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diff --git a/old/pclp110.txt b/old/pclp110.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..97cefbc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/pclp110.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6012 @@ +**The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Purcell Papers, Volume 1** +#1 in our series by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +The 'Memoir' is nearly all in italics, +it was typed in by Judith Boss, Omaha, Nebraska. +Otherwise: +Scanned by Charles Keller with +OmniPage Professional OCR software +donated by Caere Corporation, 1-800-535-7226. +Contact Mike Lough <Mikel@caere.com> + + + +THE +PURCELL PAPERS. + +BY THE LATE +JOSEPH SHERIDAN LE FANU, +AUTHOR OF 'UNCLE SILAS.' + +With a Memoir by +ALFRED PERCEVAL GRAVES + +IN THREE VOLUMES. +VOL. I. + + +CONTENTS OF VOL. I. + +MEMOIR OF JOSEPH SHERIDAN LE FANU +THE GHOST AND THE BONE-SETTER +THE FORTUNES OF SIR ROBERT ARDAGH +THE LAST HEIR OF CASTLE CONNOR +THE DRUNKARD'S DREAM + + +MEMOIR +OF +JOSEPH SHERIDAN LE FANU. +------ + +A noble Huguenot family, owning +considerable property in Normandy, the Le +Fanus of Caen, were, upon the revocation of the +Edict of Nantes, deprived of their ancestral estates +of Mandeville, Sequeville, and Cresseron; but, +owing to their possessing influential relatives at +the court of Louis the Fourteenth, were allowed +to quit their country for England, unmolested, +with their personal property. We meet with +John Le Fanu de Sequeville and Charles Le Fanu +de Cresseron, as cavalry officers in William the +Third's army; Charles being so distinguished a +member of the King's staff that he was presented +with William's portrait from his master's own +hand. He afterwards served as a major of +dragoons under Marlborough. + +At the beginning of the eighteenth century, +William Le Fanu was the sole survivor of his +family. He married Henrietta Raboteau de +Puggibaut, the last of another great and noble +Huguenot family, whose escape from France, as +a child, by the aid of a Roman Catholic uncle in +high position at the French court, was effected +after adventures of the most romantic danger. + +Joseph Le Fanu, the eldest of the sons of this +marriage who left issue, held the office of Clerk of +the Coast in Ireland. He married for the second +time Alicia, daughter of Thomas Sheridan and +sister of Richard Brinsley Sheridan; his brother, +Captain Henry Le Fanu, of Leamington, being +united to the only other sister of the great wit +and orator. + +Dean Thomas Philip Le Fanu, the eldest son +of Joseph Le Fanu, became by his wife Emma, +daughter of Dr. Dobbin, F.T.C.D., the father of +Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, the subject of this +memoir, whose name is so familiar to English +and American readers as one of the greatest +masters of the weird and the terrible amongst +our modern novelists. + +Born in Dublin on the 28th of August, 1814, +he did not begin to speak until he was more +than two years of age; but when he had once +started, the boy showed an unusual aptitude in +acquiring fresh words, and using them correctly. + +The first evidence of literary taste which he +gave was in his sixth year, when he made +several little sketches with explanatory remarks +written beneath them, after the manner of Du +Maurier's, or Charles Keene's humorous illustrations +in 'Punch.' + +One of these, preserved long afterwards by +his mother, represented a balloon in mid-air, +and two aeronauts, who had occupied it, falling +headlong to earth, the disaster being explained +by these words: 'See the effects of trying to go +to Heaven.' + +As a mere child, he was a remarkably good +actor, both in tragic and comic pieces, and was +hardly twelve years old when he began to write +verses of singular spirit for one so young. At +fourteen, he produced a long Irish poem, which +he never permitted anyone but his mother and +brother to read. To that brother, Mr. William +Le Fanu, Commissioner of Public Works, +Ireland, to whom, as the suggester of +Sheridan Le Fanu's 'Phaudrig Croohore' and +'Shamus O'Brien,' Irish ballad literature owes a +delightful debt, and whose richly humorous and +passionately pathetic powers as a raconteur of +these poems have only doubled that obligation in +the hearts of those who have been happy enough +to be his hearers--to Mr. William Le Fanu +we are indebted for the following extracts from +the first of his works, which the boy-author seems +to have set any store by: + +'Muse of Green Erin, break thine icy slumbers! + Strike once again thy wreathed lyre! + Burst forth once more and wake thy tuneful numbers! + Kindle again thy long-extinguished fire! + +'Why should I bid thee, Muse of Erin, waken? + Why should I bid thee strike thy harp once more? + Better to leave thee silent and forsaken + Than wake thee but thy glories to deplore. + +'How could I bid thee tell of Tara's Towers, + Where once thy sceptred Princes sate in state-- + Where rose thy music, at the festive hours, + Through the proud halls where listening thousands + sate? + +'Fallen are thy fair palaces, thy country's glory, + Thy tuneful bards were banished or were slain, + Some rest in glory on their deathbeds gory, + And some have lived to feel a foeman's chain. + +'Yet for the sake of thy unhappy nation, + Yet for the sake of Freedom's spirit fled, + Let thy wild harpstrings, thrilled with indignation, + Peal a deep requiem o'er thy sons that bled. + +'O yes! like the last breath of evening sighing, + Sweep thy cold hand the silent strings along, + Flash like the lamp beside the hero dying, + Then hushed for ever be thy plaintive song.' + + +To Mr. William Le Fanu we are further +indebted for the accompanying specimens of his +brother's serious and humorous powers in verse, +written when he was quite a lad, as valentines +to a Miss G. K.: + + + 'Life were too long for me to bear + If banished from thy view; + Life were too short, a thousand year, + If life were passed with you. + + 'Wise men have said "Man's lot on earth + Is grief and melancholy," + But where thou art, there joyous mirth + Proves all their wisdom folly. + + 'If fate withhold thy love from me, + All else in vain were given; + Heaven were imperfect wanting thee, + And with thee earth were heaven.' + + A few days after, he sent the following sequel: + +'My dear good Madam, +You can't think how very sad I'm. +I sent you, or I mistake myself foully, +A very excellent imitation of the poet Cowley, +Containing three very fair stanzas, +Which number Longinus, a very critical man, says, +And Aristotle, who was a critic ten times more caustic, +To a nicety fits a valentine or an acrostic. +And yet for all my pains to this moving epistle, +I have got no answer, so I suppose I may go whistle. +Perhaps you'd have preferred that like an old monk I had pattered +on +In the style and after the manner of the unfortunate Chatterton; +Or that, unlike my reverend daddy's son, +I had attempted the classicalities of the dull, though immortal +Addison. +I can't endure this silence another week; +What shall I do in order to make you speak? + Shall I give you a trope + In the manner of Pope, +Or hammer my brains like an old smith +To get out something like Goldsmith? +Or shall I aspire on +To tune my poetic lyre on +The same key touched by Byron, +And laying my hand its wire on, +With its music your soul set fire on +By themes you ne'er could tire on? + Or say, + I pray, + Would a lay + Like Gay + Be more in your way? + I leave it to you, + Which am I to do? + It plain on the surface is + That any metamorphosis, + To affect your study + You may work on my soul or body. +Your frown or your smile makes me Savage or Gay + In action, as well as in song; +And if 'tis decreed I at length become Gray, + Express but the word and I'm Young; +And if in the Church I should ever aspire + With friars and abbots to cope, +By a nod, if you please, you can make me a Prior-- + By a word you render me Pope. +If you'd eat, I'm a Crab; if you'd cut, I'm your Steel, + As sharp as you'd get from the cutler; +I'm your Cotton whene'er you're in want of a reel, + And your livery carry, as Butler. + I'll ever rest your debtor + If you'll answer my first letter; + Or must, alas, eternity + Witness your taciturnity? + Speak--and oh! speak quickly + Or else I shall grow sickly, + And pine, + And whine, + And grow yellow and brown + As e'er was mahogany, + And lie me down + And die in agony. + + P.S.--You'll allow I have the gift + To write like the immortal Swift.' + + +But besides the poetical powers with which he +was endowed, in common with the great Brinsley, +Lady Dufferin, and the Hon. Mrs. Norton, +young Sheridan Le Fanu also possessed an +irresistible humour and oratorical gift that, +as a student of Old Trinity, made him a +formidable rival of the best of the young debaters +of his time at the 'College Historical,' not a +few of whom have since reached the highest +eminence at the Irish Bar, after having long +enlivened and charmed St. Stephen's by their +wit and oratory. + +Amongst his compeers he was remarkable for +his sudden fiery eloquence of attack, and ready +and rapid powers of repartee when on his +defence. But Le Fanu, whose understanding was +elevated by a deep love of the classics, in which +he took university honours, and further heightened +by an admirable knowledge of our own +great authors, was not to be tempted away by +oratory from literature, his first and, as it +proved, his last love. + +Very soon after leaving college, and just when +he was called to the Bar, about the year 1838, +he bought the 'Warder,' a Dublin newspaper, +of which he was editor, and took what many +of his best friends and admirers, looking to +his high prospects as a barrister, regarded at +the time as a fatal step in his career to +fame. + +Just before this period, Le Fanu had taken +to writing humorous Irish stories, afterwards +published in the 'Dublin University Magazine,' +such as the 'Quare Gander,' 'Jim Sulivan's +Adventure,' 'The Ghost and the Bone-setter,' etc. + +These stories his brother William Le Fanu +was in the habit of repeating for his friends' +amusement, and about the year 1837, when he +was about twenty-three years of age, Joseph +Le Fanu said to him that he thought an +Irish story in verse would tell well, and +that if he would choose him a subject suitable +for recitation, he would write him one. +'Write me an Irish "Young Lochinvar," ' +said his brother; and in a few days he +handed him 'Phaudrig Croohore'--Anglice, +'Patrick Crohore.' + +Of course this poem has the disadvantage not +only of being written after 'Young Lochinvar,' +but also that of having been directly inspired by +it; and yet, although wanting in the rare and +graceful finish of the original, the Irish copy +has, we feel, so much fire and feeling that it at +least tempts us to regret that Scott's poem was +not written in that heart-stirring Northern +dialect without which the noblest of our British +ballads would lose half their spirit. Indeed, we +may safely say that some of Le Fanu's lines +are finer than any in 'Young Lochinvar,' +simply because they seem to speak straight from +a people's heart, not to be the mere echoes of +medieval romance. + +'Phaudrig Croohore' did not appear in +print in the 'Dublin University Magazine' +till 1844, twelve years after its composition, +when it was included amongst the Purcell +Papers. + +To return to the year 1837. Mr. William Le +Fanu, the suggester of this ballad, who was from +home at the time, now received daily instalments +of the second and more remarkable of his brother's +Irish poems--'Shamus O'Brien' (James O'Brien) +--learning them by heart as they reached him, +and, fortunately, never forgetting them, for his +brother Joseph kept no copy of the ballad, and he +had himself to write it out from memory ten +years after, when the poem appeared in the +'University Magazine.' + +Few will deny that this poem contains passages +most faithfully, if fearfully, picturesque, +and that it is characterised throughout by a +profound pathos, and an abundant though at +times a too grotesquely incongruous humour. +Can we wonder, then, at the immense popularity +with which Samuel Lover recited it in the United +States? For to Lover's admiration of the poem, +and his addition of it to his entertainment, +'Shamus O'Brien' owes its introduction into +America, where it is now so popular. Lover +added some lines of his own to the poem, made +Shamus emigrate to the States, and set up +a public-house. These added lines appeared +in most of the published versions of the +poem. But they are indifferent as verse, and +certainly injure the dramatic effect of the +poem. + +'Shamus O'Brien' is so generally attributed to +Lover (indeed we remember seeing it advertised +for recitation on the occasion of a benefit at a +leading London theatre as 'by Samuel Lover') +that it is a satisfaction to be able to reproduce +the following letter upon the subject from Lover +to William le Fanu: + + 'Astor House, + 'New York, U.S. America. + 'Sept. 30, 1846. + + 'My dear Le Fanu, + +'In reading over your brother's poem +while I crossed the Atlantic, I became more and +more impressed with its great beauty and dramatic +effect--so much so that I determined to +test its effect in public, and have done so here, +on my first appearance, with the greatest success. +Now I have no doubt there will be great praises +of the poem, and people will suppose, most likely, +that the composition is mine, and as you know +(I take for granted) that I would not wish to +wear a borrowed feather, I should be glad to +give your brother's name as the author, should +he not object to have it known; but as his +writings are often of so different a tone, I would +not speak without permission to do so. It is +true that in my programme my name is attached +to other pieces, and no name appended to the +recitation; so far, you will see, I have done all +I could to avoid "appropriating," the spirit of +which I might have caught here, with Irish +aptitude; but I would like to have the means +of telling all whom it may concern the name of +the author, to whose head and heart it does so +much honour. Pray, my dear Le Fanu, inquire, +and answer me here by next packet, or as soon +as convenient. My success here has been quite +triumphant. + 'Yours very truly, + 'SAMUEL LOVER.' + + +We have heard it said (though without having +inquired into the truth of the tradition) that +'Shamus O'Brien' was the result of a match at +pseudo-national ballad writing made between Le +Fanu and several of the most brilliant of his +young literary confreres at T. C. D. But +however this may be, Le Fanu undoubtedly was no +young Irelander; indeed he did the stoutest +service as a press writer in the Conservative +interest, and was no doubt provoked as well as +amused at the unexpected popularity to which +his poem attained amongst the Irish Nationalists. +And here it should be remembered that the ballad +was written some eleven years before the outbreak +of '48, and at a time when a '98 subject might +fairly have been regarded as legitimate literary +property amongst the most loyal. + +We left Le Fanu as editor of the 'Warder.' +He afterwards purchased the 'Dublin Evening +Packet,' and much later the half-proprietorship +of the 'Dublin Evening Mail.' Eleven or twelve +years ago he also became the owner and editor +of the 'Dublin University Magazine,' in which +his later as well as earlier Irish Stories +appeared. He sold it about a year before his death +in 1873, having previously parted with the +'Warder' and his share in the 'Evening +Mail.' + +He had previously published in the 'Dublin +University Magazine' a number of charming +lyrics, generally anonymously, and it is to be +feared that all clue to the identification of +most of these is lost, except that of internal +evidence. + +The following poem, undoubtedly his, should +make general our regret at being unable to fix +with certainty upon its fellows: + + + 'One wild and distant bugle sound + Breathed o'er Killarney's magic shore + Will shed sweet floating echoes round + When that which made them is no more. + + 'So slumber in the human heart + Wild echoes, that will sweetly thrill + The words of kindness when the voice + That uttered them for aye is still. + + 'Oh! memory, though thy records tell + Full many a tale of grief and sorrow, + Of mad excess, of hope decayed, + Of dark and cheerless melancholy; + + 'Still, memory, to me thou art + The dearest of the gifts of mind, + For all the joys that touch my heart + Are joys that I have left behind. + + +Le Fanu's literary life may be divided into +three distinct periods. During the first of these, +and till his thirtieth year, he was an Irish +ballad, song, and story writer, his first published +story being the 'Adventures of Sir Robert +Ardagh,' which appeared in the 'Dublin University +Magazine' of 1838. + +In 1844 he was united to Miss Susan Bennett, +the beautiful daughter of the late George +Bennett, Q.C. From this time until her decease, +in 1858, he devoted his energies almost entirely +to press work, making, however, his first essays +in novel writing during that period. The +'Cock and Anchor,' a chronicle of old Dublin +city, his first and, in the opinion of competent +critics, one of the best of his novels, seeing the +light about the year 1850. This work, it is to +be feared, is out of print, though there is now a +cheap edition of 'Torlogh O'Brien,' its immediate +successor. The comparative want of success +of these novels seems to have deterred Le Fanu +from using his pen, except as a press writer, +until 1863, when the 'House by the Churchyard' +was published, and was soon followed by 'Uncle +Silas' and his five other well-known novels. + +We have considered Le Fanu as a ballad +writer and poet. As a press writer he is still +most honourably remembered for his learning +and brilliancy, and the power and point of his +sarcasm, which long made the 'Dublin Evening +Mail' one of the most formidable of Irish press +critics; but let us now pass to the consideration +of him in the capacity of a novelist, and in +particular as the author of 'Uncle Silas.' + +There are evidences in 'Shamus O'Brien,' and +even in 'Phaudrig Croohore,' of a power over +the mysterious, the grotesque, and the horrible, +which so singularly distinguish him as a writer +of prose fiction. + +'Uncle Silas,' the fairest as well as most +familiar instance of this enthralling spell over +his readers, is too well known a story to tell in +detail. But how intensely and painfully distinct +is the opening description of the silent, inflexible +Austin Ruthyn of Knowl, and his shy, sweet +daughter Maude, the one so resolutely confident +in his brother's honour, the other so romantically +and yet anxiously interested in her uncle--the +sudden arrival of Dr. Bryerly, the strange +Swedenborgian, followed by the equally unexpected +apparition of Madame de la Rougiere, +Austin Ruthyn's painful death, and the reading of his strange +will consigning poor Maude to +the protection of her unknown Uncle Silas--her +cousin, good, bright devoted Monica Knollys, and +her dreadful distrust of Silas--Bartram Haugh +and its uncanny occupants, and foremost amongst +them Uncle Silas. + +This is his portrait: + +'A face like marble, with a fearful monumental +look, and for an old man, singularly +vivid, strange eyes, the singularity of which +rather grew upon me as I looked; for his +eyebrows were still black, though his hair +descended from his temples in long locks of the +purest silver and fine as silk, nearly to his +shoulders. + +'He rose, tall and slight, a little stooped, all +in black, with an ample black velvet tunic, +which was rather a gown than a coat. . . . + +'I know I can't convey in words an idea of +this apparition, drawn, as it seemed, in black +and white, venerable, bloodless, fiery-eyed, with +its singular look of power, and an expression so +bewildering--was it derision, or anguish, or +cruelty, or patience? + +'The wild eyes of this strange old man were +fixed on me as he rose; an habitual contraction, +which in certain lights took the character of a +scowl, did not relax as he advanced towards me +with a thin-lipped smile.' + +Old Dicken and his daughter Beauty, old +L'Amour and Dudley Ruthyn, now enter upon +the scene, each a fresh shadow to deepen its +already sombre hue, while the gloom gathers in +spite of the glimpse of sunshine shot through it +by the visit to Elverston. Dudley's brutal +encounter with Captain Oakley, and vile persecution +of poor Maude till his love marriage comes to +light, lead us on to the ghastly catastrophe, the +hideous conspiracy of Silas and his son against +the life of the innocent girl. + +It is interesting to know that the germ of +Uncle Silas first appeared in the 'Dublin +University Magazine' of 1837 or 1838, as the +short tale, entitled, 'A Passage from the Secret +History of an Irish Countess,' which is printed +in this collection of Stories. It next was published +as 'The Murdered Cousin' in a collection of +Christmas stories, and finally developed into the +three-volume novel we have just noticed. + +There are about Le Fanu's narratives touches +of nature which reconcile us to their always +remarkable and often supernatural incidents. +His characters are well conceived and distinctly +drawn, and strong soliloquy and easy dialogue +spring unaffectedly from their lips. He is a close +observer of Nature, and reproduces her wilder +effects of storm and gloom with singular +vividness; while he is equally at home in his +descriptions of still life, some of which remind +us of the faithfully minute detail of old Dutch +pictures. + +Mr. Wilkie Collins, amongst our living +novelists, best compares with Le Fanu. Both of +these writers are remarkable for the ingenious +mystery with which they develop their plots, and +for the absorbing, if often over-sensational, nature +of their incidents; but whilst Mr. Collins excites +and fascinates our attention by an intense power +of realism which carries us with unreasoning +haste from cover to cover of his works, Le +Fanu is an idealist, full of high imagination, +and an artist who devotes deep attention to the +most delicate detail in his portraiture of men +and women, and his descriptions of the outdoor +and indoor worlds--a writer, therefore, +through whose pages it would be often an +indignity to hasten. And this more leisurely, +and certainly more classical, conduct of his +stories makes us remember them more fully and +faithfully than those of the author of the +'Woman in White.' Mr. Collins is generally +dramatic, and sometimes stagy, in his effects. +Le Fanu, while less careful to arrange his plots, +so as to admit of their being readily adapted +for the stage, often surprises us by scenes of so +much greater tragic intensity that we cannot +but lament that he did not, as Mr. Collins has +done, attempt the drama, and so furnish another +ground of comparison with his fellow-countryman, +Maturin (also, if we mistake not, of French +origin), whom, in his writings, Le Fanu far +more closely resembles than Mr. Collins, as a +master of the darker and stronger emotions of +human character. But, to institute a broader +ground of comparison between Le Fanu and +Mr. Collins, whilst the idiosyncrasies of the +former's characters, however immaterial those +characters may be, seem always to suggest the +minutest detail of his story, the latter would +appear to consider plot as the prime, character +as a subsidiary element in the art of novel +writing. + +Those who possessed the rare privilege of Le +Fanu's friendship, and only they, can form any +idea of the true character of the man; for after +the death of his wife, to whom he was most +deeply devoted, he quite forsook general society, +in which his fine features, distinguished bearing, +and charm of conversation marked him out as +the beau-ideal of an Irish wit and scholar of +the old school. + +From this society he vanished so entirely that +Dublin, always ready with a nickname, dubbed +him 'The Invisible Prince;' and indeed he was +for long almost invisible, except to his family +and most familiar friends, unless at odd hours +of the evening, when he might occasionally be +seen stealing, like the ghost of his former self, +between his newspaper office and his home in +Merrion Square; sometimes, too, he was to be +encountered in an old out-of-the-way bookshop +poring over some rare black letter Astrology or +Demonology. + +To one of these old bookshops he was at one +time a pretty frequent visitor, and the bookseller +relates how he used to come in and ask with +his peculiarly pleasant voice and smile, 'Any +more ghost stories for me, Mr. -----?' and +how, on a fresh one being handed to him, he +would seldom leave the shop until he had looked +it through. This taste for the supernatural +seems to have grown upon him after his wife's +death, and influenced him so deeply that, had he +not been possessed of a deal of shrewd common +sense, there might have been danger of his +embracing some of the visionary doctrines in which +he was so learned. But no! even Spiritualism, +to which not a few of his brother novelists +succumbed, whilst affording congenial material for +our artist of the superhuman to work upon, did +not escape his severest satire. + +Shortly after completing his last novel, strange +to say, bearing the title 'Willing to Die,' Le +Fanu breathed his last at his home No. 18, +Merrion Square South, at the age of fifty-nine. + +'He was a man,' writes the author of a brief +memoir of him in the 'Dublin University +Magazine,' 'who thought deeply, especially on +religious subjects. To those who knew him he +was very dear; they admired him for his +learning, his sparkling wit, and pleasant +conversation, and loved him for his manly virtues, for +his noble and generous qualities, his gentleness, +and his loving, affectionate nature.' And all +who knew the man must feel how deeply deserved +are these simple words of sincere regard for +Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. + +Le Fanu's novels are accessible to all; but +his Purcell Papers are now for the first time +collected and published, by the permission of his +eldest son (the late Mr. Philip Le Fanu), and +very much owing to the friendly and active +assistance of his brother, Mr. William Le Fanu. + + + +THE PURCELL PAPERS. + +THE GHOST AND THE BONE SETTER. + + +In looking over the papers of