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The Purcell Papers, Volume 3

by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

April, 1996  [Etext #511]


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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. III.

LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON,
Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen.
1880.


Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

LeFanu, Joseph Sheridan, 1814-1873.

The Purcell papers.

Reprint of the 1880 ed. published by R. Bentley,
London.

I. Title.
PZ3.L518Pu5 [PR4879.L7] 823'.8 71-148813
ISBN 0-404-08880-5

Reprinted from an original copy in the collection of
the University of Chicago Library.

From the edition of 1880, London
First AMS edition published in 1975
Manufactured in the United States of America

International Standard Book Number:
Complete Set: 0-404-08880-5
Volume III: 0-404-08883-X

AMS PRESS INC.
NEW YORK, N. Y. 10003



CONTENTS OF VOL. III.
----
                                                          
JIM SULIVAN'S ADVENTURES IN THE GREAT SNOW 
A CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF A TYRONE FAMILY
AN ADVENTURE OF HARDRESS FITZGERALD, A ROYALIST CAPTAIN
'THE QUARE GANDER' 
BILLY MALOWNEY'S TASTE OF LOVE AND GLORY  


THE PURCELL PAPERS.
----
JIM SULIVAN'S ADVENTURES IN THE GREAT SNOW.

Being a Ninth Extract from the Legacy of the late Francis
Purcell, P.P. of Drumcoolagh.

Jim Sulivan was a dacent,
honest boy as you'd find in the
seven parishes, an' he was a
beautiful singer, an' an illegant dancer
intirely, an' a mighty plisant boy in
himself; but he had the divil's bad luck, for
he married for love, an 'av coorse he niver
had an asy minute afther.

Nell Gorman was the girl he fancied, an'
a beautiful slip of a girl she was, jist twinty
to the minute when he married her. She
was as round an' as complate in all her
shapes as a firkin, you'd think, an' her two
cheeks was as fat an' as red, it id open your
heart to look at them.

But beauty is not the thing all through,
an' as beautiful as she was she had the
divil's tongue, an' the divil's timper, an'
the divil's behaviour all out; an' it was
impossible for him to be in the house with
her for while you'd count tin without havin'
an argymint, an' as sure as she riz an
argymint with him she'd hit him a wipe
iv a skillet or whatever lay next to her
hand.

Well, this wasn't at all plasin' to Jim
Sulivan you may be sure, an' there was
scarce a week that his head wasn't
plasthered up, or his back bint double, or his
nose swelled as big as a pittaty, with the
vilence iv her timper, an' his heart was
scalded everlastin'ly with her tongue; so
he had no pace or quietness in body or soul
at all at all, with the way she was goin'
an.

Well, your honour, one cowld snowin'
evenin' he kim in afther his day's work
regulatin' the men in the farm, an' he sat
down very quite by the fire, for he had
a scrimmidge with her in the mornin', an'
all he wanted was an air iv the fire in pace;
so divil a word he said but dhrew a stool
an' sat down close to the fire. Well, as
soon as the woman saw him,

'Move aff,' says she, 'an' don't be
inthrudin' an the fire,' says she.

Well, he kept never mindin', an' didn't
let an' to hear a word she was sayin', so
she kim over an' she had a spoon in her
hand, an' she took jist the smallest taste
in life iv the boilin' wather out iv the pot,
an' she dhropped it down an his shins, an'
with that he let a roar you'd think the
roof id fly aff iv the house.

'Hould your tongue, you barbarrian,'
says she; 'you'll waken the child,' says
she.

'An' if I done right,' says he, for the
spoonful of boilin' wather riz him entirely,
'I'd take yourself,' says he, 'an' I'd stuff
you into the pot an the fire, an' boil you.'
says he, 'into castor oil,' says he.

'That's purty behavour,' says she; 'it's
fine usage you're givin' me, isn't it?' says
she, gettin' wickeder every minute; 'but
before I'm boiled,' says she, 'thry how you
like THAT,' says she; an', sure enough, before
he had time to put up his guard, she hot
him a rale terrible clink iv the iron spoon
acrass the jaw.

'Hould me, some iv ye, or I'll murdher
her,' says he.

'Will you?' says she, an' with that she
hot him another tin times as good as the
first.

'By jabers,' says he, slappin' himself
behind, 'that's the last salute you'll ever
give me,' says he; 'so take my last blessin','
says he, 'you ungovernable baste!' says
he--an' with that he pulled an his hat an'
walked out iv the door.

Well, she never minded a word he said,
for he used to say the same thing all as one
every time she dhrew blood; an' she
had no expectation at all but he'd come
back by the time supper id be ready; but
faix the story didn't go quite so simple this
time, for while he was walkin', lonesome
enough, down the borheen, with his heart
almost broke with the pain, for his shins
an' his jaw was mighty troublesome, av
course, with the thratement he got, who
did he see but Mick Hanlon, his uncle's
sarvint by, ridin' down, quite an asy, an the
ould black horse, with a halter as long as
himself.

'Is that Mr. Soolivan?' says the by.
says he, as soon as he saw him a good
bit aff.

'To be sure it is, ye spalpeen, you,' says
Jim, roarin' out; 'what do you want wid
me this time a-day?' says he.

'Don't you know me?' says the gossoon,
'it's Mick Hanlon that's in it,' says
he.

'Oh, blur an agers, thin, it's welcome
you are, Micky asthore,' says Jim; 'how
is all wid the man an' the woman beyant?'
says he.

'Oh!' says Micky, 'bad enough,' says
he; 'the ould man's jist aff, an' if you don't
hurry like shot,' says he, 'he'll be in glory
before you get there,' says he.

'It's jokin' ye are,' says Jim, sorrowful
enough, for he was mighty partial to his
uncle intirely.

'Oh, not in the smallest taste,' says
Micky; 'the breath was jist out iv him,'
says he, 'when I left the farm. "An'," says
he, "take the ould black horse," says he,
"for he's shure-footed for the road," says
he, "an' bring, Jim Soolivan here," says he,
"for I think I'd die asy af I could see him
onst,' says he.'

'Well,' says Jim, 'will I have time,' says
he, 'to go back to the house, for it would
be a consolation,' says he, 'to tell the bad
news to the woman?' says he.

'It's too late you are already,' says
Micky, 'so come up behind me, for God's
sake,' says he, 'an' don't waste time;' an'
with that he brought the horse up beside
the ditch, an' Jim Soolivan mounted up
behind Micky, an' they rode off; an' tin
good miles it was iv a road, an' at the other
side iv Keeper intirely; an' it was snowin'
so fast that the ould baste could hardly go
an at all at all, an' the two bys an his back
was jist like a snowball all as one, an'
almost fruz an' smothered at the same time,
your honour; an' they wor both mighty
sorrowful intirely, an' their toes almost
dhroppin' aff wid the could.

And when Jim got to the farm his uncle
was gettin' an illegantly, an' he was sittin'
up sthrong an' warm in the bed, an' im-
provin' every minute, an' no signs av dyin'
an him at all at all; so he had all his
throuble for nothin'.

But this wasn't all, for the snow kem
so thick that it was impassible to get along
the roads at all at all; an' faix, instead iv
gettin' betther, next mornin' it was only tin
times worse; so Jim had jist to take it asy,
an' stay wid his uncle antil such times as the
snow id melt.

Well, your honour, the evenin' Jim
Soolivan wint away, whin the dark was closin'
in, Nell Gorman, his wife, beginned to get
mighty anasy in herself whin she didn't see
him comin' back at all; an' she was gettin'
more an' more frightful in herself every
minute till the dark kem an, an' divil a
taste iv her husband was coming at all at
all.

'Oh!' says she, 'there's no use in pur-
tendin', I know he's kilt himself; he has
committed infantycide an himself,' says she,
'like a dissipated bliggard as he always
was,' says she, 'God rest his soul. Oh,
thin, isn't it me an' not you, Jim Soolivan,
that's the unforthunate woman,' says she,
'for ain't I cryin' here, an' isn't he in
heaven, the bliggard,' says she. 'Oh, voh,
voh, it's not at home comfortable with your
wife an' family that you are, Jim Soolivan,'
says she, 'but in the other world, you
aumathaun, in glory wid the saints I hope,' says
she. 'It's I that's the unforthunate famale,'
says she, 'an' not yourself, Jim Soolivan,'
says she.

An' this way she kep' an till mornin',
cryin' and lamintin; an' wid the first light
she called up all the sarvint bys, an' she
tould them to go out an' to sarch every inch
iv ground to find the corpse, 'for I'm sure,'
says she, 'it's not to go hide himself he
would,' says she.

Well, they went as well as they could,
rummagin' through the snow, antil, at last,
what should they come to, sure enough, but
the corpse of a poor thravelling man, that
fell over the quarry the night before by
rason of the snow and some liquor he had,
maybe; but, at any rate, he was as dead as a
herrin', an' his face was knocked all to pieces
jist like an over-boiled pitaty, glory be to
God; an' divil a taste iv a nose or a chin, or
a hill or a hollow from one end av his face
to the other but was all as flat as a pancake.
An' he was about Jim Soolivan's size,
an' dhressed out exactly the same, wid a
ridin' coat an' new corderhoys; so they
carried him home, an' they were all as sure as
daylight it was Jim Soolivan himself, an'
they were wondhering he'd do sich a
dirty turn as to go kill himself for
spite.

Well, your honour, they waked him as
well as they could, with what neighbours
they could git togither, but by rason iv the
snow, there wasn't enough gothered to make
much divarsion; however it was a plisint
wake enough, an' the churchyard an' the
priest bein' convanient, as soon as the
youngsthers had their bit iv fun and divarsion
out iv the corpse, they burried it without
a great dale iv throuble; an' about three
days afther the berrin, ould Jim Mallowney,
from th'other side iv the little hill, her own
cousin by the mother's side--he had a snug
bit iv a farm an' a house close by, by the
same token--kem walkin' in to see how she
was in her health, an' he dhrew a chair, an'
he sot down an' beginned to convarse her
about one thing an' another, antil he got
her quite an' asy into middlin' good
humour, an' as soon as he seen it was
time:

'I'm wondherin', says he, 'Nell Gorman,
sich a handsome, likely girl, id be thinkin'
iv nothin' but lamintin' an' the likes,' says
he, 'an' lingerin' away her days without
any consolation, or gettin' a husband,' says
he.

'Oh,' says she, 'isn't it only three days
since I burried the poor man,' says she, 'an'
isn't it rather soon to be talkin iv marryin'
agin?'

'Divil a taste,' says he, 'three days is jist
the time to a minute for cryin' afther a husband,
an' there's no occasion in life to be
keepin' it up,' says he; 'an' besides all that,'
says he, 'Shrovetide is almost over, an' if
you don't be sturrin' yourself an' lookin'
about you, you'll be late,' says he, 'for this
year at any rate, an' that's twelve months
lost; an' who's to look afther the farm all
that time,' says he, 'an' to keep the men to
their work?' says he.

'It's thrue for you, Jim Mallowney,' says
she, 'but I'm afeard the neighbours will be
all talkin' about it,' says she.

'Divil's cure to the word,' says he.

'An' who would you advise?' says she.

'Young Andy Curtis is the boy,' says
he.

'He's a likely boy in himself,' says she.

'An' as handy a gossoon as is out,'
says he.

'Well, thin, Jim Mallowney,' says she,
'here's my hand, an' you may be talkin'
to Andy Curtis, an' if he's willin' I'm
agreeble--is that enough?' says she.

So with that he made off with himself
straight to Andy Curtis; an' before three days
more was past, the weddin' kem an, an'
Nell Gorman an' Andy Curtis was married
as complate as possible; an' if the wake
was plisint the weddin' was tin times as
agreeble, an' all the neighbours that could
make their way to it was there, an' there
was three fiddlers an' lots iv pipers, an'
ould Connor Shamus[1] the piper himself
was in it--by the same token it was the
last weddin' he ever played music at, for
the next mornin', whin he was goin' home,
bein' mighty hearty an' plisint in himself,
he was smothered in the snow, undher the
ould castle; an' by my sowl he was a sore
loss to the bys an' girls twenty miles round,
for he was the illigantest piper, barrin' the
liquor alone, that ever worked a bellas.


[1] Literally, Cornelius James--the last name
employed as a patronymic. Connor is commonly used.
Corney, pronounced Kurny, is just as much used in
the South, as the short name for Cornelius.



Well, a week passed over smart enough,
an' Nell an' her new husband was mighty
well continted with one another, for it was
too soon for her to begin to regulate him
the way she used with poor Jim Soolivan,
so they wor comfortable enough; but this
was too good to last, for the thaw kem an,
an' you may be sure Jim Soolivan didn't
lose a minute's time as soon as the heavy
dhrift iv snow was melted enough between
him and home to let him pass, for he didn't
hear a word iv news from home sinst he
lift it, by rason that no one, good nor bad,
could thravel at all, with the way the snow
was dhrifted.

So one night, when Nell Gorman an' her
new husband, Andy Curtis, was snug an'
warm in bed, an' fast asleep, an' everything
quite, who should come to the door,
sure enough, but Jim Soolivan himself,
an' he beginned flakin' the door wid a big
blackthorn stick he had, an' roarin' out like
the divil to open the door, for he had a
dhrop taken.

'What the divil's the matther?' says
Andy Curtis, wakenin' out iv his sleep.

'Who's batin' the door?' says Nell;
'what's all the noise for?' says she.

'Who's in it?' says Andy.

'It's me,' says Jim.

'Who are you?' says Andy; 'what's
your name?'

'Jim Soolivan,' says he.

'By jabers, you lie,' says Andy.

'Wait till I get at you,' says Jim, hittin'
the door a lick iv the wattle you'd hear half
a mile off.

'It's him, sure enough,' says Nell; 'I
know his speech; it's his wandherin' sowl
that can't get rest, the crass o' Christ betune
us an' harm.'

'Let me in,' says Jim, 'or I'll dhrive the
door in a top iv yis.'

'Jim Soolivan--Jim Soolivan,' says Nell,
sittin' up in the bed, an' gropin' for a quart
bottle iv holy wather she used to hang by
the back iv the bed, 'don't come in, darlin'
--there's holy wather here,' says she; 'but
tell me from where you are is there
anything that's throublin' your poor sinful
sowl?' says she. 'An' tell me how many
masses 'ill make you asy, an' by this crass,
I'll buy you as many as you want,' says she.

'I don't know what the divil you mane,'
says Jim.

'Go back,' says she, 'go back to glory,
for God's sake,' says she.

'Divil's cure to the bit iv me 'ill go back
to glory, or anywhere else,' says he, 'this
blessed night; so open the door at onst'
an' let me in,' says he.

'The Lord forbid,' says she.

'By jabers, you'd betther,' says he, 'or
it 'ill be the worse for you,' says he; an'
wid that he fell to wallopin' the door till
he was fairly tired, an' Andy an' his wife
crassin' themselves an' sayin' their prayers
for the bare life all the time.

'Jim Soolivan,' says she, as soon as he
was done, 'go back, for God's sake, an'
don't be freakenin' me an' your poor fatherless
childhren,' says she.

'Why, you bosthoon, you,' says Jim,
'won't you let your husband in,' says he,
'to his own house?' says he.

'You WOR my husband, sure enough,'
says she, 'but it's well you know, Jim
Soolivan, you're not my husband NOW,' says
she.

'You're as dhrunk as can be consaved,
says Jim.

'Go back, in God's name, pacibly to
your grave,' says Nell.

'By my sowl, it's to my grave you'll
sind me, sure enough,' says he, 'you hard-
hearted bain', for I'm jist aff wid the cowld,'
says he.

'Jim Sulivan,' says she, 'it's in your
dacent coffin you should be, you unforthunate
sperit,' says she; 'what is it's
annoyin' your sowl, in the wide world, at
all?' says she; 'hadn't you everything
complate?' says she, 'the oil, an' the wake,
an' the berrin'?' says she.

'Och, by the hoky,' says Jim, 'it's too
long I'm makin' a fool iv mysilf, gostherin'
wid you outside iv my own door,' says
he, 'for it's plain to be seen,' says he,
'you don't know what your're sayin', an'
no one ELSE knows what you mane, you
unforthunate fool,' says he; 'so, onst for
all, open the door quietly,' says he, 'or,
by my sowkins, I'll not lave a splinther
together,' says he.

Well, whin Nell an' Andy seen he was
getting vexed, they beginned to bawl out
their prayers, with the fright, as if the life
was lavin' them; an' the more he bate the
door, the louder they prayed, until at last
Jim was fairly tired out.

'Bad luck to you,' says he; 'for
a rale divil av a woman,' says he. I
'can't get any advantage av you, any
way; but wait till I get hould iv you,
that's all,' says he. An' he turned aff from
the door, an' wint round to the cow-house,
an' settled himself as well as he could, in
the sthraw; an' he was tired enough wid
the thravellin' he had in the day-time, an'
a good dale bothered with what liquor he
had taken; so he was purty sure of sleepin'
wherever he thrun himself.

But, by my sowl, it wasn't the same way
with the man an' the woman in the house--
for divil a wink iv sleep, good or bad, could
they get at all, wid the fright iv the sperit,
as they supposed; an' with the first light
they sint a little gossoon, as fast as he
could wag, straight off, like a shot, to the
priest, an' to desire him, for the love o'
God, to come to them an the minute, an'
to bring, if it was plasin' to his raverence,
all the little things he had for sayin' mass,
an' savin' sowls, an' banishin' sperits, an'
freakenin' the divil, an' the likes iv that.
An' it wasn't long till his raverence kem
down, sure enough, on the ould grey mare,
wid the little mass-boy behind him, an' the
prayer-books an' Bibles, an' all the other
mystarious articles that was wantin', along
wid him; an' as soon as he kem in, 'God
save all here,' says he.

'God save ye, kindly, your raverence,'
says they.

'An' what's gone wrong wid ye?' says
he; 'ye must be very bad,' says he,'
entirely, to disturb my devotions,' says he,
'this way, jist at breakfast-time,' says
he.

'By my sowkins,' says Nell, 'it's bad
enough we are, your raverence,' says she,
'for it's poor Jim's sperit,' says she; 'God
rest his sowl, wherever it is,' says she, 'that
was wandherin' up an' down, opossite the
door all night,' says she, 'in the way it
was no use at all, thryin' to get a wink iv
sleep,' says she.

'It's to lay it, you want me, I suppose,'
says the priest.

'If your raverence 'id do that same, it
'id be plasin' to us,' says Andy.

'It'll be rather expinsive,' says the
priest.

'We'll not differ about the price, your
raverence,' says Andy.

'Did the sperit stop long?' says the
priest.

'Most part iv the night,' says Nell,
'the Lord be merciful to us all!' says
she.

'That'll make it more costly than I
thought,' says he. 'An' did it make much
noise?' says he.

'By my sowl, it's it that did,' says
Andy; 'leatherin' the door wid sticks and
stones,' says he, 'antil I fairly thought
every minute,' says he, 'the ould boords
id smash, an' the sperit id be in an top
iv us--God bless us,' says he.

'Phiew!' says the priest; 'it'll cost a
power iv money.'

'Well, your raverence,' says Andy, 'take
whatever you like,' says he; 'only make
sure it won't annoy us any more,' says
he.

'Oh! by my sowkins,' says the priest,
'it'll be the quarest ghost in the siven
parishes,' says he, 'if it has the courage to
come back,' says he, 'afther what I'll do
this mornin', plase God,' says he; 'so we'll
say twelve pounds; an' God knows it's
chape enough,' says he, 'considherin' all
the sarcumstances,' says he.

Well, there wasn't a second word to
the bargain; so they paid him the money
down, an' he sot the table doun like an
althar, before the door, an' he settled it out
vid all the things he had wid him; an'
he lit a bit iv a holy candle, an' he scathered
his holy wather right an' left; an' he took
up a big book, an' he wint an readin'
for half an hour, good; an' whin he kem
to the end, he tuck hould iv his little bell,
and he beginned to ring it for the bare
life; an', by my sowl, he rung it so well,
that he wakened Jim Sulivan in the cow-
house, where he was sleepin', an' up he
jumped, widout a minute's delay, an' med
right for the house, where all the family,
an' the priest, an' the little mass-boy was
assimbled, layin' the ghost; an' as soon
as his raverence seen him comin' in at the
door, wid the fair fright, he flung the bell
at his head, an' hot him sich a lick iv it
in the forehead, that he sthretched him on
the floor; but fain; he didn't wait to ax
any questions, but he cut round the table
as if the divil was afther him, an' out at the
door, an' didn't stop even as much as to
mount an his mare, but leathered away
down the borheen as fast as his legs could
carry him, though the mud was up to his
knees, savin' your presence.

Well, by the time Jim kem to himself,
the family persaved the mistake, an' Andy
wint home, lavin' Nell to make the explanation.
An' as soon as Jim heerd it all, he
said he was quite contint to lave her to
Andy, entirely; but the priest would not
hear iv it; an' he jist med him marry his
wife over again, an' a merry weddin' it
was, an' a fine collection for his raverence.
An' Andy was there along wid the rest,
an' the priest put a small pinnance upon
him, for bein' in too great a hurry to marry
a widdy.

An' bad luck to the word he'd allow
anyone to say an the business, ever after,
at all, at all; so, av coorse, no one offinded
his raverence, by spakin' iv the twelve
pounds he got for layin' the sperit.

An' the neighbours wor all mighty
well plased, to be sure, for gettin' all the
divarsion of a wake, an' two weddin's for
nothin'



A CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF A TYRONE FAMILY

Being a Tenth Extract from the Legacy of the late Francis
Purcell, P.P. of Drumcoolagh.


INTRODUCTION.

In the following narrative, I have
endeavoured to give as nearly
as possible the ipsissima verba
of the valued friend from whom I received
it, conscious that any aberration from HER
mode of telling the tale of her own life
would at once impair its accuracy and its
effect.

Would that, with her words, I could
also bring before you her animated gesture,
her expressive countenance, the solemn and
thrilling air and accent with which she
related the dark passages in her strange
story; and, above all, that I could
communicate the impressive consciousness that
the narrator had seen with her own eyes,
and personally acted in the scenes which
she described; these accompaniments, taken
with the additional circumstance that she
who told the tale was one far too deeply
and sadly impressed with religious principle
to misrepresent or fabricate what she
repeated as fact, gave to the tale a depth
of interest which the events recorded could
hardly, themselves, have produced.

I became acquainted with the lady from
whose lips I heard this narrative nearly
twenty years since, and the story struck
my fancy so much that I committed it to
paper while it was still fresh in my mind;
and should its perusal afford you entertainment
for a listless half hour, my labour
shall not have been bestowed in vain.

I find that I have taken the story down
as she told it, in the first person, and
perhaps this is as it should be.

She began as follows:

My maiden name was Richardson,[1] the
designation of a family of some distinction
in the county of Tyrone. I was the
younger of two daughters, and we were
the only children. There was a difference
in our ages of nearly six years, so that I
did not, in my childhood, enjoy that close
companionship which sisterhood, in other
circumstances, necessarily involves; and
while I was still a child, my sister was
married.


[1] I have carefully altered the names as they appear
in the original MSS., for the reader will see that some
of the circumstances recorded are not of a kind to
reflect honour upon those involved in them; and as
many are still living, in every way honoured and
honourable, who stand in close relation to the principal actors
in this drama, the reader will see the necessity of the
course which we have adopted.


The person upon whom she bestowed
her hand was a Mr. Carew, a gentleman
of property and consideration in the north
of England.

I remember well the eventful day of the
wedding; the thronging carriages, the noisy
menials, the loud laughter, the merry faces,
and the gay dresses. Such sights were
then new to me, and harmonised ill with
the sorrowful feelings with which I
regarded the event which was to separate
me, as it turned out, for ever from a sister
whose tenderness alone had hitherto more
than supplied all that I wanted in my
mother's affection.

The day soon arrived which was to
remove the happy couple from Ashtown
House. The carriage stood at the hall-
door, and my poor sister kissed me again
and again, telling me that I should see
her soon.

