o
 
 CARROLL O'DONOGHUE 
 
 A TALE OF THE IRISH STRUGGLES OF 186$, 
 AND OF RECENT TIMES. 
 
 CHRISTINE FABER, 
 Authoress of "A Mother's Sacrifice," etc* 
 
 Poor suffering Ireland ! trampled long, 
 Still art thou theme of tale and song. 
 
 P. J. KENEDY & SONS 
 
 44 BARCLAY STREET, NEW YORK
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THK following story was written with the hope of contribut 
 ing a little to that literature which seeks to delineate faithfully 
 the Irish character, the faults of the latter have served too 
 often as a fruitful theme, while its virtues were either ignored, 
 or so caricatured that they failed to be appreciated, or even 
 understood. 
 
 While the genial and spontaneous humor of the Irish peo- 
 ple remain almost without a parallel, that very humor some- 
 times seems to obscure or conceal the heart depths beneath it 
 the spirit of sacrifice for loved ones, the intense affection 
 for kindred, the heroic, and, in many cases, cheerful endur- 
 ance of wrongs they were unable to rectify. 
 
 Such are some of the kindly qualities of the Irish, though 
 alas ! at times marred by sad blemishes ; but side by side 
 with these faults are virtues rare and bright, and to depict 
 these virtues, with the hope of winning just regard for a peo 
 pie so long suffering, has been the aim of the 
 
 AUTHOR. 
 
 NKW Yo*r, APRIL, 1881. 
 
 2125735
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 I. On the Search , ...., 7 
 
 II. A Singular Meeting 17 
 
 HI. Carter's Proposal 26 
 
 IV. Captain Dennier 31 
 
 V. Mrs. Carmody 36 
 
 VI. A New Home 42 
 
 VII. Machinations 55 
 
 VIII. Father O'Connor 60 
 
 IX. The Dying Fenian 69 
 
 X. Shaun 78 
 
 XL Carter's Tool 91 
 
 XII. Imprisoned 98 
 
 XIII. The Widow's Reply 104 
 
 XIV. Corny O'Toole 112 
 
 XV. Captain Crawford's Valet 120 
 
 XVI. Shaun objects to Dublin 128 
 
 XVII. Tighe a Vohr's Mouth-piece 134 
 
 XVIII. Carter's Insinuations 145 
 
 XIX. Disappointed 153 
 
 XX. A Street Arab 160 
 
 XXI. The Miser of Dhrommacohol 173 
 
 XXII. Carter visits Dublin 183 
 
 XXIII. Tighe a Vohr's proposal to his Mother 189 
 
 XXIV. Tighe secures a Horse 195 
 
 XXV. Mr. Canty 203 
 
 XXVI. Mr. Canty's Reception 209 
 
 XXVII. Carroll sees his Friends 215 
 
 XXVIII. The Race 223 
 
 XXIX. Tighe a Vohr's Sweetheart 233 
 
 XXX. A Startling Declaration 248 
 
 XXXI. Nora McCarthy's Sacrifice 257 
 
 XXXII Carroll's Trust in Carter 369
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 XXXIIL Father and Daughter 278 
 
 XXXIV. Rick's Discovery , 388 
 
 XXXV. Carter Foiled 294 
 
 XXXVI. Tighe Explains to Captain Dennier 804 
 
 XXXVII. The Trial 806 
 
 XXXVIII. Carter Deluded 811 
 
 XXXIX. Inaendoes 820 
 
 XL. A Storm-tossed Soul .826 
 
 XLI. Tighe's Efforts to aid Captain Dennier's Courtship 833 
 
 XLIL Mrs. Cannody's Latin Letter 843 
 
 XLIII. A Singular Interview 849 
 
 XLIV. Carter Repulsed 860 
 
 XLV. A Criminating Paper 868 
 
 XLVL A Bold Venture 877 
 
 XLVH. Cruel Treachery 886 
 
 XLVIIL Sacrifice Bearing Fruit 893 
 
 XLIX. Peace to a Storm-tossed Soul 897 
 
 L. A Happy Meeting 408 
 
 LL Father O'Connor's Tale 407 
 
 Ln. The Work of a Spy 430 
 
 Lm. Father and Son 438 
 
 LIV. The Summons to Dublin 444 
 
 LV. Carter's High Hopes 447 
 
 LVL Carter Confronted with his Guilt 454 
 
 LVII. The Return to Dhrommacohol 470 
 
 LVm, Convicted at Last 480 
 
 LDL A Happy Restoration 489 
 
 UL Corn/ OToole ii Satisfied. , 494
 
 CARROLL O'DONOGHUE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ON THE SEARCH. 
 
 IN one of the wildest parts of Ireland, where mountain and 
 morass, brush and woodland gave beauty and variety to the 
 scene, a company of her Majesty's soldiers were slowly wend- 
 ing their way. 
 
 It was nearly sunset, and viewed in the mellow splendor of 
 the dying day, the prospect had all that softened beauty which 
 touches the heart with something akin to pathos, even while 
 it wins to enthusiastic admiration. It seemed to have such an 
 effect on the rough, bronzed fellows who were treading their 
 way by the side of the morass, for, from murmurs at the fate 
 which doomed them to such useless and fatiguing expeditions, 
 and jokes at some of their companions who had been outdone 
 in individual exploits by the rascally Irish, they had become 
 suddenly silent, their eyes wandering from object to object of 
 the beautiful scene, and more than one hardened face express- 
 ing the softened emotions of a soul long unused to any but 
 lawless impulses. Their leader appeared the most impressed ; 
 his face, more youthful than any of his companions', was un- 
 marked by the lines which indicate a reckless will and disso- 
 lute living, and his stern and piercing eyes had all the candor 
 of a truthful heart. 
 
 His whole countenance was aglow from some secret feeling, 
 (7)
 
 S CARROLL VLVNOOKUS. 
 
 his step became slower, and at lenght, as if orercomc by hii 
 strange emotion, he paused, and brushing his hand over his 
 forehead, murmured audibly : 
 
 " What does it mean what are these impressions I am try- 
 ing to recall are they only parts of a lost dream ? " 
 
 Roused by a cough from one of his men, the craving of 
 whose appetite had overmastered his desire to linger on th 
 scene, he abruptly resumed his way, the glow fading from his 
 face and his eyes resuming their stern and piercing expression. 
 
 The road began to grow more tortuous and unmarked, the 
 scene itself to become more wild ; night was descending, and 
 even the stern and reticent leader betrayed a little anxiety as 
 he glanced about him to discover, if possible, some cabin from 
 which he and his men might be directed. None appeared in 
 sight, and as he eagerly peered about him, the half suppressed 
 murmurs of his men fell upon his ears. 
 
 They were approaching what seemed to be the ruins of 
 some ancient abbey : arches, niches, and narrow pointed 
 windows came dimly into sight, their very outlines suggesting 
 thoughts of vivid and romantic interest. A few steps farther, 
 and the broken remains of ancient tombs strewed their way, 
 while the dense ivy that in some places entirely covered the 
 moldering structure, imparted a weird and supernatural 
 aspect to the scene. 
 
 Suddenly there emerged from behind the broken remnant 
 of a wall which was once part of the castled dominions of the 
 lords of Kerry a strange-looking form ; bounding forward 
 until it reached the side of the officer in command, it gave a 
 cry so wild that every man of the little detachment was 
 brought to a sudden and somewhat alarmed halt. 
 
 The form was that of a man of medium, slender stature, 
 and a head much sunken between high, drooping shoulders ; 
 it was clothed in such grotesque garb, and the countenance 
 expressed so much stupid bewilderment, that even the stern 
 leader was provoked to a smile. 
 
 44 Who are you ? " he asked.
 
 ON THE BSAROS. 9 
 
 "Eyeh ! " was the reply, accompanied by an idiotic lolling 
 of the head. 
 
 Presuming that the strange being might be deaf, the officet 
 repeated his question. 
 
 The man shook back the coarse hair that hung almost ovet 
 his eyes, and stood erect 
 
 " Is it who I am you're askin' ? maybe it would be manners 
 to tell me who ye are, seein' that ye don't belong to this part 
 of the country at all." 
 
 Willing to humor the singular being for the sake of being 
 guided perhaps to their destination by him, the officer replied : 
 
 " Well, my man, we are a part of her Majesty's Regi- 
 ment, sent to Ireland to keep the peace between the Fenians 
 and the queen's loyal subjects. We have happened to get in 
 this confounded spot to-night because we have lost our way ; 
 if you will lead us back to the garrison at Tralee you shall be 
 well rewarded." 
 
 " With what ? " and the comically stupid look accompanying 
 the question again provoked the officer's smile. 
 
 " With a good supper, and perhaps what you will like as 
 well, or better, a glass of good whisky." 
 
 " I dun na," was the reply, " mebbe it's wanting me to turn 
 informer you'd be when you'd get me into your clutches." 
 
 " No," was the answer, " that shall lie with yourself ; if you 
 have information which is of use to her Majesty's government 
 and wish to tell it, you shall be well paid for it ; but if you do 
 not choose to do so you shall be free to leave us when you 
 will, only guide us out of here," 
 
 The stranger still hesitated, gazing at each in turn of the 
 men, who had somewhat forgotten their fatigue and their 
 anxiety to reach their quarters, in the interest and amusement 
 afforded by this novel scene. 
 
 " Will you pledge me your word of honor, then, that you 
 will do me no harrum, neither now nor again ? " he said at 
 last, turning his eyes full upon his questioner, and extending 
 a brown, knotty and horny hand. Captain Dennier of her
 
 Majesty'* shrunk a little from the proffered grasp ; his 
 fastidious taste and innate haughtiness could hardly yield to 
 guch close contact with the being before him, and it was a 
 second or two before he suffered his own aristocratic, shapely 
 hand to lie in the horny palm. 
 
 " It's to the garrison you want to go," pursued the strange 
 man ; " well this is the road to Ardfert, and Tralee is a good 
 five miles beyant, but follow me, and I'll have you there in 
 no time, or my name is not Rick of the Hills." Rick's " no 
 time," as he had expressed it, lengthened itself to what seemed 
 to the tired and hungry men an undue period, and at moments 
 when there seemed to be no termination to the tortuous path, 
 and no more sign of habitation in the wild spot than there 
 had been at the beginning of the journey, Captain Dennier 
 and his men grew impatient, and even a little anxious lest 
 their wild guide might be playing them false. 
 
 "Look here, my man," the captain said at last, "there's 
 something wrong about this ; you are not keeping your word 
 with ue." 
 
 " Whisht ! " was the reply, accompanied by a gesture com- 
 manding silence, " don't let your voice be heard in this place, 
 or maybe you'd have more company than would be to youi 
 liking," 
 
 The officer, though a man of tried courage, quailed for a 
 moment at the words of his guide. His hand sought the hilt 
 of his sword, and his eyes tried more anxiously to pierce the 
 gloom of the night. All the wild stories which he had heard, 
 even over camp-fires in India, of the places of concealment 
 afforded to the Irish by the very wildness of their country, 
 and of the lengths to wnich desperation occasionally drove 
 them, came before him now. His fears for the instant roused 
 into fancied being a hundred lawless, despairing wretches 
 swooping down from the very hills beside which they were 
 walking, and hurling death to every man of the little party 
 Then also, the disturbed and excited state of the times, owing 
 to those troubles to which Irish grievances have ever, undei
 
 ON THE SEARCH. II 
 
 some form or other, given being, arose before him in vivid 
 and distressing pictures. Wild reports of an anticipated gene- 
 ral Fenian rising had already reached him, and knowing that 
 they were in that very part of the country where the young and 
 daring Captain O'Connor secreted his followers in the fast- 
 nesses of the mountains, he became each moment more certain 
 of being attacked. 
 
 Rick of the Hills, a little in advance of the soldiers, kept 
 steadily on his way. He seemed so sure of the road, tortuous 
 as it was, that he looked neither to the right nor to the left 
 of him, and only occasionally peered ahead. 
 
 The path at last became broader and widened into one that 
 appeared to lead into some hamlet or town. The soldierSj 
 relieved from the oppression, gloom, and wildness of the 
 scenes of the last few hours, recovered their spirits, and their 
 leader, recognizing by certain landmarks that the garrison- 
 town was not far distant, ceased to grasp his sword. 
 
 They arrived at the barracks, from one quarter of which 
 as they approached they could hear the sound of distant 
 revelry. The step of the guard as he paced his rounds was 
 lost in the quick, heavy tramp of the approaching band. A 
 halt was demanded, the countersign given by Captain Den- 
 nier, and the soldiers, with Rick in their midst, passed within 
 the barracks. 
 
 " I am much obliged to you, my man," said the captain, 
 turning to the strange guide as his men were about to file into 
 the guard-room, " and you shall have all that I promised." 
 His eyes turned for a moment as if in search of some 
 attendant to whom he might consign Rick, and at that instant 
 a man in civilian dress, who had been standing in an angle of 
 the wall watching the scene with peculiar interest, darted for- 
 ward and responded as if in answer to the officer's look. 
 
 " I know something of this man, captain ; I will take charge 
 of him," 
 
 " Oh thank you, Carter, then I transfer him to you ; you 
 know the ways of the barrack sufficiently to provide for his
 
 st CARROLL VDONOGHUB. 
 
 being treated well, and being permitted to leave when he will ;* 
 and Captain Dennier turned away. 
 
 The man addressed as Carter beckoned Rick to follow him. 
 They traversed a long hall until a turn brought them into 
 a narrower and Shorter passage, from beyond which came 
 plainly the sounds of uproarious mirth. Here he who had 
 been addressed as Carter stopped suddenly, and wheeling 
 round upon his companion, just where the light from a pendent 
 lamp brought his round, red face and constantly working 
 eyes into distinct view, he hissed rather than said : " You 
 devil's imp, what brings you here?" Rick shook himself 
 erect, and going so close to the speaker that his breath fanned 
 the latter's countenance, he answered in a tone of mingled 
 passion and defiance : 
 
 "To watch you, Morty Carter, and lo foil your ends." 
 
 M You'll never do it; you and them you're serving shall feel 
 the weight of my fury I have sworn it do you understand ? 
 and I would come from my grave to have revenge on Carroll 
 O'Donoghue." 
 
 " Spare yourself," retorted Rick, " for you'll fall yourself 
 into the trap you're layin'; you thought to win when you gave 
 the information which set them beyant," making a gesture 
 toward where he had left Captain Dennier's men, " on the 
 search they were after when I met them. But did you suc- 
 ceed ? Have a care, Morty Carter, that your treachery doesn't 
 betray yourself into a worse pit than that you'd dig for those 
 that never harmed you." 
 
 The round red face glowering beneath the lamp grew more 
 florid, and the hands hanging by his side clenched and drew 
 themselves up as if they would have felled the audacious 
 peakei. " What proof have you that / gave the informa- 
 tion ? " he hissed. 
 
 " This proof you were at Carrick Hurley's the other night 
 you swore to die in the cause you intended to betray, and 
 then you came straight here and gave the information which 
 sent Captain Dennier and his men on the search they were
 
 ON THE SEARCH. SJ 
 
 after to-night, and only the boys were on the watch, the sol- 
 diers would have caught another fox than the one they wen! 
 to hunt." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " said Carter. 
 
 " I mean that Carroll O'Donoghue would have been in their 
 clutches but for the watch of the boys." 
 
 Carter staggered against the wall, his face becoming of an 
 ashen hue, and his hands falling helpless by his side : " Carroll 
 O'Donoghue here ! " he exclaimed, " in Ireland good God ! " 
 
 " Yes, here to bring you to an account," pursued Rick, 
 striding to him ; "here to see that justice is done to the inno- 
 cent beings you would rob ; here to give the lie to your actions. 
 What have you to say now, Morty Carter ? " 
 
 "This," said the latter, straightening himself, and seeming 
 to recover his previous arrogant manner : " I shall be as a 
 hound upon Carroll O'Donoghue's track I shall unearth 
 him, though he were hidden miles under ground, and I shall 
 hunt him to his death." 
 
 The sounds of mirth each moment more continuous and 
 prolonged, now swelled into shouts of laughter, which a sud- 
 denly opened door sent with startling distinctness to the ears 
 of the two angry speakers, and fears of some unbidden spec- 
 tator coming upon the scene made both men anxious to with- 
 draw. Warned by approaching steps, Carter turned in the 
 direction of the boisterous merriment, closely followed by 
 Rick. 
 
 In a moment both men were within the canteen whence the 
 laughter proceeded ; it was a large, irregularly shaped apart- 
 ment, against the walls of which, on wooden shelves, stood 
 various pewter mugs and quarter pitchers, while about the 
 room in scattered places were several beer casks. The sol- 
 diers themselves were dispersed in groups, those who had 
 formed a portion of Captain Dennier's company being dis- 
 tinguished from their companions by certain marks which 
 they bore of their recent journey. The majority seemed to be 
 drinking, and it was from those who appeared to be most
 
 , 4 CARROLL CTDONOOHUB. 
 
 under the influence of the potations that the boisterous mirth 
 proceeded. 
 
 Deep in the mysteries of the stimulating cup, no one ap- 
 peared to notice the entrance of Carter and his companion 
 till the former had ushered Rick into the midst of one of th 
 noisy groups, and had repeated the instructions of Captain 
 Dennier. The soldiers, half in their cups, gazed with amused 
 interest on the uncouth-looking being introduced to them, 
 and one, eager to provoke fun out of the strange character, 
 wvid with a tone of cockneyism, " So you are one of these 
 d Hirish that we are hexpected to ketch, are you ? " 
 
 A look of intense disgust passed over Rick's features, and 
 his deep-set eyes gleamed beneath their shaggy brows while 
 he retorted, 
 
 14 And you are one of these Hinglish " mimicking the other, 
 " that didn't ketch us yet, though you're scouring the country 
 this while back." 
 
 The half-maudlin soldier was nettled by the reply ; rising 
 from his seat, he said in a tone that he strove to render 
 authoritative : " Look here, you feller, be careful how you 
 speak to one of her Majesty's soldiers." 
 
 " Then do you be careiul to be civil to your betters," an- 
 swered Rick, nothing daunted. 
 
 Carter, knowing the outspoken and vindictive character of 
 Rick of the Hills, and fearing a quarrel which might result 
 unpleasantly to himself, stepped between the wordy combat- 
 ants, and with a whisper to the soldier quieted him. He 
 dropped into his seat, but not without a glowering look at 
 Rick and a muttered : 
 
 " The next time we meet you shall know what it is to have 
 cheeked an English soldier." 
 
 Rick promptly responded : " And the next time we meet 
 may be you'll feel what it is to have insulted an Irishman." 
 
 Carter, now really alarmed, savagely caught Rick and foxed 
 him out of the group. 
 
 44 You imp of the devil, do you want to destroy yourself,
 
 ON THE SEARCH. 
 
 '5 
 
 that you arc talking in this manner?" but in so low a tone 
 that no one save Rick heard him. 
 
 " I want to destroy you," was the whispered reply, " and 
 the evidence that dooms me will twist the hemp for your 
 neck do you mind that, Morty Carter ? " 
 
 Carter did not reply; but, summoning one of the soldiers, 
 bade him prepare a meal for Rick, and afterward assign him 
 
 a. place to sleep. 
 
 ** 
 
 In an apartment in another portion of the barrack, entire- 
 ly removed from the soldiers' quarters, Captain Dennier, still 
 in his marching attire, and with the dusty marks of his recent 
 expedition not yet removed, stood in respectful attitude be- 
 fore an elderly officer of imposing presence. 
 
 The latter was also standing, but he seemed to have as- 
 sumed the attitude rather in the heat of his speech to the 
 young man, and his fingers played nervously with the ribbon 
 of some decoration upon his person. 
 
 " It is exceedingly discreditable, this continued ill success 
 of yours," he said in an irritated tone, " and I warn you to 
 speedily redeem it ; nothing could be clearer than the clew 
 with which this fellow Carter furnished you, and he has the 
 most important testimony to bring forward as soon as you 
 capture your prey." 
 
 Captain Dennier's face flushed hotly, but he made no reply. 
 
 " Here am I," continued the senior officer, " hurried over 
 from England to find after all that her Majesty's soldiers art 
 unequal to the task of unearthing a few poor rampant Irish- 
 men, who have more bluster than brains. And here is 
 another dispatch." 
 
 He drew toward him one out of a loose packet of papers 
 that lay upon a table, and tendered it to the captain. The 
 latter read aloud : 
 
 " A convict, Carroll O'Donoghue by name, has escaped 
 from penal servitude in Australia, and is supposed to be con-
 
 ,6 CARROLL VDONOQHUK 
 
 cealed in or about Cahirciveen. Let a sufficient number of 
 men be detailed to search and guard the place, and let all 
 precautions be taken to prevent the escape of the convict by 
 sea." 
 
 The captain replaced the paper without a word. 
 
 " You must be ready, sir, to undertake that expedition to- 
 morrow," said the senior officer. 
 
 A bow of assent was the reply. 
 
 " And let it be your effort to cover by its success your fail- 
 ure of to-day." 
 
 With a wave of his hand he dismissed the young man, and 
 throwing himself into a chair, turned wearily to the packet of 
 papers lying before him.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A SINGULAR MEETING. 
 
 IN ine of the loveliest spots of Ireland, where lolty moun- 
 tains looked protectingly down on a green valley that wound 
 about them, and, in the distance, the white line of a broken 
 and rock-girded coast gleamed in the sun, stood one of the 
 better class of country cottages. Its white-washed exterior, 
 and the care and taste shown in the garden surrounding it, 
 bespoke for its interior unusual neatness and thrift. 
 
 An English officer, sauntering with careless gait, though his 
 face would seem to betray the existence of anxious and per- 
 plexing thought, paused as he neared the cottage, and looked 
 admiringly on the tasteful surroundings. Thence his eyes 
 wandered to the picturesque scene beyond the mountains, 
 the shore. A short distance away, on the other side of a nar- 
 row stream, stood a large dark stone building ; it looked 
 strange and isolated, and its apparent massive strength, to- 
 gether with its shape, would give something of the impression 
 of a deserted castle. 
 
 With his curiosity aroused, the officer walked more briskly, 
 and, arriving at the cottage, he found the door broadly open. 
 Within, an attractive-looking, Irish girl was spinning, her 
 back to the entrance at which stood the interested specta- 
 tor, and she was singing as she worked. It was a simple 
 ditty, but one so plaintive, and trilled out in such an exqui- 
 sitely sweet voice, that the soldier feared to make a motion 
 lest he should interrupt the strain. 
 
 When it ceased he knocked, but so timidly that the girl 
 did not hear him. He ventured to repeat the sound ; she 
 turned shortly, without, however, pausing in her work, and 
 bade him enter.
 
 T g CARROLL ODONOOHUS. 
 
 u Pardon my intrusion," he began, " but I wished so much 
 to know the name of this charming spot, that I have ventured 
 to enter." 
 
 " The name of this charming spot," with an amusing mim 
 icry of his own words, " is DhrommacohoL" 
 
 She still continued her work, not even glancing at him, anf 
 somewhat embarrassed by her indifference, he hesitated a mo 
 ment before he said : 
 
 " I want to go to Cahirciveen, but I confess to some curios 
 ity to learn a little of this romantic-looking place before I an 
 directed thence." 
 
 " If you will take my place at the spinning-wheel, I will 
 bring some one to you who will answer your questions." 
 
 She stopped her work and looked at him now, but in a pro- 
 vokingly defiant manner, her dark eyes brimful of suppressed 
 mischief, and her mouth curving into a half sarcastic smile. 
 
 The officer was completely nonplussed ; he glanced at his 
 hands for an instant, without knowing why he did so ; they 
 were white and dainty compared with her red, but small and 
 shapely ones. 
 
 The Irish lass was growing every instant more tantalizing. 
 
 " Don't," she said, observing his hasty glance at his hands ; 
 " it might put them out of shape." 
 
 In sheer desperation he attempted to work the spinning- 
 wheel as he had seen her do, but peal after peal of merry 
 laughter greeted his awkward attempts. Her Majesty's offi- 
 cer was never in such a trying position better could he have 
 borne the fire of a dozen muskets than the taunting mirth of 
 this provoking girl, half-menial though he suspected her to be. 
 His face flushed, and the perspiration rolled from his fore- 
 head, yet fear of more severe ridicule prevented him from re- 
 signing the humiliating task. 
 
 " Go and tell your mistress," he said, " that I would like to 
 see her." 
 
 " My mistress I umph ! " she repeated ; " and what name 
 shall I give to my mistress ? " with provoking emphasis on th 
 Last word.
 
 A SINGULAR MEETING. 19 
 
 44 Captain Dennicr, of her Majesty's Regiment." 
 
 " Captain what ? " with an air of amusing stupidity, as if the 
 name was too difficult for her to pronounce. Almost irritated, 
 he was about to repeat it, but she interrupted : 
 
 " Don't trouble yourself to say it again I shall describe you 
 to my mistress, and that will do." 
 
 What that description of him would be, and especially what 
 it would be of him as he appeared in his present position, the 
 aristocratic captain too well knew ; and as his vivid imagina- 
 tion pictured the mirth which perhaps another provoking Irish 
 girl would have at his expense, he was tempted to curse the 
 fate that had led him to Dhrommacohol, and his own folly 
 that had placed him in such a position. 
 
 " He mistakes me for the servant," muttered the girl, laugh- 
 ing to herself, as she hastily repaired to an upper chamber. 
 
 There, engaged in graceful needlework, sat a young woman 
 some years the senior of her who so hurriedly entered, but so 
 fair in face and form that she seemed out of place amid her 
 neat though homely surroundings. 
 
 " Oh, Nora ! " burst out the new-comer, " I have the fun- 
 niest sight in the world to show you one of Queen Victoria's 
 officers spinning our linen." 
 
 " What ! " was the almost affrighted exclamation ; and the 
 young lady addressed as Nora dropped her work and stared 
 almost aghast 
 
 " He mistook me for the servant, and he wanted to be 
 directed somewhere, and to learn something of this beautiful 
 spot ; and he was so elegant-looking, and so courtly, that the 
 thought just popped into my head to put him at the spinning- 
 wheel, for a bit of revenge, you know ; so I told him I'd bring 
 my mistress to him, and she would answer all his questions. 
 
 He gave me his name, Captain Dennier, of her Majesty's 
 
 Regiment Oh, Nora ! he makes the drollest sight at the 
 wheel ! " 
 
 " Now, Clare ! how could you do such a thing ; it was posi- 
 tively unkind ! " and the lovely speaker looked reprovingly at 
 the laughing girL
 
 to OASSOLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 * How could I do such a thing ? ** was the reply, in a tone 
 that increased in spirit with every word, " I could heap con- 
 fusion and shame upon every one of them who left us as we 
 are, who took from us the hope and comfort of our lives ; but 
 the Engliih, I hate them, and I could crush them." 
 
 She looked the personification of her ardent and bitter feel- 
 ing : her slight, small form drawn to its full height, her cheeks 
 flaming, and her dark eyes alight with all the fire of passionate 
 emotion. 
 
 Nora rose, and putting her arm about the angry girl drew 
 her to her. 
 
 " Hush, Clare ; did not you promise Father O'Connor, only 
 the other day, that you would strive to quiet these bursts, that 
 you would be more Christian, more forgiving ? " 
 
 " I know it," half sobbed Clare, " but I cannot help it ; the 
 very sight of that man as he stood in the doorway seemed to 
 rouse my most bitter feelings." 
 
 " Then we shall go down immediately, and apologize to him 
 for the indignity tc which he has been subjected," said Nora, 
 quietly. 
 
 " Never ! " vehemently answered Clare, withdrawing from 
 the arm which still clasped her ; " if you will have so little 
 spirit, Clare O'Donoghue shall not forget that she is one of 
 the trampled and outraged Irish." 
 
 A sigh was the only response from Nora, and flinging about 
 her a white shawl which had dropped from her shoulders on 
 rising from her seat, she prepared to descend to Captain Den- 
 nier. Clare dried her eyes, shook down her curls, which had 
 been fastened in a massive twist at the back of her head, un- 
 pinned her dress, that had been gathered about her for great- 
 er convenience in her work, and followed. 
 
 The captain had ceased his awkward attempt to spin, but 
 he remained standing by the wheel, with one hand resting upon 
 the latter. The absence of his messenger seemed unaccount- 
 ably long, and in much trepidation he watched the door by 
 which Clare had gone for her mistress.
 
 A SINGULAR MEETIffQ. 
 
 A rustle of a garment, and the loveliest woman he thought 
 he had ever beheld stood before him ; a woman so fair and 
 fragile-looking that for aa instant one might deem her some 
 supernatural visitant. The white shawl draped gracefully 
 about her was hardly whiter than her face, but the transparent 
 hue was not that of disease, but a complexion that had never 
 been touched by a foreign sun. Her jet-black hair twisted in 
 heavy bands about her head and her large, black, pensive 
 eyes rather increased the ethereal look of her countenance. 
 
 The officer, in his surprise at this unexpected vision, re- 
 mained standing by the spinning-wheel, and he did not recover 
 his self-possession till the lovely new-comer, advancing to 
 him, said in a sweet, low voice : 
 
 " Captain Dennier, I presume, one of her Majesty's officers ; 
 permit me to apologize for the prank which my mirthful com- 
 panion has played upon you in requesting you to spin." Clare 
 had arrived in time to hear the apology, and standing on 
 tiptoe behind Nora, who was considerably taller, so that her 
 face, charming in its setting of short, clustering brown curls, 
 looked over the latter's shoulder, she interposed : 
 
 " And permit me, Captain Dennier, to introduce to 3 r ou my 
 mistress, Miss McCarthy, and to say that it is against nay will 
 that any apology has been made to you." 
 
 Nora's hand was over Clare's mouth, and Nora herself was 
 blushing till her forehead and neck were scarlet. 
 
 Captain Dennier, with an effort, recovered his self-posses- 
 sion. Bowing low, he said with persuasive grace of manner : 
 
 " Pardon, ladies, my apparent intrusion, but the beauty of 
 this charming spot tempted me to enter, in order to inquire 
 about the interesting objects I saw, as well as to ask my way 
 to Cahirciveen. I should particularly like to know about that 
 building which stands out so picturesquely before us." He 
 pointed through the open window to the dark, solitary edifice 
 which had attracted his attention before entering the cottage. 
 
 " That," answered Nora, sadly, " was once our home, but 
 the estate becoming encumbered by debt has passed from our 
 possession ; it is flow in the market to be sold."
 
 CARROLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 * Yes," spoke up Clare, at the same time withdrawing (rare 
 Nora so that the latter's hand might not restrain again her 
 impulsive speech, " and tenantless, it stands a memento of that 
 oppression which would take from the Irish even the shelter 
 of the poorest home. We, to whom each spot of the old house 
 is so dear, cannot now pass its threshold." 
 
 A shade of sadness crossed the officer's face, as if some chord 
 had been struck in his own heart which responded to the 
 wounded and bitter feelings he had aroused in Clare. He 
 advanced to her, saying gently : 
 
 * Let not the wrongs my country may have done your land 
 be a reason for enmity between us as individuals. We at least 
 may not hate each other, and I assure you on my word of 
 honor as an officer that I admire and revere the virtues of 
 many of your country people." 
 
 Clare retorted quickly : " And yet you are down here on 
 her Majesty's commission, to capture and to hound to death 
 many of those whose virtues you say you admire and revere ; 
 how consistent are your remarks ! " 
 
 " Pardon me," he broke in, now warmly desirous of estab- 
 lishing himself in her good opinion, " and listen to me. I can- 
 not disapprove the putting down of rebellion by my country, 
 however much I may deplore the suffering it entails on the 
 poor victims of foolhardy patriotism." 
 
 " Enough, sir ! " answered Clare, her eyes flashing, and her 
 lip curling with scorn ; " you have suffered contamination 
 by coming here ; my brother is one of the victims of foolhardy 
 patriotism, and for it he is now a penal convict in Australia." 
 
 She turned away, her anger giving place to a passionate 
 burst of tears, and they could hear her sobbing as she ascended 
 to her own apartment. 
 
 " Good heavens ! what have I done ? " and the captain's 
 unfeigned distress was pitiable. " Plead for me," he said to 
 Nora ; " tell her I did not mean to wound her feelings ; tell 
 her that I crave a thousand pardons." 
 
 * Pray do not trouble yourself about it," answered Nora,
 
 A SINGULAR 
 
 "^ 
 
 gently. " Poor Qare has had so much to suffer in the loss of 
 her home and the arrest and sentence of her brother that her 
 feelings easily overpower her. Forgive her, and think kindly 
 of her." 
 
 " Forgive her ! it is / who should crave forgiveness ; it if 
 certainly enough to hunt your countrymen as we are doing, 
 without entering your homes to force you to believe in the 
 righteousness of our work." 
 
 A form darkened the doorway a tall, spare form in cleri- 
 cal dress, and with the attenuated face which speaks of long 
 self-denial and mortification ; but there was a kindness and 
 sweetness in the pale, thin countenance, and a look of Heaven 
 in the soft, deep brown eyes, that won high and tow alike to 
 gentle, saintly Father O'Connor. 
 
 Nora flew to him. 
 
 " Oh, father ! Heaven must have sent you in ; our poor 
 Clare is in one of her unhappy moods, innocently caused by 
 this gentleman ;" and then with simple grace she introduced 
 Captain Dennier, and in a few words gave the substance of 
 the difficulty. 
 
 The gentlemen clasped hands on the introduction with 
 more mutual cordiality than perhaps would have pleased eas- 
 ily-excited Clare, had she witnessed it. On the part of the 
 priest the kindliness was prompted by the truest charity, com- 
 bined with an involuntary admiration for the officer's frank, 
 manly bearing ; on the part of Captain Dennier the cordial 
 grasp was prompted by a sudden and irresistible attraction 
 for the priest, as if something strangely apart from himself 
 had roused within and impelled him to seize the extended 
 hand with a vise-like pressure, and look into the pale thin 
 face with all the eager and mysterious longing of a restless 
 and unhappy soul The strange gaze was not unobserved by 
 Nora ; she noted it even while she was explaining the recent 
 singular events, and she noted also in that exchange of looks, 
 how like in color and shape were the eyes of both young men; 
 the expression differed, the priest's eyes wearing a look of
 
 4 CARROLL VDONOQHU*. 
 
 Heaven in their intense softness and kindliness, while those 
 of Captain Dennier flashed out bold, keen glances. 
 
 " Have Clare hasten to see me, then, for I am on my way 
 to Rossbeigh, and cannot delay. I have just seen Father 
 Meagher, and he told me there had been trouble there be- 
 tween some of the people and the soldiers ; that one or two 
 poor fellows had been wounded, not dangerously, however, 
 and as he could not see them for some hours yet, he asked 
 me to take his place." 
 
 At that moment Clare appeared, her face still hotly suf- 
 fused, and her eyes showing traces of her recent violent weep- 
 ing. 
 
 " I heard your voice," she said, advancing to the priest, 
 " and fearing you would be in your usual hurry, I hastened to 
 see you." 
 
 "And one result of your seeing him," spoke Captain Den- 
 nier, gently, and with some embarrassment, " will be, I trust, 
 to forgive one who has been so unhappy as to offend you." 
 
 His whole bearing, at once so noble and so respectful, for 
 the moment won Clare's impulsive heart ; the next instant, 
 however, she scorned herself for even this involuntary yield- 
 ing to the detested foe of her country. Father O'Connor's 
 eyes were upon her, with their tender, reproachful glance, 
 which she had never yet been able to withstand, and she re- 
 pressed the sharp words almost upon her lips, and answered 
 instead : 
 
 " I know not why you crave my poor forgiveness, but since 
 it is so, though I shall still regard you as the enemy of my 
 country, I grant what you ask I " in a faltering voice, and 
 with a deep-drawn sigh, " I forgive you." 
 
 " And I thank you," responded the captain, with another 
 of his low and graceful bows. 
 
 " I cannot remain longer," said the priest, " and if you, sir, 
 desire to go to Cahirciveen, I can guide you part of the way ; 
 my journey will lie somewhat in that direction." 
 
 The officer, though reluctant to leave the ladies, in whom
 
 A SINGULAR MEETING. 35 
 
 he had become strangely interested, still gladly accepted the 
 clergyman's offer. With a kind adieu from Nora, and an amus- 
 ingly formal one from Clare, which he courteously returned, 
 he took his departure with the priest
 
 CHAPTER IH. 
 
 CARTER'S MIOFOSAU 
 
 CLARK O'DoxooHUE acted strangely after the departure of 
 the visitors : she avoided Nora, and continued to wear such 
 an unusually thoughtful and preoccupied air, that had not 
 Nora herself been deeply absorbed in curious thought about 
 those same visitors, she would have wondered at Clare's man- 
 ner. 
 
 Poor Clare ! she was strangely unhappy and remorseful- 
 unhappy that the very memory ot the admiring and deferen- 
 tial notice of the handsome officer should still linger in her 
 mind, and remorseful that she had suffered him to leave with- 
 out according him a more generous pardon. Her cheeks 
 burned with scorn against herself, and she went about the 
 little household duties, which she voluntarily performed, with 
 a fierce energy born of her own disturbed mind. 
 
 Another knock sounded at the cottage door ; this time it 
 was no timid rap, but a bold, peremptory signal that pro- 
 claimed the right to demand an entrance. Clare opened to 
 the new-comer, but started back with an expression of alarm 
 in her countenance. 
 
 " Good day, my dear," said a coarse, thick, blustering voice. 
 " Maybe I'm not as welcome here as I ought to be, seeing the 
 start you gave when you saw me ; but I'll forgive you in con- 
 sideration that things'll be better in the future." 
 
 The speaker ushered himself into the apartment a power- 
 fully-built, coarse man, with a large, round, red face, and little, 
 gray, constantly-winking eyes. He was dressed in flashy garb 
 and wore a massive, gold chain pending from his velvet sur- 
 tout. 
 
 (a6)
 
 CARTERS PROPOSAL. ,7 
 
 Clare had regained her self-possession, and with it her 
 wonted spirited manner. " To what are we indebted, Mr 
 Carter, for this early visit ? I thought your business in Tralee 
 was to detain you for a month or more." 
 
 " So it was, my jewel, so it was ; but business of more im- 
 portance came up last night, and brought me down here to- 
 day. I must see Miss McCarthy privately for a few moments; 
 so do you just send her to me, and keep out of the way your- 
 self for a little while." 
 
 Clare drew herself erect 
 
 " I shall do no such thing, Mr. Carter leave you alone with 
 her to insult her by another proposal of marriage never ! It 
 is my duty, in my brother's absence, to protect Miss McCarthy, 
 so I shall be present at any interview you may have with her. 
 We have no secrets from each other." 
 
 "Easy, my darling, easy, and listen to me. I'm not the 
 villain you'd make me. I'll not hurt a hair of Miss McCarthy's 
 head, but I must speak a few words to her privately. Just tell 
 her, and see if she doesn't consent herself to the interview." 
 
 Clare reluctantly ascended to Nora, and Mr. Carter threw 
 himself into a chair and began to pull sundry papers from his 
 pocket. 
 