my +late valued and respected friend, +Francis Purcell, who for nearly +fifty years discharged the arduous duties of +a parish priest in the south of Ireland, I +met with the following document. It is +one of many such; for he was a curious +and industrious collector of old local +traditions--a commodity in +which the quarter +where he resided mightily abounded. The +collection and arrangement of such legends +was, as long as I can remember him, his +hobby; but I had never learned that his +love of the marvellous and whimsical had +carried him so far as to prompt him to +commit the results of his inquiries to +writing, until, in the character of residuary +legatee, his will put me in possession of all +his manuscript papers. To such as may +think the composing of such productions +as these inconsistent with the character +and habits of a country priest, it is necessary +to observe, that there did exist a race +of priests--those of the old school, a race +now nearly extinct--whose education +abroad tended to produce in them tastes +more literary than have yet been evinced +by the alumni of Maynooth. + +It is perhaps necessary to add that the +superstition illustrated by the following +story, namely, that the corpse last buried +is obliged, during his juniority of interment, +to supply his brother tenants of the +churchyard in which he lies, with fresh +water to allay the burning thirst of +purgatory, is prevalent throughout the south of +Ireland. + +The writer can vouch for a case in +which a respectable and wealthy farmer, +on the borders of Tipperary, in tenderness +to the corns of his departed helpmate, +enclosed in her coffin two pair of brogues, a +light and a heavy, the one for dry, the +other for sloppy weather; seeking thus to +mitigate the fatigues of her inevitable +perambulations in procuring water and +administering it to the thirsty souls of +purgatory. Fierce and desperate conflicts +have ensued in the case of two funeral +parties approaching the same churchyard +together, each endeavouring to secure to +his own dead priority of sepulture, and a +consequent immunity from the tax levied +upon the pedestrian powers of the last- +comer. An instance not long since +occurred, in which one of two such parties, +through fear of losing to their deceased +friend this inestimable advantage, made +their way to the churchyard by a short cut, +and, in violation of one of their strongest +prejudices, actually threw the coffin over +the wall, lest time should be lost in making +their entrance through the gate. Innumerable +instances of the same kind might be +quoted, all tending to show how strongly +among the peasantry of the south this +superstition is entertained. However, I +shall not detain the reader further by +any prefatory remarks, but shall proceed +to lay before him the following: + +Extract from the MS. Papers of the late +Rev. Francis Purcell, of Drumcoolagh. + + +I tell the following particulars, as +nearly as I can recollect them, in the +words of the narrator. It may be necessary +to observe that he was what is termed +a well-spoken man, having for a considerable +time instructed the ingenious youth +of his native parish in such of the liberal +arts and sciences as he found it convenient +to profess--a circumstance which may account +for the occurrence of several big +words in the course of this narrative, more +distinguished for euphonious effect than +for correctness of application. I proceed +then, without further preface, to lay +before you the wonderful adventures of +Terry Neil. + + +'Why, thin, 'tis a quare story, an' as +thrue as you're sittin' there; and I'd make +bould to say there isn't a boy in the seven +parishes could tell it better nor crickther +than myself, for 'twas my father himself it +happened to, an' many's the time I heerd +it out iv his own mouth; an' I can say, an' +I'm proud av that same, my father's word +was as incredible as any squire's oath in the +counthry; and so signs an' if a poor man +got into any unlucky throuble, he was +the boy id go into the court an' prove; but +that doesn't signify--he was as honest and +as sober a man, barrin' he was a little bit +too partial to the glass, as you'd find in a +day's walk; an' there wasn't the likes of +him in the counthry round for nate labourin' +an' baan diggin'; and he was mighty handy +entirely for carpenther's work, and men +din' ould spudethrees, an' the likes i' that. +An' so he tuk up with bone-settin', as +was most nathural, for none of them could +come up to him in mendin' the leg iv a stool +or a table; an' sure, there never was a bone- +setter got so much custom-man an' child, +young an' ould--there never was such +breakin' and mendin' of bones known in +the memory of man. Well, Terry Neil-- +for that was my father's name--began to +feel his heart growin' light, and his purse +heavy; an' he took a bit iv a farm in Squire +Phelim's ground, just undher the ould castle, +an' a pleasant little spot it was; an' day an' +mornin' poor crathurs not able to put a foot +to the ground, with broken arms and broken +legs, id be comin' ramblin' in from all quarters +to have their bones spliced up. Well, +yer honour, all this was as well as well could +be; but it was customary when Sir Phelim +id go anywhere out iv the country, for some +iv the tinants to sit up to watch in the ould +castle, just for a kind of compliment to the +ould family--an' a mighty unplisant compliment +it was for the tinants, for there +wasn't a man of them but knew there was +something quare about the ould castle. The +neighbours had it, that the squire's ould +grandfather, as good a gintlenlan--God be +with him--as I heer'd, as ever stood in +shoe-leather, used to keep walkin' about in +the middle iv the night, ever sinst he +bursted a blood vessel pullin' out a cork +out iv a bottle, as you or I might be doin', +and will too, plase God--but that doesn't +signify. So, as I was sayin', the ould +squire used to come down out of the +frame, where his picthur was hung up, and +to break the bottles and glasses--God be +marciful to us all--an' dthrink all he could +come at--an' small blame to him for that +same; and then if any of the family id be +comin' in, he id be up again in his place, +looking as quite an' as innocent as if he +didn't know anything about it--the +mischievous ould chap + +'Well, your honour, as I was sayin', one +time the family up at the castle was stayin' +in Dublin for a week or two; and so, as +usual, some of the tinants had to sit up in +the castle, and the third night it kem to +my father's turn. "Oh, tare an' ouns!" +says he unto himself, "an' must I sit up +all night, and that ould vagabone of a +sperit, glory be to God," says he, +"serenadin' through the house, an' doin' all +sorts iv mischief?" However, there was +no gettin' aff, and so he put a bould face +on it, an' he went up at nightfall with a +bottle of pottieen, and another of holy +wather. + +'It was rainin' smart enough, an' the +evenin' was darksome and gloomy, when +my father got in; and what with the rain +he got, and the holy wather he sprinkled +on himself, it wasn't long till he had to +swally a cup iv the pottieen, to keep the +cowld out iv his heart. It was the ould +steward, Lawrence Connor, that opened +the door--and he an' my father wor +always very great. So when he seen who +it was, an' my father tould him how it +was his turn to watch in the castle, he +offered to sit up along with him; and you +may be sure my father wasn't sorry for +that same. So says Larry: + +' "We'll have a bit iv fire in the +parlour," says he. + +' "An' why not in the hall?" says my +father, for he knew that the squire's +picthur was hung in the parlour. + +' "No fire can be lit in the hall," says +Lawrence, "for there's an ould jackdaw's +nest in the chimney." + +' "Oh thin," says my father, "let us +stop in the kitchen, for it's very unproper +for the likes iv me to be sittin' in the +parlour," says he. + +' "Oh, Terry, that can't be," says +Lawrence; "if we keep up the ould +custom at all, we may as well keep it up +properly," says he. + +' "Divil sweep the ould custom!" says +my father--to himself, do ye mind, for he +didn't like to let Lawrence see that he was +more afeard himself. + +' "Oh, very well," says he. "I'm +agreeable, Lawrence," says he; and so +down they both wint to the kitchen, until +the fire id be lit in the parlour--an' that +same wasn't long doin'. + +'Well, your honour, they soon wint up +again, an' sat down mighty comfortable by +the parlour fire, and they beginned to talk, +an' to smoke, an' to dhrink a small taste iv +the pottieen; and, moreover, they had a +good rousin' fire o' bogwood and turf, to +warm their shins over. + +'Well, sir, as I was sayin' they kep' +convarsin' and smokin' together most +agreeable, until Lawrence beginn'd to get +sleepy, as was but nathural for him, for he +was an ould sarvint man, and was used to +a great dale iv sleep. + +' "Sure it's impossible," says my father, +"it's gettin' sleepy you are?" + +' "Oh, divil a taste," says Larry; "I'm +only shuttin' my eyes," says he, "to keep +out the parfume o' the tibacky smoke, +that's makin' them wather," says he. +"So don't you mind other people's +business," says he, stiff enough, for he had +a mighty high stomach av his own (rest +his sowl), "and go on," says he, "with +your story, for I'm listenin'," says he, +shuttin' down his eyes. + +'Well, when my father seen spakin' +was no use, he went on with his story. +By the same token, it was the story of +Jim Soolivan and his ould goat he was +tellin'--an' a plisant story it is--an' +there was so much divarsion in it, that +it was enough to waken a dormouse, let +alone to pervint a Christian goin' asleep. +But, faix, the way my father tould it, I +believe there never was the likes heerd +sinst nor before, for he bawled out every +word av it, as if the life was fairly +lavin' him, thrying to keep ould Larry +awake; but, faix, it was no use, for the +hoorsness came an him, an' before he kem +to the end of his story Larry O'Connor +beginned to snore like a bagpipes. + +' "Oh, blur an' agres," says my father, +"isn't this a hard case," says he, "that +ould villain, lettin' on to be my friend, and +to go asleep this way, an' us both in the +very room with a sperit," says he. "The +crass o' Christ about us!" says he; and +with that he was goin' to shake Lawrence +to waken him, but he just remimbered if +he roused him, that he'd surely go off to +his bed, an' lave him complately alone, an' +that id be by far worse. + +' "Oh thin," says my father, "I'll not +disturb the poor boy. It id be neither +friendly nor good-nathured," says he, "to +tormint him while he is asleep," says he; +"only I wish I was the same way, +myself," says he. + +'An' with that he beginned to walk up +an' down, an' sayin' his prayers, until he +worked himself into a sweat, savin' your +presence. But it was all no good; so he +dthrunk about a pint of sperits, to compose +his mind. + +' "Oh," says he, "I wish to the Lord I +was as asy in my mind as Larry there. +Maybe," says he, "if I thried I could go +asleep;" an' with that he pulled a big arm- +chair close beside Lawrence, an' settled +himself in it as well as he could. + +'But there was one quare thing I forgot +to tell you. He couldn't help, in spite +av himself, lookin' now an' thin at the +picthur, an' he immediately obsarved that +the eyes av it was follyin' him about, an' +starin' at him, an' winkin' at him, wher- +iver he wint. "Oh," says he, when he +seen that, "it's a poor chance I have," +says he; "an' bad luck was with me the +day I kem into this unforthunate place," +says he. "But any way there's no use in +bein' freckened now," says he; "for if I +am to die, I may as well parspire +undaunted," says he. + +'Well, your honour, he thried to keep +himself quite an' asy, an' he thought two +or three times he might have wint asleep, +but for the way the storm was groanin' +and creakin' through the great heavy +branches outside, an' whistlin' through the +ould chimleys iv the castle. Well, afther +one great roarin' blast iv the wind, you'd +think the walls iv the castle was just goin' +to fall, quite an' clane, with the shakin' iv +it. All av a suddint the storm stopt, as +silent an' as quite as if it was a July +evenin'. Well, your honour, it wasn't +stopped blowin' for three minnites, before +he thought he hard a sort iv a noise over +the chimley-piece; an' with that my +father just opened his eyes the smallest +taste in life, an' sure enough he seen the +ould squire gettin' out iv the picthur, for +all the world as if he was throwin' aff his +ridin' coat, until he stept out clane an' +complate, out av the chimley-piece, an' +thrun himself down an the floor. Well, +the slieveen ould chap--an' my father +thought it was the dirtiest turn iv all-- +before he beginned to do anything out iv +the way, he stopped for a while to listen +wor they both asleep; an' as soon as he +thought all was quite, he put out his hand +and tuk hould iv the whisky bottle, an +dhrank at laste a pint iv it. Well, your +honour, when he tuk his turn out iv it, he +settled it back mighty cute entirely, in the +very same spot it was in before. An' he +beginned to walk up an' down the room, +lookin' as sober an' as solid as if he never +done the likes at all. An' whinever he +went apast my father, he thought he felt a +great scent of brimstone, an' it was that +that freckened him entirely; for he knew +it was brimstone that was burned in hell, +savin' your presence. At any rate, he +often heerd it from Father Murphy, an' +he had a right to know what belonged to +it--he's dead since, God rest him. Well, +your honour, my father was asy enough +until the sperit kem past him; so close, +God be marciful to us all, that the smell iv +the sulphur tuk the breath clane out iv +him; an' with that he tuk such a fit iv +coughin', that it al-a-most shuk him out +iv the chair he was sittin' in. + +' "Ho, ho!" says the squire, stoppin' +short about two steps aff, and turnin' +round facin' my father, "is it you that's +in it?--an' how's all with you, Terry +Neil?" + +' "At your honour's sarvice," says my +father (as well as the fright id let him, +for he was more dead than alive), "an' +it's proud I am to see your honour to- +night," says he. + +' "Terence," says the squire, "you're +a respectable man" (an' it was thrue for +him), "an industhrious, sober man, an' an +example of inebriety to the whole parish," +says he. + +' "Thank your honour," says my father, +gettin' courage, "you were always a civil +spoken gintleman, God rest your honour." + +' "REST my honour?" says the sperit +(fairly gettin' red in the face with the +madness), "Rest my honour?" says he. +"Why, you ignorant spalpeen," says he, +"you mane, niggarly ignoramush," says +he, "where did you lave your manners?" +says he. "If I AM dead, it's no fault iv +mine," says he; "an' it's not to be thrun +in my teeth at every hand's turn, by the +likes iv you," says he, stampin' his foot an +the flure, that you'd think the boords id +smash undther him. + +' "Oh," says my father, "I'm only a +foolish, ignorant poor man," says he. + +' "You're nothing else," says the squire: +"but any way," says he, "it's not to be +listenin' to your gosther, nor convarsin' +with the likes iv you, that I came UP-- +down I mane," says he--(an' as little as +the mistake was, my father tuk notice iv +it). "Listen to me now, Terence Neil," +says he: "I was always a good masther +to Pathrick Neil, your grandfather," says +he. + +' " 'Tis thrue for your honour," says my +father. + +' "And, moreover, I think I was always +a sober, riglar gintleman," says the squire. + +' "That's your name, sure enough," says +my father (though it was a big lie for him, +but he could not help it). + +' "Well," says the sperit, "although I +was as sober as most men--at laste as +most gintlemin," says he; "an' though I +was at different pariods a most extempory +Christian, and most charitable and inhuman +to the poor," says he; "for all that +I'm not as asy where I am now," says +he, "as I had a right to expect," says he. + +' "An' more's the pity," says my father. +"Maybe your honour id wish to have a +word with Father Murphy?" + +' "Hould your tongue, you misherable +bliggard," says the squire; "it's not iv +my sowl I'm thinkin'--an' I wondther you'd +have the impitence to talk to a gintleman +consarnin' his sowl; and when I want +THAT fixed," says he, slappin' his thigh, +"I'll go to them that knows what belongs +to the likes," says he. "It's not my sowl," +says he, sittin' down opossite my father; +"it's not my sowl that's annoyin' me most +--I'm unasy on my right leg," says he, +"that I bruk at Glenvarloch cover the +day I killed black Barney." + +'My father found out afther, it was a +favourite horse that fell undher him, afther +leapin' the big fence that runs along by the +glin. + +' "I hope," says my father, "your +honour's not unasy about the killin' iv +him?" + +' "Hould your tongue, ye fool," said the +squire, "an' I'll tell you why I'm unasy on +my leg," says he. "In the place, where I +spend most iv my time," says he, "except +the little leisure I have for lookin' about me +here," says he, "I have to walk a great dale +more than I was ever used to," says he, +"and by far more than is good for me either," +says he; "for I must tell you," says he, +"the people where I am is ancommonly +fond iv cowld wather, for there is nothin' +betther to be had; an', moreover, the +weather is hotter than is altogether plisant," +says he; "and I'm appinted," says he, +"to assist in carryin' the wather, an' gets +a mighty poor share iv it myself," says he, +"an' a mighty throublesome, wearin' job it +is, I can tell you," says he; "for they're +all iv them surprisinly dthry, an' dthrinks +it as fast as my legs can carry it," says he; +"but what kills me intirely," says he, "is +the wakeness in my leg," says he, "an' I +want you to give it a pull or two to bring +it to shape," says he, "and that's the long +an' the short iv it," says he. + +' "Oh, plase your honour," says my +father (for he didn't like to handle the +sperit at all), "I wouldn't have the +impidence to do the likes to your honour," +says he; "it's only to poor crathurs like +myself I'd do it to," says he. + +' "None iv your blarney," says the +squire. "Here's my leg," says he, cockin' +it up to him--"pull it for the bare life," +says he; an' "if you don't, by the immortial +powers I'll not lave a bone in your carcish +I'll not powdher," says he. + +'When my father heerd that, he seen +there was no use in purtendin', so he tuk +hould iv the leg, an' he kep' pullin' an' +pullin', till the sweat, God bless us, beginned +to pour down his face. + +' "Pull, you divil!" says the squire. + +' "At your sarvice, your honour," says +my father. + +" 'Pull harder," says the squire. + +'My father pulled like the divil. + +' "I'll take a little sup," says the squire, +rachin' over his hand to the bottle, "to +keep up my courage," says he, lettin' an +to be very wake in himself intirely. But, +as cute as he was, he was out here, for he +tuk the wrong one. "Here's to your +good health, Terence," says he; "an' now +pull like the very divil." An' with that he +lifted the bottle of holy wather, but it was +hardly to his mouth, whin he let a screech +out, you'd think the room id fairly split +with it, an' made one chuck that sent the +leg clane aff his body in my father's hands. +Down wint the squire over the table, an' +bang wint my father half-way across the +room on his back, upon the flure. Whin +he kem to himself the cheerful mornin' sun +was shinin' through the windy shutthers, +an' he was lying flat an his back, with the +leg iv one of the great ould chairs pulled +clane out iv the socket an' tight in his +hand, pintin' up to the ceilin', an' ould +Larry fast asleep, an' snorin' as loud as +ever. My father wint that mornin' to +Father Murphy, an' from that to the day +of his death, he never neglected confission +nor mass, an' what he tould was betther +believed that he spake av it but seldom. +An', as for the squire, that is the sperit, +whether it was that he did not like his +liquor, or by rason iv the loss iv his leg, he +was never known to walk agin.' + + + + +THE FORTUNES OF SIR ROBERT ARDAGH. + +Being a second Extract from the Papers of the late +Father Purcell. + + 'The earth hath bubbles as the water hath-- + And these are of them.' + +In the south of Ireland, and on +the borders of the county of +Limerick, there lies a district of +two or three miles in length, which is +rendered interesting by the fact that it is +one of the very few spots throughout this +country, in which some vestiges of +aboriginal forest still remain. It has +little or none of the lordly character of +the American forest, for the axe has felled +its oldest and its grandest trees; but in +the close wood which survives, live all the +wild and pleasing peculiarities of nature: +its complete irregularity, its vistas, in +whose perspective the quiet cattle are +peacefully browsing; its refreshing glades, +where the grey rocks arise from amid the +nodding fern; the silvery shafts of the old +birch trees; the knotted trunks of the +hoary oak, the grotesque but graceful +branches which never shed their honours +under the tyrant pruning-hook; the soft +green sward; the chequered light and +shade; the wild luxuriant weeds; the lichen +and the moss--all, all are beautiful alike in +the green freshness of spring, or in the +sadness and sere of autumn. Their beauty +is of that kind which makes the heart full +with joy--appealing to the affections with +a power which belongs to nature only. +This wood runs up, from below the base, +to the ridge of a long line of irregular +hills, having perhaps, in primitive times, +formed but the skirting of some mighty +forest which occupied the level below. + +But now, alas! whither have we drifted? +whither has the tide of civilisation borne +us? It has passed over a land unprepared +for it--it has left nakedness behind +it; we have lost our forests, but our +marauders remain; we have destroyed +all that is picturesque, while we have +retained everything that is revolting in +barbarism. Through the midst of this +woodland there runs a deep gully or glen, +where the stillness of the scene is broken in +upon by the brawling of a mountain-stream, +which, however, in the winter season, +swells into a rapid and formidable torrent. + +There is one point at which the glen +becomes extremely deep and narrow; the +sides descend to the depth of some +hundred feet, and are so steep as to be +nearly perpendicular. The wild trees +which have taken root in the crannies and +chasms of the rock have so intersected +and entangled, that one can with difficulty +catch a glimpse of the stream, which +wheels, flashes, and foams below, as if +exulting in the surrounding silence and +solitude. + +This spot was not unwisely chosen, as a +point of no ordinary strength, for the +erection of a massive square tower or keep, +one side of which rises as if in continuation +of the precipitous cliff on which it is based. +Originally, the only mode of ingress was +by a narrow portal in the very wall which +overtopped the precipice, opening upon a +ledge of rock which afforded a precarious +pathway, cautiously intersected, however, +by a deep trench cut with great labour +in the living rock; so that, in its original +state, and before the introduction of +artillery into the art of war, this tower +might have been pronounced, and that not +presumptuously, almost impregnable. + +The progress of improvement and the +increasing security of the times had, +however, tempted its successive proprietors, if +not to adorn, at least to enlarge their +premises, and at about the middle of the +last century, when the castle was last +inhabited, the original square tower formed +but a small part of the edifice. + +The castle, and a wide tract of the sur- +rounding country, had from time immemorial +belonged to a family which, for +distinctness, we shall call by the name of +Ardagh; and owing to the associations +which, in Ireland, almost always attach to +scenes which have long witnessed alike the +exercise of stern feudal authority, and of +that savage hospitality which distinguished +the good old times, this building has +become the subject and the scene of many wild +and extraordinary traditions. One of them +I have been enabled, by a personal acquaintance +with an eye-witness of the events, to +trace to its origin; and yet it is hard to say +whether the events which I am about to +record appear more strange or improbable +as seen through the distorting medium of +tradition, or in the appalling dimness +of uncertainty which surrounds the +reality. + +Tradition says that, sometime in the +last century, Sir Robert Ardagh, a young +man, and the last heir of that family, went +abroad and served in foreign armies; and +that, having acquired considerable honour +and emolument, he settled at Castle +Ardagh, the building we have just now +attempted to describe. He was what the +country people call a DARK man; that is, +he was considered morose, reserved, and +ill-tempered; and, as it was supposed from +the utter solitude of his life, was upon no +terms of cordiality with the other members +of his family. + +The only occasion upon which he broke +through the solitary monotony of his life +was during the continuance of the racing +season, and immediately subsequent to it; +at which time he was to be seen among +the busiest upon the course, betting deeply +and unhesitatingly, and invariably with +success. Sir Robert was, however, too +well known as a man of honour, and of too +high a family, to be suspected of any unfair +dealing. He was, moreover, a soldier, +and a man of an intrepid as well as of a +haughty character; and no one cared to +hazard a surmise, the consequences of +which would be felt most probably by its +originator only. + +Gossip, however, was not silent; it was +remarked that Sir Robert never appeared +at the race-ground, which was the only +place of public resort which he frequented, +except in company with a certain strange- +looking person, who was never seen +elsewhere, or under other circumstances. It +was remarked, too, that this man, whose +relation to Sir Robert was never distinctly +ascertained, was the only person to whom +he seemed to speak unnecessarily; it was +observed that while with the country +gentry he exchanged no further communication +than what was unavoidable in +arranging his sporting