The carriage drove away, and I gazed
after it until my eyes filled with tears, and,
returning slowly to my chamber, I wept
more bitterly and, so to speak, more
desolately, than ever I had done before.

My father had never seemed to love or
to take an interest in me. He had desired
a son, and I think he never thoroughly
forgave me my unfortunate sex.

My having come into the world at all
as his child he regarded as a kind of
fraudulent intrusion, and as his antipathy
to me had its origin in an imperfection
of mine, too radical for removal, I never
even hoped to stand high in his good
graces.

My mother was, I dare say, as fond of
me as she was of anyone; but she was a
woman of a masculine and a worldly cast of
mind. She had no tenderness or sympathy
for the weaknesses, or even for the affections,
of woman's nature and her demeanour
towards me was peremptory, and often even
harsh.

It is not to be supposed, then, that I
found in the society of my parents much to
supply the loss of my sister. About a year
after her marriage, we received letters from
Mr. Carew, containing accounts of my
sister's health, which, though not actually
alarming, were calculated to make us seriously
uneasy. The symptoms most dwelt
upon were loss of appetite and cough.

The letters concluded by intimating that
he would avail himself of my father and
mother's repeated invitation to spend some
time at Ashtown, particularly as the physician
who had been consulted as to my
sister's health had strongly advised a
removal to her native air.

There were added repeated assurances
that nothing serious was apprehended, as it
was supposed that a deranged state of the
liver was the only source of the symptoms
which at first had seemed to intimate
consumption.

In accordance with this announcement,
my sister and Mr. Carew arrived in Dublin,
where one of my father's carriages awaited
them, in readiness to start upon whatever
day or hour they might choose for their
departure

It was arranged that Mr. Carew was, as
soon as the day upon which they were to
leave Dublin was definitely fixed, to write
to my father, who intended that the two
last stages should be performed by his own
horses, upon whose speed and safety far
more reliance might be placed than upon
those of the ordinary post-horses, which were
at that time, almost without exception, of
the very worst order. The journey, one of
about ninety miles, was to be divided; the
larger portion being reserved for the second
day.

On Sunday a letter reached us, stating
that the party would leave Dublin on
Monday, and, in due course, reach Ashtown
upon Tuesday evening.

Tuesday came the evening closed in, and
yet no carriage; darkness came on, and still
no sign of our expected visitors.

Hour after hour passed away, and it was
now past twelve; the night was remarkably
calm, scarce a breath stirring, so that any
sound, such as that produced by the rapid
movement of a vehicle, would have been
audible at a considerable distance. For some
such sound I was feverishly listening.

It was, however, my father's rule to close
the house at nightfall, and the window-
shutters being fastened, I was unable to
reconnoitre the avenue as I would have
wished. It was nearly one o'clock, and we
began almost to despair of seeing them upon
that night, when I thought I distinguished
the sound of wheels, but so remote and faint
as to make me at first very uncertain. The
noise approached; it became louder and
clearer; it stopped for a moment.

I now heard the shrill screaming of the
rusty iron, as the avenue-gate revolved on
its hinges; again came the sound of wheels
in rapid motion.

'It is they,' said I, starting up; 'the
carriage is in the avenue.'

We all stood for a few moments breathlessly
listening. On thundered the vehicle
with the speed of a whirlwind; crack went
the whip, and clatter went the wheels, as it
rattled over the uneven pavement of the
court. A general and furious barking from
all the dogs about the house, hailed its
arrival.

We hurried to the hall in time to hear
the steps let down with the sharp clanging
noise peculiar to the operation, and the hum
of voices exerted in the bustle of arrival.
The hall-door was now thrown open, and
we all stepped forth to greet our visitors.

The court was perfectly empty; the
moon was shining broadly and brightly
upon all around; nothing was to be seen
but the tall trees with their long spectral
shadows, now wet with the dews of midnight.

We stood gazing from right to left, as if
suddenly awakened from a dream; the dogs
walked suspiciously, growling and snuffing
about the court, and by totally and
suddenly ceasing their former loud barking,
expressing the predominance of fear.

We stared one upon another in
perplexity and dismay, and I think I never
beheld more pale faces assembled. By my
father's direction, we looked about to find
anything which might indicate or account
for the noise which we had heard; but no
such thing was to be seen--even the mire
which lay upon the avenue was undisturbed.
We returned to the house, more panic-struck
than I can describe.

On the next day, we learned by a
messenger, who had ridden hard the greater
part of the night, that my sister was dead.
On Sunday evening, she had retired to bed
rather unwell, and, on Monday, her indisposition
declared itself unequivocally to be
malignant fever. She became hourly worse
and, on Tuesday night, a little after
midnight, she expired.[2]


[2] The residuary legatee of the late Frances Purcell,
who has the honour of selecting such of his lamented
old friend's manuscripts as may appear fit for publication,
in order that the lore which they contain may
reach the world before scepticism and utility have
robbed our species of the precious gift of credulity, and
scornfully kicked before them, or trampled into
annihilation those harmless fragments of picturesque
superstition which it is our object to preserve, has been
subjected to the charge of dealing too largely in the
marvellous; and it has been half insinuated that such
is his love for diablerie, that he is content to wander a
mile out of his way, in order to meet a fiend or a goblin,
and thus to sacrifice all regard for truth and accuracy
to the idle hope of affrighting the imagination, and thus
pandering to the bad taste of his reader. He begs
leave, then, to take this opportunity of asserting his
perfect innocence of all the crimes laid to his charge,
and to assure his reader that he never PANDERED TO HIS
BAD TASTE, nor went one inch out of his way to introduce
witch, fairy, devil, ghost, or any other of the grim fraternity
of the redoubted Raw-head-and-bloody-bones. His
province, touching these tales, has been attended with
no difficulty and little responsibility; indeed, he is
accountable for nothing more than an alteration in the
names of persons mentioned therein, when such a step
seemed necessary, and for an occasional note, whenever
he conceived it possible, innocently, to edge in a word.
These tales have been WRITTEN DOWN, as the heading of
each announces, by the Rev. Francis Purcell, P.P., of
Drumcoolagh; and in all the instances, which are many,
in which the present writer has had an opportunity of
comparing the manuscript of his departed friend with
the actual traditions which are current amongst the
families whose fortunes they pretend to illustrate, he
has uniformly found that whatever of supernatural
occurred in the story, so far from having been
exaggerated by him, had been rather softened down, and,
wherever it could be attempted, accounted for.



I mention this circumstance, because it
was one upon which a thousand wild and
fantastical reports were founded, though
one would have thought that the truth
scarcely required to be improved upon;
and again, because it produced a strong
and lasting effect upon my spirits, and
indeed, I am inclined to think, upon my
character.

I was, for several years after this
occurrence, long after the violence of my grief
subsided, so wretchedly low-spirited and
nervous, that I could scarcely be said to
live; and during this time, habits of
indecision, arising out of a listless acquiescence
in the will of others, a fear of encountering
even the slightest opposition, and a
disposition to shrink from what are commonly
called amusements, grew upon me so
strongly, that I have scarcely even yet
altogether overcome them.

We saw nothing more of Mr. Carew.
He returned to England as soon as the
melancholy rites attendant upon the event
which I have just mentioned were performed;
and not being altogether inconsolable,
he married again within two years;
after which, owing to the remoteness of our
relative situations, and other circumstances,
we gradually lost sight of him.

I was now an only child; and, as my
elder sister had died without issue, it was
evident that, in the ordinary course of
things, my father's property, which was
altogether in his power, would go to me;
and the consequence was, that before I was
fourteen, Ashtown House was besieged by
a host of suitors. However, whether it was
that I was too young, or that none of the
aspirants to my hand stood sufficiently high
in rank or wealth, I was suffered by both
parents to do exactly as I pleased; and
well was it for me, as I afterwards found,
that fortune, or rather Providence, had so
ordained it, that I had not suffered my
affections to become in any degree engaged,
for my mother would never have suffered
any SILLY FANCY of mine, as she was in the
habit of styling an attachment, to stand
in the way of her ambitious views--
views which she was determined to carry
into effect, in defiance of every obstacle,
and in order to accomplish which she
would not have hesitated to sacrifice
anything so unreasonable and contemptible as
a girlish passion.

When I reached the age of sixteen, my
mother's plans began to develop them-
selves; and, at her suggestion, we moved
to Dublin to sojourn for the winter, in
order that no time might be lost in
disposing of me to the best advantage.

I had been too long accustomed to
consider myself as of no importance whatever,
to believe for a moment that I was in
reality the cause of all the bustle and
preparation which surrounded me, and
being thus relieved from the pain which
a consciousness of my real situation would
have inflicted, I journeyed towards the
capital with a feeling of total indifference.

My father's wealth and connection had
established him in the best society, and,
consequently, upon our arrival in the
metropolis we commanded whatever enjoyment
or advantages its gaieties afforded.

The tumult and novelty of the scenes
in which I was involved did not fail con-
siderably to amuse me, and my mind
gradually recovered its tone, which was
naturally cheerful.

It was almost immediately known and
reported that I was an heiress, and of
course my attractions were pretty generally
acknowledged.

Among the many gentlemen whom it
was my fortune to please, one, ere long,
established himself in my mother's good
graces, to the exclusion of all less important
aspirants. However, I had not understood
or even remarked his attentions, nor
in the slightest degree suspected his or
my mother's plans respecting me, when I
was made aware of them rather abruptly
by my mother herself.

We had attended a splendid ball, given
by Lord M----, at his residence in Stephen's
Green, and I was, with the assist-
ance of my waiting-maid, employed in
rapidly divesting myself of the rich
ornaments which, in profuseness and value,
could scarcely have found their equals in
any private family in Ireland.

I had thrown myself into a lounging-
chair beside the fire, listless and exhausted,
after the fatigues of the evening, when I
was aroused from the reverie into which I
had fallen by the sound of footsteps
approaching my chamber, and my mother
entered.

'Fanny, my dear,' said she, in her softest
tone, 'I wish to say a word or two with
you before I go to rest. You are not
fatigued, love, I hope?'

'No, no, madam, I thank you,' said I,
rising at the same time from my seat, with
the formal respect so little practised now.

'Sit down, my dear,' said she, placing
herself upon a chair beside me; 'I must
chat with you for a quarter of an hour or so.
Saunders' (to the maid) 'you may leave
the room; do not close the room-door, but
shut that of the lobby.'

This precaution against curious ears
having been taken as directed, my mother
proceeded.

'You have observed, I should suppose,
my dearest Fanny--indeed, you MUST have
observed Lord Glenfallen's marked attentions
to you?'

'I assure you, madam----' I began.

'Well, well, that is all right,' interrupted
my mother; 'of course you must be
modest upon the matter; but listen to me
for a few moments, my love, and I will
prove to your satisfaction that your modesty
is quite unnecessary in this case. You
have done better than we could have hoped,
at least so very soon. Lord Glenfallen is
in love with you. I give you joy of your
conquest;' and saying this, my mother
kissed my forehead.

'In love with me!' I exclaimed, in
unfeigned astonishment.

'Yes, in love with you,' repeated my
mother; 'devotedly, distractedly in love
with you. Why, my dear, what is there
wonderful in it? Look in the glass, and look
at these,' she continued, pointing with a
smile to the jewels which I had just
removed from my person, and which now
lay a glittering heap upon the table.

'May there not,' said I, hesitating
between confusion and real alarm--'is it not
possible that some mistake may be at the
bottom of all this?'

'Mistake, dearest! none,' said my
mother. 'None; none in the world. Judge
for yourself; read this, my love.' And she
placed in my hand a letter, addressed to
herself, the seal of which was broken. I
read it through with no small surprise.
After some very fine complimentary flourishes
upon my beauty and perfections, as
also upon the antiquity and high reputation
of our family, it went on to make a
formal proposal of marriage, to be
communicated or not to me at present, as my
mother should deem expedient; and the
letter wound up by a request that the writer
might be permitted, upon our return to
Ashtown House, which was soon to take
place, as the spring was now tolerably
advanced, to visit us for a few days, in case
his suit was approved.

'Well, well, my dear,' said my mother,
impatiently; 'do you know who Lord
Glenfallen is?'

'I do, madam,' said I rather timidly, for
I dreaded an altercation with my mother.

'Well, dear, and what frightens you?'
continued she. 'Are you afraid of a title?
What has he done to alarm you? he is
neither old nor ugly.'

I was silent, though I might have said,
'He is neither young nor handsome.'

'My dear Fanny,' continued my mother,
'in sober seriousness you have been most
fortunate in engaging the affections of a
nobleman such as Lord Glenfallen, young
and wealthy, with first-rate--yes, acknowledged
FIRST-RATE abilities, and of a family
whose influence is not exceeded by that of
any in Ireland. Of course you see the offer
in the same light that I do--indeed I think
you MUST.'

This was uttered in no very dubious
tone. I was so much astonished by the
suddenness of the whole communication that
I literally did not know what to say.

'You are not in love?' said my mother,
turning sharply, and fixing her dark eyes
upon me with severe scrutiny.

'No, madam,' said I, promptly; horrified,
as what young lady would not have been,
at such a query.

'I'm glad to hear it,' said my mother,
drily. 'Once, nearly twenty years ago, a
friend of mine consulted me as to how he
should deal with a daughter who had made
what they call a love-match--beggared herself,
and disgraced her family; and I said,
without hesitation, take no care for her,
but cast her off. Such punishment I
awarded for an offence committed against
the reputation of a family not my own;
and what I advised respecting the child of
another, with full as small compunction
I would DO with mine. I cannot conceive
anything more unreasonable or intolerable
than that the fortune and the character
of a family should be marred by the idle
caprices of a girl.'

She spoke this with great severity, and
paused as if she expected some observation
from me.

I, however, said nothing.

'But I need not explain to you, my
dear Fanny,' she continued, 'my views
upon this subject; you have always
known them well, and I have never yet
had reason to believe you likely, voluntarily,
to offend me, or to abuse or neglect
any of those advantages which reason and
duty tell you should be improved. Come
hither, my dear; kiss me, and do not
look so frightened. Well, now, about
this letter, you need not answer it yet;
of course you must be allowed time to
make up your mind. In the meantime I
will write to his lordship to give him my
permission to visit us at Ashtown. Good-
night, my love.'

And thus ended one of the most
disagreeable, not to say astounding,
conversations I had ever had. It would not
be easy to describe exactly what were
my feelings towards Lord Glenfallen;--
whatever might have been my mother's
suspicions, my heart was perfectly
disengaged--and hitherto, although I had
not been made in the slightest degree
acquainted with his real views, I had liked
him very much, as an agreeable, well-
informed man, whom I was always glad
to meet in society. He had served in the
navy in early life, and the polish which his
manners received in his after intercourse
with courts and cities had not served to
obliterate that frankness of manner which
belongs proverbially to the sailor.

Whether this apparent candour went
deeper than the outward bearing, I was
yet to learn. However, there was no doubt
that, as far as I had seen of Lord Glenfallen,
he was, though perhaps not so young as
might have been desired in a lover, a
singularly pleasing man; and whatever
feeling unfavourable to him had found its
way into my mind, arose altogether from
the dread, not an unreasonable one, that
constraint might be practised upon my
inclinations. I reflected, however, that
Lord Glenfallen was a wealthy man, and
one highly thought of; and although I
could never expect to love him in the
romantic sense of the term, yet I had no
doubt but that, all things considered, I
might be more happy with him than I
could hope to be at home.

When next I met him it was with no
small embarrassment, his tact and good
breeding, however, soon reassured me, and
effectually prevented my awkwardness being
remarked upon. And I had the satisfaction
of leaving Dublin for the country with the
full conviction that nobody, not even those
most intimate with me, even suspected the
fact of Lord Glenfallen's having made me
a formal proposal.

This was to me a very serious subject of
self-gratulation, for, besides my instinctive
dread of becoming the topic of the speculations
of gossip, I felt that if the situation
which I occupied in relation to him were
made publicly known, I should stand
committed in a manner which would scarcely
leave me the power of retraction.

The period at which Lord Glenfallen
had arranged to visit Ashtown House was
now fast approaching, and it became my
mother's wish to form me thoroughly to
her will, and to obtain my consent to the
proposed marriage before his arrival, so
that all things might proceed smoothly,
without apparent opposition or objection
upon my part. Whatever objections, therefore,
I had entertained were to be subdued;
whatever disposition to resistance I
had exhibited or had been supposed to
feel, were to be completely eradicated before
he made his appearance; and my mother
addressed herself to the task with a
decision and energy against which even the
barriers, which her imagination had created,
could hardly have stood.

If she had, however, expected any
determined opposition from me, she was agree-
ably disappointed. My heart was perfectly
free, and all my feelings of liking and
preference were in favour of Lord
Glenfallen; and I well knew that in case I
refused to dispose of myself as I was
desired, my mother had alike the power
and the will to render my existence as
utterly miserable as even the most ill-
assorted marriage could possibly have done.

You will remember, my good friend, that
I was very young and very completely
under the control of my parents, both
of whom, my mother particularly, were
unscrupulously determined in matters of
this kind, and willing, when voluntary
obedience on the part of those within their
power was withheld, to compel a forced
acquiescence by an unsparing use of all the
engines of the most stern and rigorous
domestic discipline.

All these combined, not unnaturally,
induced me to resolve upon yielding at once,
and without useless opposition, to what
appeared almost to be my fate.

The appointed time was come, and my
now accepted suitor arrived; he was in
high spirits, and, if possible, more
entertaining than ever.

I was not, however, quite in the mood
to enjoy his sprightliness; but whatever
I wanted in gaiety was amply made up in
the triumphant and gracious good-humour
of my mother, whose smiles of benevolence
and exultation were showered around as
bountifully as the summer sunshine.

I will not weary you with unnecessary
prolixity. Let it suffice to say, that I was
married to Lord Glenfallen with all the
attendant pomp and circumstance of wealth,
rank, and grandeur. According to the
usage of the times, now humanely
reformed, the ceremony was made, until long
past midnight, the season of wild,
uproarious, and promiscuous feasting and
revelry.

Of all this I have a painfully vivid
recollection, and particularly of the little
annoyances inflicted upon me by the dull
and coarse jokes of the wits and wags who
abound in all such places, and upon all
such occasions.

I was not sorry when, after a few days,
Lord Glenfallen's carriage appeared at the
door to convey us both from Ashtown; for
any change would have been a relief from
the irksomeness of ceremonial and formality
which the visits received in honour of my
newly-acquired titles hourly entailed upon
me.

It was arranged that we were to proceed
to Cahergillagh, one of the Glenfallen
estates, lying, however, in a southern
county, so that, owing to the difficulty of
the roads at the time, a tedious journey of
three days intervened.

I set forth with my noble companion,
followed by the regrets of some, and by
the envy of many; though God knows I
little deserved the latter. The three days
of travel were now almost spent, when,
passing the brow of a wild heathy hill,
the domain of Cahergillagh opened suddenly
upon our view.

It formed a striking and a beautiful scene.
A lake of considerable extent stretching
away towards the west, and reflecting from
its broad, smooth waters, the rich glow of
the setting sun, was overhung by steep
hills, covered by a rich mantle of velvet
sward, broken here and there by the grey
front of some old rock, and exhibiting on
their shelving sides, their slopes and
hollows, every variety of light and shade; a
thick wood of dwarf oak, birch, and hazel
skirted these hills, and clothed the shores
of the lake, running out in rich luxuriance
upon every promontory, and spreading
upward considerably upon the side of the
hills.

'There lies the enchanted castle,' said
Lord Glenfallen, pointing towards a
considerable level space intervening between
two of the picturesque hills, which rose
dimly around the lake.

This little plain was chiefly occupied by
the same low, wild wood which covered the
other parts of the domain; but towards
the centre a mass of taller and statelier
forest trees stood darkly grouped together,
and among them stood an ancient square
tower, with many buildings of a humbler
character, forming together the manor-
house, or, as it was more usually called,
the Court of Cahergillagh.

As we approached the level upon which
the mansion stood, the winding road gave
us many glimpses of the time-worn castle
and its surrounding buildings; and seen
as it was through the long vistas of the
fine old trees, and with the rich glow of
evening upon it, I have seldom beheld an
object more picturesquely striking.

I was glad to perceive, too, that here
and there the blue curling smoke ascended
from stacks of chimneys now hidden by
the rich, dark ivy which, in a great
measure, covered the building. Other
indications of comfort made themselves
manifest as we approached; and indeed, though
the place was evidently one of considerable
antiquity, it had nothing whatever of the
gloom of decay about it.

'You must not, my love,' said Lord
Glenfallen, 'imagine this place worse than
it is. I have no taste for antiquity--at least
I should not choose a house to reside in
because it is old. Indeed I do not recollect
that I was even so romantic as to overcome
my aversion to rats and rheumatism, those
faithful attendants upon your noble relics of
feudalism; and I much prefer a snug,
modern, unmysterious bedroom, with well-
aired sheets, to the waving tapestry,
mildewed cushions, and all the other interesting
appliances of romance. However, though I
cannot promise you all the discomfort
generally belonging to an old castle, you will
find legends and ghostly lore enough to
claim your respect; and if old Martha be
still to the fore, as I trust she is, you will
soon have a supernatural and appropriate
anecdote for every closet and corner of the
mansion; but here we are--so, without
more ado, welcome to Cahergillagh!'

We now entered the hall of the castle, and
while the domestics were employed in conveying
our trunks and other luggage which
we had brought with us for immediate use
to the apartments which Lord Glenfallen
had selected for himself and me, I went with
him into a spacious sitting-room, wainscoted
with finely polished black oak, and
hung round with the portraits of various
worthies of the Glenfallen family.

This room looked out upon an extensive
level covered with the softest green sward,
and irregularly bounded by the wild wood I
have before mentioned, through the leafy
arcade formed by whose boughs and trunks
the level beams of the setting sun were
pouring. In the distance a group of dairy-
maids were plying their task, which they
accompanied throughout with snatches of
Irish songs which, mellowed by the distance,
floated not unpleasingly to the ear; and
beside them sat or lay, with all the grave
importance of conscious protection, six or
seven large dogs of various kinds. Farther
in the distance, and through the cloisters of
the arching wood, two or three ragged
urchins were employed in driving such stray
kine as had wandered farther than the rest
to join their fellows.

As I looked upon this scene which I have
described, a feeling of tranquillity and
happiness came upon me, which I have never
experienced in so strong a degree; and so
strange to me was the sensation that my
eyes filled with tears.

Lord Glenfallen mistook the cause of my
emotion, and taking me kindly and tenderly
by the hand, he said:

'Do not suppose, my love, that it is my
intention to SETTLE here. Whenever you desire
to leave this, you have only to let me know
your wish, and it shall be complied with; so
I must entreat of you not to suffer any
circumstances which I can control to give you
one moment's uneasiness. But here is old
Martha; you must be introduced to her, one
of the heirlooms of our family.'

A hale, good-humoured, erect old woman
was Martha, and an agreeable contrast to
the grim, decrepid hag which my fancy had
conjured up, as the depository of all the
horrible tales in which I doubted not this
old place was most fruitful.

She welcomed me and her master with a
profusion of gratulations, alternately kissing
our hands and apologising for the liberty,
until at length Lord Glenfallen put an end
to this somewhat fatiguing ceremonial by
requesting her to conduct me to my
chamber if it were prepared for my reception.

I followed Martha up an old-fashioned
oak staircase into a long, dim passage, at
the end of which lay the door which
communicated with the apartments which had
been selected for our use; here the old
woman stopped, and respectfully requested
me to proceed.

I accordingly opened the door, and was
about to enter, when something like a mass
of black tapestry, as it appeared, disturbed
by my sudden approach, fell from above the
door, so as completely to screen the
aperture; the startling unexpectedness of the
occurrence, and the rustling noise which
the drapery made in its descent, caused me
involuntarily to step two or three paces
backwards. I turned, smiling and half-
ashamed, to the old servant, and said:

'You see what a coward I am.'