 " It's tough business," he muttered, " but I'll have to do it ; 
 
 and, faith, if that doesn't bring her to her senses, I'll " His 
 
 soliloquy was abruptly ended by the sudden and noiseless en- 
 trance of Miss McCarthy. She stood before him in such ex- 
 quisite beauty and queenliness of air that he became discon- 
 certed, and utterly forgot the speech he had prepared for her. 
 He rose and made repeated ungainly bows, while his florid 
 face deepened in hue, and his stammering efforts to say some- 
 thing were so violent that the perspiration rolled from his 
 forehead. 
 
 " 1 understand that you wished to see me alone," said Nora 
 coldly ; " pray state your business briefly." 
 
 Exasperated by her hauteur, Mr. Carter recovered some- 
 what from hi* confusion. Wiping his face carefully, and
 
 3 8 CARROLL &DONOQHUR. 
 
 drawing repeated long breaths, while his little ferret-like eyd 
 winked furiously, he responded : 
 
 " Yes, my dear Miss McCarthy, I do wish to see you on 
 most important business, and I'll be as brief as I can. The 
 last time I mentioned something to you you indignantly 
 scouted it, you scorned myself and my offer. This time*' 
 
 Nora interrupted him : 
 
 " Pray, Mr. Carter, spare yourself ; I cannot and shall not 
 listen to such language as fell from your lips the other day ; 
 to do so would be criminal on my part, and it is criminal in 
 you to compel me to listen to such utterances, knowing as you 
 do that I am the affianced of Carroll O'Donoghue." 
 
 Carter wiped his face again a very necessary proceeding, 
 for the perspiration was streaming from it. 
 
 " Hear me," he said ; " if you refuse me this time, not even 
 a roof shall cover your head. I have here the papers which 
 shall drive you and that hoyden, Clare O'Donoghue, out on 
 the charity of the world ; if you accept, you shall be a lady, 
 with all that your beauty and your own sweet self are entitled 
 to ; you shall do what you will, only marry me, Nora 
 McCarthy." 
 
 He was down on his knees before her, a task which the 
 tightness of his clothes and his own large form rendered awk- 
 ward and somewhat difficult. 
 
 The girl shrunk from him, her lip curling with intense 
 scorn, her eyes flashing out their horrified loathing. 
 
 " Get up, Mr. Carter ; such a position ill becomes you, and 
 know, once for all, I fear your threats as little as I regard your 
 promises. Send us out, if you will, on the cold charity of the 
 world ; its charity will be warm and tender compared to the 
 fate of being your wife. Do your worst. I have no feeling 
 for you other than pity for your poor, shrunken, sinful soul." 
 
 She turned her back upon him and walked in her queenly 
 way toward the door. Discomfited and enraged, but neither 
 humbled nor daunted, Mr. Carter rose and strode after her. 
 
 *' Mind," he said hoarsely, " you told me to do my worst,
 
 CARTERS PROPOSAL. a, 
 
 and 111 do it I came here to-day prepared to shield yon and 
 those you have your heart in, but now both you and they shall 
 feel the weight of my anger. Maybe one day you will kneel 
 to me, Nora McCarthy." 
 
 She had gone from the room, without even a glance at him. 
 
 He clutched the papers, still in his hand, like a madman, 
 and darted from the cottage. A tall, dignified form in the 
 plain black garb of a Catholic priest was approaching. 
 
 " Why, Carter, what in the world is the matter with you ? H 
 spoke up the hearty voice of the pleasant-faced clergyman, as 
 the two met : " you seem so flurried, and I thought this part 
 of the country wasn't to see you for a while yet ; what has 
 brought you down here now ? " 
 
 Carter doffed his hat, and strove to conceal the evidence of 
 his late passion. 
 
 " I came here, your reverence, in the interest of the O'Don- 
 oghues." 
 
 " Ah !" said the priest, with a peculiar intonation of voice ; 
 " let us hear what your great concern in their welfare would 
 do for them this time. I fear your interest in them is taking 
 a very peculiar turn." 
 
 " Does your reverence doubt me?" asked Carter, striving to 
 assume an air of injured innocence. 
 
 " I am not quite sure that I ever fully trusted you," was the 
 reply, " though charity has made me blind in some instances ; 
 but there are strange stories about you lately. How did you 
 become on such intimate footing in Tralee garrison, that you 
 are well known there, I understand, and well received by even 
 the officers ; and what is this which Clare O'Donoghue tells 
 me of your proposal of marriage the other day to Miss 
 McCarthy ? Surely, Carter, your assurance and pretensions do 
 not rise to such a summit as that ! " 
 
 Carter winced beneath the sarcasm of the rebuke, and ht 
 had much to do to restrain an insulting retort. 
 
 " I got a footing in the garrison that I might serve the boys 
 in the places about that I could warn them when there was
 
 J0 CARROLL VDONOGHITR 
 
 danger, and give them information that would help them in 
 their plans. And as fo*- the other matter," assuming a suppli- 
 cating look and tone, " can your reverence blame me if my 
 heart went where many another heart in the country would go 
 if it only dared to lovely Nora McCarthy ? I will make her a 
 lady, father ; she shall have comfort and wealth for the rest 
 of her days ; perhaps your reverence would speak for me." 
 
 " Never, sir ! " burst from the priest in righteous indigna- 
 tion ; " sooner would I read the burial service over Nora Mc- 
 Carthy's coffin than ever consent that she should become 
 your wife." 
 
 Carter could no longer control himself. " Then that roof 
 which covers her now shall shelter her no more. She shall 
 go out the pauper that she is, she and Clare O'Donoghue I 
 have here the tool of eviction." He shook one of the papers 
 in his grasp. 
 
 "My home shall be open to them," replied the priest, 
 "and may Heaven forgive me, Morty Carter, for my past 
 trust in you. I but followed the reliance which that good 
 man, Cairn O'Donoghue, now gone to his rest, placed in you ; 
 but when I pledged myself to be ever the friend and adviser 
 of his motherless children, I did it, deeming that you, as 
 their legal guardian, would be as true to your responsibilities. 
 If through my too simple trust in you I have unknowingly 
 permitted you to do them any wrong, may God forgive me, 
 and may He forgive you, Morty Carter ! " 
 
 The priest turned away in the direction of the cottage 
 which Carter had just left, and the latter, looking after him 
 in speechless rage, muttered : 
 
 "That's the way, is it? I'm found out, am I ? then, be- 
 gorra, it's my turn now. I'll have my revenge ; there's noth- 
 ing to stop me. The affianced of Carroll O'Donoghue, is she ? 
 maybe when Carroll O'Donoghue hears something he won't 
 be so ready to claim her as his affianced, even if he should 
 get the chance to do so."
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 CAPTAIN DEJSTNIEH, 
 
 "THIS must be the way he meant," soliloquized Captam 
 Dennier, as he paused in some perplexity at the head of a path 
 leading directly to the shore ; " he said I could walk along 
 the strand for a mile or more before making a turn ; " and at 
 length having settled the matter, he went briskly on. Strange 
 thoughts warred in his mind. The unaccountable impression 
 produced by the first sight of Father O'Connor, and which 
 had deepened during their conversation while they \valked to- 
 gether, added to the singular interest awakened by the two 
 lovely Irish girls he had so recently left, seriously disturbed 
 him. He looked abroad on the fair land, mellow with sun- 
 shine, and felt again all those emotions which had so stirred 
 his soul an evening or two before. He summoned his native 
 pride to his aid, his loyalty to that country of whose people 
 and whose prowess he was wont to vaunt, and he strove to 
 persuade himself that his fealty to the British crown was un- 
 diminished. The sea-breeze fanned his face, and that it 
 might cool his fevered brow, he lifted his cap and walked 
 with it in hand along the shore. 
 
 There was not a person in sight, nor a habitation ; bold 
 rocks lined the way ; and impelled by the wild feeling within 
 his own breast for a wilder and more completely isolated 
 scene, he clambered down the rugged declivity, and walked 
 where the sea almost touched his feet. Now picking his way 
 over clumps of damp sea-weed, now springing from bowlder 
 to bowlder, and again pausing to peer into some cavity in the 
 rocks, the officer came suddenly upon a man sitting idly on 
 one of the stones. A long gray overcoat covered his person, 
 (30
 
 3 , CARROLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 while a wide-brimmed, low-crowned hat almost entirely con 
 cealed his features. The officer halted in some surprise. 
 
 " Halloo, stranger ! " saluted the man, looking up from 
 under his slouched hat ; " how do you come in this place ? " 
 
 * I'm on my way to Cahirciveen," was the reply, " and I 
 turned a little out of the road to enjoy this wild scenery of 
 yours." 
 
 " Ah ! it is grand, is it not ? " and the speaker jumped 
 nimbly up. 
 
 " Perhaps you have come some distance, and are fatigued," 
 he continued. " We of the coast here are always provided," 
 drawing, as he spoke, from the pocket of his overcoat a small 
 canteen, and proffering it to the officer. 
 
 " I have come from Dhrommacohol." 
 
 ** Dhrommacohol ! " the man in the gray over-dress repeat- 
 ed eagerly. 
 
 " Yes ; and it was my good fortune to meet there two of 
 your lovely countrywomen." 
 
 " Their names I " 
 
 " Miss O'Donoghue, and Miss McCarthy." 
 
 For an instant the anxious questioner touched his hat as if 
 in his eagerness he would have thrust it entirely back from 
 his head, but he suddenly recovered his caution, and dropped 
 his hand to his side again. 
 
 " Which do you prefer ; which to you was the lovelier of 
 the two ? " he asked in a voice that trembled slightly. 
 
 " Miss McCarthy is the lovelier, but I prefer Miss O'Don- 
 oghue." 
 
 " Ah ! " There was a deep breath as of relief from the 
 questioner, and his voice was steadier as he answered : 
 
 " I do not admire your taste ; the whole county rings with 
 Miss McCarthy's beauty and goodness." 
 
 " I grant you that," said the Englishman, " but to me, there 
 was something indescribably charming in the spirit of Miss 
 O'Donoghue." 
 
 " Oh, aye ! she has enough of spirit ; the whole parish it 
 ware of that"
 
 CAPTAIN DENNIER. w 
 
 " You seem to know them intimately," said the officer. 
 
 " Every one about here knows them," was the somewhat 
 evasive reply. "And now let us drink their healths." 
 
 In turn they quaffed from the canteen ; then the officer 
 drew out his watch and asked if he could reach Cahirciveen 
 before nightfall. 
 
 " Easily," was the reply ; " keep to the walk above here for 
 a half mile ; any one will direct you then. I would be myself 
 your guide, but I have not the time at my disposal." 
 
 " Oh, that will do, my dear fellow ; the way is so plain now 
 that I cannot mistake it." 
 
 With a friendly adieu they parted, and in another moment 
 Captain Dennier had lightly climbed the rocks again, and was 
 walking briskly on the path above. 
 
 The strange man looked about him on every side, far out 
 to sea, where shadows of an approaching storm seemed to lie 
 on the deep waters, and immediately around him, where only 
 the rocks and the murmuring waves met his view. In this 
 watching and listening attitude he waited until he deemed 
 sufficient time had elapsed for the officer to have passed far 
 from the scene ; then he bent almost to the ground, and put- 
 ting his hands to his mouth, gave a peculiar whistle. It rever- 
 berated among the rocks with a startling shrillness, and 
 brought out of one of the stony recesses the lithe figure of a 
 man lithe and not ungraceful, despite its ill-fashioned, almost 
 grotesque garb. A shaggy overcoat, much too long and wide, 
 flapped about his person, and a battered hat comically fasten- 
 ed on the side with a loose knot of what had once been a gay- 
 colored ribbon, but which was now of the dingy hue of the 
 hat itself, covered his head. 
 
 With his face toward the ground, he listened for a moment 
 as if expecting a repetition of the whistle ; then catching up 
 the flowing skirts of his ample coat, and giving his hat a firm- 
 er thrust on his head, he bounded along the rocks with the 
 speed and agility of a mountain goat. The form in the gray 
 ever-dress stood on the top of an elevated bowlder, on an ap-
 
 34 CARROLL 
 
 parently keen and anxious watch, but at the first sight of the 
 being springing amid the rocks, it descended. 
 
 " I heerd the whistle," spoke up the new-comer, " just as 
 me heart was growin' onaisy that I didn't hear it afore." 
 
 u I couldn't give it sooner, Tighe, for a little after I arrived 
 here a soldier came this way on his road to Cahirciveen. I 
 deemed it best to be friendly, and he stopped awhile. Then 
 I wanted to give him time to be well gone." 
 
 "Aye," answered Tighe, " he's one of the blackguards, I 
 suppose, that's up there now at Cahirciveen didn't I hear all 
 about it an hour ago ? Sure the queen has full news o' yer 
 escape, an' these fellows have been sint to Cahirciveen to ar- 
 rest you, bad scran to thim ! Mebbe this one that you've 
 been talking to has his suspicions about you, an' that it's back 
 he'll be comin' with a lot more o' the scurvy pates." 
 
 " I don't know, Tighe, but he seemed a right good fel- 
 low." 
 
 " Ah, masther dear, you can't thrust any o' 'em tail an' 
 bide, they're all the same, an' the sooner you're out o' this 
 place the betther." 
 
 " Any time, Tighe, only I must see Nora before I fly for 
 good ; I must see her to-night, then I shall be as prudent as 
 even you can wish me to be." 
 
 " Tatther an' ages ! was there iver the bate o' this ? " and 
 Tighe in his vexation almost danced upon the rock. " Would 
 you be puttin* yer neck in the halther afore it's made for 
 you ? You can't see her to-night ; sure they'll be havin' 
 scouts from the rigiment in ivery direction, an* it'ud be as much 
 as yer life is worth to go near DhrommacohoL Och, mas- 
 ther dear, put yoursel' once more under me biddin' ; the boys 
 is waitin* beyant wid a boat, an' we'll smuggle you to Ameri- 
 kay. Sure I'll tell Miss McCarthy on me bended knees o* 
 the love you have for her, an' how you thought o' her day an 1 
 night" 
 
 * It won't do, Tighe, my faithful fellow, it won't do. Nora 
 McCarthy is so wound about my heart that I must have one
 
 CAPTAIN DENNIER. , 35 
 
 sight of her, however brief, and one sound of her voice to 
 
 give me nerve again." 
 
 Tighe gave a vigorous thrust to his battered caubtcn, and 
 dashed his hand over his eyes. 
 
 " Manage this for me," continued the speaker, " as you have 
 managed many another affair for me. Under cover of the 
 darkness I can steal to Dhrommacohol, see Nora and my sister 
 for a few moments, and then, Tighe, my faithful, tender 
 Tighe, I will do whatever you wish." 
 
 There was no resisting that appeal, accompanied as it was 
 by the winning look of eyes that had all a woman's softness 
 in their depths, and Tighe hung his head and answered with 
 a crestfallen air : 
 
 " Sure it's well you know I can't refuse when you ax in 
 that way ; but it's to your death you'll be goin'. Ah then, 
 when I followed you to that far counthry, an' you made your 
 escape from the prison there, did I think you'd be as onthract- 
 able as this ? But niver moind, I'll sthrive me best to man- 
 age it, an' if you're ketched, an' you have to die, why thea, 
 Tighe a Vohr '11 die alongside o' you."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MRS. CAKMODT. 
 
 A MILK distant from the cottage in which dwelt Nora Me* 
 Carthy and Clare O'Donoghue, there stood one of the better 
 class of Irish country cottages ; while there was little evidence 
 of care in the patch of ground surrounding it, there seemed to 
 be unusual thrift and neatness within. A bright turf fire 
 emitted its cheerful blaze, and the earthen floor was tidily 
 swept. An attempt at a dresser had been made in one cor- 
 ner of the room, and upon a portion of it shone numerous 
 brightly-scoured tins, while the remainder was well stocked 
 with ware, many of the pieces, however, being broken, but so 
 placed that only the good side of each was visible. In the 
 opposite corner rested a settle now arranged as a bed, with 
 coarse, but clean coverlet and pillow ; an open door revealed 
 a smaller apartment, evidently a sleeping room. A tidy, florid 
 Irish woman, with her black dress pinned about her, and her 
 gray hair covered by a spotlessly clean cap having huge frilled 
 borders, stood beside a table, peeling potatoes. She seemed 
 to be absorbed in deep and not very pleasant thought, for 
 sometimes she shook her head ominously, and after intervals 
 she muttered such stray sentences as the following : 
 
 " I niver had an aisy moment with him, an' I'm afeard I 
 never will. The Lord betune him and harrum, but where 
 can he be at all, at all ? Six months this very day since I 
 laid eyes on him. Maybe it's in want of a male's mate he is 
 this night ; oh, if I thought so " 
 
 She suspended her work to brush the tears from hei eyes. 
 The door was suddenly flung open, and some one bounding
 
 MRS. GARMOD7. jy 
 
 wildly across the floor caught the astounded old woman with 
 a clasp that threatened to stifle her. 
 
 " Mother, mother ! did you think I was dead ? sure I'm 
 not I'm here, your own Tighe, back again." 
 
 There was another embrace that threatened ruin to the 
 starched frills of the spotless cap, and utter annihilation of their 
 wearer. She struggled to escape, and when at length she suc- 
 ceeded in becoming disengaged from the huge folds of the flap- 
 ping coat, and was assured that her fears had all been ground- 
 less, and that her scape-grace son was there in the flesh, and well 
 and hearty, her affection for the time being yielded to indig- 
 nation. " You vagabond ! what do you mane by such trate- 
 ment to yer poor old mother? It wasn't enough to be 
 breakin' my heart wid your hunts, an' your fairs, an' your 
 fights ; to have Father Meagher tellin' me that you wor the 
 greatest scape-grace hi the counthry, but you must break my 
 heart intoirely by goin' off the way you did, without as much 
 as lavin' a line to say where you wor." 
 
 " Is it a line o' writin' you mane ? " asked Tighe humbly. 
 
 " You omadhaun ! what else is it I'd mane ? " 
 
 " Sure how could I lave that, when my edication just stopped 
 short o' the power o' bein' able to write at all ? Now, mother, 
 listen to me an' I'll tell you about it it bates Bannaher. 
 You won't listen, an' you won't recave me ? " as she turned 
 her back and seemed about to go into the inner room ; " then 
 I'll say good-by to you foriver ; mebbe it's killed I'll be to- 
 night where I'm goin', an' then you an' the counthry '11 be 
 rid of the scape-grace." 
 
 He pretended to hurry to the door, well knowing that she 
 would follow him. She did so, flinging her arms about him. 
 
 " Come back, Tighe, my son ! I will listen. Sure my 
 heart was brakin* while you was gone, an' ivery day I fixed 
 yer room the same as if you slept in it the night afore. 
 Look at it ! " 
 
 She drew him to the inner apartment ; though poor almost 
 to bareness, it was clean and neat, and there had been even
 
 jg CARROLL VDONOQHUM. 
 
 some attempt at taste in the disposition of bows of bright- 
 hued calico on a kind of dressing-stand that occupied one 
 corner. Tighe encircled her with his arm. " You wor al- 
 ways a good mother, an' you desarve abetther son than I am ; 
 but come now till I tell you, for I'll have to be movin' soon." 
 
 She would have busied herself in preparing a meal for him, 
 but he insisted upon having her undivided attention ; so 
 taking a seat where she could look fondly into his face, she 
 smoothed the rumpled frills of her cap, and prepared to listen. 
 
 " You know, mother, how heavy me heart was for the 
 masther afther they thransported him." 
 
 " I do, my poor boy, I do." 
 
 " Well, I couldn't rest, an* unbeknownst to you or any one, 
 only Shaun, who seemed to understand it all, I used to take long 
 walks by the say-shore, an' I used to picthure to mesel' the 
 lonely jail he was in afar from us all. Begorra, I couldn't 
 stand it, an' I said to Shaun one day, ' I'll go to him, Shaun, 
 if I swim the ocean, I'll rach him some way,' an' the dog 
 looked in my face as if he was a Chresthen and jist knew 
 what I was sayin,' an' barked ; I made up my mind from that 
 minute. I moinded how I used to hear them tell in Mrs. 
 Leary's public house of a part of Ireland where big say ships 
 sometimes touched. A quare thought kem into me head, 
 an' I acted on it. I made sthraight for the part they mintioned, 
 roesel' an' Shaun, an' afther a few days I kem to a fishin' 
 village. I tould the people a story about mesel' that won 
 them complately, an' Shaun, what with his thricks an* his 
 affection, he took their hearts intoirely. But I soon found the 
 times there wor changed ; big say ships niver touched there 
 any more, an' me heart got heavy agin, only Shaun, some- 
 how, had a way of lightenin 1 it ; he'd look in me face with 
 that look of a Chresthen, an' wag his tail, an' bark, an" some- 
 how I'd take courage. 
 
 4< At last good luck kem in my way. Shaun and mesel' saved 
 one of the fishermen's childhre from drownin* one day whin 
 a big wave was carryin' it away foreninst us, and the poor
 
 MRS. CAEMODT 
 
 39 
 
 father was so thankful that he said there wasn't one thing he 
 would not do for me." 
 
 " ' Faith,' said I, ' there's one thing that if you'd do it for 
 me, I'd be the happiest man alive.' 
 
 " ' An' what is that ? ' he asked. 
 
 14 ' To get me off to Austhralia.' 
 
 M ' I'll do it,' he said, ' if I'm a livin' man.' 
 
 " An' he was as good as his word, mother : he tuk me tOi 
 England himself, in his own little fishin' smack, an' by spakin* 
 a word for me here an' there among some of the sailors that 
 he seemed to know purty well, afther awhile I found mesel* 
 shipped for Melbourne as one of the hands, though the sorra 
 much knowledge I had of what that meant faith it was as an 
 omadhaun in airnest I tuk the place, an' they had more spoort 
 out of me than they iver got work. 
 
 " It 'd take too long, mother, to tell you all that happened 
 afther I reached Melbourne how by dint o' beggin' an' blar- 
 neyin' I made me way across the counthry till I kem at last 
 to the jail where the young masther was. It tuk long days 
 an' nights o' watchin' afore I could make him know it was 
 me was near him, but I did at last, an' somehow afther that 
 good luck was on our side. I got to be on sarvice at the jail, 
 an' I med fun for them till I kem to be a soort of favorite 
 among them, officers an* all. Like the people on the ship, 
 they thought me a harrumless omadhaun, an' they didn't 
 much moind what I was about. But all the time I was think- 
 in' an' plannin' an' prayin' yes, mother, on many a night 
 whin I'd look up to the stars an' away to the say that parted 
 me from ould Ireland, an' whin at the same time I'd think of 
 the broken-hearted young masther so far from all he loved, 
 I used to dhrop on me knees an' ax God to deliver him. 
 
 "Well, there kem a night at last when we stood together 
 outside the prison walls, an* afore mornin' we wor out on the 
 ocean. There wasn't wantin' friends to help us, an', though 
 the hue and cry was raised, we landed safe in Ireland, an' 
 we're here for the last three days, down at Hurley's,
 
 4 o CARROLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 the boys meets, watchin' the signs o' the times, an' waitin' to 
 know what to do. 
 
 " The masther is for stayin' an' takin' his chance agin with 
 the rest of the lads, but they've raised the sarch for him, and 
 moreover, they're scourin* this very part of the counthry in 
 such a hot way that it'll be betther for him to lave at once. 
 Some of the boys that'd die to save him coaxed him to fly the 
 counthry entoirely, an' I begged him on me two knees to go. 
 It wasn't one bit o' use ; he won't stir a foot till he's seen 
 Miss McCarthy. So to-night he'll make the trial to see her, 
 an' whin he laves her they'll have a boat ready for him. Do 
 you now, mother, go up to the cottage an' prepare Miss Mc- 
 Carthy an' Miss O'Donoghue for his comin'." 
 
 The kind-hearted old woman had been weeping silent tears 
 during the recital ; now she dried her eyes very vigorously, 
 and shook her head. 
 
 " There's a power o' sorrow come to the young things. I 
 was there to-day, an' Miss Clare told me how they'll have to 
 give up even the cottage that shelthers them. Father Meagher 
 had just been in afore me, an' he had made them promise to 
 come at once to his house. They wor preparin' to go, for 
 they wor in mortal dread of ould Carter." 
 
 Tighe sprung from his seat. 
 
 " By the powers, mother, you don't mane that Morty Car- 
 ther is decavin' the masther." 
 
 " I do that same ; an' more betoken, there's many a black 
 story tould about him lately." 
 
 Tighe folded his arms and dropped his head upon his 
 breast ; he was evidently in very troubled thought. His 
 mother did not disturb him, but continued to dry her eyes 
 nd to shake her head. 
 
 "Well," he said at last, as if speaking to himself, "it'll on- 
 narve him intoirely whin he hears this." Looking up, he con- 
 tinued in a different tone : " Go to thim anyway, mother, an' 
 tell thim the masther'll be at Father Meagher's as soon as the 
 night is rightly settled ; an' now good-by ; mebbe you'll see
 
 MRS. CARMODT. 41 
 
 me afore long, an* mebbe it'll be awhile afore you 11 lay eyes 
 on me agin ; but don't recave me in the scoldin* way you did 
 this evenin'." 
 
 He caught her in a quick, hearty embrace, and wag gent 
 before she had recovered frora its effect.
 
 CHAPTER Tl 
 
 A NEW HOME. 
 
 ALL that Father Meagher's tender, priestly heart prompted 
 he did tc make the two orphans welcome and happy in his 
 humble, but neat and cheerful home ; and both girls having 
 repaired to the little chapel, and there laid their griefs at the 
 foot of the sacred altar, returned to the priest's house, at least 
 quite resigned, if not comforted. There were no more tears 
 on Nora's lovely face, and Clare's heightened color alone be- 
 trayed her excited thoughts. 
 
 M Sure / know how hard it is," spoke up pretty Moira Mogn- 
 ahan, Father Meagher's niece and deft maid-of-all-work, a 
 merry, impulsive girl, who had no care beyond the charge of 
 her uncle's simple household. 
 
 She had shown the ladies to their apartment, and with the 
 privilege of long and intimate acquaintance, she had entered, 
 and had stood toying with her apron-strings while they 
 put off their outer garments. 
 
 " Didn't I feel dreadful bad, when Tighe went off the way 
 he did," she pursued; "an' don't I keep hopin' an' prayin' 
 
 that he'll come back soon, and " She was interrupted 
 
 by a loud knock at the front door. 
 
 Without waiting to finish her sentence, she bounded down 
 the stairs, and in a moment they heard her in excited and 
 joyful conversation. When she returned, her eyes were 
 aflame, her cheeks glowing ; she danced up to the two ladiei 
 who were sitting together. 
 
 " Oh, I have such news for you, such news ! I begged 
 Tighe's mother to let me tell you. Mr. O'Donoghue is back 
 from Australia ; he's in Drommacohol now, and he'll be here 
 (4*)
 
 A NEW HOME. 45 
 
 to- night to see you both ; an' Tighe is home ; he was at his 
 mother's this afternoon. Oh, my heart will burst with joy ! " 
 
 Nora McCarthy became deathly pale, and swayed for a 
 moment in her chair as if she would faint, while Clare half 
 started from her seat and looked in a bewildered way at the 
 speaker. Then both girls turned and gazed at each other. 
 They seemed to realize at last the full, glad purport of what 
 they had heard, and throwing themselves into each other's 
 arms, they burst into happy tears. 
 
 They would learn the story from Mrs. Carmody, Tighe 
 a Vohr's mother, and they repaired to the little parlor 
 where the old woman excitedly told her tale. Expatiating on 
 Tighe's " wonderful natural smartness " in managing the es- 
 cape, and making many an amusing digression and embellish- 
 ment, she gave at length the substance of Tighe's story ; and 
 she thought herself well rewarded when both ladies kissed her 
 and mingled their happy tears with her own. 
 
 Father Meagher entered in the middle of the exciting and 
 joyful scene, and the glad tidings were told to him by every 
 voice at once. His kind old eyes grew moist with the emo- 
 tion he could not suppress, and his delight at the prospect of 
 so soon beholding the escaped convict was as keen as that 
 of the two young ardent hearts beside him ; but his manner 
 was not entirely free from anxiety ; Nora saw it, and she 
 whispered, while Clare was engaged with Mrs. Carmody : 
 
 " You foresee danger, father, Carroll will incur a great risk 
 by coming here ; perhaps you have heard something while 
 you were out." 
 
 The priest replied in as low a tone : " A company of sol- 
 diers have arrived at Casey's, and they seem to be bent on 
 something ; now that I have heard about Carroll's escape, 
 and his intended visit here, I fear their arrival has to do with 
 him." 
 
 Nora's face blanched. 
 
 " Oh, father ! he must not come here ; we will send him 
 word of the danger."
 
 44 CARROLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 Father Meagher shook his head. 
 
 " If he is in Dhrommacohol now, as Mrs. Carmody says, h 
 is already in the danger ; but probably there are those about 
 him who will watch for and warn him ; besides we know not 
 to what precise place to dispatch a messenger. Cease your 
 alarm ; God, who has so well aided and protected him thus 
 far, will not abandon him now. Pray, my dear child, and all 
 will be well," 
 
 There was hardly need of the admonition, for her heart was 
 incessantly sending up petitions for him about whom every 
 fiber of her being had wound itself, and now, as she turned 
 away that her fear might not communicate itself to Clare, her 
 lips were faintly murmuring : " Oh, my God ! save him." 
 
 Mrs. Carmody gladly accepted Moira's invitation to remain 
 for the evening, and under pretence of arranging for the 
 secret reception of his expected guest, Father Meagher con- 
 cealed his ominous anxiety. Nora repaired to the chapel, 
 there to strive to banish her gloomy foreboding, and to gain 
 by prayer the calm she so sadly needed ; her overwrought 
 imagination was lending the wildest terror to her fears ; she 
 saw Carroll snatched from her even before he could make this 
 stolen visit, and she saw him doomed this time, not to a life 
 imprisonment, but to the horrible death of the gallows ; she 
 caught his last agonizing glance ; she heard the last words of 
 his dying lips, words which told of his faithful affection for 
 her ; and utterly overcome, she sobbed aloud on the little 
 chancel rail beside which she knelt. She had supposed her- 
 self alone, for the sacred place had appeared to be quite de- 
 serted when she entered ; but a form had been kneeling in 
 the rear of the church. On the entrance of Miss McCarthy, 
 it had crouched so low that it could not be seen ; now, at the 
 sound of the sobbing, it lifted itself, and peered eagerly for- 
 ward. It was that of a man of slender stature, with a head 
 sunken between his shoulders, and covered with an abundance 
 of thick, shaggy black hair. 
 
 " My God I " sobbed Nora, confident that the had no lit-
 
 A NEW HOMB. 
 
 45 
 
 tener save Him who was inclosed in the little tabernacle, 
 " accept the sacrifice I have made of myself ; I do not ask to 
 be ever his wife, I do not ask to be spared any suffering in 
 this world, but I beg Thee to spare him he is so young, so 
 good. Save him from this danger that threatens, and then do 
 with me what Thou wilt. Thou knowest how much I owe to 
 him and his his dead father, his loving sister. Oh, my God ! 
 ave him." 
 
 The listener in the back of the church stood erect, placing 
 his hand behind his ear, as if to catch more surely the words 
 which floated to him ; but she was silent after that burst, and 
 in a few minutes she left the chapel. 
 
 The strange man walked forward to the altar ; with that 
 peculiar, quick, half-bend of the body with which the Irish 
 peasant recognizes the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, he 
 bent his knee as he neared the humble little chancel rail, and 
 began to strike his breast. 
 
 " O God ! what brought me here at all, when I know I'll 
 have to do it ; I'm in his power, and he'll squeeze the heart's 
 blood out of me. She said in her prayer that she didn't ask 
 to be spared suffering for herself, but if she knew what was 
 coming to her oh God ! how can I do the dirty work ? " 
 
 He beat his breast more violently, and dropped to his 
 knees, bowing his head till his face well-nigh touched the 
 floor, and his scalding tears mingled with its dust. There was 
 a sound of some one entering, and hastily rising, he departed. 
 
 Buoyant, impulsive Clare, reveling in the expectation 
 of being once more folded to her brother's heart, steadily 
 put aside every fear that came for his safety ; he had escaped 
 from Australia, he was there in Ireland near them ; and 
 what though a price was upon his head, and keen scouts 
 abroad to secure him, he had eluded them all thus far and 
 the trusty friends who had already aided him would effect, as 
 they intended to do, his final escape to America. Thus Clare 
 assured herself, and she went about the little house assisting 
 Moira, and chatting with Mrs. Carmody in such a merry-
 
 4 g CARROLL VDONOQHUK 
 
 hearted mood that Father Meagher studied all the more to 
 conceal his anxiety from her. 
 
 Moira was equally mirthful, and Nora looked at the happy 
 pair and tried hard not to let the gloom of her own sad, long- 
 ing heart throw any shadow upon them. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 The night for which so many hearts yearned came at last ; 
 it was dark as the faithful lads watching by the coast could 
 wish, and it threatened to be wild and stormy. The wind 
 rose in fitful gusts, and swept at intervals round angles and 
 through crevices with the wild hollow shriek of a soul in pain. 
 It was a night to make man and beast hasten to shelter, and 
 Carroll O'Donoghue and Tighe a Vohr buttoned their coats 
 closer about them, and bent their heads before the blast, as 
 both walked quickly and silently forward on the road to 
 Dhrommacohol. Not a sound save that of their own hurried 
 footsteps, and the shrieking of the wind as it came madly 
 down from the mountains, broke the stillness, and the darkness 
 was so intense that they could not see a pace ahead. 
 
 Neither was in a mood for conversation. Carroll, wrapped 
 in the thought of her whose memory never left him, and re- 
 joiced at the prospect of so soon beholding her, forgot for 
 the time even the faithful companion at his side, and the dan- 
 ger into which he might be hurrying, while Tighe, too heavy- 
 hearted to yield to the natural humor which no trouble here- 
 tofore had entirely suppressed, was absorbed in his own 
 inxious thoughts. 
 
 The cautious signal which Tighe gave at the back entrance 
 to Father Meagher 's little house needed no repetition; Moira 
 and Mrs. Carmody had been on the watch there a long hour, 
 not daring to open the door and look forth, lest spies might 
 be lurking in the darkness, but they had remained to listen 
 for the first sound of him whom they expected, while Father 
 Meagher and the ladies kept similar watch near the front en- 
 Irance. The back door was opened wide to Tighe's gentle 
 Up, and Moira in her wild delight forgot her prudence and 
 cave a scream of iov.
 
 A NEW HOME. 47 
 
 * Whisht ! " said Tighe, putting his hand over her mouth, 
 and quickly shutting the door, " you'll bring the counthry on 
 us," 
 
 The scream had brought the little party from the parlor, 
 Father Meagher first, Nora, white and trembling, in the 
 rear. 
 
 " My own boy ! home again. Thank God ! ** 
 
 The escaped convict was folded in the priest's arms close 
 to the heart that beat with all a father's love for the young 
 fellow so full of generous impulses and noble daring; he 
 could feel the tears of the tender-hearted clergyman as for an 
 instant their faces touched, and his own eyes were misty when 
 he turned to embrace his sister. 
 
 Nora still modestly lingered in the rear ; indeed, her trem- 
 bling limbs would scarcely bear her forward ; but Carroll, im- 
 patient to greet her, released himself from Clare and advanced 
 to her with outstretched arms ; in that long, warm clasp of 
 hands, in that gaze of each into the other's eyes, though no 
 word was said, their souls spoke, and Nora's full heart could 
 have sobbed itself out in very joy, while Carroll would have 
 braved again all his past hardships for such a moment of 
 happiness. 
 
 There was a sudden exclamation of terror from Moira, and 
 she pointed excitedly to the window. She had been stand- 
 ing close beside it, listening with a pretty archness to Tighe's 
 tender speeches, and she averred that she saw a form flit by 
 it ; she could not say whether man or woman, but she was 
 sure that the shadow of some one had crossed the panes. No 
 one else had perceived it, but no one else of the party had 
 been looking in that direction. Alarm became immediately 
 visible on every face, and Nora shrunk closer to Carroll's 
 side, as if she would strive to protect him, while Tighe seized 
 his hat, which he had thrown on the floor on his entrance, 
 and thrust it upon his head. 
 
 " Lave it to me, father," he said, turning to the priest, " to 
 learn if there's a spy about ; an' do you all go up-stairs, au'
 
 ^ CARROLL 0DONOQHU& 
 
 be quiet till I come back. Mebbe it's only a notion of 
 Moira's, afther all" 
 
 44 It is not," protested Moira, " 1 saw it, and " 
 
 But Tighe had gone out into the dark, windy night The 
 priest led the way to the parlor, and seated between his sis- 
 ter and his betrothed, Carroll O'Donoghue told in a subdued 
 voice the story of his escape, and how the latter was due to 
 the faithful affection of Tighe a Vohr. But every whistle of 
 the wind made the girls start and shudder, and even Father 
 Meagher, touched and interested as he was, and anxious to 
 conceal his own alarm, cast hurried, uneasy glances toward 
 the door. 
 
 Tighe came back to reassure them : " Net a h'aporth was 
 to be seen of any one. It must be all Moira's own notion." 
 
 Pretty Moira would have pouted at another time to be 
 deemed so fanciful, but Tighe's assurance had made her too 
 happy now to assume any of her wilful airs. 
 
 44 1 have not had time even to welcome you, Tighe," said 
 Father Meagher, advancing to Tighe a Vohr and extending 
 his hand. It was caught and shaken vigorously, then 
 dropped, and Tighe stood twirling his hat and looking down 
 in awkward bashfulness. 
 
 " Look up ! " said the priest, " and let me thank you for all 
 you have done for our poor lad." 
 
 44 Don't, yer rivirence I couldn't stanj it it'd unman me 
 intoirely to have you thankin' me. I didn't do anything but 
 what me heart tould me to do ; but I'll make bould to ax one 
 thing," looking up with a sly glance. 
 
 44 Ask anything, Tighe." 
 
 44 If you'll say, in the presence of me mother here, that you 
 have hopes of me yet. She thinks you have none, because of 
 my wild doin's, an* mebbe if you tould her she was wrong, 
 it'd be a consolation to her when I'd get into the next skrim- 
 mage." 
 
 44 You are the same Tighe a Vohr," said the priest, with a 
 low laugh which he could not restrain ; " but I can give you*
 
 A NEW HOME. 
 
 49 
 
 poor mother the assurance you wish youll be a steady fel- 
 low one of these days, when you see the folly of putting youi 
 heart into such vain things as fairs, and fights and races." 
 
 " Faith, father, I'll never lose the love for them things till 
 my heart is held somewhere else," and he looked slyly and 
 archly at Moira, who tried to frown him into silence. The 
 priest affected not to understand him, and Moira slipped into 
 the kitchen, where Tighe speedily followed her. 
 
 "To go off without a word," she pouted ; " and 111 engage, 
 too, that you never thought of me all the while you were 
 away." 
 
 " Not think of you ! " protested Tighe ; " do you see that ? " 
 pointing to the knot of discolored ribbon on his faded and 
 worn hat ; " do you mind the time when I tuk that from your 
 hair where it lay like a like a " At a loss for a simile, he 
 scratched his head and looked about him " like a poppy in 
 the midst of a cornfield. Do you mind how you fastened it 
 where it is now ? well, I never moved it, an' I never will till 
 you give me another an' a betther keepsake." 
 