transactions, with +this person he would converse earnestly +and frequently. Tradition asserts that, to +enhance the curiosity which this unaccountable +and exclusive preference excited, the +stranger possessed some striking and +unpleasant peculiarities of person and of garb +--she does not say, however, what these +were--but they, in conjunction with Sir +Robert's secluded habits and extraordinary +run of luck--a success which was supposed +to result from the suggestions and +immediate advice of the unknown--were +sufficient to warrant report in pronouncing +that there was something QUEER in the +wind, and in surmising that Sir Robert +was playing a fearful and a hazardous game, +and that, in short, his strange companion +was little better than the devil himself + +Years, however, rolled quietly away, +and nothing novel occurred in the arrangements +of Castle Ardagh, excepting that +Sir Robert parted with his odd companion, +but as nobody could tell whence he +came, so nobody could say whither he had +gone. Sir Robert's habits, however, +underwent no consequent change; he +continued regularly to frequent the race +meetings, without mixing at all in the +convivialities of the gentry, and +immediately afterwards to relapse into the +secluded monotony of his ordinary life. + +It was said that he had accumulated +vast sums of money--and, as his bets were +always successful, and always large, such +must have been the case. He did not +suffer the acquisition of wealth, however, +to influence his hospitality or his +housekeeping--he neither purchased land, nor +extended his establishment; and his mode +of enjoying his money must have been +altogether that of the miser--consisting +merely in the pleasure of touching and +telling his gold, and in the consciousness +of wealth. + +Sir Robert's temper, so far from +improving, became more than ever gloomy and +morose. He sometimes carried the indulgence +of his evil dispositions to such a +height that it bordered upon insanity. +During these paroxysms he would neither +eat, drink, nor sleep. On such occasions +he insisted on perfect privacy, even from +the intrusion of his most trusted servants; +his voice was frequently heard, sometimes +in earnest supplication, sometime +as if in loud and angry altercation with +some unknown visitant; sometimes he +would, for hours together, walk to and fro +throughout the long oak wainscoted +apartment, which he generally occupied, +with wild gesticulations and agitated pace, +in the manner of one who has been roused +to a state of unnatural excitement by some +sudden and appalling intimation. + +These paroxysms of apparent lunacy +were so frightful, that during their +continuance even his oldest and most-faithful +domestics dared not approach him; +consequently, his hours of agony were never +intruded upon, and the mysterious causes +of his sufferings appeared likely to remain +hidden for ever. + +On one occasion a fit of this kind +continued for an unusual time, the ordinary +term of their duration--about two +days--had been long past, and the old +servant who generally waited upon Sir +Robert after these visitations, having in +vain listened for the well-known tinkle of +his master's hand-bell, began to feel +extremely anxious; he feared that his master +might have died from sheer exhaustion, or +perhaps put an end to his own existence +during his miserable depression. These +fears at length became so strong, that +having in vain urged some of his brother +servants to accompany him, he determined +to go up alone, and himself see whether +any accident had befallen Sir Robert. + +He traversed the several passages which +conducted from the new to the more +ancient parts of the mansion, and having +arrived in the old hall of the castle, the +utter silence of the hour, for it was very +late in the night, the idea of the nature of +the enterprise in which he was engaging +himself, a sensation of remoteness from +anything like human companionship, but, +more than all, the vivid but undefined +anticipation of something horrible, came +upon him with such oppressive weight that +he hesitated as to whether he should +proceed. Real uneasiness, however, respecting +the fate of his master, for whom he felt +that kind of attachment which the force of +habitual intercourse not unfrequently +engenders respecting objects not in themselves +amiable, and also a latent unwillingness +to expose his weakness to the ridicule +of his fellow-servants, combined to overcome +his reluctance; and he had just placed +his foot upon the first step of the staircase +which conducted to his master's chamber, +when his attention was arrested by a low +but distinct knocking at the hall-door. +Not, perhaps, very sorry at finding thus +an excuse even for deferring his intended +expedition, he placed the candle upon a +stone block which lay in the hall, and +approached the door, uncertain whether his +ears had not deceived him. This doubt +was justified by the circumstance that the +hall entrance had been for nearly fifty years +disused as a mode of ingress to the castle. +The situation of this gate also, which we +have endeavoured to describe, opening +upon a narrow ledge of rock which overhangs +a perilous cliff, rendered it at all +times, but particularly at night, a dangerous +entrance. This shelving platform of +rock, which formed the only avenue to the +door, was divided, as I have already stated, +by a broad chasm, the planks across which +had long disappeared by decay or otherwise, +so that it seemed at least highly im- +probable that any man could have found +his way across the passage in safety to the +door, more particularly on a night like +that, of singular darkness. The old man, +therefore, listened attentively, to ascertain +whether the first application should be +followed by another. He had not long to +wait; the same low but singularly distinct +knocking was repeated; so low that it +seemed as if the applicant had employed +no harder or heavier instrument than his +hand, and yet, despite the immense thickness +of the door, with such strength that +the sound was distinctly audible. + +The knock was repeated a third time, +without any increase of loudness; and the old +man, obeying an impulse for which to his +dying hour he could never account, proceeded +to remove, one by one, the three great oaken +bars which secured the door. Time and +damp had effectually corroded the iron +chambers of the lock, so that it afforded +little resistance. With some effort, as he +believed, assisted from without, the old +servant succeeded in opening the door; +and a low, square-built figure, apparently +that of a man wrapped in a large black +cloak, entered the hall. The servant could +not see much of this visitant with any +distinctness; his dress appeared foreign, the +skirt of his ample cloak was thrown over +one shoulder; he wore a large felt hat, +with a very heavy leaf, from under which +escaped what appeared to be a mass of +long sooty-black hair; his feet were cased +in heavy riding-boots. Such were the few +particulars which the servant had time and +light to observe. The stranger desired +him to let his master know instantly that +a friend had come, by appointment, to +settle some business with him. The servant +hesitated, but a slight motion on the +part of his visitor, as if to possess himself +of the candle, determined him; so, taking +it in his hand, he ascended the castle stairs, +leaving his guest in the hall. + +On reaching the apartment which opened +upon the oak-chamber he was surprised to +observe the door of that room partly open, +and the room itself lit up. He paused, but +there was no sound; he looked in, and saw +Sir Robert, his head and the upper part +of his body reclining on a table, upon +which burned a lamp; his arms were +stretched forward on either side, and +perfectly motionless; it appeared that, having +been sitting at the table, he had thus sunk +forward, either dead or in a swoon. There +was no sound of breathing; all was silent, +except the sharp ticking of a watch, which +lay beside the lamp. The servant coughed +twice or thrice, but with no effect; his +fears now almost amounted to certainty, +and he was approaching the table on which +his master partly lay, to satisfy himself of +his death, when Sir Robert slowly raised +his head, and throwing himself back in his +chair, fixed his eyes in a ghastly and +uncertain gaze upon his attendant. At length +he said, slowly and painfully, as if he +dreaded the answer: + +'In God's name, what are you?" + +'Sir,' said the servant, 'a strange gentleman +wants to see you below.' + +At this intimation Sir Robert, starting +on his feet and tossing his arms wildly +upwards, uttered a shriek of such appalling +and despairing terror that it was almost +too fearful for human endurance; and long +after the sound had ceased it seemed to +the terrified imagination of the old servant +to roll through the deserted passages in +bursts of unnatural laughter. After a few +moments Sir Robert said: + +'Can't you send him away? Why does +he come so soon? O God! O God! let +him leave me for an hour; a little time. +I can't see him now; try to get him away. +You see I can't go down now; I have not +strength. O God! O God! let him come +back in an hour; it is not long to wait. +He cannot lose anything by it; nothing, +nothing, nothing. Tell him that; say +anything to him.' + +The servant went down. In his own +words, he did not feel the stairs under him +till he got to the hall. The figure stood +exactly as he had left it. He delivered his +master's message as coherently as he could. +The stranger replied in a careless tone: + +'If Sir Robert will not come down to +me, I must go up to him.' + +The man returned, and to his surprise +he found his master much more composed +in manner. He listened to the message, +and though the cold perspiration rose in +drops upon his forehead faster than he +could wipe it away, his manner had lost +the dreadful agitation which had marked +it before. He rose feebly, and casting a +last look of agony behind him, passed from +the room to the lobby, where he signed to +his attendant not to follow him. The man +moved as far as the head of the staircase, +from whence he had a tolerably distinct +view of the hall, which was imperfectly +lighted by the candle he had left there. + +He saw his master reel, rather than +walk down the stairs, clinging all the way +to the banisters. He walked on, as if +about to sink every moment from weakness. +The figure advanced as if to meet +him, and in passing struck down the light. +The servant could see no more; but there +was a sound of struggling, renewed at +intervals with silent but fearful energy. It +was evident, however, that the parties +were approaching the door, for he heard +the solid oak sound twice or thrice, as the +feet of the combatants, in shuffling hither +and thither over the floor, struck upon it. +After a slight pause he heard the door +thrown open with such violence that the +leaf seemed to strike the side-wall of the +hall, for it was so dark without that this +could only be surmised by the sound. +The struggle was renewed with an agony +and intenseness of energy that betrayed +itself in deep-drawn gasps. One desperate +effort, which terminated in the breaking of +some part of the door, producing a sound +as if the door-post was wrenched from its +position, was followed by another wrestle, +evidently upon the narrow ledge which ran +outside the door, overtopping the precipice. +This proved to be the final struggle, for it +was followed by a crashing sound as if some +heavy body had fallen over, and was rushing +down the precipice, through the light +boughs that crossed near the top. All +then became still as the grave, except when +the moan of the night wind sighed up the +wooded glen. + +The old servant had not nerve to return +through the hall, and to him the darkness +seemed all but endless; but morning at +length came, and with it the disclosure of +the events of the night. Near the door, +upon the ground, lay Sir Robert's sword- +belt, which had given way in the scuffle. +A huge splinter from the massive door- +post had been wrenched off by an almost +superhuman effort--one which nothing but +the gripe of a despairing man could have +severed--and on the rock outside were left +the marks of the slipping and sliding of +feet. + +At the foot of the precipice, not +immediately under the castle, but dragged some +way up the glen, were found the remains +of Sir Robert, with hardly a vestige of a +limb or feature left distinguishable. The +right hand, however, was uninjured, and +in its fingers were clutched, with the +fixedness of death, a long lock of coarse +sooty hair--the only direct circumstantial +evidence of the presence of a second person. +So says tradition. + +This story, as I have mentioned, was +current among the dealers in such lore; +but the original facts are so dissimilar in +all but the name of the principal person +mentioned and his mode of life, and the +fact that his death was accompanied with +circumstances of extraordinary mystery, +that the two narratives are totally +irreconcilable (even allowing the utmost for +the exaggerating influence of tradition), +except by supposing report to have combined +and blended together the fabulous +histories of several distinct bearers of +the family name. However this may be, +I shall lay before the reader a distinct +recital of the events from which the foregoing +tradition arose. With respect to +these there can be no mistake; they are +authenticated as fully as anything can be +by human testimony; and I state them +principally upon the evidence of a lady +who herself bore a prominent part in the +strange events which she related, and +which I now record as being among the +few well-attested tales of the marvellous +which it has been my fate to hear. I +shall, as far as I am able, arrange in one +combined narrative the evidence of several +distinct persons who were eye-witnesses of +what they related, and with the truth of +whose testimony I am solemnly and deeply +impressed. + +Sir Robert Ardagh, as we choose to call +him, was the heir and representative of the +family whose name he bore; but owing to the +prodigality of his father, the estates descended +to him in a very impaired condition. Urged +by the restless spirit of youth, or more +probably by a feeling of pride which could not +submit to witness, in the paternal mansion, +what he considered a humiliating alteration +in the style and hospitality which up to +that time had distinguished his family, +Sir Robert left Ireland and went abroad. +How he occupied himself, or what countries +he visited during his absence, was never +known, nor did he afterwards make any +allusion or encourage any inquiries touching +his foreign sojourn. He left Ireland +in the year 1742, being then just of age, +and was not heard of until the year 1760 +--about eighteen years afterwards--at +which time he returned. His personal +appearance was, as might have been +expected, very greatly altered, more altered, +indeed, than the time of his absence might +have warranted one in supposing likely. +But to counterbalance the unfavourable +change which time had wrought in his +form and features, he had acquired all the +advantages of polish of manner and refinement +of taste which foreign travel is sup- +posed to bestow. But what was truly +surprising was that it soon became evident +that Sir Robert was very wealthy-- +wealthy to an extraordinary and unaccountable +degree; and this fact was made +manifest, not only by his expensive style +of living, but by his proceeding to dis- +embarrass his property, and to purchase +extensive estates in addition. Moreover, +there could be nothing deceptive in these +appearances, for he paid ready money for +everything, from the most important purchase +to the most trifling. + +Sir Robert was a remarkably agreeable +man, and possessing the combined advantages +of birth and property, he was, as a +matter of course, gladly received into the +highest society which the metropolis then +commanded. It was thus that he became +acquainted with the two beautiful Miss +F----ds, then among the brightest ornaments +of the highest circle of Dublin +fashion. Their family was in more than +one direction allied to nobility; and Lady +D----, their elder sister by many years, +and sometime married to a once well- +known nobleman, was now their protectress. +These considerations, beside the +fact that the young ladies were what is +usually termed heiresses, though not to a +very great amount, secured to them a high +position in the best society which Ireland +then produced. The two young ladies +differed strongly, alike in appearance and +in character. The elder of the two, Emily, +was generally considered the handsomer-- +for her beauty was of that impressive kind +which never failed to strike even at the first +glance, possessing as it did all the advantages +of a fine person and a commanding +carriage. The beauty of her features +strikingly assorted in character with that +of her figure and deportment. Her hair +was raven-black and richly luxuriant, +beautifully contrasting with the perfect +whiteness of her forehead--her finely +pencilled brows were black as the ringlets that +clustered near them--and her blue eyes, full, +lustrous, and animated, possessed all the +power and brilliancy of brown ones, with +more than their softness and variety of +expression. She was not, however, merely +the tragedy queen. When she smiled, +and that was not seldom, the dimpling +of cheek and chin, the laughing display +of the small and beautiful teeth--but, +more than all, the roguish archness of her +deep, bright eye, showed that nature had +not neglected in her the lighter and the +softer characteristics of woman. + +Her younger sister Mary was, as I +believe not unfrequently occurs in the case +of sisters, quite in the opposite style of +beauty. She was light-haired, had more +colour, had nearly equal grace, with much +more liveliness of manner. Her eyes were +of that dark grey which poets so much +admire--full of expression and vivacity. +She was altogether a very beautiful and +animated girl--though as unlike her sister +as the presence of those two qualities +would permit her to be. Their dissimilarity +did not stop here--it was deeper +than mere appearance--the character of +their minds differed almost as strikingly +as did their complexion. The fair-haired +beauty had a large proportion of that +softness and pliability of temper which +physiognomists assign as the characteristics of +such complexions. She was much more +the creature of impulse than of feeling, +and consequently more the victim of +extrinsic circumstances than was her sister. +Emily, on the contrary, possessed considerable +firmness and decision. She was less +excitable, but when excited her feelings +were more intense and enduring. She +wanted much of the gaiety, but with it +the volatility of her younger sister. Her +opinions were adopted, and her friendships +formed more reflectively, and her affections +seemed to move, as it were, more slowly, +but more determinedly. This firmness of +character did not amount to anything +masculine, and did not at all impair the +feminine grace of her manners. + +Sir Robert Ardagh was for a long time +apparently equally attentive to the two +sisters, and many were the conjectures and +the surmises as to which would be the lady +of his choice. At length, however, these +doubts were determined; he proposed for +and was accepted by the dark beauty, +Emily F----d. + +The bridals were celebrated in a manner +becoming the wealth and connections of +the parties; and Sir Robert and Lady +Ardagh left Dublin to pass the honeymoon +at the family mansion, Castle +Ardagh, which had lately been fitted up +in a style bordering upon magnificent. +Whether in compliance with the wishes +of his lady, or owing to some whim of his +own, his habits were henceforward strikingly +altered; and from having moved +among the gayest if not the most +profligate of the votaries of fashion, he +suddenly settled down into a quiet, domestic, +country gentleman, and seldom, if ever, +visited the capital, and then his sojourns +were as brief as the nature of his business +would permit. + +Lady Ardagh, however, did not suffer +from this change further than in being +secluded from general society; for Sir +Robert's wealth, and the hospitality which +he had established in the family mansion, +commanded that of such of his lady's +friends and relatives as had leisure or +inclination to visit the castle; and as their +style of living was very handsome, and its +internal resources of amusement considerable, +few invitations from Sir Robert or +his lady were neglected. + +Many years passed quietly away, during +which Sir Robert's and Lady Ardagh's +hopes of issue were several times +disappointed. In the lapse of all this time +there occurred but one event worth +recording. Sir Robert had brought with +him from abroad a valet, who sometimes +professed himself to be French, at +others Italian, and at others again +German. He spoke all these languages +with equal fluency, and seemed to take a +kind of pleasure in puzzling the sagacity +and balking the curiosity of such of the +visitors at the castle as at any time +happened to enter into conversation with him, +or who, struck by his singularities, became +inquisitive respecting his country and +origin. Sir Robert called him by the +French name, JACQUE, and among the +lower orders he was familiarly known by +the title of 'Jack, the devil,' an appellation +which originated in a supposed malignity +of disposition and a real reluctance to +mix in the society of those who were +believed to be his equals. This morose +reserve, coupled with the mystery which +enveloped all about him, rendered him an +object of suspicion and inquiry to his +fellow-servants, amongst whom it was +whispered that this man in secret +governed the actions of Sir Robert with +a despotic dictation, and that, as if to +indemnify himself for his public and +apparent servitude and self-denial, he in +private exacted a degree of respectful +homage from his so-called master, totally +inconsistent with the relation generally +supposed to exist between them. + +This man's personal appearance was, to +say the least of it, extremely odd; he was +low in stature; and this defect was +enhanced by a distortion of the spine, so +considerable as almost to amount to a hunch; +his features, too, had all that sharpness and +sickliness of hue which generally accompany +deformity; he wore his hair, which +was black as soot, in heavy neglected ringlets +about his shoulders, and always without +powder--a peculiarity in those days. There +was something unpleasant, too, in the +circumstance that he never raised his +eyes to meet those of another; this fact +was often cited as a proof of his being +something not quite right, and said to +result not from the timidity which is +supposed in most cases to induce this habit, +but from a consciousness that his eye +possessed a power which, if exhibited, would +betray a supernatural origin. Once, and +once only, had he violated this sinister +observance: it was on the occasion of Sir +Robert's hopes having been most bitterly +disappointed; his lady, after a severe and +dangerous confinement, gave birth to a +dead child. Immediately after the intelligence +had been made known, a servant, +having upon some business passed outside +the gate of the castle-yard, was met by +Jacque, who, contrary to his wont, accosted +him, observing, 'So, after all the pother, +the son and heir is still-born.' This +remark was accompanied by a chuckling +laugh, the only approach to merriment +which he was ever known to exhibit. +The servant, who was really disappointed, +having hoped for holiday times, feasting and +debauchery with impunity during the +rejoicings which would have accompanied a +christening, turned tartly upon the little +valet, telling him that he should let Sir +Robert know how he had received the +tidings which should have filled any faithful +servant with sorrow; and having once +broken the ice, he was proceeding with +increasing fluency, when his harangue was +cut short and his temerity punished, by +the little man raising his head and treating +him to a scowl so fearful, half-demoniac, +half-insane, that it haunted his imagination +in nightmares and nervous tremors +for months after. + +To this man Lady Ardagh had, at first +sight, conceived an antipathy amounting to +horror, a mixture of loathing and dread so +very powerful that she had made it a +particular and urgent request to Sir Robert, +that he would dismiss him, offering herself, +from that property which Sir Robert had +by the marriage settlements left at her own +disposal, to provide handsomely for him, +provided only she might be relieved from +the continual anxiety and discomfort +which the fear of encountering him induced. + +Sir Robert, however, would not hear of +it; the request seemed at first to agitate +and distress him; but when still urged in +defiance of his peremptory refusal, he burst +into a violent fit of fury; he spoke darkly +of great sacrifices which he had made, and +threatened that if the request were at any +time renewed he would leave both her and +the country for ever. This was, however, +a solitary instance of violence; his general +conduct towards Lady Ardagh, though at +no time uxorious, was certainly kind and +respectful, and he was more than repaid +in the fervent attachment which she bore +him in return. + +Some short time after this strange +interview between Sir Robert and Lady +Ardagh; one night after the family had +retired to bed, and when everything had +been quiet for some time, the bell of Sir +Robert's dressing-room rang suddenly and +violently; the ringing was repeated again +and again at still shorter intervals, and +with increasing violence, as if the person +who pulled the bell was agitated by the +presence of some terrifying and imminent +danger. A servant named Donovan was +the first to answer it; he threw on his +clothes, and hurried to the room. + +Sir Robert had selected for his private +room an apartment remote from the bed- +chambers of the castle, most of which lay +in the more modern parts of the mansion, +and secured at its entrance by a double +door. As the servant opened the first of +these, Sir Robert's bell again sounded with +a longer and louder peal; the inner door +resisted his efforts to open it; but