The woman looked puzzled, and, without
saying any more, I was about to draw aside
the curtain and enter the room, when, upon
turning to do so, I was surprised to find
that nothing whatever interposed to obstruct
the passage.

I went into the room, followed by the
servant-woman, and was amazed to find that
it, like the one below, was wainscoted, and
that nothing like drapery was to be found
near the door.

'Where is it?' said I; 'what has become
of it?'

'What does your ladyship wish to know?'
said the old woman.

'Where is the black curtain that fell
across the door, when I attempted first to
come to my chamber?' answered I.

'The cross of Christ about us!' said the
old woman, turning suddenly pale.

'What is the matter, my good friend?'
said I; 'you seem frightened.'

'Oh no, no, your ladyship,' said the old
woman, endeavouring to conceal her agitation;
but in vain, for tottering towards a
chair, she sank into it, looking so deadly
pale and horror-struck that I thought every
moment she would faint.

'Merciful God, keep us from harm and
danger!' muttered she at length.

'What can have terrified you so?' said I,
beginning to fear that she had seen
something more than had met my eye. 'You
appear ill, my poor woman!'

'Nothing, nothing, my lady,' said she,
rising. 'I beg your ladyship's pardon for
making so bold. May the great God defend
us from misfortune!'

'Martha,' said I, 'something HAS frightened
you very much, and I insist on knowing
what it is; your keeping me in the dark
upon the subject will make me much more
uneasy than anything you could tell me. I
desire you, therefore, to let me know what
agitates you; I command you to tell
me.'

'Your ladyship said you saw a black
curtain falling across the door when you
were coming into the room,' said the old
woman.

'I did,' said I; 'but though the whole
thing appears somewhat strange, I cannot
see anything in the matter to agitate you
so excessively.'

'It's for no good you saw that, my
lady,' said the crone; 'something terrible is
coming. It's a sign, my lady--a sign that
never fails.'

'Explain, explain what you mean, my
good woman,' said I, in spite of myself,
catching more than I could account for, of
her superstitious terror.

'Whenever something--something BAD is
going to happen to the Glenfallen family,
some one that belongs to them sees a black
handkerchief or curtain just waved or falling
before their faces. I saw it myself,'
continued she, lowering her voice, 'when I
was only a little girl, and I'll never forget
it. I often heard of it before, though I
never saw it till then, nor since, praised be
God. But I was going into Lady Jane's
room to waken her in the morning; and
sure enough when I got first to the bed and
began to draw the curtain, something dark
was waved across the division, but only for
a moment; and when I saw rightly into
the bed, there was she lying cold and dead,
God be merciful to me! So, my lady, there
is small blame to me to be daunted when
any one of the family sees it; for it's many's
the story I heard of it, though I saw it but
once.'

I was not of a superstitious turn of mind,
yet I could not resist a feeling of awe very
nearly allied to the fear which my
companion had so unreservedly expressed; and
when you consider my situation, the loneliness,
antiquity, and gloom of the place,
you will allow that the weakness was not
without excuse.

In spite of old Martha's boding predictions,
however, time flowed on in an unruffled
course. One little incident however,
though trifling in itself, I must relate, as it
serves to make what follows more intelligible.

Upon the day after my arrival, Lord
Glenfallen of course desired to make me
acquainted with the house and domain; and
accordingly we set forth upon our ramble.
When returning, he became for some time
silent and moody, a state so unusual with
him as considerably to excite my surprise.

I endeavoured by observations and
questions to arouse him--but in vain. At
length, as we approached the house, he
said, as if speaking to himself:

' 'Twere madness--madness--madness,'
repeating the words bitterly--'sure and
speedy ruin.'

There was here a long pause; and at
length, turning sharply towards me, in a
tone very unlike that in which he had
hitherto addressed me, he said:

'Do you think it possible that a woman
can keep a secret?'

'I am sure,' said I, 'that women are
very much belied upon the score of
talkativeness, and that I may answer your
question with the same directness with
which you put it--I reply that I DO think
a woman can keep a secret.'

'But I do not,' said he, drily.

We walked on in silence for a time. I
was much astonished at his unwonted
abruptness--I had almost said rudeness.

After a considerable pause he seemed
to recollect himself, and with an effort
resuming his sprightly manner, he said:

'Well, well, the next thing to keeping
a secret well is, not to desire to possess
one--talkativeness and curiosity generally
go together. Now I shall make test of you,
in the first place, respecting the latter of
these qualities. I shall be your BLUEBEARD
--tush, why do I trifle thus? Listen to me,
my dear Fanny; I speak now in solemn
earnest. What I desire is intimately,
inseparably, connected with your happiness
and honour as well as my own; and
your compliance with my request will not
be difficult. It will impose upon you a
very trifling restraint during your sojourn
here, which certain events which have
occurred since our arrival have determined
me shall not be a long one. You must
promise me, upon your sacred honour,
that you will visit ONLY that part of the
castle which can be reached from the front
entrance, leaving the back entrance and
the part of the building commanded
immediately by it to the menials, as also
the small garden whose high wall you
see yonder; and never at any time
seek to pry or peep into them, nor to open
the door which communicates from the
front part of the house through the
corridor with the back. I do not urge
this in jest or in caprice, but from a solemn
conviction that danger and misery will
be the certain consequences of your not
observing what I prescribe. I cannot
explain myself further at present. Promise
me, then, these things, as you hope for
peace here, and for mercy hereafter.'

I did make the promise as desired, and
he appeared relieved; his manner recovered
all its gaiety and elasticity: but the
recollection of the strange scene which I have
just described dwelt painfully upon my
mind.

More than a month passed away without
any occurrence worth recording; but I
was not destined to leave Cahergillagh
without further adventure. One day,
intending to enjoy the pleasant sunshine
in a ramble through the woods, I ran up to
my room to procure my bonnet and shawl.
Upon entering the chamber, I was surprised
and somewhat startled to find it occupied.
Beside the fireplace, and nearly opposite
the door, seated in a large, old-fashioned
elbow-chair, was placed the figure of a
lady. She appeared to be nearer fifty than
forty, and was dressed suitably to her age,
in a handsome suit of flowered silk; she
had a profusion of trinkets and jewellery
about her person, and many rings upon
her fingers. But although very rich, her
dress was not gaudy or in ill taste. But
what was remarkable in the lady was, that
although her features were handsome, and
upon the whole pleasing, the pupil of each
eye was dimmed with the whiteness of
cataract, and she was evidently stone-blind.
I was for some seconds so surprised at
this unaccountable apparition, that I could
not find words to address her.

'Madam,' said I, 'there must be some
mistake here--this is my bed-chamber.'

'Marry come up,' said the lady, sharply;
'YOUR chamber! Where is Lord Glenfallen?'

'He is below, madam,' replied I; 'and
I am convinced he will be not a little
surprised to find you here.'

'I do not think he will,' said she; 'with
your good leave, talk of what you know
something about. Tell him I want him.
Why does the minx dilly-dally so?'

In spite of the awe which this grim lady
inspired, there was something in her air
of confident superiority which, when I
considered our relative situations, was not
a little irritating.

'Do you know, madam, to whom you
speak?' said I.

'I neither know nor care,' said she;
'but I presume that you are some one
about the house, so again I desire you,
if you wish to continue here, to bring your
master hither forthwith.'

'I must tell you, madam,' said I, 'that
I am Lady Glenfallen.'

'What's that?' said the stranger, rapidly.

'I say, madam,' I repeated, approaching
her that I might be more distinctly heard,
'that I am Lady Glenfallen.'

'It's a lie, you trull!' cried she, in an
accent which made me start, and at the
same time, springing forward, she seized
me in her grasp, and shook me violently,
repeating, 'It's a lie--it's a lie!' with a
rapidity and vehemence which swelled
every vein of her face. The violence of
her action, and the fury which convulsed
her face, effectually terrified me, and dis-
engaging myself from her grasp, I screamed
as loud as I could for help. The blind
woman continued to pour out a torrent of
abuse upon me, foaming at the mouth with
rage, and impotently shaking her clenched
fists towards me.

I heard Lord Glenfallen's step upon the
stairs, and I instantly ran out; as I passed
him I perceived that he was deadly pale,
and just caught the words: 'I hope that
demon has not hurt you?'

I made some answer, I forget what, and
he entered the chamber, the door of which
he locked upon the inside. What passed
within I know not; but I heard the voices
of the two speakers raised in loud and
angry altercation.

I thought I heard the shrill accents of
the woman repeat the words, 'Let her look to
herself;' but I could not be quite sure. This
short sentence, however, was, to my
alarmed imagination, pregnant with fearful meaning.

The storm at length subsided, though
not until after a conference of more than
two long hours. Lord Glenfallen then
returned, pale and agitated.

'That unfortunate woman,' said he, 'is
out of her mind. I daresay she treated you
to some of her ravings; but you need not
dread any further interruption from her: I
have brought her so far to reason. She did
not hurt you, I trust.'

'No, no,' said I; 'but she terrified me
beyond measure.'

'Well,' said he, 'she is likely to behave
better for the future; and I dare swear that
neither you nor she would desire, after what
has passed, to meet again.'

This occurrence, so startling and un-
pleasant, so involved in mystery, and
giving rise to so many painful surmises,
afforded me no very agreeable food for
rumination.

All attempts on my part to arrive at the
truth were baffled; Lord Glenfallen evaded
all my inquiries, and at length peremptorily
forbid any further allusion to the matter.
I was thus obliged to rest satisfied with
what I had actually seen, and to trust to
time to resolve the perplexities in which the
whole transaction had involved me.

Lord Glenfallen's temper and spirits
gradually underwent a complete and most
painful change; he became silent and
abstracted, his manner to me was abrupt
and often harsh, some grievous anxiety
seemed ever present to his mind; and
under its influence his spirits sunk and his
temper became soured.

I soon perceived that his gaiety was
rather that which the stir and excitement
of society produce, than the result of a
healthy habit of mind; every day
confirmed me in the opinion, that the
considerate good-nature which I had so much
admired in him was little more than a mere
manner; and to my infinite grief and
surprise, the gay, kind, open-hearted nobleman
who had for months followed and flattered
me, was rapidly assuming the form of a
gloomy, morose, and singularly selfish man.
This was a bitter discovery, and I strove
to conceal it from myself as long as I could;
but the truth was not to be denied, and I
was forced to believe that Lord Glenfallen
no longer loved me, and that he was at
little pains to conceal the alteration in his
sentiments.

One morning after breakfast, Lord Glen-
fallen had been for some time walking
silently up and down the room, buried
in his moody reflections, when pausing
suddenly, and turning towards me, he
exclaimed:

'I have it--I have it! We must go abroad,
and stay there too; and if that does not
answer, why--why, we must try some more
effectual expedient. Lady Glenfallen, I
have become involved in heavy embarrassments.
A wife, you know, must share the
fortunes of her husband, for better for
worse; but I will waive my right if you
prefer remaining here--here at Cahergillagh.
For I would not have you seen elsewhere
without the state to which your rank
entitles you; besides, it would break your
poor mother's heart,' he added, with sneering
gravity. 'So make up your mind--
Cahergillagh or France. I will start if
possible in a week, so determine between
this and then.'

He left the room, and in a few moments
I saw him ride past the window, followed
by a mounted servant. He had directed
a domestic to inform me that he should not
be back until the next day.

I was in very great doubt as to what
course of conduct I should pursue, as to
accompanying him in the continental tour
so suddenly determined upon. I felt that
it would be a hazard too great to encounter;
for at Cahergillagh I had always the
consciousness to sustain me, that if his temper
at any time led him into violent or
unwarrantable treatment of me, I had a
remedy within reach, in the protection and
support of my own family, from all useful and
effective communication with whom, if once
in France, I should be entirely debarred.

As to remaining at Cahergillagh in
solitude, and, for aught I knew, exposed to
hidden dangers, it appeared to me scarcely
less objectionable than the former proposition;
and yet I feared that with one or
other I must comply, unless I was prepared
to come to an actual breach with Lord
Glenfallen. Full of these unpleasing doubts
and perplexities, I retired to rest.

I was wakened, after having slept uneasily
for some hours, by some person shaking me
rudely by the shoulder; a small lamp
burned in my room, and by its light, to my
horror and amazement, I discovered that my
visitant was the self-same blind old lady
who had so terrified me a few weeks before.

I started up in the bed, with a view to
ring the bell, and alarm the domestics; but
she instantly anticipated me by saying:

'Do not be frightened, silly girl! If I had
wished to harm you I could have done it
while you were sleeping; I need not have
wakened you. Listen to me, now, attentively
and fearlessly, for what I have to say
interests you to the full as much as it does
me. Tell me here, in the presence of God,
did Lord Glenfallen marry you--ACTUALLY
MARRY you? Speak the truth, woman.'

'As surely as I live and speak,' I
replied, 'did Lord Glenfallen marry me,
in presence of more than a hundred witnesses.'

'Well,' continued she, 'he should have
told you THEN, before you married him, that
he had a wife living, which wife I am. I
feel you tremble--tush! do not be frightened.
I do not mean to harm you. Mark
me now--you are NOT his wife. When I
make my story known you will be so
neither in the eye of God nor of man. You
must leave this house upon to-morrow.
Let the world know that your husband has
another wife living; go you into retirement,
and leave him to justice, which will
surely overtake him. If you remain in
this house after to-morrow you will reap the
bitter fruits of your sin.'

So saying, she quitted the room,
leaving me very little disposed to
sleep.

Here was food for my very worst and
most terrible suspicions; still there was not
enough to remove all doubt. I had no
proof of the truth of this woman's statement.

Taken by itself, there was nothing to
induce me to attach weight to it; but when
I viewed it in connection with the
extraordinary mystery of some of Lord Glen-
fallen's proceedings, his strange anxiety to
exclude me from certain portions of the
mansion, doubtless lest I should encounter
this person--the strong influence, nay,
command which she possessed over him, a
circumstance clearly established by the very
fact of her residing in the very place where,
of all others, he should least have desired to
find her--her thus acting, and continuing
to act in direct contradiction to his wishes;
when, I say, I viewed her disclosure in
connection with all these circumstances, I could
not help feeling that there was at least a
fearful verisimilitude in the allegations
which she had made.

Still I was not satisfied, nor nearly so.
Young minds have a reluctance almost
insurmountable to believing, upon anything
short of unquestionable proof, the existence
of premeditated guilt in anyone whom they
have ever trusted; and in support of this
feeling I was assured that if the assertion of
Lord Glenfallen, which nothing in this
woman's manner had led me to disbelieve,
were true, namely that her mind was
unsound, the whole fabric of my doubts and
fears must fall to the ground.

I determined to state to Lord Glenfallen
freely and accurately the substance of the
communication which I had just heard, and
in his words and looks to seek for its proof
or refutation. Full of these thoughts, I
remained wakeful and excited all night,
every moment fancying that I heard the
step or saw the figure of my recent visitor,
towards whom I felt a species of horror and
dread which I can hardly describe.

There was something in her face, though
her features had evidently been handsome,
and were not, at first sight, unpleasing,
which, upon a nearer inspection, seemed to
indicate the habitual prevalence and
indulgence of evil passions, and a power of
expressing mere animal anger, with an intenseness
that I have seldom seen equalled, and
to which an almost unearthly effect was
given by the convulsive quivering of the
sightless eyes.

You may easily suppose that it was no
very pleasing reflection to me to consider
that, whenever caprice might induce her to
return, I was within the reach of this violent
and, for aught I knew, insane woman,
who had, upon that very night, spoken to
me in a tone of menace, of which her mere
words, divested of the manner and look with
which she uttered them, can convey but a
faint idea.

Will you believe me when I tell you that
I was actually afraid to leave my bed in
order to secure the door, lest I should
again encounter the dreadful object lurking
in some corner or peeping from behind
the window-curtains, so very a child was I
in my fears.

The morning came, and with it Lord
Glenfallen. I knew not, and indeed I cared
not, where he might have been; my
thoughts were wholly engrossed by the
terrible fears and suspicions which my last
night's conference had suggested to me.
He was, as usual, gloomy and abstracted,
and I feared in no very fitting mood to
hear what I had to say with patience,
whether the charges were true or false.

I was, however, determined not to suffer
the opportunity to pass, or Lord Glenfallen
to leave the room, until, at all hazards,
I had unburdened my mind.

'My lord,' said I, after a long silence,
summoning up all my firmness--'my lord,
I wish to say a few words to you upon
a matter of very great importance, of very
deep concernment to you and to me.'

I fixed my eyes upon him to discern, if
possible, whether the announcement caused
him any uneasiness; but no symptom of
any such feeling was perceptible.

'Well, my dear,' said he, 'this is no
doubt a very grave preface, and portends,
I have no doubt, something extraordinary.
Pray let us have it without more ado.'

He took a chair, and seated himself
nearly opposite to me.

'My lord,' said I, 'I have seen the
person who alarmed me so much a short
time since, the blind lady, again, upon last
night.' His face, upon which my eyes
were fixed, turned pale; he hesitated for a
moment, and then said:

'And did you, pray, madam, so totally
forget or spurn my express command, as
to enter that portion of the house from
which your promise, I might say your
oath, excluded you?--answer me that!' he
added fiercely.

'My lord,' said I, 'I have neither
forgotten your COMMANDS, since such they
were, nor disobeyed them. I was, last
night, wakened from my sleep, as I lay
in my own chamber, and accosted by the
person whom I have mentioned. How she
found access to the room I cannot pretend
to say.'

'Ha! this must be looked to,' said he,
half reflectively; 'and pray,' added he,
quickly, while in turn he fixed his eyes
upon me, 'what did this person say? since
some comment upon her communication
forms, no doubt, the sequel to your preface.'

'Your lordship is not mistaken,' said I;
'her statement was so extraordinary that
I could not think of withholding it from
you. She told me, my lord, that you had
a wife living at the time you married me,
and that she was that wife.'

Lord Glenfallen became ashy pale,
almost livid; he made two or three efforts
to clear his voice to speak, but in vain,
and turning suddenly from me, he walked
to the window. The horror and dismay
which, in the olden time, overwhelmed
the woman of Endor when her spells
unexpectedly conjured the dead into her
presence, were but types of what I felt
when thus presented with what appeared
to be almost unequivocal evidence of the
guilt whose existence I had before so
strongly doubted.

There was a silence of some moments,
during which it were hard to conjecture
whether I or my companion suffered
most.

Lord Glenfallen soon recovered his self-
command; he returned to the table, again
sat down and said:

'What you have told me has so
astonished me, has unfolded such a tissue
of motiveless guilt, and in a quarter from
which I had so little reason to look for
ingratitude or treachery, that your
announcement almost deprived me of speech;
the person in question, however, has one
excuse, her mind is, as I told you before,
unsettled. You should have remembered
that, and hesitated to receive as
unexceptionable evidence against the honour of
your husband, the ravings of a lunatic. I
now tell you that this is the last time I
shall speak to you upon this subject, and,
in the presence of the God who is to judge
me, and as I hope for mercy in the day
of judgment, I swear that the charge thus
brought against me is utterly false,
unfounded, and ridiculous; I defy the world
in any point to taint my honour; and,
as I have never taken the opinion of madmen
touching your character or morals, I
think it but fair to require that you will
evince a like tenderness for me; and now,
once for all, never again dare to repeat
to me your insulting suspicions, or the
clumsy and infamous calumnies of fools.
I shall instantly let the worthy lady who
contrived this somewhat original device,
understand fully my opinion upon the
matter. Good morning;' and with these
words he left me again in doubt, and
involved in all horrors of the most agonising
suspense.

I had reason to think that Lord
Glenfallen wreaked his vengeance upon the
author of the strange story which I had
heard, with a violence which was not
satisfied with mere words, for old Martha,
with whom I was a great favourite, while
attending me in my room, told me that
she feared her master had ill-used the
poor blind Dutch woman, for that she
had heard her scream as if the very life
were leaving her, but added a request that
I should not speak of what she had told
me to any one, particularly to the master.

'How do you know that she is a Dutch
woman?' inquired I, anxious to learn
anything whatever that might throw a light
upon the history of this person, who seemed
to have resolved to mix herself up in my
fortunes.

'Why, my lady,' answered Martha, 'the
master often calls her the Dutch hag, and
other names you would not like to hear,
and I am sure she is neither English nor
Irish; for, whenever they talk together,
they speak some queer foreign lingo, and
fast enough, I'll be bound. But I ought
not to talk about her at all; it might be
as much as my place is worth to mention
her--only you saw her first yourself, so
there can be no great harm in speaking of
her now.'

'How long has this lady been here?'
continued I.

'She came early on the morning after
your ladyship's arrival,' answered she; 'but
do not ask me any more, for the master
would think nothing of turning me out of
doors for daring to speak of her at all,
much less to you, my lady.'

I did not like to press the poor woman
further, for her reluctance to speak on this
topic was evident and strong.

You will readily believe that upon the
very slight grounds which my information
afforded, contradicted as it was by the
solemn oath of my husband, and derived
from what was, at best, a very questionable
source, I could not take any very
decisive measure whatever; and as to the
menace of the strange woman who had thus
unaccountably twice intruded herself into
my chamber, although, at the moment, it
occasioned me some uneasiness, it was not,
even in my eyes, sufficiently formidable to
induce my departure from Cahergillagh.

A few nights after the scene which I
have just mentioned, Lord Glenfallen having,
as usual, early retired to his study, I was
left alone in the parlour to amuse myself
as best I might.

It was not strange that my thoughts
should often recur to the agitating scenes
in which I had recently taken a part.

The subject of my reflections, the solitude,
the silence, and the lateness of the hour,
as also the depression of spirits to which I
had of late been a constant prey, tended to
produce that nervous excitement which places
us wholly at the mercy of the imagination.

In order to calm my spirits I was
endeavouring to direct my thoughts into
some more pleasing channel, when I heard,
or thought I heard, uttered, within a few
yards of me, in an odd, half-sneering tone,
the words,

'There is blood upon your ladyship's
throat.'

So vivid was the impression that I
started to my feet, and involuntarily placed
my hand upon my neck.

I looked around the room for the speaker,
but in vain.

I went then to the room-door, which I
opened, and peered into the passage, nearly
faint with horror lest some leering, shapeless
thing should greet me upon the threshold.

When I had gazed long enough to assure
myself that no strange object was within
sight, 'I have been too much of a rake lately;
I am racking out my nerves,' said I,
speaking aloud, with a view to reassure
myself.

I rang the bell, and, attended by old
Martha, I retired to settle for the night.

While the servant was--as was her
custom--arranging the lamp which I have
already stated always burned during the
night in my chamber, I was employed
in undressing, and, in doing so, I had
recourse to a large looking-glass which
occupied a considerable portion of the wall
in which it was fixed, rising from the
ground to a height of about six feet--this
mirror filled the space of a large panel
in the wainscoting opposite the foot of
the bed.

I had hardly been before it for the lapse
of a minute when something like a black
pall was slowly waved between me and
it.

'Oh, God! there it is,' I exclaimed,
wildly. 'I have seen it again, Martha--
the black cloth.'

'God be merciful to us, then!' answered
she, tremulously crossing herself. 'Some
misfortune is over us.'

'No, no, Martha,' said I, almost instantly
recovering my collectedness; for, although
of a nervous temperament, I had never
been superstitious. 'I do not believe in
omens. You know I saw, or fancied I
saw, this thing before, and nothing followed.'

'The Dutch lady came the next morning,'
replied she.

'But surely her coming scarcely
deserved such a dreadful warning,' I
replied.

'She is a strange woman, my lady,' said
Martha; 'and she is not GONE yet--mark
my words.'

'Well, well, Martha,' said I, 'I have not
wit enough to change your opinions, nor
inclination to alter mine; so I will talk
no more of the matter. Good-night,' and
so I was left to my reflections.

After lying for about an hour awake,
I at length fell into a kind of doze; but
my imagination was still busy, for I was
startled from this unrefreshing sleep by
fancying that I heard a voice close to my
face exclaim as before:

'There is blood upon your ladyship's
throat.'