 " It's easy enough to say all that, Tighe, but if you meant it, 
 you wouldn't have left me in such dreadful suspense. How 
 did I know but those horrid soldiers had caught you, and 
 transported you too ? " 
 
 " No, my darlin', I transported myself for the masther's 
 sake ; an' now don't be torturin' that purty face of yours 
 into any more crass looks they're not becomin' at all. 
 Sure I'm here now, ready to ax your pardon on my knees an 
 to swear that I'll never lave you again without tellin' you all 
 about it afore I can spake a word to you." 
 
 A loud, peremptory knock sounded at the front door. The 
 little party in the parlor and the two in the kitchen started in 
 terror. Tighe rushed to the door, and listening a moment 
 hurried to the parlor. 
 
 " Hide the masther ! it is the soldiers. Quick, quick I * 
 Moira's wits were awake and keen. 
 
 " This way."
 
 ea CARROLL VDONOGHUX. 
 
 5 W 
 
 She pulled Carroll with her in the direction of the kitchen. 
 
 Nora and Clare, terror-stricken, stood dumb and motion- 
 less. Father Meagher waved them back to their seats, and 
 the knocking being renewed with greater force, he ordered 
 Tighe to open. Carroll had disappeared with Moira, and 
 Tighe, satisfying himself by a hasty glance that there was 
 nothing to awaken suspicion in the postures of the occupants 
 of the room, went to the door with a heavy step. 
 
 " Open, or we'll break the infernal thing in ! " shouted a 
 gruff voice, and the menace was accompanied by a shower of 
 blows tha. threatened to demolish the door itself. 
 
 " Aisy," answered Tighe, as he proceeded with provoking 
 leisure to make several feints of opening to the soldiers. 
 "It's a quare time of night you come breaking into the clargy's 
 house," he continued, " like a set of scrawneens as ye are that 
 niver knew what it was to be about dacint business. If I was 
 the masther here, I'd give you the right about with a blessin' 
 that mightn't mane good luck to you." 
 
 " Open the door," thundered the gruff voice which had 
 spoken before, and a tremendous rap that made the door 
 shiver and Tighe himself start back in some affright, accom- 
 panied the words. 
 
 " Will you open the door, or must I do it myself ?" ordered 
 the priest in severe tones. 
 
 " Sure, father, I'm doin' my best ; but there's a ketch in 
 the bolt bad cess to yez ! " as the blows began to shower 
 again, " but ye're the onmanageable lot, there ! " 
 
 He flung the door open so suddenly and widely that two 
 of the foremost of the soldiers who were close against it fell 
 headlong into the little entry. 
 
 "It's down ye ought to be," said Tighe, contemptuously 
 surveying his fallen foes, as they hastily and with visible mor- 
 tification in their faces struggled to their feet. The priest 
 stood on the threshold of the little parlor. 
 
 " To what, gentlemen, am I indebted for such an unseemly 
 Tint?"
 
 A NJSW HOME, g i 
 
 The noble poise of his dignified, venerable form, the calm, 
 firm tones of his voice, and the kind, gentle expression of hii 
 face, brought into full view by the rays of the entry lamp, pen- 
 dent above him, somewhat abashed the fierce and impetuous 
 soldiers now crowding into the Iktle passage-way. They drew 
 back, and seemed glad to make deferential way for one who 
 approached from their rear. Bowing low to the priest, and 
 with a grace that savored more of court than camp, he said : 
 
 " I regret, reverend sir, to be obliged to make so un- 
 seemly and untimely a visit, but duty compels. From direct 
 information received not two hours ago, we believe an 
 escaped Fenian convict to be secreted in your house. We 
 have come to search for him." 
 
 Father Meagher retreated a few steps into the parlor ; the 
 officer followed, motioning the soldiers back, and in a moment 
 he stood in the presence of Nora McCarthy and Clare 
 O'Donoghue. 
 
 " Captain Dennier ! " burst from both the girls, and the 
 officer, though much and somewhat painfully surprised, re- 
 sponded to the recognition with his usual inimitable grace. 
 
 " I shall not intrude farther," he said to the priest, " if you 
 will say that the person of whom we are in search is not in 
 the house." 
 
 Had he looked, the pallid face and quivering lip of Nora, 
 and the changing color and hurried breathing of Clare would 
 have given him the information he did not desire to receive, 
 but he kept his eyes averted as if he feared to betray his 
 own painful embarrassment. 
 
 Father Meagher evaded the momentous question. 
 
 " You see here," he said, two young friends who, having 
 been evicted from their own home, have consented to accept 
 the shelter of my humble roof, and if you think that it also 
 covers the person for whom you are looking, you are at liberty to 
 search ; I give you free access to every part of this little dwell- 
 ing. " Moira, " he called to his niece with the hope that her 
 quick wit would enable her to direct the search without ex-
 
 Jt CARROLL VDONOQHUK 
 
 posing the place in which she might have hidden Carroll 
 But instead of Moira's answer, there was a shout from the 
 soldiers who were left on guard without the house, and in 
 another moment the recaptured Carroll was led into the 
 parlor. 
 
 Finding no place of effectual concealment in the kitchen 
 to which Moira led him, and fearing to compromise the 
 priest, should he be found in the house of the latter, he de- 
 termined to risk the chance of an escape by the back en- 
 trance ; for a few yards he was safe, owing to the darkness, 
 but a keener scout than any of the redcoats would have 
 proved to be scented his trail ; the alarm was given, and 
 the soldiers on guard quickly seized their prey. 
 
 Captain Dennier started back in strange dismay. At the 
 sight of the prisoner a singular expression came into his face. 
 One by one he was linking all the occurrences of that event- 
 ful day together, and he was learning for the first time that 
 the Australian convict brother of Clare O'Donoghue, the 
 manly, genial stranger \\hom he had met on the rocks, and 
 the escaped convict for whose recapture he had been specially 
 detailed to Cahirciveen were one and the same person. In- 
 terested, more than interested as he was in the wilful, spirited 
 Clare, swayed by impulses more favorable to the Irish cause 
 than to British supremacy, he shrunk in bitterness of soul 
 from the duty which was now his. He shrunk, and yet in 
 the same moment he loathed himself for this seeming weak- 
 ness. To restore himself in his own estimation he assumed 
 a sternness of mien utterly foreign to his present feeling, and 
 turning to the foremost of his men, he motioned him forward. 
 
 " Bind the prisoner." 
 
 The order was given in cold, even tones that betrayed not 
 by the faltering of a syllable, nor the motion of a muscle, what 
 it had cost to utter the words. 
 
 Carroll O'Donoghue stood erect, and extended his hands 
 for the manacles. The priest turned aside, his head bowed 
 almost to his breast, and the trembling of his form telling how
 
 A NEW HOUR SJ 
 
 deeply he was agitated. Clare, violently excited and indig- 
 nant, could control herself no longer. She sprung to her 
 brother's side ; she caught his manacled hands in her own, 
 and with her eyes full of passionate tears that threatened each 
 moment to become a sob, she said to Captain Dennier : 
 
 " He is my brother ; he is the sole protector of two poor 
 orphan girls, and yet you command his arrest ; this, then, ii 
 the sequel of your intrusion into our home a few hours since, 
 the intrusion you so deeply regretted," spoken with an 
 accent of intense scorn " the intrusion for which you made so 
 humble an apology ; and you prayed to have no enmity be- 
 tween us as individuals ; " her voice quivered with sarcasm, 
 " you deplored the suffering entailed upon us poor victims of 
 your country's oppression. This act shows how deeply you 
 deplore it." 
 
 " Hush," interposed Carroll, " you are talking wildly ; this 
 officer is but doing his duty." 
 
 A slight flush colored the captain's cheeks, but it was the 
 only sign of how sharply her words had cut him. 
 
 " Remove the prisoner," he ordered, in the same tones he 
 had previously used, and withdrawing a little as if he some- 
 what feared the effect of his command. 
 
 The soldiers started forward to obey the order ; one of 
 them, annoyed at the delay which had already ensued, seized 
 the young man roughly. Clare wound her arms about him, 
 and Nora at his side could only look the appeal she had not 
 the strength to make. 
 
 u A moment give me a moment to convince this poor girl 
 that I must go," said Carroll, as he strove to detach himself 
 from his sister's embrace. 
 
 " You are making matters worse for me," he whispered to 
 Clare ; " let me go." 
 
 She obeyed him, and threw herself sobbing into Nora 
 McCarthy's arms. 
 
 Carroll knelt at the feet of the clergyman. "Bless me, 
 father."
 
 J4 CARROLL 
 
 The priest's voice shook with emotion. " God bless you, 
 my bra ^e boy ! may He ever bless you, and give you strength 
 to do the right." 
 
 The soldiers closed about him ; from the threshold he 
 raised his manacled hands in a sad farewell, his eyes resting 
 last and longest on his weeping betrothed. 
 
 Captain Dennier also turned to say farewell. " Accuse me 
 of being stern and cruel, if you will," he said, looking at 
 Clare ; " but I could not be false to my principles, to my 
 honor ; I regret exceedingly the painful part I have been 
 obliged to perform, and I beg you in calmer moments to 
 think more kindly of me." 
 
 They departed, Tighe a Vohr following in their wake
 
 CHAPTER VIl 
 
 MACHINATIONS. 
 
 THE storm continued, growing each moment in fierceness ; 
 torrents of rain accompanied the shrieking wind, and at inter- 
 vals, when a temporary lull ensued, and the elements seemed 
 to have ended their strife, it was only to break forth again 
 with more appalling fury. 
 
 During one of these lulls a man started up from a hedge by 
 the road-side, as if he had been seeking protection from the 
 storm ; but he also seemed to have had another motive than shel- 
 ter, for instead of looking for a more desirable covert, he stood 
 in the attitude of listening. The night was too dark to dis- 
 cern even the outline of a passing form, but the brief subsid- 
 ing of the tempest enabled him to hear distinctly, and just as 
 the wild strife of the elements was about again to begin, he 
 heard approaching the hurried tramp of men. Veering to the 
 side, he waited until they had passed, recognizing by their 
 voices, and fragments of their conversation, consisting mostly 
 of anathemas on the storm, that they were English soldiers. 
 He dropped into the train, the darkness screening him from 
 observation. 
 
 Drenched, and heartily tired from their conflict with the 
 wind and rain and the toil of a journey over a difficult road, 
 the party halted after a half hour's march at a sort of country 
 hotel. It was of rather pretentious size for the unassuming 
 little country place in which it was situated, and bore evidence 
 in its well-lighted windows and broad, illuminated doorway, 
 of unusual accommodation for wayfarers. Into this building 
 passed Captain Dennier and his men with their prisoner, and 
 closely followed by Tighe a Vohr. He who had surreptitious- 
 (If)
 
 $6 CARROLL CTDONOGffUB. 
 
 ly joined them kept in the shadow, but in such a position that, 
 without being himself seen, he could observe the men as they 
 passed within the portal. When the door was shut upon the 
 last of the soldiers, he turned suddenly and walked back as 
 rapidly as the storm would allow him, by the road he had 
 just pursued. He needed no light to guide him on his way, 
 and the elements beating about him were in unison with the 
 battle waging in his own heart. Hatred, remorse, and a 
 wretched feeling of despair made him sometimes fling open 
 the tattered coat that covered his naked breast, and lift the 
 well-worn hat from his shaggy head that the wind might cool 
 his inward fever. After intervals when his thoughts grew 
 maddening in their intensity, a curse or a groan escaped him, 
 and he clenched his hands and beat his bosom in fruitless 
 agony. 
 
 Thus journeying, he arrived at length on the outskirts of a 
 village. Threading the deserted streets with quickened gait, 
 he stopped before one of a row of plain little cottages. Rais- 
 ing the latch, he gave a peculiar signal ; it brought at once 
 to the door a man in a gaudy dressing-gown, and with coarse 
 sandy hair bristling from under a nightcap. The light shin- 
 ing from an adjoining apartment revealed him distinctly. 
 
 " It's time for you to arrive ! " was his salutation, as he 
 admitted the new-comer. The latter scowled. 
 
 " Have a care, Morty Carter, for I'm a desperate man to- 
 night. I did your dirty work, and I've come for the reward 
 you promised." 
 
 " Easy, now, easy, and well see. Come in here, and we'll 
 talk the matter over." 
 
 He led the way to tne open room, seating himself at a little 
 table covered with papers in disordered arrangement, and 
 motioned his visitor to a chair near. Then, appearing to 
 notice for the first time the dripping condition of the latter, 
 he rose, and going to a cupboard, brought forth a bottle and 
 glass. Pouring out an unusually large quantity of the liquor. 
 be tendered it to his guest. It was angrily pushed away.
 
 MACHINATIONS. 57 
 
 "You'd play on my weakness again, as you did many i 
 toime before. No, I'll have none of it until you come to 
 terms. I've done your work, your divil's work, an' now am 
 I to see Cathleen, or not ? " 
 
 He rose in his fierce eagerness, bending across the table 
 till his hot breath and the steam from his dripping garments 
 unpleasantly assailed Mr. Carter's sensitive nostrils. 
 
 " Sit down, man, and don't be so unreasonable. Give me 
 time to think, and tell me how you succeeded but no ; I'll 
 not hear a word from you, and I'll not speak one word to 
 you, until you take that to keep out the cold you'll get after 
 this wetting. Take it, Rick." He held the glass almost to 
 the miserable creature's lips, and spoke in a coaxing tone. 
 It was a tone so foreign to him, and it was assumed with 
 such awkward grace, that he to whom it was addressed 
 laughed in mockery. 
 
 " When did you oil your tongue so, Carter ? but you're 
 wasting its sweetness on me." 
 
 Carter quelled his rising passion by an effort, and again ten- 
 dering the liquor, he said, less persuasively, however : " Refuse 
 it or not as you will, but you'll get no answer from me until you 
 take it, and until I hear what you've done ; nor shall I listen 
 to you until you drink it." He set the glass down where the 
 tempting fume could ascend into the face of the poor, half- 
 famished wretch, and folding his arms, stood back in a reso- 
 lute attitude. The temptation was strong to one who had not 
 tasted food for hours, and the sparkle of the liquor as it lit 
 up the glass, and its stimulating odor, conquered Rick of 
 the Hills. He raised the tumbler and quaffed its contents 
 at a draught. Morty Carter smiled ; then he stepped forward 
 with alacrity, and resumed the chair he had left. 
 
 "Now tell me, Rick, how you succeeded." 
 
 "I went, as you told me, an' prowled unobserved about 
 the priest's house till I saw Carroll O'Donoghue an' Tighe 
 a Vohr go in ; then I posted away to Casey's an' told Cap- 
 tain Dennier. It wasn't long till the soldiers were at Fathei
 
 g CARROLL aDONOQHUB, 
 
 Meagher's, an' keeping guard outside the house as well as in 
 it ; Carroll tried to escape by the back door of the kitchen, 
 but I spotted him, an* gave the alarm to the soldiers that 
 were almost next him. After that, I waited on the road till 
 the soldiers passed with him, then I followed, an' watched 
 them all go in to Casey's." 
 
 Carter rubbed his hands. " Well done, Rick." 
 
 " Aye, it's well done for you, Morty Carter, but it's hell's 
 own work for me ; my soul was black enough before, but 
 how is it now ? I tell you, " roused into his old fierceness 
 by the tenor of his thoughts " I'll do no more of it. Tell 
 me where Cathleen is, an' I'll beg my way to her. You prom- 
 ised to tell me if I succeeded in this ; keep your word." 
 
 " Never fear me, I'll keep my promise ; but I've a word or 
 two more to say. But drink, man, to keep out the cold." 
 
 Again he poured from the bottle, and again, more easily 
 tempted than before, because of his recent potation, poor, 
 miserable Rick quaffed the contents. 
 
 " Do you see, now," resumed Carter, drawing his chair 
 closer to his visitor, and speaking in a confidential whisper, 
 " it'll not be safe for you nor me till Carroll O'Donoghue is 
 hung the evidence is pretty sound against him and then 
 the property will be mine, and may be her dainty ladyship Miss 
 McCarthy wouldn't mind becoming Mrs. Carter." 
 
 Despite Rick's rapidly increasing maudlin condition, there 
 arose within him amazement and indignation at such an as- 
 piration on the pan of his companion, and he started from 
 his chair, but finding himself too unsteady to stand, he sunk 
 into it again. 
 
 " She wouldn't look at you, Carter, if you had all Ireland 
 to your back ; and I'd be sorry if she would." 
 
 Again Carter, by an effort, controlled his rising anger. 
 
 " May be she won't be able to help herself ; may be she'll be 
 
 glad to accept me when she knows " he stooped forward 
 
 and whispered in Rick's ear. It had the effect of completely 
 iobering him for a moment. He jumped to his feet, thii 
 time able to itand without even the suooort of the chair.
 
 MACHINATIONS. 
 
 59 
 
 * Are you man, or divil, Morty Carter, to plot the like of 
 that ? And do you think I'll lend myself to that scheme for 
 you ? I did as bad for you twenty-five years ago, but it 
 wasn't the hellish work then that it would be now. No, you'll 
 never count on me for that ; and the tongue that would 
 utter that lie ought to be blasted forever." 
 
 For an instant Carter quailed before this sudden and unex- 
 pected resistance ; then, recovering his wonted boldness, he 
 said : 
 
 " You'll do it, Rick ; you know you will, and then I'll keep 
 my word with you ; then you shall see Cathleen, and have 
 peace and prosperity to boot. But if you refuse me, never 
 shall you see Cathleen, never shall you know her fate, and 
 you shall swing for the murder at B - ; I swear it." 
 
 The sudden sobriety of Rick had as suddenly yielded to his 
 former condition, and confused by the horror of Carter's 
 proposition, and the fear caused by the latter's determined at- 
 titude, he yielded to all the weakness of his wretched state. 
 
 " For the love of God, Morty Carter, don't ask me to do 
 that. I'll do any other mortal thing for you. Have you a 
 heart, man - " 
 
 Utterly overcome, he dropped his head on the table and 
 cried like a child. Carter looked at him contemptuously for 
 a moment, then, knowing that a sound drunken sleep would 
 speedily succeed all this maudlin sentiment, he left the room,
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 FATHER O'CONNOR. 
 
 * WILL be ever come ? " 
 
 The words were spoken by a man who seemed to be In the 
 Agony of death, his pallid face, more ghastly pallid because of 
 the contrast its own white hue presented to the blood stains 
 just showing beneath a bandage about the temples, was con- 
 tracted into an expression of intense pain, and his large, black 
 eyes burned with the fire of a mortal disease. His stalwart 
 frame shook with the throes of agony, and the poor pallet 
 upon which he was extended trembled beneath him. 
 
 A middle-aged kindly-faced woman was endeavoring in 
 simple, uncouth fashion to soothe him, and a man in the dress 
 of an Irish laborer stood sorrowfully looking on. To the 
 rear of the bed in an open doorway were grouped a half dozen 
 sad, expectant, wondering faces, men and women of the Irish 
 peasant class ; but, impressed with the necessity of silence for 
 the dying man, scarcely a breath escaped them. 
 
 " Will he ever come ? * 
 
 The words were repeated with a sadly pathetic force, and he 
 struggled to free one of his hands from the coverlet, and raise 
 it to his head ; it was bandaged, and before he had half suo 
 ceeded in his task he had dropped it with a moan of intense pain. 
 
 " He will come, acushla," whispered the woman at his side, 
 as she gently covered the poor helpless arm. 
 
 " Father Meagher, God bless him, never disappointed one 
 of us yet, an' whin he hears of this case where it was a fight 
 wid Ihe soldiers, he'll fly like the lightnin' ; but it's a good 
 tep away, an 1 the messenger's not so long gone." 
 
 There was a movement among the little party in the door 
 (60)
 
 FATHER O'CONNOR. 61 
 
 way ; a respectful falling back to make way for some one, 
 and Father O'Connor entered, his dusty garb and perspiring 
 face giving evidence of somewhat long and hasty travel. 
 
 " At last," murmured the sufferer ; and the woman respect- 
 fully courtesying to the priest, said : 
 
 " We were expecting Father Meagher, your riverance." 
 
 M He sent me in his place," answered the clergyman as he 
 drew a stool to the bedside and seated himself. 
 
 The wondering faces in the doorway had disappeared, with- 
 drawn to one of the neighbors' houses while the priest should 
 be closeted with his penitent, and the woman and the man 
 had also respectfully retired, but only to the outer apartment. 
 
 " You are badly hurt, my man," said the priest, kindly. 
 
 " I am, your riverence : I got my death wound ; but I'd 
 not mind it if it wasn't for the two I left in Ballycarry, my old 
 mother and Cathleen." 
 
 For an instant his eyes were dim with tears, then, as if even 
 in that final moment he deemed such an emotion unmanly, 
 he stifled it by a convulsive effort, and continued : 
 
 " I'd give my heart's blood for Ireland, an' count it little. 
 When the news of the rising in Kildare came to us I was for 
 joining the boys at once, an' I did, though me mother strove 
 to hinder me with her prayers an' her entreaties, an' Cathleen 
 tried hard to keep me." 
 
 Again he paused, because of the emotion which would have 
 unmanned him, and Father O'Connor said with firm persua- 
 siveness : 
 
 " You must stop this, my poor fellow ; you are too weak to 
 talk in that strain." 
 
 " No, father ! for the love of Heaven let me go on. My 
 heart's burstin' with all I'm thinkin', an' it'll be a relief to 
 spake my thoughts to you, for you'll not re vale them. Cath- 
 leen came to us when she was a baby a man named Morty 
 Carter brought her." Father O'Connor gave a slight start. 
 " He brought her for my mother to take care of, saying that 
 he was an orphan niece of his, an' that he was flyin' with her
 
 ^ CARROLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 from her father's people, because they wanted the child to 
 make her a Protestant, an' he was in mortal dread that they'd 
 ever find her. My mother was a widow then, and I, her only 
 cklid, was eight years old. The infant was to be called by 
 our name, Kelly, an' she was to be told nothin' beyant that 
 Carter was her uncle. Carter paid my mother for all this, 
 an* he came regularly to set us. We were very happy, for 
 Cathleen was the same as an own sister to me, an' whin she 
 grew up she was more, father, for I loved her ; but she 
 wouldn't listen when I'd spake of that ; her heart was set on 
 other things it was in the convent where she went to school, 
 an' where she'd be willin' to stay always if it wasn't for the 
 lonesomeness my mother'd have without her." 
 
 Again he was forced to pause from exhaustion and pain, 
 and the priest, leaving him for a moment, went to the outer 
 room to learn if a surgeon had been summoned. 
 
 "No, your riverence," said tha man, "he begged us not to 
 get a docthor, only the priest ; an' sure it's little good the 
 docthor could do him, anyhow." 
 
 Father O'Connor could not help mentally agreeing with the 
 observation, but he insisted on a messenger being dispatched 
 immediately for the nearest physician, and returning to the 
 sufferer, he held to his lips the drink of cold water which the 
 latter craved. 
 
 " I'm stronger, father," he said, letting his head drop back 
 on the pillow with a sigh of relief, " the pain is easier." Then, 
 pausing to draw a deep breath, he resumed : " It's two 
 months now since I said good-by to my mother and Cathleen, 
 since I joined the boys. I thought we'd do great things for 
 Ireland, we were all so hot an' eager to be fightin' ; but the 
 other power is too strong. We can't do much only die for 
 the old land. They beat us back to-day when we made the 
 attack on the barracks, and if it wasn't for the captain's dar- 
 ing they'd have murdered me outright. But it's not that I'd 
 talk of now. I want to ask you this, father. Will you try to 
 find Morty Carter ? The boys here think a power of him,
 
 FATHER VOONNOR. 63 
 
 And trust him entirely. The other night, when word wai 
 brought to Hurley's of some search goin' to be made by the 
 authorities, a paper was given for safe keeping to Carter , it 
 had the names an' the places of all them that the English 
 would be glad to seize, an' a power of information besides." 
 
 He paused to recover his gasping breath, and when he re- 
 sumed, his voice was thick and hoarse. " Altogether it would 
 have been a great document for the government to get hold 
 of, an' somehow I didn't like the look in Carter's eyes when 
 he took it, but maybe I was wrong." 
 
 Again he paused, and in response to the priest's whispered 
 admonition, said, when once more he had recovered sufficient 
 strength : " Yes, father, I will be quick now, for I have only this 
 to say : will you tell Morty Carter all that X told you about Cath- 
 leen ? he can't blame me for tellin' you, as you are a priest, and he 
 knows that I never told mortal before, anything save that 
 Cathleen was a cousin of my own I never told that Carter 
 was her uncle. We all kept the secret the young crayture 
 herself, an* my mother an' me. Will you do this for me, 
 father, an' then will you ask him if he'll continue the bit of 
 support to my poor ould mother ? Cathleen will not leave 
 her till she dies ; I know she'll not." 
 
 The whole of his poor, struggling soul seemed to be in his 
 pleading eyes as he turned them on the pitying face above 
 him. 
 
 " Yes, my poor fellow," answered the priest," I shall do all 
 you ask ? " 
 
 " An' one thing more will you write to Cathleen ? I'll not 
 ask you to make the journey to see her ; it would be too far 
 for your reverence, but write to her, an' tell her how the love 
 in my heart for her never left it, an' how, whin she's one day 
 afore the althar, givin' her pure young heart to God foriver, 
 she will not forget to pray for William Kelly. An' say to my 
 mother, father, that I lave her the love of my dyin' heart." 
 
 He was utterly exhausted, and the priest looked in some 
 dismay at the ghastly countenance, and the scarcely breathing
 
 <4 CARROLL VLONOQHUR. 
 
 form ; but the poor fellow rallied once more, and aste/ vith 
 painful eagerness : 
 
 " Will you promise that also, father ? " 
 
 * Yes, all that you ask." 
 
 44 Thank God ! " he had freed his hands from the coverlet, 
 and he strove to clasp them in his gratitude, b; t they fell 
 helplessly on the bed. 
 
 " I can prepare to die now," he said, " there't * load off my 
 mind." 
 
 He motioned for another drink, and ther signified his de- 
 sire to make his confession. On its conclusion the doctor 
 arrived, and instantly pronounced the case hopeless. Death 
 would ensue within the next twelve hours 
 
 The dying man caught the half-whispered words, and ho 
 smiled. 
 
 "I am not afraid to go now," he said, "an' somehow I 
 think it's best. Sure it was glorious to get my death striking 
 a blow for old Ireland." 
 
 " I shall return," the priest said to the woman and her male 
 companion, who had entered the room with the doctor ; the 
 latter having given some brief directions about the treatment 
 of the wounded man, departed with the clergyman. 
 
 Groups of men and women were everywhere ; on the road, 
 in the doorways, and everywhere with the same melancholy 
 and somewhat defiant expression of countenance. Gloomy 
 determination looked from every brow, and a fierce animosity 
 gleamed from every eye. The conversation was always in low 
 tones, but it was accompanied at times by a bodeful shaking 
 of the head, and a threatening gesture of the hands which 
 evinced how deep were the feelings of the speaker. All bowed 
 respectfully to the priest and his companion, who, as the 
 parish doctor, was well known, and ardently liked because 
 of his sympathy with the Irish cause and his kindness to the 
 poor, though he was himself a Protestant, and descended from 
 an aristocratic family. 
 
 " This is bad business," he said to Father O'Connor, when
 
 FATHER VCONNOR. 65 
 
 the two had gone beyond seeing and hearing distance of the 
 groups they had passed. The priest did not answer ; he was 
 absorbed in perplexing thought of Morty Carter. The little 
 physician appeared not to mind the absence of a reply ; fol- 
 lowing the bent of his own excited thoughts he continued : 
 
 " A country badly governed will ever be a thorn in the side 
 of the dominant country, and there will be agitations, and ris- 
 ings, and blood-spilling till England either wipes us entirely 
 from the face of the earth, or leaves us to legislate for our- 
 selves ; but she has trampled upon us until in our misery we 
 have turned, and now she would crush us out. Yet, with all 
 her power she could not do it ; by Heaven ! she could not do 
 it, if there was not treachery among ourselves." 
 
 The vehemence of the last words startled Father O'Connor 
 from his reverie. 
 
 " What do you mean, Doctor Day ? " he asked with some 
 lurprise. 
 
 " Why, early this morning, before that attack on the barracks, 
 I was summoned to attend Sergeant Hooper's little daugh- 
 ter. The child was very sick, and the father's anxiety about 
 her was considerably aggravated by the fact that he was part 
 of a command ordered to Dhrommacohol to make the arrest 
 of some party on information furnished by one Carter Morty 
 Carter, an Irishman, I believe, who pretends to be one of the 
 stanchest of the Fenians" 
 
 " Carter, did you say, Morty Carter ? " eagerly asked the 
 priest. 
 
 " Yes ; " was the reply. " I saw the fellow once ; a coarse, 
 blustering, corpulent man." 
 
 " And who was the party to be arrested ? M 
 
 " Some escaped Australian convict, I believe. I did not 
 hear the name. But, father, how excited you are ! does my 
 news affect you ? " 
 
 The priest was violently trembling, and the perspiration 
 stood thickly upon his face. It was some moments before b 
 could speak, and then his voice sounded husky and strange.
 
 w CARROLL VDONOGHUB. 
 
 "There is but one Australian convict that might be 
 in Dhrommacohol, and that is Carroll O'Donoghue, my 
 brother, I might say. His father took me, a foundling, in my 
 babyhood, caused me to be reared in his own happy home 
 side by side with his children, and through his love and care 
 I am what I am. Carroll O'Donoghue was arrested before, 
 and transported to Australia. He may have escaped ; it may 
 be he, and if so, and that his capture now should be due to 
 Morty Carter, then is he betrayed by one who for my lifetime 
 has been the trusted and intimate friend of the family." 
 
 He bowed his head and covered his face with his hands. 
 
 "Perhaps not ; perhaps my information is wrong," said the 
 little doctor, whose tender heart could ill bear the sight of 
 luch trouble as Father O'Connor's whole attitude expressed. 
 "At all events, you can go immediately to Dhrommacohol 
 and ascertain the truth." 
 
 The priest roused himself and shook his head. " I must 
 bear the Viaticum back to this poor dying creature." 
 
 He started on with hurried pace, the little physician hardly 
 able to keep by his side, till their paths diverged. 
 
 The priest, quickening his gait almost to a run, struck across 
 the fields, and on to a by-lane that led to an exceedingly 
 humble little church, and adjoining it a proportionately hum- 
 ble little dwelling. On the doorstep of the latter stood a 
 neatly-dressed old woman ; she was slightly leaning on a 
 stick, as if she suffered from some infirmity, and her face 
 wore the look of one who had maintained a long and anxious 
 watch. 
 
 At first sight o the straight, athletic, clerically-robed form 
 hurrying up the l : ttle borten, she turned to some one within, 
 and cried joyously : " He's coming at last, Jerry ; see thai 
 the kettle is boiling, so that he'll have a fresh cup of tea. I'll 
 be bound that he's had neither bite nor sup since he left 
 Dhrommacohol this morning, and here it is well-nigh evenin'.** 
 
 To her disappointment, instead of coming to the house, be 
 tutored the church.
 
 FATHER V CONNOR. 67 
 
 "Always the way," she muttered ; "either fastin' orprayin', 
 or round among the poor, or hearin' confessions. It's little 
 he thinks of himself, may God bless him ! Sure it's on my 
 knees night an' day, prayin' for him, / ought to be ; if it 
 wasn't for him, it's a home in the workhouse I'd have thia 
 minit ; an' he might have taken many another for his house- 
 keeper many a strong young woman that'd be able to do hit 
 work ; but he picked me out, poor an' lame as I am ; may 
 God Almighty bless him ! " 
 
 She turned within to superintend Jerry's arrangement of 
 the frugal supper, and finally bade him take her place at the 
 door to cry out instantly that Father O'Connor should emerge 
 from the church, in order that she might have the tea just 
 ready for him. 
 
 Jerry, a stout, half-grown, half-witted, stuttering lad, an- 
 other of Father O'Connor's proteges, adopted by the priest 
 because of his forlorn and outcast condition, reluctantly did 
 as he was told ; reluctantly, because he had just missed an 
 opportunity of pilfering some of the cream from the pitcher. 
 
 " H-h-h-he " stuttered Jerry. The housekeeper hobbled 
 as fast as she could for the teapot, and in her hurry over- 
 turned the steaming contents on her hand as well as into 
 the priest's cup. " He ain't coming," stammered out Jerry 
 at last, thrusting his head in to see what was the cause of 
 Mrs. Daly's outcry of pain. He burst into one of his idiotic 
 laughs as he saw the housekeeper wring her scalded hand, 
 and witnessed her anger at her disappointment. 
 
 " What did you spake for, thin, whin he wasn't comin* ? " 
 she asked angrily. 
 
 " Y-y-you wouldn't wait t-t-to hear it all," he stuttered ; 
 " h-h-he's gone down the boreen an' n-n-now you're fixed," 
 as he saw how powerless her right hand was to grasp her stick, 
 and that having to employ her left hand in its use, she would 
 be unable to inflict, as she sometimes did, so painful a blow 
 upon his shoulders. Delighted Jerry saw in the accident 
 many an opportunity of helping himself to the cream and
 
 6g CARROLL VDONOGHUR. 
 
 the sugar in defiance of old Mother Daly's blackthorn, and 
 he continued to laugh immoderately. The good old dame's 
 indignation was very violent ; between the smarting of her 
 hand, which had been somewhat severely scalded, and her 
 disappointment at the priest not coming, her anger against 
 Jerry each moment increased. 
 
 " You ungrateful spalpeen ! " she cried, trying to hobble to 
 him ; but it was such awkward and slow work, handling the 
 stick with her left hand, that the lad had time to put himself 
 into all sorts of defiant and grotesque postures before she 
 reached him, and then to dance out of her way with screams 
 of delight She shook her stick at him. 
 
 "You'll pay for this, you unmannerly knave ! Wait till his 
 riverence comes back ; I'll make a clane breast of the whole 
 of yer doin's." 
 
 " He-he-he " laughed Jerry, pointing to Father O'Connor'i 
 retreating form. He was turning out of the boreen into the 
 fields he had *o recently crossed
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE DYING FENIAN. 
 
 * HURRY, your riverince ! the soldiers have surrounded the 
 house where poor Kelly is dying, and there'll be bloody work 
 there afore long." 
 
 The speaker, so violently excited that his utterance was 
 hardly distinct, was a stout, broad-chested Irishman of the 
 laboring class. He carried his hat in his hand, and his red 
 and perspiring face and dust-covered, disarranged garments 
 attested the speed with which he had come. 
 
 Father O'Connor did not answer him, but pressing closer 
 to his bosom the hand which was already partly within his 
 surtout, he quickened his pace till even the swift pedestrian, 
 who, out of respect, had fallen a little behind, could scarcely 
 keep up with him. The report was not exaggerated ; the 
 soldiers had attempted to surround the house where the 
 dying man lay, but they were met by such determined and 
 desperate resistance on the part of the people that they were 
 forced to withdraw a little and consider how best to renew 
 their attack. Every man, woman and child in the vicinity had 
 gathered on the spot, and now stood forming in the front of 
 the house a solid mass of human beings, the men, armed 
 with motley weapons, pikes and fowling pieces prevailing, 
 and some of the women bearing large stones. 
 
 There was a subdued murmur as the form of the priest came 
 in sight, and the glowering looks of anger and hate which shone 
 so fiercely in the eyes of many gave place to a calmer expres- 
 sion. On he came, his hand still pressing closely to his bosom 
 tht aacred treasure he carried, his lips slightly moving as if in 
 prayer. With a hasty glance at the wall of people below 
 (69)
 
 70 CARROLL O'DONOGIIUE. 
 
 him, a longer and more searching look at the soldiers drawn 
 up in two ranks a few yards distant, he prepared to enter the 
 house. 
 
 The mass of beings opened, wedging themselves on each 
 side, so that a free ingress was made for him to the front en- 
 trance, and as he passed, with one simultaneous movement, 
 every one knelt, heads were bared, hands clasped in mute 
 supplication, and forms bowed almost to the ground, as the 
 sacred Host passed, borne on the bosom of a creature. The 
 soldiers were amazed at the scene, and stood surveying it with 
 unconcealed wonder; but their captain was quick to perceive 
 in it an unexpected advantage. He gave the order to charge 
 after the priest, and in a moment the redcoats were in the 
 midst of the kneeling mass. Up with one accord as quickly 
 as they had fallen prostrate the people, now furious, fought 
 with savage desperation. They flung themselves against the 
 soldiers,they grappled with them hand to hand, and so closely 
 were the Englishmen hemmed in that, save in a few instances, 
 they were unable to use their fire-arms. The priest had passed 
 within the house, his retrgat covered by a dozen powerful 
 Irishmen, and ingress after him rendered vain by the barrier 
 formed of their brawny bodies. 
 
 The dying man was gasping on his pallet; his large black 
 eyes, now strangely luminous with the moisture of death,were 
 turned in the direction whence the noi-se from the combatants 
 without proceeded. The woman who had so kindly attended 
 him from the beginning was on her knees by his side sobbing 
 bitterly, and her husband was standing beside her with folded 
 arms and a face expressive of his violent emotions. A little 
 table near had been covered with a white cloth, and a com- 
 mon crucifix, together with a lighted candle, had been placed 
 upon it in preparation for the priest's return. 
 
 "You are at peace with all," whispered the clergyman to 
 the dying man, "you forgive those who have placed you as 
 you are ?" 
 
 "All, father; my heart holds hatred for none."
 
 THE DYING FENIAN. j! 
 
 The shouts without were growing louder ; the noise of the 
 affray coming closer, as if the combatants were on the very 
 point of entering. 
 
 " You ask pardon of God for all your sins ? " again whit- 
 pered the priest. 
 
 " I do, father ; an* I hope for His mercy." 
 
 Father O'Connor put on his stole, and took from his breast 
 the little receptacle which contained the Blessed Sacrament. 
 
 " JDomine non sum dignus" his voice rung out clear and loud 
 as he held the Sacred Host for a moment before the dying 
 man's gaze. 
 
 " Ireland forever ! " shouted a voice without, high above 
 the din of other voices, and then, simultaneously with the re- 
 port of a fire-arm, sounded a scream of agony. 
 
 The dying man had received the Sacred Particle, and a 
 smile crossed his features for a moment, then they settled into 
 the white rigidity of death, his fingers fell from the crucifix 
 the priest had placed between them, and the Fenian was dead. 
 At that instant the soldiers had succeeded in effecting an en- 
 trance, and they filed into the room, unrestrained by the quiet 
 and awe which met them. 
 
 The man who stood beside his weeping wife turned upon 
 them like an enraged tiger. 
 
 " He has escaped ye ! ye couldn't wait to let him die in 
 peace, but thank God he's gone where your hellish law can't 
 reach him." 
 