after +a few violent struggles, not having been +perfectly secured, or owing to the inadequacy +of the bolt itself, it gave way, and +the servant rushed into the apartment, +advancing several paces before he could +recover himself. As he entered, he heard +Sir Robert's voice exclaiming loudly-- +'Wait without, do not come in yet;' +but the prohibition came too late. Near +a low truckle-bed, upon which Sir Robert +sometimes slept, for he was a whimsical +man, in a large armchair, sat, or rather +lounged, the form of the valet Jacque, his +arms folded, and his heels stretched +forward on the floor, so as fully to exhibit his +misshapen legs, his head thrown back, and +his eyes fixed upon his master with a look +of indescribable defiance and derision, while, +as if to add to the strange insolence of his +attitude and expression, he had placed upon +his head the black cloth cap which it was +his habit to wear. + +Sir Robert was standing before him, at +the distance of several yards, in a posture +expressive of despair, terror, and what +might be called an agony of humility. +He waved his hand twice or thrice, as if +to dismiss the servant, who, however, +remained fixed on the spot where he had +first stood; and then, as if forgetting +everything but the agony within him, he pressed +his clenched hands on his cold damp brow, +and dashed away the heavy drops that +gathered chill and thickly there. + +Jacque broke the silence. + +'Donovan,' said he, 'shake up that +drone and drunkard, Carlton; tell him +that his master directs that the travelling +carriage shall be at the door within half- +an-hour.' + +The servant paused, as if in doubt as to +what he should do; but his scruples were +resolved by Sir Robert's saying hurriedly, +'Go--go, do whatever he directs; his +commands are mine; tell Carlton the +same.' + +The servant hurried to obey, and in +about half-an-hour the carriage was at the +door, and Jacque, having directed the +coachman to drive to B----n, a small +town at about the distance of twelve +miles--the nearest point, however, at +which post-horses could be obtained-- +stepped into the vehicle, which accordingly +quitted the castle immediately. + +Although it was a fine moonlight night, +the carriage made its way but very slowly, +and after the lapse of two hours the travellers +had arrived at a point about eight miles +from the castle, at which the road strikes +through a desolate and heathy flat, sloping +up distantly at either side into bleak +undulatory hills, in whose monotonous sweep +the imagination beholds the heaving of +some dark sluggish sea, arrested in its +first commotion by some preternatural +power. It is a gloomy and divested spot; +there is neither tree nor habitation near it; +its monotony is unbroken, except by here +and there the grey front of a rock peering +above the heath, and the effect is rendered +yet more dreary and spectral by the +exaggerated and misty shadows which the +moon casts along the sloping sides of the +hills. + +When they had gained about the +centre of this tract, Carlton, the coachman, +was surprised to see a figure standing +at some distance in advance, immediately +beside the road, and still more so when, +on coming up, he observed that it was no +other than Jacque whom he believed to +be at that moment quietly seated in the +carriage; the coachman drew up, and +nodding to him, the little valet exclaimed: + +'Carlton, I have got the start of you; +the roads are heavy, so I shall even take +care of myself the rest of the way. Do +you make your way back as best you can, +and I shall follow my own nose.' + +So saying, he chucked a purse into the +lap of the coachman, and turning off at a +right angle with the road, he began to +move rapidly away in the direction of the +dark ridge that lowered in the distance. + +The servant watched him until he was +lost in the shadowy haze of night; and +neither he nor any of the inmates of the +castle saw Jacque again. His disappearance, +as might have been expected, did not cause +any regret among the servants and dependants +at the castle; and Lady Ardagh +did not attempt to conceal her delight; +but with Sir Robert matters were different, +for two or three days subsequent to this +event he confined himself to his room, and +when he did return to his ordinary +occupations, it was with a gloomy indifference, +which showed that he did so more from +habit than from any interest he felt in +them. He appeared from that moment +unaccountably and strikingly changed, and +thenceforward walked through life as a +thing from which he could derive neither +profit nor pleasure. His temper, however, +so far from growing wayward or +morose, became, though gloomy, very-- +almost unnaturally--placid and cold; but +his spirits totally failed, and he grew silent +and abstracted. + +These sombre habits of mind, as might +have been anticipated, very materially +affected the gay house-keeping of the +castle; and the dark and melancholy +spirit of its master seemed to have +communicated itself to the very domestics, +almost to the very walls of the mansion. + +Several years rolled on in this way, and +the sounds of mirth and wassail had long +been strangers to the castle, when Sir +Robert requested his lady, to her great +astonishment, to invite some twenty or +thirty of their friends to spend the Christmas, +which was fast approaching, at the +castle. Lady Ardagh gladly complied, +and her sister Mary, who still continued +unmarried, and Lady D---- were of +course included in the invitations. Lady +Ardagh had requested her sisters to set +forward as early as possible, in order that +she might enjoy a little of their society +before the arrival of the other guests; +and in compliance with this request they +left Dublin almost immediately upon +receiving the invitation, a little more than +a week before the arrival of the festival +which was to be the period at which the +whole party were to muster. + +For expedition's sake it was arranged +that they should post, while Lady D----'s +groom was to follow with her horses, +she taking with herself her own maid and +one male servant. They left the city +when the day was considerably spent, and +consequently made but three stages in +the first day; upon the second, at about +eight in the evening, they had reached the +town of K----k, distant about fifteen +miles from Castle Ardagh. Here, owing +to Miss F----d's great fatigue, she having +been for a considerable time in a very +delicate state of health, it was determined +to put up for the night. They, accord- +ingly, took possession of the best sitting- +room which the inn commanded, and Lady +D----remained in it to direct and urge +the preparations for some refreshment, +which the fatigues of the day had rendered +necessary, while her younger sister +retired to her bed-chamber to rest there +for a little time, as the parlour commanded +no such luxury as a sofa. + +Miss F----d was, as I have already +stated, at this time in very delicate health; +and upon this occasion the exhaustion of +fatigue, and the dreary badness of the +weather, combined to depress her spirits. +Lady D---- had not been left long to +herself, when the door communicating +with the passage was abruptly opened, +and her sister Mary entered in a state of +great agitation; she sat down pale and +trembling upon one of the chairs, and it +was not until a copious flood of tears had +relieved her, that she became sufficiently +calm to relate the cause of her excitement +and distress. It was simply this. Almost +immediately upon lying down upon the +bed she sank into a feverish and unrefreshing +slumber; images of all grotesque +shapes and startling colours flitted before +her sleeping fancy with all the rapidity and +variety of the changes in a kaleidoscope. +At length, as she described it, a mist +seemed to interpose itself between her +sight and the ever-shifting scenery which +sported before her imagination, and out +of this cloudy shadow gradually emerged +a figure whose back seemed turned +towards the sleeper; it was that of a lady, +who, in perfect silence, was expressing +as far as pantomimic gesture could, by +wringing her hands, and throwing her +head from side to side, in the manner of +one who is exhausted by the over indulgence, +by the very sickness and impatience +of grief; the extremity of misery. For a +long time she sought in vain to catch a +glimpse of the face of the apparition, who +thus seemed to stir and live before her. +But at length the figure seemed to move +with an air of authority, as if about to +give directions to some inferior, and in +doing so, it turned its head so as to +display, with a ghastly distinctness, the +features of Lady Ardagh, pale as death, +with her dark hair all dishevelled, and +her eyes dim and sunken with weeping. +The revulsion of feeling which Miss +F----d experienced at this disclosure-- +for up to that point she had contemplated +the appearance rather with a sense of +curiosity and of interest, than of anything +deeper--was so horrible, that the shock +awoke her perfectly. She sat up in the +bed, and looked fearfully around the +room, which was imperfectly lighted by a +single candle burning dimly, as if she +almost expected to see the reality of her +dreadful vision lurking in some corner of +the chamber. Her fears were, however, +verified, though not in the way she +expected; yet in a manner sufficiently +horrible--for she had hardly time to +breathe and to collect her thoughts, when +she heard, or thought she heard, the +voice of her sister, Lady Ardagh, sometimes +sobbing violently, and sometimes +almost shrieking as if in terror, and +calling upon her and Lady D----, with the +most imploring earnestness of despair, for +God's sake to lose no time in coming to +her. All this was so horribly distinct, +that it seemed as if the mourner was +standing within a few yards of the spot +where Miss F----d lay. She sprang from +the bed, and leaving the candle in the +room behind her, she made her way in the +dark through the passage, the voice still +following her, until as she arrived at the +door of the sitting-room it seemed to die +away in low sobbing. + +As soon as Miss F----d was tolerably +recovered, she declared her determination +to proceed directly, and without further +loss of time, to Castle Ardagh. It was +not without much difficulty that Lady +D---- at length prevailed upon her to +consent to remain where they then were, +until morning should arrive, when it was +to be expected that the young lady would +be much refreshed by at least remaining +quiet for the night, even though sleep +were out of the question. Lady D---- +was convinced, from the nervous and +feverish symptoms which her sister +exhibited, that she had already done too +much, and was more than ever satisfied of +the necessity of prosecuting the journey +no further upon that day. After some +time she persuaded her sister to return to +her room, where she remained with her +until she had gone to bed, and appeared +comparatively composed. Lady D---- +then returned to the parlour, and not +finding herself sleepy, she remained sitting +by the fire. Her solitude was a second +time broken in upon, by the entrance of +her sister, who now appeared, if possible, +more agitated than before. She said that +Lady D---- had not long left the room, +when she was roused by a repetition of +the same wailing and lamentations, accom- +panied by the wildest and most agonized +supplications that no time should be lost +in coming to Castle Ardagh, and all in her +sister's voice, and uttered at the same +proximity as before. This time the voice +had followed her to the very door of the +sitting-room, and until she closed it, +seemed to pour forth its cries and sobs at +the very threshold. + +Miss F----d now most positively +declared that nothing should prevent her +proceeding instantly to the castle, adding +that if Lady D---- would not accompany +her, she would go on by herself. +Superstitious feelings are at all times more or +less contagious, and the last century +afforded a soil much more congenial to +their growth than the present. Lady +D---- was so far affected by her sister's +terrors, that she became, at least, uneasy; +and seeing that her sister was immovably +determined upon setting forward immediately, +she consented to accompany her +forthwith. After a slight delay, fresh +horses were procured, and the two ladies +and their attendants renewed their journey, +with strong injunctions to the driver to +quicken their rate of travelling as much as +possible, and promises of reward in case of +his doing so. + +Roads were then in much worse condition +throughout the south, even than +they now are; and the fifteen miles which +modern posting would have passed in little +more than an hour and a half, were not +completed even with every possible exertion +in twice the time. Miss F----d had +been nervously restless during the journey. +Her head had been constantly out of +the carriage window; and as they ap- +proached the entrance to the castle +demesne, which lay about a mile from the +building, her anxiety began to communicate +itself to her sister. The postillion +had just dismounted, and was endeavouring +to open the gate--at that time a +necessary trouble; for in the middle of +the last century porter's lodges were not +common in the south of Ireland, and locks +and keys almost unknown. He had just +succeeded in rolling back the heavy oaken +gate so as to admit the vehicle, when a +mounted servant rode rapidly down the +avenue, and drawing up at the carriage, +asked of the postillion who the party were; +and on hearing, he rode round to the +carriage window and handed in a note, +which Lady D---- received. By the +assistance of one of the coach-lamps they +succeeded in deciphering it. It was +scrawled in great agitation, and ran +thus: + + +'MY DEAR SISTER--MY DEAR SISTERS +BOTH,--In God's name lose no time, I am +frightened and miserable; I cannot explain +all till you come. I am too much terrified +to write coherently; but understand +me--hasten--do not waste a minute. I +am afraid you will come too late. + 'E. A.' + + +The servant could tell nothing more +than that the castle was in great confusion, +and that Lady Ardagh had been crying +bitterly all the night. Sir Robert was +perfectly well. Altogether at a loss as to +the cause of Lady Ardagh's great distress, +they urged their way up the steep and +broken avenue which wound through the +crowding trees, whose wild and grotesque +branches, now left stripped and naked by the +blasts of winter, stretched drearily across +the road. As the carriage drew up in the +area before the door, the anxiety of the +ladies almost amounted to agony; and +scarcely waiting for the assistance of their +attendant, they sprang to the ground, and +in an instant stood at the castle door. +From within were distinctly audible the +sounds of lamentation and weeping, and +the suppressed hum of voices as if of those +endeavouring to soothe the mourner. +The door was speedily opened, and when +the ladies entered, the first object which +met their view was their sister, Lady +Ardagh, sitting on a form in the hall, +weeping and wringing her hands in deep +agony. Beside her stood two old, withered +crones, who were each endeavouring in +their own way to administer consolation, +without even knowing or caring what the +subject of her grief might be. + +Immediately on Lady Ardagh's seeing +her sisters, she started up, fell on their +necks, and kissed them again and again +without speaking, and then taking them +each by a hand, still weeping bitterly, she +led them into a small room adjoining the +hall, in which burned a light, and, having +closed the door, she sat down between +them. After thanking them for the haste +they had made, she proceeded to tell them, +in words incoherent from agitation, that +Sir Robert had in private, and in the most +solemn manner, told her that he should die +upon that night, and that he had occupied +himself during the evening in giving minute +directions respecting the arrangements of +his funeral. Lady D---- here suggested +the possibility of his labouring under the +hallucinations of a fever; but to this Lady +Ardagh quickly replied: + +'Oh! no, no! Would to God I could +think it. Oh! no, no! Wait till you +have seen him. There is a frightful calmness +about all he says and does; and his +directions are all so clear, and his mind so +perfectly collected, it is impossible, quite +impossible.' And she wept yet more +bitterly. + +At that moment Sir Robert's voice was +heard in issuing some directions, as he +came downstairs; and Lady Ardagh +exclaimed, hurriedly: + +'Go now and see him yourself. He is +in the hall.' + +Lady D---- accordingly went out into +the hall, where Sir Robert met her; and, +saluting her with kind politeness, he said, +after a pause: + +'You are come upon a melancholy mission-- +the house is in great confusion, and +some of its inmates in considerable grief.' +He took her hand, and looking fixedly in +her face, continued: 'I shall not live to +see to-morrow's sun shine.' + +'You are ill, sir, I have no doubt,' +replied she; 'but I am very certain we shall +see you much better to-morrow, and still +better the day following.' + +'I am NOT ill, sister,' replied he. 'Feel +my temples, they are cool; lay your finger +to my pulse, its throb is slow and +temperate. I never was more perfectly in +health, and yet do I know that ere three +hours be past, I shall be no more.' + +'Sir, sir,' said she, a good deal startled, +but wishing to conceal the impression which +the calm solemnity of his manner had, in +her own despite, made upon her, 'Sir, you +should not jest; you should not even speak +lightly upon such subjects. You trifle +with what is sacred--you are sporting with +the best affections of your wife----' + +'Stay, my good lady,' said he; 'if when +this clock shall strike the hour of three, I +shall be anything but a helpless clod, then +upbraid me. Pray return now to your +sister. Lady Ardagh is, indeed, much to +be pitied; but what is past cannot now be +helped. I have now a few papers to +arrange, and some to destroy. I shall see +you and Lady Ardagh before my death; +try to compose her--her sufferings distress +me much; but what is past cannot now be +mended.' + +Thus saying, he went upstairs, and Lady +D---- returned to the room where her +sisters were sitting. + +'Well,' exclaimed Lady Ardagh, as she +re-entered, 'is it not so?--do you still +doubt?--do you think there is any hope?" + +Lady D---- was silent. + +'Oh! none, none, none,' continued she; +'I see, I see you are convinced.' And she +wrung her hands in bitter agony. + +'My dear sister,' said Lady D----, +'there is, no doubt, something strange in +all that has appeared in this matter; but +still I cannot but hope that there may be +something deceptive in all the apparent +calmness of Sir Robert. I still must +believe that some latent fever has affected +his mind, or that, owing to the state of +nervous depression into which he has been +sinking, some trivial occurrence has been +converted, in his disordered imagination, +into an augury foreboding his immediate +dissolution.' + +In such suggestions, unsatisfactory even +to those who originated them, and doubly +so to her whom they were intended to +comfort, more than two hours passed; and +Lady D---- was beginning to hope that +the fated term might elapse without the +occurrence of any tragical event, when Sir +Robert entered the room. On coming in, +he placed his finger with a warning gesture +upon his lips, as if to enjoin silence; and +then having successively pressed the hands +of his two sisters-in-law, he stooped sadly +over the fainting form of his lady, and +twice pressed her cold, pale forehead, with +his lips, and then passed silently out of +the room. + +Lady D----, starting up, followed to the +door, and saw him take a candle in the hall, +and walk deliberately up the stairs. Stimulated +by a feeling of horrible curiosity, she +continued to follow him at a distance. She +saw him enter his own private room, and +heard him close and lock the door after him. +Continuing to follow him as far as she +could, she placed herself at the door of the +chamber, as noiselessly as possible, where +after a little time she was joined by her +two sisters, Lady Ardagh and Miss F----d. +In breathless silence they listened to what +should pass within. They distinctly heard +Sir Robert pacing up and down the room +for some time; and then, after a pause, a +sound as if some one had thrown himself +heavily upon the bed. At this moment +Lady D----, forgetting that the door had +been secured within, turned the handle for +the purpose of entering; when some one from +the inside, close to the door, said, 'Hush! +hush!' The same lady, now much alarmed, +knocked violently at the door; there was +no answer. She knocked again more vio- +lently, with no further success. Lady +Ardagh, now uttering a piercing shriek, +sank in a swoon upon the floor. Three or +four servants, alarmed by the noise, now +hurried upstairs, and Lady Ardagh was +carried apparently lifeless to her own +chamber. They then, after having knocked +long and loudly in vain, applied themselves +to forcing an entrance into Sir Robert's +room. After resisting some violent efforts, +the door at length gave way, and all +entered the room nearly together. There +was a single candle burning upon a table at +the far end of the apartment; and stretched +upon the bed lay Sir Robert Ardagh. He +was a corpse--the eyes were open--no +convulsion had passed over the features, or +distorted the limbs--it seemed as if the +soul had sped from the body without a +struggle to remain there. On touching +the body it was found to be cold as clay-- +all lingering of the vital heat had left it. +They closed the ghastly eyes of the corpse, +and leaving it to the care of those who +seem to consider it a privilege of their age +and sex to gloat over the revolting spectacle +of death in all its stages, they +returned to Lady Ardagh, now a widow. +The party assembled at the castle, but the +atmosphere was tainted with death. Grief +there was not much, but awe and panic +were expressed in every face. The guests +talked in whispers, and the servants walked +on tiptoe, as if afraid of the very noise of +their own footsteps. + +The funeral was conducted almost with +splendour. The body, having been conveyed, +in compliance with Sir Robert's last +directions, to Dublin, was there laid within +the ancient walls of St. Audoen's Church +--where I have read the epitaph, telling +the age and titles of the departed dust. +Neither painted escutcheon, nor marble +slab, have served to rescue from oblivion +the story of the dead, whose very name +will ere long moulder from their tracery + + 'Et sunt sua fata sepulchris.'[1] + + +[1] This prophecy has since been realised; for the +aisle in which Sir Robert's remains were laid has been +suffered to fall completely to decay; and the tomb +which marked his grave, and other monuments more +curious, form now one indistinguishable mass of rubbish. + + +The events which I have recorded are +not imaginary. They are FACTS; and +there lives one whose authority none would +venture to question, who could vindicate +the accuracy of every statement which I +have set down, and that, too, with +all the circumstantiality of an eye- +witness.[2] + + +[2] This paper, from a memorandum, I find to have +been written in 1803. The lady to whom allusion is +made, I believe to be Miss Mary F----d. She never +married, and survived both her sisters, living to a very +advanced age. + + + + +THE LAST HEIR OF CASTLE CONNOR. + +Being a third Extract from the legacy of the late Francis +Purcell, P. P. of Drumcoolagh. + +There is something in the decay +of ancient grandeur to interest +even the most unconcerned +spectator--the evidences of greatness, of +power, and of pride that survive the wreck +of time, proving, in mournful contrast with +present desolation and decay, what WAS in +other days, appeal, with a resistless power, +to the sympathies of our nature. And +when, as we gaze on the scion of some +ruined family, the first impulse of nature +that bids us regard his fate with interest +and respect is justified by the recollection +of great exertions and self-devotion and +sacrifices in the cause of a lost country and +of a despised religion--sacrifices and +efforts made with all the motives of faithfulness +and of honour, and terminating in +ruin--in such a case respect becomes +veneration, and the interest we feel amounts +almost to a passion. + +It is this feeling which has thrown +the magic veil of romance over every +roofless castle and ruined turret throughout +our country; it is this feeling that, +so long as a tower remains above +the level of the soil, so long as one scion +of a prostrate and impoverished family +survives, will never suffer Ireland +to yield to the stranger more than the +'mouth honour' which fear compels.[3] I +who have conversed viva voce et propria +persona with those whose recollections +could run back so far as the times previous +to the confiscations which followed the +Revolution of 1688--whose memory could +repeople halls long roofless and desolate, +and point out the places where greatness +once had been, may feel all this more +strongly, and with a more vivid interest, +than can those whose sympathies are +awakened by the feebler influence of what +may be called the PICTURESQUE effects of +ruin and decay. + + +[3] This passage serves (mirabile dictu) to corroborate a +statement of Mr. O'Connell's, which occurs in his +evidence given before the House of Commons, wherein +he affirms that the principles of the Irish priesthood +'ARE democratic, and were those of Jacobinism.'