The words were instantly followed by a
loud burst of laughter.

Quaking with horror, I awakened, and
heard my husband enter the room. Even
this was it relief.

Scared as I was, however, by the tricks
which my imagination had played me, I
preferred remaining silent, and pretending
to sleep, to attempting to engage my
husband in conversation, for I well knew that
his mood was such, that his words would
not, in all probability, convey anything
that had not better be unsaid and unheard.

Lord Glenfallen went into his dressing-
room, which lay upon the right-hand side
of the bed. The door lying open, I could
see him by himself, at full length upon a
sofa, and, in about half an hour, I became
aware, by his deep and regularly drawn
respiration, that he was fast asleep.

When slumber refuses to visit one, there
is something peculiarly irritating, not to
the temper, but to the nerves, in the
consciousness that some one is in your
immediate presence, actually enjoying the
boon which you are seeking in vain; at
least, I have always found it so, and
never more than upon the present occasion.

A thousand annoying imaginations
harassed and excited me; every object which
I looked upon, though ever so familiar,
seemed to have acquired a strange phantom-
like character, the varying shadows thrown
by the flickering of the lamplight, seemed
shaping themselves into grotesque and
unearthly forms, and whenever my eyes
wandered to the sleeping figure of my
husband, his features appeared to undergo
the strangest and most demoniacal contortions.

Hour after hour was told by the old
clock, and each succeeding one found me, if
possible, less inclined to sleep than its
predecessor.

It was now considerably past three; my
eyes, in their involuntary wanderings,
happened to alight upon the large mirror
which was, as I have said, fixed in the
wall opposite the foot of the bed. A view
of it was commanded from where I lay,
through the curtains. As I gazed fixedly
upon it, I thought I perceived the broad
sheet of glass shifting its position in
relation to the bed; I riveted my eyes upon
it with intense scrutiny; it was no
deception, the mirror, as if acting of its own
impulse, moved slowly aside, and disclosed
a dark aperture in the wall, nearly as large
as an ordinary door; a figure evidently
stood in this, but the light was too dim to
define it accurately.

It stepped cautiously into the chamber,
and with so little noise, that had I not
actually seen it, I do not think I should
have been aware of its presence. It was
arrayed in a kind of woollen night-dress,
and a white handkerchief or cloth was
bound tightly about the head; I had no
difficulty, spite of the strangeness of the
attire, in recognising the blind woman
whom I so much dreaded.

She stooped down, bringing her head
nearly to the ground, and in that attitude
she remained motionless for some moments,
no doubt in order to ascertain if any
suspicious sound were stirring.

She was apparently satisfied by her
observations, for she immediately recommenced
her silent progress towards a ponderous
mahogany dressing-table of my
husband's. When she had reached it, she
paused again, and appeared to listen
attentively for some minutes; she then
noiselessly opened one of the drawers, from
which, having groped for some time, she
took something, which I soon perceived to
be a case of razors. She opened it, and tried
the edge of each of the two instruments
upon the skin of her hand; she quickly
selected one, which she fixed firmly in her
grasp. She now stooped down as before,
and having listened for a time, she, with
the hand that was disengaged, groped her
way into the dressing-room where Lord
Glenfallen lay fast asleep.

I was fixed as if in the tremendous spell
of a nightmare. I could not stir even a
finger; I could not lift my voice; I could
not even breathe; and though I expected
every moment to see the sleeping man
murdered, I could not even close my eyes
to shut out the horrible spectacle, which I
had not the power to avert.

I saw the woman approach the sleeping
figure, she laid the unoccupied hand lightly
along his clothes, and having thus ascertained
his identity, she, after a brief
interval, turned back and again entered my
chamber; here she bent down again to
listen.

I had now not a doubt but that the
razor was intended for my throat; yet
the terrific fascination which had locked
all my powers so long, still continued to
bind me fast.

I felt that my life depended upon the
slightest ordinary exertion, and yet I
could not stir one joint from the position
in which I lay, nor even make noise
enough to waken Lord Glenfallen.

The murderous woman now, with long,
silent steps, approached the bed; my
very heart seemed turning to ice; her
left hand, that which was disengaged,
was upon the pillow; she gradually slid
it forward towards my head, and in an
instant, with the speed of lightning, it
was clutched in my hair, while, with
the other hand, she dashed the razor at
my throat.

A slight inaccuracy saved me from
instant death; the blow fell short, the
point of the razor grazing my throat.
In a moment, I know not how, I found
myself at the other side of the bed,
uttering shriek after shriek; the wretch
was, however, determined if possible to
murder me.

Scrambling along by the curtains, she
rushed round the bed towards me; I
seized the handle of the door to make my
escape. It was, however, fastened. At all
events, I could not open it. From the mere
instinct of recoiling terror, I shrunk
back into a corner. She was now within
a yard of me. Her hand was upon my
face.

I closed my eyes fast, expecting never to
open them again, when a blow, inflicted
from behind by a strong arm, stretched the
monster senseless at my feet. At the same
moment the door opened, and several
domestics, alarmed by my cries, entered the
apartment.

I do not recollect what followed, for I
fainted. One swoon succeeded another, so
long and death-like, that my life was
considered very doubtful.

At about ten o'clock, however, I sunk
into a deep and refreshing sleep, from which
I was awakened at about two, that I might
swear my deposition before a magistrate,
who attended for that purpose.

I accordingly did so, as did also Lord
Glenfallen, and the woman was fully
committed to stand her trial at the ensuing
assizes.

I shall never forget the scene which the
examination of the blind woman and of
the other parties afforded.

She was brought into the room in the
custody of two servants. She wore a kind
of flannel wrapper which had not been
changed since the night before. It was
torn and soiled, and here and there smeared
with blood, which had flowed in large
quantities from a wound in her head. The
white handkerchief had fallen off in the
scuffle, and her grizzled hair fell in masses
about her wild and deadly pale countenance.

She appeared perfectly composed,
however, and the only regret she expressed
throughout, was at not having succeeded
in her attempt, the object of which she
did not pretend to conceal.

On being asked her name, she called
herself the Countess Glenfallen, and refused
to give any other title.

'The woman's name is Flora Van-
Kemp,' said Lord Glenfallen.

'It WAS, it WAS, you perjured traitor
and cheat!' screamed the woman; and
then there followed a volley of words
in some foreign language. 'Is there a
magistrate here?' she resumed; 'I am
Lord Glenfallen's wife--I'll prove it--
write down my words. I am willing to
be hanged or burned, so HE meets his
deserts. I did try to kill that doll of
his; but it was he who put it into my
head to do it--two wives were too many;
I was to murder her, or she was to hang
me; listen to all I have to say.'

Here Lord Glenfallen interrupted.

'I think, sir,' said he, addressing the
magistrate, 'that we had better proceed
to business; this unhappy woman's furious
recriminations but waste our time. If
she refuses to answer your questions,
you had better, I presume, take my
depositions.'

'And are you going to swear away
my life, you black-perjured murderer?'
shrieked the woman. 'Sir, sir, sir, you
must hear me,' she continued, addressing
the magistrate; 'I can convict him--he
bid me murder that girl, and then, when
I failed, he came behind me, and struck
me down, and now he wants to swear
away my life. Take down all I say.'

'If it is your intention,' said the
magistrate, 'to confess the crime with which you
stand charged, you may, upon producing
sufficient evidence, criminate whom you
please.'

'Evidence!--I have no evidence but
myself,' said the woman. 'I will swear
it all--write down my testimony--write
it down, I say--we shall hang side by side,
my brave lord--all your own handy-work,
my gentle husband.'

This was followed by a low, insolent,
and sneering laugh, which, from one in
her situation, was sufficiently horrible.

'I will not at present hear anything,'
replied he, 'but distinct answers to the
questions which I shall put to you upon
this matter.'

'Then you shall hear nothing,' replied
she sullenly, and no inducement or
intimidation could bring her to speak
again.

Lord Glenfallen's deposition and mine
were then given, as also those of the
servants who had entered the room at the
moment of my rescue.

The magistrate then intimated that she
was committed, and must proceed directly
to gaol, whither she was brought in a
carriage; of Lord Glenfallen's, for his
lordship was naturally by no means in-
different to the effect which her vehement
accusations against himself might produce,
if uttered before every chance hearer whom
she might meet with between Cahergillagh
and the place of confinement whither she
was despatched.

During the time which intervened between
the committal and the trial of the prisoner,
Lord Glenfallen seemed to suffer agonies
of mind which baffle all description; he
hardly ever slept, and when he did, his
slumbers seemed but the instruments of
new tortures, and his waking hours were,
if possible, exceeded in intensity of terrors
by the dreams which disturbed his sleep.

Lord Glenfallen rested, if to lie in the
mere attitude of repose were to do so, in
his dressing-room, and thus I had an opportunity
of witnessing, far oftener than I
wished it, the fearful workings of his mind.
His agony often broke out into such fearful
paroxysms that delirium and total loss of
reason appeared to be impending. He
frequently spoke of flying from the country,
and bringing with him all the witnesses of
the appalling scene upon which the prosecution
was founded; then, again, he would
fiercely lament that the blow which he
had inflicted had not ended all.

The assizes arrived, however, and upon
the day appointed Lord Glenfallen and I
attended in order to give our evidence.

The cause was called on, and the prisoner
appeared at the bar.

Great curiosity and interest were felt
respecting the trial, so that the court was
crowded to excess.

The prisoner, however, without appearing
to take the trouble of listening to the
indictment, pleaded guilty, and no repre-
sentations on the part of the court availed
to induce her to retract her plea.

After much time had been wasted in a
fruitless attempt to prevail upon her to
reconsider her words, the court proceeded,
according to the usual form, to pass
sentence.

This having been done, the prisoner was
about to be removed, when she said, in a
low, distinct voice:

'A word--a word, my lord!--Is Lord
Glenfallen here in the court?'

On being told that he was, she raised
her voice to a tone of loud menace, and
continued:

'Hardress, Earl of Glenfallen, I accuse
you here in this court of justice of two
crimes,--first, that you married a second
wife, while the first was living; and again,
that you prompted me to the murder, for
attempting which I am to die. Secure
him--chain him--bring him here.'

There was a laugh through the court at
these words, which were naturally treated
by the judge as a violent extemporary
recrimination, and the woman was desired
to be silent.

'You won't take him, then?' she said;
'you won't try him? You'll let him go
free?'

It was intimated by the court that he
would certainly be allowed 'to go free,'
and she was ordered again to be removed.

Before, however, the mandate was
executed, she threw her arms wildly into the
air, and uttered one piercing shriek so full
of preternatural rage and despair, that it
might fitly have ushered a soul into those
realms where hope can come no more.

The sound still rang in my ears, months
after the voice that had uttered it was for
ever silent.

The wretched woman was executed in
accordance with the sentence which had
been pronounced.

For some time after this event, Lord
Glenfallen appeared, if possible, to suffer
more than he had done before, and altogether
his language, which often amounted to half
confessions of the guilt imputed to him, and
all the circumstances connected with the
late occurrences, formed a mass of evidence
so convincing that I wrote to my father,
detailing the grounds of my fears, and
imploring him to come to Cahergillagh without
delay, in order to remove me from my
husband's control, previously to taking
legal steps for a final separation.

Circumstanced as I was, my existence
was little short of intolerable, for, besides
the fearful suspicions which attached to my
husband, I plainly perceived that if Lord
Glenfallen were not relieved, and that
speedily, insanity must supervene. I therefore
expected my father's arrival, or at least
a letter to announce it, with indescribable
impatience.

About a week after the execution had
taken place, Lord Glenfallen one morning
met me with an unusually sprightly air.

'Fanny,' said he, 'I have it now for the
first time in my power to explain to your
satisfaction everything which has hitherto
appeared suspicious or mysterious in my
conduct. After breakfast come with me
to my study, and I shall, I hope, make all
things clear.'

This invitation afforded me more real
pleasure than I had experienced for months.
Something had certainly occurred to
tranquillize my husband's mind in no ordinary
degree, and I thought it by no means
impossible that he would, in the proposed
interview, prove himself the most injured
and innocent of men.

Full of this hope, I repaired to his study
at the appointed hour. He was writing
busily when I entered the room, and just
raising his eyes, he requested me to be
seated.

I took a chair as he desired, and
remained silently awaiting his leisure, while
he finished, folded, directed, and sealed his
letter. Laying it then upon the table
with the address downward, he said,

'My dearest Fanny, I know I must have
appeared very strange to you and very
unkind--often even cruel. Before the end
of this week I will show you the necessity
of my conduct--how impossible it was that
I should have seemed otherwise. I am
conscious that many acts of mine must
have inevitably given rise to painful
suspicions--suspicions which, indeed, upon
one occasion, you very properly communicated
to me. I have got two letters
from a quarter which commands respect,
containing information as to the course by
which I may be enabled to prove the negative
of all the crimes which even the most
credulous suspicion could lay to my charge.
I expected a third by this morning's post,
containing documents which will set the
matter for ever at rest, but owing, no
doubt, to some neglect, or, perhaps, to some
difficulty in collecting the papers, some
inevitable delay, it has not come to hand
this morning, according to my expectation.
I was finishing one to the very same
quarter when you came in, and if a sound
rousing be worth anything, I think I shall
have a special messenger before two days
have passed. I have been anxiously
considering with myself, as to whether I had
better imperfectly clear up your doubts by
submitting to your inspection the two
letters which I have already received, or
wait till I can triumphantly vindicate
myself by the production of the documents
which I have already mentioned, and I
have, I think, not unnaturally decided upon
the latter course. However, there is a
person in the next room whose testimony
is not without its value excuse me for
one moment.'

So saying, he arose and went to the
door of a closet which opened from the
study; this he unlocked, and half opening
the door, he said, 'It is only I,' and then
slipped into the room and carefully closed
and locked the door behind him.

I immediately heard his voice in
animated conversation. My curiosity upon
the subject of the letter was naturally great,
so, smothering any little scruples which I
might have felt, I resolved to look at the
address of the letter which lay, as my
husband had left it, with its face upon the
table. I accordingly drew it over to me
and turned up the direction.

For two or three moments I could scarce
believe my eyes, but there could be no
mistake--in large characters were traced
the words, 'To the Archangel Gabriel in
Heaven.'

I had scarcely returned the letter to its
original position, and in some degree
recovered the shock which this unequivocal
proof of insanity produced, when the closet
door was unlocked, and Lord Glenfallen
re-entered the study, carefully closing and
locking the door again upon the outside.

'Whom have you there?' inquired I,
making a strong effort to appear calm.

'Perhaps,' said he, musingly, 'you might
have some objection to seeing her, at least
for a time.'

'Who is it?' repeated I.

'Why,' said he, 'I see no use in hiding
it--the blind Dutchwoman. I have been
with her the whole morning. She is very
anxious to get out of that closet; but you
know she is odd, she is scarcely to be
trusted.'

A heavy gust of wind shook the door
at this moment with a sound as if something
more substantial were pushing against
it.

'Ha, ha, ha!--do you hear her?'
said he, with an obstreperous burst of
laughter.

The wind died away in a long howl,
and Lord Glenfallen, suddenly checking his
merriment, shrugged his shoulders, and
muttered:

'Poor devil, she has been hardly used.'

'We had better not tease her at present
with questions,' said I, in as unconcerned a
tone as I could assume, although I felt every
moment as if I should faint.

'Humph! may be so,' said he. 'Well,
come back in an hour or two, or when you
please, and you will find us here.'

He again unlocked the door, and entered
with the same precautions which he had
adopted before, locking the door upon the
inside; and as I hurried from the room, I
heard his voice again exerted as if in eager
parley.

I can hardly describe my emotions; my
hopes had been raised to the highest, and
now, in an instant, all was gone--the
dreadful consummation was accomplished--
the fearful retribution had fallen upon the
guilty man--the mind was destroyed--the
power to repent was gone.

The agony of the hours which followed
what I would still call my AWFUL
interview with Lord Glenfallen, I cannot
describe; my solitude was, however, broken
in upon by Martha, who came to inform me
of the arrival of a gentleman, who expected
me in the parlour.

I accordingly descended, and, to my
great joy, found my father seated by the
fire.

This expedition upon his part was easily
accounted for: my communications had
touched the honour of the family. I
speedily informed him of the dreadful
malady which had fallen upon the wretched
man.

My father suggested the necessity of
placing some person to watch him, to prevent
his injuring himself or others.

I rang the bell, and desired that one
Edward Cooke, an attached servant of the
family, should be sent to me.

I told him distinctly and briefly the
nature of the service required of him, and,
attended by him, my father and I
proceeded at once to the study. The door of
the inner room was still closed, and
everything in the outer chamber remained in the
same order in which I had left it.

We then advanced to the closet-door, at
which we knocked, but without receiving
any answer.

We next tried to open the door, but in
vain--it was locked upon the inside.
We knocked more loudly, but in
vain.

Seriously alarmed, I desired the servant
to force the door, which was, after several
violent efforts, accomplished, and we entered
the closet.

Lord Glenfallen was lying on his face
upon a sofa.

'Hush!' said I, 'he is asleep.' We
paused for a moment.

'He is too still for that,' said my
father.

We all of us felt a strong reluctance to
approach the figure.

'Edward,' said I, 'try whether your
master sleeps.'

The servant approached the sofa where
Lord Glenfallen lay. He leant his ear
towards the head of the recumbent figure, to
ascertain whether the sound of breathing
was audible. He turned towards us, and
said:

'My lady, you had better not wait here;
I am sure he is dead!'

'Let me see the face,' said I, terribly
agitated; 'you MAY be mistaken.'

The man then, in obedience to my command,
turned the body round, and, gracious
God! what a sight met my view. He was,
indeed, perfectly dead.

The whole breast of the shirt, with its
lace frill, was drenched with gore, as
was the couch underneath the spot where
he lay.

The head hung back, as it seemed, almost
severed from the body by a frightful gash,
which yawned across the throat. The
instrument which had inflicted it was found
under his body.

All, then, was over; I was never to learn
the history in whose termination I had
been so deeply and so tragically involved.

The severe discipline which my mind had
undergone was not bestowed in vain. I
directed my thoughts and my hopes to
that place where there is no more sin, nor
danger, nor sorrow.

Thus ends a brief tale whose prominent
incidents many will recognise as having
marked the history of a distinguished
family; and though it refers to a somewhat
distant date, we shall be found not to have
taken, upon that account, any liberties with
the facts, but in our statement of all the
incidents to have rigorously and faithfully
adhered to the truth.



AN ADVENTURE OF HARDRESS FITZGERALD, A ROYALIST CAPTAIN.

Being an Eleventh Extract from the Legacy of the late
Francis Purcell, P.P. of Drumcoolagh.

The following brief narrative
contains a faithful account of one
of the many strange incidents
which chequered the life of Hardress
Fitzgerald--one of the now-forgotten heroes
who flourished during the most stirring
and, though the most disastrous, by no
means the least glorious period of our
eventful history.

He was a captain of horse in the army
of James, and shared the fortunes of his
master, enduring privations, encountering
dangers, and submitting to vicissitudes the
most galling and ruinous, with a fortitude
and a heroism which would, if coupled
with his other virtues have rendered the
unhappy monarch whom he served,
the most illustrious among unfortunate
princes.

I have always preferred, where I could
do so with any approach to accuracy, to
give such relations as the one which I am
about to submit to you, in the first person,
and in the words of the original narrator,
believing that such a form of recitation
not only gives freshness to the tale, but
in this particular instance, by bringing
before me and steadily fixing in my mind's
eye the veteran royalist who himself related
the occurrence which I am about to record,
furnishes an additional stimulant to my
memory, and a proportionate check upon
my imagination.

As nearly as I can recollect then, his
statement was as follows:


After the fatal battle of the Boyne, I
came up in disguise to Dublin, as did
many in a like situation, regarding the
capital as furnishing at once a good
central position of observation, and as
secure a lurking-place as I cared to
find.

I would not suffer myself to believe that
the cause of my royal master was so
desperate as it really was; and while I
lay in my lodgings, which consisted of
the garret of a small dark house, standing
in the lane which runs close by
Audoen's Arch, I busied myself with
continual projects for the raising of the
country, and the re-collecting of the
fragments of the defeated army--plans, you
will allow, sufficiently magnificent for a
poor devil who dared scarce show his face
abroad in the daylight.

I believe, however, that I had not much
reason to fear for my personal safety, for
men's minds in the city were greatly
occupied with public events, and private
amusements and debaucheries, which were,
about that time, carried to an excess which
our country never knew before, by reason
of the raking together from all quarters of
the empire, and indeed from most parts
of Holland, the most dissolute and des-
perate adventurers who cared to play at
hazard for their lives; and thus there
seemed to be but little scrutiny into
the characters of those who sought concealment.

I heard much at different times of the
intentions of King James and his party,
but nothing with certainty.

Some said that the king still lay in
Ireland; others, that he had crossed over
to Scotland, to encourage the Highlanders,
who, with Dundee at their head, had been
stirring in his behoof; others, again, said
that he had taken ship for France, leaving his
followers to shift for themselves, and
regarding his kingdom as wholly lost, which
last was the true version, as I afterwards
learned.

Although I had been very active in the
wars in Ireland, and had done many deeds
of necessary but dire severity, which have
often since troubled me much to think
upon, yet I doubted not but that I might
easily obtain protection for my person and
property from the Prince of Orange, if I
sought it by the ordinary submissions;
but besides that my conscience and my
affections resisted such time-serving
concessions, I was resolved in my own mind
that the cause of the royalist party was
by no means desperate, and I looked to
keep myself unimpeded by any pledge
or promise given to the usurping Dutchman,
that I might freely and honourably
take a share in any struggle which
might yet remain to be made for the
right.

I therefore lay quiet, going forth from
my lodgings but little, and that chiefly
under cover of the dusk, and conversing
hardly at all, except with those whom I
well knew.

I had like once to have paid dearly for
relaxing this caution; for going into
a tavern one evening near the Tholsel, I
had the confidence to throw off my hat,
and sit there with my face quite exposed,
when a fellow coming in with some
troopers, they fell a-boozing, and being
somewhat warmed, they began to drink
'Confusion to popery,' and the like, and
to compel the peaceable persons who
happened to sit there, to join them in so
doing.

Though I was rather hot-blooded, I
was resolved to say nothing to attract
notice; but, at the same time, if urged
to pledge the toasts which they were
compelling others to drink, to resist doing
so.

With the intent to withdraw myself
quietly from the place, I paid my reckoning,
and putting on my hat, was going
into the street, when the countryman who
had come in with the soldiers called
out:

'Stop that popish tom-cat!'

And running across the room, he got
to the door before me, and, shutting it,
placed his back against it, to prevent my
going out.

Though with much difficulty, I kept
an appearance of quietness, and turning to
the fellow, who, from his accent, I judged
to be northern, and whose face I knew--
though, to this day, I cannot say where
I had seen him before--I observed very
calmly:

'Sir, I came in here with no other
design than to refresh myself, without
offending any man. I have paid my
reckoning, and now desire to go forth. If
there is anything within reason that I can
do to satisfy you, and to prevent trouble
and delay to myself, name your terms, and
if they be but fair, I will frankly comply
with them.'

He quickly replied:

'You are Hardress Fitzgerald, the
bloody popish captain, that hanged the
twelve men at Derry.'

I felt that I was in some danger, but
being a strong man, and used to perils
of all kinds, it was not easy to disconcert me.

I looked then steadily at the fellow,
and, in a voice of much confidence, I
said:

'I am neither a Papist, a Royalist, nor
a Fitzgerald, but an honester Protestant,
mayhap, than many who make louder
professions.'

'Then drink the honest man's toast,'
said he. 'Damnation to the pope, and
confusion to skulking Jimmy and his
runaway crew.'

'Yourself shall hear me,' said I, taking
the largest pewter pot that lay within my
reach. 'Tapster, fill this with ale; I grieve
to say I can afford nothing better.'