 Finding their prey indeed gone, and becoming somewhat 
 awe-stricken by the still white presence before them, their 
 demeanor became more subdued ; they turned to leave the 
 house and to join their companions who were without, guard- 
 ing their captives. But the infuriated people, beaten though 
 they were, would make another effort to rescue their com- 
 rades ; they fell upon the soldiers, men and women of them, 
 grappling, striking, tearing, till the melee threatened to be 
 desperately bloody one. 
 
 Father O'Connor, seeing that the little handful of the Iriah
 
 y, CARROLL VDONOGHUZ. 
 
 could avail nothing against the superior number and skill of 
 the English, flung himself into the midst of the contestants. 
 
 * Listen to me 1 " he said, regardless of the blows which 
 rained around him, and making his voice sound piercingly 
 clear above the din ; " desist, my people, in God's name ; shed 
 no more blood this day." 
 
 They were accustomed to yield obedience to that voice, 
 and there was something in its accents now more forcible, 
 more commanding than it had been ever before ; there was 
 also something in that form, standing so fearlessly in the 
 midst of the affray, that compelled them to hearken to hii 
 words. The fight ceased, and the soldiers, many of them 
 bearing on their own bloody persons painful evidence of the 
 prowess of the Irish, departed, taking with them as prisoners 
 those who had been foremost in the struggle. Some of the 
 women followed, wailing for their husbands, or fathers, or 
 brothers, and Father O'Connor had enough work for the next 
 three hours in attending to the injured fortunately none 
 were mortally hurt and comforting the families of those who 
 had been arrested. It was very late when at last he could 
 turn his face to Dhrommacohol, and without going back to 
 his own home, where his devoted old housekeeper maintained 
 a constant and anxious watch, he struck into the nearest road 
 which would lead him to Father Meagher's. 
 
 The storm that had so drenched Rick of the Hills was in 
 its wildest fury, and the priest, used as he was to all the hard- 
 ships of severe weather, often shivered as the rain and the 
 blast seemed to pierce him through ; the fatigue of the day 
 and his long fast were somewhat overcoming him, and it was 
 with a thankful heart that he caught the first glimmer of the 
 light which he knew shone in Father Meagher's little study. 
 There was another light in one of the uppei windows, but he 
 did not dream that it came from a room in which Nor> 
 McCarthy was then kneeling before her crucifix ; she had ex- 
 hausted her tears, and now she could not even pray ; she 
 could only look and try to nerve herself to courage and en
 
 THE DYING FEN1AX. jj 
 
 durance by the contemplation of the image upon the cross. 
 Clare had thrown herself sobbing upon the bed, and had 
 fallen at last into a troubled, moaning slumber. 
 
 Father Meagher, absorbed in sad and anxious thought, hit 
 face buried in his hands, was aroused by the gentle knock at 
 the door ; deeming it a sick call, or perhaps Tighe a Vohr, 
 who he knew would return as soon as possible with news of 
 the prisoner, he hurriedly obeyed the summons, starting when 
 he saw Father O'Connor. 
 
 " What, Charlie, my boy ! back again ? what is the matter ? 
 but you are drenched ! " observing the dripping garments of 
 the young priest. 
 
 With the tenderness of a mother, the old clergyman bustled 
 about to find dry garments for his visitor, and then he depart- 
 ed to the kitchen, intending to prepare with his own hand* 
 some warm refreshment. 
 
 The sound of sobbing startled him ; he held the little lamp 
 above his head and peered into the corners. It was Moira, 
 almost prone to the floor, and so doubled up as to hardly 
 bear semblance to a human form. She was in such a parox- 
 ysm of grief that she neither heard nor perceived her uncle. 
 He called her somewhat sternly ; she started, and rose hastily, 
 her sobbing ceased, and her apron brought into violent requi- 
 sition for the purpose of drying her eyes. 
 
 " I can't help it," spoken in most woe-begone accents 
 from the depths of her apron ; " Mr. O'Donoghue will be 
 hung, and there will be dreadful times o-o-oh," prolonged 
 almost into a wail. 
 
 Father Meagher put the lamp down on the kitchen table, 
 and stood looking at his niece with a mingled expression of 
 displeasure and wonder. She, surprised at his silence, 
 glanced up furtively. 
 
 " Look at me," he resumed. 
 
 The sternness of his tone commanded obedience, and she 
 dropped her apron and stood before him, with a most ludi* 
 wously abashed air.
 
 14 CARROLL VDONOGHU& 
 
 " You are trying to deceive me, Moira Moynahan; it's nol 
 for Mr. O'Donoghue's fate you are crying ; it is for Tighe * 
 Vohr." 
 
 Moira blushed violently, hung her head still lower, and 
 rolled her apron over her thumbs. 
 
 " I have but one word to say about that, Moira, and that it 
 that I absolutely forbid you to receive any attentions from 
 him." 
 
 Oh, uncle ! hasn't he proved himself noble, and good, 
 and true didn't he manage Mr. O'Donoghue's escape ? and 
 he loves me ; " the last was spoken with a pretty, faltering, 
 deprecating air. 
 
 " Indeed ! has he told you so ? " 
 
 44 Yes, uncle ; to-night he told me how long he'd been lov 
 ing me, and I couldn't help telling him how long I'd been lov- 
 ing him." 
 
 ** And how long, pray, may that be ? " asked the half-amused 
 and yet indignant clergyman. Moira answered without ven- 
 turing to look at him : 
 
 " Since the time he saved me from Squire Turner's dog." 
 
 " And that was shortly after you came to live with me 
 shortly after I promised your poor mother on her deathbed to 
 be a true father to you. And how old were you then ? " 
 
 " Turned of thirteen ; " spoken in a very low voice. 
 
 "And what is your age now?" there was a touch of sar- 
 casm in the tone that made Moira feel very uncomfortable. 
 
 " I shall be seventeen the fifth day of next June," she an- 
 wered, in a bolder voice, as if she were regaining confidence. 
 
 " Ah ! " the priest drew a long breath, " so in just eleven 
 months and twenty-seven days you will be seventeen. Quite 
 * mature age. And what, may I ask, were the plans of thii 
 ardent lover of yours ? " 
 
 Her faltering, deprecating air was again assumed. 
 
 " If Mr. O'Donoghue could be got away safely to America, 
 Tighe intended to ask your consent to our marriage, and*
 
 THE DYLNG FENIAN. 75 
 
 The priest would listen to no more ; sternness and decis- 
 ion took the place of whatever amusement he might have 
 felt. 
 
 " Moira Moynahan, remember that I command you to dis- 
 countenance every attention of Tighe a Vohr. He has proved 
 himself noble and devoted in the matter of his master's in- 
 terests, but he is not the husband for you. His drinking 
 habits alone would make you miserable " 
 
 " But, uncle," interrupted the girl eagerly, " he has been 
 keeping sober all the while he was away, and he promises to 
 continue so." 
 
 " Don't talk to me like that," answered the priest, peremp- 
 torily. " How many times within the past three years has he 
 taken the pledge from me and broken it ? No, I repeat that 
 you are to discountenance his attentions under pain of my 
 displeasure." 
 
 Father O'Connor, who had donned dry garments, and was 
 anxious to confer with Father Meagher, became a little weary 
 of waiting ; he called from the passage-way to the old clergy- 
 man. The call startled the latter into remembering the errand 
 upon which he had sought the kitchen, and from which he 
 had been diverted by the grief of his niece. He looked at 
 the extinguished fire, then at the open cupboard filled with 
 clean, but empty dishes, and lastly at Moira, who from being 
 arch and pretty had become pouting and sullen. She saw 
 his look and divined its meaning, having recognized the voice 
 that sounded from the passage, but she was too full of her 
 own wilful pettishness to pretend to understand it. The 
 tender-hearted old priest, already repenting that he had 
 spoken so harshly to her, orphan that she was, and after all 
 not much more than a child, attempted to make amends by 
 bidding her kindly to bed. Then he answered Father O'Con- 
 nor, playiully commending him to further patience, and he 
 immediately began to bustle about preparations for making 
 tea. Moira watched him, enjoying with unkind triumph all the 
 blunders his awkwardness and inexperience caused him to
 
 r6 CARROLL VDONOQHUX. 
 
 make. In vain he tried to kindle the fire ; three times th 
 blaze ascended the chimney, but three times it died out in 
 utter blackness ; his fingers were burned, his face covered 
 with perspiration, and all hope of any success fast dying 
 within him. The third and last time when the sportive flame 
 went out as if in very contempt of the unskilled hands which 
 had kindled it, the patient old clergyman gave a long, plain- 
 tive sigh, and turned and looked at Moira with so woe-begone 
 an expression that the girl could control her mirth no longer ; 
 she laughed outright ; but then, also, she had been touched 
 by his patience, and by kindly, grateful thoughts of him which 
 struggled with her feelings of disappointment and anger. 
 
 " Go," she said, when her laughter had subsided, " go to 
 Father O'Connor, and I will attend to this." 
 
 The clergyman was immensely relieved ; his long-drawn 
 breath attested it, his beaming smile on Moira, and his meek, 
 gentle " Thank you " bore witness to it. 
 
 Father O'Connor listened sadly to the account of Carroll 
 O'Donoghue's recapture ; then he communicated the infor- 
 mation which he had received from Di. Day relative to Morty 
 Carter. It gave Father Meagher a painful shock ; compelled 
 as he was to believe that Carter was a villain, he was unpre- 
 pared to hear that he had gone to the infamous length of be- 
 traying his own ward. 
 
 " How much does Carroll know of his treachery ? " asked 
 the young priest. 
 
 " Absolutely nothing," was the answer. " The first intima- 
 tion of it that even Tighe a Vohr had was from his mother, 
 who had but just learned of Carter's cruel conduct to Clare and 
 Nora. It staggered the poor faithful fellow, his mother says, 
 but he must have repeated nothing of it to Carroll, for the 
 lad did not appear to know it when he was with us ; he 
 eemed to think that Nora's and Clare's presence in my house 
 was due to the fact that we all wanted to be together when 
 he came, and I confess I was loth to undeceive him. He 
 had so much to think about, and so much to fear, that I could
 
 TSX D11NQ rSKAX. ft 
 
 not burden him with this fellow's villainy : besides I thought 
 there would be time enough to tell him." 
 
 " Yes ; but he trusts this Carter, trusts him, and even loves 
 him ; at least he did before his transportation trusted him 
 implicitly, and had unbounded affection for him." 
 
 " I know it," responded Father Meagher; "but Tighe a Vohr 
 is aware now of Carter's true character, and the faithful fel- 
 low will leave no stone unturned to foil his villainy ; he will 
 not fail to put his young master on his guard." 
 
 Moira entered with the tea, steaming and neatly arranged 
 as her deft little hands knew well how to arrange it. Her 
 uncle gave her a look of beaming gratitude, and stately Father 
 O'Connor noticed her with a kindly salute ; but it was hcrrefc 
 to play the deeply-injured maiden, and with a sad face and 
 frequent melancholy sighs, she responded to the greeting of 
 the young priest, placed the tray before him, and slowly and 
 pensively left the room. She had fancied that Father Charlie, 
 as she was wont to call the young clergyman, would notice 
 her sad manner, inquire the cause of her uncle, and perhaps 
 induce the latter to relent a little from his stern, and as she 
 deemed it, cruel determination ; but both priests were too 
 much absorbed in weightier matters, the one either to inquirt, 
 or the other to volunteer information pertaining to Moira.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 SHAUN. 
 
 CARROLL O'DONOGHUE, guarded by a mounted force, waa 
 hurried on to prison, and the news of his arrest telegraphed 
 to Dublin Castle ; Tighe a Vohr faithfully followed him ; 
 badgered by the soldiers, threatened by the police, and almost 
 ridden down by the mounted guards, he still kept in the wake 
 of his master assuming the part of a good-natured simpleton, 
 but keeping every sense on the alert for the benefit of the 
 prisoner. Thus far his wit and vigilance were of little avail ; 
 the prison was reached and its heavy doors opened and closed 
 on Carroll, and Tighe was left without, with, as he himself 
 expressed it, "a heavy heart in his buzzum." He stood 
 scratching his head and looking up at the grim stone walls 
 with an expression assumed for the occasion : one of ludicrous 
 amazement and fear. Suddenly there was the bound of a dog 
 round the corner of the jail, a succession of quick, sharp, 
 yelping barks, and a lean, scraggy, tawny animal had jumped 
 on Tighe's breast, and was making frantic efforts to pass his 
 tongue over the whole of Tighe's face at once. 
 
 " May I never be shot in a juel, but it's Shaun ! " 
 Tighe's arms were round the dog, squeezing him in the most 
 human-like of embraces, and Tighe himself was crying like 
 a child. 
 
 "Shaun, me beautiful Shaun! Sure it bates all iver I 
 heerd. How did you make me out at all, at all ? an' it's good 
 luck sent you. You cheered me afore when I was down- 
 hearted, an' you've kem again to do the same thing." 
 
 The boisterousness of the dog, and Tighe's own tearfully- 
 delivered apostrophes, attracted the attention of the soldiem
 
 BHA UN. 7 , 
 
 who were lounging about, and they drew near to witness the 
 scene, many a guffaw sounding as they beheld Tighe's ludri- 
 crously extravagant welcome of the animal. But in a mo- 
 ment an officer in full uniform appeared among them. 
 
 " Here fellow," he said roughly, " what are you doing with 
 that dog ? He belongs to me." 
 
 Tighe came forward carrying his burden. " If you plaze, 
 yer honor, would you mind tellin' me how you kem by him ? 
 I was his former masther ; sure he'll tell to that by the thricks 
 I'll put him through. Down, Shaun, an' show how a gintle- 
 man coorts his lady love." 
 
 The dog jumped from Tighe's arms, looked round at the 
 laughing soldiers for a moment, as if making his selection, 
 then with a sudden spring he bounded to the neck of an un- 
 suspecting fellow near, and passing his tongue rapidly over 
 his face, sprung back to Tighe's arms. 
 
 Every one laughed loudly and applauded, even the officer 
 who had claimed the dog. 
 
 " Now, Shaun, pick out the biggest rogue in the company 
 mind you, I said rogue." 
 
 Shaun was on his feet again, going to everyone in turn, and 
 looking into the face of each with a most comical gravity ; 
 finally he stopped before Tighe himself, and announced his 
 selection by a loud bark. 
 
 Every one laughed loudly again, this time with louder and 
 more prolonged mirth. Tighe affected to be displeased, and 
 swore that the dog's judgment was wrong, much to the in- 
 creased amusement of the spectators, now swelled to a large 
 crowd. 
 
 " He has another thrick yet, gintlemen. Now, Shaun ! " 
 Shaun immediately put himself into his attitude of attention, 
 which was sitting upon his hind legs, and letting his fore 
 paws drop, something in the style of a mincing miss of the 
 present day. 
 
 " Now, Shaun ; do you mind what I say ? " Shaun nodded 
 his head as much as to say that he understood his master.
 
 jo CARROLL VDONOGHUR. 
 
 " Well, go around now, and pick out the gintleman of th 
 company the true gintleman, that wouldn't do a mane act for 
 love nor money." 
 
 The dog arose and began to make his circuit ; but he did 
 it slowly, as if it was a very grave task, squatting before each 
 person, and looking into each one's face with an air that sent 
 everybody into screams of laughter. At length he jumped 
 upon the officer himself, announcing as before his selection by 
 a bark. 
 
 44 Upon my honor, but your dog is marvelously trained," 
 said that gentleman, as soon as he had recovered from his sur- 
 prise ; and Shaun was by Tighe's side again, wagging his tail, 
 and looking up into Tighe's face with an expression that 
 seemed to say : 
 
 "Haven't I done well?" 
 
 44 1 have no wish to deprive you unfairly of the dog," con- 
 tinued the officer. " He was found prowling around here a 
 day or two ago, and he showed such pluck in defending him- 
 self against a cur twice his size that I took quite a fancy to 
 him." 
 
 " Oh, that's Shaun all over," interrupted Tighe. The offi- 
 cer, not minding the interruption, continued : " There was no 
 owner for him, so I became his master, and now, if you will 
 name your price, I will buy him." 
 
 " Is it sell Shaun ! " said Tighe. " Oh, yer honor, don't ax 
 to part us ! I'll bring him ivery day to see yer honor, an' I'll 
 put him through his thricks for your divarsion, but lave us 
 together." 
 
 There was so much pathos mingled with the comical 
 entreaty that the Englishman, somewhat inclined to good 
 nature, and rather fancying Tighe for his simplicity, said 
 tastily : 
 
 ** Well, keep him, my good fellow." 
 
 44 Oh, but Shaun was right when he pinted you out as the 
 thrue gintleman," burst out Tighe ; " sure I'll never forget it 
 for you, an' ShaunTl mind it too. An' now, will yer honor
 
 BHAUN. 8l 
 
 give me lave to come an' see you at the barracks ? I've a fancy 
 intirely for the redcoats, but not one of them'll take kindly 
 to me. I've spent this blessed mornin' tryin' to get a glimpse 
 of the jail yard an' to offer my sarvices to some of the sol- 
 diers, but it wasn't one bit of use. But mebbe I'd be able 
 to sarve yer honor sometime." 
 
 The Englishman was very much amused ; his fancy was 
 picturing how his friends at home would regard this specimen 
 of an Irish valet, should he decide to employ Tighe in that 
 capacity. The drollery of the thing, as well as the fact that 
 his own valet was anxious to return to England, incited him 
 to proffer the situation to Tighe. He passed his hand over 
 his face, as if in perplexed thought, and looked again at 
 Tighe a Vohr. Certainly, a more grotesque or laughable 
 figure never before met his view ; the long, flapping coat 
 loosely confined at the waist by several twists of straw, the 
 dingy red waistcoat turned back to show the bosom of a home- 
 spun shirt, the bright, blue handkerchief tied in loose sailor 
 fashion around his neck, and the whole surmounted by a hat 
 pressed from hard usage into an odd shape, and looped at the 
 side by a dingy bow that made it all strangely ridiculous, com- 
 pleted a figure that could provoke nothing but merriment. 
 
 The officer laughed loudly ; the conceit of engaging Tighe 
 and retaining him to show to his friends at home gained upon 
 him, and as he pictured the surprise and amazement of his 
 family his elegant brothers, and dainty, fastidious sisters- 
 he was almost convulsed with mirth. 
 
 44 Come this afternoon to the barracks, and inquire for Cap- 
 tain Crawford ; that will be passport sufficient for the 
 present," he said, as soon as his laughter had subsided ; and 
 turning on his heel, he walked rapidly down the street, leaving 
 Tighe to be besieged by roguish inquiries, and bantered by 
 numerous jests. But Tighe a Vohr was a match for all ; he 
 assumed the omadhaun, and what with his own apparent sim- 
 plicity, and the tricks of Shaun, he succeeded in convincing 
 the soldiers about him that he was really a poor innocent, who 
 was capable alone of making fun.
 
 82 CARROLL VDONOGHUB, 
 
 The roll-call sounded, and the crowd which surrounded 
 Tighe dispersed. Whistling to Shaun, who had ventured 
 on a little expedition of his own down the street, Tighe also 
 departed in search of forage for himself and his dog. It was 
 till three good hours until the time assigned for his visit to 
 Captain Crawford, and he bent his way to the outskirts of the 
 town. Well knowing that what hospitality might be denied 
 to himself the tricks of Shaun would be sure to win, he had 
 little hesitation in applying for a meal at any of the houses of 
 the gentry that he passed ; he was confident, also, of the in- 
 fluence of his own roguish flattery upon the servants ; and he 
 was not mistaken. At the very first house to which he ap- 
 plied the best in the servants' larder was placed before him, 
 and, as Tighe expressed it, " a male fit for a prince was laid 
 afore Shaun." Both did full justice to the viands, and both 
 expressed their thanks, Tighe by one of his peculiar speeches, 
 and Shaun by antics that convulsed everybody with laughter. 
 Out on the road again, and Tighe penetrated still deeper into 
 the rural surroundings ; choosing a lane which seemed little 
 frequented, and on which no house bordered for some dis- 
 tance, he sat down on a bowlder and whistled to Shaun, who 
 had plunged with frantic delight into the green depths beyond. 
 The dog immediately bounded to his master's side. 
 
 " Faith, Shaun, it's a supernatural animile you are intirely ! 
 how did you know enough to make me out in the nick of time 
 as you did ? sure if it wasn't for you I'd never be able to get 
 a sight of the masther, at all, at all ; but now, begorra, the way 
 looks aisy, only we'll have to be careful." 
 
 Shaun looked very earnestly into his master's face, as if to 
 corroborate the assertion. 
 
 "I'm bothered about one thing," pursued Tighe, talking 
 with all gravity to the dog, " an' that's Morty Carther. I 
 didn't tell tke masther what me mother tould me about him, 
 bekaise it would unman him complately ; but while I was 
 followin* him to prison I heerd a couple of soldiers talkin' 
 about this same Carther, an' it opened me eyes. He's a
 
 RHAWSf. 83 
 
 thraithor an' a villain, Shaun, but, by the powers, we'll cir- 
 cumvint him yet." Tighe brought his fist down to his knee 
 by way of emphasis to his words, and Shaun barked, not to b 
 behind his master in force and earnestness. " We'll be wary, 
 Shaun, an' we'll watch this same Carther," resumed Tighe ; 
 then, having spent some time in silent thought, he judged by 
 the sun that it was time for his promised visit, and returned 
 briskly to the town. 
 
 " Captain Crawford is not in now, and he will not be in for 
 an hour," was the response to Tighe's inquiry at the barrack 
 gate. 
 
 " He tould me to come at this perticler time," said Tighe, 
 humbly, " an' I'd like to show him I was punctool ; mebbe 
 yer honor'd let me wait for him." 
 
 " Oh, you are the fellow with the dog," said the man on 
 guard, catching sight of Shaun, who had remained behind to 
 gratify his canine curiosity. " I have heard nothing since 
 the morning but the wonderful tricks of that ugly animal of 
 yours ; yes, you can go in there and wait," pointing to the 
 open door of a long, low room against the sides of which sun- 
 dry benches were arranged ; and turning away to resume his 
 sentry walk, he muttered : 
 
 " What with pretty women that floor you with a look if you 
 dare to wink at them, and cunning Irishmen that get the best 
 of you at every turn, and wonderful dogs that puzzle you with 
 their tricks, this same Ireland is a queer place, and I wish I 
 was out of it." 
 
 Tighe quietly seated himself on one of the benches, and 
 Shaun went on an inquiring journey around the room. A 
 stout, burly soldier occupied another of the benches, a little re- 
 moved from Tighe ; he was engaged in writing, a sheet of paper 
 half filled lying on a large book on his crossed knees, and a 
 huge inkhorn by his side. It was evidently a difficult task f 
 for the pen was often idly poised between his fingers, and his 
 face wore the puzzled, blank expression of one who did not 
 even comprehend his task.
 
 ^ CARROLL VDONOGBUE. 
 
 m Hang it ! H he said at last, forgetting, in his perplexity, 
 that he had a listener ; " I wish the Widow Moore was at th 
 bottom of the sea before I came across her." 
 
 Tighe a Vohr, keenly on the alert, pricked up his ears ; a 
 bright idea shot suddenly into his mind ; rising slowly from 
 his seat, he ambled up to the scribe. 
 
 * I beg pardon, yer honor, but I heerd you mintion a name 
 that's dear to meself an' you mintioned it in a way that went 
 to my heart Plaze, sir, say that you didn't mane what you 
 said." 
 
 The Englishman looked up at the intruder in blank astonish- 
 ment ; then his first impulse was to laugh at the comical fig- 
 ure before him, his next to kick Tighe for his impudence. 
 
 44 Who are you, fellow ? " he asked, angrily, " and what do 
 you know of the lady I mentioned ? " 
 
 u I am only poor Tighe a Vohr," was the meek reply, " but 
 I know a good deal of the Widdy Moore ; she's the talk of the 
 county for her beauty and goodness, and she has scores of 
 lovers all cracking each other's heads about her." 
 
 44 The devil she has ! " interrupted the soldier fiercely. His 
 exclamation and look gave sharp-witted Tighe another impor- 
 tant clew. 
 
 44 She has that, an* more by the same token it's a snug little 
 fortune she'll bring to the man that gets her. Oh, but it's 
 lashins of love letthers she recaves every day of her life." 
 
 The soldier's eyes instantly fell, as Tighe expected they 
 would do, on his own half-written page. Tighe was exultant 
 he was sure now, of all that he had only guessed before. 
 
 44 Sure it's many a one / had the opportunity of seein' an' 
 carryin' to her, an* sometimes the lovers'd thrust me so far as to 
 ax me to compose the letthers for them." 
 
 44 You compose a letter ! " ejaculated the soldier, his eyes 
 almost starting from their sockets with amazement. 
 
 " Plaze, yer honor, it's in Irish I'd do it I have the power 
 of composin' nately in Irish an' then I'd read it to them, an' 
 they'd write it down in their own language. You
 
 BHAUN. 85 
 
 drawing nearer to 'the still amazed soldier *' the Widdy 
 
 Moore is an Irish woman all out, an' the Irish women are 
 very quare ; it won't do at all to trate them as ye would, 
 beggin' yer honor's pardon, yer own countrywomen ; you 
 have to approach them as you would a sly mare, an' then 
 you've to be careful, for the divil a hap'orth they mind givin* 
 you the slip, and cantherin' off jist when you're surest of 
 them. Now there was Sargeant it wouldn't be honorable 
 to mintion his name he used to write the natest letthers to 
 her at all ; such beautiful English, you'd think it was honey 
 flowin' from the lips, jist to pronounce the words ; not one bit 
 of use was it. Didn't the girrel that used to attind her at that 
 time tell me how she'd throw the letthers down, an' say there 
 was no divarsion in them, an' that they tired her to read them ! 
 Well, I saw how down-hearted the poor fellow was gettin', an' 
 I axed his lave to let me compose him one. He did arrah 
 it was not long till he got an encouragin' answer, an' only his 
 father tuk him home on sick lave, I think it would have been 
 a match." 
 
 " Umph ! " ejaculated the soldier, glancing ruefully at his 
 own composition. 
 
 " It's sich a delicate matther," pursued Tighe, " that you 
 can't be too careful." 
 
 " Upon my honor, but you seem to know a good deal about 
 it," said the soldier. 
 
 " I do, be rayson of the matches I've helped to make all 
 over the counthry. But I'm thinkin* it's poor success you'll 
 have wid the widdy anyway." 
 
 " Why ? " and the questioner straightened himself. 
 
 " You're too slow, an' you're too cautious ; you haven't the 
 spunk that an Irish woman likes. I'll ingage, now, that it's 
 some milk-an'-wathery stuff you have written there, instead of 
 the dashin' things that a woman wants. Oh, I wish yer honor 
 luck wid your coortin', but I'm afeered you'll not have it ; " and 
 Tighe turned away as if he were too disgusted to say more. 
 
 " Stay, my good fellow," said the thoroughly nonplussed 
 oldier : Tighe with apparent reluctance turned back.
 
 W CARROLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 " ! don't know what to make of you," the soldier continued ; 
 "yea certainly have divined my feelings toward this charm- 
 ing Mistress Moore, I can think of little else since I met hei 
 and perhaps, odd as it all seems, you may be right about 
 the letters. Here is some paper," slipping a sheet from be- 
 neath his own half-written page, "compose one of your letters 
 for me." 
 
 He vacated his seat that Tighe might take it. 
 
 " Aisy a moment," said Tighe, who wanted time to remem- 
 ber fully a letter he had heard read frequently in Mrs. Leary's 
 public house, and cited as a model of elegant style for love 
 letters : " I must consult Shaun." 
 
 To the soldier's new astonishment, Tighe whistled to the 
 dog, who, having completed his leisurely survey of the room, 
 had settled himself on one of the benches for a nap. Shaun 
 as usual came bounding to his master's side. 
 
 " Now, Shaun ! " Tighe held up his finger warningly, and the 
 dog immediately assumed its comical attitude of resting on its 
 hind legs and letting its fore paws drop forward. " We're 
 asked to compose a letther," pursued Tighe, " an' we must 
 think about it do you mind what I'm sayin' now ? " 
 
 The dog nodded his head as he had been trained to do at that 
 special interrogation, and an oath, expressive of his wonder, 
 escaped the Englishman. Tighe began to walk the room very 
 slowly, and Shaun walked beside him, every little while look- 
 ing into his master's face, as if to say that he had an idea. 
 
 " The devil ! such a country as this, where the very dogs 
 are asked to compose the letters," said the Englishman, too 
 mystified to laugh even at the absurdity of the affair. 
 
 ** It's all right now," said Tighe, returning, and taking pos- 
 session of the seat vacated for him. " But I'll have to hear 
 Shaun first" 
 
 He bent and gave a signal to the dog, who had paused 
 when his master seated himself, and now stood looking eagerly 
 into his face. Immediately the animal began a succession of 
 short, sharp barks, which Tighe variously interpreted as :
 
 " T* be shure jist what I thought the very thing itH 
 do nicely." 
 
 The Englishman's stare of horrified astonishment at the 
 whole grotesque performance was so ludicrous that Tighe, 
 intuitively feeling such to be the case, would not trust him- 
 self to look, but bidding Shaun cease, he immediately com- 
 menced to write. 
 
 It was a study for a sleight of hand man to watch Tighe's 
 hold of the pen ; it might have been a crowbar for the strength 
 and desperation with which he seized it, and imagining that 
 much depended on the skill with which he might appear to 
 use it, he lifted it so high from the paper, and made such ex- 
 traordinary flourishes in the air, that the poor befooled Eng- 
 lishman began to think he was in company with a madman. 
 Tighe had gone sufficiently far in a course of education to be 
 able to make pot-hooks and hangers, and with these crossed 
 and blended in strange confusion, he filled the paper. 
 
 " It's the Irish way of writin'," he explained to the soldier, 
 as the latter attempted to scrutinize the hieroglyphics over 
 Tighe's shoulder ; " an' now listen to the contints." 
 " ' Darlin' Misthress Moore : ' 
 
 " Nothin' less than darlin'd do," explained Tighe, " because 
 nothin' else'd be strong enough." 
 
 ' ' You've been the light of me eyes since I met you, an' the 
 pulse of me heart. Widout any animadvarsion I may say that 
 in all the carcumlocutions of poethry an' logic there's nothin' 
 so superiminently parfect to be found on the face of the 
 globe as the young an' charmin' Widdy Moore.' 
 
 " Do you mind that word superiminently ! Sure if she hai 
 a heart of stone she'll be melted at such a word as that.** 
 
 And Tighe, having glanced for a moment away from the 
 epistle to make that forcible remark, immediately resumed the 
 pretended translation of his Irish love-letter. 
 
 4 The bamin' light o' the sun grows dim whin you're not in 
 its prisence, an' the tinder pulsations o' me own palpi- 
 tatin' heart no longer go on whin your smile isn't afore me. 
 Like a rose that kisses the mornin' dew, an' A bee that sipi
 
 II CARROLL VDONOQHUE. 
 
 from the fairest flower, consider me, darlin', charmin' Mit 
 thress Moore, 
 
 Your own undivided an' undividable lover. 
 
 * There, yer honor ! May I niver if that doesn't win her. 
 Let me take it whin you have it wrote, an' I'll bring you back 
 a divartin' answer." 
 
 Still too mystified and too dull to know that he was being 
 made the object of as keen a piece of sport as even Tighe a 
 Vohr had ever perpetrated, the soldier, like one in a dream, took 
 the pen, and on a clean sheet of paper began to write at 
 Tighe's dictation, word for word of what had been read to 
 him. 
 
 " An' what name are you puttin' ? " asked Tighe, as the sol- 
 dier was finishing his signature. 
 
 " William Garfield, quartermaster in her Majesty's 
 
 Regiment," was the response. 
 
 Sealed and superscribed, the letter was given into Tighe's 
 delighted possession. 
 
 " I'll have an answer for you this very night," he said, put- 
 ting the missive carefully into his bosom. 
 
 " Captain Crawford is in now," spoke an orderly from the 
 doorway. " Here, you fool that wanted to see him, come this 
 way." 
 
 " That must be the name they give you in your own coun- 
 thry, or you wouldn't be so ready to turn it over to your bet- 
 thers whin you come here," said Tighe slyly, as, with Shaun 
 at his heels, he prepared to obey the insolently-spoken re- 
 quest. 
 
 The orderly gave an impudent stare at the speaker, but feel- 
 ing that he was an unequal match for the Irishman, he did 
 not answer, and the way to the officers' quarters was traversed 
 in silence. 
 
 Captain Crawford was in unusually good humor ; tidings 
 had been received of the failure of the Fenian plot to take 
 possession of Chester Castle in England, and the shrewd offi- 
 cer, with keener judgment than was evinced by some who
 
 were above him in command, foretold in his own mind th 
 paralysis which that failure would give to the movement in 
 Ireland. He received Tighe with unaffected condescension. 
 
 " Well, my man, have you ever served in the capacity of 
 valet before ? " 
 
 " In the cap of what ? " repeated Tighe a Vohr. " I oftin 
 heerd mintion of a valley, knowin' that what was meant by it 
 was land or the like ; but that a man could make a valley of 
 himself passes me comprehinsion intoirely." 
 
 " I don't mean that," said Captain Crawford, laughing ; "I 
 mean what kind of a servant can you make for a gentleman." 
 
 " Oh, that's it," Tighe said slowly ; then he paused a mo- 
 ment as if in deep thought ; after which he began so voluble 
 and ludicrous an enumeration of duties that it almost took the 
 officer's breath, in his effort to bid the speaker cease, and to 
 stop his own immoderate laughter. 
 
 " I see you'll do," he said ; " at least I'll try you, and there 
 will be some one to show you if you should not know what to 
 do." 
 
 " The laste bit of showin' in the world, yer honor, 11 be 
 enough. I was always considered smart, an* never fear but 
 I'll sarve you faithfully, both meself an* Shaun." 
 
 Shaun was gravely listening, as if with his superior canine 
 instinct he quite understood the bargain which was being made 
 for him. " But I'll have to ask one privilege," continued 
 Tighe. 
 
 " And what is that ? " said the amused officer. 
 
 " To run down to Dhrommacohol once in a while to see my 
 ould mother." 
 
 " Very well, Tighe ; I believe you told me that was your 
 name. I willingly grant the favor, only don't make your 
 visits at inconvenient times, nor remain long when you go ; 
 and now, Ridge, there," nodding at a tall, ungainly-looking 
 man who had been an amused listener during the interview, 
 M will put you in trim ; for certainly your present appear- 
 ance " speaking with a laugh " hardly bents a gentleman ' 
 servant"
 
 jo CARROLL VDONOGHUB, 
 
 Ridge had more difficult work to put Tighe in trim than 
 his master had anticipated. The suit, having belonged to a 
 former valet who was an exceedingly small and slender man, 
 lacked the size necessary to encase Tighe's proportions ; and 
 it was so unlike Tighe a Vohr's own style of dress that it wai 
 with many a grunt and grimace of displeasure that he 4 
 length consented to put them on. 
 
 " Not a soul'll ever know me," he said ruefully, as he survey 
 ed himself in the glass with so ludicrous an expression of re 
 gret that his companion laughed immoderately, saying whei 
 he recovered his voice : 
 
 " You are the rummest one." 
 
 He proceeded to brush Tighe down, and to give what wer 
 in his own opinion little artistic touches to various parts ol 
 Tighe's dress, attempting at the last to surmount the new 
 valet's curly head by a hat which had been worn so little that 
 it retained all its first gloss. 
 
 Tighe stoutly resisted. " The divil a hair of that will go 
 on my head, anyway. I've been takin' your ondacent thrate- 
 ment long enough, an' now I'll lade matthers meself. Do you 
 see that ? " thrusting under the man's very nose his own old 
 battered caubeen " well, I'll wear that, plaze goodness, an' no 
 other, till I go back to the colleen who placed that there." 
 He pointed to the knot of faded ribbon at the side. 
 
 Argument and badgering were of little use ; Tighe carried 
 the day, and presented his respects to his new master with his 
 comical head covering under his
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 CARTER'S TOOL. 
 
 RICK OF THE HILLS had fallen speedily into the maudlin 
 
 slumber which Carter had mentally predicted, and though the 
 sun was high in the heavens, shining all the warmer and the 
 brighter after the storm of the previous night, and people in 
 the neighborhood had been long astir, Rick, stretched upon 
 the floor, still heavily slept. Carter looked in at him a couple 
 of times, but did not disturb him, and now, as he sat solitary 
 over the rasher of bacon and cup of tea he had himself pre- 
 pared, he was deeply ruminating ; sometimes speaking his 
 thoughts aloud, and again so absorbed in silent reflection as 
 to forget the meal before him. 
 
 " I'll forward the paper this very day, and once that it is in 
 possession of the party at the castle, it will not be long till I 
 am rid entirely of Carroll O'Donoghue." 
 
 There was a loud knock at the front entrance. Hastily 
 putting out of sight the remains of his meal, he hurried to the 
 room in which Rick still heavily slept ; convincing himself 
 by a look that the slumber was profound, he withdrew, lock- 
 ing the door, and then he cautiously repaired to ascertain the 
 identity of his visitor. It was Father O'Connor, and Carter 
 was all obsequiousness, flinging the door wide open, and mak- 
 ing his most cringing bow while the priest entered. With 
 profuse apology for the disorder of his bachelor's home, he 
 led the way to the room which was still redolent of his late 
 breakfast. 
 
 Father O'Connor gravely seated himself ; Carter, not a lit- 
 tle apprehensive of what might be the import of this most 
 unusual visit, remained standing in anxious expectation.
 
 CARROLL VDONOQHUK 
 
 44 1 was somewhat doubtful of finding you at home," began 
 the priest quietly. 
 
 " A little later, your reverence, and you wouldn't have 
 found me ; I have business that will take me to Tralee to- 
 day." 
 
 u Very suspicious business, that of yours, Carter," said the 
 clergyman, unable longer, with his stern sense of right, and 
 his contempt for double-dealing, to beat about the bush ; 
 "business that has made you betray your ward, Carroll 
 O'Donoghue, to the English government." 
 
 Carter jumped in well-feigned astonishment ; indeed, his 
 seeming wonder was not all assumed, for he was amazed to 
 learn that his villainy had been so speedily discovered. 
 " May I never, your reverence, if that isn't the most infamous 
 falsehood that was ever told of mortal ! who has dared to 
 calumniate me in that manner " affecting to swell with rage. 
 " I ask only to meet the man who uttered that lie ! " and he 
 began to stride about the room as if he would find in that ex- 
 ercise some vent for his passion. 
 
 " Oh, be quiet ! " said the priest, in a tone of contempt ; 
 " the proof of your treachery is too well assured to be de- 
 nied by any assumed bravado on your part. It was through 
 your instrumentality that Carroll O'Donoghue was recaptured 
 last night." 
 
 " Carroll O'Donoghue recaptured ! " Carter repeated, readily 
 Assuming a grief so real in its appearance that even the con- 
 victions of the priest were staggered for the moment. " Oh, 
 your reverence, believe me when I say that the lad has not a 
 truer friend than I am," pursued Carter, kneeling before the 
 clergyman ; " and all my dealings with the military, and my 
 visits to the garrison that have caused the people to slander me 
 so, have only been that I might give help to the boys in their 
 difficulties. I swear to you " 
 
 M Hush ! " interrupted the priest sternly, " keep your oaths 
 for another time and place." 
 