--See +digest of the evidence upon the state of Ireland, given +before the House of Commons. + + +There do, indeed, still exist some +fragments of the ancient Catholic families of +Ireland; but, alas! what VERY fragments! +They linger like the remnants of her +aboriginal forests, reft indeed of their +strength and greatness, but proud even in +decay. Every winter thins their ranks, +and strews the ground with the wreck of +their loftiest branches; they are at best +but tolerated in the land which gave them +birth--objects of curiosity, perhaps of +pity, to one class, but of veneration to +another. + +The O'Connors, of Castle Connor, were +an ancient Irish family. The name recurs +frequently in our history, and is generally +to be found in a prominent place whenever +periods of tumult or of peril called forth +the courage and the enterprise of this +country. After the accession of William +III., the storm of confiscation which +swept over the land made woeful havoc +in their broad domains. Some fragments +of property, however, did remain to them, +and with it the building which had for +ages formed the family residence. + +About the year 17--, my uncle, a +Catholic priest, became acquainted with the +inmates of Castle Connor, and after a time +introduced me, then a lad of about fifteen, +full of spirits, and little dreaming that a +profession so grave as his should ever +become mine. + +The family at that time consisted of but +two members, a widow lady and her only +son, a young man aged about eighteen. In +our early days the progress from acquaintance +to intimacy, and from intimacy to +friendship is proverbially rapid; and young +O'Connor and I became, in less than a +month, close and confidential companions-- +an intercourse which ripened gradually into +an attachment ardent, deep, and devoted-- +such as I believe young hearts only are +capable of forming. + +He had been left early fatherless, and +the representative and heir of his family. +His mother's affection for him was intense +in proportion as there existed no other +object to divide it--indeed--such love as +that she bore him I have never seen +elsewhere. Her love was better bestowed +than that of mothers generally is, for +young O'Connor, not without some of the +faults, had certainly many of the most +engaging qualities of youth. He had all the +frankness and gaiety which attract, and +the generosity of heart which confirms +friendship; indeed, I never saw a person +so universally popular; his very faults +seemed to recommend him; he was wild, +extravagant, thoughtless, and fearlessly +adventurous--defects of character which, +among the peasantry of Ireland, are +honoured as virtues. The combination of +these qualities, and the position which +O'Connor occupied as representative of an +ancient Irish Catholic family--a peculiarly +interesting one to me, one of the old faith-- +endeared him to me so much that I have +never felt the pangs of parting more keenly +than when it became necessary, for the +finishing of his education, that he should +go abroad. + +Three years had passed away before I +saw him again. During the interval, +however, I had frequently heard from him, +so that absence had not abated the warmth +of our attachment. Who could tell of the +rejoicings that marked the evening of his +return? The horses were removed from +the chaise at the distance of a mile from +the castle, while it and its contents were +borne rapidly onward almost by the pressure +of the multitude, like a log upon a +torrent. Bonfires blared far and near-- +bagpipes roared and fiddles squeaked; and, +amid the thundering shouts of thousands, +the carriage drew up before the +castle. + +In an instant young O'Connor was upon +the ground, crying, 'Thank you, boys-- +thank you, boys;' while a thousand hands +were stretched out from all sides to grasp +even a finger of his. Still, amid shouts of +'God bless your honour--long may you +reign!' and 'Make room there, boys! clear +the road for the masther!' he reached the +threshold of the castle, where stood his +mother weeping for joy. + +Oh! who could describe that embrace, +or the enthusiasm with which it was +witnessed? 'God bless him to you, my lady-- +glory to ye both!' and 'Oh, but he is a fine +young gentleman, God bless him!' +resounded on all sides, while hats flew up in +volleys that darkened the moon; and +when at length, amid the broad delighted +grins of the thronging domestics, whose +sense of decorum precluded any more +boisterous evidence of joy, they reached +the parlour, then giving way to the fulness +of her joy the widowed mother kissed and +blessed him and wept in turn. Well +might any parent be proud to claim as son +the handsome stripling who now represented +the Castle Connor family; but to +her his beauty had a peculiar charm, for it +bore a striking resemblance to that of her +husband, the last O'Connor. + +I know not whether partiality blinded +me, or that I did no more than justice to +my friend in believing that I had never +seen so handsome a young man. I am +inclined to think the latter. He was rather +tall, very slightly and elegantly made; his +face was oval, and his features decidedly +Spanish in cast and complexion, but with +far more vivacity of expression than +generally belongs to the beauty of that nation. +The extreme delicacy of his features and +the varied animation of his countenance +made him appear even younger than his +years--an illusion which the total absence +of everything studied in his manners +seemed to confirm. Time had wrought no +small change in me, alike in mind and +spirits; but in the case of O'Connor it +seemed to have lost its power to alter. +His gaiety was undamped, his generosity +unchilled; and though the space which +had intervened between our parting and +reunion was but brief, yet at the period of +life at which we were, even a shorter +interval than that of three years has +frequently served to form or DEform a +character. + +Weeks had passed away since the return +of O'Connor, and scarce a day had elapsed +without my seeing him, when the +neighbourhood was thrown into an unusual state +of excitement by the announcement of a +race-ball to be celebrated at the assembly- +room of the town of T----, distant scarcely +two miles from Castle Connor. + +Young O'Connor, as I had expected, +determined at once to attend it; and +having directed in vain all the powers of +his rhetoric to persuade his mother to +accompany him, he turned the whole +battery of his logic upon me, who, at that +time, felt a reluctance stronger than that +of mere apathy to mixing in any of these +scenes of noisy pleasure for which for +many reasons I felt myself unfitted. He +was so urgent and persevering, however, +that I could not refuse; and I found myself +reluctantly obliged to make up my +mind to attend him upon the important +night to the spacious but ill-finished building, +which the fashion and beauty of the +county were pleased to term an assembly- +room. + +When we entered the apartment, we +found a select few, surrounded by a crowd +of spectators, busily performing a minuet, +with all the congees and flourishes which +belonged to that courtly dance; and my +companion, infected by the contagion of +example, was soon, as I had anticipated, +waving his chapeau bras, and gracefully +bowing before one of the prettiest girls in +the room. I had neither skill nor spirits to +qualify me to follow his example; and as +the fulness of the room rendered it easy to +do so without its appearing singular, I +determined to be merely a spectator of +the scene which surrounded me, without +taking an active part in its amusements. + +The room was indeed very much +crowded, so that its various groups, formed +as design or accident had thrown the +parties together, afforded no small fund +of entertainment to the contemplative +observer. There were the dancers, all +gaiety and good-humour; a little further +off were the tables at which sat the card- +players, some plying their vocation with +deep and silent anxiety--for in those days +gaming often ran very high in such places +--and others disputing with all the +vociferous pertinacity of undisguised ill- +temper. There, again, were the sallow, +blue-nosed, grey-eyed dealers in whispered +scandal; and, in short, there is scarcely a +group or combination to be met with in +the court of kings which might not have +found a humble parallel in the assembly- +room of T----. + +I was allowed to indulge in undisturbed +contemplation, for I suppose I was not +known to more than five or six in the +room. I thus had leisure not only to +observe the different classes into which the +company had divided itself, but to amuse +myself by speculating as to the rank and +character of many of the individual actors +in the drama. + +Among many who have long since +passed from my memory, one person for +some time engaged my attention, and that +person, for many reasons, I shall not soon +forget. He was a tall, square-shouldered +man, who stood in a careless attitude, +leaning with his back to the wall; he +seemed to have secluded himself from the +busy multitudes which moved noisily and +gaily around him, and nobody seemed to +observe or to converse with him. He was +fashionably dressed, but perhaps rather +extravagantly; his face was full and +heavy, expressive of sullenness and +stupidity, and marked with the lines of +strong vulgarity; his age might be somewhere +between forty and fifty. Such as I +have endeavoured to describe him, he +remained motionless, his arms doggedly +folded across his broad chest, and turning +his sullen eyes from corner to corner of +the room, as if eager to detect some object +on which to vent his ill-humour. + +It is strange, and yet it is true, that one +sometimes finds even in the most commonplace +countenance an undefinable something, +which fascinates the attention, and +forces it to recur again and again, while it +is impossible to tell whether the peculiarity +which thus attracts us lies in feature or +in expression. or in both combined, and +why it is that our observation should be +engrossed by an object which, when +analysed, seems to possess no claim to +interest or even to notice. This +unaccountable feeling I have often experienced, +and I believe I am not singular. but never +in so remarkable a degree as upon this +occasion. My friend O'Connor, having +disposed of his fair partner, was crossing +the room for the purpose of joining me, in +doing which I was surprised to see him +exchange a familiar, almost a cordial, +greeting with the object of my curiosity. +I say I was surprised, for independent of +his very questionable appearance, it struck +me as strange that though so constantly +associated with O'Connor, and, as I +thought, personally acquainted with all +his intimates, I had never before even +seen this individual. I did not fail +immediately to ask him who this gentleman +was. I thought he seemed slightly +embarrassed, but after a moment's pause he +laughingly said that his friend over the +way was too mysterious a personage to +have his name announced in so giddy a +scene as the present; but that on the +morrow he would furnish me with all the +information which I could desire. There +was, I thought, in his affected jocularity a +real awkwardness which appeared to me +unaccountable, and consequently increased +my curiosity; its gratification, however, I +was obliged to defer. At length, wearied +with witnessing amusements in which I +could not sympathise, I left the room, and +did not see O'Connor until late in the next +day. + +I had ridden down towards the castle +for the purpose of visiting the O'Connors, +and had nearly reached the avenue leading +to the mansion, when I met my friend. +He was also mounted; and having +answered my inquiries respecting his mother, +he easily persuaded me to accompany him +in his ramble. We had chatted as usual +for some time, when, after a pause, +O'Connor said: + +'By the way, Purcell, you expressed +some curiosity respecting the tall, +handsome fellow to whom I spoke last +night.' + +'I certainly did question you about a +TALL gentleman, but was not aware of his +claims to beauty,' replied I. + +'Well, that is as it may be,' said he; +'the ladies think him handsome, and their +opinion upon that score is more valuable +than yours or mine. Do you know,' he +continued, 'I sometimes feel half sorry +that I ever made the fellow's acquaintance: +he is quite a marked man here, and they +tell stories of him that are anything but +reputable, though I am sure without +foundation. I think I know enough about +him to warrant me in saying so.' + +'May I ask his name?' inquired I. + +'Oh! did not I tell you his name?' +rejoined he. 'You should have heard +that first; he and his name are equally +well known. You will recognise the +individual at once when I tell you that +his name is--Fitzgerald.' + +'Fitzgerald!' I repeated. 'Fitzgerald! +--can it be Fitzgerald the duellist?' + +'Upon my word you have hit it,' replied +he, laughing; 'but you have accompanied +the discovery with a look of horror more +tragic than appropriate. He is not the +monster you take him for--he has a good +deal of old Irish pride; his temper is +hasty, and he has been unfortunately +thrown in the way of men who have not +made allowance for these things. I am +convinced that in every case in which +Fitzgerald has fought, if the truth could +be discovered, he would be found to have +acted throughout upon the defensive. No +man is mad enough to risk his own life, +except when the doing so is an alternative +to submitting tamely to what he considers +an insult. I am certain that no man ever +engaged in a duel under the consciousness +that he had acted an intentionally aggressive +part.' + +'When did you make his acquaintance?' +said I. + +'About two years ago,' he replied. 'I +met him in France, and you know when +one is abroad it is an ungracious task +to reject the advances of one's countryman, +otherwise I think I should have +avoided his society--less upon my own +account than because I am sure the +acquaintance would be a source of +continual though groundless uneasiness to +my mother. I know, therefore, that you +will not unnecessarily mention its existence +to her.' + +I gave him the desired assurance, and +added: + +'May I ask you. O'Connor, if, indeed, it +be a fair question, whether this Fitzgerald +at any time attempted to engage you in +anything like gaming?' + +This question was suggested by my +having frequently heard Fitzgerald +mentioned as a noted gambler, and sometimes +even as a blackleg. O'Connor seemed, I +thought, slightly embarrassed. He answered: + +'No, no--I cannot say that he ever +attempted anything of the kind. I +certainly have played with him, but never +lost to any serious amount; nor can I +recollect that he ever solicited me--indeed +he knows that I have a strong objection to +deep play. YOU must be aware that my +finances could not bear much pruning +down. I never lost more to him at a +sitting than about five pounds, which you +know is nothing. No, you wrong him if +you imagine that he attached himself to +me merely for the sake of such contemptible +winnings as those which a broken-down +Irish gentleman could afford him. Come, +Purcell, you are too hard upon him--you +judge only by report; you must see +him, and decide for yourself.--Suppose we +call upon him now; he is at the inn, in the +High Street, not a mile off.' + +I declined the proposal drily. + +'Your caution is too easily alarmed,' +said he. 'I do not wish you to make this +man your bosom friend: I merely desire +that you should see and speak to him, and +if you form any acquaintance with him, it +must be of that slight nature which can +be dropped or continued at pleasure.' + +From the time that O'Connor had +announced the fact that his friend was no +other than the notorious Fitzgerald, a +foreboding of something calamitous had +come upon me, and it now occurred to me +that if any unpleasantness were to be +feared as likely to result to O'Connor from +their connection, I might find my attempts +to extricate him much facilitated by my +being acquainted, however slightly, with +Fitzgerald. I know not whether the idea +was reasonable--it was certainly natural; +and I told O'Connor that upon second +thoughts I would ride down with him to +the town, and wait upon Mr. Fitzgerald. + +We found him at home; and chatted +with him for a considerable time. To my +surprise his manners were perfectly those +of a gentleman, and his conversation, if +not peculiarly engaging, was certainly +amusing. The politeness of his demeanour, +and the easy fluency with which he +told his stories and his anecdotes, many of +them curious, and all more or less +entertaining, accounted to my mind at once for +the facility with which he had improved +his acquaintance with O'Connor; and +when he pressed upon us an invitation to +sup with him that night, I had almost +joined O'Connor in accepting it. I determined, +however, against doing so, for I +had no wish to be on terms of familiarity +with Mr. Fitzgerald; and I knew that +one evening spent together as he proposed +would go further towards establishing an +intimacy between us than fifty morning +visits could do. When I arose to depart, +it was with feelings almost favourable to +Fitzgerald; indeed I was more than half +ashamed to acknowledge to my companion +how complete a revolution in my opinion +respecting his friend half an hour's +conversation with him had wrought. His +appearance certainly WAS against him; but +then, under the influence of his manner, +one lost sight of much of its ungainliness, +and of nearly all its vulgarity; and, on +the whole, I felt convinced that report +had done him grievous wrong, inasmuch +as anybody, by an observance of the +common courtesies of society, might easily +avoid coming into personal collision with +a gentleman so studiously polite as +Fitzgerald. At parting, O'Connor requested +me to call upon him the next day, as he +intended to make trial of the merits of a +pair of greyhounds, which he had thoughts +of purchasing; adding, that if he could +escape in anything like tolerable time +from Fitzgerald's supper-party, he would +take the field soon after ten on the next +morning. At the appointed hour, or +perhaps a little later, I dismounted at +Castle Connor; and, on entering the hall, +I observed a gentleman issuing from +O'Connor's private room. I recognised +him, as he approached, as a Mr. +M'Donough, and, being but slightly +acquainted with him, was about to pass +him with a bow, when he stopped me. +There was something in his manner which +struck me as odd; he seemed a good +deal flurried if not agitated, and said, in a +hurried tone: + +'This is a very foolish business, Mr. +Purcell. You have some influence with +my friend O'Connor; I hope you can +induce him to adopt some more moderate +line of conduct than that he has decided +upon. If you will allow me, I will return +for a moment with you, and talk over the +matter again with O'Connor.' + +As M'Donough uttered these words, I +felt that sudden sinking of the heart which +accompanies the immediate anticipation of +something dreaded and dreadful. I was +instantly convinced that O'Connor had +quarrelled with Fitzgerald, and I knew +that if such were the case, nothing short +of a miracle could extricate him from the +consequences. I signed to M'Donough to +lead the way, and we entered the little +study together. O'Connor was standing +with his back to the fire; on the table lay +the breakfast-things in the disorder in +which a hurried meal had left them; and +on another smaller table, placed near the +hearth, lay pen, ink, and paper. As soon +as O'Connor saw me, he came forward and +shook me cordially by the hand. + +'My dear Purcell,' said he, 'you are the +very man I wanted. I have got into an +ugly scrape, and I trust to my friends to +get me out of it.' + +'You have had no dispute with that +man--that Fitzgerald, I hope,' said I, +giving utterance to the conjecture whose +truth I most dreaded. + +'Faith, I cannot say exactly what +passed between us,' said he, 'inasmuch +as I was at the time nearly half seas +over; but of this much I am certain, that +we exchanged angry words last night. I +lost my temper most confoundedly; but, +as well as I can recollect, he appeared +perfectly cool and collected. What he said +was, therefore, deliberately said, and on +that account must be resented.' + +'My dear O'Connor, are you mad?' I +exclaimed. 'Why will you seek to drive +to a deadly issue a few hasty words, +uttered under the influence of wine, and +forgotten almost as soon as uttered? A +quarrel with Fitzgerald it is twenty +chances to one would terminate fatally +to you.' + +'It is exactly because Fitzgerald IS such +an accomplished shot,' said he, 'that I +become liable to the most injurious and +intolerable suspicions if I submit to +anything from him which could be construed +into an affront; and for that reason +Fitzgerald is the very last man to whom I +would concede an inch in a case of +honour.' + +'I do not require you to make any, the +slightest sacrifice of what you term your +honour,' I replied; 'but if you have +actually written a challenge to Fitzgerald, +as I suspect you have done, I conjure you +to reconsider the matter before you +despatch it. From all that I have heard +you say, Fitzgerald has more to complain +of in the altercation which has taken place +than you. You owe it to your only surviving +parent not to thrust yourself thus +wantonly upon--I will say it, the most +appalling danger. Nobody, my dear +O'Connor, can have a doubt of your +courage; and if at any time, which God +forbid, you shall be called upon thus to +risk your life, you should have it in your +power to enter the field under the +consciousness that you have acted throughout +temperately and like a man, and not, as I +fear you now would do, having rashly and +most causelessly endangered your own life +and that of your friend.' + +'I believe, Purcell, your are right,' said +he. 'I believe I HAVE viewed the matter +in too decided a light; my note, I think, +scarcely allows him an honourable alternative, +and that is certainly going a step +too far--further than I intended. Mr. +M'Donough, I'll thank you to hand me +the note.' + +He broke the seal, and, casting his eye +hastily over it, he continued: + +'It is, indeed, a monument of folly. I +am very glad, Purcell, you happened to +come in, otherwise it would have reached +its destination by this time.' + +He threw it into the fire; and, after a +moment's pause, resumed: + +'You must not mistake me, however. +I am perfectly satisfied as to the propriety, +nay, the necessity, of communicating with +Fitzgerald. The difficulty is in what tone +I should address him. I cannot say that +the man directly affronted me--I cannot +recollect any one expression which I could +lay hold upon as offensive--but his +language was ambiguous, and admitted +frequently of the most insulting construction, +and his manner throughout was +insupportably domineering. I know it +impressed me with the idea that he presumed +upon his reputation as a DEAD SHOT, and +that would be utterly unendurable' + +'I would now recommend, as I have +already done,' said M'Donough, 'that if +you write to Fitzgerald, it should be in +such a strain as to leave him at perfect +liberty, without a compromise of honour, +in a friendly way, to satisfy your doubts as +to his conduct.' + +I seconded the proposal warmly, and +O'Connor, in a few minutes, finished a +note, which he desired us to read. It was +to this effect: + + +'O'Connor, of Castle Connor, feeling +that some expressions employed by Mr. +Fitzgerald upon last night, admitted of a +construction offensive to him, and injurious +to his character, requests to know whether +Mr. Fitzgerald intended to convey such a +meaning. + 'Castle Connor, Thursday morning.' + + +This note was consigned to the care of +Mr. M'Donough, who forthwith departed +to execute his mission. The sound of his +horse's hoofs, as he rode rapidly away, +struck heavily at my heart; but I found +some satisfaction in the reflection that +M'Donough appeared as averse from extreme +measures as I was myself, for I +well knew, with respect to the final result +of the affair, that as much depended upon +the tone adopted by the SECOND, as upon +the nature of the written communication. + +I have seldom passed a more anxious +hour than that which intervened between +the departure and the return of that +gentleman. Every instant I imagined I heard +the tramp of a horse approaching, and +every time that a door opened I fancied +it was to give entrance to the eagerly +expected courier. At length I did hear the +hollow and rapid tread of a horse's hoof +upon the avenue. It approached--it +stopped--a hurried step traversed the +hall--the room door opened, and +M'Donough entered. + +'You have made great haste,' said +O'Connor; 'did you find him at home?' + +'I did,' replied M'Donough, 'and made +the greater haste as Fitzgerald did not let +me know the contents of his reply.' + +At the same time he handed a note to +O'Connor, who instantly broke the seal. +The words were as follow: + + +'Mr. Fitzgerald regrets that anything +which has fallen from him should have +appeared to Mr. O'Connor to be intended +to convey a reflection upon his honour +(none such having been meant), and begs +leave to disavow any wish to quarrel +unnecessarily with Mr. O'Connor. + 'T---- Inn, Thursday morning.' + + +I cannot describe how much I felt +relieved on reading the above communication. +I took O'Connor's hand and pressed +it warmly, but my emotions were deeper +and stronger than I cared to show, for I +was convinced that he had escaped a most +imminent danger. Nobody whose notions +upon the subject are derived from the +duelling of modern times, in which matters +are conducted without any very sanguinary +determination upon either side, and with +equal want of skill and coolness by both +parties, can form a just estimate of the +danger incurred by one who ventured to +encounter a duellist of the old school. +Perfect coolness in the field, and a steadiness +and accuracy (which to the unpractised +appeared almost miraculous) in the +use of the pistol, formed the characteristics +of this class; and in addition to this there +generally existed a kind of professional +pride, which prompted the duellist, in +default of any more malignant feeling, +from motives of mere vanity, to seek the +life of his antagonist. Fitzgerald's career +had been a remarkably successful one, and +I knew that out of thirteen duels which +he had fought in Ireland, in nine cases he +had KILLED his man. In those days one +never heard of the parties leaving the field, +as not unfrequently now occurs, without +blood having been spilt; and the odds +were, of course, in all cases tremendously +against a young and unpractised +man, when matched with an experienced +antagonist. My impression respecting the +magnitude of the danger which my friend +had incurred was therefore by no means +unwarranted. + +I now questioned O'Connor more +accurately respecting the circumstances of +his quarrel with Fitzgerald. It arose +from some dispute respecting the application +of a rule of piquet, at which game +they had been playing, each interpreting +it favourably to himself, and O'Connor, +having lost considerably, was in no mood +to conduct an argument with temper--an +altercation ensued, and that of rather a +pungent nature, and the result was that +he left Fitzgerald's room rather abruptly, +determined to demand an explanation in +the most peremptory tone. For this +purpose he had sent for M'Donough, and had +commissioned him to deliver the note, +which my arrival had fortunately intercepted. + +As it was now past noon, O'Connor +made me promise to remain with him to +dinner; and we sat down a party of three, +all in high spirits at the termination of +our anxieties. It is necessary to mention, +for the purpose of accounting for what +follows, that Mrs. O'Connor, or, as she was +more euphoniously styled, the lady of +Castle Connor, was precluded by ill-health +from taking her place at the dinner-table, +and, indeed, seldom left her room before +four o'clock.