I took the vessel of liquor in my hand,
and walking up to him, I first made a
bow to the troopers who sat laughing
at the sprightliness of their facetious
friend, and then another to himself,
when saying, 'G-- damn yourself and
your cause!' I flung the ale straight into
his face; and before he had time to recover
himself, I struck him with my whole force
and weight with the pewter pot upon the
head, so strong a blow, that he fell, for
aught I know, dead upon the floor, and
nothing but the handle of the vessel
remained in my hand.

I opened the door, but one of the dragoons
drew his sabre, and ran at me to avenge
his companion. With my hand I put
aside the blade of the sword, narrowly
escaping what he had intended for me,
the point actually tearing open my vest.
Without allowing him time to repeat his
thrust, I struck him in the face with my
clenched fist so sound a blow that he
rolled back into the room with the force
of a tennis ball.

It was well for me that the rest were
half drunk, and the evening dark; for
otherwise my folly would infallibly have
cost me my life. As it was, I reached
my garret in safety, with a resolution
to frequent taverns no more until better
times.

My little patience and money were well-
nigh exhausted, when, after much doubt
and uncertainty, and many conflicting
reports, I was assured that the flower
of the Royalist army, under the Duke of
Berwick and General Boisleau, occupied the
city of Limerick, with a determination
to hold that fortress against the prince's
forces; and that a French fleet of great
power, and well freighted with arms,
ammunition, and men, was riding in the
Shannon, under the walls of the town.
But this last report was, like many others
then circulated, untrue; there being,
indeed, a promise and expectation of such
assistance, but no arrival of it till too
late.

The army of the Prince of Orange was
said to be rapidly approaching the town,
in order to commence the siege.

On hearing this, and being made as
certain as the vagueness and unsatisfactory
nature of my information, which came not
from any authentic source, would permit;
at least, being sure of the main point,
which all allowed--namely, that Limerick
was held for the king--and being also
naturally fond of enterprise, and impatient
of idleness, I took the resolution to travel
thither, and, if possible, to throw myself
into the city, in order to lend what assistance
I might to my former companions in
arms, well knowing that any man of strong
constitution and of some experience might
easily make himself useful to a garrison in
their straitened situation.

When I had taken this resolution, I was
not long in putting it into execution; and,
as the first step in the matter, I turned half
of the money which remained with me, in
all about seventeen pounds, into small wares
and merchandise such as travelling traders
used to deal in; and the rest, excepting some
shillings which I carried home for my
immediate expenses, I sewed carefully in the
lining of my breeches waistband, hoping that
the sale of my commodities might easily
supply me with subsistence upon the road.

I left Dublin upon a Friday morning in
the month of September, with a tolerably
heavy pack upon my back.

I was a strong man and a good walker,
and one day with another travelled easily at
the rate of twenty miles in each day, much
time being lost in the towns of any note on
the way, where, to avoid suspicion, I was
obliged to make some stay, as if to sell my
wares.

I did not travel directly to Limerick, but
turned far into Tipperary, going near to the
borders of Cork.

Upon the sixth day after my departure
from Dublin I learned, CERTAINLY, from some
fellows who were returning from trafficking
with the soldiers, that the army of the
prince was actually encamped before
Limerick, upon the south side of the
Shannon.

In order, then, to enter the city without
interruption, I must needs cross the river,
and I was much in doubt whether to do so
by boat from Kerry, which I might have
easily done, into the Earl of Clare's land,
and thus into the beleaguered city, or to
take what seemed the easier way, one,
however, about which I had certain misgivings
--which, by the way, afterwards turned out
to be just enough. This way was to cross
the Shannon at O'Brien's Bridge, or at
Killaloe, into the county of Clare.

I feared, however, that both these passes
were guarded by the prince's forces, and
resolved, if such were the case, not to essay
to cross, for I was not fitted to sustain a
scrutiny, having about me, though pretty
safely secured, my commission from King
James--which, though a dangerous companion,
I would not have parted from but
with my life.

I settled, then, in my own mind, that if
the bridges were guarded I would walk as
far as Portumna, where I might cross,
though at a considerable sacrifice of time;
and, having determined upon this course, I
turned directly towards Killaloe.

I reached the foot of the mountain, or
rather high hill, called Keeper--which had
been pointed out to me as a landmark--
lying directly between me and Killaloe,
in the evening, and, having ascended some
way, the darkness and fog overtook me.

The evening was very chilly, and myself
weary, hungry, and much in need of sleep,
so that I preferred seeking to cross the hill,
though at some risk, to remaining upon it
throughout the night. Stumbling over
rocks and sinking into bog-mire, as the
nature of the ground varied, I slowly
and laboriously plodded on, making very
little way in proportion to the toil it cost
me.

After half an hour's slow walking, or
rather rambling, for, owing to the dark, I
very soon lost my direction, I at last heard
the sound of running water, and with some
little trouble reached the edge of a brook,
which ran in the bottom of a deep gully.
This I knew would furnish a sure guide to
the low grounds, where I might promise
myself that I should speedily meet with
some house or cabin where I might find
shelter for the night.

The stream which I followed flowed at
the bottom of a rough and swampy glen,
very steep and making many abrupt turns,
and so dark, owing more to the fog than to
the want of the moon (for, though not high,
I believe it had risen at the time), that I
continually fell over fragments of rock and
stumbled up to my middle into the rivulet,
which I sought to follow.

In this way, drenched, weary, and with
my patience almost exhausted, I was toiling
onward, when, turning a sharp angle in the
winding glen, I found myself within some
twenty yards of a group of wild-looking
men, gathered in various attitudes round a
glowing turf fire.

I was so surprised at this rencontre that
I stopped short, and for a time was in
doubt whether to turn back or to accost
them.

A minute's thought satisfied me that I
ought to make up to the fellows, and trust
to their good faith for whatever assistance
they could give me.

I determined, then, to do this, having
great faith in the impulses of my mind,
which, whenever I have been in jeopardy,
as in my life I often have, always prompted
me aright.

The strong red light of the fire showed
me plainly enough that the group consisted,
not of soldiers, but of Irish kernes, or
countrymen, most of them wrapped in
heavy mantles, and with no other covering
for their heads than that afforded by their
long, rough hair.

There was nothing about them which I
could see to intimate whether their object
were peaceful or warlike; but I afterwards
found that they had weapons enough,
though of their own rude fashion.

There were in all about twenty persons
assembled around the fire, some sitting
upon such blocks of stone as happened to
lie in the way; others stretched at their
length upon the ground.

'God save you, boys!' said I, advancing
towards the party.

The men who had been talking and
laughing together instantly paused, and
two of them--tall and powerful fellows--
snatched up each a weapon, something like
a short halberd with a massive iron head,
an instrument which they called among
themselves a rapp, and with two or three
long strides they came up with me, and
laying hold upon my arms, drew me, not,
you may easily believe, making much
resistance, towards the fire.

When I reached the place where the
figures were seated, the two men still held
me firmly, and some others threw some
handfuls of dry fuel upon the red embers,
which, blazing up, cast a strong light upon
me.

When they had satisfied themselves as
to my appearance, they began to question
me very closely as to my purpose in being
upon the hill at such an unseasonable hour,
asking me what was my occupation, where
I had been, and whither I was going.

These questions were put to me in
English by an old half-military looking
man, who translated into that language
the suggestions which his companions for
the most part threw out in Irish.

I did not choose to commit myself to
these fellows by telling them my real
character and purpose, and therefore I
represented myself as a poor travelling
chapman who had been at Cork, and was
seeking his way to Killaloe, in order to
cross over into Clare and thence to the
city of Galway.

My account did not seem fully to satisfy
the men.

I heard one fellow say in Irish, which
language I understood, 'Maybe he is a
spy.'

They then whispered together for a
time, and the little man who was their
spokesman came over to me and said:

'Do you know what we do with spies?
we knock their brains out, my friend.'

He then turned back to them with whom
he had been whispering, and talked in a
low tone again with them for a considerable
time.

I now felt very uncomfortable, not knowing
what these savages--for they appeared
nothing better--might design against me.

Twice or thrice I had serious thoughts
of breaking from them, but the two guards
who were placed upon me held me fast by
the arms; and even had I succeeded in
shaking them off, I should soon have been
overtaken, encumbered as I was with a
heavy pack, and wholly ignorant of the
lie of the ground; or else, if I were so
exceedingly lucky as to escape out of their
hands, I still had the chance of falling into
those of some other party of the same
kind.

I therefore patiently awaited the issue
of their deliberations, which I made no
doubt affected me nearly.

I turned to the men who held me, and
one after the other asked them, in their
own language, 'Why they held me?' adding,
'I am but a poor pedlar, as you see.
I have neither money nor money's worth,
for the sake of which you should do me
hurt. You may have my pack and all
that it contains, if you desire it--but do
not injure me.'

To all this they gave no answer, but
savagely desired me to hold my tongue.

I accordingly remained silent, determined,
if the worst came, to declare to the whole
party, who, I doubted not, were friendly,
as were all the Irish peasantry in the south,
to the Royal cause, my real character and
design; and if this avowal failed me, I was
resolved to make a desperate effort to
escape, or at least to give my life at the
dearest price I could.

I was not kept long in suspense, for
the little veteran who had spoken to me
at first came over, and desiring the two
men to bring me after him, led the way
along a broken path, which wound by
the side of the steep glen.

I was obliged willy nilly to go with
them, and, half-dragging and half-carrying
me, they brought me by the path, which now
became very steep, for some hundred yards
without stopping, when suddenly coming
to a stand, I found myself close before
the door of some house or hut, I could
not see which, through the planks of which
a strong light was streaming.

At this door my conductor stopped, and
tapping gently at it, it was opened by a
stout fellow, with buff-coat and jack-boots,
and pistols stuck in his belt, as also a
long cavalry sword by his side.

He spoke with my guide, and to my no
small satisfaction, in French, which
convinced me that he was one of the soldiers
whom Louis had sent to support our king,
and who were said to have arrived in
Limerick, though, as I observed above, not
with truth.

I was much assured by this circumstance,
and made no doubt but that I had fallen
in with one of those marauding parties of
native Irish, who, placing themselves under
the guidance of men of courage and
experience, had done much brave and essential
service to the cause of the king.

The soldier entered an inner door in the
apartment, which opening disclosed a rude,
dreary, and dilapidated room, with a low
plank ceiling, much discoloured by the
smoke which hung suspended in heavy
masses, descending within a few feet of the
ground, and completely obscuring the upper
regions of the chamber.

A large fire of turf and heath was
burning under a kind of rude chimney,
shaped like a large funnel, but by no means
discharging the functions for which it was
intended. Into this inauspicious apartment
was I conducted by my strange companions.
In the next room I heard voices employed,
as it seemed, in brief questioning and
answer; and in a minute the soldier re-
entered the room, and having said, 'Votre
prisonnier--le general veut le voir,' he led
the way into the inner room, which in point
of comfort and cleanliness was not a whit
better than the first.

Seated at a clumsy plank table, placed
about the middle of the floor, was a powerfully
built man, of almost colossal stature--
his military accoutrements, cuirass and rich
regimental clothes, soiled, deranged, and
spattered with recent hard travel; the
flowing wig, surmounted by the cocked hat
and plume, still rested upon his head. On
the table lay his sword-belt with its
appendage, and a pair of long holster pistols,
some papers, and pen and ink; also a
stone jug, and the fragments of a hasty
meal. His attitude betokened the languor
of fatigue. His left hand was buried beyond
the lace ruffle in the breast of his cassock,
and the elbow of his right rested upon the
table, so as to support his head. From
his mouth protruded a tobacco-pipe, which
as I entered he slowly withdrew.

A single glance at the honest, good-
humoured, comely face of the soldier
satisfied me of his identity, and removing
my hat from my head I said, 'God save
General Sarsfield!'

The general nodded

'I am a prisoner here under strange
circumstances,' I continued 'I appear
before you in a strange disguise. You
do not recognise Captain Hardress Fitzgerald!'

'Eh, how's this?' said he, approaching me
with the light.

'I am that Hardress Fitzgerald,' I
repeated, 'who served under you at the
Boyne, and upon the day of the action had
the honour to protect your person at the
expense of his own.' At the same time I
turned aside the hair which covered the
scar which you well know upon my
forehead, and which was then much more
remarkable than it is now.

The general on seeing this at once
recognised me, and embracing me cordially,
made me sit down, and while I unstrapped
my pack, a tedious job, my fingers being
nearly numbed with cold, sent the men
forth to procure me some provision.

The general's horse was stabled in a
corner of the chamber where we sat, and
his war-saddle lay upon the floor. At the
far end of the room was a second door,
which stood half open; a bogwood fire
burned on a hearth somewhat less rude
than the one which I had first seen, but
still very little better appointed with a
chimney, for thick wreaths of smoke were
eddying, with every fitful gust, about the
room. Close by the fire was strewed a
bed of heath, intended, I supposed, for the
stalwart limbs of the general.

'Hardress Fitzgerald,' said he, fixing his
eyes gravely upon me, while he slowly
removed the tobacco-pipe from his mouth,
'I remember you, strong, bold and cunning
in your warlike trade; the more desperate
an enterprise, the more ready for it, you.
I would gladly engage you, for I know
you trustworthy, to perform a piece of
duty requiring, it may be, no extraordinary
quality to fulfil; and yet perhaps, as
accidents may happen, demanding every
attribute of daring and dexterity which
belongs to you.'

Here he paused for some moments.

I own I felt somewhat flattered by the
terms in which he spoke of me, knowing
him to be but little given to compliments;
and not having any plan in my head,
farther than the rendering what service I
might to the cause of the king, caring very
little as to the road in which my duty
might lie, I frankly replied:

'Sir, I hope, if opportunity offers, I
shall prove to deserve the honourable
terms in which you are pleased to speak
of me. In a righteous cause I fear not
wounds or death; and in discharging my
duty to my God and my king, I am
ready for any hazard or any fate. Name
the service you require, and if it lies within
the compass of my wit or power, I will
fully and faithfully perform it. Have I said
enough?'

'That is well, very well, my friend;
you speak well, and manfully,' replied the
general. 'I want you to convey to the
hands of General Boisleau, now in the
city of Limerick, a small written packet;
there is some danger, mark me, of your
falling in with some outpost or straggling
party of the prince's army. If you are
taken unawares by any of the enemy you
must dispose of the packet inside your
person, rather than let it fall into their
hands--that is, you must eat it. And if
they go to question you with thumb-
screws, or the like, answer nothing; let
them knock your brains out first.' In
illustration, I suppose, of the latter
alternative, he knocked the ashes out of his pipe
upon the table as he uttered it.

'The packet,' he continued, 'you shall
have to-morrow morning. Meantime comfort
yourself with food, and afterwards with
sleep; you will want, mayhap, all your
strength and wits on the morrow.'

I applied myself forthwith to the homely
fare which they had provided, and I confess
that I never made a meal so heartily to
my satisfaction.

It was a beautiful, clear, autumn morning,
and the bright beams of the early sun were
slanting over the brown heath which
clothed the sides of the mountain, and
glittering in the thousand bright drops
which the melting hoar-frost had left behind
it, and the white mists were lying like
broad lakes in the valleys, when, with my
pedlar's pack upon my back, and General
Sarsfield's precious despatch in my bosom,
I set forth, refreshed and courageous.

As I descended the hill, my heart
expanded and my spirits rose under the
influences which surrounded me. The keen,
clear, bracing air of the morning, the bright,
slanting sunshine, the merry songs of the
small birds, and the distant sounds of
awakening labour that floated up from the
plains, all conspired to stir my heart within
me, and more like a mad-cap boy, broken
loose from school, than a man of sober
years upon a mission of doubt and danger,
I trod lightly on, whistling and singing
alternately for very joy.

As I approached the object of my early
march, I fell in with a countryman, eager,
as are most of his kind, for news.

I gave him what little I had collected,
and professing great zeal for the king,
which, indeed, I always cherished, I won
upon his confidence so far, that he became
much more communicative than the
peasantry in those quarters are generally
wont to be to strangers.

From him I learned that there was a
company of dragoons in William's service,
quartered at Willaloe; but he could not
tell whether the passage of the bridge
was stopped by them or not. With a
resolution, at all events, to make the
attempt to cross, I approached the town.
When I came within sight of the river,
I quickly perceived that it was so swollen
with the recent rains, as, indeed, the
countryman had told me, that the fords
were wholly impassable.

I stopped then, upon a slight eminence
overlooking the village, with a view to
reconnoitre and to arrange my plans in
case of interruption. While thus engaged,
the wind blowing gently from the west,
in which quarter Limerick lay, I distinctly
heard the explosion of the cannon, which
played from and against the city, though
at a distance of eleven miles at the
least.

I never yet heard the music that had
for me half the attractions of that sullen
sound, and as I noted again and again
the distant thunder that proclaimed the
perils, and the valour, and the faithfulness
of my brethren, my heart swelled with
pride, and the tears rose to my eyes; and
lifting up my hands to heaven, I prayed
to God that I might be spared to take
a part in the righteous quarrel that was
there so bravely maintained.

I felt, indeed, at this moment a longing,
more intense than I have the power to
describe, to be at once with my brave
companions in arms, and so inwardly
excited and stirred up as if I had been
actually within five minutes' march of
the field of battle.

It was now almost noon, and I had
walked hard since morning across a
difficult and broken country, so that I
was a little fatigued, and in no small
degree hungry. As I approached the
hamlet, I was glad to see in the window
of a poor hovel several large cakes of
meal displayed, as if to induce purchasers
to enter.

I was right in regarding this exhi-
bition as an intimation that entertainment
might be procured within,
for upon entering and inquiring, I was
speedily invited by the poor woman,
who, it appeared, kept this humble house
of refreshment, to lay down my pack and
seat myself by a ponderous table, upon
which she promised to serve me with a
dinner fit for a king; and indeed, to my
mind, she amply fulfilled her engagement,
supplying me abundantly with eggs,
bacon, and wheaten cakes, which I
discussed with a zeal which almost surprised
myself.

Having disposed of the solid part of
my entertainment, I was proceeding to
regale myself with a brimming measure
of strong waters, when my attention was
arrested by the sound of horses' hoofs in
brisk motion upon the broken road, and
evidently approaching the hovel in which
I was at that moment seated.

The ominous clank of sword scabbards
and the jingle of brass accoutrements
announced, unequivocally, that the horsemen
were of the military profession.

'The red-coats will stop here
undoubtedly,' said the old woman, observing,
I suppose, the anxiety of my countenance;
'they never pass us without
coming in for half an hour to drink or
smoke. If you desire to avoid them, I
can hide you safely; but don't lose a
moment. They will be here before you can
count a hundred.'

I thanked the good woman for her
hospitable zeal; but I felt a repugnance
to concealing myself as she suggested,
which was enhanced by the consciousness
that if by any accident I were de-
tected while lurking in the room, my
situation would of itself inevitably lead
to suspicions, and probably to discovery.

I therefore declined her offer, and
awaited in suspense the entrance of the
soldiers.

I had time before they made their
appearance to move my seat hurriedly
from the table to the hearth, where,
under the shade of the large chimney,
I might observe the coming visitors with
less chance of being myself remarked upon.

As my hostess had anticipated, the
horsemen drew up at the door of the hut, and
five dragoons entered the dark chamber
where I awaited them.

Leaving their horses at the entrance,
with much noise and clatter they proceeded
to seat themselves and call for
liquor.

Three of these fellows were Dutchmen,
and, indeed, all belonged, as I afterwards
found, to a Dutch regiment, which had
been recruited with Irish and English,
as also partly officered from the same
nations.

Being supplied with pipes and drink
they soon became merry; and not suffering
their smoking to interfere with their
conversation, they talked loud and quickly,
for the most part in a sort of barbarous
language, neither Dutch nor English, but
compounded of both.

They were so occupied with their own
jocularity that I had very great hopes
of escaping observation altogether, and
remained quietly seated in a corner of the
chimney, leaning back upon my seat as if
asleep.

My taciturnity and quiescence, however,
did not avail me, for one of these fellows
coming over to the hearth to light his pipe,
perceived me, and looking me very hard in
the face, he said:

'What countryman are you, brother, that
you sit with a covered head in the room
with the prince's soldiers?'

At the same time he tossed my hat off
my head into the fire. I was not fool
enough, though somewhat hot-blooded,
to suffer the insolence of this fellow to
involve me in a broil so dangerous to
my person and ruinous to my schemes
as a riot with these soldiers must prove.
I therefore, quietly taking up my hat and
shaking the ashes out of it, observed:

'Sir, I crave your pardon if I have
offended you. I am a stranger in these
quarters, and a poor, ignorant, humble
man, desiring only to drive my little trade
in peace, so far as that may be done in these
troublous times.'

'And what may your trade be?' said
the same fellow.

'I am a travelling merchant,' I replied;
'and sell my wares as cheap as any trader
in the country.'

'Let us see them forthwith,' said he;
'mayhap I or my comrades may want
something which you can supply. Where
is thy chest, friend? Thou shalt have
ready money' (winking at his companions),
'ready money, and good weight, and sound
metal; none of your rascally pinchbeck.
Eh, my lads? Bring forth the goods, and
let us see.'

Thus urged, I should have betrayed
myself had I hesitated to do as required;
and anxious, upon any terms, to quiet these
turbulent men of war, I unbuckled my
pack and exhibited its contents upon the
table before them.

'A pair of lace ruffles, by the Lord!'
said one, unceremoniously seizing upon the
articles he named.

'A phial of perfume,' continued another,
tumbling over the farrago which I had
submitted to them, 'wash-balls, combs,
stationery, slippers, small knives, tobacco;
by ----, this merchant is a prize! Mark
me, honest fellow, the man who wrongs
thee shall suffer--'fore Gad he shall; thou
shalt be fairly dealt with' (this he said
while in the act of pocketing a small silver
tobacco-box, the most valuable article in
the lot). 'You shall come with me to
head-quarters; the captain will deal with
you, and never haggle about the price.
I promise thee his good will, and thou
wilt consider me accordingly. You'll find
him a profitable customer--he has money
without end, and throws it about like a
gentleman. If so be as I tell thee, I shall
expect, and my comrades here, a piece or
two in the way of a compliment--but of
this anon. Come, then, with us; buckle
on thy pack quickly, friend.'

There was no use in my declaring my
willingness to deal with themselves in
preference to their master; it was clear that
they had resolved that I should, in the
most expeditious and advantageous way,
turn my goods into money, that they might
excise upon me to the amount of their
wishes.

The worthy who had taken a lead in
these arrangements, and who by his stripes
I perceived to be a corporal, having
insisted on my taking a dram with him to
cement our newly-formed friendship, for
which, however, he requested me to pay,
made me mount behind one of his comrades;
and the party, of which I thus
formed an unwilling member, moved at a
slow trot towards the quarters of the
troop.

They reined up their horses at the head
of the long bridge, which at this village
spans the broad waters of the Shannon
connecting the opposite counties of
Tipperary and Clare.

A small tower, built originally, no doubt,
to protect and to defend this pass, occupied
the near extremity of the bridge, and in
its rear, but connected with it, stood several
straggling buildings rather dilapidated.

A dismounted trooper kept guard at the
door, and my conductor having, dismounted,
as also the corporal, the latter inquired:

'Is the captain in his quarters?'

'He is,' replied the sentinel.

And without more ado my companion
shoved me into the entrance of the small
dark tower, and opening a door at the
extremity of the narrow chamber into which
we had passed from the street, we entered
a second room in which were seated some
half-dozen officers of various ranks and
ages, engaged in drinking, and smoking,
and play.

I glanced rapidly from man to man, and
was nearly satisfied by my inspection, when
one of the gentlemen whose back had been
turned towards the place where I stood,
suddenly changed his position and looked
towards me.

As soon as I saw his face my heart
sank within me, and I knew that my life
or death was balanced, as it were, upon a
razor's edge.