 With a keen look into Carter's eyes, he continued : " Where
 
 CARTERS TOOL. 93 
 
 is the paper that was given you in Hurley's for safe keeping 
 the other night ? " 
 
 Carter involuntarily started, but he answered quickly, re- 
 turning with a bold glance the priest's piercing look : 
 
 " Destroyed I burned it, for I was afraid to keep it." 
 
 Father O'Connor did not speak for a moment ; he con- 
 tinued to survey the still kneeling form with a look in which 
 disgust mingled with sternness ; then he said slowly : 
 
 " God alone knows whether you are telling the truth." 
 
 Carter made no reply ; the priest resumed : " I have 
 another matter to speak to you about this niece of yours, 
 whom you have been hiding all her life from her father's 
 people ; how is it that we, your friends, have never heard of 
 her?" 
 
 Carter jumped to his feet, repressing with difficulty the 
 oath which rose to his lips. 
 
 " That is my secret," he said, doggedly, " and I shall not be 
 made to tell it to any one." 
 
 Father O'Connor also arose. 
 
 " Morty Carter," he said slowly and sadly, " I have no de- 
 sire to learn your secrets ; my concern is to do my duty by 
 warning you of the evil of your course. God alone sees your 
 heart, and if you have deceived me His judgment will over- 
 take you. Should there be aught wrong in this affair of 
 Cathleen Kelly, the name by which you directed the child to 
 be called, you will one day have to answer for it." 
 
 Carter's face slightly fell, despite his efforts to the contrary, 
 and his eyes dropped for a moment before the priest's steady 
 and piercing look. 
 
 " I have not come to you in anger," continued the speaker, 
 " I have only come in warning. I do not forget " his voice 
 took a kindlier tone " that my infancy owes you somewhat : 
 your care for me on the death of my parents, and your sub- 
 sequent provision of a home with the O'Donoghues for me, 
 claim and possess my gratitude ; it is with that feeling now 
 that I beg you, Morty, to pause before you steep your soul
 
 .. CARROLL VDONOGHUB. 
 
 V^ 
 
 farther in guilt. If it be in your power, undo what evil you 
 may have already done, and henceforward be true to God, 
 and to yourself." 
 
 " I have done nothing," was the sullen reply, " and I cannot 
 understand your seeking me here to brand me with an infamy 
 in which I have no part." 
 
 He drew himself up with an excellent assumption of right- 
 eous indignation. The priest sighed, and said with an air of 
 pain : 
 
 " Well, Morty, you are determined, I see, to persist in the 
 course you have chosen ; on your own head be the awful con- 
 sequences and awful will be the consequences of such vil- 
 lainy as yours ; but, waiving that subject now, I have a mes- 
 sage to give you from William Kelly. He was mortally 
 wounded in an attack on the barracks, and with his dying lips 
 he told me the story of your confiding to his mother's charge 
 this girl, Cathleen, and he begged me to ask you to continue 
 the monthly sum you have paid for her care. Will you do 
 o?" 
 
 " I will," answered Carter, his face brightening ; " while 
 Cathleen stays with Mrs. Kelly I'll continue the payment." 
 
 " That is all," said Father O'Connor, turning to the door. 
 Carter followed him. 
 
 " Your reverence," he said, with an exceedingly meek and 
 injured air, " I am greatly distressed. Do you believe me to 
 be guilty of all the base things that are reported of me ? " 
 
 " I am sorry to say, Morty, that I do. The look in your 
 eye reveals your guilt May God give you grace to repeat ! 
 good-by." 
 
 Without even proffering his hand, he descended the old- 
 fashioned stair, and passed out through the front entrance so 
 rapidly that Carter hardly realized his departure for a second 
 or two. Then he muttered : 
 
 " So I'm being discovered on all sides, and ten to one but 
 they've turned Carroll against me. Well, it makes little dif- 
 ference now ; my plans are pretty well laid, and by all that'i
 
 CARTERS TOOL. 95 
 
 mighty, 111 see every one of them that's against m crushed 
 yet, and I'll live long enough to behold dainty Nora McCar- 
 thy suing for mercy at my feet" 
 
 He turned into the room and went to a corner which was 
 occupied by a stout trunk. Opening the trunk with a pecu- 
 liar key which he took from his waistcoat pocket, there were 
 exposed sundry discolored and half -torn newspapers, together 
 with packets of yellow letters tied with bits of dirty tape. Car- 
 ter plunged his hand amid the mass and drew up a little 
 round tin box. It was securely locked, but a tiny key attached 
 by a slender chain to the key he had already employed opened 
 it, and there was exposed an evenly-folded paper. This he 
 opened and spread upon his knee. There, indeed, was all 
 the evidence required for the arrest and even capital punish- 
 ment of Fenian leaders full plans of the organization of the 
 I. R. B. ;* entire names of the officers ; details of future move- 
 ments. Carter's eyes sparkled. 
 
 " They didn't discover my treachery in time ; and Father 
 O'Connor thought I'd be omadhaun enough to hand over this 
 paper to him oh, no ! delivery of it to another quarter will 
 bring many a pound into my purse. It was a fortunate stroke 
 on my part to get this document just before I gave informa- 
 tion of the boys' intended attack on the barracks ; and they 
 thought I'd keep it safely so I will ; I'll keep it safe for my 
 own interest's sake. I haven't lived to this time of day, plot- 
 ting and planning, not to know when a wonderful piece of 
 luck like this falls in my way. With Carroll O'Donoghue 
 hung, as he shall be, a large reward mine, as it will be for this 
 information, and Nora McCarthy my wife, which she must be, 
 the divil a hare I care for the rest of matters. To be sure, 
 I'd like if something would take Rick out of the way after he 
 has served my purpose, and may be I can manage that also. 
 He knows too much of the past ; and what with his mad love 
 for Cathhen, and his devilish scruples about doing dirty work, 
 as he calls it, he is getting to be dangerous." 
 * Irioh Republican Brotherhood.
 
 9 g CARROLL (TDONOGHUS. 
 
 He paused a moment as if surprised by some sudden 
 thought ; then he resumed his soliloquy : 
 
 * I wonder, now, if this prying poke of a priest would take 
 it into his head to go and see the Widow Kelly, and Cath- 
 leen ! well, if he should, he'll learn nothing more than he al- 
 ready knows, for they are as much in the dark about my 
 doings as I want them to be." 
 
 He began to fold the open paper still on his knee, contin- 
 uing : 
 
 " They will probably hurry Carroll on to prison ; well, I 
 shall see him, anyway, and sound him ; if they have not 
 told him about my proposal to Miss McCarthy, why he used 
 to have such an affection for me, and to trust me so implicitly, 
 that I think I can make it appear to him how I have been 
 wronged and slandered." 
 
 He put the packet he had made of the paper carefully into 
 his bosom, replaced the little box within the trunk, locked the 
 latter, restored the key to his waistcoat pocket, and going to 
 the closet, began to devour the cold remains of his unfinished 
 meal. 
 
 Rick still slept, his drunken snore beginning to grow omin- 
 ously loud, as Carter, having hastily equipped himself for a 
 journey, entered the room where the sleeper was yet extended 
 on the floor. It required minutes to thoroughly waken the 
 latter, and to make him comprehend what Carter was say- 
 ing. 
 
 " I'm off now for Tralee, with this," touching his breast 
 pocket in which he had placed the important paper ; " and I 
 don't know when I'll be back. Do you mind things about 
 here, and be prepared when I return to do what I asked last 
 night." 
 
 Rick shook himself erect, and glowered into the face of the 
 ipeaker, but he did not reply. 
 
 " You can have the liberty of this place if you like till I 
 come back. You'll find all the provisions you need up-stairs, 
 and if anything should happen that would make it necessary
 
 VA&TER8 TOOL. 99 
 
 for you to see me, you can follow me to Hoolahan's 111 
 drop in there every day while I shall be gone." 
 
 Without farther farewell he departed, walking down the 
 street with that all-important and overbearing air which the 
 consciousness of a little power gives to mean and craven souls. 
 There was no inward shrinking, nor impulse of shame at the 
 dastardly part he was acting ; such emotions had been stifled 
 long since, and for years he had worked but for one infernal 
 aim. Toward that aim he strode, regardless of what h* 
 might cruelly demolish on the way.
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 IMPRISONED. 
 
 OHC more imprisoned ! Young O'Donoghue looked round 
 n the bare stone walls, familiar from his former imprison- 
 ment previous to his transportation, and it seemed but a day 
 nce he had stood in that identical spot, and felt for the first 
 time all the horrors of incarceration. The numerous events 
 of the past few months rushed to his mind his trial, the ver- 
 dict, the sensation caused in tht crowded court-room by the 
 Agonizing scream of his sister when that verdict was delivered, 
 his sentence, his desolate voyage to Australia, his hard prison 
 Wfe there, his escape, due to the faithful Tighe a Vohr ; his 
 >rdent hope of being able to achieve something for Ireland's 
 independence ; his brief, blissful meeting with Nora ; his sud- 
 den, painful re-arrest ; and now, at the close of it all, death 
 too surely he felt that such would be the end. He threw 
 himself on the wretched bed and covered his face with his 
 hands, giving himself up to the most gloomy thoughts. He 
 was so young to die ; and to die, too, without having given 
 one blow for the land he loved so well ; to h^ve all his enthu- 
 siasm crushed in an ignominious death, before it should find 
 vent in one act which could aid the struggling cause ; to be 
 torn from the side of the bright creature whose look of an- 
 guish as he was hurried from her continually haunted him, 
 were reflections which cut into his soul. He groaned in 
 spirit, and clasped his hands tighter about his eyes, as if to 
 shut out the vision of her face ; but after a little calmer, and 
 even somewhat hopeful thoughts returned. His early boy- 
 hood appeared before him the happy years spent in the old 
 kome, when hb father lived, and Nora, and Clare, and Fathei 
 (ft)
 
 IMPRISONED. w 
 
 O'Connor and he were all as united and affectionate as though 
 they were bound by the natural ties of kindred. He remem- 
 bered their first sorrow when Father O'Connor was sent to 
 college ; their next grief, two years after, when Carroll him- 
 self, who was three years younger, followed Father O'Connor 
 to a college in France. His recall because of his father's 
 death ; pecuniary troubles, owing to his father's boundless 
 charity ; and finally, the loss of their ancient and beautiful 
 home. His mind was vividly picturing all, but in every scene 
 stood Nora McCarthy ; her gravity of character remarkable 
 even in early youth, her gentleness to the veriest menial, her 
 charity, seeking outlets which she intended should be known 
 alone to God, but which accident, and the gairulous tongues 
 of those she benefited, sometimes revealed ; her sympathy 
 with the cause of her country ; her noble admonitions to Car- 
 roll himself ; and above all her simple and ardent piety which 
 dictated every act, all pressed upon the young man with a 
 force and sweetness which strangely cheered and stimulated 
 him. He rose to a sitting posture and took from his bosom 
 a little silver crucifix, Nora's gift to him on their betrothal. 
 He pressed it to his lips again and again, and finally dropped 
 to his knees to say the prayers she loved, and of which he had 
 such dire need. 
 
 The guard continued to pace with monotonous tread the 
 corridor without the cell, and indistinct sounds from the busy 
 world above him floated to his ears. A patch of the blue sky 
 was visible from his grated window, and through the bars a 
 sunbeam suddenly struggled, falling athwart the floor and 
 bathing him in its light as he knelt. It seemed like an omen 
 of good cheer, and he rose strangely comforted and strength- 
 ened. He knew that he was more strongly guarded than on 
 the occasion of his former imprisonment, and he doubted not 
 but that his privileges would be more restricted, perhaps 
 even to the cruel extremity of forbidding all visits from hii 
 friends. 
 
 Tighe a Vohr had won his way to him before, under diffi-
 
 ieo CARROLL &DONOQHUB. 
 
 cnlties well-nigh as great, and Carroll felt that the faithful fel- 
 low would spare no effort to gain access to him now. 
 
 The step of the guard paused at the cell door, the bolt was 
 shot back, the heavily-studded door swung open, and Carter 
 entered. The unaffected smile which broke over Carroll's 
 face, his exclamation of joy, and forward movement to wel- 
 come his visitor, all told the latter that his true reputation 
 as yet had not been revealed to the prisoner. 
 
 " My dear boy ! " 
 
 He was embracing young O'Donoghue with well simulated, 
 frantic affection, pretending even to be moved to tears at 
 meeting him under such painful circumstances. 
 
 " 1 never heard of your arrest till yesterday morning, when 
 Father O'Connor told me ; it gave me a shock ; I could not 
 rest till I had seen you, and it is only by bribes and influence 
 that I am at last admitted to you. Keep up your heart, my 
 dear boy ; you shall not be here long. I think I can secure 
 means of escape, only we must be cautious." 
 
 He looked carefully about the cell, and walking to the 
 door, which had been closed and bolted on the outside, list- 
 ened for a moment ; the only sound that reached him was 
 the step of the guard. Satisfied, he returned to Carroll. 
 
 " Carroll O'Donoghue, do you trust me ? " 
 
 The question was put so suddenly and so earnestly thai 
 the young man was startled. 
 
 " Certainly, Morty ; why do you ask ? " 
 
 " Because," Carter folded his arms, dropped his head till 
 his chin almost rested on his breast, and spoke with such an 
 assumption of sadness that the impulsive, tender-hearted 
 young fellow was deeply touched " because," repeated Car- 
 ter, " my character has been vilified and blackened, till the 
 whole country is against me. What has a man but his char- 
 acter ? and mine they have taken. Don't touch me, Carroll 
 O'Donoghue, don't speak to me, but bid me to begone from 
 your presence, for I stand before you accused of treachery 
 and robbery.**
 
 IMPRISONED. I0 f 
 
 * What do you mean ? " broke in Carroll, painfully excited. 
 
 " I mean this," lifting his head and straightening himself 
 as if with the proud consciousness of his innocence " that I 
 have enemies about who have been defaming every action and 
 word of mine. I became familiar with the English soldiers, 
 I won the favor of the English officers, I was permitted free 
 access to the barracks ; but what did I do it for ? to help 
 the cause I would die to serve ; and I did help the cause, 
 and help it well. My information warned the boys many a 
 time, and saved them. But what do they say of me now ? 
 that I have betrayed them, and worse than that, they say it 
 is I who have betrayed you, Carroll O'Donoghue ; you 
 whose life I saved when you were a child, you whom I carried 
 in my arms when you were a little boy and tired from the 
 sports of the day, you, the son of that man who trusted me 
 as if I was his brother, you that I love as I would my own 
 son " 
 
 He stopped suddenly as if his voice had broken from emo- 
 tion. 
 
 " These are ridiculous charges," said O'Donoghue, his lip 
 curling with scorn. 
 
 " Nevertheless," resumed Carter, " they are the charges that 
 are brought against me, and my enemies have done even 
 worse ; they have made your sister and Miss McCarthy deem 
 me their bitter foe, neither one of the young ladies will give me 
 a civil look and they have gone to live with Father Meagher 
 in order to be protected against me me their guardian, and, 
 Heaven knows, their best friend." 
 
 Again his head fell, and his voice assumed the sadneu 
 which he knew would not fail to touch his youthful listener. 
 
 " This is dreadful ! " exclaimed the young man. 
 
 Carter looked up. 
 
 " If it touches you so deeply, how must it wound me ? 
 And there is yet more : Father Meagher told me to my face 
 that he did not trust me, and when I entreated young Father 
 O'Connor to tell me his opinion, his answer was that he too
 
 Iot CARROLL VDONOQHUM. 
 
 believed me guilty of all that was reported of me ! Oh Car- 
 roll, pity me ! " He took a step forward to the young man, and 
 let his hands drop to his sides as if in the very abandonment of 
 lorrow. " I am getting to be an old man ; my heart had few 
 loves in this world, but even those have been torn from it ; and 
 now, if you too believe these wretched lies, and spurn me, I 
 have nothing left to live for." 
 
 " Never ! " answered Carroll impetuously ; *' the world may 
 turn against you, Morty, but I shall retain my trust in, and 
 my affection for you, and I shall make Nora, and my sister, 
 and Father Meagher, and Father O'Connor, know how 
 wronged and calumniated you have been." 
 
 " That is just what you must not do," answered Carter. 
 
 " What ! " burst from Carroll, " not permit me to defend 
 you ? " 
 
 "No ! I will have no defense made for me until I can my- 
 self prove the falsity of the charges which have been brought 
 against me, and that I shall be able to do when you, Carroll 
 O'Donoghue, have, through my means, escaped. They say 
 that I have betrayed you ; let your freedom, gained through me, 
 give the lie to that ; Miss McCarthy now believes me to be her 
 foe ; let her marriage with you, which shall be speedy through 
 my efforts, show her her error. Your sister thinks I would 
 gloat over her poverty ; let the little property which I possess, 
 and which I shall deed to her, prove that she has wronged 
 me. I ask only to live to accomplish these things, and then, 
 poor, old, lonely, desolate Morty Carter will retire where his 
 shadow will never again cross the path of friend or foe." 
 
 Carroll, in the ardor of his sympathy, sprung forward and 
 caught Carter's hands, wringing them hard. 
 
 " Morty, do not take this so to heart ; and believe me when 
 I assure you of my trust and affection ! " 
 
 " I do," was the response, sadly spoken, " believe that you 
 trust me now, and that you will continue to trust me until you 
 have heard their story, and " 
 
 Carroll interrupted : " They told me nothing when I saw
 
 IMPRISONED. S6J 
 
 them on the night of my arrest ; nothing of you save to men- 
 tion your name in an incidental manner." 
 
 " I can't account for that," replied Carter ; " but never fear, 
 you'll hear it all soon enough, and then you too will turn 
 against me." 
 
 " Never ! I swear to you that I never shall ; it would re- 
 quire proof before my very eyes ; such proof as should com- 
 pel from you an open avowal of your guilt, before I could be- 
 lieve aught against you, Morty." 
 
 " Will you swear to me then, my dear boy, that no matter 
 what they tell you, how fiercely they may denounce me, how 
 firmly they may believe the evil that is spoken of me, you will 
 not believe it that you will not suffer your trust in me to be 
 diminished in the least ? " 
 
 " Willingly, Morty ; I swear to all that without hesitation * 
 
 " And will you further swear to say nothing about me, not 
 to mention even that I have been here to see you that you 
 will simply listen to all they say, without putting in one word 
 about me, good or bad ? " 
 
 " Well, since it gratifies you, yes ; but it certainly will be 
 very hard for me to listen calmly while you are being vili- 
 fied." 
 
 " Only for a time, my dear boy ; only for a time, and then 
 you shall rejoice with me in the full proof of my innocence. 
 And now, there is the guard coming to let me out," as some 
 one paused at the cell door. " My plan for your escape will 
 be matured in a day or two ; till then keep up your courage 
 and remember your promise to me." 
 
 The iron bolt was shot back with an ominous click, the heavy 
 door swung open, and Carter, wringing hard the hand of hii 
 ward, passed without ; another instant, and Carroll O'Dono- 
 ghuc was again a solitary prisoner.
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 no, WIDOW'S RKPLT. 
 
 IN a small, dingy back room, situated in the poorest quar* 
 ter of Tralee, a queer, crabbed little man sat smoking ; the 
 dudheen was well blackened, and the puffs arose from it in ix> 
 precise and systematic a manner that they seemed to be fol- 
 lowing some plan in the smoker's mind. A small, old-fashioned 
 table, littered with writing materials, was before him, and 
 about the room was scattered a fantastical medley of furniture, 
 the arrangement of which was marked by the disorder and 
 want of cleanliness which told of the utter absence of a woman's 
 hand. The occupant himself was in little better condition ; 
 from his half-soiled linen, profusely visible above his waist- 
 coat, to the dusty shoes worn into large and ungainly shape 
 by numerous excrescences on his feet, he had the same musty* 
 neglected look as his grim bachelor apartment. His face, in- 
 dented with wrinkles, and brown with freckles, could not boast 
 of an even feature, and his little, round, bald head was orna- 
 mented at the sides with tufts of gray hair tortured into the 
 semblance of a curl. 
 
 A bold knock suddenly interrupted his cogitations ; he 
 seemed to be in no hurry to admit his visitor, for he drew 
 another whiff from his pipe, and then took it slowly out of his 
 mouth, as if he regretted being obliged to part with it for even 
 short time. The knock was repeated, and the visitor, ap- 
 parently impatient, attempted to admit himself ; but the door 
 was locked. 
 
 " Ah ! " said the queer occupant of the room, with a grunt 
 of satisfaction ; " foiled that time ; don't be so hasty, my 
 friend, whoever you are, to get into a gentleman's apartment "* 
 (104)
 
 THE WIDOW'S REPLY. 
 
 105 
 
 By this time he had laid his pipe carefully down, and shak- 
 ing himself out of his chair, he proceeded leisurely to the 
 door. The knock was again repeated ; still the grim little man 
 did not hasten his movements ; he had a key to turn, and a 
 bolt to shoot back, and a spike to take out, and by the time 
 that all these preparations were completed, and the door stood 
 fairly open, the visitor's impatience had not decreased. 
 
 " May I never be drowned in a mud pool, but it's Tighe a 
 Vohr ! " burst from the strange little man, startled out of his 
 wonted phlegmatic manner by his delighted astonishment. 
 It was Tighe a Vohr, but in such a costume that, as he him- 
 self had expressed it, hardly his own mother would know him 
 knee-breeches, body-coat, white vest, a spotless choker, and 
 surmounting his mass of short, brown curls, his own, old, worn 
 hat, presenting a most ludicrous contrast to the rest of his 
 dress. 
 
 " Where did you come from ? " pursued the little man, " and 
 what are you doing in such a dress as that ? " shaking both 
 Tighe's hands vigorously, and drawing him into the room, 
 forgetting in his eager delight to close the door. But Tighe 
 had no desire to be stared at by the prying eyes of other 
 dwellers in the house who might happen to pass, and as soon 
 as he had extricated himself from the friendly grasp, he closed 
 and locked the door. 
 
 " You may well ask," he replied, returning to the little man, 
 M how I kem to have such a dress as this, bad luck to it ! it 
 has me so bothered that I can't think a sthraight thought," 
 ruefully surveying himself back and front. " But sit down, 
 Corny, an' I'll tell you all about it ; it's a long an* a divartin' 
 story." 
 
 Corny obeyed, forgetting, in his interest, to resume his pipe, 
 and Tighe seated himself near. In his own ludicrous, and 
 yet sometimes pathetic manner, he told the tale of his trip to 
 Australia, and the subsequent events. 
 
 " And you are here, now, servant to an English officer ? 
 bedad it's the quare things you turn your hand to, Tighe."
 
 io6 
 
 CARROLL VDONOGHUR. 
 
 " Vis," answered Tighe ; " an' there's no knowin* what ITJ 
 do next, do you understand, Corny ? I'll do any mortal thing 
 that'd help the masther." 
 
 " I do, Tighe, an' them are the sentiments I admire ; you 
 are your mother's own son, Timothy Carmody, or in the Irish 
 of it, Tighe a Vohr." 
 
 " Do you see now," pursued Tighe, drawing his chair closer 
 to that of his listener, " I'll make mesel' a favorite in the bar- 
 racks there ; not on; o' thim suspects me intintions ; Captain 
 Crawford tuk the greatest likin* to me intoirely, an' between 
 one an' the other o' thim, keepin' me eyes an' me ears open, 
 mebbe I'll ketch many a bit o' information that'll be for the 
 masther's binefit. An' that's what brought me here this 
 mornin', to have you help me. I was mortally afeerd I 
 wouldn't find you, that you'd be gone out of the ould place, 
 or that somethin' happened you, or the loike, seem' it's so 
 long since I laid eyes on you." 
 
 " No, Tighe, I'm wedded to my surroundings. On the day 
 that your mother married Timothy Carmody, I sed to mesel', 
 ' henceforth, Corny O'Toole, let your heart be dead to the 
 natural affections ; let the things of nature be your wife and 
 children, and make no changes stay in the one spot, and let 
 time reconcile you to the fact that if you had been beforehand 
 with Timothy Carmody, it is Mrs. O'Toole your mother 
 would be, Tighe, and you, you would be my son, Timothy 
 O'Toole.'" 
 
 In the excess of his feelings he leaned across and wrung 
 Tighe's hand. 
 
 " An' why didn't you ax her since, Corny ? she's a widdy 
 this many a year, an' be me sowl, I don't think she'd refuse 
 you." 
 
 The little man arose. 
 
 " Is it desecrate the ashes of her widowed heart by a pro- 
 posal now, when her husband is in his cold grave ? Tina 
 Carmody, do not so disrespect my years an' my gray hairs." 
 He touched his sidelocks with melodramatic gesture.
 
 THE WIDOW'S BEPLT. 
 
 107 
 
 " Tatther an' ages ! it isn't whin her husband was alive that 
 you'd be poppin' the question to her ? " broke in Tighe. 
 
 " No, Mr. Carmody," with a tragic action of his arms, " nor 
 shall I now disturb the beautiful serenity of her widowed 
 feelings by such an offer. I honor your mother," placing hia 
 hand on his heart " and I will leave her to repose her love in 
 the cold grave of her lamented husband." 
 
 He sat down, wiping his face. 
 
 " Well," said Tighe, " we'll not moind about that little mat- 
 ther for the present. I want your help wid this ; you tuk 
 in a while ago, all that I tould you about the letther I med 
 the quarthermasther write to one Widdy Moore ? " 
 
 Corny nodded his head. 
 
 " Well, I want you now to write an answer as if it kern from 
 the Widdy Moore that's what brought me here this mornin' ; 
 he expected an answer last night, but I tould him that the 
 widdy wasn't in, but that I left the letther, an' also how I left 
 word that I'd go afther an answer this mornin'. Do you see, 
 now, Corny, he's a soft soort o' fellow that it's not hard to get 
 round at all, an' if I can sthring him for a while wid some- 
 thing loike this, I may be able to turn him to account. I got 
 out o' him last night the perticler part of the jail where Mr. 
 O'Donoghue is, an' how his thrial is likely to come off afore a 
 great while. Sure it's your business to be writin' letthers an' 
 the loike," glancing at the littered table. 
 
 " It used to be, Tighe, it used to be, afore people got to 
 have the book larnin' themselves ; but now, since they've 
 spiled us with their national schools, and their other divil's 
 improvements, the sorra much poor Corny gets to do. Once 
 in a while I've a love-letther to write, or an offer of marriage, 
 or the like, where big words are a-wantin', but it's not often ; 
 times are not what they used to be ; " and the old man sighed 
 touchingly. 
 
 " Read this," said Tighe, proffering the letter which he 
 had induced the simple quartermaster to write to the Widow 
 Moore,
 
 I g CARROLL aDONOQHUK 
 
 ** That's a fine employment of words," said Corny, when he 
 had read the missive slowly and aloud. Then he turned to 
 the superscription, reading that with the same attentive leis- 
 ure. 
 
 "And how did you come to know this Mistress Moore?" 
 he asked. 
 
 " The divil a bit o' me knew her at all till I heerd the 
 omadhaun of a quarthermasther make mintion o' her, thin I 
 med a bould guess at the rest. Sez I to mesel', whin I eyed 
 him for a while, an' saw the hesitatin* way he was in about 
 the writin* sez I to mesel', ' you're in love ; ' an' faith, Corny, 
 whin a fellow's in love there's not much to be got out o' him 
 be the way o' rayson or common sinse." 
 
 Corny nodded an earnest assent 
 
 " I found that out be the masther himsel'," continued 
 Tighe, " for he wouldn't be led, nor dhrove, bekaise o' his 
 love for a purty girrel, till he got himsel' into the schrape he's 
 in now. Well, that's neither here nor there, but, as I was say- 
 in', I approached the subjict o' this tormintin' widdy " 
 
 " Spake respectful, me boy, of the widows," interrupted Mr. 
 O'Toole, "your mother, the honored Mrs. Cannody, is one." 
 
 Tighe stifled a laugh and proceeded : 
 
 " I approached the subject in the way I tould you, an' to 
 me own wondher I med the right hit entoirely. But I wasn't 
 widout makin' sly inquiries, an' I found out that this Mis- 
 thress Moore is a young, gay, dashin' widdy that sets half 
 o' the officers be the ears wid love o' her ; sure that was play- 
 in' into me hands complately, an' if I can kape up the game 
 long enough to help me to get seein' the masther, I'll be very 
 thankful" 
 
 " I see," answered Corny ; " well, we will have to be very 
 careful with the answer, Tighe ; it wouldn't do to be putting 
 an offer of marriage in it." 
 
 " Not at all , sure that would be the decidin' part, an' I 
 must kape her away from that for a while. No, tell him in a 
 delicate way o' the great and sudden divarsion his letther gev
 
 THE WIDOW'S REPLY. 
 
 109 
 
 her ; an' how she'd loike him to be very saycret about the 
 matther for the prisent, an' that he mustn't moind if she gives 
 him could looks, for it will be only for a while, an' that her 
 heart is burnin' wid thoughts o' him all the toime ; an' oh, 
 Corny ! begorra I was forgittin' tell him that she doesn't 
 want him to be makin' delusions to the letthers in her prisence, 
 an' " 
 
 "You mean allusions, Mr. Carmody,** interrupted Mr. 
 O'Toole, pompously. 
 
 " You are right, Corny ; what wid the bewildherments o* 
 the toimes the book larnin' is gone clane out o' me head. 
 Well, she doesn't want him to be makin' allusions to the letthers 
 in her prisence she wants him to be spachless, for faith if 
 he don't I'll be discovered, an' iverything will be spiled. Now, 
 will you do that, Corny ? " 
 
 " I will," said the little man, drawing the writing materiaLi 
 to him. 
 
 " Put big words in it, Corny ; there's nothin* loike thim for 
 touchin' the heart." 
 
 Mr. O'Toole wrote with all diligence, and soon produced : 
 
 " DEAREST MR. GARFIELD : 
 
 When the sentiments of the female 
 
 heart are touched, the tongue finds it troublesome and difficult 
 to give them utterance. Your beautiful and noble letter 
 stirred all the emotions of my susceptible nature. The pro- 
 mulgation of your deliberate affection for a widowed and be- 
 reaved youthful female woke in my sensitive and flattered 
 soul responsive echoes." 
 
 M Illigant ! " broke in Tighe, clapping his hands, " illigant 
 intoirely." 
 
 " I accept your sentiments, dear and noble Mr. Garfield, and 
 I intend to cherish them in all the recesses of my desolate 
 and craving heart. With suffocating feelings of the deepest 
 regret, I beg you to be speechless about all this for the pres- 
 ent cruel circumstances compel this dreadful necessity. 
 Meet me, esteemed and revered sir, as if you knew me not, 
 for a little while ; be silent about everything, and after a few 
 days my bursting heart will be ready to reveal itself.
 
 J10 CARROLL (TDONOQHUX. 
 
 Till then, believe me as undivided and undividable as your' 
 elf. 
 
 THE WIDOW MOORE." 
 
 " Give us year fist Corny ! " said Tighe in the exuberance 
 of his delight ; and he shook that useful member of Mr. 
 O'Toole's body till the latter gentleman was fain to beg him 
 to desist 
 
 " It's satisfactory,** said Corny, trying to assume an indiffer- 
 ence to the praise of his young friend, but inwardly glowing 
 with pleasure ; for if there was one weakness which Mr. 
 O'Toole possessed, apart from the Widow Carmody, it was his 
 ambition to gain fame as an elegant letter-writer. 
 
 " An' you tuk particler pains to make the han'writin' 
 small, I see," said Tighe, examining the superscription, when at 
 length the letter was addressed, sealed, and given into his pos- 
 session. " It takes you, Corny, an' begorra it always tuk you 
 to do what you set yer moind to. I'm only surprised at one 
 thing, how you iver missed me mother." There was a roguish 
 twinkle in Tighe a Vohr's eyes, but simple, credulous Corny 
 did not perceive it, and he answered : 
 
 " I didn't ask her in time, my boy ; I procrastinated." 
 
 ** That was bad, Corny ; but kape up yer heart ; mebbe, if 
 things turns out well, I'll be able mesel' to put in a good word 
 for you." 
 
 Mr. O'Toole drew himself up, and folded his arms on his 
 swelling breast. 
 
 " Mr. Carmody, I have already expressed to you my feel- 
 ings on that tender and delicate subject ; respect them, sir, 
 and do not force me to disturb the emotions of your mother's 
 widowed heart, so long buried in the grave of her lamented 
 husband." 
 
 " Faith it's the could place you want her heart to be in," 
 muttered Tighe, but in too low a voice for Corny to hear. 
 The latter gentleman maintained his lofty attitude, proudly 
 assuring himself that his countenance was expressing at once
 
 THE WIDOW'S REPLT. Ill 
 
 noble scorn and heroic resignation, whereas his yellow, 
 wrinkled face was pursed up into a look so ludicrously 
 affected that Tighe had to hasten his adieu lest be 
 laugh in the little man's face.
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 CORNY O'TOOLK. 
 
 CAPTAIN CRAWFORD was a manly specimen of the English 
 officer ; dashing, genial, fun-loving, prone to good nature, 
 proud of his profession, devoted to his country, ardent, gener- 
 ous, brave, he won with little effort the confidence of his 
 superior officers and the enthusiastic affection of his men ; 
 but no one of these praiseworthy qualities could eradicate or 
 diminish a fierce hatred against those of the Irish who dared 
 to foster a thought of rebellion toward the English govern- 
 ment ; such he would crush with ruthless hand, and no 
 measure enforced for their submission was too severe for his 
 approval. He hated the very name Fenian, and he hailed 
 with delight every scheme for the capture of the devoted fel- 
 lows. Yet his purse was often open to relieve cases of des- 
 titution accidentally brought to his notice, and his laugh was 
 ready and hearty at any sally of Irish wit or exploit of Irish 
 cunning, even though the victim of both might be himself. 
 
 For Tighe a Vohr he conceived a peculiar fancy ; the fel 
 low's true humor, his laughable simplicity, his apparent frank- 
 ness, and the ardor with which he seemed to serve his new 
 master, all made the latter regard him with something akin to 
 affection, and he was disposed to treat Tighe with more than 
 ordinary favor. 
 
 Tighe, with his natural sharpness, divinsd all this before 
 he had served a fortnight in his new capacity, and it required 
 little effort on his part to act in a manner which should in- 
 crease the officer's regard for him. On the day subsequent to 
 his delivery into Mr. Garfield's hand of the letter written by Cor- 
 mj O'Toole, and supposed to come from the Widow Moor,
 
 CORNY CfTOOLK Uj 
 
 Tighe, busy in the officer's privatt apartments, was chuckling to 
 himself as he mentally saw again the quartermaster's expression 
 of countenance when he read that remarkable composition. 
 Indeed, the soldier's face had afforded a wonderful study ; 
 astonishment, perplexity, a mixture of triumph and pleasure, 
 some disappointment, and a long, wondering look at Tighe, 
 which the latter endured without a muscle betraying his in- 
 ward mirthful convulsion, all had succeeded each other on the 
 countenance of the astounded and bewildered quartermaster. 
 
 " Isn't it to yer satisfaction ? " Tighe had asked when 
 the soldier's eyes had turned from his face to the letter again ; 
 and the mystified fellow had replied : 
 
 u It is, and it is not ; I can't understand it ; it seems a 
 strange way for a lady to write so different from our Eng- 
 lish girls." 
 
 " Yer English girrels ! " Tighe had burst in ; " didn't I tell 
 you afore that there was no comparison betune thim ? no more 
 than there is betune a well-bred filly an' a cantherin* jackass. 
 It's the slap an' the dash that our Irish wimen want, an* 
 not the aisy-goin' ways o' yer English girrels" 
 
 " What did she say to you ? " the befooled quartermaster 
 had asked ; and Tighe had answered : 
 
 " Is it the loike o' me you'd have to sthand afore a lady 
 ioike her ? it's aisy to see you're ot rightly mannered in yer 
 counthry ; if you wor, it's not such a question as that you'd 
 be puttin* to me," inwardly exulting as he saw the quarter- 
 master bite his lip ; " sure I gev the letther to the sarvant to 
 take to her, an' she was out, as I tould you afore, but whin I 
 wint agin the sarvant had the answer ready. An' now if 
 you'd loike to have me compose another letther for you ." 
 
 " No," had been the decisive reply, "I'll wait awhile first." 
 
 " Well," Tighe had replied, " whin you're ready, yer honor, 
 I'm at yer sarvice ; an' you nad'nt be afeerd to thrust me, for 
 I'd sooner cut the tongue out o' me mouth than tell one word 
 on so dacint an* nice-spoken a gintleman as yersel'; but whin 
 Misthress Moore becomes Mrs. Garfield, an' you're happy an* 
 thrivin', mebbe thin you'd remimber poor Tighe a Vohr."
 
 1I4 CARROLL CfDONOGHUS. 
 
 And Tighe, as he now distinctly thought of all this, could 
 hardly restrain an outward chuckle, but at that moment Cap- 
 tain Crawford entered the room with another officer ; it re- 
 quired but one look for Tighe to recognize in him the same 
 who had conducted the arrest of Carroll O'Donoghue Cap- 
 tain Dennier. He was not afraid of recognition by the cap- 
 tain, being confident that the latter had obtained but passing 
 glances of him on the night of Carroll's arrest, and he felt that 
 his present dress would prove an effectual disguise ; but, in 
 order to be respectful, he passed to an inner room, where he 
 feigned to be very busy. Never, however, were his wits so 
 keen. He managed adroitly to leave the door between the 
 apartments carelessly ajar, and to cause his duties to take him 
 frequently to the spot. Captain Crawford was evidently heed- 
 less of Tighe's vicinity, for he continued a conversation with 
 Dennier which seemed to have been commenced before their 
 entrance. 
 
 " Yes," he said, speaking warmly, " Lord Heathcote must 
 surely give credit to you for this success ; you certainly 
 have been quick and clever about it** 
 
 Captain Dennier did not reply ; he seemed absorbed in 
 gloomy thought. 
 
 " What are to be the next moves ? H pursued the speaker, 
 looking somewhat anxiously into the face of his friend. 
 
 Captain Dennier replied in a low voice, but not too low for 
 Tighe's oversharpened hearing : 
 
 " Lord Heathcote's arrival here is expected daily, and this 
 Mortimer Carter, the same who has been supplying informa- 
 tion to the government for some time past, is here, waiting to 
 deliver to his lordship a valuable paper, a paper which he hai 
 told me criminates not only this unfortunate prisoner, O'Don- 
 oghue, but which contains the most conclusive evidence 
 against the unhappy wretches who were arrested the other 
 day at that attack on the barracks." 
 
 That piece of information worked strangely on the eagerly 
 listening Tighe. His face lengthened itself, and his eyes grew 
 in sue till they threatened to bunt from their sockets.
 
 CORNY VTOOLE. ,,j 
 
 * Be me sowl," h said mentally, " that's ould Morty Car- 
 ther he manes." 
 
 " Then," continued the speaker, " the prisoner will stand 
 his trial." 
 