[4] We were sitting after +dinner sipping our claret, and talking, +and laughing, and enjoying ourselves +exceedingly, when a servant, stepping into +the room, informed his master that a +gentleman wanted to speak with him. + + +[4] It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader, that +at the period spoken of, the important hour of dinner +occurred very nearly at noon. + + +'Request him, with my compliments, to +walk in,' said O'Connor; and in a few +moments a gentleman entered the room. + +His appearance was anything but +prepossessing. He was a little above the +middle size, spare, and raw-boned; his +face very red, his features sharp and bluish, +and his age might be about sixty. His +attire savoured a good deal of the SHABBY- +GENTEEL; his clothes, which had much of +tarnished and faded pretension about +them, did not fit him, and had not +improbably fluttered in the stalls of +Plunket Street. We had risen on his +entrance, and O'Connor had twice requested +of him to take a chair at the table, without +his hearing, or at least noticing, the +invitation; while with a slow pace, and +with an air of mingled importance and +effrontery, he advanced into the centre of +the apartment, and regarding our small +party with a supercilious air, he said: + +'I take the liberty of introducing +myself--I am Captain M'Creagh, formerly +of the--infantry. My business here is +with a Mr. O'Connor, and the sooner it is +despatched the better.' + +'I am the gentleman you name,' said +O'Connor; 'and as you appear impatient, +we had better proceed to your commission +without delay.' + +'Then, Mr. O'Connor, you will please +to read that note,' said the captain, placing +a sealed paper in his hand. + +O'Connor read it through, and then +observed: + +'This is very extraordinary indeed. +This note appears to me perfectly unaccountable.' + +'You are very young, Mr. O'Connor,' +said the captain, with vulgar familiarity; +'but, without much experience in these +matters, I think you might have anticipated +something like this. You know +the old saying, "Second thoughts are +best;" and so they are like to prove, by +G--!' + +'You will have no objection, Captain +M'Creagh, on the part of your friend, to +my reading this note to these gentlemen; +they are both confidential friends of mine, +and one of them has already acted for me +in this business.' + +'I can have no objection,' replied the +captain, 'to your doing what you please +with your own. I have nothing more to +do with that note once I put it safe into +your hand; and when that is once done, it +is all one to me, if you read it to half the +world--that's YOUR concern, and no affair +of mine.' + +O'Connor then read the following: + + +'Mr. Fitzgerald begs leave to state, that +upon re-perusing Mr. O'Connor's communication +of this morning carefully, with +an experienced friend, he is forced to +consider himself as challenged. His +friend, Captain M'Creagh, has been empowered +by him to make all the necessary +arrangements. + 'T---- Inn, Thursday.' + + +I can hardly describe the astonishment +with which I heard this note. I turned to +the captain, and said: + +'Surely, sir, there is some mistake in all +this?' + +'Not the slightest, I'll assure you, sir.' +said he, coolly; 'the case is a very clear +one, and I think my friend has pretty well +made up his mind upon it. May I +request your answer?' he continued, turning +to O'Connor; 'time is precious, you +know.' + +O'Connor expressed his willingness to +comply with the suggestion, and in a few +minutes had folded and directed the following +rejoinder: + + +'Mr. O'Connor having received a +satisfactory explanation from Mr. +Fitzgerald, of the language used by that +gentleman, feels that there no longer exists +any grounds for misunderstanding, and +wishes further to state, that the note of +which Mr. Fitzgerald speaks was not +intended as a challenge.' + + +With this note the captain departed; and +as we did not doubt that the message which +he had delivered had been suggested by +some unintentional misconstruction of +O'Connor's first billet, we felt assured that +the conclusion of his last note would set +the matter at rest. In this belief, however, +we were mistaken; before we had left the +table, and in an incredibly short time, the +captain returned. He entered the room +with a countenance evidently tasked to +avoid expressing the satisfaction which a +consciousness of the nature of his mission +had conferred; but in spite of all his efforts +to look gravely unconcerned, there was a +twinkle in the small grey eye, and an +almost imperceptible motion in the corner +of the mouth, which sufficiently betrayed +his internal glee, as he placed a note in +the hand of O'Connor. As the young +man cast his eye over it, he coloured +deeply, and turning to M'Donough, he +said: + +'You will have the goodness to make +all the necessary arrangements for a meeting. +Something has occurred to render +one between me and Mr. Fitzgerald +inevitable. Understand me literally, when +I say that it is now totally impossible that +this affair should be amicably arranged. +You will have the goodness, M'Donough, +to let me know as soon as all the particulars +are arranged. Purcell,' he continued, +'will you have the kindness to accompany +me?' and having bowed to M'Creagh, we +left the room. + +As I closed the door after me, I heard +the captain laugh, and thought I could +distinguish the words--'By ---- I knew +Fitzgerald would bring him to his way of +thinking before he stopped.' + +I followed O'Connor into his study, and +on entering, the door being closed, he +showed me the communication which had +determined him upon hostilities. Its +language was grossly impertinent, and it +concluded by actually threatening to 'POST' +him, in case he further attempted 'to be +OFF.' I cannot describe the agony of +indignation in which O'Connor writhed under +this insult. He said repeatedly that 'he +was a degraded and dishohoured man,' +that 'he was dragged into the field,' that +'there was ignominy in the very thought +that such a letter should have been directed +to him.' It was in vain that I reasoned +against this impression; the conviction +that he had been disgraced had taken +possession of his mind. He said again and +again that nothing but his DEATH could +remove the stain which his indecision had +cast upon the name of his family. I +hurried to the hall, on hearing M'Donough +and the captain passing, and reached the +door just in time to hear the latter say, as +he mounted his horse: + +'All the rest can be arranged on the +spot; and so farewell, Mr. M'Donough-- +we'll meet at Philippi, you know;' and +with this classical allusion, which was +accompanied with a grin and a bow, and +probably served many such occasions, the +captain took his departure. + +M'Donough briefly stated the few +particulars which had been arranged. The +parties were to meet at the stand-house, +in the race-ground, which lay at about an +equal distance between Castle Connor and +the town of T----. The hour appointed +was half-past five on the next morning, +at which time the twilight would be +sufficiently advanced to afford a distinct view; +and the weapons to be employed were +PISTOLS--M'Creagh having claimed, on the +part of his friend, all the advantages of the +CHALLENGED party, and having, consequently, +insisted upon the choice of 'TOOLS,' as he +expressed himself; and it was further +stipulated that the utmost secrecy should +be observed, as Fitzgerald would incur +great risk from the violence of the +peasantry, in case the affair took wind. +These conditions were, of course, agreed +upon by O'Connor, and M'Donough left +the castle, having appointed four o'clock +upon the next morning as the hour of his +return, by which time it would be his +business to provide everything necessary +for the meeting. On his departure, +O'Connor requested me to remain with +him upon that evening, saying that 'he +could not bear to be alone with his +mother.' It was to me a most painful +request, but at the same time one which I +could not think of refusing. I felt, +however, that the difficulty at least of the +task which I had to perform would be in +some measure mitigated by the arrival +of two relations of O'Connor upon that +evening. + +'It is very fortunate,' said O'Connor, +whose thoughts had been running upon +the same subject, 'that the O'Gradys will +be with us to-night; their gaiety and +good-humour will relieve us from a heavy +task. I trust that nothing may occur to +prevent their coming.' Fervently concurring +in the same wish, I accompanied +O'Connor into the parlour, there to await +the arrival of his mother. + +God grant that I may never spend such +another evening! The O'Gradys DID come, +but their high and noisy spirits, so far from +relieving me, did but give additional gloom +to the despondency, I might say the despair, +which filled my heart with misery-- +the terrible forebodings which I could not +for an instant silence, turned their laughter +into discord, and seemed to mock the smiles +and jests of the unconscious party. When +I turned my eyes upon the mother, I +thought I never had seen her look so +proudly and so lovingly upon her son +before--it cut me to the heart--oh, how +cruelly I was deceiving her! I was a +hundred times on the very point of start- +ing up, and, at all hazards, declaring to +her how matters were; but other feelings +subdued my better emotions. Oh, what +monsters are we made of by the fashions of +the world! how are our kindlier and nobler +feelings warped or destroyed by their baleful +influences! I felt that it would not be +HONOURABLE, that it would not be ETIQUETTE, +to betray O'Connor's secret. I sacrificed a +higher and a nobler duty than I have since +been called upon to perform, to the dastardly +fear of bearing the unmerited censure +of a world from which I was about to +retire. O Fashion! thou gaudy idol, +whose feet are red with the blood of human +sacrifice, would I had always felt towards +thee as I now do! + +O'Connor was not dejected; on the +contrary, he joined with loud and lively +alacrity in the hilarity of the little party; +but I could see in the flush of his cheek, +and in the unusual brightness of his eye, +all the excitement of fever--he was making +an effort almost beyond his strength, but +he succeeded--and when his mother rose +to leave the room, it was with the impression +that her son was the gayest and most +light-hearted of the company. Twice or +thrice she had risen with the intention of +retiring, but O'Connor, with an eagerness +which I alone could understand, had +persuaded her to remain until the usual hour +of her departure had long passed; and +when at length she arose, declaring that +she could not possibly stay longer, I alone +could comprehend the desolate change +which passed over his manner; and when +I saw them part, it was with the sickening +conviction that those two beings, so dear +to one another, so loved, so cherished, +should meet no more. + +O'Connor briefly informed his cousins of +the position in which he was placed, +requesting them at the same time to accompany +him to the field, and this having +been settled, we separated, each to his own +apartment. I had wished to sit up with +O'Connor, who had matters to arrange +sufficient to employ him until the hour +appointed for M'Donough's visit; but he +would not hear of it, and I was forced, +though sorely against my will, to leave him +without a companion. I went to my room, +and, in a state of excitement which I cannot +describe, I paced for hours up and +down its narrow precincts. I could not-- +who could?--analyse the strange, contradictory, +torturing feelings which, while I +recoiled in shrinking horror from the scene +which the morning was to bring, yet forced +me to wish the intervening time annihilated; +each hour that the clock told seemed +to vibrate and tinkle through every nerve; +my agitation was dreadful; fancy conjured +up the forms of those who filled my +thoughts with more than the vividness of +reality; things seemed to glide through +the dusky shadows of the room. I saw +the dreaded form of Fitzgerald--I heard +the hated laugh of the captain--and again +the features of O'Connor would appear +before me, with ghastly distinctness, pale +and writhed in death, the gouts of gore +clotted in the mouth, and the eye-balls +glared and staring. Scared with the +visions which seemed to throng with +unceasing rapidity and vividness, I threw +open the window and looked out upon the +quiet scene around. I turned my eyes in +the direction of the town; a heavy cloud +was lowering darkly about it, and I, in +impious frenzy, prayed to God that it +might burst in avenging fires upon the +murderous wretch who lay beneath. At +length, sick and giddy with excess of +excitement, I threw myself upon the bed +without removing my clothes, and endeavoured +to compose myself so far as to +remain quiet until the hour for our +assembling should arrive. + +A few minutes before four o'clock I stole +noiselessly downstairs, and made my way +to the small study already mentioned. A +candle was burning within; and, when I +opened the door, O'Connor was reading a +book, which, on seeing me, he hastily +closed, colouring slightly as he did so. +We exchanged a cordial but mournful +greeting; and after a slight pause he said, +laying his hand upon the volume which he +had shut a moment before: + +'Purcell, I feel perfectly calm, though I +cannot say that I have much hope as to +the issue of this morning's rencounter. I +shall avoid half the danger. If I must +fall, I am determined I shall not go down +to the grave with his blood upon my +hands. I have resolved not to fire at +Fitzgerald--that is, to fire in such a direction +as to assure myself against hitting him. +Do not say a word of this to the O'Gradys. +Your doing so would only produce fruitless +altercation; they could not understand my +motives. I feel convinced that I shall not +leave the field alive. If I must die to- +day, I shall avoid an awful aggravation of +wretchedness. Purcell,' he continued, after +a little space, 'I was so weak as to feel +almost ashamed of the manner in which I +was occupied as you entered the room. +Yes, _I--I_ who will be, before this evening, +a cold and lifeless clod, was ashamed to +have spent my last moment of reflection in +prayer. God pardon me! God pardon +me!' he repeated. + +I took his hand and pressed it, but I +could not speak. I sought for words of +comfort, but they would not come. To +have uttered one cheering sentence I must +have contradicted every impression of my +own mind. I felt too much awed to +attempt it. Shortly afterwards, M'Donough +arrived. No wretched patient ever underwent +a more thrilling revulsion at the first +sight of the case of surgical instruments +under which he had to suffer, than did I +upon beholding a certain oblong flat +mahogany box, bound with brass, and of +about two feet in length, laid upon the +table in the hall. O'Connor, thanking him +for his punctuality, requested him to come +into his study for a moment, when, with a +melancholy collectedness, he proceeded to +make arrangements for our witnessing his +will. The document was a brief one, and +the whole matter was just arranged, when +the two O'Gradys crept softly into the +room. + +'So! last will and testament,' said the +elder. 'Why, you have a very BLUE notion +of these matters. I tell you, you need not +be uneasy. I remember very well, when +young Ryan of Ballykealey met M'Neil +the duellist, bets ran twenty to one against +him. I stole away from school, and had a +peep at the fun as well as the best of them. +They fired together. Ryan received the +ball through the collar of his coat, and +M'Neil in the temple; he spun like a top: +it was a most unexpected thing, and +disappointed his friends damnably. It was +admitted, however, to have been very +pretty shooting upon both sides. To be +sure,' he continued, pointing to the will, +'you are in the right to keep upon the +safe side of fortune; but then, there is no +occasion to be altogether so devilish down +in the mouth as you appear to be.' + +'You will allow,' said O'Connor, 'that +the chances are heavily against me.' + +'Why, let me see,' he replied, 'not so +hollow a thin,, either. Let me see, we'll say +about four to one against you; you may +chance to throw doublets like him I told +you of, and then what becomes of the odds +I'd like to know? But let things go as +they will, I'll give and take four to one, +in pounds and tens of pounds. There, +M'Donough, there's a GET for you; b--t +me, if it is not. Poh! the fellow is stolen +away,' he continued, observing that the +object of his proposal had left the room; +'but d---- it, Purcell, you are fond of a SOFT +THING, too, in a quiet way--I'm sure you are +--so curse me if I do not make you the +same offer-is it a go?' + +I was too much disgusted to make any +reply, but I believe my looks expressed +my feelings sufficiently, for in a moment he +said: + +'Well, I see there is nothing to be done, +so we may as well be stirring. M'Donough, +myself, and my brother will saddle the horses +in a jiffy, while you and Purcell settle +anything which remains to be arranged.' + +So saying, he left the room with as much +alacrity as if it were to prepare for a fox- +hunt. Selfish, heartless fool! I have +often since heard him spoken of as A CURSED +GOOD-NATURED DOG and a D---- GOOD FELLOW; +but such eulogies as these are not calculated +to mitigate the abhorrence with +which his conduct upon that morning inspired me. + +The chill mists of night were still hovering +on the landscape as our party left the +castle. It was a raw, comfortless morning +--a kind of drizzling fog hung heavily over +the scene, dimming the light of the sun, +which had now risen, into a pale and even +a grey glimmer. As the appointed hour +was fast approaching, it was proposed that +we should enter the race-ground at a point +close to the stand-house--a measure which +would save us a ride of nearly two miles, +over a broken road; at which distance +there was an open entrance into the race- +ground. Here, accordingly, we dismounted, +and leaving our horses in the care of a +country fellow who happened to be stirring +at that early hour, we proceeded up a narrow +lane, over a side wall of which we were +to climb into the open ground where stood +the now deserted building, under which the +meeting was to take place. Our progress +was intercepted by the unexpected appearance +of an old woman, who, in the scarlet +cloak which is the picturesque characteristic +of the female peasantry of the south, was +moving slowly down the avenue to meet us, +uttering that peculiarly wild and piteous +lamentation well known by the name of +'the Irish cry,' accompanied throughout +by all the customary gesticulation of +passionate grief. This rencounter was more +awkward than we had at first anticipated; +for, upon a nearer approach, the person +proved to be no other than an old attached +dependent of the family, and who had her- +self nursed O'Connor. She quickened her +pace as we advanced almost to a run; and, +throwing her arms round O'Connor's neck, +she poured forth such a torrent of lamentation, +reproach, and endearment, as showed +that she was aware of the nature of our +purpose, whence and by what means I +knew not. It was in vain that he sought +to satisfy her by evasion, and gently to +extricate himself from her embrace. She +knelt upon the ground, and clasped her +arms round his legs, uttering all the while +such touching supplications, such cutting +and passionate expressions of woe, as went +to my very heart. + +At length, with much difficulty, we +passed this most painful interruption; +and, crossing the boundary wall, were +placed beyond her reach. The O'Gradys +damned her for a troublesome hag, and +passed on with O'Connor, but I remained +behind for a moment. The poor woman +looked hopelessly at the high wall which +separated her from him she had loved +from infancy, and to be with whom at +that minute she would have given worlds, +she took her seat upon a solitary stone +under the opposite wall, and there, in a +low, subdued key, she continued to utter +her sorrow in words so desolate, yet +expressing such a tenderness of devotion as +wrung my heart. + +'My poor woman,' I said, laying my +hand gently upon her shoulder, 'you will +make yourself ill; the morning is very cold, +and your cloak is but a thin defence +against the damp and chill. Pray return +home and take this; it may be useful to +you.' + +So saying, I dropped a purse, with what +money I had about me, into her lap, but +it lay there unheeded; she did not hear +me. + +'Oh I my child, my child, my darlin',' +she sobbed, 'are you gone from me? are +you gone from me? Ah, mavourneen, +mavourneen, you'll never come back alive +to me again. The crathur that slept on my +bosom--the lovin' crathur that I was so +proud of--they'll kill him, they'll kill him. +Oh, voh! voh!' + +The affecting tone, the feeling, the +abandonment with which all this was uttered, +none can conceive who have not heard the +lamentations of the Irish peasantry. It +brought tears to my eyes. I saw that no +consolation of mine could soothe her grief, +so I turned and departed; but as I rapidly +traversed the level sward which separated +me from my companions, now considerably +in advance, I could still hear the wailings +of the solitary mourner. + +As we approached the stand-house, it +was evident that our antagonists had +already arrived. Our path lay by the side +of a high fence constructed of loose stones, +and on turning a sharp angle at its extremity, +we found ourselves close to the appointed +spot, and within a few yards of a +crowd of persons, some mounted and some +on foot, evidently awaiting our arrival. +The affair had unaccountably taken wind, +as the number of the expectants clearly +showed; but for this there was now no +remedy. + +As our little party advanced we were +met and saluted by several acquaintances, +whom curiosity, if no deeper feeling, had +brought to the place. Fitzgerald and the +Captain had arrived, and having dismounted, +were standing upon the sod. The former, +as we approached, bowed slightly and sullenly-- +while the latter, evidently in high +good humour, made his most courteous +obeisance. No time was to be lost; and +the two seconds immediately withdrew to +a slight distance, for the purpose of +completing the last minute arrangements. It +was a brief but horrible interval--each +returned to his principal to communicate +the result, which was soon caught up and +repeated from mouth to mouth throughout +the crowd. I felt a strange and insurmountable +reluctance to hear the sickening +particulars detailed; and as I stood +irresolute at some distance from the principal +parties, a top-booted squireen, with a hunting +whip in his hand, bustling up to a +companion of his, exclaimed: + +"Not fire together!--did you ever hear +the like? If Fitzgerald gets the first shot +all is over. M'Donough sold the pass, +by----, and that is the long and the short +of it.' + +The parties now moved down a little to +a small level space, suited to the purpose; +and the captain, addressing M'Donough, +said: + +'Mr. M'Donough, you'll now have the +goodness to toss for choice of ground; as +the light comes from the east the line must +of course run north and south. Will you +be so obliging as to toss up a crown-piece, +while I call?' + +A coin was instantly chucked into the +air. The captain cried, 'Harp.' The +HEAD was uppermost, and M'Donough +immediately made choice of the southern +point at which to place his friend--a +position which it will be easily seen had +the advantage of turning his back upon +the light--no trifling superiority of +location. The captain turned with a kind of +laugh, and said: + +'By ----, sir, you are as cunning as a +dead pig; but you forgot one thing. My +friend is a left-handed gunner, though +never a bit the worse for that; so you +see there is no odds as far as the choice of +light goes.' + +He then proceeded to measure nine paces +in a direction running north and south, and +the principals took their ground. + +'I must be troublesome to you once +again, Mr. M'Donough. One toss more, +and everything is complete. We must +settle who is to have the FIRST SLAP.' + +A piece of money was again thrown +into the air; again the captain lost the toss +and M'Donough proceeded to load the +pistols. I happened to stand near Fitzgerald, +and I overheard the captain, with +a chuckle, say something to him in which +the word 'cravat' was repeated. It +instantly occurred to me that the captain's +attention was directed to a bright-coloured +muffler which O'Connor wore round his +neck, and which would afford his antagonist +a distinct and favourable mark. I +instantly urged him to remove it, and at +length, with difficulty, succeeded. He +seemed perfectly careless as to any +precaution. Everything was now ready; the +pistol was placed in O'Connor's hand, and +he only awaited the word from the captain. + +M'Creagh then said: + +'Mr. M'Donough, is your principal +ready?' + +M'Donough replied in the affirmative; +and, after a slight pause, the captain, as +had been arranged, uttered the words: + +'Ready--fire.' + +O'Connor fired, but so wide of the mark +that some one in the crowd exclaimed: + +'Fired in the air.' + +'Who says he fired in the air?' thundered +Fitzgerald. 'By ---- he lies, whoever +he is.' There was a silence. 