get, if we ever catch him spakin' to her again. +The day will never come that his faction and ours can be friends." + +"You did do that, Meehaul," replied Nell, "an' I know it; but what 'ud +you think if he was so cut to the heart by your turnin' round upon +his poverty, that he swore an oath to them that I could name, bindin' +himself to bring your sister to a state of shame, in order to punish you +for your words? That 'ud be great glory over a faction that they hate." + +"Tut, woman, he daren't swear such an oath; or, if he swore it fifty +times over on his bare knees, he'd ate the stones off o' the pavement +afore he'd dare to act upon it. In the first place, I'd prepare him +for his coffin, if he did; an' in the next, do you think so inanely +of Ellen, as to believe that she would bring disgrace an' sorrow upon +herself and her family? No, no, Nell; the old _dioul's_ in you, or +you're beside yourself, to think of such a story. I've warned her +against him, and so did we all; an' I'm sartin' this minute, that +she'd not go a single foot to change words with him, unknownst to her +friends." + +The old woman's face changed from the expression of anxiety and +importance that it bore, to one of coarse glee, under which, to those +who had penetration sufficient to detect it, lurked a spirit of hardened +and reckless ferocity. + +"Well, well," she replied, "sure I'm proud to hear what you tell me. +How is poor Nanse M'Collum doin' wid yez? for I hadn't time to see her +a while agone. I hope she'll never be ashamed or afraid of her aunt, +any how. I may say, I'm all that's left to the good of her name, poor +girshah." + +"What 'ud ail her?" replied Meehaul; "as long a' she's honest an' +behaves herself, there's no fear of her. Had you nothing elsa to say to +me, Nell?" + +The same tumultuous expression of glee and malignity again lit up the +features of the old woman, as she looked at him, and replied, with +something like contemptuous hesitation, "Why, I don't know that. If +you had more sharpness or sinse I might say--Meehaul Neil," she added, +elevating her voice, "what do you think I could say, this sacred moment! +Your sister! Why she's a good girl!--true enough that: but how long she +may be so's another affair. Afeard! Be the ground we stand on, man dear, +if you an' all belongin' to you, had eyes in your heads for every day in +the year, you couldn't keep her from young Lamh Laudher. Did you hear +anything?" + +"I'd not believe a word of it," said Meehaul calmly, and he turned to +depart. + +"I tell you it's as true as the sun to the dial," replied Nell; "and I +tell you more, he's wid her this minnit behind your father's orchard! +Ay! an' if you wish you may see them together wid your own eyes, an' +sure if you don't b'lieve me, you'll b'lieve them. But, Meehaul, +take care of him; for he has his fire-arms; if you meet him don't go +empty-handed, and I'd advise you to have the first shot." + +"Behind the orchard," said Meehaul, astonished; "where there?" + +"Ay, behind the orchard, where they often war afore. Where there? Why, +if you want to know that, sittin' on one of the ledges in the Grassy +Quarry. That's their sate whenever they meet; an' a snug one it is for +them that don't like their neighbors' eyes to be upon them. Go now an' +satisfy yourself, but watch them at a distance, an', as you expect to +save your sister, don't breathe the name of Nell M'Collum to a livin' +mortal." + +Meehaul Neil's cheek flushed with deep resentment on hearing this +disagreeable intelligence. For upwards of a century before there had +subsisted a deadly feud between the Neils and Lamh Laudhers, without +either party being able exactly to discover the original fact from +which their enmity proceeded. This, however, in Ireland, makes little +difference. It is quite sufficient to know that they meet and fight upon +every possible opportunity, as hostile factions ought to do, without +troubling themselves about the idle nonsense of inquiring why they +hate and maltreat each other. For this reason alone, Meehaul Neil was +bitterly opposed to the most distant notion of a marriage between his +sister and young Lamh Laudher. There were other motives also which +weighed, with nearly equal force, in the consideration of this subject. +His sister Ellen was by far the most beautiful girl of her station in +the whole country,--and many offers, highly advantageous, and far above +what she otherwise could have expected, had been made to her. On the +other hand, Lamh Laudher Oge was poor, and by no means qualified in +point of worldly circumstances to propose for her, even were hereditary +enmity out of the question. All things considered, the brother and +friends of Ellen would rather have seen her laid in her grave, than +allied to a comparatively poor young man, and their bitterest enemy. + +Meehaul had but little doubt as to the truth of what Nell M'Collum told +him. There was a saucy and malignant confidence in her manner, which, +although it impressed him with a sense of her earnestness, left, +nevertheless, an indefinite feeling of dislike against her on his mind. +He knew that her motive for disclosure was not one of kindness or regard +for him or for his family. Nell M'Collum had often declared that "the +wide earth did not carry a bein' she liked or loved, but one--not even +excepting herself, that she hated most of all." This however was not +necessary to prove that she acted rather from the gratification of some +secret malice, than from the principle of benevolence. The venomous +leer of her eye, therefore, and an accurate knowledge of her character, +induced him to connect some apprehension of approaching evil with the +unpleasant information she had just given him. + +"Well," said Meehaul, "if what you say is true, I'll make it a black +business to Lamh Laudher. I'll go directly and keep my eye on them; an' +I'll have my fire-arms, Nell; an' by the life that's in me, he'll taste +them if he provokes me; an Ellen knows that." Having thus spoken he left +her. + +The old woman stood and looked after him with a fiendish complacency. + +"A black business, will you?" she exclaimed, repeating his words in +a soliloquy;--"do so--an' may all that's black assist you in it! Dher +Chiernah, I'll do it or lose a fall--I'll make the Lamh Laudhers the +Lamh Lhugs afore I've done wid 'em. I've put a thorn in their side this +many a year, that'll never come out; I'll now put one in their marrow, +an' let them see how they'll bear that. I've left _one_ empty chair at +their hearth, an' it 'll go hard wid me but I'll lave another." + +Having thus expressed her hatred against a family to whom she attributed +the calamities that had separated her from society, and marked her as +a being to be avoided and detested, she also departed from the Common, +striking her stick with peculiar bitterness into the ground as she went +along. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +In the mean time young Lamh Laudher felt little suspicion that the +stolen interview between him and Ellen Neil was known. The incident, +however, which occurred to him on his way to keep the assignation, +produced in his mind a vague apprehension which he could not shake off. +To meet a red-haired woman, when going on any business of importance, +was considered at all times a bad omen, as it is in the country parts +of Ireland unto this day; but to meet a female familiar with forbidden +powers, as Nell M'Collum was supposed to be, never failed to produce +fear and misgiving in those who met her. Mere physical courage was no +bar against the influence of such superstitions; many a man was a +slave to them who never knew fear of a human or tangible enemy. They +constituted an important part of the popular belief! for the history of +ghosts and fairies, and omens, was, in general, the only kind of lore +in which the people were educated; thanks to the sapient traditions of +their forefathers. + +When Nell passed away from Lamh Laudher, who would fain have flattered +himself that by turning back on the way, until she passed him, he had +avoided meeting her, he once more sought the place of appointment, at +the same slow pace as before. On arriving behind the orchard, he found, +as the progress of the evening told him, that he had anticipated the +hour at which it had been agreed to meet. He accordingly descended the +Grassy Quarry, and sat on a mossy ledge of rock, over which the brow of +a little precipice jutted in such a manner as to render those who sat +beneath, visible only from a particular point. Here he had scarcely +seated himself when the tread of a foot was heard, and in a few minutes +Nanse M'Collum stood beside him. + +"Why, thin, bad cess to you, Lamh Laudher," she exclaimed, "but it's a +purty chase I had afther you." + +"Afther me, Nanse? and what's the commission, _cush gastha_ +(lightfoot)?" + +"The sorra any thing, at all, at all, only to see if you war here. Miss +Ellen sent me to tell you that she's afeard she can't come this evenin', +unknownst to them." + +"An' am I not to wait, Nanse?" + +"Why, she says she--_will_ come, for all that, if she can; but she +bid me take your stick from you, for a rason she has, that she'll tell +yourself when she sees you." + +"Take my stick! Why Nanse, _ma colleen baun_, what can she want with my +stick? Is the darlin' girl goin' to bate any body?" + +"Bad cess to the know _I_ know, Lamh Laudher, barrin' it be to lay on +yourself for stalin' her heart from her. Why thin, the month's mether o' +honey to you, soon an' sudden, how did you come round her at all?" + +"No matter about that, Nanse; but the family's bitther against me?--eh?" + +"Oh, thin, in trogs, it's ill their common to hate you as they do; but +thin, you see, this faction-work will keep yees asundher for ever. Now +gi' me your stick, an' wait, any way, till you see whether she comes or +not." + +"Is it by Ellen's ordhers you take it, Nanse?" + +"To be sure--who else's? but the divil a one o' me knows what she means +by it, any how--only that I daren't go back widout it." + +"Take it, Nanse; she knows I wouldn't refuse her my heart's blood, let +alone a bit of a kippeen." + +"A bit of a kippeen! Faix, this is a quare kippeen! Why, it would fell a +bullock." + +"When you see her, Nanse, tell her to make haste, an' for God's sake not +to disappoint me. I can't rest well the day I don't meet her." + +"Maybe other people's as bad, for that matter; so good night, an' the +mether o' honey to you, soon an' sudden! Faix, if any body stand in my +way now, they'll feel the weight of this, any how." + +After uttering the last words, she brandished the cudgel and +disappeared. + +Lamh Laudher felt considerably puzzled to know what object Ellen could +have had in sending the servant maid for his staff. Of one thing, +however, he was certain, that her motive must have had regard to his +own safety; but how, or in what manner, he could not conjecture. It is +certainly true some misgivings shot lightly across his imagination, +on reflecting that he had parted with the very weapon which he usually +brought with him to repel the violence of Ellen's friends, should he be +detected in an interview with her. He remembered, too, that he had +met unlucky Nell M'Collum, and that the person who deprived him of his +principal means of defence was her niece. He had little time, however, +to think upon the subject, for in a few minutes after Nanse's departure, +he recognized the light quick step of her whom he expected. + +The figure of Ellen Neil was tall, and her motions full of untaught +elegance and natural grace. Her countenance was a fine oval; her +features, though not strictly symmetrical, were replete with animation, +and her eyes sparkled with a brilliancy indicative of a warm heart and a +quick apprehension. Flaxen hair, long and luxuriant, decided, even at a +distant glance, the loveliness of her skin, than which the unsunned snow +could not be whiter. If you add to this a delightful temper, buoyant +spirits, and extreme candor, her character, in its strongest points, is +before you. + +On reaching the bottom of the Grassy Quarry, as it was called, she +peered under the little beetling cliff that overhung the well-known +ledge on which Lamh Laudher sat. + +"I declare, John," said she, on seeing him, "I thought at first you +weren't here." + +"Did you ever know me to be late!--" said John, taking her by the hand, +and placing her beside him; "and what would you a' done, Ellen, if I +hadn't been here?" + +"Why, run home as if the life was lavin' me, for fear of seein' +something." + +"You needn't be afeard, Ellen, dear; nothing could harm you, at all +events. However, puttin' that aside, have you any betther tidin's than +you had when we met last?" + +"I wish to heaven I had, John! but indeed I have far worse; ay, a +thousand times worse. They have all joined against me, an' I'm not to +see or speak to you at all." + +"That's hard," replied Lamh Laudher, drawing his breath tightly; "but +I know where it comes from. I think your father might be softened a +little, ay, a great deal, if it wasn't for your brother Meehaul." + +"Indeed, Lamh Laudher, you're wrong in that; my father's as bitther +against you as he is. It was only on Tuesday evenin' last that they told +me, one an' all they would rather see me a corpse than your wife. Indeed +an' deed, John, I doubt it never can be." + +"There," replied John, "I see plain enough that they'll gain you over +at last. That will be the end of it: but if you choose to break the vows +and promises that passed between us, you may do so." + +"Oh! Lamh Laudher," said Ellen, affected at the imputation contained in +his last observation; "don't you treat me with such suspicion. I suffer +enough for your sake, as it is. For nearly two years, a day has hardly +passed that my family hasn't wrung the burnin' tears from my eyes on +your account. Haven't I refused matches that any young woman in my +station of life ought to be I proud to accept?" + +"You did, Ellen, you did; but still I know how hard it is for you to +hould out against the persecution you suffer at home. No, no, Ellen +dear, I never doubted you for one minute. All I wondher at is, that such +a girl as you ever could think of one so humble as I am, compared to +what you'd have a right to expect an' could get." + +"Well, but if I'm willin' to prefer you, John?" said Ellen, with a +smile. + +"One thing I know, Ellen," he replied, "an' that is, that I'm far from +bein' worthy of you; an' I ought, if I had a high enough spirit, to try +to turn you against me, if it was only that you might marry a man that +'ud have it in his power to make you happier than ever I'll be able to +do; any way, than ever it's likely I'll be able to do." + +"I don't think, John, that ever money or the wealth of the world made a +man an' wife love one another yet, if they didn't do it before; but it +has often put their hearts against one another." + +"I agree wid you in that, Ellen; but you don't know how my heart sinks +when I think of your an' my own poverty. My poor father, since the +strange disappearance of little Alice, never was able to raise his head; +and indeed my mother was worse. If the child had died, an' that we knew +she slept with ourselves, it would be a comfort. But not to know what +became of her--whether she was drowned or kidnapped--that was what +crushed their hearts. I must say that since I grew up, we're improvin'; +an' I hope, God willin', now that my father laves the management of the +farm to myself, we'll still improve more an' more. I hope it for their +sakes, but--more, if possible, for yours. I don't know what I wouldn't +do to make you happy, Ellen. If my life could do it, I think I could lay +it down to show the love I bear you. I could take to the highway and rob +for your sake, if I thought it would bring me means to make you happy." + +Ellen was touched by his sincerity, as well as by the tone of manly +sorrow with which he spoke. His last words, however, startled her, when +she considered the vehement manner in which he uttered them. + +"John," said she, alarmed, "never, while you have life, let me hear a +word of that kind out of your lips. No--never, for the sake of heaven +above us, breathe it, or think of it. But, I'll tell you something, an' +you must hear it, an' bear it too, with patience." + +"What is it, Ellen! If it's fair an' manly, I'll be guided by your +advice." + +"Meehaul has threatened to--to--I mane to say, that you musn't have any +quarrel with him, if he meets you or provokes you. Will you promise +this?" + +"Meenaul has threatened to strike me, has he? An' I, a Lamh Laudher, am +to take a blow from a Neil, an' to thank him, I suppose, for givin' it." + +Ellen rose up and stood before him. + +"Lamh Laudher," said she, "I must now try your love for me in earnest. +A lie I cannot tell no more than I can cover the truth. My brother has +threatened to strike you, an' as I said afore, you must bear it for his +sister's sake." + +"No, _dher Chiernah_, never. That, Ellen, is goin' beyant what I'm able +to bear. Ask me to cut off my right hand for your sake, an' I'll do it; +ask my life, an' I'll give it: but to ask a Lamh Laudher to bear a +blow from a Neil--never. What! how could I rise my face afther such a +disgrace? How could I keep the country wid a Neil's blow, like the stamp +of a thief upon my forehead, an' me the first of my own faction, as your +brother is of his. No--never!" + +"An' you say you love me, John?" + +"Betther than ever man loved woman." + +"No, man--you don't," she replied; "if you did, you'd give up something +for me. You'd bear that for my sake, an' not think it much. I'm +beginin' to believe, Lamh Laudher, that if I was a poor portionless +girl, it wouldn't be hard to put me out of your thoughts. If it was only +for my own sake you loved me, you'd not refuse me the first request I +ever made to you; when you know, too, that if I didn't think more of you +than I ought, I'd never make it." + +"Ellen, would you disgrace me? Would you wish me to bear the name of a +coward? Would you want my father to turn me out of the