The name of this man whose unexpected
appearance thus affected me was Hugh
Oliver, and good and strong reason had I
to dread him, for so bitterly did he hate
me, that to this moment I do verily believe
he would have compassed my death if it
lay in his power to do so, even at the
hazard of his own life and soul, for I had
been--though God knows with many sore
strugglings and at the stern call of public
duty--the judge and condemner of his
brother; and though the military law,
which I was called upon to administer,
would permit no other course or sentence
than the bloody one which I was compelled
to pursue, yet even to this hour the
recollection of that deed is heavy at my
breast.

As soon as I saw this man I felt that
my safety depended upon the accident of
his not recognising me through the disguise
which I had assumed, an accident against
which were many chances, for he well knew
my person and appearance.

It was too late now to destroy General
Sarsfield's instructions; any attempt to
do so would ensure detection. All then
depended upon a cast of the die.

When the first moment of dismay and
heart-sickening agitation had passed, it
seemed to me as if my mind acquired a
collectedness and clearness more complete
and intense than I had ever experienced
before.

I instantly perceived that he did not
know me, for turning from me to the
soldier with all air of indifference, he said,

'Is this a prisoner or a deserter? What
have you brought him here for, sirra?'

'Your wisdom will regard him as you
see fit, may it please you,' said the corporal.
'The man is a travelling merchant, and,
overtaking him upon the road, close by old
Dame MacDonagh's cot, I thought I might
as well make a sort of prisoner of him
that your honour might use him as it might
appear most convenient; he has many
commododies which are not unworthy of
price in this wilderness, and some which
you may condescend to make use of yourself.
May he exhibit the goods he has
for sale, an't please you?'

'Ay, let us see them,' said he.

'Unbuckle your pack,' exclaimed the
corporal, with the same tone of command
with which, at the head of his guard,
he would have said 'Recover your arms.'
'Unbuckle your pack, fellow, and show
your goods to the captain--here, where
you are.'

The conclusion of his directions was
suggested by my endeavouring to move
round in order to get my back towards
the windows, hoping, by keeping my face
in the shade, to escape detection.

In this manoeuvre, however, I was
foiled by the imperiousness of the soldier;
and inwardly cursing his ill-timed
interference, I proceeded to present my
merchandise to the loving contemplation of
the officers who thronged around me,
with a strong light from an opposite
window full upon my face.

As I continued to traffic with these
gentlemen, I observed with no small
anxiety the eyes of Captain Oliver frequently
fixed upon me with a kind of
dubious inquiring gaze.

'I think, my honest fellow,' he said
at last, 'that I have seen you somewhere
before this. Have you often dealt with
the military?'

'I have traded, sir,' said I, 'with the
soldiery many a time, and always been
honourably treated. Will your worship
please to buy a pair of lace ruffles?--very
cheap, your worship.'

'Why do you wear your hair so much
over your face, sir?' said Oliver, without
noticing my suggestion. 'I promise you,
I think no good of thee; throw back your
hair, and let me see thee plainly. Hold
up your face, and look straight at me;
throw back your hair, sir.'

I felt that all chance of escape was at
an end; and stepping forward as near as
the table would allow me to him, I raised
my head, threw back my hair, and fixed
my eyes sternly and boldly upon his
face.

I saw that he knew me instantly, for
his countenance turned as pale as ashes
with surprise and hatred. He started up,
placing his hand instinctively upon his
sword-hilt, and glaring at me with a look
so deadly, that I thought every moment he
would strike his sword into my heart.
He said in a kind of whisper: 'Hardress
Fitzgerald?'

'Yes;' said I, boldly, for the excitement
of the scene had effectually stirred my
blood, 'Hardress Fitzgerald is before you.
I know you well, Captain Oliver. I know
how you hate me. I know how you thirst
for my blood; but in a good cause, and
in the hands of God, I defy you.'

'You are a desperate villain, sir,' said
Captain Oliver; 'a rebel and a murderer!
Holloa, there! guard, seize him!'

As the soldiers entered, I threw my
eyes hastily round the room, and observing
a glowing fire upon the hearth, I suddenly
drew General Sarsfield's packet from my
bosom, and casting it upon the embers,
planted my foot upon it.

'Secure the papers!' shouted the captain;
and almost instantly I was laid prostrate
and senseless upon the floor, by a blow
from the butt of a carbine.

I cannot say how long I continued in
a state of torpor; but at length, having
slowly recovered my senses, I found myself
lying firmly handcuffed upon the floor of
a small chamber, through a narrow loop-
hole in one of whose walls the evening
sun was shining. I was chilled with
cold and damp, and drenched in blood,
which had flowed in large quantities from
the wound on my head. By a strong
effort I shook off the sick drowsiness which
still hung upon me, and, weak and giddy,
I rose with pain and difficulty to my
feet.

The chamber, or rather cell, in which
I stood was about eight feet square, and
of a height very disproportioned to its
other dimensions; its altitude from the
floor to the ceiling being not less than
twelve or fourteen feet. A narrow slit
placed high in the wall admitted a scanty
light, but sufficient to assure me that my
prison contained nothing to render the
sojourn of its tenant a whit less comfortless
than my worst enemy could have
wished.

My first impulse was naturally to
examine the security of the door, the
loop-hole which I have mentioned being
too high and too narrow to afford a chance
of escape. I listened attentively to ascer-
tain if possible whether or not a guard had
been placed upon the outside.

Not a sound was to be heard. I now
placed my shoulder to the door, and sought
with all my combined strength and weight
to force it open. It, however, resisted all
my efforts, and thus baffled in my appeal to
mere animal power, exhausted and
disheartened, I threw myself on the
ground.

It was not in my nature, however, long
to submit to the apathy of despair, and in
a few minutes I was on my feet again.

With patient scrutiny I endeavoured to
ascertain the nature of the fastenings which
secured the door.

The planks, fortunately, having been
nailed together fresh, had shrunk considerably,
so as to leave wide chinks between
each and its neighbour.

By means of these apertures I saw that
my dungeon was secured, not by a lock, as
I had feared, but by a strong wooden bar,
running horizontally across the door, about
midway upon the outside.

'Now,' thought I, 'if I can but slip
my fingers through the opening of the
planks, I can easily remove the bar, and
then----'

My attempts, however, were all
frustrated by the manner in which my hands
were fastened together, each embarrassing
the other, and rendering my efforts so
hopelessly clumsy, that I was obliged to give
them over in despair.

I turned with a sigh from my last hope,
and began to pace my narrow prison floor,
when my eye suddenly encountered an
old rusty nail or holdfast sticking in the
wall.

All the gold of Plutus would not have
been so welcome as that rusty piece of
iron.

I instantly wrung it from the wall, and
inserting the point between the planks of
the door into the bolt, and working it
backwards and forwards, I had at length the
unspeakable satisfaction to perceive that
the beam was actually yielding to my
efforts, and gradually sliding into its berth
in the wall.

I have often been engaged in struggles
where great bodily strength was required,
and every thew and sinew in the system
taxed to the uttermost; but, strange as it
may appear, I never was so completely
exhausted and overcome by any labour as
by this comparatively trifling task.

Again and again was I obliged to desist,
until my cramped finger-joints recovered
their power; but at length my perseverance
was rewarded, for, little by little, I
succeeded in removing the bolt so far as to
allow the door to open sufficiently to permit
me to pass.

With some squeezing I succeeded in forcing
my way into a small passage, upon
which my prison-door opened.

This led into a chamber somewhat more
spacious than my cell, but still containing
no furniture, and affording no means of
escape to one so crippled with bonds as I
was.

At the far extremity of this room was a
door which stood ajar, and, stealthily
passing through it, I found myself in a room
containing nothing but a few raw hides,
which rendered the atmosphere nearly intolerable.

Here I checked myself, for I heard 
voices in busy conversation in the next
room.

I stole softly to the door which
separated the chamber in which I stood
from that from which the voices proceeded.

A moment served to convince me that
any attempt upon it would be worse than
fruitless, for it was secured upon the
outside by a strong lock, besides two bars, all
which I was enabled to ascertain by means
of the same defect in the joining of the
planks which I have mentioned as belonging
to the inner door.

I had approached this door very softly,
so that, my proximity being wholly
unsuspected by the speakers within, the
conversation continued without interruption.

Planting myself close to the door, I
applied my eye to one of the chinks which
separated the boards, and thus obtained
a full view of the chamber and its occupants.

It was the very apartment into which I
had been first conducted. The outer door,
which faced the one at which I stood, was
closed, and at a small table were seated the
only tenants of the room--two officers, one
of whom was Captain Oliver. The latter
was reading a paper, which I made no doubt
was the document with which I had been
entrusted.

'The fellow deserves it, no doubt'
said the junior officer. 'But, me-
thinks, considering our orders from
head-quarters, you deal somewhat too
hastily.'

'Nephew, nephew,' said Captain Oliver,
'you mistake the tenor of our orders. We
were directed to conciliate the peasantry by
fair and gentle treatment, but not to suffer
spies and traitors to escape. This packet is
of some value, though not, in all its parts,
intelligible to me. The bearer has made
his way hither under a disguise, which,
along with the other circumstances of his
appearance here, is sufficient to convict him
as a spy.'

There was a pause here, and after a few
minutes the younger officer said:

'Spy is a hard term, no doubt, uncle;
but it is possible--nay, likely, that this poor
devil sought merely to carry the parcel
with which he was charged in safety to
its destination. Pshaw! he is sufficiently
punished if you duck him, for ten minutes
or so, between the bridge and the mill-dam.'

'Young man,' said Oliver, somewhat
sternly, 'do not obtrude your advice where
it is not called for; this man, for whom
you plead, murdered your own father!'

I could not see how this announcement
affected the person to whom it was
addressed, for his back was towards me; but
I conjectured, easily, that my last poor
chance was gone, for a long silence ensued.
Captain Oliver at length resumed:

'I know the villain well. I know him
capable of any crime; but, by ----, his last
card is played, and the game is up. He
shall not see the moon rise to-night.'

There was here another pause.

Oliver rose, and going to the outer door,
called:

'Hewson! Hewson!'

A grim-looking corporal entered.

'Hewson, have your guard ready at
eight o'clock, with their carbines clean, and
a round of ball-cartridge each. Keep them
sober; and, further, plant two upright
posts at the near end of the bridge, with a
cross one at top, in the manner of a gibbet.
See to these matters, Hewson: I shall be
with you speedily.'

The corporal made his salutations, and
retired.

Oliver deliberately folded up the papers
with which I had been commissioned, and
placing them in the pocket of his vest, he
said:

'Cunning, cunning Master Hardress
Fitzgerald hath made a false step; the old
fox is in the toils. Hardress Fitzgerald,
Hardress Fitzgerald, I will blot you out.'

He repeated these words several times,
at the same time rubbing his finger strongly
upon the table, as if he sought to erase a
stain:

'I WILL BLOT YOU OUT!'

There was a kind of glee in his manner
and expression which chilled my very heart.

'You shall be first shot like a dog, and
then hanged like a dog: shot to-night,
and hung to-morrow; hung at the bridge-
head--hung, until your bones drop
asunder!'

It is impossible to describe the exultation
with which he seemed to dwell upon, and
to particularise the fate which he intended
for me.

I observed, however, that his face was
deadly pale, and felt assured that his
conscience and inward convictions were
struggling against his cruel resolve. Without
further comment the two officers left
the room, I suppose to oversee the preparations
which were being made for the deed
of which I was to be the victim.

A chill, sick horror crept over me as
they retired, and I felt, for the moment,
upon the brink of swooning. This feeling,
however, speedily gave place to a sensation
still more terrible. A state of excitement so
intense and tremendous as to border upon
literal madness, supervened; my brain
reeled and throbbed as if it would burst;
thoughts the wildest and the most hideous
flashed through my mind with a spontaneous
rapidity that scared my very soul;
while, all the time, I felt a strange and
frightful impulse to burst into uncontrolled
laughter.

Gradually this fearful paroxysm passed
away. I kneeled and prayed fervently, and
felt comforted and assured; but still I
could not view the slow approaches of
certain death without an agitation little
short of agony.

I have stood in battle many a time when
the chances of escape were fearfully small.
I have confronted foemen in the deadly
breach. I have marched, with a constant
heart, against the cannon's mouth. Again
and again has the beast which I bestrode
been shot under me; again and again have
I seen the comrades who walked beside me
in an instant laid for ever in the dust;
again and again have I been in the thick
of battle, and of its mortal dangers, and
never felt my heart shake, or a single nerve
tremble: but now, helpless, manacled,
imprisoned, doomed, forced to watch the
approaches of an inevitable fate--to wait,
silent and moveless, while death as it were
crept towards me, human nature was
taxed to the uttermost to bear the horrible
situation.

I returned again to the closet in which
I had found myself upon recovering from
the swoon.

The evening sunshine and twilight was
fast melting into darkness, when I heard
the outer door, that which communicated
with the guard-room in which the officers
had been amusing themselves, opened and
locked again upon the inside.

A measured step then approached, and
the door of the wretched cell in which I
lay being rudely pushed open, a soldier
entered, who carried something in his hand;
but, owing to the obscurity of the place,
I could not see what.

'Art thou awake, fellow?' said he,
in a gruff voice. 'Stir thyself; get upon
thy legs.'

His orders were enforced by no very
gentle application of his military boot.

'Friend,' said I, rising with difficulty,
'you need not insult a dying man. You
have been sent hither to conduct me to
death. Lead on! My trust is in God,
that He will forgive me my sins, and
receive my soul, redeemed by the blood
of His Son.'

There here intervened a pause of some
length, at the end of which the soldier
said, in the same gruff voice, but in a
lower key:

'Look ye, comrade, it will be your own
fault if you die this night. On one
condition I promise to get you out of this
hobble with a whole skin; but if you go
to any of your d----d gammon, by G--,
before two hours are passed, you will have
as many holes in your carcase as a target.'

'Name your conditions,' said I, 'and
if they consist with honour, I will never
balk at the offer.'

'Here they are: you are to be shot
to-night, by Captain Oliver's orders. The
carbines are cleaned for the job, and the
cartridges served out to the men. By
G--, I tell you the truth!'

Of this I needed not much persuasion,
and intimated to the man my conviction
that he spoke the truth.

'Well, then,' he continued, 'now for the
means of avoiding this ugly business.
Captain Oliver rides this night to head-quarters,
with the papers which you carried. Before
he starts he will pay you a visit, to fish
what he can out of you with all the fine
promises he can make. Humour him a
little, and when you find an opportunity,
stab him in the throat above the
cuirass.'

'A feasible plan, surely,' said I, raising
my shackled hands, 'for a man thus
completely crippled and without a
weapon.'

'I will manage all that presently for
you,' said the soldier. 'When you have
thus dealt with him, take his cloak and
hat, and so forth, and put them on; the
papers you will find in the pocket of
his vest, in a red leather case. Walk
boldly out. I am appointed to ride with
Captain Oliver, and you will find me
holding his horse and my own by the door.
Mount quickly, and I will do the same,
and then we will ride for our lives across
the bridge. You will find the holster-
pistols loaded in case of pursuit; and, with
the devil's help, we shall reach Limerick
without a hair hurt. My only condition
is, that when you strike Oliver, you
strike home, and again and again, until
he is FINISHED; and I trust to your honour
to remember me when we reach the
town.'

I cannot say whether I resolved right
or wrong, but I thought my situation,
and the conduct of Captain Oliver,
warranted me in acceding to the conditions
propounded by my visitant, and with
alacrity I told him so, and desired him to
give me the power, as he had promised
to do, of executing them.

With speed and promptitude he drew
a small key from his pocket, and in an
instant the manacles were removed from
my hands.

How my heart bounded within me
as my wrists were released from the
iron gripe of the shackles! The first step
toward freedom was made--my self-
reliance returned, and I felt assured of
success.

'Now for the weapon,' said I.

'I fear me, you will find it rather
clumsy,' said he; 'but if well handled,
it will do as well as the best Toledo.
It is the only thing I could get, but I
sharpened it myself; it has an edge like
a skean.'

He placed in my hand the steel head
of a halberd. Grasping it firmly, I found
that it made by no means a bad weapon
in point of convenience; for it felt in
the hand like a heavy dagger, the portion
which formed the blade or point being
crossed nearly at the lower extremity by
a small bar of metal, at one side shaped
into the form of an axe, and at the other
into that of a hook. These two transverse
appendages being muffled by the folds of
my cravat, which I removed for the purpose,
formed a perfect guard or hilt, and
the lower extremity formed like a tube, in
which the pike-handle had been inserted,
afforded ample space for the grasp of my
hand; the point had been made as sharp
as a needle, and the metal he assured me
was good.

Thus equipped he left me, having
observed, 'The captain sent me to bring you
to your senses, and give you some water
that he might find you proper for his
visit. Here is the pitcher; I think I have
revived you sufficiently for the captain's
purpose.'

With a low savage laugh he left me to
my reflections.

Having examined and adjusted the
weapon, I carefully bound the ends of the
cravat, with which I had secured the cross
part of the spear-head, firmly round my
wrist, so that in case of a struggle it might
not easily be forced from my hand; and
having made these precautionary dispositions,
I sat down upon the ground with
my back against the wall, and my hands
together under my coat, awaiting my
visitor.

The time wore slowly on; the dusk
became dimmer and dimmer, until it nearly
bordered on total darkness.

'How's this?' said I, inwardly;
'Captain Oliver, you said I should not see the
moon rise to-night. Methinks you are
somewhat tardy in fulfilling your prophecy.'

As I made this reflection, a noise at the
outer door announced the entrance of a
visitant. I knew that the decisive moment
was come, and letting my head sink upon
my breast, and assuring myself that my
hands were concealed, I waited, in the at-
titude of deep dejection, the approach of
my foe and betrayer.

As I had expected, Captain Oliver
entered the room where I lay. He was
equipped for instant duty, as far as the
imperfect twilight would allow me to see;
the long sword clanked upon the floor as
he made his way through the lobbies which
led to my place of confinement; his ample
military cloak hung upon his arm; his
cocked hat was upon his head, and in all
points he was prepared for the road.

This tallied exactly with what my
strange informant had told me.

I felt my heart swell and my breath come
thick as the awful moment which was to
witness the death-struggle of one or other
of us approached.

Captain Oliver stood within a yard or
two of the place where I sat, or rather lay;
and folding his arms, he remained silent
for a minute or two, as if arranging in
his mind how he should address me.

'Hardress Fitzgerald,' he began at length,
'are you awake? Stand up, if you desire
to hear of matters nearly touching your
life or death. Get up, I say.'

I arose doggedly, and affecting the
awkward movements of one whose hands were
bound,

'Well,' said I, 'what would you of me?
Is it not enough that I am thus imprisoned
without a cause, and about, as I suspect,
to suffer a most unjust and violent sentence,
but must I also be disturbed during
the few moments left me for reflection and
repentance by the presence of my persecutor?
What do you want of me?'

'As to your punishment, sir,' said he,
'your own deserts have no doubt sug-
gested the likelihood of it to your mind;
but I now am with you to let you know
that whatever mitigation of your sentence
you may look for, must be earned by your
compliance with my orders. You must
frankly and fully explain the contents of
the packet which you endeavoured this
day to destroy; and further, you must
tell all that you know of the designs of
the popish rebels.'

'And if I do this I am to expect a
mitigation of my punishment--is it not
so?'

Oliver bowed.

'And what IS this mitigation to be?
On the honour of a soldier, what is it to
be?' inquired I.

'When you have made the disclosure
required,' he replied, 'you shall hear. 'Tis
then time to talk of indulgences.'

'Methinks it would then be too late,'
answered I. 'But a chance is a chance,
and a drowning man will catch at a straw.
You are an honourable man, Captain Oliver.
I must depend, I suppose, on your good
faith. Well, sir, before I make the desired
communication I have one question more
to put. What is to befall me in case that
I, remembering the honour of a soldier
and a gentleman, reject your infamous
terms, scorn your mitigations, and defy
your utmost power?'

'In that case,' replied he, coolly, 'before
half an hour you shall be a corpse.'

'Then God have mercy on your soul!'
said I; and springing forward, I dashed the
weapon which I held at his throat.

I missed my aim, but struck him full
in the mouth with such force that most
of his front teeth were dislodged, and the
point of the spear-head passed out under
his jaw, at the ear.

My onset was so sudden and unexpected
that he reeled back to the wall, and did
not recover his equilibrium in time to
prevent my dealing a second blow, which I
did with my whole force. The point
unfortunately struck the cuirass, near the
neck, and glancing aside it inflicted but a
flesh wound, tearing the skin and tendons
along the throat.

He now grappled with me, strange to
say, without uttering any cry of alarm;
being a very powerful man, and if anything
rather heavier and more strongly
built than I, he succeeded in drawing me
with him to the ground. We fell together
with a heavy crash, tugging and straining
in what we were both conscious was a
mortal struggle. At length I succeeded
in getting over him, and struck him twice
more in the face; still he struggled with
an energy which nothing but the tremendous
stake at issue could have sustained.

I succeeded again in inflicting several
more wounds upon him, any one of which
might have been mortal. While thus
contending he clutched his hands about
my throat, so firmly that I felt the blood
swelling the veins of my temples and face
almost to bursting. Again and again I
struck the weapon deep into his face and
throat, but life seemed to adhere in him
with an almost INSECT tenacity.

My sight now nearly failed, my senses
almost forsook me; I felt upon the point
of suffocation when, with one desperate
effort, I struck him another and a last blow
in the face. The weapon which I wielded
had lighted upon the eye, and the point
penetrated the brain; the body quivered
under me, the deadly grasp relaxed, and
Oliver lay upon the ground a corpse!

As I arose and shook the weapon and
the bloody cloth from my hand, the moon
which he had foretold I should never see
rise, shone bright and broad into the room,
and disclosed, with ghastly distinctness,
the mangled features of the dead soldier;
the mouth, full of clotting blood and broken
teeth, lay open; the eye, close by whose
lid the fatal wound had been inflicted, was
not, as might have been expected, bathed
in blood, but had started forth nearly from
the socket, and gave to the face, by its
fearful unlikeness to the other glazing
orb, a leer more hideous and unearthly
than fancy ever saw. The wig, with all
its rich curls, had fallen with the hat to
the floor, leaving the shorn head exposed,
and in many places marked by the recent
struggle; the rich lace cravat was drenched
in blood, and the gay uniform in many
places soiled with the same.

It is hard to say, with what feelings I
looked upon the unsightly and revolting
mass which had so lately been a living
and a comely man. I had not any time,
however, to spare for reflection; the deed
was done--the responsibility was upon me,
and all was registered in the book of that
God who judges rightly.

With eager haste I removed from the
body such of the military accoutrements
as were necessary for the purpose of my
disguise. I buckled on the sword, drew
off the military boots, and donned them
myself, placed the brigadier wig and
cocked hat upon my head, threw on the
cloak, drew it up about my face, and
proceeded, with the papers which I found
as the soldier had foretold me, and the
key of the outer lobby, to the door of the
guard-room; this I opened, and with a
firm and rapid tread walked through the
officers, who rose as I entered, and passed
without question or interruption to the
street-door. Here I was met by the grim-
looking corporal, Hewson, who, saluting
me, said:

'How soon, captain, shall the file be
drawn out and the prisoner despatched?'

'In half an hour,' I replied, without
raising my voice.

The man again saluted, and in two
steps I reached the soldier who held
the two horses, as he had intimated.

'Is all right?' said he, eagerly.

'Ay,' said I, 'which horse am I to
mount?'

He satisfied me upon this point, and I
threw myself into the saddle; the soldier
mounted his horse, and dashing the spurs
into the flanks of the animal which I
bestrode, we thundered along the narrow
bridge. At the far extremity a sentinel, as
we approached, called out, 'Who goes there?
stand, and give the word!' Heedless of the
interruption, with my heart bounding with
excitement, I dashed on, as did also the
soldier who accompanied me.

'Stand, or I fire! give the word!' cried
the sentry.

'God save the king, and to hell with
the prince!' shouted I, flinging the cocked
hat in his face as I galloped by.

The response was the sharp report of
a carbine, accompanied by the whiz of a
bullet, which passed directly between me
and my comrade, now riding beside me.