 There was a touch of sadness in the last tones that struck 
 unpleasant'y on the ear of Captain Crawford. Striking hii 
 hand on his knee, he said in his hearty way : 
 
 " Upon my honor, Walter, if I didn't know you as I do, I 
 would say that you sympathized with those Fenian scoun- 
 drels." 
 
 " No," was the reply, " I love England too well to sympa- 
 thize with any rebellion against her, but I cannot help feeling 
 for the spirit which through all oppression is still defiant. 
 My heart quivers at the sights of distress I meet so often, and 
 I have found so much that is noble and kindly in the Irish 
 character that I find myself often pitying where previously I 
 was wont to condemn." 
 
 " By Jove ! " laughed the surprised, and yet amused, Cap- 
 tain Crawford, " we shall have you transferring your allegiance, 
 and commanding a Fenian raid before long ; what will my 
 sister Helen say to that, I wonder you were her model, you 
 know. Oh, don't color so, Walter ; it will be all right one 
 day, I suppose ; only one of her last counsels to me was to 
 make you my study. I wonder if she would approve of my 
 imitating your conversion to the side of the Irish, and Fenian- 
 ism to boot. Perhaps you would even emulate that daring 
 scoundrel, Captain O'Connor ; they say he is marvelous in 
 the matter of disguises, and report has it that he has been in 
 the very heart of a surrounded district, enrolling for this 
 
 d d Irish Republic, and perfecting his plans under the 
 
 very eyes of the government officers." 
 
 " I admire his gallantry and his fealty to his cause," replied 
 Dennier with sparkling eyes ; " thus far he has shown wonder- 
 ful skill and courage, and doubtless, if his last bold move- 
 ment had not been checked, it would have brought more 
 serious results to England than the scare it gave her "
 
 ,,f CARROLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 u Scare ! * repeated Crawford, throwing himself back in 
 the chair he had taken, and laughing loud and heartily, " why 
 the way those wires worked sending alarm messages to head- 
 quarters, and the manner in which the troops were rushed off, 
 was enough to make O'Connor himself laugh when he heard 
 of the commotion he had created." 
 
 " Yes," replied Denriier, " and his mirth would be all the 
 heartier if he knew how Horseford is taking to himself the 
 credit of having stopped the rebellion down here." 
 
 Crawford straightened himself in his seat, saying eagerly : 
 
 u Ah ! you probably hold the opinion about that that I do.** 
 
 " Perhaps : my theory is that the failure at Chester has had 
 more to do with the comparative cessation of the rebellion all 
 over Ireland than all Horseford's boasted soldierly skill and 
 executive ability." 
 
 u You are right," answered Crawford, thoughtfully ; then, 
 as if glad to change the subject, he said with a sudden altera- 
 tion of voice : " I have not told you about my new valet a 
 perfect specimen." 
 
 " Och, begorra ! " muttered Tighe, " I'm in for it now ; 
 they'll have me out there on exhibition, an' mebbe that divil 
 o' an officer would remimber afther all that he seen me in 
 Dhrommacohol." Quick as thought he seized the blacking 
 used for his master's boots, and smearing different parts of 
 his face with it, he fell to polishing the first shoe he could 
 find. 
 
 " Tighe ! " called his master. 
 
 Tighe appeared in the doorway, shoe and brush in hand, 
 and his head hanging down in well-feigned confusion. " If 
 you'd be afther excusin' me, yer honor ; I'm not persintable." 
 
 Captain Crawford laughed, and even Captain Dennier's 
 grave countenance relaxed into a smile at sight of the be- 
 smeared face surmounted by a shock of curly brown hair now 
 in tangled disorder from the frequent running of Tighe's fin- 
 gers through it. 
 
 44 Very well, Tighe, we accept your apology," said Captain
 
 CORN 7 ff TOOL A H 7 
 
 Crawford ; and Tighe, with a bow which he had learned from 
 an itinerant dancing master, and which provoked another 
 mirthful burst from his master, and a more animated smile 
 from Captain Dennier, returned to the room he had left. He 
 could hear, even while he pretended to be noisily engaged, 
 Captain Crawford detailing in most ludicrous fashion the cir- 
 cumstances of his first meeting with Tighe and Shaun ; but 
 although the captain's own laugh rung out with infectious mer- 
 riment, it seemed to produce little of the same effect on his 
 companion ; grave, silent, the latter's thoughts appeared to be 
 far, and unpleasantly away. 
 
 " Egad, Dennier ! " broke from Captain Crawford at last, 
 " you are a changed man since you came to Ireland. On my 
 honor, I shall begin to surmise that you are really contemplat- 
 ing going over to the Irish." 
 
 Captain Dennier smiled, but he did not reply, as if he 
 deemed the remark too trifling to deserve an answer. 
 
 " Come, old fellow," resumed his companion, " you were 
 wont to give me your confidence ; confide in me now, and tell 
 me the trouble." 
 
 The earnestness, the affection in the tones seemed to rouse 
 and to touch the young officer. He replied with unwonted 
 spirit : 
 
 " On my soul, Harry, I wish I could tell you ; I cannot 
 even explain it to myself ; it is a nameless something which 
 has seemed to press upon my spirits from the moment that I 
 set foot in Ireland. It may be that Lord Heathcote's manner 
 to me has increased it. You know, owing to my absence in 
 India, I did not see him for a long time ; since my return, 
 however, our interviews have been somewhat frequent, and the 
 close of every meeting is only to leave me more discouraged, 
 more unhappy, more perplexed with myself than I was be- 
 fore." 
 
 " And yet," replied Crawford, " you have been the envy of 
 half the titled young fellows in London, because of that very 
 interest which Lord Heathcote has always taken in you. You 
 have told me repeatedly that you owe everything to him."
 
 ,, S CAEROLL VL9NOGHUK 
 
 " I do ; the claims of no common gratitude bind me to him, 
 Of my birth and early history I know nothing save that I have 
 been told how both my parents died before I was well ushered 
 into the world, and that happening to reside on his lordship's 
 estate, and having been brought to his notice by some service 
 rendered to him by my father, he took singular compas- 
 sion upon me, an unclaimed orphan, found a nurse for me, 
 caused me to be educated, and I know that he has procured for 
 me all the appointments I have ever held. Thus you see how 
 much his interests ought to be mine ; and they are. I have 
 striven to show by my conduct in every particular that his 
 kindness was not misplaced, that the boy for whom he so 
 nobly provided was not an entirely unworthy recipient of his 
 bounty ; but his demeanor to me when we meet proves that 
 he thinks otherwise. His coldness chills me, his taunts at 
 my ill success sting me, and I have often felt like flinging my 
 commission at his feet, thanking him for the past, and betaking 
 myself to some far distant scene." 
 
 " No, no, Walter," said Captain Crawford, " do nothing so 
 rash. Wait ; things are becoming brighter ; you have 
 achieved success now in the capture of this Australian con- 
 vict, and his lordship must at least in that recognize your 
 ability." 
 
 " But that which harrows my soul most," resumed Captain 
 Dennier, " is a singular overmastering impulse to love this 
 cold, stern man ; it springs up at every sight of him ; it haunts 
 me in my dreams, and this is why I am such a puzzle to my- 
 self." He leaned his head upon his hand, and yielded again 
 to gloomy and abstracted thought 
 
 Tighe, still brushing vigorously at boots that had been pol- 
 ished and repolished, was as vigorously thinking and plan- 
 ning. 
 
 " I must foind a way for deprivin' ould Carther o' that pa- 
 per, an* I'll have to be murtherin' quick about it. The first 
 thing'll be to foind out where the ould wretch kapes himsel'. 
 1 haven't seen tail nor hide o' him since I kern here ; an' thin
 
 CORNY O'TOOLR Mf 
 
 there's Father Meagher, an* the young ladies disthracted wid 
 grief in Dhrommacohol, an' waitin' for me to go back an' give 
 thim news ; an' there's the masther himsel' that I haven't 
 found the manes o' communicatin' wid yet. May the 
 saints deliver us, but it's the power o' business I have on 
 hand ; well, whin the paper is got from ould Carther I'll attind 
 to the reel."
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CAPTAIN CRAWFORD'S VALET. 
 
 ON the morning succeeding the events detailed in the last 
 chapter, there was unusual bustle and excitement in that por- 
 tion of the barracks reserved for the officers. The cause of 
 the unusual commotion was an arrival, and the blazoned car- 
 riage and thorough-bred, gayly-trapped horses gave evidence 
 of the wealth and title of their owner. Lackeys were in abun- 
 dance, and the alacrity and obsequiousness with which the 
 soldiers who were lounging about pressed forward to the ser- 
 vice of the solitary occupant showed the latter to be more 
 than an ordinary commanding officer. He waved his hand in 
 response to the many respectful salutes which greeted him as 
 he alighted from his carriage, and ascended the steps of the 
 entrance with grave, soldierly mien. Numerous medals glit- 
 tered upon his breast, and his firm, rapid step, and the quick, 
 keen glance which he threw about him, bespoke one accus- 
 tomed to command. An apartment had been as sumptuously 
 prepared for him as the haste and exigencies of circumstances 
 would allow, and to this he was immediately conducted. 
 Having entered the room, he turned to an attendant, saying : 
 " I desire to see Captain Dennier summon him." 
 The servant departed on the errand, and the officer, di- 
 vesting himself of his sword and ornamented hat, threw 
 himself into a large easy chair. His grave, handsome face 
 was deeply indented with lines that told of no easy, nor 
 peaceful life, and his firm set mouth evinced the iron will 
 which so often brings more of suffering than satisfaction to 
 is possessor. His abundant gray hair, stiff and strong, as if 
 it partook of the nature of its owner, was worn somewhat 
 (120)
 
 CAPTAIN CRAWFORD'S VALET. , a i 
 
 long, so that it fell on the collar of his coat, and added 
 strangely to an already remarkable appearance. 
 
 Captain Dennier was ushered into the apartment. He was 
 somewhat flushed, because of the haste of the summons, and 
 because of his own agitated thoughts which started into wild 
 being at the very prospect of an interview with this man to 
 whom he was so deeply indebted. Yet, withal, he was so 
 handsome, so graceful, and bore himself with so marked a 
 deference, yet a deference that was entirely free from aught 
 servile or cringing, that an expression of pleasure shone for 
 an instant in the cold, stern eyes before him. 
 
 " So you have achieved some success at last the capture 
 of this escaped convict" 
 
 The tone of the voice was cold, and the flush deepened on 
 the young captain's cheeks. He bowed in response, but re- 
 mained silent. 
 
 " I have come down here in great haste," the cold, hard 
 voice resumed, " and I must leave again by noon. Evidence 
 is pouring in from all sides of the country sufficient to con- 
 vict every prisoner we now hold, and sufficient also to impli- 
 cate many more upon whom the government has a watch. 
 Preparations for speedy trials are making in Dublin, and it is 
 probable that this Carroll O'Donoghue will be one of the first 
 to be tried. He is under very strict guard, I believe." 
 
 Captain Dennier again bowed. 
 
 " No one should be permitted to see him. I understand 
 that he has been one of the most daring and dangerous of 
 these Fenians." 
 
 He paused, and the young officer, slightly advancing, said : 
 * Permit me to inform your lordship that Morty Carter has been 
 waiting here a day or two to see you ; he has an important 
 paper to deliver." 
 
 " Morty Carter," his lordship repeated, " I have not time to 
 him see this morning ; let him give the paper into your keep- 
 ing, and you can forward it by some trusty person to Dublin 
 Castle."
 
 IM CARROLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 * Captain Crawford, your lordship, has received an order 
 to start for Dublin this evening ; can I intrust it to him ? H 
 
 " The very thing here ! I will write an order for you to 
 obtain the paper from Carter, so that he may not hesitate to 
 give it up ; and if he should hint at the reward he has been 
 promised, tell him that on the conclusion of the trials I shall 
 make good my word." 
 
 He repaired to a little writing cabinet which stood near, and 
 indited the order. 
 
 Captain Dennier received it with a bow, but he did not 
 turn to leave the room as his lordship evidently expected. 
 With his color each moment increasing, and a slight agita- 
 tion visible in his very grasp of the paper which he had just 
 received, he began suddenly : 
 
 " Your lordship " 
 
 The nobleman turned shortly from the cabinet which he 
 had been adjusting, and coldly confronted the speaker. The 
 opening of his speech seemed to have restored the young 
 man's self-possession. He stood erect, every trace of embar- 
 rassment vanished, and it was with his wonted fearless, yet 
 respectful manner, that he continued : 
 
 44 Something which has weighed upon me for months, and 
 of which I have hesitated to speak, must at last be said now. 
 I owe your lordship so much that my very gratitude renders 
 the subject a painful one ; but I have long felt that you are 
 disappointed in me. Had another received the benefits you 
 have so kindly dispensed to me such an one, by at least his 
 talent or tact in the affairs intrusted to him, would have re- 
 paid your bounty ; I have done neither. The simple, though 
 faithful, effort which I have made to perform my duty is all 
 that I have to offer in return for your patronage. But your 
 lordship has evidently expected more ; and perhaps in your 
 kindness you would still bind yourself to continue favor to 
 one who has done so little to merit it. I beg you to release 
 yourself from such an engagement. Feeling my incapacity 
 to win renown or success in my present profession, I would
 
 CAPTAIN CRAWFORD'S VALET. i a j 
 
 respectfully resign the commission your lordship has so kind- 
 ly procured for me, and seek my living afar from these scenes 
 in one of the humble walks of life, never forgetting, however, 
 your lordship, to whom, under Providence, I owe all that I 
 am." 
 
 Impassive, cold, Lord Heathcote's face did not betray by 
 the movement of a muscle whether any emotion had been 
 awakened by the appeal, though its last words had been 
 spoken in a tone of touching sadness. 
 
 " You claim to be grateful," he said at length, his stern eyes 
 fastening more piercingly upon the young man. 
 
 The latter bowed, and his lordship continued : 
 
 " If I should make your obedience to my wish the test of 
 that gratitude, would you object ? " 
 
 There was an instant's hesitation on the part of the young 
 officer, as if he divined what was coming and shrunk from 
 it. 
 
 Lord Heathcote seemed to understand the hesitation. He 
 said sternly : " Let your answer be at once, sir, full and tree. 
 I shall put my own interpretation upon it." 
 
 The vigor of his voice, the severity of his mien, were in 
 some measure appalling. Captain Dennier could not resist 
 their singular influence over himself. He answered : " I make 
 no objection to your lordship's imposing what test you 
 please." 
 
 " Then, if you would prove your gratitude, remain as you 
 are." 
 
 He waved him away, rung for an attendant, and strode to 
 a distant part of the room. 
 
 It was with no enviable feelings that Captain Dennier hur- 
 ried to his own apartment. Loathing himself for his weakness 
 in yielding where he had intended to be so firm, indignant at 
 that very authority which his obligations to Lord Heathcote 
 engendered, perplexed -with his own emotions toward the 
 nobleman, weary of his perpetual inward struggle between his 
 duty to his country and the sympathies so largely and strong-
 
 I24 CARROLL (TDONOGHOB. 
 
 ly enlisted for a suffering people, he felt all the unrest and 
 unhappiness which wait upon a self-tormented souL He 
 threw himself into a chair, burying his throbbing, burning 
 brow in his hands ; then he suddenly remembered his com- 
 mission to obtain a certain paper from Morty Carter. With 
 a gesture of impatience and a face expressive of his repug- 
 nance to the whole matter, he summoned his servant and dis- 
 patched him for Carter. 
 
 Carter arrived, fawning, smiling, but secretly anxious. With 
 haughty notice of him Captain Dennier produced the order 
 of Lord Heathcote. 
 
 Carter looked disappointed. " I would rather give it into 
 his lordship's hands ; I could wait, if need be, or follow 
 him." 
 
 " He does not desire you to do either," was the peremptory 
 reply. " I have detailed his wishes to you, and any reluctance 
 to obey on your part might be punished by an instant with- 
 drawal of his lordship's favor; you can pursue your own 
 course, however, Mr. Carter I have delivered to you my 
 orders." 
 
 Morty was fumbling in his bosom. " It has cost me so 
 much time and labor to get it," he said half apologetically, 
 taking out the paper and spreading it open before Captain 
 Dennier. 
 
 The latter perused it carefully, reading with a kind of shock 
 the name of Carroll O'Donoghue among the names of those 
 appointed to important offices in the organization of the Irish 
 Republic. He looked witheringly at his visitor. " You must 
 have played a most treacherous part to get possession of so 
 raluable a document as this." 
 
 " Every stratagem is fair in war/' was the dogged answer, 
 accompanied by a look that only half veiled the hate and 
 fury aroused by the officer's remark. 
 
 " Except that of treachery," pursued Captain Dennier with 
 covert sarcasm, which stung his listener more than would have 
 done fierce, open accusation. The latter was goaded to the
 
 CAPTAIN C3AWFORV8 VALET. ^5 
 
 soul. His round, red face expanded and reddened still more ; 
 his little, winking gray eyes winked faster, and his handi 
 opened and clenched as if they would have clutched venge- 
 fully at something. He said almost savagely : 
 
 " I recognize no right by which I am to be questioned or 
 rebuked. Your government gladly furnishes rewards for any 
 information given of her rebellious subjects, and she does not 
 inquire into the means by which such information is obtained. 
 I have yet to learn by what right one of her officers takes 
 upon himself to make such inquiries." 
 
 "You are insolent, sir," said Captain Dennier, surprised 
 and indignant. 
 
 Carter became suddenly subdued, being not a little alarmed 
 for the effect of the daring speech into which his passion had 
 hurried him ; he answered humbly: 
 
 " I beg pardon, sir, for speaking so boldly, but I was cut to 
 the quick when you mentioned treachery ; is it treachery to 
 help the cause in which one's sympathies are enlisted ? Eng- 
 land has given me no grievances that I should need redress ; 
 from my own countrymen have come the wrongs which stir 
 my soul to vengeance." 
 
 " Enough of this ! " interrupted the officer, disgusted at the 
 boldness and unwarranted freedom of the man's manner, as 
 well as at the infamous part which the latter had been acting. 
 "I shall give you," he continued, " an acknowledgement of 
 my having received from your hand this paper containing 
 information important to the government, that you may show 
 it to Lord Heathcote." 
 
 He wrote out a careful receipt, which Carter read a second 
 time to be certain of its accuracy. Still he did not depart. 
 
 " Have you another remark to make ? " asked Captain Den- 
 nier coldly. 
 
 Carter answered with something of the dogged air which 
 had characterized one of his former replies : 
 
 " I would like to be certain that Lord Heathcote will not 
 forget about the reward ; this will prove the most valuable
 
 Ia6 CARROLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 information I have given yet, and his lordship promised me 
 that whenever I should give information as important as the 
 present is I should be amply compensated." 
 
 a Did he stipulate the amount ? " asked the officer. 
 
 " Yes ; sufficient to enable me to purchase the estate that 
 used to belong to the family of the recaptured convict, Car- 
 roll O'Donoghue ; it became so encumbered by debt that it 
 passed from his possession and is now in the market to be 
 sold." 
 
 A sickening sensation passed over the young captain ; he 
 remembered the ancient and picturesque building which had 
 attracted his attention on the occasion of his first visit to 
 Dhrommacohol, and his inquiry about it, which had elicited 
 such a pathetic response from Clare O'Donoghue. He saw 
 again the lonely, unprotected girls, their humble little abode 
 within sight of their former elegant home, and he looked at 
 the flashy, vulgar Carte? the would-be possessor of the an- 
 cient homestead ; it was with difficulty he restrained himself 
 from spurning the fellow. 
 
 " Go," he said, his voice slightly quivering with the scorn 
 he could not entirely repress, " and treat with Lord Heath- 
 cote for your promised reward. He bade me assure you that 
 he would make good his word on the conclusion of the trials ; 
 and I wish you " despite his effort to the contrary, all 
 the contempt which he felt for the miscreant became mani- 
 fest, not alone in his voice, but in the flashing scorn of his 
 look "all the happiness which is the recompense of a 
 traitor." 
 
 Without farther adieu he walked to an inner room, taking 
 with him the paper Carter had brought, and closing the door 
 between them. 
 
 Carter became purple with rage ; it required a mighty effort 
 to restrain himself from giving loud and profane vent to his 
 violent passion. He waited, however, till he had reached the 
 street, and was striding rapidly toward his daily rendezvous. 
 Then he muttered :
 
 CAPTAIN CRAWFORD' 8 VALRT. 
 
 " I shall make him pay dear yet for his treatment of me 
 this day ; I could have whispered something to him that 
 would have made him civil at once ; but it wasn't the time, 
 nor it won't be the time till Carroll O'Donoghue is disposed
 
 CHAPTER XVt 
 
 SHAUN OBJECTS TO DUBLIK. 
 
 THERE was unusual excitement in Captain Crawford*! 
 apartments ; that officer in expostulation, entreaty, reprimand, 
 reproach, menace, almost in a breath, and Tighe a Vohr in 
 whines, and wails, and supplications, and ludicrous apostro- 
 phes, the latter delivered in comical asides to imaginary list- 
 eners could all be heard distinctly in the passage leading to 
 the rooms, and Captain Dennier, on his way thither, paused in 
 astonishment at the uproar which greeted him. When he en- 
 tered a curious sight presented itself. Tighe was on his 
 knees, surrounded by hat-boxes, opened valises the contents 
 of which were indiscriminately mingled with those of a dress- 
 ing-case lying inverted near numerous boots and shoes, a 
 full military equipment, together with every possession, pri- 
 vate and personal, of the gallant captain. He seemed to be 
 endeavoring to arrange them as commodities are placed in a 
 fair, and the captain, in despair as to how his packing should 
 ever be done in time for his hasty departure, was striding up 
 and down the room in anger, while at the same time he was 
 forced to be amused at the comical appearance of his valet, 
 and more than all, by the ludicrous observations of the latter. 
 Tighe's absurd remarks were intended to mollify the officer's 
 temper, and to apologize for Tighe's natural awkwardness and 
 blunders ; and they were so extremely ludicrous that the cap- 
 tain found it impossible to be seriously indignant. 
 
 " Sure you tould me to pack up," pursued Tighe, putting 
 the box of blacking with ferocious haste into the dressing- 
 case, and placing on top of it indiscriminately brushes, combs, 
 collars and cuffs, all that he could crowd into the spaces with- 
 (*)
 
 8HAUN OBJECTS TO DUBLIN. 
 
 out regard to adaptation or neatness ; and as his master wa 
 at the further end of the room, the performance passed unob- 
 served. " An' in Ireland, here," he continued, working for 
 dear life, " we pack up be puttin' iverything in the middle o* 
 the flure, jist to see what we've got, an' afther that it's aisier 
 to stow thim into the holes an' corners, an' " 
 
 He was interrupted by Captain Dennier's entrance. 
 
 " What do you think of it ? " asked Captain Crawford, com- 
 ing to meet him, and pointing to Tighe, who pretended to be 
 too busy even to lift his eyes to the new-comer. " That's the 
 way he is doing my packing," continued the officer, " after 
 leaving me in a pretty lurch beside ; what do you think he 
 positively refuses to come with me to Dublin, alleging that 
 the climate wouldn't agree with his dog ! " 
 
 " An' it wouldn't," spoke up Tighe from the depths of a 
 valise ; " Shaun'd be dead in a wake the air'd be too sthrong 
 for him." 
 
 " I told you he was a specimen," laughed Captain Crawford, 
 though he was really annoyed at Tighe's determined refusal 
 to accompany him ; " and now I am in a pretty fix : I shall 
 be obliged to take some raw recruit who will not know the 
 first thing about his duties, and a fine mess I shall be in." 
 
 " How would this suit ? " said Captain Dennier, abruptly, as 
 in that instant he conceived a plan for helping his friend, 
 " to exchange valets ? mine understands his business perfectly, 
 and will, I think, at my desire readily transfer his services to 
 you for a while ; after, when you shall have been suited, he 
 can return to me, and I shall try to provide another place for 
 Tighe here." 
 
 " The very thing ! " exclaimed Crawford ; " how bright of 
 you to think of it ; but are you sure that you will suffer no in- 
 convenience by Tighe's blunders ? " 
 
 Tighe a Vohr ventured to look up ; a glance assured him 
 that there was no danger of the recognition he feared, and 
 growing bold from that fact, he rose, and stood with a half- 
 confident, half-injured air before Captain Crawford : * May I 
 pake a word to ver honor ? "
 
 |JO CARROLL 
 
 u Considering that you have been speaking to me all the 
 afternoon without soliciting permission, I do not see what is 
 to hinder you now," was the laughipg reply. 
 
 "Well, thin, Captain Crawford, afther sarvin' you as faith- 
 ful as mesel' an' Shaun done, I ax you if it's fair or honorable 
 to give me a characther loike that ? If I blundered, why didn't 
 you kape me blunderin* to yersel', for it was out o' pure 
 good nature that I blundered. It's a thrue sayin' that there's 
 little gratitude in the world." He turned away as if he were 
 too much hurt to say more. 
 
 It would hardly have been in human nature not to have 
 laughed at Tighe a Vohr then his appearance, his manner, 
 the tone in which he had spoken, were all so irresistibly droll ; 
 and even Captain Dennier, little inclined as he felt to mirth, 
 joined in his friend's spontaneous burst of merriment. The 
 latter said, as soon as his laughter ceased sufficiently to allow 
 him voice : 
 
 " It will not do you any harm, Tighe ; you will find your 
 new master a very lenient one." 
 
 Tighe had resumed his packing. Both officers walked to a 
 recess formed by one of the windows, and Captain Dennier 
 began detailing in a very low voice the commission in- 
 trusted to him by Lord Heathcote, and which he was to trans- 
 fer to Captain Crawford for final delivery in Dublin. Though 
 Tighe strained his organs of hearing, he could only distinguish 
 unconnected words ; he fancied he heard the name of Carter, 
 and directly he saw Captain Dennier pass to the hand of his 
 friend an envelope out of which the latter took a carefully 
 folded paper. He opened and perused it, then replaced it in 
 its cover. Tighe, with his wonted sharpness, made a shrewd 
 and lucky giisss as to what might be the contents of the doc- 
 ument. " Oh, all ye howly saints that's mintioned ivery day 
 in the calendar," he mentally prayed, " help me now help 
 me to get hould o' that paper ! " 
 
 The conference of the captains ended, Dennier left the 
 apartment to send his own valet to facilitate Tighe's awkward
 
 8HAUN OBJECTS TO DUBLIN. I3 i 
 
 packing, and Crawford, divesting himself of his coat and boots, 
 threw himself upon the bed for a brief slumber preparatory to 
 his sudden and vmwished-for journey. Tighe's eyes grew in 
 size and shone like stars. He had seen his master deposit 
 the envelope containing the all-important paper in some 
 pocket about him, but whether in the inner breast pocket of 
 his coat, or a recess closer to his person, he was unable to tell, 
 With many a fervent mental prayer, and with noiseless motion, 
 that he might not disturb the now soundly sleeping officer, he 
 seized the coat and conveyed it to the inner room. He knew 
 that he should recognize the envelope from its peculiarly 
 shaded color, and there, as if the help he had invoked had in- 
 deed been afforded him, the first thing he drew out of the 
 breast pocket was the identical envelope ; fortunately it was 
 still unsealed he could substitute something for its contents 
 which he was about to pilfer. Garfield's letter to the Widow 
 Moore was carefully placed in an inner pocket of his own ; 
 he brought it forth ; it occupied paper enough to swell the 
 envelope to the size it had been with Carter's document with- 
 in it, and disposing it in place of the article which he now 
 abstracted, the envelope was restored to the pocket from which 
 he had taken it, the coat returned to its former position, and 
 Tighe himself bent once more to his packing, chuckling as he 
 thought how the government authorities, instead of receiving 
 the valuable information they expected, would be in posses- 
 sion of his own ridiculous production to the Widow Moore. 
 Still Tighe was troubled with misgivings ; he wasn't sure that 
 it was the right paper, after all ; he was only depending on 
 his own shrewd conjectures, and they might be wrong ; then, 
 also, Captain Crawford might read the document again, and 
 finding a love epistle where he had before perused valuable 
 information of the proposed Irish Republic, he would instant- 
 ly guess the perpetrator of the theft ; and Tighe fairly trem- 
 bled as he imagined the consequences. It was with many an 
 anxious, though covert, glance that he watched the officer, 
 when the latter, having arisen from his slumber, began hasty
 
 , 3 , CARROLL VDONOGIIUB. 
 
 preparations for departure, and every resource which Tighe't 
 natural wit and humor suggested he unintermittingly employed 
 to divert his master from remembering the paper which had 
 been given into his charge. But at the very moment of de- 
 parture, when Tighe was shouldering a couple of valises, and 
 Captain Dennier's valet, now transferred to Captain Crawford, 
 was bearing sundry small boxes to a vehicle in waiting below, 
 the officer said suddenly : 
 
 " By Jove ! I was forgetting : what did I do with that paper 
 of Dennier's?" 
 
 The valises on Tighe's shoulder required re-adjusting just 
 then it became necessary to remove them from their posi- 
 tion, and to shake and smooth them out, after which the locks 
 had to be long and carefully tried, all of which maneuvering 
 elicited no very gentle expressions from Captain Dennier's 
 valet, who was impatient to have the luggage on the vehicle. 
 
 " Be aisy, man," said Tighe a Vohr, assuming a careless, 
 jovial air, though his heart was beating like a trip hammer. 
 " Fair an' smooth in a day niver lost yit, an' there'll be toime 
 when you're in yer grave, an' the tip end o' yer toes turned 
 up to the roots o* the daisies ; arrah ! have patience ! " as the 
 English servant, now thoroughly provoked, tried to hurry mat- 
 ters by attempting to take one of the valises. " Do you think 
 that I'll let the captain run the risk o' havin' his thraps spilled 
 out on the sthreet afore his eyes, an' nayther me nor Shaun 
 there to help him ? " 
 
 And Tighe, in his assumed indignation, stood upright, and 
 ventured to give a broad look at Captain Crawford. 
 
 That gentleman had been searching his pockets in anxious 
 and impatient haste ; but now, simultaneously with Tighe's 
 look, he drew the envelope forth. Tighe shook so violently 
 that he had to cover his agitation by exclaiming : 
 
 " Faith I think it's a magram * I'm gettin' ! " 
 
 Captain Crawford was turning over the envelope, reading 
 the superscription, which, had Tighe been able to read, would
 
 SHAUN OBJECTS TO DUBLIN. 
 
 '33 
 
 have satisfied his doubts at once and soliloquizing : " Yes ; 
 that's it." Then, without disturbing the contents, he sealed 
 the envelope and put it carefully back in his breast pocket. 
 
 Tighe's magram suddenly disappeared, and extraordinary 
 strength and energy returned to him ; he felt as if he could 
 have carried the barracks on his back, so relieved and so 
 buoyant were his spirits ; and it was with the very heartiest of 
 adieus, not, however, without a dash of pathetic humor, that 
 be, attended by Shaun, saw the officer finally depart
 
 CHAPTER XVTt 
 
 TIGHK A VOHR'S MOUTH-PIECE. 
 
 RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT ! It was a knock so loud, and so pro- 
 longed, and made with such a peculiar tattoo on the door, 
 that Moira Moynahan paused in her work of sweeping the 
 kitchen floor in no little consternation ; then, chiding herself 
 for her cowardice, she went, broom in hand, to admit the ap- 
 plicant. Tighe a Vohr with Shaun at his heels stood before 
 her, but he looked so unlike himself in his servant dress that 
 even while she gave a little scream of delight, her look ex- 
 pressed surprise, and some alarm, at his changed appearance. 
 
 " Don't moind ; I'll explain it all to yer sathisf action," he 
 said, with an air of apology and a rueful look at himself, as he 
 entered the house, Shaun closely following him. " But first 
 tell me how you are," extending his hand, and looking as if 
 he would like to accompany his inquiry by a more endearing 
 token of his regard. 
 
 The proffered member was refused, and Moira, drawing back 
 from him, put her apron to her face, and began to rock her 
 body to and fro like one in violent grief. Tighe seemed 
 speechless with astonishment ; he rolled his eyes, scratched 
 his head, looked at Shaun (who appeared to be as puzzled as 
 his master), and at last, as if he must take some desperate 
 measure, he approached Moira and attempted to pull the 
 apron from her face. She only held it the closer, and seemed 
 to be crying the more violently. 
 
 " In the name o' common sinse, Moira, what is the rayson 
 o' all this ? if it's mad wid me you are for stayin' away so 
 long, why have it out at once, but don't be actin' in that out- 
 landish fashion."
 
 TIGHE A VOHR'S MOUTH-PIECE. 135 
 
 She dropped her apron ; to Tighe's renewed surprise not a 
 trace of a tear was to be seen ; then she put her finger on her 
 lip and shook her head in a most woe-begone way. 
 
 " What is the matther ? " broke out Tighe, fast losing hi 
 temper. 
 
 Still her finger pressed to her lips and her sorrowful shake 
 of the head was his only answer. 
 
 " Well, may I niver, if it isn't enough to make a saint 
 swear ; here am I goin' through thick an' thin to prove me 
 affection for you, sufferin' mesel' to be dressed up till there 
 isn't a kangaroo in Austhralia but'd be ashamed o* me for com- 
 pany, an' this is the thratement I recave. Moira Moynahan, 
 you're loike the rest o' yer sex, a purty decavin' female that 
 has no mortal aim in life but to desthroy the hopes an' the 
 hearts o' the innocent, unsuspectin' male ginder. Come, 
 Shaun," looking ruefully at the dog, " we'll take lave o' a 
 place where there's no welcome for us." 
 
 Moira sprung after the animal, throwing herself on her 
 knees beside it, and clasping her arms around its neck. 
 
 " Tell him, Shaun, that I can't speak to him ; I'm forbid- 
 den by uncle to receive any attentions from him because uncle 
 says he drinks, and he wouldn't make me a good husband ; 
 but oh, tell him, Shaun, that I love him just the same." 
 
 " Whew !" prolonged and shrill, came from Tighe's lips, an 
 ejaculation by which he intended to express how clearly he 
 now understood the matter. Then he called the dog to him, 
 and throwing himself beside it in precisely the same manner 
 as Moira had done, he said : 
 
 " An' tell her, Shaun, that me love for her'll niver die it's 
 burnin'ly on the incrase ivery minute ; tell her how I've her 
 kapesake yet," releasing his grasp of the dog for a moment to 
 take his caubeen from the chair on which it rested, and to 
 point triumphantly to the now somewhat ragged, as well as 
 faded, bow at the side. " Tell her," putting the hat down, 
 and resuming his embrace of Shaun, " that I manfully re- 
 sisted ivery attempt to put another caubeen on me head, an'
 
 ,^5 CARROLL &DONOQHUB. 
 
 tell her 111 continue to resist till her own fair fingers will give 
 me a betther remimbrance. Tell her all that, Shaun, an' tell her 
 that while there's life there's hopes, an' that Father Meagher'll 
 be brought round yet." 
 
 He turned the dog about so that it faced Moira, and the lat- 
 ter calling him, he walked leisurely to her, his head down, 
 and his tail between his legs, as if his canine dignity was suf- 
 fering from the undignified task which he was compelled to 
 perform. 
 
 "Tell him, Shaun," answered Moira, squeezing the dog 
 very tight, " that we were expecting and expecting him to 
 come with news of Mr. O'Donoghue, and that when he didn't 
 come, and Father Meagher found out they had taken Mr. 
 O'Donoghue to prison, the young ladies got wild with grief; 
 they would see him somehow, or failing that, they'd comfort 
 themselves by looking at his prison ; so this very morning 
 Miss McCarthy and Miss O'Donoghue started with uncle for 
 Tralee." 
 
 Tighe jumped erect, forgetting in his surprise at the news 
 that it was to Shaun he must speak ; he addressed himself 
 directly to Moira. 
 
 " Thin I must be off instantly, an' thry to overtake thim , 
 it's little use I'm afeerd their journey will be the masther ii 
 too sthrictly guarded. I've been all this toime thryin* to 
 make me way to him, an' I haven't laid eyes on him yet I 
 have only been able to foind out whereabouts in the jail he 
 
 is ; but, plaze goodness " he was approaching Moira and 
 
 talking eagerly to her, while she bowed her face on the dog, 
 and spoke from the depths of his hairy neck : 
 
 44 Oh, Shaun, why don't he speak to you, and not be trying 
 to lead me into temptation this way ? he knows I mustn't 
 ay a word to him." 
 
 Tighe stopped short, impatient atid annoyed. 
 
 " It's aisy seein' yer uncle was niver in love, Moira, or he'd 
 not be subjectin' us to sich cruelty as this." He whistled to 
 Shaun, " Tell her, Shaun, that I have a docy mint here that
 
 TffiHE A VOER'S MOU1H-PIBO* ,37 
 
 ould Morty Carther intinded to bethray the masther wid, as 
 well as iver so many more o' the boys, an' as she has the book 
 larnin', she'll read it for you, Shaun, an" I'll listen." 
 
 He put the paper in the dog's mouth, and signaled him to 
 take it to Moira. Encircling the animal with her arm, she 
 held the paper before him, and read with little difficulty all 
 the criminating evidence which it contained, her cheek flush- 
 ing and her bosom swelling, as she realized the dreadful con- 
 sequences which possession of that paper by the English gov- 
 ernment would bring to the devoted fellows whose names it 
 contained. 
 
 " Tatther an* ages, but that'd be a clincher for the ould 
 scoundrel, Morty Carther ! " ejaculated Tighe. 
 
 The interview was ended at last by mutual protestations of 
 undying love, all told to the dog, and by embraces of the lat- 
 ter, from which the puzzled animal, who had never before 
 been the object of such ardent attention, was evidently glad 
 to be free. Out on the road, he recovered his spirits, frisking 
 by Tighe's side, and barking with delight at the very birds 
 which soared far above him. 
 
 44 Whisht ! for an unmannerly dog ! " rebuked Tighe ; 44 it's 
 heavy-hearted you ought to be, an' not carryin' on in that 
 loight fashion, whin the masther's shut up widin four bare 
 walls an' debarred from a soight o' thim he loves ! " 
 
 But Shaun seemed to know that the reprimand was given 
 more as a vent to Tighe's own troubled feelings than as a 
 positive injunction which must be obeyed, and he continued 
 his sportive movements till an obliging carman gave his master 
 and himself a lengthy lift to Tralee. 
 
 Tighe's first anxiety was to find his friends who had started 
 that morning from DhrommacohoL He judged that they 
 would sojourn at some hotel in the town, and to one of the 
 best of these he hastened. The bar was surrounded by a 
 group of idlers, amid the latter a good sprinkling of redcoats. 
 All seemed to be on fraternal terms, from the well-to-do 
 farmer, flush with the success of a recent sale, hobnobbing
 
 I3 g CARROLL 0DONOQHU& 
 
 over a social glass with a roystering townsman, to the reduced 
 Irish gentleman holding animated parley with one of the offi- 
 cers. Tighe assumed his leisurely, half-fool's manner ; too 
 wary to make open inquiry for recent arrivals, he hoped to 
 gain his information by his usual shrewdness. A group com- 
 posed of sporting men and officers were discussing some sub- 
 ject of the turf with loud animation. Suddenly one of the 
 latter said : 
 
 "I tell you, Garfield is in sorry plight" 
 
 The name made Tighe pause in his apparently aimless 
 gaunter. 
 