house? Would you +want my own faction to put their feet upon me, an' drive me from among +them?" + +"John," she replied, bursting into tears, "I do know that it's a sore +obligation to lay upon you, when everything's taken into account; but +if you wouldn't do this for me, who would you do it for? Before heaven, +John, I dread a meetin' between you an' my brother, afther what he tould +me; an' the only way of preventin' danger is for you not to strike him. +Oh, little you know what I have suffered these two days for both your +sakes! Lamh Laudher Oge, I doubt it would be well for me if I had never +seen your face." + +"Anything undher heaven but what you want me to do, Ellen." + +"Oh! don't refuse me this, John. I ask it, as I said, for both your +sake, an' for my own sake. Meehaul wouldn't strike an unresistin' man. +I won't lave you till you promise; an' if that won't do, I'll go down on +my. knees an' ask you for the sake of heaven above, to be guided by me +in this." + +"Ellen, I'll lave the country to avoid him, if that'll plase you." + +"No--no--no, John: that doesn't plase me. Is it to lave your father +an' family, an' you the staff of their support? Oh, John, give me your +promise. Here on my two knees I ask it from you, for my own, for your +own, and for the sake of God above us! I know Meehaul. If he got a blow +from you on my account, he'd never forgive it to either you or me." + +She joined her hands in supplication to him as she knelt, and the tears +chased each other like rain down her cheeks. The solemnity with which +she insisted on gaining her point staggered Lamh Laudher not a little. + +"There must be something undher this," he replied, "that makes you set +your heart on it so much. Ellen, tell me the truth; what is it?" + +"If I loved you less, John, an' my brother too, I wouldn't care so much +about it. Remember that I'm a woman, an' on my knees before you. A +blow from you would make him take your life or mine, sooner than that I +should become your wife. You ought to know his temper." + +"You know, Ellen, I can't at heart refuse you any thing. I will not +strike your brother." + +"You promise, before God, that no provocation will make you strike him." + +"That's hard, Ellen; but--well, I do; before God, I won't--an' it's for +your sake I say it. Now, get up, dear, get up. You have got me to do +what no mortal livin' could bring me to but yourself. I suppose that's +what made you send Nanse M'Collum for my staff?" + +"Nancy M'Collum! When?" + +"Why, a while ago. She tould me a quare enough story, or rather no story +at all, only that you couldn't come, an' you could come, an' I was to +give up my staff to her by your ordhers." + +"She tould you false, John. I know nothing about what you say." + +"Well, Ellen," replied Lamh Laudher, with a firm seriousness of manner, +"you have brought me into danger. I doubt, without knowin' it. For my +own part, I don't care so much. Her unlucky aunt met me comin' here this +evenin', and threatened both our family and yours. I know she would sink +us into the earth if she could. Either she or your brother is at the +bottom of this business, whatever it is. Your brother I don't fear; but +she is to be dreaded, if, all's true that's said about her." + +"No, John--she surely couldn't have the heart to harm, you an' me. Oh, +but I'm light now, since you did what I wanted you. No harm can come +between you and Meehaul; for I often heard him say, when speakin' +about his faction fights, that no one but a coward would, strike an +unresistin' man. Now come and see me pass the Pedlar's Cairn, an' +remember that you'll thank me for what I made you do this night. Come +quickly--I'll be missed." + +They then passed on by a circuitous and retired path that led round the +orchard, until he had conducted her in safety beyond the Pedlar's Cairn, +which was so called from a heap of stones that had been loosely piled +together, to mark the spot as the scene of a murder, whose history, thus +perpetuated by the custom of every passenger casting a stone upon the +place, constituted one of the local traditions of the neighborhood. + +After a tender good-night, given in a truly poetical manner under the +breaking light of a May moon, he found it necessary to retrace his steps +by a path which wound round the orchard, and terminated in the public +entrance to the town. Along this suburban street he had advanced but a +short way, when he found himself overtaken and arrested by his bitter +and determined foe, Meehaul Neil. The connection betwixt the promise +that Ellen had extorted from him and this rencounter with her brother +flashed upon him forcibly: he resolved, however, to be guided by her +wishes, and with this purpose on his part, the following dialogue took +place between the heads of the rival factions. When we say, however, +that Lamh Laudher was the head of his party, we beg to be understood as +alluding only to his personal courage and prowess; for there were in it +men of far greater wealth and of higher respectability, so far as mere +wealth could confer the latter. + +"Lamh Laudher," said Meehaul, "whenever a Neil spakes to you, you may +know it's hot in friendship." + +"I know that, Meehaul Neil, without hearin' it from you. Spake, what +have you to say?" + +"There was a time," observed the other, "when you and I were enemies +only because our cleaveens were enemies but now there is, an' you know +it, a blacker hatred between us." + +"I would rather there was not, Meehaul; for my own part, I have no +ill-will against either you or yours, all you know that; so when you +talk of hatred, spake only for yourself." + +"Don't be mane, man," said Neil; "don't make them that hates you despise +you into the bargain." + +Lamh Laudher turned towards him fiercely, and his eye gleamed with +passion; but he immediately recollected himself, and simply said-- + +"What is your business with me this night, Meehaul Neil?" + +"You'll know that soon enough--sooner, maybe, than you wish. I now ask +you to tell me, if you are an honest man, where you have been?" + +"I am as honest, Meehaul, as any man that ever carried the name of Neil +upon him, an' yet I won't tell you that, till you show me what right you +have to ask me." + +"I b'lieve you forget that I'm Ellen Neil's brother: now, Lamh Laudher, +as her brother, I choose to insist on your answering me." + +"Is it by her wish?" + +"Suppose I say it is." + +"Ay! but I won't suppose that, till you lay your right hand on your +heart, and declare as an honest man, that--tut, man--this is nonsense. +Meehaul, go home--I would rather there was friendship between us." + +"You were with Ellen, this night in the! Grassy Quarry." + +"Are you sure of that?" + +"I saw you both--I watched you both; you left her beyond the Pedlar's +Cairn, an' you're now on your way home." + +"An' the more mane you, Meehaul, to become a spy upon a girl that +you know is as pure as the light from heaven. You ought to blush for +doubtin' sich a sister, or thinkin' it your duty to watch her as you +do." + +"Lamh Laudher, you say that you'd rather there was no ill-will between +us." + +"I say that, God knows, from my heart out." + +"Then there's one way that it may be so. Give up Ellen; you'll find it +for your own interest to do so." + +"Show me that, Meehaul." + +"Give her up, I say, an' then I may tell you." + +"Meehaul, good-night. Go home." + +They had now entered the principal street of the town, and as they +proceeded in what appeared to be an earnest, perhaps a friendly +conversation, many of their respective acquaintances, who lounged in the +moonlight about their doors, were not a little surprised at seeing them +in close conference. When Lamh Laudher wished him good night, he +had reached an off street which led towards his father's house, a +circumstance at which he rejoiced, as it would have been the means, he +hoped, of terminating a dialogue that was irksome to both parties. He +found himself, however, rather unexpectedly and rudely arrested by his +companion. + +"We can't part, Lamh Laudher," said Meehaul seizing him by the collar, +"'till this business is settled--I mane till you promise to give my +sister up." + +"Then we must stand here, Meehaul, as long as we live--an' I surely +won't do that." + +"You must give her up, man." + +"Must! Is it must from a Neil to a Lamh Laudher? You forgot yourself, +Meehaul: you are rich now, an' I'm poor now; but any old friend can tell +you the differ between your grandfather an' mine. Must, indeed!" + +"Ay; must is the word, I say; an' I tell you that from this spot you +won't go till you swear it, or this stick--an' it's a good one--will +bring you to submission." + +"I have no stick, an' I suppose I may thank you for that." + +"What do you mane?" said Neil; "but no matter--I don't want it. +There--to the divil with it;" and as he spoke he threw it over the roof +of the adjoining house. + +"Now give up my sister or take the consequence." + +"Meehaul, go home, I say. You know I don't fear any single man that ever +breathed; but, above all men on this earth, I wish to avoid a quarrel +with you. Do you think, in the mean time, that even if I didn't care a +straw for your sister, I could be mane enough to let myself be bullied +out of her by you, or any of your faction? Never, Meehaul; so spare your +breath, an' go home." + +Several common acquaintances had collected about them, who certainly +listened to this angry dialogue between the two faction leaders with +great interest. Both were powerful men, young, strong, and muscular. +Meehaul, of the two, was taller, his height being above six feet, +his strength, courage, and activity, unquestionably very great. Lamh +Laudher, however, was as fine a model of physical strength, just +proportion, and manly beauty as ever was created; his arms, in +particular, were of terrific strength, a physical advantage so peculiar +to his family as to occasion the epithet by which it was known. He had +scarcely uttered the reply we have I written, when Meehaul, with his +whole! strength, aimed a blow at his stomach, which the other so far +turned aside, as to bring it I higher up on his chest. He staggered +back, after receiving it, about seven or eight yards, but did not fall. +His eye literally blazed, and for a moment he seemed disposed to act! +under the strong impulse of self-defence. The solemnity of his promise +to Ellen, however, recurred to him in time to restrain his uplifted +arm. By a strong and sudden effort he endeavored to compose himself, and +succeeded. He approached Meehaul, and with as much calmness as he could +assume, said-- + +"Meehaul, I stand before you an' you may strike, but I won't return your +blows: I have reasons for it, but I tell you the truth." + +"You won't fight?" said Meehaul, with mingled rage and scorn. + +"No," replied the other, "I won't fight you." + +A murmur of "shame" and "coward" was heard from those who had been drawn +together by their quarrel. + +"_Dher ma chorp_," they exclaimed with astonishment, "but Lamh Laudher's +afeard of him!--the _garran bane's_ in him, now that he finds he has met +his match." + +"Why, hard fortune to you, Lamh Laudher, will you take a blow from a +Neil? Are you goin' to disgrace your name?" + +"I won't fight him," replied he to whom they spoke, and the uncertainty +of his manner was taken for want of courage. + +"Then," said Meehaul, "here, before witnesses, I give you the coward, +that you may carry the name to the last hour of your life." + +He inflicted, when uttering the words, a blow with his open hand on Lamh +Laudher's cheek, after which he desired the spectators to bear witness +to what he had done. The whole crowd was mute with astonishment, not a +murmur more was heard; but they looked upon the two rival champions, and +then upon each other with amazement. The high-minded young man had but +one course to pursue. Let the consequence be what it might, he could +not think for a moment of compromising the character of Ellen, nor +of violating his promise, so solemnly given; with a flushed cheek, +therefore, and a brow redder even with shame than indignation, he left +the crowd without speaking' a word, for he feared that by indulging in +any further recrimination on the subject, his resolution might give way +under the impetuous resentment which he curbed in with such difficulty. + +Meehaul Neil paused and looked after him, equally struck with surprise +and contempt at his apparent want of spirit. + +"Well," he exclaimed to those who stood about him, "by the life within +me, if all the parish had sworn that Lamh Laudher Oge was a coward, I'd +not a b'lieved them!" + +"Faix, Misther Neil, who would, no more, than yourself?" they replied; +"devil the likes of it ever we seen! The young fellow that no man could +stand afore five minutes!" + +"That is," replied others, "bekase he never met a man that would fight +him. You see when he did, how he has turned out. One thing any how is +clear enough--after this he can never rise his head while he lives." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +Meehaul now directed his steps homewards, literally stunned by the +unexpected cowardice of his enemy. On approaching his father's door, he +found Nell M'Collum seated on a stone bench, waiting his arrival. +The moment she espied him she sprang to her feet, and with her usual +eagerness of manner, caught the breast of his coat, and turning him +round towards the moonlight, looked eagerly into his face. + +"Well," she inquired, "did he show his fire-arms? Well? What was done?" + +"Somebody has been making a fool of you, Nell," replied Meehaul; "he +had neither fire-arms, nor staff, nor any thing else; an' for my part, I +might as well have left mine at home." + +"Well, but, _douol_, man, what was done? Did you smash him? Did you +break his bones?" + +"None of that, Nell, but worse; he's disgraced for ever. I struck him, +an' he refused to fight me; he hadn't a hand to raise. + +"No! _Dher Chiernah_, he had not; an' he may thank Nell M'Collum for +that. I put the weakness over him. But I've not done wid him yet. I'll +make that family curse the day they crossed Nell M'Collum, if I should +go down for it. Not that I have any ill will to the boy himself, but the +father's heart's in him, an' that's the way, Meehaul, I'll punish the +man that was the means of lavin' me as I am." + +"Nell, the devil's in your heart," replied Meehaul, "if ever he was in +mortal's. Lave me, woman: I can't bear your revengeful spirit, an' what +is more, I don't want you to interfere in this business, good, bad, or +indifferent. You bring about harm, Nell; but who has ever known you to +do good?" + +"Ay! ay!" said the hag, "that's the cuckoo song to Nell; she does harm, +but never does good! Well, may my blackest curse wither the man that +left Nell to hear that, as the kindest word that's spoke either to her +or of her! I don't blame you. Meehaul--I blame nobody but him for it +all. Now a word of advice before you go in; don't let on to Ellen that +you know of her meetin' him this night;--an' reason good,--if she thinks +you're watchin' her, she'll be on her guard--'ay, an' outdo you in spite +of your teeth. She's a woman--she's a woman. Good night, an' mark him +the next time betther." + +Meehaul himself--had come to the same determination and from the same +motive. + +The consciousness of Lamh Laudher's public disgrace, and of his +incapability to repel it, sank deep into his heart. The blood in his +veins became hot and feverish when he reflected upon the scornful and +degrading insult he had just borne. Soon after his return home, his +father and mother both noticed the singularly deep bursts of indignant +feeling with which he appeared to be agitated. For some time they +declined making any inquiry as to its cause, but when they saw at length +the big scalding tears of shame and rage start from his flashing eyes, +they could no longer restrain their concern and curiosity. + +"In the name of heaven, John," said they, "what has happened to put you +in such a state as you're in?" + +"I can't tell you," he replied; "if you knew it, you'd blush with +burnin' shame--you'd curse me in your heart. For my part, I'd rather be +dead fifty times over than livin', after what has happened this night." + +"An' why not tell us, Lamh Laudher?" + +"I can't father; I couldn't stand upright afore you and spake it. I'd +sink like a guilty man in your presence; an' except you want to drive me +distracted, or perjured, don't ask me another question about it. You'll +hear it too soon." + +"Well, we must wait," said the father; "but I'm sure, John, you'd +not do anything unbecomin' a man. For my part, I'm not unasy on your +account, for except to take an affront from a Neil, there's nothing you +would do could shame me." + +This was a' fresh stab to the son's wounded pride, for which he was not +prepared. With a stifled groan he leaped to his feet, and rushing from +the kitchen, bolted himself up in his bed-room. + +His parents, after he had withdrawn, exchanged glances. + +"That went home to him," said the father; "an' as sure as death, the +Neils are in it, whatever it is. But by the crass that saved us, if he +tuck an affront from any of them, without payin' them home double, he is +no son of mine, an' this roof won't cover him another night. Howsomever +we'll see in the morn-in', plase God!" + +The mother, who was proud of his courage and prowess, scouted with great +indignation the idea of her son's tamely putting up with an insult from +any of the opposite faction. + +"Is it he bear an affront from a Neil! arrah, don't make a fool of +yourself, old man! He'd die sooner. I'd stake my life on him." + +The night advanced, and the family had retired to bed; but their son +attempted in vain to sleep. A sense of shame overpowered him keenly. +He tossed and turned, and groaned, at the contemplation of the disgrace +which he knew would be heaped on him the following day. What was to be +done? How was he to wipe it off? There was but one method, he believed, +of getting his hands once more free; that was to seek Ellen, and gain +her permission to