'Hurrah!' I shouted; 'try it again, my
boy.'

And away we went at a gallop, which
bid fair to distance anything like pursuit.

Never was spur more needed, however,
for soon the clatter of horses' hoofs, in full
speed, crossing the bridge, came sharp
and clear through the stillness of the
night.

Away we went, with our pursuers close
behind; one mile was passed, another
nearly completed. The moon now shone
forth, and, turning in the saddle, I
looked back upon the road we had
passed.

One trooper had headed the rest, and was
within a hundred yards of us.

I saw the fellow throw himself from his
horse upon the ground.

I knew his object, and said to my comrade:

'Lower your body--lie flat over the
saddle; the fellow is going to fire.'

I had hardly spoken when the report of
a carbine startled the echoes, and the ball,
striking the hind leg of my companion's
horse, the poor animal fell headlong upon
the road, throwing his rider head-foremost
over the saddle.

My first impulse was to stop and share
whatever fate might await my comrade;
but my second and wiser one was
to spur on, and save myself and my
despatch.

I rode on at a gallop, turning to observe
my comrade's fate. I saw his pursuer,
having remounted, ride rapidly up to him,
and, on reaching the spot where the man
and horse lay, rein in and dismount.

He was hardly upon the ground, when
my companion shot him dead with one of
the holster-pistols which he had drawn
from the pipe; and, leaping nimbly over a
ditch at the side of the road, he was
soon lost among the ditches and thorn-
bushes which covered that part of the
country.

Another mile being passed, I had the
satisfaction to perceive that the pursuit was
given over, and in an hour more I crossed
Thomond Bridge, and slept that night in
the fortress of Limerick, having delivered
the packet, the result of whose safe arrival
was the destruction of William's great train
of artillery, then upon its way to the besiegers.

Years after this adventure, I met in
France a young officer, who I found had
served in Captain Oliver's regiment; and he
explained what I had never before understood--
the motives of the man who had
wrought my deliverance. Strange to say,
he was the foster-brother of Oliver, whom
he thus devoted to death, but in revenge
for the most grievous wrong which one
man can inflict upon another!



'THE QUARE GANDER.'

Being a Twelfth Extract from the Legacy of the late
Francis Purcell, P.P. of Drumcoolagh.

As I rode at a slow walk, one soft
autumn evening, from the once
noted and noticeable town of
Emly, now a squalid village, towards the
no less remarkable town of Tipperary, I
fell into a meditative mood.

My eye wandered over a glorious
landscape; a broad sea of corn-fields, that
might have gladdened even a golden age,
was waving before me; groups of little
cabins, with their poplars, osiers, and light
mountain ashes, clustered shelteringly
around them, were scattered over the plain;
the thin blue smoke arose floating through
their boughs in the still evening air. And
far away with all their broad lights and
shades, softened with the haze of approaching
twilight, stood the bold wild Galties.

As I gazed on this scene, whose richness
was deepened by the melancholy glow of
the setting sun, the tears rose to my eyes,
and I said:

'Alas, my country! what a mournful
beauty is thine. Dressed in loveliness and
laughter, there is mortal decay at thy
heart: sorrow, sin, and shame have mingled
thy cup of misery. Strange rulers have
bruised thee, and laughed thee to scorn,
and they have made all thy sweetness
bitter. Thy shames and sins are the austere
fruits of thy miseries, and thy miseries
have been poured out upon thee by foreign
hands. Alas, my stricken country! clothed
with this most pity-moving smile, with
this most unutterably mournful loveliness,
thou sore-grieved, thou desperately-beloved!
Is there for thee, my country, a resurrection?'

I know not how long I might have
continued to rhapsodize in this strain, had
not my wandering thoughts been suddenly
recalled to my own immediate neighbourhood
by the monotonous clatter of a horse's
hoofs upon the road, evidently moving, at
that peculiar pace which is neither a walk
nor a trot, and yet partakes of both, so
much in vogue among the southern
farmers.

In a moment my pursuer was up with me,
and checking his steed into a walk he
saluted me with much respect. The cavalier
was a light-built fellow, with good-humoured
sun-burnt features, a shrewd and lively
black eye, and a head covered with a crop
of close curly black hair, and surmounted
with a turf-coloured caubeen, in the pack-
thread band of which was stuck a short
pipe, which had evidently seen much
service.

My companion was a dealer in all kinds
of local lore, and soon took occasion to
let me see that he was so.

After two or three short stories, in which
the scandalous and supernatural were
happily blended, we happened to arrive
at a narrow road or bohreen leading to a
snug-looking farm-house.

'That's a comfortable bit iv a farm,'
observed my comrade, pointing towards the
dwelling with his thumb; 'a shnug spot,
and belongs to the Mooneys this long time.
'Tis a noted place for what happened
wid the famous gandher there in former
times.'

'And what was that?' inquired I.

'What was it happened wid the gandher!'
ejaculated my companion in a tone of
indignant surprise; 'the gandher iv
Ballymacrucker, the gandher! Your raverance
must be a stranger in these parts. Sure
every fool knows all about the gandher,
and Terence Mooney, that was, rest his
sowl. Begorra, 'tis surprisin' to me how
in the world you didn't hear iv the
gandher; and may be it's funnin me ye
are, your raverance.'

I assured him to the contrary, and
conjured him to narrate to me the facts, an
unacquaintance with which was sufficient
it appeared to stamp me as an ignoramus
of the first magnitude.

It did not require much entreaty to
induce my communicative friend to relate the
circumstance, in nearly the following words:

'Terence Mooney was an honest boy and
well to do; an' he rinted the biggest farm
on this side iv the Galties; an' bein'
mighty cute an' a sevare worker, it was
small wonder he turned a good penny every
harvest. But unluckily he was blessed
with an ilegant large family iv daughters,
an' iv coorse his heart was allamost bruck,
striving to make up fortunes for the whole
of them. An' there wasn't a conthrivance
iv any soart or description for makin' money
out iv the farm, but he was up to.

'Well, among the other ways he had iv
gettin' up in the world, he always kep a
power iv turkeys, and all soarts iv poul-
trey; an' he was out iv all rason partial
to geese--an' small blame to him for that
same--for twice't a year you can pluck them
as bare as my hand--an' get a fine price
for the feathers, an' plenty of rale sizable
eggs--an' when they are too ould to lay
any more, you can kill them, an' sell them
to the gintlemen for goslings, d'ye see,
let alone that a goose is the most manly
bird that is out.

'Well, it happened in the coorse iv time
that one ould gandher tuck a wondherful
likin' to Terence, an' divil a place he could
go serenadin' about the farm, or lookin'
afther the men, but the gandher id be at
his heels, an' rubbin' himself agin his legs,
an' lookin' up in his face jist like any other
Christian id do; an' begorra, the likes iv
it was never seen--Terence Mooney an' the
gandher wor so great.

'An' at last the bird was so engagin'
that Terence would not allow it to be
plucked any more, an' kep it from that
time out for love an' affection--just all as
one like one iv his childer.

'But happiness in perfection never lasts
long, an' the neighbours begin'd to suspect
the nathur an' intentions iv the gandher,
an' some iv them said it was the divil, an'
more iv them that it was a fairy.

'Well, Terence could not but hear something
of what was sayin', an' you may be
sure he was not altogether asy in his mind
about it, an' from one day to another he
was gettin' more ancomfortable in himself,
until he detarmined to sind for Jer Garvan,
the fairy docthor in Garryowen, an' it's he
was the ilegant hand at the business, an'
divil a sperit id say a crass word to him,
no more nor a priest. An' moreover he
was very great wid ould Terence Mooney--
this man's father that' was.

'So without more about it he was sint
for, an' sure enough the divil a long he
was about it, for he kem back that very
evenin' along wid the boy that was sint
for him, an' as soon as he was there, an'
tuck his supper, an' was done talkin' for
a while, he begined of coorse to look into
the gandher.

'Well, he turned it this away an' that
away, to the right an' to the left, an'
straight-ways an' upside-down, an' when
he was tired handlin' it, says he to Terence
Mooney:

' "Terence," says he, "you must remove
the bird into the next room," says he, "an'
put a petticoat," says he, "or anny other
convaynience round his head," says he.

' "An' why so?" says Terence.

' "Becase," says Jer, says he.

' "Becase what?" says Terence.

' "Becase," says Jer, "if it isn't done
you'll never be asy again," says he, "or
pusilanimous in your mind," says he; "so
ax no more questions, but do my biddin',"
says he.

' "Well," says Terence, "have your own
way," says he.

'An' wid that he tuck the ould gandher,
an' giv' it to one iv the gossoons.

' "An' take care," says he, "don't
smother the crathur," says he.

'Well, as soon as the bird was gone,
says Jer Garvan says he:

' "Do you know what that ould gandher
IS, Terence Mooney?"

' "Divil a taste," says Terence.

' "Well then," says Jer, "the gandher
is your own father," says he.

' "It's jokin' you are," says Terence,
turnin' mighty pale; "how can an ould
gandher be my father?" says he.

' "I'm not funnin' you at all," says Jer;
"it's thrue what I tell you, it's your father's
wandhrin' sowl," says he, "that's naturally
tuck pissession iv the ould gandher's
body," says he. "I know him many
ways, and I wondher," says he, "you
do not know the cock iv his eye yourself,"
says he.

' "Oh blur an' ages!" says Terence,
"what the divil will I ever do at all at
all," says he; "it's all over wid me, for
I plucked him twelve times at the laste,"
says he.

' "That can't be helped now," says Jer;
"it was a sevare act surely," says he, "but
it's too late to lamint for it now," says
he; "the only way to prevint what's past,"
says he, "is to put a stop to it before it
happens," says he.

' "Thrue for you," says Terence, "but
how the divil did you come to the knowledge
iv my father's sowl," says he, "bein'
in the owld gandher," says he.

' "If I tould you," says Jer, "you would
not undherstand me," says he, "without
book-larnin' an' gasthronomy," says
he; "so ax me no questions," says he, "an'
I'll tell you no lies. But blieve me in this
much," says he, "it's your father that's in
it," says he; "an' if I don't make him
spake to-morrow mornin'," says he, "I'll
give you lave to call me a fool," says he.

' "Say no more," says Terence, "that
settles the business," says he; "an' oh!
blur and ages is it not a quare thing,"
says he, "for a dacent respictable man,"
says he, "to be walkin' about the coun-
thry in the shape iv an ould gandher,"
says he; "and oh, murdher, murdher!
is not it often I plucked him," says he,
"an' tundher and ouns might not I have
ate him," says he; and wid that he fell
into a could parspiration, savin' your
prisince, an was on the pint iv faintin'
wid the bare notions iv it.

'Well, whin he was come to himself
agin, says Jerry to him quite an'
asy:

' "Terence," says he, "don't be
aggravatin' yourself," says he; "for I have a
plan composed that 'ill make him spake
out," says he, "an' tell what it is in the
world he's wantin'," says he; "an' mind
an' don't be comin' in wid your gosther,
an' to say agin anything I tell you," says
he, "but jist purtind, as soon as the bird
is brought back," says he, "how that
we're goin' to sind him to-morrow mornin'
to market," says he. "An' if he don't
spake to-night," says he, "or gother
himself out iv the place," says he, "put him
into the hamper airly, and sind him in the
cart," says he, "straight to Tipperary, to
be sould for ating," says he, "along wid
the two gossoons," says he, "an' my name
isn't Jer Garvan," says he, "if he doesn't
spake out before he's half-way," says he.
"An' mind," says he, "as soon as iver
he says the first word," says he, "that
very minute bring him aff to Father
Crotty," says he; "an' if his raverince
doesn't make him ratire," says he, "like
the rest iv his parishioners, glory be to
God," says he, "into the siclusion iv the
flames iv purgathory," says he, "there's
no vartue in my charums," says he.

'Well, wid that the ould gandher was
let into the room agin, an' they all bigined
to talk iv sindin' him the nixt mornin'
to be sould for roastin' in Tipperary, jist
as if it was a thing andoubtingly settled.
But divil a notice the gandher tuck, no
more nor if they wor spaking iv the
Lord-Liftinant; an' Terence desired the
boys to get ready the kish for the
poulthry, an' to "settle it out wid hay
soft an' shnug," says he, "for it's the last
jauntin' the poor ould gandher 'ill get in
this world," says he.

'Well, as the night was gettin' late,
Terence was growin' mighty sorrowful
an' down-hearted in himself entirely wid
the notions iv what was goin' to happen.
An' as soon as the wife an' the crathurs
war fairly in bed, he brought out some
illigint potteen, an' himself an' Jer Garvan
sot down to it; an' begorra, the more
anasy Terence got, the more he dhrank,
and himself and Jer Garvan finished a
quart betune them. It wasn't an
imparial though, an' more's the pity, for
them wasn't anvinted antil short since;
but divil a much matther it signifies any
longer if a pint could hould two quarts,
let alone what it does, sinst Father
Mathew--the Lord purloin his raverence
--begin'd to give the pledge, an' wid
the blessin' iv timperance to deginerate
Ireland.

'An' begorra, I have the medle myself;
an' it's proud I am iv that same, for
abstamiousness is a fine thing, although
it's mighty dhry.

'Well, whin Terence finished his pint,
he thought he might as well stop; "for
enough is as good as a faste," says he;
"an' I pity the vagabond," says he, "that
is not able to conthroul his licquor," says
he, "an' to keep constantly inside iv a
pint measure," said he; an' wid that he
wished Jer Garvan a good-night, an'
walked out iv the room.

'But he wint out the wrong door, bein'
a thrifle hearty in himself, an' not rightly
knowin' whether he was standin' on his
head or his heels, or both iv them at the
same time, an' in place iv gettin' into
bed, where did he thrun himself but into
the poulthry hamper, that the boys had
settled out ready for the gandher in the
mornin'. An' sure enough he sunk down
soft an' complate through the hay to the
bottom; an' wid the turnin' and roulin'
about in the night, the divil a bit iv
him but was covered up as shnug as
a lumper in a pittaty furrow before
mornin'.

'So wid the first light, up gets the
two boys, that war to take the sperit, as
they consaved, to Tipperary; an' they
cotched the ould gandher, an' put him in
the hamper, and clapped a good wisp iv
hay an' the top iv him, and tied it down
sthrong wid a bit iv a coard, and med
the sign iv the crass over him, in dhread
iv any harum, an' put the hamper up an
the car, wontherin' all the while what in
the world was makin' the ould burd so
surprisin' heavy.

'Well, they wint along quite anasy
towards Tipperary, wishin' every minute
that some iv the neighbours bound the
same way id happen to fall in with them,
for they didn't half like the notions iv
havin' no company but the bewitched
gandher, an' small blame to them for that
same.

'But although they wor shaking in their
skhins in dhread iv the ould bird beginnin'
to convarse them every minute, they did
not let an' to one another, bud kep singin'
an' whistlin' like mad, to keep the dread
out iv their hearts.

'Well, afther they war on the road betther
nor half an hour, they kem to the bad bit
close by Father Crotty's, an' there was one
divil of a rut three feet deep at the laste; an'
the car got sich a wondherful chuck goin'
through it, that it wakened Terence widin
in the basket.

' "Bad luck to ye," says he, "my bones
is bruck wid yer thricks; what the divil are
ye doin' wid me?"

' "Did ye hear anything quare, Thady?"
says the boy that was next to the car, turnin'
as white as the top iv a musharoon;
"did ye hear anything quare soundin' out
iv the hamper?" says he.

' "No, nor you,' says Thady, turnin' as
pale as himself, "it's the ould gandher
that's gruntin' wid the shakin' he's gettin',"
says he.

' "Where the divil have ye put me
into," says Terence inside, "bad luck to
your sowls," says he, "let me out, or
I'll be smothered this minute," says
he.

' "There's no use in purtending," says
the boy, "the gandher's spakin', glory be to
God," says he.

' "Let me out, you murdherers," says
Terence.

' "In the name iv the blessed Vargin,"
says Thady, "an' iv all the holy saints,
hould yer tongue, you unnatheral gandher,"
says he.

' "Who's that, that dar to call me nick-
names?" says Terence inside, roaring wid
the fair passion, "let me out, you blasphamious
infiddles," says he, "or by this crass
I'll stretch ye," says he.

' "In the name iv all the blessed saints
in heaven," says Thady, "who the divil are
ye?"

' "Who the divil would I be, but Terence
Mooney," says he. "It's myself that's in
it, you unmerciful bliggards," says he, "let
me out, or by the holy, I'll get out in spite
iv yes," says he, "an' by jaburs, I'll wallop
yes in arnest," says he.

' "It's ould Terence, sure enough," says
Thady, "isn't it cute the fairy docthor found
him out," says he.

' "I'm an the pint iv snuffication," says
Terence, "let me out, I tell you, an' wait
till I get at ye," says he, "for begorra, the
divil a bone in your body but I'll powdher,'
says he.

'An' wid that, he biginned kickin' and
flingin' inside in the hamper, and dhrivin
his legs agin the sides iv it, that it was
a wonder he did not knock it to
pieces.

'Well, as soon as the boys seen that, they
skelped the ould horse into a gallop as hard
as he could peg towards the priest's house,
through the ruts, an' over the stones; an'
you'd see the hamper fairly flyin' three feet
up in the air with the joultin'; glory be to
God.

'So it was small wondher, by the time
they got to his Raverince's door, the breath
was fairly knocked out of poor Terence, so
that he was lyin' speechless in the bottom iv
the hamper.

'Well, whin his Raverince kem down,
they up an' they tould him all that
happened, an' how they put the gandher into
the hamper, an' how he beginned to spake,
an' how he confissed that he was ould
Terence Mooney; an' they axed his honour
to advise them how to get rid iv the spirit
for good an' all.

'So says his Raverince, says he:

' "I'll take my booke," says he, "an' I'll
read some rale sthrong holy bits out iv it,"
says he, "an' do you get a rope and put it
round the hamper," says he, "an' let it
swing over the runnin' wather at the
bridge," says he, "an' it's no matther if I
don't make the spirit come out iv it," says
he.

'Well, wid that, the priest got his horse,
and tuck his booke in undher his arum, an'
the boys follied his Raverince, ladin' the
horse down to the bridge, an' divil a word
out iv Terence all the way, for he seen it
was no use spakin', an' he was afeard if he
med any noise they might thrait him to
another gallop an finish him intirely.

'Well, as soon as they war all come to
the bridge, the boys tuck the rope they had
with them, an' med it fast to the top iv the
hamper an' swung it fairly over the bridge,
lettin' it hang in the air about twelve feet
out iv the wather.

'An' his Raverince rode down to the
bank of the river, close by, an' beginned
to read mighty loud and bould intirely.

'An' when he was goin' on about five
minutes, all at onst the bottom iv the
hamper kem out, an' down wint Terence,
falling splash dash into the water, an' the
ould gandher a-top iv him. Down they
both went to the bottom, wid a souse you'd
hear half a mile off.

'An' before they had time to rise agin,
his Raverince, wid the fair astonishment,
giv his horse one dig iv the spurs, an'
before he knew where he was, in he went,
horse an' all, a-top iv them, an' down to the
bottom.

'Up they all kem agin together, gaspin'
and puffin', an' off down wid the current
wid them, like shot in under the arch iv
the bridge till they kem to the shallow
wather.

'The ould gandher was the first out, and
the priest and Terence kem next, pantin'
an' blowin' an' more than half dhrounded,
an' his Raverince was so freckened wid the
droundin' he got, and wid the sight iv the
sperit, as he consaved, that he wasn't the
better of it for a month.

'An' as soon as Terence could spake, he
swore he'd have the life of the two gossoons;
but Father Crotty would not give him his
will. An' as soon as he was got quiter,
they all endivoured to explain it; but
Terence consaved he went raly to bed the
night before, and his wife said the same
to shilter him from the suspicion for
havin' th' dthrop taken. An' his Raverince
said it was a mysthery, an' swore if
he cotched anyone laughin' at the accident,
he'd lay the horsewhip across their
shouldhers.

'An' Terence grew fonder an' fonder iv
the gandher every day, until at last he died
in a wondherful old age, lavin' the gandher
afther him an' a large family iv childher.

'An' to this day the farm is rinted by one
iv Terence Mooney's lenial and legitimate
postariors.'



BILLY MALOWNEY'S TASTE OF LOVE AND GLORY.

Let the reader fancy a soft summer
evening, the fresh dews falling on
bush and flower. The sun has
just gone down, and the thrilling vespers
of thrushes and blackbirds ring with a wild
joy through the saddened air; the west is
piled with fantastic clouds, and clothed in
tints of crimson and amber, melting away
into a wan green, and so eastward into the
deepest blue, through which soon the stars
will begin to peep.

Let him fancy himself seated upon the
low mossy wall of an ancient churchyard,
where hundreds of grey stones rise above
the sward, under the fantastic branches of
two or three half-withered ash-trees, spreading
their arms in everlasting love and sorrow
over the dead.

The narrow road upon which I and my
companion await the tax-cart that is to
carry me and my basket, with its rich fruitage
of speckled trout, away, lies at his feet,
and far below spreads an undulating plain,
rising westward again into soft hills, and
traversed (every here and there visibly) by
a winding stream which, even through the
mists of evening, catches and returns the
funereal glories of the skies.

As the eye traces its wayward wanderings,
it loses them for a moment in the heaving
verdure of white-thorns and ash, from among
which floats from some dozen rude chimneys,
mostly unseen, the transparent blue film of
turf smoke. There we know, although we
cannot see it, the steep old bridge of
Carrickadrum spans the river; and stretching
away far to the right the valley of Lisnamoe:
its steeps and hollows, its straggling hedges,
its fair-green, its tall scattered trees, and
old grey tower, are disappearing fast among
the discoloured tints and haze of evening.

Those landmarks, as we sit listlessly
expecting the arrival of our modest conveyance,
suggest to our companion--a bare-
legged Celtic brother of the gentle craft,
somewhat at the wrong side of forty, with
a turf-coloured caubeen, patched frieze, a
clear brown complexion, dark-grey eyes,
and a right pleasant dash of roguery in
his features--the tale, which, if the reader
pleases, he is welcome to hear along with
me just as it falls from the lips of our
humble comrade.

His words I can give, but your own
fancy must supply the advantages of an
intelligent, expressive countenance, and,
what is perhaps harder still, the harmony
of his glorious brogue, that, like the
melodies of our own dear country, will
leave a burden of mirth or of sorrow with
nearly equal propriety, tickling the
diaphragm as easily as it plays with the heart-
strings, and is in itself a national music
that, I trust, may never, never--scouted
and despised though it be--never cease, like
the lost tones of our harp, to be heard in
the fields of my country, in welcome or
endearment, in fun or in sorrow, stirring
the hearts of Irish men and Irish women.

My friend of the caubeen and naked
shanks, then, commenced, and continued
his relation, as nearly as possible, in the
following words:


Av coorse ye often heerd talk of Billy
Malowney, that lived by the bridge of
Carrickadrum. 'Leum-a-rinka' was the name
they put on him, he was sich a beautiful
dancer. An' faix, it's he was the rale
sportin' boy, every way--killing the hares,
and gaffing the salmons, an' fightin' the
men, an' funnin' the women, and coortin'
the girls; an' be the same token, there was
not a colleen inside iv his jurisdiction but
was breakin' her heart wid the fair love iv
him.

Well, this was all pleasant enough, to be
sure, while it lasted; but inhuman beings
is born to misfortune, an' Bill's divarshin
was not to last always. A young boy can't
be continially coortin' and kissin' the girls
(an' more's the pity) without exposin'
himself to the most eminent parril; an' so signs
all' what should happen Billy Malowney
himself, but to fall in love at last wid little
Molly Donovan, in Coolnamoe.

I never could ondherstand why in the
world it was Bill fell in love wid HER,
above all the girls in the country. She
was not within four stone weight iv being
as fat as Peg Brallaghan; and as for redness
in the face, she could not hould a
candle to Judy Flaherty. (Poor Judy!
she was my sweetheart, the darlin', an'
coorted me constant, ever antil she married
a boy of the Butlers; an' it's twenty years
now since she was buried under the ould
white-thorn in Garbally. But that's no
matther!)