'But +even if he was fool enough to fire in the +air, it is not in HIS power to put an end to +the quarrel by THAT. D---- my soul, if I +am come here to be played with like a +child, and by the Almighty ---- you shall +hear more of this, each and everyone of +you, before I'm satisfied.' + +A kind of low murmur, or rather groan, +was now raised, and a slight motion was +observable in the crowd, as if to intercept +Fitzgerald's passage to his horse. +M'Creagh, drawing the horse close to the +spot where Fitzgerald stood, threatened, +with the most awful imprecations, 'to +blow the brains out of the first man who +should dare to press on them.' + +O'Connor now interfered, requesting the +crowd to forbear, and some degree of order +was restored. He then said, 'that in +firing as he did, he had no intention whatever +of waiving his right of firing upon +Fitzgerald, and of depriving that gentleman +of his right of prosecuting the affair +to the utmost--that if any person present +imagined that he intended to fire in the +air, he begged to set him right; since, +so far from seeking to exort an unwilling +reconciliation, he was determined that no +power on earth should induce him to +concede one inch of ground to Mr. Fitzgerald.' + +This announcement was received with a +shout by the crowd, who now resumed +their places at either side of the plot of +ground which had been measured. The +principals took their places once more, and +M'Creagh proceeded, with the nicest and +most anxious care, to load the pistols; and +this task being accomplished, Fitzgerald +whispered something in the Captain's ear, +who instantly drew his friend's horse so as +to place him within a step of his rider, +and then tightened the girths. This +accomplished, Fitzgerald proceeded +deliberately to remove his coat, which he +threw across his horse in front of the +saddle; and then, with the assistance of +M'Creagh, he rolled the shirt sleeve up to +the shoulder, so as to leave the whole of +his muscular arm perfectly naked. A +cry of 'Coward, coward! butcher, +butcher!' arose from the crowd. Fitzgerald +paused. + +'Do you object, Mr. M'Donough? and +upon what grounds, if you please?' said he. + +'Certainly he does not,' replied +O'Connor; and, turning to M'Donough, +he added, 'pray let there be no unnecessary delay.' + +'There is no objection, then,' said +Fitzgerald. + +'_I_ object,' said the younger of the +O'Gradys, 'if nobody else will.' + +' And who the devil are you, that DARES +to object?' shouted Fitzgerald; 'and what +d--d presumption prompts you to DARE to +wag your tongue here?' + +'I am Mr. O'Grady, of Castle Blake,' +replied the young man, now much +enraged; 'and by ----, you shall answer +for your language to me.' + +'Shall I, by ----? Shall I?' cried he, +with a laugh of brutal scorn; 'the more +the merrier, d--n the doubt of it--so now +hold your tongue, for I promise you you +shall have business enough of your own to +think about, and that before long.' + +There was an appalling ferocity in his tone +and manner which no words could convey. +He seemed transformed; he was actually +like a man possessed. Was it possible, I +thought, that I beheld the courteous +gentleman, the gay, good-humoured +retailer of amusing anecdote with whom, +scarce two days ago, I had laughed and +chatted, in the blasphemous and murderous +ruffian who glared and stormed +before me! + +O'Connor interposed, and requested +that time should not be unnecessarily lost. + +'You have not got a second coat on?' +inquired the Captain. 'I beg pardon, +but my duty to my friend requires that I +should ascertain the point.' + +O'Connor replied in the negative. The +Captain expressed himself as satisfied, +adding, in what he meant to be a +complimentary strain, 'that he knew Mr. +O'Connor would scorn to employ padding +or any unfair mode of protection.' + +There was now a breathless silence. +O'Connor stood perfectly motionless; and, +excepting the death-like paleness of his +features, he exhibited no sign of agitation. +His eye was steady--his lip did not +tremble--his attitude was calm. The +Captain, having re-examined the priming +of the pistols, placed one of them in the +hand of Fitzgerald.--M'Donough inquired +whether the parties were prepared, and +having been answered in the affirmative, +he proceeded to give the word, 'Ready.' +Fitzgerald raised his hand, but almost +instantly lowered it again. The crowd had +pressed too much forward as it appeared, +and his eye had been unsteadied by the +flapping of the skirt of a frieze riding-coat +worn by one of the spectators. + +'In the name of my principal,' said the +Captain, 'I must and do insist upon these +gentlemen moving back a little. We ask +but little; fair play, and no favour.' + +The crowd moved as requested. +M'Donough repeated his former question, +and was answered as before. There was a +breathless silence. Fitzgerald fixed his +eye upon O'Connor. The appointed +signal, 'Ready, fire!' was given. There +was a pause while one might slowly reckon +three--Fitzgerald fired--and O'Connor +fell helplessly upon the ground. + +'There is no time to be lost,' said +M'Creagrh; 'for, by ----, you have done +for him.' + +So saying, he threw himself upon his +horse, and was instantly followed at a +hard gallop by Fitzgerald. + +'Cold-blooded murder, if ever murder +was committed,' said O'Grady. 'He shall +hang for it; d--n me, but he shall.' + +A hopeless attempt was made to +overtake the fugitives; but they were better +mounted than any of their pursuers, and +escaped with ease. Curses and actual yells +of execration followed their course; and as, +in crossing the brow of a neighbouring +hill, they turned round in the saddle to +observe if they were pursued, every +gesture which could express fury and +defiance was exhausted by the enraged and +defeated multitude. + +'Clear the way, boys,' said young +O'Grady, who with me was kneeling +beside O'Connor, while we supported him +in our arms; 'do not press so close, and +be d--d; can't you let the fresh air to +him; don't you see he's dying?' + +On opening his waistcoat we easily +detected the wound: it was a little below +the chest--a small blue mark, from which +oozed a single heavy drop of blood. + +'He is bleeding but little--that is a +comfort at all events,' said one of the gentlemen +who surrounded the wounded man. + +Another suggested the expediency of +his being removed homeward with as +little delay as possible, and recommended, +for this purpose, that a door should be +removed from its hinges, and the patient, +laid upon this, should be conveyed from +the field. Upon this rude bier my poor +friend was carried from that fatal ground +towards Castle Connor. I walked close +by his side, and observed every motion of +his. He seldom opened his eyes, and was +perfectly still, excepting a nervous WORKING +of the fingers, and a slight, almost +imperceptible twitching of the features, +which took place, however, only at +intervals. The first word he uttered was +spoken as we approached the entrance of +the castle itself, when he said; repeatedly, +'The back way, the back way.' He feared +lest his mother should meet him abruptly +and without preparation; but although +this fear was groundless, since she never +left her room until late in the day, yet it +was thought advisable, and, indeed, necessary, +to caution all the servants most +strongly against breathing a hint to their +mistress of the events which had befallen. + +Two or three gentlemen had ridden +from the field one after another, promising +that they should overtake our party before +it reached the castle, bringing with them +medical aid from one quarter or another; +and we determined that Mrs. O'Connor +should not know anything of the occurrence +until the opinion of some professional +man should have determined the extent of +the injury which her son had sustained +--a course of conduct which would at +least have the effect of relieving her from +the horrors of suspense. When O'Connor +found himself in his own room, and laid +upon his own bed, he appeared much +revived--so much so, that I could not help +admitting a strong hope that all might yet +be well. + +'After all, Purcell,' said he, with a +melancholy smile, and speaking with +evident difficulty, 'I believe I have got off +with a trifling wound. I am sure it cannot +be fatal I feel so little pain--almost +none.' + +I cautioned him against fatiguing +himself by endeavouring to speak; and he +remained quiet for a little time. At +length he said: + +'Purcell, I trust this lesson shall not +have been given in vain. God has been +very merciful to me; I feel--I have an +internal confidence that I am not wounded +mortally. Had I been fatally wounded-- +had I been killed upon the spot, only think +on it'--and he closed his eyes as if the +very thought made him dizzy--'struck +down into the grave, unprepared as I am, +in the very blossom of my sins, without a +moment of repentance or of reflection; I +must have been lost--lost for ever and ever.' + +I prevailed upon him, with some +difficulty, to abstain from such agitating +reflections, and at length induced him to +court such repose as his condition admitted +of, by remaining perfectly silent, and as +much as possible without motion. + +O'Connor and I only were in the room; +he had lain for some time in tolerable +quiet, when I thought I distinguished the +bustle attendant upon the arrival of some +one at the castle, and went eagerly to the +window, believing, or at least hoping, that +the sounds might announce the approach +of the medical man, whom we all longed +most impatiently to see. + +My conjecture was right; I had the +satisfaction of seeing him dismount and +prepare to enter the castle, when my +observations were interrupted, and my +attention was attracted by a smothered, +gurgling sound proceeding from the bed in +which lay the wounded man. I instantly +turned round, and in doing so the spectacle +which met my eyes was sufficiently +shocking. + +I had left O'Connor lying in the bed, +supported by pillows, perfectly calm, and +with his eyes closed: he was now lying +nearly in the same position, his eyes open +and almost starting from their sockets, +with every feature pale and distorted as +death, and vomiting blood in quantities +that were frightful. I rushed to the door +and called for assistance; the paroxysm, +though violent, was brief, and O'Connor +sank into a swoon so deep and death-like, +that I feared he should waken no more. + +The surgeon, a little, fussy man, but I +believe with some skill to justify his +pretensions, now entered the room, carry- +ing his case of instruments, and followed +by servants bearing basins and water and +bandages of linen. He relieved our +doubts by instantly assuring us that 'the +patient' was still living; and at the same +time professed his determination to take +advantage of the muscular relaxation +which the faint had induced to examine +the wound--adding that a patient was +more easily 'handled' when in a swoon +than under other circumstances. + +After examining the wound in front +where the ball had entered, he passed his +hand round beneath the shoulder, and +after a little pause he shook his head, +observing that he feared very much that +one of the vertebrae was fatally injured, +but that he could not say decidedly until +his patient should revive a little. 'Though +his language was very technical, and +consequently to me nearly unintelligible, +I could perceive plainly by his manner +that he considered the case as almost +hopeless. + +O'Connor gradually gave some signs of +returning animation, and at length was so +far restored as to be enabled to speak. +After some few general questions as to +how he felt affected, etc., etc., the surgeon, +placing his hand upon his leg and pressing +it slightly, asked him if he felt any pressure +upon the limb? O'Connor answered in +the negative--he pressed harder, and +repeated the question; still the answer was +the same, till at length, by repeated +experiments, he ascertained that all that part +of the body which lay behind the wound +was paralysed, proving that the spine must +have received some fatal injury. + +'Well, doctor,' said O'Connor, after the +examination of the wound was over; 'well, +I shall do, shan't I?' + +The physician was silent for a moment, +and then, as if with an effort, he replied: + +'Indeed, my dear sir, it would not be +honest to flatter you with much hope.' + +'Eh?' said O'Connor with more alacrity +than I had seen him exhibit since the +morning; 'surely I did not hear you +aright; I spoke of my recovery--surely +there is no doubt; there can be none-- +speak frankly, doctor, for God's sake--am +I dying?' + +The surgeon was evidently no stoic, and +his manner had extinguished in me every +hope, even before he had uttered a word +in reply. + +'You are--you are indeed dying. There +is no hope; I should but deceive you if I +held out any.' + +As the surgeon uttered these terrible +words, the hands which O'Connor had +stretched towards him while awaiting his +reply fell powerless by his side; his head +sank forward; it seemed as if horror and +despair had unstrung every nerve and +sinew; he appeared to collapse and shrink +together as a plant might under the +influence of a withering spell. + +It has often been my fate, since then, to +visit the chambers of death and of suffering; +I have witnessed fearful agonies of +body and of soul; the mysterious shudderings +of the departing spirit, and the heart- +rending desolation of the survivors; the +severing of the tenderest ties, the piteous +yearnings of unavailing love--of all these +things the sad duties of my profession have +made me a witness. But, generally speaking, +I have observed in such scenes some +thing to mitigate, if not the sorrows, at +least the terrors, of death; the dying man +seldom seems to feel the reality of his +situation; a dull consciousness of approaching +dissolution, a dim anticipation of +unconsciousness and insensibility, are the +feelings which most nearly border upon an +appreciation of his state; the film of death +seems to have overspread the mind's eye, +objects lose their distinctness, and float +cloudily before it, and the apathy and +apparent indifference with which men +recognise the sure advances of immediate +death, rob that awful hour of much of its +terrors, and the death-bed of its otherwise +inevitable agonies. + +This is a merciful dispensation; but the +rule has its exceptions--its terrible +exceptions. When a man is brought in an +instant, by some sudden accident, to the +very verge of the fathomless pit of death, +with all his recollections awake, and his +perceptions keenly and vividly alive, without +previous illness to subdue the tone of +the mind as to dull its apprehensions-- +then, and then only, the death-bed is truly +terrible. + +Oh, what a contrast did O'Connor afford +as he lay in all the abject helplessness of +undisguised terror upon his death-bed, to +the proud composure with which he had +taken the field that morning. I had +always before thought of death as of a +quiet sleep stealing gradually upon +exhausted nature, made welcome by suffering, +or, at least, softened by resignation; +I had never before stood by the side of +one upon whom the hand of death had +been thus suddenly laid; I had never seen +the tyrant arrayed in his terror till then. +Never before or since have I seen horror +so intensely depicted. It seemed actually +as if O'Connor's mind had been unsettled +by the shock; the few words he uttered +were marked with all the incoherence of +distraction; but it was not words that +marked his despair most strongly, the +appalling and heart-sickening groans +that came from the terror-stricken and +dying man must haunt me while I +live; the expression, too, of hopeless, +imploring agony with which he turned +his eyes from object to object, I can +never forget. At length, appearing +suddenly to recollect himself, he said, with +startling alertness, but in a voice so +altered that I scarce could recognise the +tones: + +'Purcell, Purcell, go and tell my poor +mother; she must know all, and then, +quick, quick, quick, call your uncle, bring +him here; I must have a chance.' He +made a violent but fruitless effort to rise, +and after a slight pause continued, with +deep and urgent solemnity: 'Doctor, how +long shall I live? Don't flatter me. +Compliments at a death-bed are out of +place; doctor, for God's sake, as you would +not have my soul perish with my body, do +not mock a dying man; have I an hour to +live?' + +'Certainly,' replied the surgeon; 'if you +will but endeavour to keep yourself tranquil; +otherwise I cannot answer for a +moment.' + +'Well, doctor,' said the patient, 'I will +obey you; now, Purcell, my first and +dearest friend, will you inform my poor +mother of--of what you see, and return +with your uncle; I know you will.' + +I took the dear fellow's hand and kissed +it, it was the only answer I could give, +and left the room. I asked the first +female servant I chanced to meet, if her +mistress were yet up, and was answered in +the affirmative. Without giving myself +time to hesitate, I requested her to lead +me to her lady's room, which she accordingly +did; she entered first, I supposed to +announce my name, and I followed closely; +the poor mother said something, and held +out her hands to welcome me; I strove +for words; I could not speak, but nature +found expression; I threw myself at her +feet and covered her hands with kisses and +tears. My manner was enough; with a +quickness almost preternatural she understood +it all; she simply said the words: +'O'Connor is killed;' she uttered no +more. + +How I left the room I know not; I +rode madly to my uncle's residence, and +brought him back with me--all the rest +is a blank. I remember standing by +O'Connor's bedside, and kissing the cold +pallid forehead again and again; I remember +the pale serenity of the beautiful +features; I remember that I looked upon +the dead face of my friend, and I remember +no more. + +For many months I lay writhing and +raving in the frenzy of brain fever; a +hundred times I stood tottering at the +brink of death, and long after my restoration +to bodily health was assured, it appeared +doubtful whether I should ever be +restored to reason. But God dealt very +mercifully with me; His mighty hand +rescued me from death and from madness +when one or other appeared inevitable. +As soon as I was permitted pen and ink, +I wrote to the bereaved mother in a tone +bordering upon frenzy. I accused myself +of having made her childless; I called +myself a murderer; I believed myself +accursed; I could not find terms strong +enough to express my abhorrence of my +own conduct. But, oh! what an answer I +received, so mild, so sweet, from the +desolate, childless mother! its words spoke all +that is beautiful in Christianity--it was +forgiveness--it was resignation. I am +convinced that to that letter, operating as +it did upon a mind already predisposed, is +owing my final determination to devote +myself to that profession in which, for +more than half a century, I have been a +humble minister. + +Years roll away, and we count them not +as they pass, but their influence is not the +less certain that it is silent; the deepest +wounds are gradually healed, the keenest +griefs are mitigated, and we, in character, +feelings, tastes, and pursuits, become such +altered beings, that but for some few +indelible marks which past events must +leave behind them, which time may +soften, but can never efface; our very +identity would be dubious. Who has not +felt all this at one time or other? Who +has not mournfully felt it? This trite, but +natural train of reflection filled my mind as +I approached the domain of Castle Connor +some ten years after the occurrence of the +events above narrated. Everything looked +the same as when I had left it; the old +trees stood as graceful and as grand as +ever; no plough had violated the soft +green sward; no utilitarian hand had +constrained the wanderings of the clear and +sportive stream, or disturbed the lichen- +covered rocks through which it gushed, or +the wild coppice that over-shadowed its +sequestered nooks--but the eye that +looked upon these things was altered, and +memory was busy with other days, +shrouding in sadness every beauty that +met my sight. + +As I approached the castle my emotions +became so acutely painful that I had +almost returned the way I came, without +accomplishing the purpose for which I had +gone thus far; and nothing but the conviction +that my having been in the neighbourhood +of Castle Connor without visiting +its desolate mistress would render me +justly liable to the severest censure, could +overcome my reluctance to encountering +the heavy task which was before me. I +recognised the old servant who opened the +door, but he did not know me. I was +completely changed; suffering of body and +mind had altered me in feature and in +bearing, as much as in character. I asked +the man whether his mistress ever saw +visitors. He answered: + +'But seldom; perhaps, however, if she +knew that an old friend wished to see her +for a few minutes, she would gratify him +so far.' + +At the same time I placed my card in +his hand, and requested him to deliver it +to his mistress. He returned in a few +moments, saying that his lady would be +happy to see me in the parlour, and I +accordingly followed him to the door, which +he opened. I entered the room, and was +in a moment at the side of my early friend +and benefactress. I was too much agitated +to speak; I could only hold the hands +which she gave me, while, spite of every +effort, the tears flowed fast and bitterly. + +'It was kind, very, very kind of you to +come to see me,' she said, with far more +composure than I could have commanded; +'I see it is very painful to you.' + +I endeavoured to compose myself, and +for a little time we remained silent; she +was the first to speak: + +'You will be surprised, Mr. Purcell, +when you observe the calmness with +which I can speak of him who was dearest +to me, who is gone; but my thoughts are +always with him, and the recollections of +his love'--her voice faltered a little--'and +the hope of meeting him hereafter enables +me to bear existence.' + +I said I know not what; something +about resignation, I believe. + +'I hope I am resigned; God made me +more: so,' she said. 'Oh, Mr. Purcell, I +have often thought I loved my lost child +TOO well. It was natural--he was my only +child--he was----' She could not proceed +for a few moments: 'It was very natural +that I should love him as I did; but it +may have been sinful; I have often thought +so. I doated upon him--I idolised him--I +thought too little of other holier affections; +and God may have taken him from me, +only to teach me, by this severe lesson, +that I owed to heaven a larger share of +my heart than to anything earthly. I +cannot think of him now without more +solemn feelings than if he were with me. +There is something holy in our thoughts +of the dead; I feel it so.' After a pause, +she continued--'Mr. Purcell, do you +remember his features well? they were very +beautiful.' I assured her that I did. +'Then you can tell me if you think this a +faithful likeness.' She took from a drawer +a case in which lay a miniature. I took it +reverently from her hands; it was indeed +very like--touchingly like. I told her so; +and she seemed gratified. + +As the evening was wearing fast, and I +had far to go, I hastened to terminate my +visit, as I had intended, by placing in her +hand a letter from her son to me, written +during his sojourn upon the Continent. I +requested her to keep it; it was one in +which he spoke much of her, and in terms +of the tenderest affection. As she read its +contents the heavy tears gathered in her +eyes, and fell, one by one, upon the page; +she wiped them away, but they still +flowed fast and silently. It was in vain +that she tried to read it; her eyes were +filled with tears: so she folded the letter, +and placed it in her bosom. I rose to +depart, and she also rose. + +'I will not ask you to delay your +departure,' said she; 'your visit here +must have been a painful one to you. I +cannot find words to thank you for the +letter as I would wish, or for all your +kindness. It has given me a pleasure greater +than I thought could have fallen to the lot +of a creature so very desolate as I am; +may God bless you for it!' And thus we +parted; I never saw Castle Connor or its +solitary inmate more. + + +THE DRUNKARD'S DREAM. + +Being a Fourth Extract from the Legacy of the late F. +Purcell, P. P. of Drumcoolagh. + + 'All this HE told with some confusion and + Dismay, the usual consequence of dreams + Of the unpleasant kind, with none at hand + To expound their vain and visionary gleams, + I've known some odd ones which seemed really planned + Prophetically, as that which one deems + "A strange coincidence," to use a phrase + By which such things are settled nowadays.' + BYRON. + + +Dreams! What age, or what +country of the world, has not +and acknowledged the mystery +of their origin and end? I have +thought not a little upon the subject, +seeing it is one which has been often +forced upon my attention, and sometimes +strangely enough; and yet I have never +arrived at anything which at all appeared +a satisfactory conclusion. It does appear +that a mental phenomenon so extraordinary +cannot be wholly without its use. We +know, indeed, that in the olden times it +has been made the organ of communication +between the Deity and His creatures; and +when, as I have seen, a dream produces +upon a mind, to all appearance hopelessly +reprobate and depraved, an effect so powerful +and so lasting as to break down the +inveterate habits, and to reform the life +of an abandoned sinner, we see in the +result, in the reformation of morals which +appeared incorrigible, in the reclamation of +a human soul which seemed to be irre- +trievably lost, something more than could +be produced by a mere chimera of the +slumbering fancy, something more than +could arise from the capricious images of a +terrified imagination; but once presented, +we behold in all these things, and in their +tremendous and mysterious results, the +operation of the hand of God. And +while Reason rejects as absurd the +superstition which will read a prophecy in every +dream, she may, without violence to herself, +recognise, even in the wildest and +most incongruous of the wanderings of a +slumbering intellect, the evidences and the +fragments of a language which may be +spoken, which HAS been spoken, to terrify, +to warn, and to command. We have +reason to believe too, by the promptness +of action which in the age of the prophets +followed all intimations of this kind, and +by the strength of conviction and strange +permanence of the effects resulting from +certain dreams in latter times, which effects +we ourselves may have witnessed, that +when this medium of communication has +been employed by the Deity, the evidences +of His presence have been unequivocal. +My thoughts were directed to this subject, +in a manner to leave a lasting impression +upon my mind, by the events which I +shall now relate, the statement of which, +however extraordinary, is nevertheless +ACCURATELY CORRECT. + +About the year 17--, having been +appointed to the living of C---h, I +rented a small house in the town, which +bears the same name: one morning in the +month of November, I was awakened +before my usual time by my servant, who +bustled into my bedroom for the purpose +of announcing a sick call. As the Catholic +Church holds her last rites to be totally +indispensable to the safety of the departing +sinner, no conscientious clergyman can +afford a moment's unnecessary delay, and +in little more than five minutes I stood +ready cloaked and booted for the road, in +the small front parlour, in which the +messenger, who was to act as my guide, +awaited my coming. I found a poor +little girl crying piteously near the door, +and after some slight difficulty I ascertained +that her father was either dead or +just dying. + +'And what may be your father's name, +my poor child?' said I. She held down +her head, as if ashamed. I repeated the +question, and the wretched little creature +burst into floods of tears still more bitter +than she had shed before. At length, +almost provoked by conduct which +appeared to me so unreasonable, I began to +lose patience, spite of the pity which I +could not help feeling towards her, and I +said rather harshly: + +'If you will not tell me the name of the +person to whom you would lead me, your +silence can arise from no good motive, and +I might be justified in refusing to go with +you at all.' + +'Oh, don't say that--don't say that!' +cried she. 