retract his oath on that very night. With this purpose +he instantly dressed, himself, and quietly unbolting his own door, +and that of the kitchen, got another staff, and passed out to seek her +father's inn. + +The night had now become dark, but mild and agreeable; the repose of man +and nature was deep, and save his own tumultuous thoughts every thing +breathed an air of peace and rest. At a quick but cautious pace he soon +reached the inn, and without much difficulty passed into the garden, +from which he hoped to be able to make himself known to Ellen. In this, +to his great mortification, he was disappointed; the room in which she +slept, being on the third story, presented a window, it is true, to the +garden; but how was he to reach it, or hold a dialogue with her, even +should she recognize him, without being overheard by some of the family? +All this might have occurred to him at home, had he been sufficiently +cool for reflection. As it was, the only method of awakening her that he +could think of was to throw up several handsful of small pebbles against +the window. This he tried without any effect. Pebbles sufficiently large +to reach the window would have broken the glass, so that he felt himself +compelled to abandon every hope of speaking to her that night. With +lingering and reluctant steps he left the garden, and stood for some +time before the front of the house, leaning against an upright stone, +called the market cross. Here he had not been more than two minutes, +when he heard footsteps approaching, and on looking closely through +the darkness, he recognized the figure of Nell M'Collum, as it passed +directly to the kitchen window. Here the crone stopped, peered in, and +with caution gave one of the panes a gentle tap. This was responded +to by one much louder from within, and almost immediately the door was +softly opened. From thence issued another female figure, evidently that +of Nanse M'Collum, her niece. Both passed down the street in a northern +direction, and Lamh Laudher, apprehensive that they were on no good +errand, took off his shoes, lest his footsteps might be heard, and +dogged them as they went along. They spoke little, and that in whispers, +until they had got clear of the town, when, feeling less restraint, the +following dialogue occurred to them:-- + +"Isn't it a quare thing, aunt, that she should come back to this place +at all?" + +"Quare enough, but the husband's comin' too--he's to folly her." + +"He ought to know that he needn't come here, I think." + +"Why, you fool, how do you know that? Sure the town must pay him fifty +guineas, if he doesn't get a customer, and that's worth comin' for. She +must be near us by this time. Husht! do you hear a car?" + +They both paused to listen, but no car was audible. + +"I do not," replied the niece; "but isn't it odd that he lets her carry +the money, an' him trates her so badly'?" + +"Why would it be odd? Sure, she takes betther care of it, an' puts it +farther than he does. His heart's in a farden, the nager." + +"Rody an' the other will soon spare her that trouble, any way," replied +the niece. "Is there no one with her but the carman?" + +"Not one--hould you tongue--here's the gate where the same pair was to +meet us. Who is this stranger that Rody has picked up? I hope he's the +thing." + +"Some red-headed fellow. Rody says he is honest. I'm wondherin', aunt, +what 'ud happen if she'd know the place." + +"She can't, girshah--an' what if she does? She may know the place, but +will the place know her? Rody's friend says the best way is to do for +her; an' I'm afeard of her, to tell you the truth--but we'll settle that +when they come. There now is the gate where we'll sit down. Give a cough +till we try if they're------whist! here they are!" + +The voices of two men now joined the conversation, but in so low a tone, +that Lamh Laudher could not distinctly hear its purport. + +[Illustration: PAGE 91-- With stealthy pace he crept over] + +The road along which they traveled was craggy, and full of ruts, so that +a car could be heard in the silence of night at a considerable distance. +On each side the ditches were dry and shallow; and a small elder hedge, +which extended its branches towards the road, afforded Lamh Laudher +the obscurity which he wanted. With stealthy pace he crept over and sat +beneath it, determined to witness whatever incident might occur, and to +take a part in it, if necessary. He had scarcely seated himself when the +car which they expected was heard jolting about half a mile off along +the way, and the next moment a consultation took place in tones so low +and guarded, that every attempt on his part to catch its purport was +unsuccessful. This continued with much earnestness, if not warmth, until +the car came within twenty perches of the gate, when Nell exclaimed-- + +"If you do, you may--but remimber I didn't egg you on, or put it into +your hearts, at all evints. Maybe I have a child myself livin'--far from +me--an' when I think of him, I feel one touch of nature at my heart in +favor of her still. I'm black enough there, as it is." + +"Make your mind asy," said one of them, "you won't have to answer for +her." + +The reply which was given to this could not be heard. + +"Well," rejoined,Nell, "I know that. Her comin' here may not be for my +good; but--well, take this shawl, an' let the work be quick. The carman +must be sent back with sore bones to keep him quiet." + +The car immediately reached the spot where they sat, and as it passed, +the two men rushed from the gate, stopped the horse, and struck the +carman to the earth. One of them seized him while down, and pressed +his throat, so as to prevent him from shouting. A single faint shriek +escaped the female, who was instantly dragged off the car and gagged by +the other fellow and Nanse M'Collum. + +Lamh Laudher saw there was not a moment to be lost. With the speed +of lightning he sprung forward, and with a single blow laid him who +struggled with the carman prostrate. To pass then to the aid of the +female was only the work of an instant. With equal success he struck +down the villain with whom she was struggling. Such was the rapidity of +his motions, that he had not yet had time even to speak; nor indeed did +he wish at all to be recognized in the transaction. The carman, finding +himself freed from his opponent, bounced to his legs, and came to the +assistance of his charge, whilst Lamh Laudher, who had just flung Nanse +M'Collum into the ditch, returned in time to defend both from a second +attack. The contest, however, was a short one. The two ruffians, finding +that there was no chance of succeeding, fled across the fields; and our +humble hero, on looking for Nanse and her aunt, discovered that they +also had disappeared. It is unnecessary to detail the strong terms in +which the strangers expressed their gratitude to Lamh Laudher. + +"God's grace be upon you, whoever you are, young man!" exclaimed the +carman; "for wid His help an' your own good arm, it's my downright +opinion that you saved us from bein' both robbed an' murthered." + +"I'm of that opinion myself," replied Lamh Laudher. + +"There is goodness, young man, in the tones of your voice," observed the +female; "we may at least ask the name of the person who has saved our +lives?" + +"I would rather not have my name mentioned in the business," he replied; +"a woman, or a devil, I think, that I don't wish to cross or provoke, +has had a hand in it. I hope you haven't been robbed?" he added. + +She assured him, with expressions of deep gratitude, that she had not. + +"Well," said he, "as you have neither of you come to much harm, I would +take it as the greatest favor you could do me, if you'd never mention a +word about it to any one." + +To this request they agreed with some hesitation. Lamh Laudher +accompanied them into the town, and saw them safely in a decent +second-rate inn, kept by a man named Luke Connor, after which he +returned to his father's house, and without undressing, fell into a +disturbed slumber until morning. + +It is not to be supposed that the circumstances attending the quarrel +between him and Meehaul Neil, on the preceding night, would pass off +without a more than ordinary share of public notice. Their relative +positions were too well known not to excite an interest corresponding +with the characters they had borne, as the leaders of two bitter and +powerful factions: but when it became certain that Meehaul Neil had +struck Lamh Laudher Oge, and that the latter refused to fight him, it +is impossible to describe the sensation which immediately spread through +the town and parish. The intelligence was first received by O'Rorke's +party with incredulity and scorn. It was impossible that he of the +Strong Hand, who had been proverbial for courage, could all at once turn +coward, and bear the blow from a Neil! But when it was proved beyond the +possibility of doubt or misconception, that he received a blow tamely +before many witnesses, under circumstances of the most degrading insult, +the rage of his party became incredible. Before ten o'clock the next +morning his father's house was crowded with friends and relations, +anxious to hear the truth from his own lips, and all, after having heard +it, eager to point out to him the only method that remained of wiping +away his disgrace, namely, to challenge Meehaul Neil. His father's +indignation knew no bounds; but his mother, on discovering the truth, +was not without that pride and love which, are ever ready to form an +apology for the feelings and errors of an only child. + +"You may all talk," she said; "but if Lamh Laudher Oge didn't strike +him, he had good reasons for it. How do you know, an' bad cess to your +tongues, all through other, how Ellen Neil would like him after weltin' +her brother? Don't ye think she has the spirit of her faction in her as +well as another?" + +This, however, was not listened to. The father would hear of no apology +for his son's cowardice but an instant challenge. Either that or to be +driven from his father's roof the only alternatives left him. + +"Come out here," said the old man, for the son had not left his humble +bed-room, "an' in presence of them that you have brought to shame +and disgrace, take the only plan that s left to you, an' send him a +challenge." + +"Father," said the young man, "I have too much of your own blood in me +to be afraid of any man--but for all that, I neither will nor can fight +Meehaul Neil." + +"Very well," said the father, bitterly, "that's enough. _Dher Manim_, +Oonagh, you're a guilty woman; that boy's no son of mine. If he had +my blood in him, he couldn't act as he did. Here, you intherloper, the +door's open for you; go out of it, an' let me never see the branded +face of you while you live." The groans of the son were audible from his +bed-room. + +"I will go, father," he replied, "an' I hope the day will come when +you'll all change your opinion of me. I can't, however, stir out till I +send a message a mile or so out of town." + +The old man in the mean time, wept as if his son had been dead; his +tears, however, were not those of sorrow, but of shame and indignation. + +"How can I help it," he exclaimed, "when I think of the way that the +Neils will clap their wings and crow over us! If it was from any other +family he tuck it so inanely, I wouldn't care so much; but from them! +Oh, Chiernah! it's too bad! Turn out, you villain!" + +A charge of deeper disgrace, however, awaited the unhappy young man. +The last harsh words of the father had scarcely been uttered, when three +constables came in, and inquired if his son were at home. + +"He is at home," said the father, with tears in his eyes, "and I never +thought he would bring the blush to my face as he did by his conduct +last night." + +"I am sorry," said the principal of them, "for what has happened, both +on your account and his. Do you know this hat?" + +"I do know it," replied the old man; "it belongs to John. Come out +here," said he, "here's Tom Breen wid your hat." + +The son left his room, and it was evident from his appearance that he +had not undressed at all during the night. The constables immediately +observed these circumstances, which they did not fail to interpret to +his disadvantage. + +"Here is your hat," said the man who bore it; "one would think you were +travelin' all night, by your looks." + +The son thanked him for his civility, got clean stockings, and after +arranging his dress, said to his father-- + +"I'm now ready to go, father, an' as I can't do what you want me to do, +there's nothing for me but to leave the country for a while." + +"He acknowledged it himself," said the father, turning to Breen; "an' in +that case, how could I let the son that shamed me live undher my roof?" + +"He's the last young man in the country I stand in," said Breen, "that +any one who knew him would suspect to be guilty of robbery. Upon my +soul, Lamh Laudher More, I'm both grieved an' distressed at it. We're +come to arrest him," he added, "for the robbery he committed last +night." + +"Robbery!" they exclaimed with one voice. + +"Ay," said the man, "robbery, no less--an' what is more, I'm afraid +there's little doubt of his guilt. Why did he lave his hat at the place +where the attempt was first made? He must come with us." + +The mother shrieked aloud, and clapped her hands like a distressed +woman; the father's brow changed from the flushed hue of indignation, +and became pale with apprehension. + +"Oh! no, no," he exclaimed, "John never did that. Some qualm might come +over him in the other business, but--no, no--your father knows you're +innocent of robbery. Yes, John, my blood is in you, and there you're +wronged, my son. I know you too well, in spite of all I've said to you, +to believe that, my true-hearted boy." + +He grasped his son's hand as he spoke. + +And his mother at the same moment caught him in her arms, whilst both +sobbed aloud. A strong sense of innate dignity expanded the brow of +young Lamh Laudher. He smiled while his parents wept, although his +sympathy in their sorrow brought a tear at the same time to his +eye-lids. He declined, however, entering into any explanation, and the +father proceeded-- + +"Yes! I know you are innocent, John; I can swear that you didn't leave +this house from nine o'clock last night up to the present minute." + +"Father," said Lamh Laudher, "don't swear that, for it would not be +true, although you think it would. I was out the greater part of last +night." + +His father's countenance fell again, as did those of his friends who +were present, on hearing what appeared to be almost an admission of his +guilt. + +"Go," said the old man, "go; naburs, take him with you. If he's guilty +of this, I'll never more look upon his face. John, my heart was crushed +before, but you're likely to break it out an' out." + +Lamh Laudher Oge's deportment, on hearing himself charged with robbery, +became dogged and sullen. The conversation, together with the sympathy +and the doubt it excited among his friends, he treated with silent +indignation and scorn. He remembered that on the night before, the +strange woman assured him she had not been robbed, and he felt that the +charge was exceedingly strange and unaccountable. + +"Come," said he, "the sooner this business is cleared up the better. +For my part, I don't know what to make of it, nor do I care much how it +goes. I knew since yesterday evening, that bad luck was before me, at +all events, an' I suppose it must take its course, an' that I must bear +it." + +The father had sat down, and now declined uttering a single word in +vindication of his' son. The latter looked towards him, when about to +pass out, but the old man waved his hand with sorrowful impatience, +and pointed to the door, as intimating a wish that he should forthwith +depart from under his roof. Loaded with twofold disgrace, he left his +family and his friends, accompanied by the constables, to the profound +grief and astonishment of all who knew him. + +They then conducted him before a Mr. Brooldeigh, an active magistrate of +that day, and a gentleman of mild and humane character. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +On reaching Brookleigh Hall, Lamh Laudher found the strange woman, Nell +M'Collum, Connor's servant maid, and the carman awaiting his arrival. +The magistrate looked keenly at the prisoner, and immediately glanced +with an expression of strong disgust at Nell M'Collum. The other female +surveyed Lamh Laudher with an interest evidently deep; after which +she whispered something to Nell, who frowned and shook her head, as if +dissenting from what she had heard. Lamh Laudher, on his part surveyed +the features of the female with an earnestness that seemed to absorb all +sense of his own disgrace and danger. + +"O'Rorke," said the magistrate, "this is a serious charge against you. I +trust you may be able effectually to meet it." + +"I must wait, your worship, till I hear fully what it is first," replied +Lamh Laudher, "afther that I'm not afraid of clearin' myself from it." + +The woman then detailed the circumstances of the robbery, which it +appeared took place at the moment her luggage was in the act of being +removed to her room, after which she added, rather unexpectedly--"And +now your worship, I have plainly stated the facts; but I must, in +conscience, add, that although this woman," turning to Nell M'Collum, +"is of opinion that the young man before you has robbed me, yet I cannot +think he did." + +"I'll swear, your worship," said Nell, "that on passin' homewards last +night, seein' a car wid people about it, at Luke Connor's door, I stood +behind the porch, merely to thry if I knew who they wor. I seen this +Lamh Laudher wid a small oak box in his hands, an' I'll give my oath +that it was open, an' that he put his hands into it, and tuck something +out." + +"Pray, Nell, how did it happen that you yourself were abroad at so +unseasonable an hour?" said the magistrate. + +"Every one knows that I'm out at quare hours," replied Nell; "I'm not +like others. I know where I ought to be, at all times; but last night, +if your worship wishes to hear the truth, I was on my way to Andy +Murray's wake, the poor lad that was shepherd to the Neils." + +"And pray, Nell," said his worship, "how did you form so sudden an +acquaintance with this respectable looking woman?" + +"I knew her for years," said Nell; "I've seen her in other parts of the +country often." + +"You were more than an hour with her last night--were you not?" said his +worship. + +"She made me stay wid her," said Nell, "bekase she was a stranger, an' +of coorse was glad to see a face she know, afther the fright she got." + +"All very natural, Nell; but in the mean time, she might easily have +chosen a more respectable associate. Have you actually lost the sum of +six hundred pounds, my good madam?" + +"I have positively lost so much," replied the woman, "together with the +certificate of my marriage." + +"And how did you become acquainted with Nell M'Collum?" he inquired. + +The stranger was silent, and blushed deeply at this question; but Nell, +with more presence of mind, went over to the magistrate, and whispered +something which caused him to start, look keenly at her, and then at the +plaintiff. + +"I must have this confirmed by herself" he said in reply to Nell's +disclosure, "otherwise I shall be much more inclined to consider you the +thief than O'Rorke, whose character has been hitherto unimpeachable and +above suspicion." + +He then beckoned the woman over to his desk, and after having first +inquired if she could write, and being replied to in the affirmative, +he placed a slip of paper before her, on which was written--"Is that +unhappy woman called Nell M'Collum, your mother?" + +"Alas! she is, sir," replied the female, with a deep expression +of sorrow. The magistrate then appeared satisfied. "Now," said he, +addressing O'Rorke, "state, fairly and honestly what you have to say in +reply to the charge brought against you." + +"Please your worship," said the young man, "you hear the woman say that +she brings no charge against me; but I can prove on oath, that Nell +M'Collum and her niece, Nanse M'Collum, along with two men that I don't +know, except that one was called Rody, met at Franklin's gate, with an +intention of robing, an' it's my firm belief, of murdering this woman." + +He then detailed with great earnestness the incidents and conversation +of the preceding night. + +"Sir," replied Nell, with astonishing promptness, "I can prove by two +witnesses, that, no longer ago than last night, he said he would take to +the high-road, in ordher to get money to enable him to marry Ellen Neil. +Yes, you villain, Nanse M'Collum heard every word that passed between +you and her in the grassy quarry; an' Ellen, your worship, can prove it +too, if she's sent for." + +This had little effect on the magistrate, who at no time placed any +reliance on Nell's assertions; he immediately, however, dispatched a +summons for Nanse M'Collum. + +The carman then related all that he knew, every word of which strongly +corroborated what Lamh Laudher had said. He concluded by declaring it +to be his opinion, that the prisoner was innocent, and added, that, +according to the best of his belief, the box was not open when he left +it in the plaintiff's sleeping-room above stairs. + +The magistrate again looked keenly and suspiciously towards Nell. At +this stage of the proceedings, O'Rorke's father and mother, accompanied +by some of their friends, made their appearance. The old man, however, +declined to take any part in the vindication of his son. He stood +sullenly silent, with his arms folded and his brows knit, as much in +indignation as in sorrow. The grief of the mother was louder, for she +wept audibly. + +Ere the lapse of many minutes, the constable returned, and stated that +Nanse was not be found. + +"She has not been at her master's house since morning," he observed, +"and they don't know where she is, or what has become of her." + +The magistrate immediately despatched two of the constables, with strict +injunctions! to secure her, if possible. + +"In the mean time," he added, "I will order you, Nell M'Collum, to be +strictly confined, until I ascertain whether she can be produced or not. +Your haunts may be searched with some hope of success, while you are in +durance; but I rather think we might seek for her in vain, if you were +at liberty to regulate her motions. I cannot expect," he added, turning +to the stranger, "that you should prosecute one so nearly related to +you, even if you had proof, which you have not; but I am almost certain, +that she has been someway or other concerned in the robbery. You are a +modest, interesting woman, and I regret the loss you have sustained. At +present there are no grounds for committing any of the parties charged +with the robbery. This unhappy woman I commit only as a vagrant, until +her niece is found, after that we shall probably be able to see somewhat +farther into this strange affair." + +"Something tells' me, sir," replied the stranger, "that this young man +is as innocent of the robbery as the child unborn. It's not my intention +ever to think of prosecuting him. What I have done in the matter was +against my own wishes." + +"God in heaven bless you for the words!" exclaimed the parents of +O'Rorke, each pressing her hand with delight and gratitude. The woman +warmly returned their greetings, but instantly felt her bosom heave +with a hysterical oppression under which she sank into a state of +insensibility. Lamh Laudher More and his wife were proceeding to bring +her towards the door for air, when Nell M'Collum insisted on a prior +right to render her that service. "Begone, you servant of the devil," +exclaimed the old man, "your wicked breath is bad about any one else; +you won!t lay a hand upon her." + +"Don't let her, for heaven's sake!" said his wife; "her eye will kill the +woman!" + +"You are not aware," said the magistrate, "that this woman is her +daughter?" + +"Whose daughter, please your honor," said the old man indignantly. + +"Nell M'Collum's," he returned. + +"It's as false as hell!" rejoined O'Rorke, "beggin' your honor's pardon +for sayin' so. I mean it's false for Nell, if she says it. Nell, sir, +never had a daughter, an' she knows that; but she had a son, an' she +knows best what became of him." + +Nell, however, resolved not to be deterred from getting-the stranger +into her own hands. With astonishing strength and fury she attempted to +drag the insensible creature from O'Rorke's grasp; but the magistrate, +disgusted at her violence, ordered two of the persons present to hold +her down. + +At length the woman began to recover. + +She sobbed aloud, and a copious flow of tears drenched her cheeks. Nell +ordered her to tear herself from O'Rorke and his wife:-- "Their hands +are bad about you," she exclaimed, "and their son has robbed you, Mary. +Lave them, I say, or it will be worse for you." + +The woman paid her no attention; on the contrary, she laid her head on +the bosom of O'Rorke's wife, and wept as if her heart would break. + +"God help me!" she exclaimed with a bitter sense of her situation, "I am +an unhappy, an' a heart-broken woman! For many a year I have not known +what it is to have a friendly breast to weep on." + +She then caught O'Rorke's hand and kissed it affectionately, after which +she wept afresh; + +"Merciful heaven!" said she'--"oh, how will I ever be able to meet my +husband! and such a husband! oh, heavens pity me!" + +Both O'Rorke and his wife stood over her in tears. The latter bent her +head, kissed the stranger, and pressed her to her bosom. "May God bless +you!" said O'Rorke himself solemnly; "trust in Him, for he can see +justice done to you when man fails." + +The eyes of Nell glared at the group like those of an enraged tigress: +she stamped her feet upon the floor, and struck it repeatedly with her +stick, as she was in the habit of doing, when moved by strong and deadly +passions. + +"You'll suffer for that, Mary," she exclaimed; "and as for you, Lamh +Laudher More, my debt's not paid to you yet. Your son's a robber, an +I'll prove it before long; every one knows he's a coward too." + +Mr. Brookleigh felt that there appeared to be something connected with +the transactions of the preceding night, as well as with some of the +persons who had come before him, that perplexed him not a little. He +thought that, considering the serious nature of the charge preferred +against young O'Rorke, he exhibited an apathy under it, that did not +altogether argue innocence. Some unsettled suspicions entered his mind, +but not with sufficient force to fix with certainty upon any of those +present, except Nell and Nanse M'Collum who had absconded. If Nell +were the woman's mother, her anxiety to bring the criminal to justice +appeared very natural. Then, again, young O'Rorke's father, who seemed +to know the history of Nell M'Collum, denied that she ever had a +daughter. How could he be certain that she had not, without knowing her +private life thoroughly? These circumstances appeared rather strange, if +not altogether incomprehensible; so much so, indeed, that he thought +it necessary, before they separated, to speak with O'Rorke's family in +private. Having expressed a wish to this effect, he dismissed the +other parties, except Nell, whom he intended to keep confined until the +discovery of her niece. + +"Pray," said he to the father of our humble hero, "how do you know, +O'Rorke, that Nell M'Collum never had a daughter?" + +"Right well, your honor. I knew her since she was a child; an' from that +day to this she was never six months from this town at a time. No, no--a +son she had, but a daughter she never had." + +"Let me ask you, young man, on what business were you abroad last night? +I expect you will answer me candidly?" + +"It's no matther," replied young Lamh Laudher gloomily, "my character's +gone. I cannot be worse, an' I will tell no man how I spent it, till I +have an opportunity of clarin' myself." + +"If you spent it innocently," returned the magistrate, "you can have no +hesitation in making the disclosure we require." + +"I will not mention it," said the other; "I was disgraced, an' that is +enough. I think but little of the robbery." + +Brookleigh understood him; but the last assertion, though it exonerated +him in the opinion of a man who knew something about character, went far +in that of his friends who were present to establish his guilt. + +They then withdrew; and it would have been much to young Lamh Laudher's +advantage if this private interview had never taken place. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +The next morning O'Rorke and his wife! waited upon Mr. Brookleigh to +state, that in their opinion it would be more judicious to liberate +Nell M'Collum, provided he kept a strict watch upon all her motions. +The magistrate instantly admitted both the force and ingenuity of the +thought; and after having appointed three persons to the task of keeping +her under surveillance, he set her at large. + +This was all judicious and prudent; but in the mean time, common rumor, +having first published the fact of young Lamh Laudher's cowardice, found +it an easy task to associate his name with the robbery. His very father, +after their last conference with the magistrate, doubted him; his +friends, in the most sympathetic terms, expressed their conviction of +his guilt, and the natural consequence resulting from this was, that he +found himself expelled from his paternal roof, and absolutely put out +of caste. The tide of ill-fame, in fact, set in so strongly against +him, that Ellen, startled as she had been by his threat of taking to +the highway, doubted him. The poor young man, in truth, led a miserable +life. Nanse M'Collum had not been found, and the unfavorable rumor was +still at its height, when one morning the town arose and found the walls +and streets placarded with what was in those days known as the fatal +challenge of the DEAD BOXER! + +This method of intimating his arrival had always been peculiar to that +individual, who was a man of color. No person ever discovered the +means by which he placarded his dreadful challenge. In an age of +gross superstition, numerous were the rumors and opinions promulgated +concerning this circumstance. The general impression was, that an evil +spirit attended him, by whose agency his advertisements were put up at +night; A law, it is said, then existed, that when a pugilist arrived in +any town, He might claim the right to receive the sum of fifty guineas, +provided no man in the town could be found to accept his challenge +within a given period. A champion, if tradition be true, had the +privilege of fixing only the place, not the mode and regulations of +battle. Accordingly the scene of contest uniformly selected by the Dead +Boxer was the church-yard of the town, beside a new made grave, dug at +his expense. The epithet of the Dead Boxer had been given to him, in +consequence of a certain fatal stroke by which he had been able to kill +every antagonist who dared to meet him; precisely on the same principle +that we call a fatal marksman a dead shot; and the church-yard was +selected, and the grave prepared, in order to denote the fatality +incurred by those who went into a contest with him. He was famous, too, +at athletic sports, but was never known to communicate the secret of +the fatal blow; he also taught the sword exercises, at which he was +considered to be a proficient. + +On the morning after his arrival, the town in which we have laid the +scene of this legend felt the usual impulse of an intense curiosity to +see so celebrated a character. The Dead Boxer, however, appeared to be +exceedingly anxious to gratify this natural propensity. He walked +out from the head inn, where he had stopped, attended by his servant, +merely, it would appear, to satisfy them as to the very slight chance +which the stoutest of them had in standing before a man whose blow was +so fatal, and whose frame so prodigiously Herculean. + +Twelve o'clock was the hour at which he deemed proper to make his +appearance, and as it happened also to be the market-day of the town, +the crowd which followed him was unprecedented. The old and young, the +hale and feeble of both sexes, all rushed out to see, with feelings of +fear and wonder, the terrible and far-famed Dead Boxer. The report +of his arrival had already spread far and wide into the country, +and persons belonging to every class and rank of life might be seen +hastening on horseback, and more at full speed on foot, that they might, +if possible, catch an early glimpse of him. The most sporting +characters among the nobility and gentry of the country, fighting-peers, +fire-eaters, snuff-candle squires, members of the hell-fire and +jockey clubs, gaugers, gentlemen tinners, bluff yeomen, laborers, +cudgel-players, parish pugilists, men of renown within a district of ten +square miles, all jostled each other in hurrying to see, and if possible +to have speech of, the Dead Boxer. Not a word was spoken that day, +except with reference to him, nor a conversation introduced, the topic +of which was not the Dead Boxer. In the town every window was filled +with persons standing to get a view of him; so were the tops of the +houses, the dead walls, and all the cars, gates, and available eminences +within sight of the way along which he went. Having thus perambulated +the town, he returned to the market-cross, which, as we have said, stood +immediately in front of his inn. Here, attended by music, he personally +published his challenge in a deep and sonorous voice, calling upon the +corporation in right of his championship, to produce a man in ten clear +days ready to undertake battle with him as a pugilist, or otherwise to +pay him the sum of fifty guineas out of their own proper exchequer. + +Having thus thrown down his gauntlet, the musicians played a dead march, +and there was certainly something wild and fearful in the association +produced by these strains of death and the fatality of encountering +him. This challenge he repeated at the same place and hour during three +successive days, after which he calmly awaited the result. + +In the mean time, certain circumstances came to light, which not only +developed many cruel and profligate traits in his disposition, but also +enabled the worthy inhabitants of the town to ascertain several facts +relating to his connections, which in no small degree astonished them. +The candid and modest female whose murder and robbery had been planned +by Nell M'Collum, resided with him as his wife; at least if he did not +acknowledge her as such, no person who had an opportunity of witnessing +her mild and gentle deportment, ever for a moment conceived her capable +of living with him in any other character, his conduct to her, however, +was brutal in the extreme, nor was his open and unmanly cruelty lessened +by the misfortune of her having lost the money which he had accumulated. +With Nell M'Collum he was also acquainted, for he had given orders that +she should be admitted to him whenever she deemed it necessary. Nell, +though now at large, found her motions watched with a vigilance which no +ingenuity on her part, could baffle. She knew this, and was resolved by +caution to overreach those who dogged her so closely. Her intimacy with +the Dead Boxer threw a shade of still deeper mystery around her own +character and his. Both were supposed to be capable of entering into +evil communion with supernatural beings, and both, of course, were +looked upon with fear and hatred, modified, to be sure, by the +peculiarity of their respective situations. + +Let not our readers, however, suppose that young Lamh Laudher's disgrace +was altogether lost in the wide-spread fame of the Dead Boxer. His high +reputation for generous and manly feeling had given him too strong a +hold upon the hearts of all who know him, to be at once discarded by +them from public conversation as an indifferent person. His conduct +filled them with wonder, it is true; but although the general tone of +feeling respecting the robbery was decidedly in his favor, yet there +still existed among the public, particularly in the faction that was +hostile to him, enough of doubt, openly expressed, to render it a duty +to avoid him; particularly when this formidable suspicion was joined to +the notorious fact of his cowardice in the rencounter with Meehaul Neil. +Both subjects were therefore discussed with probably an equal interest; +but it is quite certain that the rumor of Lamh Laudher's cowardice would +alone have occasioned him, under the peculiar circumstances which drew +it forth, to be avoided and branded with contumely. There was, in +fact, then in existence among the rival factions in Ireland much of the +military sense of honor which characterizes the British army at this +day; nor is this spirit even yet wholly exploded, from our humble +countrymen. Poor Lamh Laudher was, therefore, an exile from his father's +house, repulsed and avoided by all who had formerly been intimate with +him. + +There was another individual, however, who deeply sympathized in all he +felt, because she knew that for her sake it had been incurred; we allude +to Ellen Neil. Since the night of their last interview, she, too, had +been scrupulously watched by her relations. But what vigilance can +surpass the ingenuity of love? Although her former treacherous confidant +had absconded, yet the incident of the Dead Boxer's arrival had been the +means of supplying her with a friend, into whose bosom she felt that she +could pour out all the anxieties of her heart. This was no other than +the Dead Boxer's wife; and there was this peculiarity in the interest +which she took in Ellen's distress, that it was only a return of +sympathy which Ellen felt in the unhappy woman's sufferings. The conduct +of her husband was indefensible; for while he treated her with shameful +barbarity, it was evident that his bad passions and his judgment were at +variance, with respect to the estimate which he formed of her character. +In her honesty he placed every confidence, and permitted her to manage +his money and regulate his expenses; but this was merely because her +frugality and economic habits gratified his parsimony, and fostered one +of his strongest passions, which was avarice. There was something about +this amiable creature that won powerfully upon the affections of Ellen +Neil; and in entrusting her with the secret of her love, she she felt +assured that she had not misplaced it. Their private conversations, +therefore, were frequent, and their communications, unreserved on both +sides, so far as woman can bestow confidence and friendship on the +subject of her affections or her duty. This intimacy did not long escape +the prying eyes of Nell M'Collum, who soon took means to avail herself +of it for purposes which will shortly become evident. + +It was about the sixth evening after the day on which the Dead Boxer had +published his challenge, that, having noticed Nell from a window as she +passed the inn, he dispatched a waiter with a message that she should be +sent up to him. Previous to this the hag had been several times with +his wife, on whom she laid serious injunctions never to disclose to her +husband the relationship between them. The woman had never done so, for +in fact the acknowledgement of Nell, as her mother, would have been +to, any female whose feelings had not been made callous by the world, a +painful and distressing task. Nell was the more anxious on this point, +as she feared that such a disclosure would have frustrated her own +designs. + +"Well, granny," said he, when Nell entered, "any word of the money?" + +Nell cautiously shut the door, and stood immediately fronting him, her +hand at some distance from her side, supported by her staff, and her +gray glittering eyes fixed upon him with that malicious look which she +never could banish from her countenance. + +"The money will come," she replied, "in good time. I've a charm near +ready that'll get a clue to it. I'm watchin' him--and I'm watched +myself--an' Ellen's watched. He has hardly a house to put his head in; +but _nabockish!_ I'll bring you an' him together--ay, _dher manim_, an' +I'll make him give you the first blow; afther that, if you don't give +him one, it's your own fau't." + +"Get the money first, granny. I won't give him the blow till _it_ is +safe." + +"Won't you?" replied the beldame; "ay, _dher Creestha_, will you, whin +you know what. I have to tell you about him an'--an'----" + +"And who, granny?" + +"_Diououl_, man, but I'm afeard to tell you, for fraid you'd kill me." + +"Tut, Nelly; I'd not strike an Obeah-wo-man," said he, laughing. + +"I suspect foul play between him an'--her." + +"Eh? Fury of hell, no!" + +"He's very handsome," said the other, "an' young--far younger than you +are, by thirteen--" + +"Go on--go on," said the Dead Boxer, interrupting her, and clenching +his fist, whilst his eyes literally glowed like live coals, "go on--I'll +murder him, but not till--yes, I'll murder him at a blow--I will; but +no--not till you secure the money first. If I give him the blow--THE +BOX--I might never get it, granny. A dead man gives back nothing." + +"I suspect," replied Nell, "_arraghid_--that is the money--is in other +hands. Lord presarve us! but it's a wicked world, blackey." + +"Where is it!" said the Boxer, with a vehemence of manner resembling +that of a man who was ready to sink to perdition for his wealth. "Devil! +and furies! where is it?" + +"Where is it?" said the imperturbable Nell; "why, manim a yeah, man, +sure you don't think that I know where it is? I suspect that your +landlord's daughter, his real sweetheart, knows something about it; but +thin, you see, I can prove nothing; I only suspect. We must watch an' +wait. You know she wouldn't prosecute him." + +"We will watch an' wait--but I'll finish him. Tell me, Nell--fury of +hell, woman--can it be possible--no--well--I'll murder him, though; +but can it be possible that she's guilty? eh? She wouldn't prosecute +him--No--no--she would not." + +"She is not worthy of you, blackey. Lord save us! Well, troth, I +remimber whin you wor in Lord S--'s, you were a fine young man of your +color. I did something for the young lord in my way then, an' I used to +say, when I called to see her, that you wor a beauty, barrin' the face. +Sure enough, there was no lie in that. Well, that was before you tuck +to the fightin'; but I'm ravin'. Whisper, man. If you doubt what I'm +sayin', watch the north corner of the orchard about nine to-night, an' +you'll see a meetin' between her an' O'Rorke. God be wid you! I must +go." + +"Stop!" said the Boxer; "don't--but do get a charm for the money." + +"Good-by," said Nell; "_you_ a heart wid your money! No; _damnho sherry_ +on the charm ever I'll get you till you show more spunk. You! My curse +on the money, man, when your disgrace is consarned!" + +Nell passed rapidly, and with evident indignation out of the room; nor +could any entreaty on the part of the Dead Boxer induce her to return +and prolong the dialogue. + +She had said enough, however, to produce in his bosom torments almost +equal to those of the damned. In several of their preceding dialogues, +she had impressed him with a belief that young Lamh Laudher was the +person who had robbed his wife; and now to the hatred that originated in +a spirit of avarice, she added the deep and deadly one of jealousy. On +the other hand, the Dead Boxer had, in fact, begun to feel the influence +of Ellen Neil's beauty; and perhaps nothing would have given him greater +satisfaction than the removal of a woman whom he no longer loved, except +for those virtues which enabled him to accumulate money. And now, too, +had he an equal interest in the removal of his double rival, whom, +besides, he considered the spoliator of his hoarded property. The +loss of this money certainly stung him to the soul, and caused his +unfortunate wife to suffer a tenfold degree of persecution and misery. +When to this we add his sudden passion for Ellen Neil, we may easily +conceive what she must have endured. Nell, at all events, felt satisfied +that she had shaped the strong passions of her savage dupe in the way +best calculated to gratify that undying spirit of vengeance which she +had so long nurtured against the family of Lamh Laudher. The Dead Boxer, +too, was determined to prosecute his amour with Ellen Neil, not more to +gratify his lawless affection for her than his twofold hatred of Lamh +Laudher. + +At length nine o'clock arrived, and the scene must change to the +northern part of Sheemus Neil's orchard. The Dead Boxer threw a cloak +around him, and issuing through the back door of the inn, entered the +garden, which was separated from the orchard only by a low clipped hedge +of young whitethorn, in the middle of which stood of a small gate. In a +moment he was in the orchard, and from behind its low wall he perceived +a female proceeding to the north side muffled like himself in a cloak, +which he immediately recognized to be that of his wife. His teeth became +locked together with the most deadly resentment; his features twitched +with the convulsive spasms of rage, and his nostrils were distended +as if his victims stood already within his grasp. He instantly threw +himself over the wall, and nothing but the crashing weight of his tread +could have saved the lives of the two unsuspecting persons before him. +Startled, however, by the noise of his footsteps, Lamh Laudher turned +round to observe who it was that followed them, and immediately the +massy and colossal black now stripped of his cloak--for he had thrown it +aside--stood in their presence. The female instinctively drew the cloak +round her face, and Lamh Laudher was about to ask why he followed them, +when the Boxer approached him in an attitude of assault. + +With a calmness almost unparalleled under the circumstances, Lamh +Laudher desired the female by no means to cling to him. + +"If you do," said he, "I am murdered where I stand." + +"No," she shrieked, "you shall not. Stand back, man, stand back, if you +murder him I will take care you shall suffer for it. Stand back. Lamh +Laudher never injured you." + +"Ha!" exclaimed the Boxer, in reply; "why, what is this! Who have we +here?" + +Ellen, for it was she, had already thrown back the cloak from her +features, and stepped forward between them. + +"Well, I am glad it is you," said the black, "and so may he. Come, I +shall conduct you home." + +He caught her arm as he spoke, and drew her over to his side like an +infant. + +"Come, my pretty girl, come; I will treat you tenderly, and all I shall +ask is a kiss in return. Here, young fellow," said he to Lamh Laudher, +with a sense of bitter triumph, "I will show you that one black kiss is +worth two white ones." + +Heavy, hard, and energetic was the blow which the Dead Boxer received +upon the temple, as the reply of Lamh Laudher, and dead was the crash +of his tremendous body on the earth. Ellen looked around her with +amazement. + +"Come," said she, seizing her lover's arm, and dragging him onward: +"gracious heavens! I hope you haven't killed him. Come, John, the time +is short, and we must make the most of it. That villain, as I tould you +before, is a villain. Oh! if you knew it! John, I have been the manes of +your disgrace and suffering, but I am willing to do what I can to remedy +that. In your disgrace, Ellen will be ready, in four days from this, +to become your wife. John, come to meet me no more. I will send that +villain's innocent wife to your aunt Alley's, where you now live'. I +didn't expect to see you myself; but I got an opportunity, and besides +she was too unwell to bring my message, which was to let you know what I +now tell you." + +John, ere he replied, looked behind him at the Dead Boxer, and appeared +as if struck with some sudden thought. + +"He is movin'," said he, "an' on this night I don't wish to meet him +again; but--yes, Ellen, yes--God bless you for the words you've said; +but how could you for one minute doubt me about the robbery?" + +"I did not, John--I did not; and if I did, think of your own words at +our meetin' in the Quarry; it was a small suspicion, though--no more. +No, no; at heart I never doubted you." + +"Ellen," said John, "hear me. You never will become my wife till my +disgrace is wiped away. I love you too well ever to see you blush for +your husband. My mind's made up--so say no more. Ay, an' I tell you that +to live three months in this state would break my heart." + +"Poor John!" she exclaimed, as they separated, and the words were +followed by a gush of tears, "I know that there is not one of them, in +either of the factions, so noble in heart and thought as you are." + +"Ill prove that soon, Ellen; but never till my name is fair and clear, +an' without spot, can you be my wife. Good night, dearest; in every +thing but that I'll be guided by you." + +They then separated, and immediately the Dead Boxer, like a drunken man, +went tottering, rather crest-fallen, towards the inn. On reaching his +own room, his rage appeared quite ungovernable; he stormed, stamped, and +raved on reflecting that any one was able to knock him down. He called +for brandy and water, with a curse to the waiter, swore deeply between +every sip, and, ultimately dispatched another messenger for Nell +M'Collum. + +"That Obeah woman's playing on me," he exclaimed; "because my face is +black, she thinks me a fool. Furies! I neither know what she is, nor who +the other is. But I will know." + +"Don't be too sure of that," replied Nell, gliding into the +apartment--"You can say little, blackey, or think little, avourneen, +that I'll not know. As to who she is, you needn't ax--she won't be long +troublin' you; an' in regard to myself, I'm what you see me. Arra, _dher +ma chuirp_, man alive, I could lave you in one night that a boy in his +first _breestha_ (small clothes) could bate the marrow out of you." + +"Where did you come from now, granny?" + +"From her room; she's sick--that was what prevented her from meetin' +Lamh Laudher." + +"Granny, do you know who she is? I'm tired of her--sick of her." + +"You know enough about her to satisfy you. Wasn't she a beautiful +creature when Lady S------ tuck her into the family, an' reared her till +she was fit to wait upon herself. Warn't you then sarvant to the ould +lord, an' didn't I make her marry you, something against her will, too; +but she did it to plase me. That was before 'buildin' churches' druv you +out of the family, an' made you take to the fightin' trade." + +"Granny, you must bring this young fellow across me. Blood! woman, do +you know what he did? He knocked me down, granny--struck me senseless! +Fury of hell! Me! Only for attempting to kiss his sweetheart!" + +"Ha!" said Nell, bitterly, "keep that to yourself, for heaven's sake! +_Dher ma chuirp_, man, if it was known, his name would be higher up than +ever. Be my sowl, any how, that was the Lamh Laudher blow, my boy, an' +what that is, is well known. The devil curse him for it!" + +"Granny, you must assist me in three things. Find a clue to the +money--bring this fellow in my way, as you promised--and help me with +the landlord's daughter." + +"Is there nothin' else?" + +"What?" + +"She's sick." + +"Well, let her die, then; I don't care." + +"In the other things I will help you," said Nell; "but you must clear +your own way there. I can do every thing but that. I have a son myself, +an' my hands is tied against blood till I find him out. I could like to +see some people withered, but I can't kill." + +"Well, except her case, we understand one another. Good night, then." + +"You must work that for yourself. Good night." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +In the mean time a circumstance occurred which scarcely any person who +heard it could at first believe. About twelve o'clock the next day the +house of Lamh Laudher More was surrounded with an immense crowd, and the +whole town seemed to be in a state of peculiar animation and excitement. +Groups met, stood, and eagerly accosted each other upon some topic that +evidently excited equal interest and astonishment. + +LAMH LAUDHER OGE HAD CHALLENGED THE DEAD BOXER. + +True. On that morning, at an early hour, the proscribed young man waited +upon the Sovereign of the town, and requested to see him. Immediately +after his encounter with the black the preceding night, and while Ellen +Neil offered to compensate him for the obloquy she had brought upon his +name, he formed the dreadful resolution of sending him a challenge. In +very few words he stated his intention to the Sovereign, who looked upon +him as insane. + +"No, no," replied that gentleman; "go home, O'Rorke, and banish the idea +out of your head; it is madness." + +"But I say yes, yes, with great respect to you, sir," observed Lamh +Laudher. "I've been banished from my father's house, and treated with +scorn by all that know me, because they think me a coward. Now I'll let +them know I'm no coward." + +"But you will certainly be killed," said,the Sovereign. + +"That's to be seen," observed the young man; "at all events, I'd as soon +be killed as livin' in disgrace. I'll thank you, sir, as the head of the +town, to let the black know that Lamh Laudher Oge will fight him." + +"For heaven's sake, reflect a moment upon the----" + +"My mind's made up to fight," said the other, interrupting him. "No +power on earth will prevent me, sir. So, if you don't choose to send the +challenge, I'll bring it myself." + +The Sovereign shook his head, as if conscious of what the result must +be. + +"That is enough," said he; "as you are fixed on your own destruction, +the challenge will be given; but I trust you will think better of it." + +"Let him know, if you please," added Lamh Laudher, "that on to-morrow at +twelve o'clock we must fight." + +The magistrate nodded, and Lamh Laudher immediately took his leave. In a +short time the intelligence spread. From the sovereign it passed to his +clerk, from the clerk to the other members of the corporation, and, ere +an hour, the town was in a blaze with the intelligence. + +"Did you hear what's reported?" was the general question. + +Lamh Laudher Oge has challenged the Dead Boxer! + +The reader already knows how bitterly public opinion had set in against +our humble hero; but it would be difficult to describe, in terms +sufficiently vivid, the rapid and powerful reaction which now took place +in his favor. Every one pitied him, praised him, remembered his former +prowess, and after finding some palliative for his degrading interview +with Meehaul Neil, concluded with expressing a firm conviction that he +had undertaken a fatal task. When the rumor had reached his parents, the +blood ran cold in their veins, and their natural affection, now roused +into energy, grasped at an object that was about to be violently removed +from it. Their friends and neighbors, as we have stated, came to their +house for the purpose of dissuading their son against so rash and +terrible an undertaking. + +"It musn't be," said they, "for whatever was over him wid Meehaul Neil, +we know now he's no coward, an' that's enough. We musn't see him beat +dead before our eyes, at all events, where is he?" + +"He's at his aunt's," replied the father; "undher this roof he says +he will never come till his name is cleared. Heavens above! For him to +think of fighting a man that kills every one he fights wid!" + +The mother's outcries were violent, as were those of his female +relations, whilst a solemn and even mournful spirit brooded upon the +countenances of his own faction. It was resolved that his parents and +friends should now wait upon, and by every argument and remonstrance in +their power, endeavor to change the rashness of his purpose: + +The young man received them with a kind but somewhat sorrowful, spirit. +The father, uncovered, and with his gray locks flowing down upon his +shoulders, approached him, extended his hand, and with an infirm voice +said-- + +"Give me your hand, John. You're welcome to your father's heart an' +your father's roof once more." + +The son put his arms across his breast, and bowed his head respectfully, +but declined receiving his father's hand. + +"Not, father--father dear--not till my name is cleared." + +"John," said the old man, now in tears, "will you refuse me? You are my +only son, my only child, an' I cannot lose you. Your name is cleared." + +"Father," said the son, "I've sworn--it's now too late. My heart, +father, has been crushed by what has happened lately. I found little +charity among my friend's. I say, I cannot change my mind, for I've +sworn to fight him. And even if I had not sworn, I couldn't, as a man, +but do it, for he has insulted them that I love better than my own life. +I knew you would want to persuade me against what I'm doin'--an' that +was why I bound myself this mornin' by an oath." + +The mother, who had been detained a few minutes behind them, now +entered, and on hearing that he had refused to decline the battle, +exclaimed-- + +"Who says that Lamh Laudher Oge won't obey his mother? Who dare say it? +Wasn't he ever and always an obedient son to me an' his father? I won't +believe that lie of my boy, no more than I ever believed a word of' what +was sed against him. _Shawn Oge aroon_, you won't refuse me, _avillish_. +What 'ud become of me, _avich ma chree_, if you fight him? Would you +have the mother's heart broken, an' our roof childless all out? We +lost one as it is--the daughter of our heart is gone, an' we don't know +how--an' now is your father an' me to lie down an' die in desolation +widout a child to shed a tear over us, or to put up one prayer for our +happiness?" + +The young man's eyes filled with tears; but his cheek reddened, and he +dashed them hastily aside. + +"No, my boy, my glorious boy, won't refuse to save his mother's heart +from breakin'; ay, and his gray-haired father's too--he won't kill us +both--my boy won't,--nor send us to the grave before our time!" + +"Mother," said he, "if I could I--Oh! no, no. Now, it's too late--if I +didn't fight him, I'd be a perjured man. You know," he added, smiling, +"there's something in a Lamh Laudher's blow, as well as in the Dead +Boxer's. Isn't it said, that a Lamh Laudher needn't strike two blows, +when he sends his strength with one." + +He stretched out his powerful arm, as he spoke, with a degree of pride, +not unbecoming his youth, spirit, and amazing strength and activity. + +"Do not," he added, "either vex me, or sink my spirits. I'm sworn, an' +I'll fight him. That's my mind, and it will not change." + +The whole party felt, by the energy and decision with which he spoke +the last words, that he was immovable. His resolution filled them with +melancholy, and an absolute sense of death. They left him, therefore, in +silence, with the exception of his parents, whose grief was bitter and +excessive. + +When the Dead Boxer heard that he had been challenged, he felt more +chagrin than satisfaction, for his avarice was disappointed; but when he +understood from those members of the corporation who waited on him, +that Lamh Laudher was the challenger, the livid fire of mingled rage and +triumph which blazed in his large bloodshot eyes absolutely frightened +the worthy burghers. + +"I'm glad of that," said he--"here, Joe, I desire you to go and get +a coffin made, six feet long and properly wide--we will give him room +enough; tehee! tehee! tehee!--ah! tehee! tehee! tehee! I'm glad, +gentlemen. Herr! agh! tehee! tehee! I'm glad, I'm glad." + +In this manner did he indulge in the wild and uncouth glee of a savage +as ferocious as he was powerful. + +"We have a quare proverb here, Misther Black," said one of the worthy +burghers, "that, be my sowl, may be you never heard!" + +"Tehee! tehee! agh! What is that?" said the Boxer, showing his white +teeth and blubber lips in a furious grin, whilst the eyes which he +fastened on the poor burgher blazed up once more, as if he was about to +annihilate him. + +"What is it, sar?" + +"Faith," said the burgher, making towards the door, "I'll tell you +that when I'm the safe side o' the room--devil a ha'porth bar-rin' that +neither you nor any man ought to reckon your chickens before they +are hatched. Make money of that;" and after having discharged this +pleasantry at the black, the worthy burgher made a hasty exit down +stairs, followed at a more dignified pace by his companions. + +The Dead Boxer, in preparing for battle, observed a series of forms +peculiar to himself, which were certainly of an appalling character. As +a proof that the challenge was accepted, he ordered a black flag, +which he carried about with him, to wave from a window of the inn, a +circumstance which thrilled all who saw it with an awful certainty of +Lamh Laudher's death. He then gave order for the drums to be beaten, +and a dead march to be played before him, whilst he walked slowly up +the town and back, conversing occasionally with some of those who +immediately surrounded him. When he arrived nearly opposite the +market-house, some person pointed out to him a small hut that stood in a +situation isolated from the other houses of the street. + +"There," added his informant, "is the house where Lamh Laudher Oge's +aunt lives, and where he himself has lived since he left his father's." + +"Ah!" said the black, pausing, "is he within, do you think?" + +One of the crowd immediately inquired, and replied to him in +affirmative. + +"Will any of you," continued the boxer, "bring me over a half-hundred +weight from the market crane? I will show this fellow what a poor chance +he has. If he is so strong in the arm and active as is reported, I +desire he will imitate me. Let the music stop a moment." + +The crowd was now on tiptoe, and all necks were stretched over the +shoulders of those who stood before them, in order to see, if possible, +what the feat could be which he intended to perform. Having received +the half-hundred weight from the hands of the man who brought it, he +approached the widow's cottage, and sent in a person to apprize _Lamh +Laudher_ of his intention to throw it over the house, and to request +that he would witness this proof of his strength. Lamh Laudher delayed a +few minutes, and the Dead Boxer stood in the now silent crowd, awaiting +his appearance, when accidentally glancing into the door, he started as +if stung by a serpent. A flash and a glare of his fierce blazing eyes +followed. + +"Ha! damnation! true as hell!" he exclaimed, "she's with him! Ha!--the +Obeah woman was right--the Obeuh woman was right. Guilt, guilt, guilt! +Ha!" + +With terror and fury upon his huge dark features, he advanced a step or +two into the cottage, and in a voice that resembled the under-growl +of an enraged bull, said to his wife, for it was she--"You will never +repeat this--I am aware of you; I know you now! Fury! prepare yourself; +I say so to both. Ha!" Neither she nor Lamh Laudher had an opportunity +of replying to him, for he ran in a mood perfectly savage to the +half-hundred weight, which he caught by the ring, whirled it round him +two or three times, and, to the amazement of the mob who were crowded +about him, flung it over the roof of the cottage. + +Lamh Laudher had just left the cabin in time to witness the feat, as +well as to observe more closely the terrific being in his full strength +and fury, with whom he was to wage battle on the following day. Those +who watched his countenance, observed that it blanched for a moment, and +that the color came and went upon his cheek. + +"Now, young fellow," said the Boxer, "get behind the cabin and throw +back the weight." + +Lamh Landher hesitated, but was ultimately proceeding to make the +attempt, when a voice from the crowd, in tones that were evidently +disguised, shouted-- + +"Don't be a fool, young man; husband your strength, for you will want +it." + +The Dead Boxer started again--"Ha!" he exclaimed, after listening +acutely, "fury of hell! are you there? ha! I'll grasp you yet, though." + +The young man, however, felt the propriety of this friendly caution. +"The person who spoke is right," said he, "whoever he is. I will +husband, my strength," and he passed again into the cabin. + +The boxer's countenance exhibited dark and flitting shadows of rage. +That which in an European cheek would have been the redness of deep +resentment, appeared, on his, as the scarlet blood struggled with the +gloomy hue of his complexion, rather like a tincture that seemed to +borrow its character more from the darkness of his soul, than from the +color of his skin. His brow, black and lowering as a thunder-cloud, hung +fearfully over his eyes, which he turned upon Lamh Laudher when entering +the hut, as if he could have struck him dead with a look. Having desired +the drums to beat, and the dead march to be resumed, he proceeded along +the streets until he arrived at the inn, from the front of which the +dismal flag of death flapped slowly and heavily in the breeze. At this +moment the death-bell of the town church tolled, and the sexton of the +parish bustled through the crowd to inform him that the grave which he +had ordered to be made was ready. + +The solemnity of these preparations, joined to the almost superhuman +proof of bodily strength which he had just given, depressed every heart, +when his young and generous adversary was contrasted with him. Deep +sorrow for the fate of Lamh Laudher prevailed throughout the town; the +old men sighed at the folly of his rash and fatal obstinacy, and the +females shed tears at the sacrifice of one whom all had loved. From +the inn, hundreds of the crowd rushed to the church-yard, where they +surveyed the newly made grave with shudderings and wonder at the +strangeness of the events which had occurred in the course of the day. +The death music, the muffled drums, the black flag, the mournful tolling +of the sullen bell, together with the deep grave that lay open before +them, appeared rather to resemble the fearful pageant of a gloomy dream, +than the reality of incidents that actually passed before their eyes. +Those who came to see the grave departed with heaviness and a sad +foreboding of what was about to happen; but fresh crowds kept pouring +towards it for the remainder of the day, till the dusky shades of a +summer night drove them to their own hearths, and left the church-yard +silent. + +The appearance of the Dead Boxer's wife in the house where Lamh Laudher +resided, confirmed, in its worst sense, that which Nell M'Collum had +suggested to him. It is unnecessary to describe the desolating sweep of +passion which a man, who, like him, was the slave of strong resentments, +must have suffered. It was not only from motives of avarice and a +natural love of victory that he felt anxious to fight: to these was now +added a dreadful certainty that Lamh Laudher was the man in existence +who had inflicted on him an injury, for which nothing but the pleasure +of crushing him to atoms with his hands, could atone. The approaching +battle therefore, with his direst enemy, was looked upon by the Dead +Boxer as an opportunity of glutting his revenge. When the crowd had +dispersed, he called a waiter, and desired him to inquire if his +wife had returned. The man retired to ascertain, and the Boxer walked +backwards and forwards in a state of mind easily conceived, muttering +curses and vows of vengeance against her and Lamh Laudher. After some +minutes he was informed that she had not returned, upon which he gave +orders that on the very instant of her appearance at the inn, she should +be sent to him. The waiter's story in this instance was incorrect; +but the wife's apprehension of his violence, overcame every other +consideration, and she resolved for some time to avoid him. He had, in +fact, on more than one occasion openly avowed his jealousy of her and +O'Rorke, and that in a manner which made the unhappy woman tremble for +her life. She felt, therefore, from what had just occurred at Widow +Rorke's cabin, that she must separate herself from him, especially as +he was susceptible neither of reason nor remonstrance. Every thing +conspired to keep his bad passions in a state of tumult. Nell M'Collum, +whom he wished to consult once more upon the recovery of his money, +could not be found. This, too, galled him; for avarice, except +during the whirlwind of jealousy, was the basis of his character--the +predominant passion of his heart. After cooling a little, he called for +his servant, who had been in the habit of acting for him in the capacity +of second, and began, with his assistance, to make preparations for +to-morrow's battle. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Nothing now could exceed the sympathy which was felt for young Lamh +Laudher, yet except among his immediate friends, there was little +exertion made to prevent him from accelerating his own fate. So true +is it that public feeling scruples not to gratify its appetite for +excitement, even at the risk or actual cost of human life. His parents +and relations mourned him as if he had been already dead. The grief +of his mother had literally broken down her voice so much, that from +hoarseness, she was almost unintelligible. His aged father sat and wept +like a child; and it was in vain that any of their friends attempted to +console them. During the latter part of the day, every melancholy stroke +of the death bell pierced their hearts; the dead march, too, and the +black flag waving, as if in triumph over the lifeless body of their only +son, the principal support of their declining years, filled them with +a gloom and terror, which death, in its common shape, would not have +inspired. This savage pageant on the part, of the Dead Boxer, besides +being calculated to daunt the heart of any man who might accept his +challenge, was a cruel mockery of the solemnities of death. In this +instance it produced such a sensation as never had been felt in that +part of the country. An uneasy feeling of wild romance, mingled with +apprehension, curiosity, fear, and amazement, all conspired to work upon +the imaginations of a people in whom that quality is exuberant, until +the general excitement became absolutely painful. + +Perhaps there was not one among his nearest friends who felt more +profound regret for having been the occasion of his disgrace, and +consequently of the fate to which he had exposed him, than Meehaul Neil. +In the course of that day he sent his father to old Lamh Laudher, to +know if young O'Rorke would grant him an interview, the object of which +was to dissuade him from the battle. + +"Tell him," said the latter, with a composure still tinged with a +sorrowful spirit, "that I will not see him to-day. To-morrow I may, +and if I don't, tell him, that for his sister's sake, he has my +forgiveness." + +The introduction of the daughter's name shortened the father's visit, +who left him in silence. + +Ellen, however, had struggles to endure which pressed upon her heart +with an anguish bitter in proportion to the secrecy rendered necessary +by the dread of her relations. From the moment she heard of Lamh +Laudher's challenge, and saw the funeral appendages with which the Dead +Boxer had darkened the preparations for the fight, she felt her heart +sink, from a consciousness that she had been indirectly the murderess of +her lover. Her countenance became ghastly pale, and her frame was seized +with a tremor which she could hardly conceal. She would have been glad +to have shed tears, but tears were denied her. Except the Boxer's wife, +there was no one to whom she could disclose her misery; but alas! for +once, that amiable creature was incapable of affording her consolation. +She herself, felt distress resulting from both the challenge, and her +husband's jealousy, almost equal to that of Ellen. + +"I know not how it is," said she, "but I cannot account for the interest +I feel in that young man. Yes, surely, it is natural, when we consider +that I owe my life to him. Still, independently of that, I never heard +his voice, that it did not fall upon my heart like the voice of a +friend. We must, if possible, change his mind,", she added, wiping away +her tears; "for I know that if he