 " He shouldn't have been so d d quick," was the response 
 
 from one of the sporting men. " He wouldn't listen to a 
 friend's hint, or he might have been saved his money and his 
 honor." 
 
 " Well, he hasn't lost them yet," said the first speaker. 
 
 " No ; but they are as good as lost ; the horse that he bet 
 on has become disabled, and the rider that he engaged has 
 been bought up by the other side." 
 
 " But he can enter new stakes." 
 
 " Too late ; there isn't a horse in the county fit to use be- 
 ide those already in the lists, and as for a rider, where would 
 he look for one now ? " 
 
 " How much has he bet ? " 
 
 " A hundred or so, himself ; but many of his friends are on 
 his book." 
 
 " Steep for Garfield ! " 
 
 M Yes ; he wouldn't have entered so strongly but that that 
 handsome widow's brother was to the fore, and I fancy Gar- 
 fiel'l wanted to display a little." 
 
 "What ! the Widow Moore's sporting brother, Jack?" 
 
 " Yes ; the same ; and a scape-grace he is." 
 
 " Never a better ; and he is going to ride Jim Lane's brown 
 mare ; as they were made, they were matched, for a greatei 
 pair of heltering, skeltering vagabonds never existed than 
 himself and the divil of a mare."
 
 TIOHE A VOEB8 MOUTH-PlEUJt 139 
 
 * And was it against him that Garfield bet ? " 
 " Yes ; it has got abroad some way that this poor fool of a 
 quartermaster is dead in love with the dashing widow, though 
 she only spoke to him once, and that just at their introduc- 
 tion ; and though by reason of having so many richer beaux 
 she has been giving him freezing looks and the like, it doesn't 
 seem to have had any effect on the poor fellow. He's been 
 haunting her like a shadow ; intruding himself everywhere 
 that he could do so without gross impropriety. Her brother, 
 Jack, always ready for sport, whether fair, or foul, got an ink* 
 ling of all this, and also how the Englishman was one of a 
 class who think an Irish girl's affections are to be had for the 
 asking, and at the meeting for the course the other day when 
 the stakes were entered, and the horses named just for sport, 
 and to show the soldiers a trifle of Irish smartness, when 
 Rody Grace's filly was put up Jack, who had already got the 
 ear of Garfield in view of this very thing, suggested that he, 
 Garfield, should enter the filly, and that he, Jack, would fur- 
 nish the best rider in all the county. Garfield accepted, 
 though one of his friends tried to whisper him into refusing^ 
 and immediately the pools were made. Garfield bet as I told 
 you, to find himself in a day or two a sadly-duped man. The 
 rider, Joe Canty, who is really the best jockey in the county, 
 was bought up by the other side, just as deceiving Jack Moore 
 knew he would be, and Rody Crane's filly was discovered to 
 have taken the spavin. The bet is in such a way that if Gar- 
 field cannot enter another horse he and his friends will lose 
 their money, a loss which I believe his purse is ill able to 
 sustain at the present moment and he will be laughed at by 
 Jack Moore and all that roystering set ; and I fancy that it is 
 the anticipation of the latter which chafes him the most." 
 
 Tighe had heard sufficient. It would give him abundant 
 thought for his next interval of leisure, and he had a dim idea 
 that he should be able to turn it all to some important advan- 
 tage. He moved on to the bar, determining to hazard an 
 inquiry which should elicit some information of his friends.
 
 I40 CARROLL 
 
 His garb, proclaiming him to be the servant of a military offi* 
 cer, was rathe: a passport, procuring at least not uncivil 
 attention from those with whom he came in contact But the 
 buxom girl at the bar, though she answered blandly enough 
 all Tighe's apparently careless questions, imparted no satisfac- 
 tory information, and Tighe departed, to venture on the same 
 enterprise in the other hotels of the town. His efforts were 
 as little successful, and puzzled, and provoked with himself, 
 attributing his failure to his own "want of gumption," a 
 phrase by which he expressed his deficiency in understanding, 
 he was obliged at last to turn his steps to his master's quar- 
 ters. 
 
 " Just in time," said Captain Dennier, stumbling upon 
 Tighe in front of the barracks, and speaking with a kindlier 
 tone than the latter felt he had any right to expect, having 
 overstayed his limited leave of absence. " I have been in 
 search of some one to take this note for me," drawing an em- 
 bossed, neatly-directed envelope from his pocket ; " run down 
 with it now to Blenner's and give it to the Reverend Mr. 
 Meagher, and wait for an answer." 
 
 Tighe's whole face underwent so sudden and marked a 
 change, intense pleasure showing in every lineament, that if 
 he had not pretended to be very busy placing the note safely 
 away, the officer must have remarked him. He knew the 
 Reverend Mr. Meagher meant none other than Father Mea- 
 gher, and Blenner's was one of the very hotels which had fig- 
 ured in his own fruitless search. It required but little time to 
 reach again the bar, Shaun accompanying him, at which he 
 had so recently stood, and it was with a very important air, 
 arising from the consciousness of the legitimacy of his 
 errand, that he delivered himself this time of no covert ques- 
 tion, but an open inquiry for the worthy priest. His ques- 
 tion being accompanied by the remark that he bore a note 
 
 from Captain Dennier, of her Majesty's Regiment, won 
 
 for him immediate and respectful attention. He was shown 
 to the parlor to wait for the reverend gentleman, while Shaun
 
 TIQHS A YOHR8 MOUTH-PIEOR 141 
 
 to bis own disappointment and that of his master, was detain- 
 ed below. 
 
 father Meagher was not prepared to meet Tighe a Vohr, 
 and still less prepared to see him in his present dress. His 
 start of astonishment, and then his look of comical bewilder- 
 ment as his eyes wandered from Tighe's curly brown head 
 down to his topped boots, and slowly back again, made Tighe 
 smile, though he affected to hang his head in some confusion. 
 
 " What is the meaning of this ? " said the clergyman at last, 
 recovering from his surprise, and advancing to his visitor. 
 
 " Jist this, yer riverince," and Tighe, bowing, handed him 
 Captain Dennier's note. 
 
 The priest's face lit with a smile of satisfaction as he read, 
 and he exclaimed when he had finished : 
 
 " Ah ! he will see me, and he desires me to appoint the 
 hour of my coming. He is truly the gentleman." 
 
 He turned to Tighe : " Pray tell me how you have come to 
 be Captain Dennier's messenger." 
 
 Tighe made sundry maneuvers before he answered ; walk- 
 ing the whole round of the room which contained only the 
 priest and himself to be sure that there were no eavesdrop- 
 pers, placing his hand over his mouth to shut in the sound of 
 his voice, and rolling his eyes about, to be certain that no one 
 could enter unperceived. Then he whispered to the clergy- 
 man a brief account of the events which had brought him to 
 his present position. 
 
 " And you have in your possession now the paper contain- 
 ing information that Mortimer Carter gave to Captain Den- 
 nier ? " said the astonished and delighted priest. 
 
 u I have, yer riverince, an' glad enough I am to surrinder 
 it into yer kapin', " drawing forth the document. " Sure I got 
 lave o' absence, as the soldiers say, an' I wint all the way to 
 Dhrommacohol to give it to you, an' to tell the result o' all 
 me thrials to see the masther. You wor from home, an* Moira 
 wouldn't spake to me." 
 
 " Wouldn't speak to you ! " uttered in a tone of hearty ur- 
 prise. "Why not?"
 
 , 4 , CARROLL (TDONOOHUE. 
 
 u I think yer riverince knows the rayson the ordher kena 
 from yersel'." And Tighe looked down in well-affected shy- 
 ness. 
 
 The priest seemed puzzled for an instant ; then it flashed 
 upon him the injunction he haJ. given his niece regarding 
 Tighe a Vohr ; but he had not intended to impose such an 
 absolute silence as Tighe reported. He was pleased, how- 
 ever, with her obedience, and di -.posed on that account, as 
 well as on account of Tighe's own faithful efforts in behalf of 
 the prisoner, to treat him with moi i than usual favor. 
 
 He shook Tighe a Vohr's hand : " You have done an ines- 
 timable service to our poor boy, as well as to the other poor 
 fellows ; none of us shall forget tf for you ; and now the 
 young ladies must see you, and hear tiiis ; it will gladden their 
 sad hearts. I shall ring for them." 
 
 He did so, and they came in arm in arm, both paler than 
 they had ever looked to Tighe before, and both showing in 
 every lineament of their fair faces su'-Yi painful evidence of a 
 wearing grief that it almost broke the faithful fellow's heart to 
 see it. They brightened when they .saw him ; somehow his 
 very presence inspired hope, and tht,agh like the priest they 
 were surprised at his garb, their gref ting was none the less 
 warm and delighted. Again and again they wrung his hands, 
 asking eagerly a dozen questions, and looking as if they could 
 cry for very joy when they heard of his success in obtaining 
 the paper. How long the scene, with i^s pleasant and painful 
 circumstances, might have continued not one of the little 
 party could tell, but it was interrupted by the entrance of some 
 of the guests of the hotel. 
 
 The clergyman said in a low tone : " I was advised by a 
 friend to see Captain Dennier when ve came up here, and 
 told that the captain was a perfect genfleman and, moreover, 
 was the intimate friend of the governor of the jail ; as such, 
 should he be disposed, he could aid v.s to an interview with 
 Carroll. Accordingly, I sought the officer on our arrival this 
 morning, but he was not in the barracks at the time, and I
 
 TIG RE A TOHICS MOUTH-PIECE. 
 
 43 
 
 left a note for him, stating that I had called on important busi- 
 ness and would like to see him ; he answers like the gentle- 
 man that, he is reported to be, in a very courteous strain, plac- 
 ing himself at my service, and desiring to know when I can 
 repeat my visit." 
 
 Tighe shook his head ominously : " I'm afeerd it'll be very 
 hard to see the young masther ; from all I can larn on ivery 
 side he's under wonderful sthrict guard, an' not one at all 
 that's suspected o' frindly intintions'll be allowed nixt or 
 near him ; they say that order kem from the highest quar- 
 thers. But " and Tighe lowered his voice still more, and 
 directed an earnest glance to Nora, whose attention was so 
 eager that she was listening with parted lips and bated breath 
 " the captain is a bosom frind o' the governor o' the jail, 
 an' it would be aisy enough for him to spake in yer favor, an' 
 get the intherview that way." 
 
 The priest's face brightened. " Well," he replied, " I shall 
 answer Captain Dennier's note immediately, and perhaps 
 something hopeful will come of my seeing him." 
 
 He turned to leave the parlor ; Tighe and Nora began a 
 low, earnest conversation, but Clare followed him. " Father," 
 stopping him in the corridor " state in your answer that you 
 will be accompanied by Nora and myself." 
 
 The clergyman stared aghast. 
 
 " I mean it, father ; my heart misgives me since Tighe 
 spoke of Carroll's strict guard, and should it be in Captain 
 Dennier's power to procure for us an interview with my 
 brother, his fine sense of honor " there was a dash of sar- 
 casm in her voice " might make him refuse ; but perhaps 
 when Nora and myself unite in petitioning him, perhaps, when 
 he sees us both so deeply sunk in grief, even he, high princi- 
 pled as he is, " again the sarcasm which she could not con- 
 trol was in her voice " may not think it dishonorable to 
 afford some consolation to two breaking hearts." 
 
 The tender-hearted priest, surprised and pained at her 
 proposition, and embarrassed also at the thought of bringing
 
 m** CARROLL VDONOGHU*. 
 
 *^W 
 
 ladies within the precincts of the barracks, yet could not find 
 it in his heart to refuse her ; he turned awav, his silence 
 yielding the assent she craved. 
 
 In a few minutes Tighe had the answer, and having called 
 for Shaun, whose frequent bark had attested his impatience 
 for his master's return, he was hastening back to the soldiers' 
 quarters.
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 CARTER'S INSINUATIONS. 
 
 CAPTAIN DENNIER flushed until the scarlet was visible o 
 his forehead when he read the reply brought by his valet, 
 nd yet, despite the repugnance which he strove to feel toward 
 the proposed interview, and his anxiety lest this unusual visit 
 of ladies to his quarters would provoke unpleasant comment, 
 he felt a throb of pleasure. Clare O'Donoghue's bright face 
 rose before him, as it often did since his first look at her win- 
 some features ; the remembrance of her candor, her enthusi- 
 astic spirit, thrilled him as they had done on the occasion of 
 their first meeting ; and he felt tempted to curse the fate 
 which had not made him Irish, and an Irish patriot. With 
 nervous impatience he awaited their arrival, ordering that 
 they should be shown at once to a room in a retired part of 
 the barracks, the only one whose appearance indicated less 
 military precision than the other apartments. He suspected 
 that their visit was to obtain from him information of the 
 prisoner, but he did not dream that the interview before its 
 close was to be marked by a harrowing scene. 
 
 The visit to the barracks of the clergyman and two ladies 
 deeply veiled, but showing in their plain tasteful dress and 
 their deportment an elegance of breeding and a captivating 
 modesty, and that visit paid to the reserved and stern Captain 
 Dennier, was the subject of wondering comment among the 
 soldiers. Some of them waylaid Tighe to know the import of 
 the visit ; but Tighe had his answer : " We Hirish," he said, 
 imitating the cockney accent of the soldier who questioned 
 him, " haven't the curiosity o' you Hinglish to know the busi- 
 ness o' our betthers ; how do I know the company that th 
 (MS)
 
 , 4 6 CARROLL VDONOGmTE. 
 
 captain's recavin' at the prisint moment ? you'd betther ask 
 himsel' for information." 
 
 Captain Dennier met his visitors with the most graceful and 
 courteous of greetings ; just a trifle of embarrassment ap- 
 peared in his heightened color, as Clare O'Donoghue threw 
 aside her veil, and bent upon him one of her bright piercing 
 looks. 
 
 Father Meagher came at once to the object of the visit 
 would Captain Dennier kindly aid them to an interview 
 with the prisoner ? The officer started ; in all that he had 
 surmised no suspicion of such a favor being craved crossed 
 his mind. Being the friend and confidant as he was 
 of the governor of the jail, a scratch of his pen to that 
 official requesting permission for a visit of friends to the 
 Fenian prisoner would have been sufficient to secure an in- 
 stant consent : but such a proceeding would be an utter viola- 
 tion of that principle of duty which the young officer held to 
 be dearer than life. His silence, his painful embarrassment, 
 spoke too well the refusal that for the moment he was unable 
 to utter. 
 
 " Captain Dennier, could you, if you would," asked Clare's 
 trembling voice, " help us to obtain this favor ? " 
 
 "I could," he responded, without looking at her. 
 
 " Then may I beg," before he could realize or prevent what 
 she was about to do, she had thrown herself on her knees be- 
 fore him, and burst into so passionate and piteous an appeal 
 to be afforded one sight of her brother that the officer was 
 well-nigh maddened by the conflict which compassion for her 
 touching distress, and his own iron determination to do his 
 duty at whatever cost, aroused within him. " The prayers 
 and the blessings of two orphan girls will follow you ! " she 
 continued, with her clasped hands raised toward him, and her 
 lovely eyes streaming with the tears she could no longer re- 
 strain. Her action had been so sudden and so unexpected 
 that neither Father Meagher nor Nora had been prepared for 
 it, and now both stood as if paralyzed by the shock of hei
 
 CARTERS INSINUATIONS. 147 
 
 proceeding. " Help me, Nora," she still continued, " plead 
 with me to this man, whose heart is so hard to touch." 
 
 "Rise, I beg you, Miss O'Donoghue," the officer at last 
 found voice to say, and he bent to assist her ; by this time 
 also, Father Meagher was soliciting her with his tender en- 
 treaty, and Nora was supporting her with her trembling clasp. 
 
 " Say that you will help us to one brief interview with him." 
 
 The captain was desperate ; how he wished that he had re- 
 signed his commission as he had intended to do on the occa- 
 sion of his last interview with Lord Heathcote, he would not 
 then be in this wretched strait. With an effort which sent 
 the hot blood surging madly into his face and then caused it 
 to recede as suddenly, leaving him white to the lips, he said 
 in a voice that trembled painfully, despite all his efforts to 
 make it calm : 
 
 " I am harrowed to the soul, Miss O'Donoghue ; I would 
 give my life to be able to answer as you desire me to do, but 
 my duty, my honor, my principles forbid it. I will give you 
 what information of your brother it is in my power to give, 
 the probable time and whereabouts of his trial but to assist 
 you to an interview with him is impossible I must refuse to 
 interfere." He turned sadly away. 
 
 Clare would have made another effort, but Father Meagher 
 detained her. " Control yourself, my dear child," he whis- 
 pered ; " we cannot move him ; and nothing remains but to 
 obtain the information of which he speaks." 
 
 He left her and sought the captain, who stood at a little dis- 
 tance from the party, his head bowed, and his eyes moodily 
 seeking the floor. 
 
 " I thank you, sir," the priest began gently, " for your evi- 
 dent commiseration of that poor girl, and I regret that we 
 have put your devotion to duty to such a painful test ; but 
 perchance the information of which you speak may be some 
 balm to our suffering and anxious hearts." 
 
 The young man, in gratitude for words which seemed to 
 ay that at least one understood him, and had divined the un-
 
 , 4 j CARROLL &DONOQHUB. 
 
 happy conflict waging within him, extended his hand to th 
 clergyman, and with an admirable air of candor answered : 
 " 1 thank you from my soul, reverend sir, for what you have 
 said ; you have taken some of the bitterness out of that cup 
 which it is my fate constantly to drink, and you give me hope 
 tha't in a more peaceful time I may be better understood and 
 better judged by one who now regards me as the most stern- 
 hearted of my sex. With regard to the information you ask, 
 I can say this much : it is more than probable that Mr. O'Don- 
 oghue will be detained here a month, at the end of which time, 
 if he is not sent on to Dublin, his trial will take place here." 
 
 Father Meagher bowed and thanked him, and returned to 
 his fair charges, both of whom were once more heavily veiled. 
 Captain Dennier accompanied them to the limits of the offi- 
 cers' quarters. With a wild wish for some sign which might 
 tell him that Clare's feelings toward him were not entirely 
 those of aversion, he ventured to walk beside her as they 
 neared the arched passage in which he would make his 
 adieus ; but she did not give him the slightest mark of notice. 
 Disappointed and saddened, he still found opportunity to 
 whisper when he had taken leave of Father Meagher and 
 Nora : " The day may come and I shall pray for its dawn 
 in which I shall be able to show you how bitterly, how cruelly 
 you wrong me." Could he have penetrated the thickness of 
 her veil, nay, more, could he for one instant have read the 
 depths of her heart, he would have been entirely comforted, 
 for the latter was strangely touched touched far more than 
 its owner would admit to herself, and she thanked the friend- 
 ly screen which concealed the sudden rush of tell-tale 
 color to her face. 
 
 Tighe a Vohr, with his wonted shrewdness, was in timely 
 waiting, and to him Captain Dennier resigned his visitors for 
 further guidance from the barracks. 
 
 14 Is it succiss ? " whispered the eager fellow, when he could 
 ask the question without fear of being overheard. 
 
 " No^ Tighe," answered Father Meagher, " it is not ; wt
 
 CARTERS INBINUATIONa. j 49 
 
 have gained nothing by our visit but the information that 
 Carroll is to be kept here a month, and perhaps will stand hi* 
 trial here." 
 
 "A month ! " repeated Tighe, "be the powers ! axin' yer 
 riverince's pardon for swearin' but mebbe I could fix the 
 matther. Howld awhile, an' let me conjecther faith ! I 
 think I have it. Go back to Dhrommacohol, but kape yer- 
 sel's in readiness to return any minute." 
 
 " What is it, Tighe ; what have you planned ? " asked the 
 ladies in a breath. 
 
 " Don't ax me to tell, fer I haven't it quite sthraight in me 
 own moind yet, an' mebbe I won't be succissful." 
 
 " You are plotting nothing wrong, I hope no sinful means, 
 Tighe ? " said the priest a little anxiously, well knowing that 
 Tighe a Vohr's affection for his young master would impel 
 him almost to any commission for that master's benefit 
 
 " Now, Father Meagher, can't you thrust me sometoime, an' 
 not always be thinkin' I'm a rascal ?" 
 
 He spoke with so ludicrous an air of injured innocence 
 that, despite their heavy hearts, they were forced to smile. 
 
 Having accompanied the little party as far as his instruc- 
 tions warranted, Tighe took a respectful leave, and with a 
 very thoughtful, important air turned his steps to the part of 
 the barracks where he hoped to meet Garfield. He had rather 
 avoided the quartermaster since the latter's refusal to allow 
 him to indite another love-letter, and it was with no little 
 anxiety that he determined on a meeting now. He knew not 
 how far his deception relative to the letters might have been 
 discovered, in case it had been discovered at all, but he re- 
 solved to trust to his natural wit should he find himself in 
 difficulty. He came suddenly upon the quartermaster, who 
 was standing apparently watching a group of soldiers engaged 
 in card-playing ; but his heavy face betrayed by its expression 
 that his thoughts were not those engendered by the scene be- 
 fore him. His knitted brow, giving evidence of unpleasant 
 reflections and his thick-set underlip, gave a dogged and 
 repulsive look to features otherwise not ill-formed.
 
 , 50 CARROLL &DONOGHUR. 
 
 " Could I hev a private word wid yer honor ?" Tighe whi 
 pered to him. 
 
 The quartermaster scowled for a moment, but reading in 
 the expressive sparkle of Tighe a Vohr's eyes that something 
 of importance lay behind the request, he led the way to his 
 own apartment. Tighe affected great secrecy, whispering 
 with both hands to his mouth, and the latter very close to 
 Garfield's ear : 
 
 " I undherstand that yer honor's in throuble be rayson o' 
 the bet you med on Rody Crane's filly the other day." 
 
 The quartermaster seemed to be astonished. 
 
 " You see, yer honor, I heerd all about it to-day, an' I sez 
 to mesel' : it's a burnin* shame to let a rale nice spoken gintle- 
 man loike Mr. Garfield be put down an' taken clane in be 
 such a set o' rogues as Jack Moore an' the b'ys that's wid him. 
 So I think I can foind a way to help yer honor. If yer had 
 another horse to inter, an' a rider for him, would it make it 
 all right ? " 
 
 " It would ; but where is another horse to be had ? I've 
 scoured the county for one, but it's no use ; and the rider 
 that is as difficult to find in this cursed county." 
 
 Tighe gave a knowing and expressive wink. " Lave it to 
 me, Mr. Garfield, for purvidin' you wid a horse, an' a rider, 
 too, an* the divil a betther animal in the county than the one 
 I'll get unless I'm onsuccissful intoirely. Didn't I make 
 good me word afore didn't I tell you I'd write a letther for 
 you as'd bring you an answer an' didn't I do it I ax yer 
 honor, didn't I do it ? " 
 
 " Yes ; so far as bringing me an answer was concerned ; 
 but that is all that has come of it. The widow continues the 
 silence and the coldness which in her letter she besought me 
 to maintain. Really, if it was not her express wish, I should 
 demand at once if my letter had offended her." 
 
 " Do not," said Tighe, in frantic earnestness, his very soul 
 In terror for the possible consequences to himself of such a 
 proceeding. * I'll tell you a bit o' a saycret : she has a scape-
 
 CARTERS INSINUATIONS. 151 
 
 grace o' a brother, Jack Moore, as wild a clivil as iver led in a 
 steeplechase or danced in a fair, an' wid all his wild ways she 
 jist thinks the loike o' him niver was seen, an' she's afeerd to 
 displase him in one mortal thing ; well, for some rayson or 
 other, he doesn't loike you, an he'd be death on his sister if 
 he thought she'd as much as give you one sweet look. Now 
 I have good cause to know that the same lady does loike you, 
 an' she loikes you betther for the way you're actin' at the prisent 
 toime, makin' yersel' agreeable to her wishes. Do you see now ; 
 do you comprehind intoirely all I'm sayin' to you ? " asked 
 Tighe with much the same manner and voice he might have 
 used to Shaun. 
 
 The dazed Englishman nodded ; he was too mystified to 
 know whether he ought to be pleased, or angry, or puzzled, or 
 all three together. 
 
 "Well, thin, this same Jack Moore wouldn't care if he 
 desthroyed you this noight, the villain, an' it's a laughin' stock 
 he wants to make o' you, as well as to win yer money ; but if 
 you'll abide be me directions, I think we'll defate him, the 
 thafe o' the world. Tell me now, will you do jist as I say ? " 
 
 The mystified Englishman again nodded. 
 
 " Well, promise me that you won't be obthrudin' yersel' on 
 the widdy's notice, that you won't go nixt nor nigh where she 
 is till the race is over. Will you promise that ? " 
 
 A third time the bewildered Englishman nodded. 
 
 Tighe gave a grunt of satisfaction. " Now tell me how 
 many days afore the lists will be closed ; I mane whin would 
 it be too late for you to inter the name o' a horse in the place 
 o' Rody Crane's filly ? " 
 
 " The day after to-morrow," replied the soldier, at last 
 seeming to arouse to a correct uaderstanding of the case. 
 
 " That's short toime," said Tighe, " but how and iver we'll 
 thry. And now," changing his voice from its tone of author- 
 ity to one of humble entreaty " mebbe yer honor wouldn't re- 
 fuse me a bit o' a favor. I'll not ax it till afther I've secured 
 the horse an' the rider."
 
 , 5a CARROLL VDONOGHUB. 
 
 " What is it, Mr. Carmody ? " asked the quartermaster. 
 
 " It's to get a pass for me, some way, that'll admit three peo- 
 ple into the jail to see that poor prisoner that was brought up 
 here from Dhrommacohol the other noight. They're frindi 
 o' his, an' two o' thim the puniest ladies you iver laid eyei 
 on, me heart ached intoirely whin I seen the grief they wor 
 in bekaise they wouldn't be let to see him. Now, Mr. Gar- 
 field, I'll put it to yersel' : if it was yer own case an' the Widdy 
 Moore was breakin' her heart to see you, wouldn't you be 
 thankful, yer honor, wouldn't the sintimints o' yer heart rise 
 in gratitude to the one that would bring her to visit you in 
 yer lonely cell ? " 
 
 That appeal did touch a tender spot in the quartermaster's 
 bosom ; imagination pictured the fair Mistress Moore paying 
 him such a visit, and for the bliss of that he would have been 
 willing to endure the dreariest confinement. He was evi- 
 dently softened, and he answered kindly : 
 
 " Perhaps I can manage it. One of the officials of the prison 
 is a warm friend of mine, and if the visit be made at night, 
 and be kept quite secret, I think it can be arranged. But the 
 visit must be made at night, and be kept entirely secret." 
 
 M Any perdition at all'll be agreed to," said Tighe, meaning 
 condition, and gleaning from the soldier's stare that he had 
 made an error of speech ; but without attempting to correct it 
 he continued : " An' now I'll be takin' me lave, Mr. Garfield, 
 but you'll see me to-morrow noight, an' mebbe afore, an' I 
 thrust it's good news I'll be bringin' you." 
 
 And before Mr. Garfield could collect his wits sufficiently to 
 ask the numerous questions which rushed to his now 
 thoroughly awakened mind, Tighe had disappeared.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 DISAPPOINTED. 
 
 BACK to Dhrommacohol ! nothing else was left for the 
 three sorrowful hearts that had come up to Tralee that morn- 
 ing, hoping, trusting, praying. Their hope had been dis- 
 appointed, their trust had proved vain, their prayer had been 
 unanswered. Father Meagher, for sake of his despondent 
 charges, assumed a cheerfulness it was impossible for him to 
 feel, and he spoke in re-assuring terms of what Tighe might be 
 able to achieve. But all had little effect. The silence and 
 the pallor of his companions told too surely that there was 
 little decrease in their doubts and their apprehensions. 
 
 As they turned the corner of a street on their way to the 
 station they were met by Morty Carter. The surprise and 
 the repugnance to the meeting were mutual, and Carter drew 
 back, this time with no feigned emotion, but with a start of 
 embarrassed and painful astonishment. Father Meagher, his 
 first impulse of bitter indignation toward the traitor passed, 
 followed the example of his divine Master, and presented a 
 not unfriendly mien to the miscreant. But there was a stern- 
 ness in the priest's eye and an accent in his voice which spoke 
 volumes to Carter, and made him wince despite all the bravado 
 he in a moment assumed. 
 
 " I am glad to see your reverence," he said, bowing with a 
 fulsome air, " and the young ladies ; " the latter, though so 
 deeply veiled that not a feature could be discerned, had 
 averted their faces " I came here to try to gain admission to 
 the jail, to see Mr. Carroll, but I have been sternly refused." 
 
 Father Meagher could control himself no longer. "Morty 
 Carter," said he, looking with withering contempt at tbe 
 ('S3)
 
 IJ4 CARROLL &DONOOHUR. 
 
 wretch before him, "are you plotting more treachery; 
 
 you not betrayed our poor boy sufficiently that you would set 
 
 him to cement your infamy ? " 
 
 Carter strove to return the steady look of the priest, but 
 his eyes fell ; he tried to assume the defiant air which had 
 borne him through on previous occasions, but somehow the 
 sight of those veiled figures, and one especially, the taller of 
 the two, unnerved him ; it was with a crestfallen air he an- 
 swered : 
 
 " Your reverence is prejudiced against me, so it would be 
 little good to speak in my own favor ; but one day, perhaps, 
 when these black reports about me are proved " 
 
 " To be entirely true, Carter," interrupted Father Meagher, 
 " you will appear as you are, and we shall know what a viper 
 we have nourished. Good day." 
 
 He turned shortly, his companions following him, and 
 Mortimer Carter was left to his own dark and vengeful 
 thoughts. 
 
 The dim little chapel with its silence and solitude formed 
 Nora's consolation and rest, and to it she hastened when, 
 after weary hours of dusty travel, the little party had arrived 
 at home and she could steal away unnoticed. The hour was 
 fete, and Clare, unusually fatigued in body and mind, went 
 immediately to her room. Father Meagher sought his niece. 
 She was putting the last touches to her kitchen work, and the 
 cleanly-swept floor, the old-fashioned dresser just under the 
 light where its array of burnished tins and polished ware were 
 brought into resplendent view, with Moira herself, fresh and 
 winsome as a spring blossom, formed a picture exceedingly 
 pretty. The clergyman was the more disposed to think it 
 fair, and to be much pleased with his niece, because of her 
 obedience regarding Tighe a Vohr. With a pleasant compli- 
 ment on the neat appearance of the room, a remark so unusual 
 from him that Moira started, he called her to him. 
 
 She obeyed, blushing and delighted.
 
 DISAPPOINTED. 155 
 
 " I understand that Tim Carmody has been here," said the 
 priest. 
 
 " He has been," she answered, half falteringly, and with 
 her air of delight changing to one of some anxiety and fear. 
 
 " Oh, you need not be afraid," spoke the clergyman quickly, 
 in order to re-assure her. " I have found out all about it 
 from Tighe himself, we met him in Tralee and I was much 
 pleased to hear of your obedience ; you absolutely refused to 
 Bpeak to him, I believe." 
 
 She immediately regained her confidence and her vivacity. 
 M I did, uncle ; I would not say one word to him, because you 
 forbade me to." 
 
 " So he told me ; but I did not mean, my dear child, to 
 enjoin absolute silence upon you ; I desired you not to re- 
 ceive his attentions, not to permit him to become your suitor, 
 but I had no intention of wishing you not to speak to him 
 that would be uncivil and uncharitable. But God will bless 
 you for the strict obedience you thought it your duty to prac- 
 tice. And now I am happy to say that the poor fellow has 
 done us good service ; he has lost neither time nor thought in 
 serving poor Carroll." 
 
 In her delight at her uncle's unwonted praise of Tighe a 
 Vohr, Moira quite forgot her caution ; she burst out eagerly : 
 
 " And did he tell you, uncle, about that dreadful paper with 
 Mr. O'Donoghue's name on it ? he gave it to me to read, 
 and " 
 
 " Gave it to you to read 1 " interrupted the priest, who had 
 supposed that her absolute silence which Tighe reported 
 meant also an utter absence of even usual civility on her part, 
 an idea which now seemed to be disproved by the fact of her 
 acceptance of the paper from Tighe in order to read it. 
 '* And you read it," continued the priest, " and still no com- 
 munication passed between you and Tighe ? I cannot un- 
 derstand this." 
 
 Moira was scarlet ; she hung her head in shame and con- 
 fusion.
 
 , 5 $ CARROLL (TDONOQHUB. 
 
 " Answer me, Moira," said the clergyman sternly, ** h*v 
 both you and Tighe been telling me wilful lies ?" 
 
 There was no other course for the suame-stricken girl but 
 to tell the truth, and the whole truth. 
 
 " We spoke to Shaun, uncle, Tighe and I, sending him from 
 one to the other of us with our messages." 
 
 Father Meagher looked for an instant as if he had become 
 suddenly dazed ; then the whole affair flashing upon him as 
 vividly as though he had been present at the interview in 
 which Shaun played so important a part, it was with difficulty 
 he could repress a smile at the ingenuity which would thus 
 deceive him ; but he was really annoyed that such cunning 
 had been practiced, and he determined on the morrow to give 
 his niece a more stern reprimand than she had ever received 
 from him. 
 
 " A precious pair both you and Tighe are ! " he muttered, 
 abruptly leaving the kitchen. 
 
 " Now I've done it, like a real omadhaun as I am ! " mut- 
 tered Moira, and with a heavy heart she repaired to her 
 chamber. 
 
 Nora had finished her prayers and her long meditation, and 
 leaving the chapel by the passage which led to the garden 
 surrounding the house, she was tempted by the beauty of the 
 night to prolong her stay. Standing by a broken gap, the 
 stones of which had only that day fallen, she heard *. deep- 
 drawn sigh, as if it proceeded from some one crouched among 
 the stones. Alarmed, and yet yielding to the impuUe which 
 prompted her to see if it was a case that her charity could 
 benefit, she stooped a little, and asked softly : 
 
 " Is there any one here in trouble ? " 
 
 A figure rose slowly, noisily displacing the stones about it 
 as it did so, and then, mounting on the lowest part of the 
 broken gap, stood fully revealed by the moonlight to Nora. 
 It was a man of medium height, with shoulders so high as to 
 give him somewhat of a deformed appearance ; his head, 
 deeply sunken between his shoulders, was abundantly covered
 
 DISAPPOINTED. 
 
 '57 
 
 by coarse black hair that, hanging matted almost over his very 
 eyes, gave to the haggard face a half-wild and savage look. 
 
 " Rick of the Hills ! " exclaimed Nora. 
 
 " Yes ; Rick of the Hills, and no less," responded the man 
 doggedly. 
 
 " What is the matter ? " asked Nora, kindly ; " you have 
 been seen about here so little of late that we hoped you had 
 found some comfortable home at last." 
 
 " Comfortable home me in a comfortable home ! " he 
 laughed in painful mockery of the words. " There will never 
 be comfort for me ; neither here, nor hereafter ; the devil is 
 now waiting to seize my soul." 
 
 " Hush ! " said Nora, battling against a sensation of faint- 
 ness which crept for a moment upon her, " do not say such 
 dreadful words. He who made you is all-powerful to save 
 you." 
 
 " Yes ; but not when a soul is black with guilt like mine is. 
 You asked a minute ago if there was any one here in trouble ; 
 I am in trouble my heart is breaking within me ! " 
 
 The expression of anguish which came into his pinched 
 features attested the truth of his words. The gentle girl was 
 painfully touched. 
 
 " What is it, Rick ? perhaps I can help you ; tell me your 
 sorrow, that I may at least try to relieve it.'* 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 " You could not ; not all the kindness of your pure young 
 heart could lighten the load on my mind. But may be you 
 could tell me something that might stifle the pain of my con- 
 science. If a father lost his child, a little one that was like 
 the apple of his eye ; a little one that he loved till his heart 
 didn't seem to beat when she was out of his sight if he lost 
 her, I mean if she was taken from him to a good, rich home 
 to be the darling of everybody there, and to be made to think 
 that her father was dead, and if that father was content to 
 give her up content because of the riches, and the comfort, 
 and the education which would be given his darling, I say if
 
 is g CARROLL CTDONOQHUK 
 
 he was content to do all this, and to wander the world with, 
 out her, begging his bit, but always crying for her in his heart ; 
 at the last, when he could stand it no longer, when the grief 
 in his bosom was hurrying him to the grave, would it be right 
 for him to claim his child ? " 
 
 The homely, but touching, pathos of the voice, the wild 
 grief in the face looking down upon her, drew forth Nora 
 McCarthy's most compassionate tears ; they flowed fast and 
 copiously. 
 
 " It would be right," she answered. 
 
 "Right for him to intrude himself," he resumed, "into 
 that grand home, beggar and outcast as he is ; right for him 
 to spoil his child's happiness by the shock which it would 
 give her to learn that she has such a father ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied Nora ; " and when she learns of his faithful 
 and tender affection for her through all the years, surely her 
 heart will bound to him let him be what he may, a villain, a 
 murderer, he will be still her father, and, so far as regards 
 herself, her loving father." 
 
 " And do you think, then," the voice grew more mourn- 
 fully earnest, the eyes more piercing in their look "that it 
 would be the duty of that child to leave that elegant home 
 *nd go with her begging father ? " 
 
 " I do, I do ! " answered Nora ; " and it should be her lov- 
 ing task to labor for him and to comfort him." 
 
 " Thank you, Miss McCarthy ; those are the sweetest words 
 I have heard for, many a day ; if I wasn't the sinful creature 
 I am, I'd bid God to bless you, but such words from me 
 would only be a mockery." 
 
 He turned to leave the gap. 
 
 " A moment, Rick," besought Nora. " I would say an- 
 other word to you. I feel that this case which you have so 
 touchingly described is your own, and I fancy that I can 
 understand now your unhappy life the wandering habits we 
 have so censured, your intemperance, your distaste for labor, 
 all have been due to this harrowing grief. I pity you. my
 
 DISAPPOINTED. 
 
 '55 
 
 poor fellow, but a blighter day is coming : you will claim this 
 long-lost, anlently-loved child ; she will bound to your arms, 
 and with her you will be once more happy. Yes, Rick ; and 
 in that happiness you will thank God, and you will return 
 to Him ; you will atone for the past, you will make reparation 
 to the sacred Heart you have so wounded. Promise me, 
 Rick, that when that day comes you will return to the God 
 you have so long forsaken you will frequent the Sacraments 
 once more." 
 
 He had clasped his hands over his face, and she saw by the 
 violent trembling of his form, and the tears which trickled be- 
 tween his fingers, the grief that he could not repress. 
 
 " You know not what you ask, Miss McCarthy," he said at 
 last, looking at her. 
 
 " I do, Rick, I do, and I want your promise," stepping 
 lightly on the loose stones so that she could be nearer to him, 
 while at the same time she extended her hand. 
 
 " Not my hand to lie in your innocent palm," he replied, 
 "I'll promise without that" 
 
 He turned quickly, jumped into the road below, and 
 walked rapidly away. 
 