'Oh, sir, it was that I was +afeard of when I would not tell you--I +was afeard, when you heard his name, you +would not come with me; but it is no use +hidin' it now--it's Pat Connell, the +carpenter, your honour.' + +She looked in my face with the most +earnest anxiety, as if her very existence +depended upon what she should read there; +but I relieved her at once. The name, +indeed, was most unpleasantly familiar to +me; but, however fruitless my visits and +advice might have been at another time, +the present was too fearful an occasion to +suffer my doubts of their utility or my +reluctance to re-attempting what appeared +a hopeless task to weigh even against the +lightest chance that a consciousness of +his imminent danger might produce in him +a more docile and tractable disposition. +Accordingly I told the child to lead the +way, and followed her in silence. She +hurried rapidly through the long narrow +street which forms the great thoroughfare +of the town. The darkness of the hour, +rendered still deeper by the close approach +of the old-fashioned houses, which lowered +in tall obscurity on either side of the way; +the damp, dreary chill which renders the +advance of morning peculiarly cheerless, +combined with the object of my walk, to +visit the death-bed of a presumptuous +sinner, to endeavour, almost against my +own conviction, to infuse a hope into the +heart of a dying reprobate--a drunkard +but too probably perishing under the +consequences of some mad fit of intoxication; +all these circumstances united served to +enhance the gloom and solemnity of my +feelings, as I silently followed my little +guide, who with quick steps traversed the +uneven pavement of the main street. +After a walk of about five minutes she +turned off into a narrow lane, of that +obscure and comfortless class which is +to be found in almost all small old- +fashioned towns, chill, without ventilation, +reeking with all manner of offensive +effluviae, and lined by dingy, smoky, sickly +and pent-up buildings, frequently not only +in a wretched but in a dangerous condition. + +'Your father has changed his abode +since I last visited him, and, I am afraid, +much for the worse,' said I. + +'Indeed he has, sir; but we must not +complain,' replied she. 'We have to thank +God that we have lodging and food, +though it's poor enough, it is, your +honour.' + +Poor child! thought I, how many an +older head might learn wisdom from thee +--how many a luxurious philosopher, who +is skilled to preach but not to suffer, +might not thy patient words put to the +blush! The manner and language of this +child were alike above her years and +station; and, indeed, in all cases in which +the cares and sorrows of life have anticipated +their usual date, and have fallen, as they +sometimes do, with melancholy prematurity +to the lot of childhood, I have observed +the result to have proved uniformly the +same. A young mind, to which joy and +indulgence have been strangers, and to +which suffering and self-denial have been +familiarised from the first, acquires a +solidity and an elevation which no other +discipline could have bestowed, and which, +in the present case, communicated a striking +but mournful peculiarity to the manners, +even to the voice, of the child. We +paused before a narrow, crazy door, which +she opened by means of a latch, and we +forthwith began to ascend the steep and +broken stairs which led upwards to the +sick man's room. + +As we mounted flight after flight +towards the garret-floor, I heard more and +more distinctly the hurried talking of many +voices. I could also distinguish the low +sobbing of a female. On arriving upon +the uppermost lobby these sounds became +fully audible. + +'This way, your honour,' said my little +conductress; at the same time, pushing +open a door of patched and half-rotten +plank, she admitted me into the squalid +chamber of death and misery. But one +candle, held in the fingers of a scared and +haggard-looking child, was burning in the +room, and that so dim that all was twilight +or darkness except within its immediate +influence. The general obscurity, +however, served to throw into prominent +and startling relief the death-bed and its +occupant. The light was nearly approximated +to, and fell with horrible clearness +upon, the blue and swollen features of the +drunkard. I did not think it possible that +a human countenance could look so terrific. +The lips were black and drawn apart; the +teeth were firmly set; the eyes a little +unclosed, and nothing but the whites appearing. +Every feature was fixed and livid, and +the whole face wore a ghastly and rigid +expression of despairing terror such as I +never saw equalled. His hands were crossed +upon his breast, and firmly clenched; while, +as if to add to the corpse-like effect of the +whole, some white cloths, dipped in water, +were wound about the forehead and +temples. + +As soon as I could remove my eyes from +this horrible spectacle, I observed my friend +Dr. D----, one of the most humane of a +humane profession, standing by the bedside. +He had been attempting, but unsuccessfully, +to bleed the patient, and had now +applied his finger to the pulse. + +'Is there any hope?' I inquired in a +whisper. + +A shake of the head was the reply. +There was a pause while he continued +to hold the wrist; but he waited in vain +for the throb of life--it was not there: and +when he let go the hand, it fell stiffly back +into its former position upon the other. + +'The man is dead,' said the physician, as +he turned from the bed where the terrible +figure lay. + +Dead! thought I, scarcely venturing to +look upon the tremendous and revolting +spectacle. Dead! without an hour for +repentance, even a moment for reflection; +dead I without the rites which even the +best should have. Is there a hope for +him? The glaring eyeball, the grinning +mouth, the distorted brow--that unutterable +look in which a painter would have +sought to embody the fixed despair of the +nethermost hell. These were my answer. + +The poor wife sat at a little distance, +crying as if her heart would break--the +younger children clustered round the bed, +looking with wondering curiosity upon the +form of death never seen before. + +When the first tumult of uncontrollable +sorrow had passed away, availing myself +of the solemnity and impressiveness of the +scene, I desired the heart-stricken family +to accompany me in prayer, and all knelt +down while I solemnly and fervently +repeated some of those prayers which +appeared most applicable to the occasion. I +employed myself thus in a manner which, +I trusted, was not unprofitable, at least to +the living, for about ten minutes; and +having accomplished my task, I was the +first to arise. + +I looked upon the poor, sobbing, +helpless creatures who knelt so humbly around +me, and my heart bled for them. With +a natural transition I turned my eyes from +them to the bed in which the body lay; +and, great God! what was the revulsion, +the horror which I experienced on seeing +the corpse-like terrific thing seated half +upright before me; the white cloths which +had been wound about the head had now +partly slipped from their position, and +were hanging in grotesque festoons about +the face and shoulders, while the distorted +eyes leered from amid them-- + + 'A sight to dream of, not to tell.' + +I stood actually riveted to the spot. The +figure nodded its head and lifted its arm, +I thought, with a menacing gesture. A +thousand confused and horrible thoughts +at once rushed upon my mind. I had +often read that the body of a presumptuous +sinner, who, during life, had been +the willing creature of every satanic +impulse, after the human tenant had deserted +it, had been known to become the horrible +sport of demoniac possession. + +I was roused from the stupefaction of +terror in which I stood, by the piercing +scream of the mother, who now, for the +first time, perceived the change which had +taken place. She rushed towards the bed, +but stunned by the shock, and overcome by +the conflict of violent emotions, before she +reached it she fell prostrate upon the +floor. + +I am perfectly convinced that had I not +been startled from the torpidity of horror +in which I was bound by some powerful +and arousing stimulant, I should have +gazed upon this unearthly apparition until +I had fairly lost my senses. As it was, +however, the spell was broken--superstition +gave way to reason: the man whom all +believed to have been actually dead was +living! + +Dr. D---- was instantly standing by +the bedside, and upon examination he +found that a sudden and copious flow of +blood had taken place from the wound +which the lancet had left; and this, no +doubt, had effected his sudden and almost +preternatural restoration to an existence +from which all thought he had been for ever +removed. The man was still speechless, +but he seemed to understand the physician +when he forbid his repeating the painful +and fruitless attempts which he made to +articulate, and he at once resigned himself +quietly into his hands. + +I left the patient with leeches upon his +temples, and bleeding freely, apparently +with little of the drowsiness which accompanies +apoplexy; indeed, Dr. D---- told +me that he had never before witnessed a +seizure which seemed to combine the +symptoms of so many kinds, and yet +which belonged to none of the recognised +classes; it certainly was not apoplexy, +catalepsy, nor delirium tremens, and yet it +seemed, in some degree, to partake of the +properties of all. It was strange, but +stranger things are coming. + +During two or three days Dr. D---- +would not allow his patient to converse in +a manner which could excite or exhaust +him, with anyone; he suffered him merely +as briefly as possible to express his +immediate wants. And it was not until the fourth +day after my early visit, the particulars of +which I have just detailed, that it was thought +expedient that I should see him, and then +only because it appeared that his extreme +importunity and impatience to meet me +were likely to retard his recovery more than +the mere exhaustion attendant upon a short +conversation could possibly do; perhaps, +too, my friend entertained some hope that +if by holy confession his patient's bosom +were eased of the perilous stuff which no +doubt oppressed it, his recovery would be +more assured and rapid. It was then, as I +have said, upon the fourth day after my +first professional call, that I found myself +once more in the dreary chamber of want +and sickness. + +The man was in bed, and appeared low +and restless. On my entering the room he +raised himself in the bed, and muttered, +twice or thrice: + +'Thank God! thank God!' + +I signed to those of his family who +stood by to leave the room, and took a +chair beside the bed. So soon as we were +alone, he said, rather doggedly: + +'There's no use in telling me of the +sinfulness of bad ways--I know it all. I +know where they lead to--I seen everything +about it with my own eyesight, as +plain as I see you.' He rolled himself in +the bed, as if to hide his face in the +clothes; and then suddenly raising himself, +he exclaimed with startling vehemence: +'Look, sir! there is no use in mincing the +matter: I'm blasted with the fires of hell; +I have been in hell. What do you think +of that? In hell--I'm lost for ever--I +have not a chance. I am damned already +--damned--damned!' + +The end of this sentence he actually +shouted. His vehemence was perfectly +terrific; he threw himself back, and +laughed, and sobbed hysterically. I +poured some water into a tea-cup, and +gave it to him. After he had swallowed +it, I told him if he had anything to +communicate, to do so as briefly as he could, +and in a manner as little agitating to +himself as possible; threatening at the same +time, though I had no intention of doing +so, to leave him at once, in case he again +gave way to such passionate excitement. + +'It's only foolishness,' he continued, 'for +me to try to thank you for coming to such +a villain as myself at all. It's no use for me +to wish good to you, or to bless you; +for such as me has no blessings to +give.' + +I told him that I had but done my duty, +and urged him to proceed to the matter +which weighed upon his mind. He then +spoke nearly as follows: + +'I came in drunk on Friday night last, +and got to my bed here; I don't remember +how. Sometime in the night it seemed +to me I wakened, and feeling unasy in +myself, I got up out of the bed. I wanted +the fresh air; but I would not make a +noise to open the window, for fear I'd +waken the crathurs. It was very dark +and throublesome to find the door; but +at last I did get it, and I groped my way +out, and went down as asy as I could. I +felt quite sober, and I counted the steps +one after another, as I was going down, +that I might not stumble at the bottom. + +'When I came to the first landing-place +--God be about us always!--the floor of it +sunk under me, and I went down--down-- +down, till the senses almost left me. I do +not know how long I was falling, but it +seemed to me a great while. When I +came rightly to myself at last, I was +sitting near the top of a great table; +and I could not see the end of it, if it +had any, it was so far off. And there +was men beyond reckoning, sitting down +all along by it, at each side, as far as I +could see at all. I did not know at first +was it in the open air; but there was a +close smothering feel in it that was not +natural. And there was a kind of light that +my eyesight never saw before, red and +unsteady; and I did not see for a long time +where it was coming from, until I looked +straight up, and then I seen that it came +from great balls of blood-coloured fire that +were rolling high over head with a sort of +rushing, trembling sound, and I perceived +that they shone on the ribs of a great roof +of rock that was arched overhead instead +of the sky. When I seen this, scarce +knowing what I did, I got up, and I said, +"I have no right to be here; I must go." +And the man that was sitting at my left +hand only smiled, and said, "Sit down +again; you can NEVER leave this place." And +his voice was weaker than any child's voice +I ever heerd; and when he was done speaking +he smiled again. + +'Then I spoke out very loud and bold, +and I said, "In the name of God, let me +out of this bad place." And there was a +great man that I did not see before, sitting +at the end of the table that I was near; and +he was taller than twelve men, and his face +was very proud and terrible to look at. +And he stood up and stretched out his hand +before him; and when he stood up, all that +was there, great and small, bowed down +with a sighing sound, and a dread came on +my heart, and he looked at me, and I +could not speak. I felt I was his own, +to do what he liked with, for I knew at +once who he was; and he said, "If you +promise to return, you may depart for a +season;" and the voice he spoke with was +terrible and mournful, and the echoes of it +went rolling and swelling down the endless +cave, and mixing with the trembling of the +fire overhead; so that when he sat down +there was a sound after him, all through +the place, like the roaring of a furnace, and +I said, with all the strength I had, "I +promise to come back--in God's name let +me go!" + +'And with that I lost the sight and +the hearing of all that was there, and +when my senses came to me again, I +was sitting in the bed with the blood all +over me, and you and the rest praying +around the room.' + +Here he paused and wiped away the +chill drops of horror which hung upon his +forehead. + +I remained silent for some moments. +The vision which he had just described +struck my imagination not a little, for +this was long before Vathek and the +'Hall of Eblis' had delighted the world; +and the description which he gave had, as +I received it, all the attractions of novelty +beside the impressiveness which always +belongs to the narration of an EYE-WITNESS, +whether in the body or in the spirit, of the +scenes which he describes. There was +something, too, in the stern horror with +which the man related these things, and +in the incongruity of his description, with +the vulgarly received notions of the great +place of punishment, and of its presiding +spirit, which struck my mind with awe, +almost with fear. At length he said, with +an expression of horrible, imploring +earnestness, which I shall never forget-- +'Well, sir, is there any hope; is there any +chance at all? or, is my soul pledged and +promised away for ever? is it gone +out of my power? must I go back to the +place?' + +In answering him, I had no easy task to +perform; for however clear might be my +internal conviction of the groundlessness +of his tears, and however strong my scepticism +respecting the reality of what he had +described, I nevertheless felt that his +impression to the contrary, and his humility +and terror resulting from it, might be made +available as no mean engines in the work +of his conversion from prodigacy, and of +his restoration to decent habits, and to +religious feeling. + +I therefore told him that he was to +regard his dream rather in the light of a +warning than in that of a prophecy; that +our salvation depended not upon the word +or deed of a moment, but upon the habits +of a life; that, in fine, if he at once +discarded his idle companions and evil habits, +and firmly adhered to a sober, industrious, +and religious course of life, the powers of +darkness might claim his soul in vain, for +that there were higher and firmer pledges +than human tongue could utter, which +promised salvation to him who should +repent and lead a new life. + +I left him much comforted, and with a +promise to return upon the next day. I +did so, and found him much more cheerful +and without any remains of the dogged +sullenness which I suppose had arisen from +his despair. His promises of amendment +were given in that tone of deliberate +earnestness, which belongs to deep and +solemn determination; and it was with no +small delight that I observed, after +repeated visits, that his good resolutions, so +far from failing, did but gather strength +by time; and when I saw that man shake +off the idle and debauched companions, +whose society had for years formed alike +his amusement and his ruin, and revive +his long discarded habits of industry and +sobriety, I said within myself, there is +something more in all this than the operation +of an idle dream. + +One day, sometime after his perfect +restoration to health, I was surprised on +ascending the stairs, for the purpose of +visiting this man, to find him busily +employed in nailing down some planks +upon the landing-place, through which, at +the commencement of his mysterious vision, +it seemed to him that he had sunk. I +perceived at once that he was strengthening +the floor with a view to securing +himself against such a catastrophe, and +could scarcely forbear a smile as I bid +'God bless his work.' + +He perceived my thoughts, I suppose, +for he immediately said: + +'I can never pass over that floor without +trembling. I'd leave this house if I +could, but I can't find another lodging in +the town so cheap, and I'll not take a +better till I've paid off all my debts, please +God; but I could not be asy in my mind +till I made it as safe as I could. You'll +hardly believe me, your honour, that while +I'm working, maybe a mile away, my heart +is in a flutter the whole way back, with +the bare thoughts of the two little steps I +have to walk upon this bit of a floor. So +it's no wonder, sir, I'd thry to make it +sound and firm with any idle timber I +have.' + +I applauded his resolution to pay off his +debts, and the steadiness with which he +perused his plans of conscientious economy, +and passed on. + +Many months elapsed, and still there +appeared no alteration in his resolutions of +amendment. He was a good workman, +and with his better habits he recovered his +former extensive and profitable employment. +Everything seemed to promise comfort and +respectability. I have little more to add, +and that shall be told quickly. I had one +evening met Pat Connell, as he returned +from his work, and as usual, after a mutual, +and on his side respectful salutation, I +spoke a few words of encouragement and +approval. I left him industrious, active, +healthy--when next I saw him, not three +days after, he was a corpse. + +The circumstances which marked the +event of his death were somewhat strange +--I might say fearful. The unfortunate +man had accidentally met an early friend +just returned, after a long absence, and in +a moment of excitement, forgetting everything +in the warmth of his joy, he yielded +to his urgent invitation to accompany him +into a public-house, which lay close by the +spot where the encounter had taken place. +Connell, however, previously to entering +the room, had announced his determination +to take nothing more than the strictest +temperance would warrant. + +But oh! who can describe the inveterate +tenacity with which a drunkard's habits +cling to him through life? He may repent +--he may reform--he may look with +actual abhorrence upon his past profligacy; +but amid all this reformation and +compunction, who can tell the moment in +which the base and ruinous propensity may +not recur, triumphing over resolution, +remorse, shame, everything, and prostrating +its victim once more in all that is +destructive and revolting in that fatal vice? + +The wretched man left the place in a +state of utter intoxication. He was +brought home nearly insensible. and +placed in his bed, where he lay in the deep +calm lethargy of drunkenness. The +younger part of the family retired to rest +much after their usual hour; but the poor +wife remained up sitting by the fire, too +much grieved and shocked at the occur- +rence of what she had so little expected, +to settle to rest; fatigue, however, at +length overcame her, and she sank +gradually into an uneasy slumber. She +could not tell how long she had remained +in this state, when she awakened, and +immediately on opening her eyes, she +perceived by the faint red light of the +smouldering turf embers, two persons, one +of whom she recognised as her husband, +noiselessly gliding out of the room. + +'Pat, darling, where are you going?' +said she. There was no answer--the door +closed after them; but in a moment she +was startled and terrified by a loud and +heavy crash, as if some ponderous body had +been hurled down the stair. Much alarmed, +she started up, and going to the head of +the staircase, she called repeatedly upon her +husband, but in vain. She returned to +the room, and with the assistance of her +daughter, whom I had occasion to mention +before, she succeeded in finding and lighting +a candle, with which she hurried again +to the head of the staircase. + +At the bottom lay what seemed to be a +bundle of clothes, heaped together, motionless, +lifeless--it was her husband. In +going down the stair, for what purpose +can never now be known, he had fallen +helplessly and violently to the bottom, and +coming head foremost, the spine at the +neck had been dislocated by the shock, and +instant death must have ensued. The +body lay upon that landing-place to which +his dream had referred. It is scarcely +worth endeavouring to clear up a single +point in a narrative where all is mystery; +yet I could not help suspecting that the +second figure which had been seen in the +room by Connell's wife on the night of his +death, might have been no other than his +own shadow. I suggested this solution of +the difficulty; but she told me that the +unknown person had been considerably in +advance of the other, and on reaching the +door, had turned back as if to communicate +something to his companion. It was then +a mystery. + +Was the dream verified?--whither had +the disembodied spirit sped?--who can +say? We know not. But I left the house +of death that day in a state of horror +which I could not describe. It seemed to +me that I was scarce awake. I heard and +saw everything as if under the spell of a +night-mare. The coincidence was terrible. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Purcell Papers, Volume 1 + + |