fights that terrible man, he will be +killed." + +At Ellen's request, she consented to see Lamh Laudher, with a view of +entreating him, in her name, to decline the fight. Nor were her own +solicitations less urgent. With tears and grief which could not be +affected, she besought him not to rush upon certain death--said that +Ellen could not survive it--pleaded the claims of his aged parents, +and left no argument untouched that could apply to his situation and +conduct. Lamh Laudher, however, was inexorable, and she relinquished an +attempt that she felt to be ineffectual. The direction of her husband's +attention so unexpectedly to widow Rorke's I cabin, at that moment, +and his discovery of her interview with Lamh Laudher, determined her, +previously acquainted as she had been with his jealousy, to keep out of +his reach, until some satisfactory explanation could be given. Ellen, +however, could not rest; her grief had so completely overborne all +other considerations, that she cared little, now, whether her friends +perceived it or not. On one thing, she was fixed, and that was, to +prevent Lamh Laudher from encountering the Dead Boxer. With this purpose +she wrapped herself in a cloak about ten o'clock, and careless whether +she was observed or not, went directly towards his aunt's house. About +two-thirds of the way had probably been traversed, when a man, wrapped +up in a cloak, like herself, accosted her in a low voice, not much above +a whisper. + +"Miss Neil," said he, "I don't think it would be hard to guess where you +are going." + +"Who are you that asks?" said Ellen. "No matter; but if you happen to +see young O'Rorke to-night, I have a message to send him that may serve +him." + +"Who are you?" again inquired Ellen. "One that cautions you to beware of +the Dead Boxer; one that pities and respects his unfortunate wife; and +one who, as I said, can serve O'Rorke." + +"For God's sake, then, if you can, be quick; for there's little time to +be lost," said Ellen. + +"Give him this message," replied the man, and he whispered half a dozen +words into her ear. + +"Is that true?" she asked him; "and may he depend upon it?" + +"He may, as there's a God above me. Good night!" He passed on at a rapid +pace. When Ellen entered his aunt's humble cabin, Lamh Laudher had just +risen from his knees. Devotion, or piety if you will, as it is in many +cases, though undirected by knowledge, may be frequently found among +the peasantry associated with objects that would appear to have little +connection with it. When he saw her he exclaimed with something like +disappointment:-- + +"Ah! Ellen dear, why did you come? I would rather you hadn't crossed me +now, darling." + +His manner was marked by the same melancholy sedateness which we have +already described. He knew the position in which he stood, and did not +attempt to disguise what he felt. His apparent depression, however, had +a dreadful effect upon Ellen, who sat down on a stool, and threw back +the hood of her cloak; but the aunt placed a little circular arm-chair +for her somewhat nearer the fire. She declined it in a manner that +argued something like incoherence, which occasioned O'Rorke to, glance +at her most earnestly. He started, on observing the wild lustre of her +eye, and the woebegone paleness of her cheek. + +"Ellen," said he, "how is this? Has any thing frightened you? Merciful +mother! aunt, look at her!" + +The distracted girl sank before him on her knees, locked her hands +together, and while her eyes sparkled with an unsettled light, +exclaimed-- + +"John!--John!--Lamh Laudher Oge--forgive me, before you die! I have +murdered you!" + +"Ellen love, Ellen"-- + +"Do you forgive me? do you? Your blood is upon me, Lamh Laudher Oge!" + +"Heavens above! Aunt, she's turned! Do I forgive you, my heart's own +treasure? How did you ever offend me, my darling? You. know you never +did. But if you ever did, my own Ellen, I do forgive you." + +"But I murdered you--and that was because my brother said he would do +it--an' I got afraid, John, that he might do you harm, an' afraid to +tell you too--an'--an' so you promise me you won't fight the Dead Boxer? +Thank God! thank God! then your blood will not be upon me!" + +"Aunt, she's lost," he exclaimed; "the brain of my _colleen dhas_ is +turned!" + +"John, won't you save me from the Dead Boxer? There's nobody able to do +it but you, Lamh Laudher Oge!" + +"Aunt, aunt, my girl's destroyed," said John, "her heart's broke! +Ellen!" + +"But to-morrow, John--to-morrow--sure yo' won't fight him +to-morrow?--if you do--if you do he'll kill you--an' 'twas I +that--that"---- + +O'Rorke had not thought of raising her from the posture in which +she addressed him, so completely had he been overcome by the frantic +vehemence of her manner. He now snatched her up, and placed her in the +little arm-chair alluded to; but she had scarcely been seated in it, +when her hands became clenched, her head sank, and the heavy burthen of +her sorrows was forgotten in a long fit of insensibility. + +Lamh Laudher's distraction and alarm prevented him from rendering +her much assistance; but the aunt was more cool, and succeeded with +considerable difficulty in restoring her to life. The tears burst in +thick showers from her eyelids, she drew her breath vehemently and +rapidly, and, after looking wildly around her, indulged in that natural +grief which relieves the heart by tears. In a short time she became +composed, and was able to talk collectedly and rationally. + +This, indeed, was the severest trial that Lamh Laudher had yet +sustained. With all the force of an affection as strong and tender as +it was enduring and disinterested, she urged him to relinquish his +determination to meet the Dead Boxer on the following day. John soothed +her, chid her, and even bantered her, as a cowardly girl, unworthy of +being the sister of Meehaul Neil, but to her, as well as to all others +who had attempted to change his purpose, he was immovable. No; the +sense of his disgrace had sunk too deep into his heart, and the random +allusions just made by Ellen herself to the Dead Boxer's villainy, but +the more inflamed his resentment against him. + +On finding his resolution irrevocable, she communicated to him in a +whisper the message which the stranger had sent him. Lamh Laudher, +after having heard it, raised his arm rapidly, and his eye gleamed with +something like the exultation of a man who has discovered a secret that +he had been intensely anxious to learn. Ellen could now delay no longer, +and their separation resembled that of persons who never expected to +meet again. If Lamh Laudher could at this moment have affected even a +show of cheerfulness, in spite of Ellen's depression it would have given +her great relief. Still, on her part, their parting was a scene of +agony and distress which no description could reach, and on his, it +was sorrowful and tender; for neither felt certain that they would ever +behold each other in life again. + +A dark sunless morning opened the eventful day of this fearful battle. +Gloom and melancholy breathed a sad spirit over the town and adjacent +country. A sullen breeze was abroad, and black clouds drifted +slowly along the heavy sky. The Dead Boxer again had recourse to his +pageantries of death. The funeral bell tolled heavily during the whole +morning, and the black flag flapped more dismally in the sluggish blast +than before. At an early hour the town began to fill with myriads of +people. Carriages and cars, horsemen and pedestrians, all thronged in +one promiscuous stream towards the scene of interest. A dense multitude +stood before the inn, looking with horror on the death flag, and +watching for a glimpse of the fatal champion. From this place hundreds +of them passed to the house of Lamh Laudher More, and on hearing that +the son resided in his aunt's they hurried towards her cabin to gratify +themselves with a sight of the man who dared to wage battle with the +Dead Boxer. From this cabin, as on the day before, they went to the +church-yard, where a platform had already been erected beside the grave. +Against the railings of the platform stood the black coffin intended for +Lamh Laudher, decorated with black ribbons that fluttered gloomily in +the blast. The sight of this and of the grave completed the wonder and +dread which they felt. As every fresh mass of the crowd arrived, low +murmurs escaped them, they raised their heads and eyes exclaiming-- + +"Poor Lamh Laudher! God be merciful to him!" + +As the morning advanced, O'Rorke's faction, as a proof that they were +determined to consider the death of their leader as a murder, dressed +themselves in red ribbons, a custom occasionally observed in Ireland +even now, at the funerals of those who have been murdered. Their +appearance passing to and fro among the crowd made the scene with all +its associations absolutely terrible. About eleven o'clock they went +in a body to widow Rorke's, for the purpose of once more attempting +to dissuade him against the fight. Here most unexpected intelligence +awaited them--_Lamh Laudher Oge_ had disappeared. The aunt stated that +he had left the house with a strange man, early that morning, and that +he had not returned. Ere many minutes the rumor was in every part of the +town, and strong disappointment was felt, and expressed against him in +several round oaths, by the multitude in general. His father, however, +declared his conviction that his son would not shrink from what he had +undertaken, and he who had not long before banished him for cowardice, +now vouched for his courage. At the old man's suggestion, his friends +still adhered to their resolutions of walking to the scene of conflict +in a body. At twenty minutes to twelve o'clock, the black flag was +removed from the inn window, the muffled drums beat, and the music +played the same dead march as on the days of uttering the challenge. +In a few minutes the Dead Boxer, accompanied by some of the neighboring +gentry, made his appearance, preceded by the flag. From another point, +the faction of Lamb Laudher fluttering in blood-red ribbons, marched at +a solemn pace towards the church-yard. On arriving opposite his +aunt's, his mother wept aloud, and with one voice all the females +who accompanied her, raised the Irish funeral cry. In this manner, +surrounded by all the solemn emblems of death, where none was dead, +they slowly advanced until they reached the platform. The Dead Boxer, +attended by his own servant, as second, now ascended the stage, where he +stood for a few minutes, until his repeater struck twelve. That moment +he began to strip, which having done, he advanced to the middle of +the stage, and in a deep voice required the authorities of the town to +produce their champion. To this no answer was returned, for not a man of +them could account for the disappearance of Lamh Laudher. A wavy motion, +such as passes over the forest top under a low blast, stirred the +whole multitude; this was the result of many feelings, but that which +prevailed amongst them was disappointment. A second time the Dead Boxer +repeated the words, but except the stir and hum which we have described, +there was not a voice heard in reply. Lamh Laudher's very friends felt +mortified, and the decaying spirit of Lamh Laudher More rallied for a +moment. His voice alone was heard above the dead silence,-- + +"He will come, back," said he, "my son will come; and I would now rather +see him dead than that he should fear to be a man." + +He had scarcely spoken, when a loud cheer, which came rapidly onward, +was heard outside the church-yard. A motion and a violent thrusting +aside, accompanied by a second shout, "he's here!" gave intimation of +his approach. In about a minute, to the manifest delight of all present, +young Lamh Laudher, besmeared with blood, leaped upon the platform. +He looked gratefully at the crowd, and in order to prevent perplexing +inquiries, simply said-- + +"Don't be alarmed--I had a slight accident, but I'm not the worse of +it." + +The cheers of the multitude were now enough to awaken the dead beneath +them; and when they had ceased, his father cried out-- + +"God support you, boy--you're my true son; an' I know you'll show them +what the Lamh Laudher blood an' the Lamh Laudher blow is." + +The young man looked about him for a moment, and appeared perplexed. + +"I'm here alone," said he; "is there any among you that will second me?" + +Hundreds immediately volunteered this office; but there was one who +immediately sprung upon the stage, to the no small surprise of all +present--it was Meehaul Neil. He approached Lamh Laudher and extended +his hand, which was received with cordiality. + +"Meehaul," said O'Rorke, "I thank you for this." + +"Do not," replied the other; "no man has such a right to stand by you +now as I have. I never knew till this mornin' why you did not strike me +the last night we met." + +The Dead Boxer stood with his arms folded, sometimes looking upon the +crowd, and occasionally glaring at his young' and fearless antagonist. +The latter immediately stripped, and when he "stood out erect and +undaunted upon the stage, although his proportions were perfect, and his +frame active and massy, yet when measured with the Herculean size of the +Dead Boxer, he appeared to have no chance. + +"Now," said he to the black, "by what rules are we to fight?" + +"If you consult me," said the other, "perhaps it is best that every man +should fight as he pleases. You decide that. I am the challenger." + +"Take your own way, then," said O'Rorke; "but you have a secret, +black--do you intend to use it?" + +"Certainly, young fellow." + +"I have my secret, too," said Lamh Laudher; "an' now I give you warning +that I will put it in practice." + +"All fair; but we are losing time," replied the man of color, putting +himself in an attitude. "Come on." + +Their seconds stood back, and both advanced to the middle of the stage. +The countenance of the black, and his huge chest, resembled rather +a colossal statue of bronze, than the bust of a human being. His eye +gleamed at Lamh Laudher with baleful flashes of intense hatred. The +spectators saw, however, that the dimensions of Lamh Laudher gained +considerably by his approximation to the black. The dusky color of the +Boxer added apparently to his size, whilst the healthful light which lay +upon the figure of his opponent took away, as did his elegance, grace, +and symmetry, from the uncommon breadth and fulness of his bust. + +Several feints were made by the black, and many blows aimed, which Lamh +Laudher, by his natural science and activity, parried; at length a blow +upon the temple shot him to the boards with great violence, and the +hearts of the spectators, which were all with him, became fearfully +depressed. + +O'Rorke, having been raised, shook his head as if to throw off the +influence of the blow. Neil afterwards declared that when coming to the +second round, resentment and a sense of having suffered in the opinion +of the multitude by the blow which brought him down, had strung his +muscular power into such a state of concentration, that his arms became +as hard as oak. On meeting again he bounded at the Boxer, and by a +single blow upon the eye-brow felled him like an ox. So quickly was +it sent home, that the black had not activity to guard against it; on +seeing which, a short and exulting cheer rose from the multitude. We are +not now giving a detailed account of this battle, as if reporting it for +a newspaper; it must suffice to say, that Lamh Laudher was knocked down +twice, and the Dead Boxer four times, in as many rounds. The black, on +coming to the seventh round, laughed, whilst the blood trickled down his +face. His frame appeared actually agitated with inward glee, and indeed +a more appalling species of mirth was never witnessed. + +It was just when he approached Lamh Laudher, chuckling hideously, his +black visage reddened with blood, that a voice from the crowd shouted-- + +"He's laughing--the blow's coming--O'Rorke, remember your instructions." + +The Boxer advanced, and began a series of feints, with the intention of +giving that murderous blow which he was never known to miss. But before +he could put his favorite stratagem in practice, the activity of O'Rorke +anticipated his _ruse_, for in the dreadful energy of his resentment he +not only forgot the counter-secret which had been, confided to him, but +every other consideration for the moment. With the spring of a tiger he +leaped towards the black, who by the act was completely thrown off his +guard. This was more than O'Rorke expected. The opportunity, however, +he did not suffer to pass; with the rapidity of lightning he struck the +savage on the neck, immediately under the ear. The Dead Boxer fell, +and from his ears, nostrils, and mouth the clear blood sprung out, +streaking, in a fearful manner, his dusky neck and chest. His second ran +to raise him, but his huge woolly head fell from side to side with an +appearance of utter lifelessness. In a few minutes, however, he rallied, +and began to snort violently, throwing his arms and limbs about him with +a quivering energy, such as, in strong men who die unwasted by disease, +frequently marks the struggle of death. At length he opened his eyes, +and after fastening them upon his triumphant opponent with one last +glare of hatred and despair, he ground his teeth, clenched his gigantic +hands, and stammering out, "Fury of hell! I--I--damnation!" This was his +last exclamation, for he suddenly plunged again, extended his shut fist +towards Lamh Laudher, as if he would have crushed him even in death, +then becoming suddenly relaxed, his head fell upon his shoulder, and +after one groan, he expired on the very spot where he had brought +together the apparatus of death for another. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +When the spectators saw and heard what had occurred, their acclamations +rose to the sky; cheer after cheer pealed from the graveyard over a +wide circuit of the country. With a wild luxury of triumph they seized +O'Rorke, placed him on their shoulders, and bore him in triumph through +every street in the town. All kinds of mad but good-humored excesses +were committed. The public houses were filled with those who had +witnessed the fight, songs were sung, healths were drank, and blows +given. The streets, during the remainder of the day, were paraded by +groups of his townsmen belonging to both factions, who on that occasion +buried their mutual animosity in exultation for his victory. + +The worthy burghers of the corporation, who had been both frightened +and disgusted at the dark display made by the Dead Boxer previous to +the tight, put his body in the coffin that had been intended for Lamh +Laudher, and without any scruple, took it up, and went in procession +with the black flag before them, the death bell again tolling, and the +musicians playing the dead march, until they deposited his body in the +inn. + +After Lamh Laudher had been chaired by the people, and borne throughout +every nook of the town, he begged them to permit him to go home. With a +fresh volley of shouts and hurras they proceeded, still bearing him in +triumph towards his father's house, where they left him, after a last +and deafening round of cheers. Our readers can easily fancy the pride of +his parents and friends on receiving him. + +"Father," said he, "my name's' cleared. I hope I have the Lamh Laudher +blood in me still. Mother, you never doubted me, but you wor forced to +give way." + +"My son, my son," said the father, embracing him, "my noble boy! There +never was one of your name like you. You're the flower of us all!" + +His mother wept with joy and pressed him repeatedly to her heart; +and all his relations were as profuse as they were sincere in their +congratulations. + +"One thing troubles us," observed his parents, "what will become of his +wife? John dear," said his mother, "my heart aches for her." + +"God knows and so does mine," exclaimed the father; "there is goodness +about her." + +"She is freed from a tyrant and a savage," replied their son, "for he +was both, and she ought to be thankful that she's rid of him. But you +don't know that there was an attempt made on my life this mornin'." + +On hearing this, they were all mute with astonishment. + +"In the name of heaven how, John?" they inquired with one voice. + +[Illustration: PAGE 110-- He made a stab at my neck] + +"A red-haired man came to my aunt's," he continued, "early this mornin', +an' said if I wanted to hear something for my good, I would follow him. +I did so, an' I observed that he eyed me closely as we went along. We +took the way that turns up the Quarry, an' afther gettin' into one of +the little fir groves off the road, he made a stab at my neck, as I +stooped to tie my shoe that happened to be loose. As God would have it, +he only tore the skin above my forehead. I pursued the villain on the +spot, but he disappeared among the trees, as if the earth had swallowed +him. I then went into Darby Kavanagh's, where I got my breakfast; an' +as I was afraid that you might by pure force prevent me from meetin' the +black, I didn't stir out of it till the proper time came." + +This startling incident occasioned much discussion among his friends, +who of course were ignorant alike of the person who had attempted his +assassination, and of the motives which could have impelled him to such +a crime. Several opinions were advanced upon the circumstance, but as +it had failed, his triumph over the Dead Boxer, as unexpected as it was +complete, soon superseded it, and many a health was given "to the best +man that ever sprung from the blood of the Lamh Laudhers!" for so +they termed him, and well had he earned the epithet. At this moment an +incident occurred which considerably subdued their enjoyment. Breen, the +constable, came to inform them that Nell McCollum, now weltering in her +blood, and at the point of death, desired instantly to see them. + +Our readers have been, no doubt, somewhat surprised at the sudden +disappearance of Nell. This artful and vindictive woman had, as we have +stated, been closely dogged through all her turnings and windings, by +the emissaries of Mr. Brookleigh. For this haunt where she was in the +habit of meeting her private friends. The preparations, however, for the +approaching fight, and the tumult it excited in the town, afforded her +an opportunity of giving her spies the slip. She went, on the evening +before the battle, to a small dark cabin in one of the most densely +inhabited parts of the town, where, secure in their privacy, she found +Nanse M'Collum, who had never left the town since the night of the +robbery, together with the man called Rody, and another hardened ruffian +with red hair. + +"_Dher ma chuirp_," said she, without even a word of precious +salutation, "but I'll,lay my life that Lamh Laudher bates the black. In +that case he'd be higher up wid the town than ever. He knocked him down +last night." + +"Well," said Rody, "an' what if he does? I would feel rather satisfied +at that circumstance. I served the black dog for five years, and a more +infernal tyrant never existed, nor a milder or more amiable woman than +his wife. Now that you have his money, the sooner the devil gets himself +the better." + +"To the black _diouol_ wid yourself an' your Englified _gosther_," +returned Nell indignantly; "his wife! _Damno' orth_, don't make my blood +boil by speaking a word in her favor. If Lamh Laudher comes off best, +all I've struv for is knocked on the head. _Dher Chiernah_, I'll crush +the sowl of his father or I'll not die happy." + +"Nell, you're bittherer than soot, and blacker too," observed Rody. + +"Am I?" said Nell, "an' is it from the good crathur that was ready, the +other night, to murdher the mild innocent woman that he spakes so well +of, that we hear sich discoorse?" + +"You're mistaken there, Nelly," replied Body; "I had no intention of +taking away her life, although I believe my worthy comrade here in the +red hair, that I helped out of a certain gaol once upon a time, had no +scruples." + +"No, curse the scruple!" said the other. + +"I was in the act of covering her eyes and mouth to prevent her from +either knowing her old servant or making a noise,--but d---- it, I was +bent to save her life that night, rather than take it," said Rody. + +"I know this friend of yours, Rody, but a short time," observed Nell; +"but if he hasn't more spunk in him than yourself, he's not worth his +feedin'." + +"Show me," said the miscreant, "what s to be done, life or purse--an' +here's your sort for both." + +"Come, then," said Nell, "by the night above us, we'll thry your +mettle." + +"Never heed her," observed Nanse; "aunt, you're too wicked an' +revengeful." + +"Am I?" said the aunt. "I tuck an oath many a year ago, that I'd never +die till I'd put sharp sorrow into Lamh Laudher's sowl. I punished him +through his daughter, I'll now grind the heart in him through his son." + +"An' what do you want to be done inquired the red man. + +"Come here, an' I'll tell you that," said Nell. + +A short conversation took place between them, behind a little partition +which divided the kitchen from two small sleeping rooms, containing a +single bed each. + +"Now," said Nell, addressing the whole party, "let us all be ready +to-morrow, while the whole town's preparin' for the fight, to slip away +as well disguised as we can, out of the place; by that time you'll have +your business done, an' your trifle o' money earned;" she directed the +last words to the red-haired stranger. + +"You keep me out of this secret?" observed Body. + +"It's not worth knowin'," said Nell; "I was only thryin' you, Rody. It's +nothing bad. I'm not so cruel as you think. I wouldn't take the wide +world an' shed blood wid my own hands. I tried it once on Lamh Laudher +More, an' when I thought I killed him hell came into me. No; that I may +go _below_ if I would!" + +"But you would get others to do it, if you could," said Rody. + +"I need get nobody to do it for me," said the crone. "I could wither any +man, woman, or child, off o' the earth, wid one charm, if I wished." + +"Why don't you wither young Lamh Laudher then?" said Rody. + +"If they fight to-morrow," replied Nell; "mind I say if they do--an' I +now tell you they won't--but I say if they do--you'll see he'll go home +in the coffin that's made for him--an' I know how that'll happen. Now at +eleven we'll meet here if we can to-morrow." + +The two men then slunk out, and with great caution proceeded towards +different directions of the town, for Nell had recommended them to keep +as much asunder as possible, least their grouping together might expose +them to notice. Their place of rendezvous was only resorted to on urgent +and necessary occasions. + +The next morning, a little after the appointed hour, Nell, Rody, and +Nanse McCollum, were sitting in deliberation upon their future plans of +life, when he of the red hair entered the cabin. + +"Well," said Nell starting up--"what was done? show me?" + +The man produced a dagger slightly stained with blood. + +"_Damno orrum!_" exclaimed the aged fury, "but you've failed--an' all's +lost if he beats the black." + +"I did fail," said the miscreant. "Why, woman if that powerful active +fellow had got me in his hands, I'd have tasted the full length of the +dagger myself. The d----l's narrow escape I had." + +"The curse of heaven light on you, for a cowardly dog!" exclaimed Nell, +grinding her teeth with disappointment. "You're a faint-hearted villain. +Give me the dagger." + +"Give me the money," said the man. + +"For what? no, consumin' to the penny; you didn't earn it." + +"I did," said the fellow, "or at all evints attempted it. Ay, an' I must +have it before I lave this house, an' what is more, you must lug out my +share of the black's prog." + +"You'll get nothing of that," said Rody; "it was Nell here, not you, who +took it." + +"One hundred of it on the nail, this minnit," said the man, "or I bid +you farewell, an' then look to yourselves." + +"It's not mine," said Rody; "if Nell shares it, I have no objection." + +"I'd give the villain the price of a rope first," she replied. + +"Then I am off," said the fellow, "an' you'll curse your conduct." + +Nell flew between him and the door, and in his struggle to get out, +she grasped at the dagger, but failed in securing it. Rody advanced to +separate them, as did Nanse, but the fellow by a strong effort attempted +to free himself. The three were now upon him, and would have easily +succeeded in preventing his escape had it not occurred to him that by +one blow he might secure the whole sum. This was instantly directed at +Rody, by a back thrust, for he stood behind him. By the rapid change of +their positions, however, the breast of Nell M'Collum received the stab +that was designed for another. + +A short violent shriek followed, as she staggered back and fell. + +"Staunch the blood," she exclaimed, "staunch the blood, an' there may be +a chance of life yet." + +The man threw the dagger down, and was in the act of rushing out, when +the door opened, and a posse of constables entered the house. Nell's +face became at once ghastly and horror-stricken, for she found that the +blood could not be staunched, and that, in fact, eternity was about to +open upon her. + +"Secure him!" said Nell, pointing to her murderer, "secure him, an' send +quick for Lamh Laudher More. God's hand is in what has happened! Ay, +I raised the blow for him, an' God has sent it to my own heart. Send, +too," she added, "for the Dead Boxer's wife, an' if you expect heaven, +be quick." + +On receiving Nell's message the old man, his son, wife, and one or two +other friends, immediately hurried to the scene of death, where they +arrived a few minutes after the Dead Boxer's wife. + +Nell lay in dreadful agony; her face was now a bluish yellow, her +eye-brows were bent, and her eyes getting dead and vacant. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, "Andy Hart! Andy Hart! it was the black hour you +brought me from the right way. I was innocent till I met you, an' well +thought of; but what was I ever since? an' what am I now?" + +"You never met me," said the red-haired stranger, "till within the last +fortnight." + +"What do you mean, you unfortunate man?" asked Rody. + +"Andy Hart was my name," said the man, "although I didn't go by it for +some years." + +"Andy Hart!" said Nell, raising herself with a violent jerk, and +screaming, "Andy Hart! Andy Hart! stand over before me. Andy Hart! It is +his father's voice. Oh God! Strip his breast there, an' see if there's a +blood-mark on the left side." + +"I'm beginnin' to fear something dreadful," said the criminal, +trembling, and getting as pale as death; "there is--there is a +blood-mark on the very spot she mentions--see here." + +"I would know him to be Andy Hart's son, God rest him!" observed Lamh +Laudher More, "any where over the world. Blessed mother of heaven!--down +on your knees, you miserable crature, down on your knees for her pardon! +You've murdhered your unfortunate mother!" + +The man gave one loud and fearful yell, and dashed himself on the +floor at his mother's feet, an appalling picture of remorse. The scene, +indeed, was a terrible one. He rolled himself about, tore his hair, and +displayed every symptom of a man in a paroxysm of madness. But among +those present, with the exception of the mother and son, there was not +such a picture of distress and sorrow, as the wife of the Dead Boxer. +She stooped down to raise the stranger up; "Unhappy man," said she, +"look up, I am your sister!" + +"No," said Nell, "no--no--no. There's more of my guilt. Lamh Laudher +More, I stand forrid, you and your wife. You lost a daughter long ago. +Open your arms and take her back a blameless woman. She's your child +that I robbed you of as one punishment; the other blow that I intended +for you has been struck here. I'm dyin'." + +A long cry of joy burst from the mother and daughter, as they rushed +into each other's arms. Nature, always strongest in pure minds, even +before this denouement, had, indeed, rekindled the mysterious flame of +her own affection in their hearts. The father pressed her to his bosom, +and forgot the terrors of the sound before him, whilst the son embraced +her with a secret consciousness that she was, indeed, his long-lost +sister. + +"We couldn't account," said her parents, "for the way we loved you +the day we met you before the magistrate; every word you said, Alice +darling, went into our hearts wid delight, an' we could hardly ever +think of your voice ever since, that the tears didn't spring to our +eyes. But we never suspected, as how could we, that you were our child." + +She declared that she felt the same mysterious attachment to them, and +to her brother also, from the moment she heard the tones of his voice on +the night the robbery was attempted. + +"Nor could I," said Lamh Laudher Oge, "account for the manner I loved +you." + +Their attention was now directed to Nell, who again spoke. + +"Nanse, give her back the money I robbed her of. There was more of my +villainy, but God fought against me, an'--here--. You will find, it +along with her marriage certificate, an' the gospel she had about her +neck, when I kidnapped her, all in my pocket. Where's my son? Still, +still, bad as I am, an' bad as he is, isn't he my child? Amn't I his +mother? put his hand in mine, and let me die as a mother 'ud wish!" + +Never could there be a more striking contrast witnessed than that +between the groups then present; nor a more impressive exemplification +of the interposition of Providence to reward the virtuous and punish the +guilty even in this life. + +"Lamh Laudher More," said she, "I once attempted to stab you, only for +preventin' your relation from marryin' a woman that you knew Andy Hart +had ruined. You disfigured my face in your anger too; that an' your +preventing my marriage, an' my character bein' lost, whin it was known +what he refused to marry me for, made me swear an oath of vengeance +against you an' yours. I may now ax your forgiveness, for I neither dare +nor will ax God's." + +"You have mine--you have all our forgiveness," replied the old man; +"but, Nell, ax God's, for it's His you stand most in need of--ax God's!" + +Nell, however, appeared to hear him not. + +"Is that your hand in mine, avick?" said she, addressing her son. + +"It is--it is," said the son. "But, mother, I didn't, as I'm to stand +before God, aim the blow at you, but at Rody." + +"Lamh Laudher!" said she, forgetting herself, "I ax your forgive----." + +Her head fell down before she could conclude the sentence, and thus +closed the last moments of Nell M'Collum. + +After the lapse of a short interval, in which Lamh Laudher's daughter +received back her money, the certificate, and the gospel, her brother +discovered that Rody was the person who had, through Ellen Neil, +communicated to him the secret that assisted him in vanquishing the +Dead Boxer, a piece of information which saved him from prosecution. The +family now returned home, where they found Meehaul Neil awaiting their +arrival, for the purpose of offering his sister's hand and dowry to +our hero. This offer, we need scarcely say, was accepted with no sullen +spirit. But Lamh Laudher was not so much her inferior in wealth as our +readers may suppose. His affectionate sister divided her money between +him and her parents, with whom she spent the remainder of her days in +peace and tranquility. Our great-grandfather remembered the wedding, +and from him came down to ourselves, as an authentic tradition, the fact +that it was an unrivalled one, but that it would never have taken place +were it not for the terrible challenge of the Dead Boxer. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dead Boxer, by William Carleton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DEAD BOXER *** + +***** This file should be named 16007.txt or 16007.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/0/0/16007/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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