Well, at any rate, Molly Donovan tuck
his fancy, an' that's everything! She had
smooth brown hair--as smooth as silk-an'
a pair iv soft coaxin' eyes--an' the whitest
little teeth you ever seen; an', bedad, she
was every taste as much in love wid himself
as he was.

Well, now, he was raly stupid wid love:
there was not a bit of fun left in him. He
was good for nothin' an airth bud sittin'
under bushes, smokin' tobacky, and sighin'
till you'd wonder how in the world he got
wind for it all.

An', bedad, he was an illigant scholar,
moreover; an', so signs, it's many's the
song he made about her; an' if you'd be
walkin' in the evening, a mile away from
Carrickadrum, begorra you'd hear him singing
out like a bull, all across the country,
in her praises.

Well, ye may be sure, ould Tim Donovan
and the wife was not a bit too well plased
to see Bill Malowney coortin' their daughter
Molly; for, do ye mind, she was the only
child they had, and her fortune was thirty-
five pounds, two cows, and five illigant
pigs, three iron pots and a skillet, an' a
trifle iv poultry in hand; and no one knew
how much besides, whenever the Lord id
be plased to call the ould people out of the
way into glory!

So, it was not likely ould Tim Donovan
id be fallin' in love wid poor Bill Malowney
as aisy as the girls did; for, barrin' his
beauty, an' his gun, an' his dhudheen, an'
his janius, the divil a taste of property iv
any sort or description he had in the wide
world!

Well, as bad as that was, Billy would
not give in that her father and mother had
the smallest taste iv a right to intherfare,
good or bad.

'An' you're welcome to rayfuse me,' says
he, 'whin I ax your lave,' says he; 'an'
I'll ax your lave,' says he, 'whenever I
want to coort yourselves,' says he; 'but
it's your daughter I'm coortin' at the present,'
says he, 'an that's all I'll say,' says
he; 'for I'd as soon take a doase of salts
as be discoursin' ye,' says he.

So it was a rale blazin' battle betune
himself and the ould people; an', begorra,
there was no soart iv blaguardin' that did
not pass betune them; an' they put a
solemn injection on Molly again seein' him
or meetin' him for the future.

But it was all iv no use. You might
as well be pursuadin' the birds agin flying,
or sthrivin' to coax the stars out iv the
sky into your hat, as be talking common
sinse to them that's fairly bothered and
burstin' wid love. There's nothin' like it.
The toothache an' cholic together id compose
you betther for an argyment than
itself. It leaves you fit for nothin' bud
nansinse.

It's stronger than whisky, for one good
drop iv it will make you drunk for one
year, and sick, begorra, for a dozen.

It's stronger than the say, for it'll carry
you round the world an' never let you
sink, in sunshine or storm; an,' begorra,
it's stronger than Death himself, for it is
not afeard iv him, bedad, but dares him in
every shape.

But lovers has quarrels sometimes, and,
begorra, when they do, you'd a'most imagine
they hated one another like man and
wife. An' so, signs an, Billy Malowney
and Molly Donovan fell out one evening
at ould Tom Dundon's wake; an' whatever
came betune them, she made no more about
it but just draws her cloak round her, and
away wid herself and the sarvant-girl home
again, as if there was not a corpse, or a
fiddle, or a taste of divarsion in it.

Well, Bill Malowney follied her down
the boreen, to try could he deludher her
back again; but, if she was bitther before,
she gave it to him in airnest when she
got him alone to herself, and to that
degree that he wished her safe home, short
and sulky enough, an' walked back again,
as mad as the devil himself, to the
wake, to pay a respect to poor Tom
Dundon.

Well, my dear, it was aisy seen there
was something wrong avid Billy Malowney,
for he paid no attintion the rest of the
evening to any soart of divarsion but the
whisky alone; an' every glass he'd drink
it's what he'd be wishing the divil had
the women, an' the worst iv bad luck to
all soarts iv courting, until, at last, wid
the goodness iv the sperits, an' the badness
iv his temper, an' the constant flusthration
iv cursin', he grew all as one as you might
say almost, saving your presince, bastely
drunk!

Well, who should he fall in wid, in that
childish condition, as he was deploying
along the road almost as straight as the
letter S, an' cursin' the girls, an' roarin' for
more whisky, but the recruiting-sargent iv
the Welsh Confusileers.

So, cute enough, the sargent begins to
convarse him, an' it was not long until he
had him sitting in Murphy's public-house,
wid an elegant dandy iv punch before
him, an' the king's money safe an' snug
in the lowest wrinkle of his breeches-pocket.

So away wid him, and the dhrums and
fifes playing, an' a dozen more unforthunate
bliggards just listed along with him, an'
he shakin' hands wid the sargent, and
swearin' agin the women every minute,
until, be the time he kem to himself,
begorra, he was a good ten miles on the
road to Dublin, an' Molly and all behind
him.

It id be no good tellin' you iv the letters
he wrote to her from the barracks there,
nor how she was breaking her heart to go
and see him just wanst before he'd go; but
the father an' mother would not allow iv it
be no manes.

An' so in less time than you'd be thinkin'
about it, the colonel had him polished off
into it rale elegant soger, wid his gun
exercise, and his bagnet exercise, and his
small sword, and broad sword, and pistol
and dagger, an' all the rest, an' then away
wid him on boord a man-a-war to furrin
parts, to fight for King George agin Bonyparty,
that was great in them times.

Well, it was very soon in everyone's
mouth how Billy Malowney was batin' all
before him, astonishin' the ginerals, an
frightenin' the inimy to that degree, there
was not a Frinchman dare say parley voo
outside of the rounds iv his camp.

You may be sure Molly was proud iv
that same, though she never spoke a word
about it; until at last the news kem home
that Billy Malowney was surrounded an'
murdered by the Frinch army, under Napoleon
Bonyparty himself. The news was
brought by Jack Brynn Dhas, the peddlar,
that said he met the corporal iv the regiment 
on the quay iv Limerick, an' how he brought
him into a public-house and thrated him to
a naggin, and got all the news about poor
Billy Malowney out iv him while they
war dhrinkin' it; an' a sorrowful story it
was.

The way it happened, accordin' as the
corporal tould him, was jist how the Jook
iv Wellington detarmined to fight a rale
tarin' battle wid the Frinch, and Bonyparty
at the same time was aiqually detarmined
to fight the divil's own scrimmidge wid the
British foorces.

Well, as soon as the business was pretty
near ready at both sides, Bonyparty and the
general next undher himself gets up behind
a bush, to look at their inimies through spy-
glasses, and thry would they know any iv
them at the distance.

'Bedadad!' says the gineral, afther a divil
iv a long spy, 'I'd bet half a pint,' says he,
'that's Bill Malowney himself,' says he,
'down there,' says he.

'Och!' says Bonypart, 'do you tell me
so?' says he--'I'm fairly heart-scalded
with that same Billy Malowney,' says
he; 'an' I think if I was wanst shut
iv him I'd bate the rest iv them aisy,'
says he.

'I'm thinking so myself,' says the
gineral, says he; 'but he's a tough bye,'
says he.

'Tough!' says Bonypart, 'he's the divil,'
says he.

'Begorra, I'd be better plased.' says the
gineral, says he, 'to take himself than
the Duke iv Willinton,' says he, 'an'
Sir Edward Blakeney into the bargain,'
says he.

'The Duke of Wellinton and Gineral
Blakeney,' says Bonypart, 'is great for
planning, no doubt,' says he; 'but Billy
Malowney's the boy for ACTION,' says he--
'an' action's everything, just now,' says
he.

So wid that Bonypart pushes up his
cocked hat, and begins scratching his
head, and thinning and considherin' for
the bare life, and at last says he to the
gineral:

'Gineral Commandher iv all the Foorces,'
says he, 'I've hot it,' says he: 'ordher out
the forlorn hope,' says he, 'an' give them as
much powdher, both glazed and blasting,'
says he, 'an' as much bullets do ye mind,
an' swan-dhrops an' chain-shot,' says he,
'an' all soorts iv waipons an' combustables
as they can carry; an' let them surround
Bill Malowney,' says he, 'an' if they can
get any soort iv an advantage,' says he,
'let them knock him to smithereens,' says
he, 'an' then take him presner,' says he;
'an' tell all the bandmen iv the Frinch
army,' says he, 'to play up "Garryowen,"
to keep up their sperits,' says he, 'all the
time they're advancin'. An' you may
promise them anything you like in my
name,' says he; for, by my sowl, I
don't think its many iv them 'ill come
back to throuble us,' says he, winkin' at
him.

So away with the gineral, an' he ordhers
out the forlorn hope, all' tells the band
to play, an' everything else, just as Bonypart
desired him. An' sure enough, whin
Billy Malowney heerd the music where he
was standin' taking a blast of the dhudheen
to compose his mind for murdherin' the
Frinchmen as usual, being mighty partial
to that tune intirely, he cocks his ear a
one side, an' down he stoops to listen to
the music; but, begorra, who should be
in his rare all the time but a Frinch
grannideer behind a bush, and seeing him
stooped in a convanient forum, bedad he
let flies at him sthraight, and fired him right
forward between the legs an' the small iv
the back, glory be to God! with what
they call (saving your presence) a bum-shell.

Well, Bill Malowney let one roar out
iv him, an' away he rowled over the field
iv battle like a slitther (as Bonypart
and the Duke iv Wellington, that was
watching the manoeuvres from a distance,
both consayved) into glory.

An' sure enough the Frinch was overjoyed
beyant all bounds, an' small blame
to them--an' the Duke of Wellington,
I'm toult, was never all out the same
man sinst.

At any rate, the news kem home how
Billy Malowney was murdhered by the
Frinch in furrin parts.

Well, all this time, you may be sure,
there was no want iv boys comin' to
coort purty Molly Donovan; but one
way ar another, she always kept puttin'
them off constant. An' though her father
and mother was nathurally anxious to get
rid of her respickably, they did not
like to marry her off in spite iv her
teeth.

An' this way, promising one while and
puttin' it off another, she conthrived to
get on from one Shrove to another, until
near seven years was over and gone from
the time when Billy Malowney listed for
furrin sarvice.

It was nigh hand a year from the time
whin the news iv Leum-a-rinka bein' killed
by the Frinch came home, an' in place
iv forgettin' him, as the saisins wint over,
it's what Molly was growin' paler and
more lonesome every day, antil the neighbours
thought she was fallin' into a
decline; and this is the way it was
with her whin the fair of Lisnamoe kem
round.

It was a beautiful evenin', just at
the time iv the reapin' iv the oats, and
the sun was shinin' through the red
clouds far away over the hills iv Cahirmore.

Her father an' mother, an' the boys an'
girls, was all away down in the fair, and
Molly Sittin' all alone on the step of the
stile, listening to the foolish little birds
whistlin' among the leaves--and the sound
of the mountain-river flowin' through the
stones an' bushes--an' the crows flyin'
home high overhead to the woods iv
Glinvarlogh--an' down in the glen, far away,
she could see the fair-green iv Lisnamoe
in the mist, an' sunshine among the grey
rocks and threes--an' the cows an' the
horses, an' the blue frieze, an' the red
cloaks, an' the tents, an' the smoke, an'
the ould round tower--all as soft an' as
sorrowful as a dhrame iv ould times.

An' while she was looking this way,
an' thinking iv Leum-a-rinka--poor Bill
iv the dance, that was sleepin' in his
lonesome glory in the fields iv Spain--she
began to sing the song he used to like so
well in the ould times--

          'Shule, shule, shale a-roon;'

an' when she ended the verse, what do
you think but she heard a manly voice just
at the other side iv the hedge, singing
the last words over again!

Well she knew it; her heart flutthered
up like a little bird that id be wounded,
and then dhropped still in her breast.
It was himself. In a minute he was
through the hedge and standing before
her.

'Leum!' says she.

'Mavourneen cuishla machree!' says he;
and without another word they were locked
in one another's arms.

Well, it id only be nansinse for me
thryin' an' tell ye all the foolish things
they said, and how they looked in one
another's faces, an' laughed, an' cried, an'
laughed again; and how, when they came
to themselves, and she was able at last to
believe it was raly Billy himself that was
there, actially holdin' her hand, and lookin'
in her eyes the same way as ever, barrin'
he was browner and boulder, an' did not,
maybe, look quite as merry in himself
as he used to do in former times--an'
fondher for all, an' more lovin' than ever
--how he tould her all about the wars
wid the Frinchmen--an' how he was
wounded, and left for dead in the field iv
battle, bein' shot through the breast, and
how he was discharged, an' got a pinsion
iv a full shillin' a day--and how he was come
back to liv the rest iv his days in the
sweet glen iv Lisnamoe, an' (if only SHE'D
consint) to marry herself in spite iv them
all.

Well, ye may aisily think they had plinty
to talk about, afther seven years without
once seein' one another; and so signs on,
the time flew by as swift an' as pleasant as
a bird on the wing, an' the sun wint down,
an' the moon shone sweet an' soft instead,
an' they two never knew a ha'porth about
it, but kept talkin' an' whisperin', an'
whisperin' an' talkin'; for it's wondherful how
often a tinder-hearted girl will bear to hear
a purty boy tellin' her the same story constant
over an' over; ontil at last, sure
enough, they heerd the ould man himself
comin' up the boreen, singin' the 'Colleen
Rue'--a thing he never done barrin' whin
he had a dhrop in; an' the misthress walkin'
in front iv him, an' two illigant Kerry
cows he just bought in the fair, an'
the sarvint boys dhriving them behind.

'Oh, blessed hour!' says Molly, 'here's
my father.'

'I'll spake to him this minute,' says
Bill.

'Oh, not for the world,' says she; 'he's
singin' the "Colleen Rue," ' says she,
'and no one dar raison with him,' says
she.

'An' where 'll I go, thin?' says he, 'for
they're into the haggard an top iv us,' says
he, 'an' they'll see me iv I lep through the
hedge,' says he.

'Thry the pig-sty,' says she, 'mavourneen,'
says she, 'in the name iv God,' says
she.

'Well, darlint,' says he, 'for your sake,'
says he, 'I'll condescend to them animals,'
says he.

An' wid that he makes a dart to get in;
bud, begorra, it was too late--the pigs was
all gone home, and the pig-sty was as full
as the Burr coach wid six inside.

'Och! blur-an'-agers,' says he, 'there is
not room for a suckin'-pig,' says he, 'let
alone a Christian,' says he.

'Well, run into the house, Billy,' says
she, 'this minute,' says she, 'an' hide yourself
antil they're quiet,' says she, 'an' thin
you can steal out,' says she, 'anknownst to
them all,' says she.

'I'll do your biddin', says he, 'Molly
asthore,' says he.

'Run in thin,' says she, 'an' I'll go an'
meet them,' says she.

So wid that away wid her, and in wint
Billy, an' where 'id he hide himself bud
in a little closet that was off iv the
room where the ould man and woman
slep'. So he closed the doore, and sot
down in an ould chair he found there convanient.

Well, he was not well in it when all the
rest iv them comes into the kitchen, an' ould
Tim Donovan singin' the 'Colleen Rue'
for the bare life, an' the rest iv them
sthrivin' to humour him, and doin'
exactly everything he bid them, because
they seen he was foolish be the manes iv
the liquor.

Well, to be sure all this kep' them long
enough, you may be sure, from goin' to
bed, so that Billy could get no manner iv
an advantage to get out iv the house, and so
he sted sittin' in the dark closet in state,
cursin' the 'Colleen Rue,' and wondherin'
to the divil whin they'd get the ould man
into his bed. An', as if that was not delay
enough, who should come in to stop for the
night but Father O'Flaherty, of Cahirmore,
that was buyin' a horse at the fair! An' av
course, there was a bed to be med down for
his raverence, an' some other attintions; an'
a long discoorse himself an' ould Mrs.
Donovan had about the slaughter iv Billy
Malowney, an' how he was buried on the
field iv battle; an' his raverence hoped he
got a dacent funeral, an' all the other
convaniences iv religion. An' so you may
suppose it was pretty late in the night before
all iv them got to their beds.

Well, Tim Donovan could not settle to
sleep at all at all, an' so he kep' discoorsin'
the wife about the new cows he bought,
an' the stripphers he sould, an' so an for
better than an hour, ontil from one thing to
another he kem to talk about the pigs, an'
the poulthry; and at last, having nothing
betther to discoorse about, he begun at his
daughter Molly, an' all the heartscald she
was to him be raison iv refusin' the men.
An' at last says he:

'I onderstand,' says he, 'very well how
it is,' says he. 'It's how she was in love,'
says he, 'wid that bliggard, Billy Malowney,'
says he, 'bad luck to him!' says he; for
by this time he was coming to his raison.

'Ah!' says the wife, says she, 'Tim
darlint, don't be cursin' them that's dead
an' buried,' says she.

'An' why would not I,' says he, 'if
they desarve it?' says he.

'Whisht,' says she, 'an' listen to that,'
says she. 'In the name of the Blessed
Vargin,' says she, 'what IS it?' says
she.

An' sure enough what was it but Bill
Malowney that was dhroppin' asleep in the
closet, an' snorin' like a church organ.

'Is it a pig,' says he, 'or is it a
Christian?'

'Arra! listen to the tune iv it,' says
she; 'sure a pig never done the like is
that,' says she.

'Whatever it is,' says he, 'it's in the
room wid us,' says he. 'The Lord be
marciful to us!' says he.

'I tould you not to be cursin',' says
she; 'bad luck to you,' says she, 'for an
ommadhaun!' for she was a very religious
woman in herself.

'Sure, he's buried in Spain,' says he;
'an' it is not for one little innocent
expression,' says he, 'he'd be comin' all that
a way to annoy the house,' says he.

Well, while they war talkin', Bill turns
in the way he was sleepin' into an aisier
imposture; and as soon as he stopped
snorin' ould Tim Donovan's courage riz
agin, and says he:

'I'll go to the kitchen,' says he, 'an'
light a rish,' says he.

An' with that away wid him, an' the
wife kep' workin' the beads all the time,
an' before he kem back Bill was snorin' as
loud as ever.

'Oh! bloody wars--I mane the blessed
saints about us!--that deadly sound,' says
he; 'it's going on as lively as ever,'
says he.

'I'm as wake as a rag,' says his wife,
says she, 'wid the fair anasiness,' says
she. 'It's out iv the little closet it's
comin,' says she.

'Say your prayers,' says he, 'an' hould
your tongue,' says he, 'while I discoorse
it,' says he. 'An' who are ye,' says he,
'in the name iv of all the holy saints?'
says he, givin' the door a dab iv a crusheen
that wakened Bill inside. 'I ax,' says he,
'who are you?' says he.

Well, Bill did not rightly remember
where in the world he was, but he pushed
open the door, an' says he:

'Billy Malowney's my name,' says he,
'an' I'll thank ye to tell me a betther,'
says he.

Well, whin Tim Donovan heard that, an'
actially seen that it was Bill himself that
was in it, he had not strength enough to
let a bawl out iv him, but he dhropt the
candle out iv his hand, an' down wid himself
on his back in the dark.

Well, the wife let a screech you'd hear at
the mill iv Killraghlin, an'--

'Oh,' says she, 'the spirit has him,
body an' bones!' says she. 'Oh, holy St.
Bridget--oh, Mother iv Marcy--oh, Father
O'Flaherty!' says she, screechin' murdher
from out iv her bed.

Well, Bill Malowney was not a minute
remimberin' himself, an' so out wid him
quite an' aisy, an' through the kitchen;
bud in place iv the door iv the house,
it's what he kem to the door iv Father
O'Flaherty's little room, where he was jist
wakenin' wid the noise iv the screechin'
an' battherin'; an' bedad, Bill makes no
more about it, but he jumps, wid one
boult, clever an' clane into his raverance's
bed.

'What do ye mane, you uncivilised
bliggard?' says his raverance. 'Is that a
venerable way,' says he, 'to approach your
clargy?' says he.

'Hould your tongue,' says Bill, 'an' I'll
do ye no harum,' says he.

'Who are you, ye scoundhrel iv the
world?' says his raverance.

'Whisht!' says he? 'I'm Billy Malowney,'
says he.

'You lie!' says his raverance for he
was frightened beyont all bearin'--an' he
makes but one jump out iv the bed at the
wrong side, where there was only jist a
little place in the wall for a press, an' his
raverance could not as much as turn in
it for the wealth iv kingdoms. 'You lie,'
says he; 'but for feared it's the truth
you're tellin',' says he, 'here's at ye in the
name iv all the blessed saints together!'
says he.

An' wid that, my dear, he blazes away
at him wid a Latin prayer iv the strongest
description, an', as he said himself afterwards,
that was iv a nature that id dhrive
the divil himself up the chimley like a
puff iv tobacky smoke, wid his tail betune
his legs.

'Arra, what are ye sthrivin' to say,' says
Bill; says he, 'if ye don't hould your
tongue,' says he, 'wid your parly voo;'
says he, 'it's what I'll put my thumb on
your windpipe,' says he, 'an' Billy
Malowney never wint back iv his word yet,'
says he.

'Thundher-an-owns,' says his raverance,
says he--seein' the Latin took no infect on
him, at all at all an' screechin' that you'd
think he'd rise the thatch up iv the house
wid the fair fright--'and thundher and
blazes, boys, will none iv yes come here
wid a candle, but lave your clargy to be
choked by a spirit in the dark?' says he.

Well, be this time the sarvint boys and
the rest iv them wor up an' half dressed,
an' in they all run, one on top iv another,
wid pitchforks and spades, thinkin' it was
only what his raverence slep' a dhrame iv
the like, by means of the punch he was
afther takin' just before he rowl'd himself
into the bed. But, begorra, whin they seen
it was raly Bill Malowney himself that was
in it, it was only who'd be foremost out
agin, tumblin' backways, one over another,
and his raverence roarin' an' cursin' them
like mad for not waitin' for him.

Well, my dear, it was betther than half
an hour before Billy Malowney could
explain to them all how it raly was himself,
for begorra they were all iv them persuadin'
him that he was a spirit to that degree
it's a wondher he did not give in to it, if
it was only to put a stop to the argiment.

Well, his raverence tould the ould people
then, there was no use in sthrivin' agin the
will iv Providence an' the vagaries iv love
united; an' whin they kem to undherstand
to a sartinty how Billy had a shillin' a day
for the rest iv his days, begorra they took
rather a likin' to him, and considhered at
wanst how he must have riz out of all his
nansinse entirely, or his gracious Majesty
id never have condescinded to show him
his countenance that way every day of his
life, on a silver shillin'.

An' so, begorra, they never stopt till it
was all settled--an' there was not sich a
weddin' as that in the counthry sinst. It's
more than forty years ago, an' though I
was no more nor a gossoon myself, I
remimber it like yestherday. Molly never
looked so purty before, an' Billy Malowney
was plisant beyont all hearin,' to that degree
that half the girls in it was fairly tarin'
mad--only they would not let on--they
had not him to themselves in place iv her.
An' begorra I'd be afeared to tell ye,
because you would not believe me, since
that blessid man Father Mathew put an
end to all soorts of sociality, the Lord
reward him, how many gallons iv pottieen
whisky was dhrank upon that most solemn
and tindher occasion.

Pat Hanlon, the piper, had a faver out
iv it; an' Neddy Shawn Heigue, mountin'
his horse the wrong way, broke his collar-
bone, by the manes iv fallin' over his tail
while he was feelin' for his head; an'
Payther Brian, the horse-docther, I am
tould, was never quite right in the head
ever afther; an' ould Tim Donovan was
singin' the 'Colleen Rue' night and day
for a full week; an' begorra the weddin'
was only the foundation iv fun, and the
beginning iv divarsion, for there was not
a year for ten years afther, an' more, but
brought round a christenin' as regular as
the sasins revarted.





End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Purcell Papers, Volume 3