 Nora went to her couch with strange thoughts ; amid her 
 own grief and anxiety she had sympathy to spare for the poor 
 wretch with whom she had so recently parted, and for whom 
 before she slept she offered many an earnest tad fervent 
 prayer.
 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 A STREET ARAB. 
 
 IT was only a street accident : the overturning of a gig 
 driven tandem, and the dashing away of the frightened horses 
 with the broken vehicle. The owner of the turn-out had sin- 
 gularly escaped, owing to his presence of mind and his swift- 
 ness in jumping ; but a little street Arab had fallen under the 
 feet of the horses, and he seemed to be severely hurt. 
 
 Tighe a Vohr, passing at the time, had witnessed the whole 
 of the accident, and he was the first to lift the little prostrate 
 form. The boy was not insensible, but the wound in his head, 
 from which the blood was flowing profusely, and the death- 
 like color of his face, bespoke no light injury. 
 
 " I have no home, but don't let them take me to the hospi- 
 tal," he whispered, striving to smile at the friendly face above 
 him ; and Tighe, touched to the heart by the gentle, mourn- 
 ful look in the soft, dark eyes, and the pleading in the faint 
 voice, was puzzled how to grant the boy's request. He was 
 not long, however, in having one of his sudden, bright 
 thoughts. Corny O'Toole's bachelor apartment was in the 
 next street a few seconds' walk would bring him there ; and, 
 without pausing to think what Corny's opinion on the subject 
 might be, or what kind of a welcome the latter might accord 
 the injured stranger, he resolved to bear his burden thence, 
 trusting to his ingenuity for mollifying the old man's temper 
 should it be unpleasantly aroused. 
 
 " Back," he cried to the crowd now pressing about him, 
 
 *' lave the way ! " speaking angrily to some of the foremost, 
 
 who with impertinent curiosity were thrusting themselves in 
 
 his face. His sturdy demeanor showed that he would en- 
 
 (160)
 
 A BTRJSST ARAB. 161 
 
 force his order, and the crowd made a passage for him, drop- 
 ping sundry remarks as he went. 
 
 " The craythur ! it must be his brother ; an' a purty gossoon 
 he is ! The Lord betune us an' harrum, but it's little we 
 know from one day to another what'll overtake us." 
 
 Tighe, paying little attention to the observations, hurried 
 on with his burden, Shaun closely following him. Mr. 
 O'Toole had the same lock, and bolt, and spike to attend to 
 when Tighe knocked at his door, as on the occasion of the 
 latter's previous visit ; but Tighe's voice pleading for speedy 
 admission seemed to hasten the little man's movements. 
 
 " I'm afeerd he's killed, Corny the beautiful little lad ! " 
 began Tighe, the moment the door was fairly opened, and he 
 brushed by the astounded Mr. O'Toole to the bed which 
 stood in a curtained corner of the room. Placing his burden 
 gently upon it, he continued : " There was no other place to 
 take him, Corny, an' I moinded how me mother used to tell 
 o' yer tinder heart for the poor an' the disthressed, so I med 
 up me moind to bring him here, an' we'll nurse him, Corny, 
 you an' me, till he gets well." 
 
 That allusion to Mrs. Carmody struck home, as the sly 
 Tighe a Vohr knew it would do. Mr. O'Toole was by the 
 bedside in a moment. 
 
 " Get me some wather," said Tighe, " an' well wash this 
 cut the first thing see how deep it is ; an* mebbe we could 
 get him well agin widout havin' recoorse to a docthor ; for 
 docthors, bad luck to thim ! are only a dissectin' set that'll 
 take yer money while you're livin' an* yer body whin you're 
 dead." 
 
 Corny was obedient to all the directions, looking on with 
 a sort of stupid wonder at the skill and quickness with which 
 Tighe attended to the patient. The tender-hearted fellow's 
 hand was as gentle as a woman's, and the patient little suffer- 
 er evinced his gratitude by a frequent effort to smile. 
 
 The cut was not so deep as Tighe had feared, and by the 
 time it was carefully washed, and the soft, thick, curling hair
 
 l6t CARROLL VDONOGHUE. 
 
 cropped from about it, it seemed to need no more than a sin> 
 pie bandage. The boy lay back on the pillow with a sigh of 
 relief, and closed his eyes ; indeed, fatigue, more than pain, 
 seemed to distress him, and Tighe drew the curtains, and 
 motioning Corny to follow him, stole to a distant part of the 
 room. 
 
 " I don't know one thing about him, Corny," explained 
 Tighe in a whisper, " only I saw the horses dash him under 
 their fate, an' I was frightened intoirely ; thin whin I lifted 
 him, it wint to me heart the way he tould me that he had no 
 home, an* the look wid which he axed me not to let thim take 
 him to the hospital. That's the whole o' it, Corny ; but oh, 
 won't me mother be plazed whin I tell her o' yer noble good- 
 ness this day ! " 
 
 " Pshaw ! " said the little man, trying to cover by affected 
 indifference the glow of pleasure into which he was thrown by 
 the last words. 
 
 " A few days' rest," continued Tighe, " wilV make him all 
 roight ; an' now, Corny, I have a word to tell you about me- 
 sel'." 
 
 Mr. O'Toole drew his chair closer, and very affectionately 
 patted Shaun, who was sitting gravely between them. The al- 
 lusion to Mrs. Carmody had made him well disposed to take 
 an active interest in everything pertaining to Tighe a Vohr. 
 
 Tighe continued, still in a whisper : " The young masther 
 is so sthrictly guarded that not one at all'll be let to see him, 
 an' Father Meagher an' the young ladies had to go back to 
 Dhrommacohol yisterday the same as they kem, widout one 
 sight o' him. Well, Mr. Garfield " 
 
 " The quartermaster that I wrote the letter to in the Widow 
 Moore's name ? " interrupted Mr. O'Toole. 
 
 "The very same, Corny ; an' roight well yer letther was re- 
 caved ; he doesn't belave to this day that there's a bit o' a 
 joke in the matther, an* what wid his own consistin* on bein* 
 where the widdy is, an' followin' her loike a ghost, he's the 
 spoort o' the town ; an* she hates the soight o' him as the
 
 A STREET ARAB 16$ 
 
 divil hates howly wather. Oh, but I'm tould it's a soight to 
 behould her freezin' looks at him, an' the cowld shouldher she 
 gives him ivery way, an' he, poor omadhaun, thinks it's all 
 rolght bekaise we tould him so in the letther. You moind the 
 contints o' the letther, Corny ? " 
 
 " I do," said Mr. O'Toole, with a glow of pride. 
 
 " Well," resumed Tighe, "her brother Jack isn't a whit bet- 
 ther than hersel'; he's down on the poor fool o* a quarther- 
 masther too, an' he's been thryin' to make all soorts o' spoort 
 o' him. He succeeded in makin' him bet himsel', an' get the 
 bets o' his frinds, on a horse that has the thrick o' goin' lame 
 betoimes whin there's to be a race ; an' now for this race 
 that's comin* off in a wake or so, poor Garfield hasn't a horse 
 nor a rider, an' he'll be out a hundhred pounds or so ; be- 
 soides bein' the manes o' his frinds losin' also. Are you 
 takin' it all in, Corny ? " 
 
 " I am," answered that gentleman with a very solemn air. 
 
 " Well, whin I heerd that, an' heerd, too, that the masther's 
 frinds wouldn't get nigh nor nixt him, an' also that the mas- 
 ther himsel' will be kept here a month, I jist wint to work 
 thinkin" hard thinkin', Corny." 
 
 Tighe paused, and looked sharply into his listener's face, as 
 if to question what the latter's surmise would be regarding the 
 result of his severe cogitations. Mr. O'Toole, by way of an- 
 swer, spread both his hands firmly upon his knees, bent his 
 body forward, and looked as sharply into Tighe's face, his 
 look expressing : 
 
 " What did you think ? " 
 
 " Me thinkin' kem to this, Corny : that if I could foind an- 
 other horse an' a rider for Mr. Garfield, in his gratitude hf 
 moight foind a way for us all to git seein' the masther." 
 
 " Timothy Carrnody, I'm proud of you!" the little man stood 
 up, and shook Tighe's hand ; " you are your mother's own son, 
 and you deserve to be Timothy O'Toole." 
 
 He had forgotten in his eagerness his previous whispered 
 tones, and had spoken aloud ; but Tighe pointed to the
 
 ,6 4 CARROLL VDONOQHUK 
 
 bed, and put his finger on his lip, and Mr. O'Toole, having 
 wiped his face and given a careful twist to his sidelocks, sat 
 down. 
 
 " It was aisy enough to think so far," resumed Tighe, bring- 
 ing his mouth in close proximity to Corny's ear, " but it wa 
 the divil's own job to think where I'd get the horse. I used 
 to be a good hand at conthrivin' to get thim some way for 
 our own races afore the masther was thransported ; an' I'm 
 thinkin* now I'll have to do what I used to do thin take the 
 lind o' a horse widout axin' the owner's lave, an' hould me- 
 sel' prepared to be a marthyr for the consequinces." 
 
 " But how will you take the time to find the horse, an' to 
 ride him in the race, engaged as you are at present ? " said 
 Corny, pointing significantly to Tighe's dress. 
 
 " Lave me alone for that," answered Tighe a Vohr ; " Shaun 
 here," affectionately placing his hand on the dog " was the 
 manes o' managin' it for me. Faith, I don't know what I'd 
 do at all widout Shaun ? " turning a look expressive of the 
 fondest regard on the scraggy animal. " I shpoke to Captain 
 Dennier this very mornin' about lavin' his sarvice. He was 
 the surprisedest man iver you seen, Corny. * Lave me ! ' he 
 says, ' what for ? Arn't you thrated well ? ' 
 
 " ' I am, yer honor,' sez I ; ' betther thratement I couldn't 
 wish for ; an' if it was restin' wid mesel', I'd be contint to sthay 
 wid yer honor always.' 
 
 "'Well, what is the throuble?'he axed thin; 'tell me 
 plainly, Tighe.' 
 
 " Thin, Corny, I purtinded to be awful shy intoirely, an' to 
 be soort o' disthressed loike ; an' to restore me confidence, an' 
 to make me feel aisy afore him, he bid me take a sate, an' he 
 took one himsel', an' he sez : 
 
 ' ' You know, Tighe, I promised Captain Crawtord to pur- 
 vide for you, an' I'd loike to kape me word ; besides, I'm 
 plazed wid you mesel' an' I'd loike you'd sthay.' 
 
 " ' I would, yer honor,' I answered, ' but the life in the bar- 
 racks doesn't suit Shaun at all.' "
 
 A STREET ARAB. ^5 
 
 " Oh, Tighe," interrupted Mr. O'Toole, " you didn't say 
 that ! " 
 
 " The divil a lie in it, Corny ; I said that wid as sober a 
 face as I have this minit, an' I wint on, while the captain sat 
 bolt upright in his chair, an' looked at me as if he thought I 
 had lost me sinses : ' Shaun,' sez I, ' is a delicate dog, an' what 
 wid the confinement o* the barracks, and the excitin' sight o* 
 the soldiers, he's gettin' thin and worrisome. He was always 
 used to the counthry, an' to plinty o' liberty, an* I'll have to 
 go away wid him for a few days.' 
 
 " Thin the captain sez : ' Well, Tighe, if I give you lave o' 
 absence for a wake, would not that recruit your dog ? ' 
 
 " ' No,' sez I, thinkin' o' the race ; ' nothin 1 less than two 
 wakes'd do Shaun's strinth is run down, an' he requires par- 
 ticler thratemint.' 
 
 " ' Well, take the two wakes,' sez he. So here I am, Corny, 
 wid two wakes holiday afore me, an' a good aisy place at me 
 back." 
 
 There was a faint call from the curtained corner. Both 
 Tighe and Corny were instantly at the bedside. 
 
 " Where am I ? " The dark eyes were opened wide in won- 
 dering surprise, and the head half lifted from the pillow. 
 
 " Oh, I mind it all now," as Tighe's sympathetic face ap- 
 peared in the opening of the curtains ; " I was knocked down 
 by the horses, and you picked me up and brought me here ; " 
 and the most ravishing smile that Tighe thought he had ever 
 seen played on the perfect features. 
 
 " Don't be thryin' to talk," said Tighe, softly, " for if you'll 
 be quiet, you'll be well in no toime. Lie down now," as the 
 boy endeavored to rise to a sitting posture " an' Corny herell 
 make you a cup o' tay the rale weed that he kapes in his own 
 private canisther. Won't you, Corny ? " 
 
 " To be sure I will," answered Corny, immediately begin- 
 ning to bustle about the necessary preparations. 
 
 " Let me tell you," pleaded the boy, catching one of Tighe's 
 hands in his fevered grasp, " you look so kind that you bring
 
 ,66 CARROLL &DONOGHUK 
 
 my heart back to Cathleen. It won't hurt me," as Tight 
 doubtfully shook his head, " I'll not say very much ; and 
 oh ! " with a cry of terror, and a spring that brought him to 
 an upright sitting posture, " what did I do with it have I 
 lost it ? " lie searched his bosom wildly. It came forth at last, 
 a piece of folded paper, and with a sigh of intense relief, he 
 caught it fast in his hand, and threw himself back exhausted 
 on his pillow. Tighe would have drawn the curtains and left 
 him, but the little fevered hand again grasped him. " Stay," 
 whispered the boy, " I shall be better in a moment, and I can 
 tell you." 
 
 He did rally, and Tighe was forced to hear him. 
 
 "I am to take this paper," holding up the latter, "to 
 Dhrommacohol, and give it to some one there that they call 
 Rick of the Hills." 
 
 Tighe no longer bade the boy desist ; he was listening now 
 with most eager attention. 
 
 " Mr. Carter gave it to me to take. He was stopping at 
 Hoolahan's, where I had my meals and a lodging yesterday, 
 and my breakfast this morning. He wanted this note to be 
 taken by hand, for he was afraid if ke sent it by post it wouldn't 
 reach Rick of the Hills, by reason of the latter not being al- 
 ways in the one house. He gave me directions if I didn't 
 find him at once to go to two or three other places. One of 
 the women in Mr. Hoolahan's told him I could be trusted, 
 and he was so anxious to have the note go quick that he bade 
 me start at once ; and now what'll I do if I'm not able to take 
 it ? " He looked with touching anxiety into Tighe's face. 
 
 "I EEC goin' down to Dhrommacohol this very day," an- 
 swered Tighe a Vohr, " and I know Rick o' the Hills, an' if 
 youll thrust me, I'll take it to him." 
 
 " Trust you," the boy said, " after what you have done for 
 me ! Ill trust yc i, and I'll be so happy to know that the mes- 
 sage went, and that Mr. Carter won't be disappointed." He 
 gave the paper into Tighe's eager hand, and continued : 
 " Up in Ballygarry, where I live, everybody was kind to rat,
 
 A STREET ARAB. 167 
 
 mostly, I think, because I was an orphan ; I bad a home with 
 one and the other of them, and a bit of schooling once in a 
 while ; but the kindest of all to me was Cathleen Kelly. She 
 taught me to read and write, and she told me such beautiful 
 things about God and His blessed mother that I used to 
 think she must have been in Heaven herself to know so much 
 of them. She lived with her aunt and her cousin, a yonng 
 man as kind-hearted as herself ; but he went away to join the 
 boys when the news of the rising came, and not very long 
 after a letter came from a priest to say that he was dead he 
 had been shot in some fight with the soldiers. Oh, then was 
 the time of grief for Cathleen and her poor old aunt, for she 
 was the young man's mother. Their hearts seemed to be 
 breaking, and once in a while I'd hear a word dropped that 
 told me how they were aching to know more particulars of 
 his death ; and then it got into my head that if the priest who 
 wrote the letter, and who said in the letter how he was pres- 
 ent at the death-bed of William Kelly, could come to see 
 them it would console them entirely. I did say to Cathleen 
 that she and her aunt ought to make a journey to see the 
 priest, but there seemed to be some queer thing hanging over 
 it all, as if there was a secret reason to prevent the journey. 
 When I saw that I made up my own mind to make a journey 
 myself to this priest unknowns! to any one. Quite careless- 
 like I got out of Cathleen the name of the priest, and the 
 place he was in, and the way one might take to get to him, 
 and I started, sometimes begging my way, and sometimes 
 aiming it. I only got here yesterday, and I happened on 
 Hoolahan's place to beg a meal. One of the women there 
 was very kind to me ; she gave me a lodging and fine meals, 
 and I told her where I was bound for, but I didn't tell her 
 my business. That was yesterday evening, and this morning 
 she came running in to me when I was at my breakfast, saying 
 that there was a gentleman outside who wanted a message 
 carried to a place that I'd have to pass through on my way to 
 see Father O'Connor."
 
 ,68 OARSOLL aDONOQHUlS. 
 
 44 Father O'Connor ! " interrupted Tighe, his face and attt 
 tude expressing his thrilling interest in the artlessly-told tale. 
 
 " Yes ; do you know him ? " questioned the boy. 
 
 " I have seen him," answered Tighe evasively, not knowing 
 how prudent it might be for him to say more until he had 
 heard the conclusion of the story. 
 
 " Well, I went out to see the gentleman, and he seemed 
 pleased with my looks, for he gave me the note at once, and 
 said to me what I told you before. And now I'll rest." 
 
 He was very tired ; not even the tea which Corny had more 
 neatly prepared than would have been deemed possible from 
 his slovenly surroundings, and of which the injured boy largely 
 partook, seemed able to delay even for a moment the lethargy 
 into which he sunk. Judging rightly that repose would benefit 
 him most, Tighe partially closed the curtains again, and left 
 the bedside. He motioned to Corny. 
 
 " They say all's fair in love an' war," he whispered, " an 
 as I'm at war wid ould Carther there can't be any harrum in 
 readin' this." He opened the paper and put it into Corny's 
 hand. The latter seemed to take a similar view of the case, 
 for without any hesitation he softly read : 
 
 "RICK: 
 
 I have decided to go to Dublin, and the sooner I go 
 the better it'll be for my own interests. I promised Ned Ma- 
 lony a fortnight ago that I'd be down there in time to bring 
 his horse, ' Charmer,' up here for the race that's coming off 
 next week ; but I can't do that now. He'll have to bring the 
 horse up himself. Show him this note, and tell him to have 
 no fear. Joe Canty is booked to ride him, and it will be time 
 enough to have the horse in Blenner's stable the day before 
 the race. Tell him the stakes are all right, and that we have 
 heavy backers. And do you, Rick, keep sober, and when I 
 return, be prepared to do what I told you. 
 Yours, 
 
 MORTIMER CARTER." 
 
 Tighe jumped to his feet, his features undergoing a series 
 of most comical contortions, which were intended to express
 
 A STREET ARAB. 
 
 his intense satisfaction and delight. It was with difficulty h 
 refrained from giving utterance to a loud, wild cheer, the man- 
 ner in which he usually manifested his joy. " Be the powers, 
 but the saints thimsels' are helpin' me ; was I iver in such 
 luck afore ! Corny, don't you see how I'll manage now ? 
 You'll write a note to Mr. Maloney, Ned Maloney, the ould 
 miser, imitatin' this handwritin' as if it kem from Carther, an' 
 you'll mintion me in it ; you'll not say a word o' Rick o* the 
 Hills, but you'll jist bid ould Maloney to give up the horse to 
 me care, an' I'll bring him up here, an' stable him till the race 
 comes off ; an' tare an' ages, but that'll be the race to knock 
 the soight out o' Morty Carther's eyes whin he hears o' it ! are 
 you comprehindin', Corny ? " 
 
 Corny nodded. 
 
 " Well, do you set to work at once at the writin', an' I'll run 
 down to the quarthermasther an' tell him to inter his horse an* 
 his rider as quick as he plazes. But what '11 be the name o' 
 the horse ? " 
 
 " Timothy," suggested Corny. 
 
 "Timothy!" contemptuously echoed Tighe, "that's too 
 small entoirely. No ; we'll give him one o' the classical 
 names out o' the histhory o' Ireland a name that manes 
 somethin'." 
 
 " Brian Boni," ventured Corny. 
 
 " That will do," answered Tighe ; then he continued : " An* 
 the rider'll be mesel', Timothy O'Carmody ; for there' 
 nothin' like havin' an O or a Mac afore the first letther o' yer 
 name ; it gives one a big feelin', a sinse o' importhance." 
 
 Corny nodded, and Tighe, having satisfied himself that the 
 boy was peacefully sleeping, departed on his errand, followed 
 by Shaun. Scarcely an hour elapsed when the bark of the 
 dog in the passage leading to Mr. O'Toole's chamber an- 
 nounced Tighe's return. He was in the same state of joyful 
 excitement in which he had departed, having seen Mr. Gar- 
 field, and having delighted that gentleman vrith the tidings he 
 bad brought, and he had received in return from the grateful
 
 , 70 CARROLL aDONOGRUB. 
 
 quartermaster an assurance that the latter would make every 
 effort to afford Carroll O'Donoghue an interview with his 
 friends. 
 
 " An' now, have you the note ready for ould Maloney ? * 
 asked Tighe. 
 
 " I have," answered Corny, proceeding to read from a half 
 sheet of letter-paper : 
 
 " MR. MALONEY : 
 
 I have decided to go to Dublin, and the soon- 
 er, the better it will be for my own interests ; consequently I 
 won't be able to go down for the horse as I promised, but I 
 send you, in my place, Tighe a Vohr, and you know as well 
 as I do the divil a better judge of horse flesh in the county. 
 He will bring ' Charmer ' up here and see that he is properly 
 stabled. Joe Canty is booked to ride him, and the stakes are 
 all right. Have no fear, for we have heavy backers, and let 
 Tighe have the horse at once. Yours, 
 
 MORTY CARTER." 
 
 " Be me sowl, Corny, but the loike o' you for a letther 
 writer isn't in the counthry ! " and Tighe gazed with delighted 
 admiration at the little man. " Me mother missed it entoire- 
 ly," he continued, " whin she didn't become Mrs. O'Toole." 
 
 Corny was violently wiping his face to cover his blushing 
 delight 
 
 Tighe continued : " But it'll be in me power, an' that afore 
 long, to place afore her eyes all that she lost whin she took 
 Timothy Carmody ! " and Tighe's voice suddenly assumed an 
 indignant energy. 
 
 Mr. O'Toole was in a glow of pleasure from the bald crown 
 of his head to the soles of his ungainly feet. 
 
 Tighe moved to the bed to look again at the boy. He was 
 still sleeping, a slight hectic flush on his cheeks, and the rest 
 of his face as white as the bandage which bound his head. 
 
 " He's as pu.-ty as a picther," said Tighe softly to Corny, 
 who had also noiselessly approached, " an you'll moind him 
 well, Corny ; av coorse, if he should get worse, you'll have to 
 call in one o* thim murtherin' docthors ; an' I suppose, too,
 
 A STREET ARAB. , 7 ! 
 
 the minnit he can sthir at all he'll be for makin 1 his way 
 to Father O'Connor. Thry an' kape him anyway till I get 
 back." 
 
 Corny promised ; indeed the little man, to use one of hi& 
 own expressions, was so wedded to Tighe's interests now thai 
 he would spare neither time nor labor in his service. 
 
 " Supposing Maloney should refuse you the horse," said 
 Corny, as Tighe stood on the threshold ready to depart. 
 
 " Supposin' he did," repeated Tighe, " do you think his re- 
 fusal'd bother me ? not the laste bit. I win tthrough bolts an' 
 bars afore whin I was in a loike scrape, an' now that I know 
 ould Maloney has a horse in trim for the race, an' that ould 
 Carther is safe in Dublin, the divil himsel' wouldn't stop me 
 gettin' possession o' the baste for the day o' the ride." 
 
 " Will you stable him at Bienner's ? " asked Corny again. 
 
 " Faix, I will not," was the reply. " Is it stable him where 
 the eyes o' ivery sportin" man in the town'd be on him, an' 
 mebbe to have somethin' thranspire to show thim the deravin' 
 game I'm playin' ? No, Corny ; I have more gumption than 
 that. I'll stable him outside the town intoirely, where no 
 one'll be the wiser, an' where I can go ivery day au' get ac- 
 quainted wid him, an' foind out his wake pints, an' larn if he 
 has any thricks. An' there's another thing, Corny, I'll have 
 to attind to, an' that's Joe Canty. He'll be expectin* the 
 horse, I suppose, an' tatther an' ages ! mebbe he'd be goin' 
 down to ould Maloney's to have a look at the baste, if he 
 hasn't gone already. Well, I'll vinture on a settlemint wid 
 him this way : I'll make it me business to see him afther I've 
 seen ould Maloney, an' I'll tell him that the horse'll be to the 
 fore on the mornin' o' the race ; that ould Maloney is a quare 
 soort o' ould man, an' the divil a lie in that an" so perticler 
 about his horse that he won't lave it out o' its ov*n stable any 
 sooner ; an' that he's so crass, an' so cantankersome, he won't 
 have anybody comin' down here to look at the baste, swearin' 
 if they do that he won't let it run. I'll tell all rhis to Mr 
 Canty, at the same toime makin' it appear that I'm thrusted
 
 , 7 , CARROLL VDONOGHUB. 
 
 intoirely be Carther an* Maloney, an' if all that doesn't do, 111 
 depind on me natural wits for another invention." He paused 
 as if in some indecision, resuming in a moment : " The thing 
 that bothers me most jist now is how I'll get the dress for the 
 race the cap, an* the jacket, an' the toggery that makes a 
 man look as if the wind was taken out o' him ; but 111 think 
 ' that on me way. Good-by, an' take care o' the boy." 
 He hastily departed with Shaun at bis beds.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE MISER OF DHROMMACOHOU. 
 
 MR. MALONEY, or " ould Ned Maloney," as he was called 
 by man, woman, and child, from his antiquated dress, which 
 for a quarter of a century had never changed a seam nor a 
 cut of its fashion, was the only real miser of which the little 
 village of Dhrommacohol could boast. Money was his idol, 
 and money he worshipped to the exclusion of every other 
 affection, natural or acquired. Neither mass nor meeting ever 
 saw him ; the poor feared him, and the neighbors whose deal- 
 ings forced them into contact with him regarded him as a 
 sharp, shrewd, hard man. Report spoke of him as being 
 somewhat better educated than most of his class, yet he was 
 never known to invest a half-penny in even a newspaper. 
 The latter he borrowed when he could, and when he was un- 
 able to do that he resigned himself to the privation. He had 
 never married, and his few kinspeople had been long since 
 laid at rest in Kilboroglin churchyard. He lived alone, spend- 
 ing his time, the people said, in counting the gold and the 
 pound notes which he had made in former days by running 
 illicit stills and smuggling foreign goods. Some good people 
 were wont to cross themselves when they met him, as if he 
 were the Evil One himself, and the poor said he would never 
 die on his bed. Old Ned smiled grimly when he saw and 
 heard these evidences of the regard in which he was held, but 
 all produced no change in him. The only person for whom 
 he seemed to care was Father Meagher ; he shrunk from 
 meeting the priest, and when the latter would force his pres- 
 ence, as he often did, upon the miser for the purpose of re- 
 buke or exhortation, the old man would fall on his knees, 
 (173)
 
 ,y 4 CARROLL 
 
 cross himself, and swear that he'd repent before he died 
 The horse had come into his possession by means entirely in 
 accordance with Ned's hard practices. The owner of the 
 animal, a neighbor of Maloney's, and in desperate straits for 
 money, ventured to appeal to the miser for a loan ; it was 
 refused, but Ned, with his habitual cunning, where the mat- 
 ter involved a question of gain to himself, and in view of 
 the races which marked certain portions of the year, offered 
 to buy the horse. There was no alternative for the unfort- 
 unate owner, and a bargain was at length made which left old 
 Ned Maloney in possession of as magnificent a racer as there 
 was in any stud in the county. To everybody's surprise he 
 built a better stable for the horse than he had a house for 
 himself, and he actually hired a groom that the animal might 
 be kept in fine condition. To Mortimer Carter, whose fre- 
 quent visits to Tralee, and whose intimate acquaintance with 
 the sporting characters of the day were generally known, Ned 
 Maloney addressed himself in order to negotiate for the en- 
 tering of his horse in the coming race. There was little diffi- 
 culty ir* accomplishing that, but a serious trouble remained 
 to procure a good rider. Joe Canty, an admirable horseman, 
 but a dare-devil and a bravado, was already engaged to ride 
 for the English soldier, Garfield. Carter, however, brought 
 his wits and his money into action, and Canty was secured 
 for the horse. The miser, tempted for once from his wonted 
 extreme parsimony by the largeness of the sums which Carter 
 and other bettors had staked upon the horse, bet a considerable 
 amount himself, as well as opened a betting-book ; and it was 
 with extravagant signs of satisfaction that he frequently in 
 imagination footed the amounts which were to swell his 
 already well-filled coffers in the event of " Charmer's " success. 
 Such was the man to whom Tighe a Vohr, accompanied by 
 Shaun, was quickly wending his way. The abode of the miser 
 was as antiquated and ill looking as himself. A general shop 
 in which he drove hard bargains with those who were forced 
 from some necessity to deal with him formed the entrance to
 
 THE MISER OF DHROMMACOHOL 
 
 7S 
 
 the abode ; and back of this in a dingy room he cooked, ate, 
 and slept, though in addition to his shop he owned a good- 
 sized and well-stocked farm. On Tighe's entrance he came 
 hurriedly forth from the dingy apartment. 
 
 " How do you do, Mr. Maloney ? Glory be to God, but 
 you sthand it well to be lookin' so young at yer toime o' life ! " 
 and Tighe seized the miser's not over-willing hand, and gave 
 it a hearty shake. 
 
 Mr. Maloney was a tall, powerful man, with a stoop in his 
 shoulders, and iron-gray hair framing a hard, massive face. 
 He had black, glittering eyes, set deep under eyebrows that 
 met so heavily and arched so little as to appear like a con- 
 tinuous line across his forehead ; his thin lips were partly 
 stretched over projecting tusk-like yellow teeth, and his promi- 
 nent cheek-bones, and triangular-shaped brow made up a face 
 at once remarkable, sinister, and repulsive. His age might 
 be sixty, or more, but the giant frame gave evidence of vigor 
 enough to mark a much less advanced period of life. 
 
 Fortunately for Tighe, there had never been any unpleasant 
 intercourse between himself and the miser ; though he knew the 
 old man as well, and disliked him as thoroughly, as any one in 
 the village, still out of an indolent good nature, or perhaps be- 
 cause opportunity had been wanting, he had never betrayed 
 in the miser's presence any of the tokens of dislike of which 
 others were so lavish. On one occasion, when a mere lad ( 
 with his wonted obliging disposition, he had even rendered 
 some trifling service to the old man, and it was noticed ever 
 after that the latter's manner to Tighe a Vohr was marked by 
 more civility than usually characterized it. Now he answered 
 with a slowness which betrayed his excessive caution, and 
 which evinced his indifference to Tighe's compliment to hU 
 looks : 
 
 " Thank you, Mr. Carmody, I'm pretty well." 
 
 Tighe drew forth his note. "I've been in Tralee, thii 
 while back," he said, holding the note between his fingers, 
 " watchin' the coorse o' the bets on the race that's comin' off
 
 , 7 6 CARROLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 nixt wake, an' if yer horse don't win, Mr. Maloney, there* 
 be a power o' losers." 
 
 The miser's glittering eyes began to grow in brightness, 
 44 You don't mean to say, Mr. Carmody, that there's such a 
 number of backers ? " even his voice had quickened, 
 
 Tighe saw his advantage and pursued it. " I do that, Mr. 
 Maloney ; an' betune you an' me, an' all that I heerd from 
 Mr. Carther about yer horse, the divil a show the othersll 
 have alongside o' him at all." 
 
 " How many are entered for the race, Mr. Carmody ? " 
 
 That was an item of information with which Tighe had 
 singularly overlooked providing himself, but without a mo- 
 ment's hesitation he answered : " Now, since Rody Crane's 
 filly is withdrawn, it laves foive ; yis, I think it's foive that'll 
 run, includin' yer own. But I was forgittin' : Mr. Carther sint 
 me down wid this to you." Proffering the note. 
 
 The miser took it to a dim, greasy lamp, and read it appar- 
 ently more than once. 
 
 44 I suppose Carter knows best," he said, returning to Tighe ; 
 44 he says you will stable him properly, but I wouldn't trust 
 him without his groom. I shall send the groom with him." 
 
 "Very well, Mr. Maloney," answered Tighe, apparently 
 quite satisfied, though the groom was an accession of which 
 he did not dream, and for the disposal of whom he was sadly 
 puzzled. 
 
 44 1 shall have him ready for you to-morrow morning," the 
 miser resumed ; " will that be time enough ? " 
 
 44 Oh, yes ; answered Tighe carelessly, continuing after an 
 instant's pause : " Do you know the man that's to ride yer 
 horse, Mr. Maloney Joe Canty he's called ? " 
 
 44 No ; I have never seen him, though I was expecting him 
 down next week to see the horse ; but I suppose it will be 
 more convenient for him to have the horse in Tralee. I un- 
 derstand that he is a very fine horseman." 
 
 44 The divil a betther, but " Tighe's fertile brain was 
 
 hard at work how would he prevent Joe Canty's visit to Mr. 
 Maloney?
 
 THE MISER OP DHROMMACOHOL. , 7y 
 
 44 But what, Mr. Carmody ? M The glistening eyes weie fast- 
 ened unpleasantly on Tighe's face. 
 
 " Mr. Maloney," Tighe took a step forward, and assuming 
 an expression indicative of severe mental distress, he said in a 
 lower tone than he had previously used : " I heerd somethin* 
 to-day that med me feel purty bad iver since ; an' all the way 
 down here I've been houldin' an argymint wid mesel' whether 
 ought to tell you or not ; it was in a saycret it was revaled 
 to me be a sarvint o' one o' the spoortin' min ; it consarns you, 
 Mr. Maloney, but I'm loth to tell, for mebbe it's none o' 
 me business afther all ; an* I'm aqually loth to kape it, for thin 
 I'll be lookin' at an honest man loike yersel' losin' hapes o' 
 money." 
 
 " Losing heaps of money ! " the miser wildly repeated, and 
 his giant frame trembled like an aspen ; he clutched Tighe's 
 hands with his bony fingers. " Tell me, Mr. Carmody ; what 
 did you hear ? " 
 
 " Och, what'll I do at all, at all ? " cried Tighe, in well- 
 feigned distress ; " och, why did I spake an' it a saycret ; sure 
 I'll only be gittin' mesel' in throuble ! " 
 
 " Tell me, Mr. Carmody," repeated the miser, tightening his 
 trembling grasp of Tighe's hands. 
 
 " Will you kape the saycret too, Mr. Maloney, if I tell you 
 will you swear afore Heaven that you'll niver revale it, no 
 matther what comes or goes ?" 
 
 " I will, Mr. Carmody ; I'll do anything for you, only tell 
 me." 
 
 "Thin down on yer knees an* repate what I say." 
 
 The large form knelt abjectly before Tighe, while Shaun, 
 close by his master's side, stood sharply watching ; at the 
 first grasp of Tighe's hands by the miser the dog had sprung 
 from a comfortable couch which he found on an old rug to 
 Tighe's side, and he only waited further demonstration of 
 force toward his master on the part of the old man, to spring 
 at the latter's throat. 
 
 " I swear ," said Tighe solemnly.
 
 i 7 g CARROLL VDONOGHUE. 
 
 " I swear, " repeated the kneeling man, in a voice that 
 
 hook as much as did his powerful frame. 
 
 " Afore Almighty God, an' all the angels an' saints this 
 noight, " 
 
 Again the trembling repetition from the miser. 
 
 " That I, Ned Maloney, will never revale to man nor mortal 
 a syllable o* what Tim Carmody is goin' to tell me ; if I do 
 may me sowl burn in hell's fire foriver ! " 
 
 It was all faithfully repeated, and Mr. Maloney was allowed 
 to rise. 
 
 "Well, the saycret is this," said Tighe : " Joe Canty is to 
 be arristed for debt ; he's been thryin' to stave off his credit- 
 ors till the race would be over, but there's one crusty old chap 
 that has a grudge agin' Joe, an' he's detarmined to take it out 
 o' the poor fellow in more ways than one. He's goin' to wait 
 till the very mornin' o' the race, an* it's betune a couple o' 
 peelers poor Joe will foind himsel', instead o' on the back o' 
 yer horse." 
 
 The miser's glittering eyes were distended till they seemed 
 twice their size, and his wide mouth, partially open, disgust- 
 ingly revealed his yellow teeth. 
 
 Tighe continued : " If you want to take the chances o 1 
 Joe Canty's arrist, Mr. Maloney, an' let things go on as they 
 are, why, well an' good I'll have nothin 1 more to say ; but if 
 you'll take another rider for yer horse, I'm yer man ! " 
 
 The miser started back as if the suddenness and unfitness 
 of the proposition had overcome him. Tighe followed him, 
 assuming an energetic, independent air. 
 
 ** I'll win the money for yer backers, Mr. Maloney ; do you 
 think I'm not able ? thrust yer moind back, an' see if you can 
 remimber me iver losin* a race that I was engaged in, even 
 wid the best spoortin' min to the fore. Don't I know ivery 
 inch o' the counthry they're goin' to ride nixt Tuesday, an' 
 can't I judge a horse from his snaffle to his fetlock ? How 
 and iver, Mr. Maloney, I'll have no more to say in the matther ; 
 you're bound to kape the saycret, an' as for the rest, you can 
 olaze rersel'. Ill be here in the mornin' for the horse."
 
 THE MISER OF DHROMMACOHOL. 
 
 179 
 
 "Stay a moment, Mr. Carmody," besought the miser, 
 * give me time to consider the matter." 
 
 " There's no considerin' to be done," replied Tighe half 
 impatiently ; " the matther is as plain as a, b, c, ayther take 
 yer risks wid Joe Canty to foind him arristed on the mornin' 
 o' the race, an' yer horse, av coorse, withdrawn (for it would 
 be too late thin to change things), an' thim that's bet on the 
 other horses'll be only too glad o' the evint, for it'll be some- 
 thin' in their favor, an' you may be sure it isn't for yer in- 
 therests they'll be carin' ; you can do that I say, or on the 
 other hand you can jist put Joe Canty off whin he comes 
 down here to see the horse by sayin' you won't have him 
 looked at till the mornin' o' the race ; he'll think you're a bit 
 cracked, mebbe, or the loike, but what odds'll that make as 
 long as you've some one to ride him that'll secure yer money ? 
 An' for that matther, I can go to him wid a message from you, 
 biddin' him not to come down here, that the horse'll be ready 
 for him on the mornin' o' the race, an' that he can't see him 
 afore ; that'll kape him from inthrudin' on us till we're ready 
 for him ; he'll think iverything is all roight, an' in the mane- 
 toime I'll have me name booked as if I had a horse to ride in 
 the place o' Rody Crane's filly that I tould you was withdrawn. 
 I can do that aisily, as long as I do it in toime, an' the lists 
 won't be closed till to-morrow evenin*. Thin, on Tuesday 
 nixt, when Mr. Joe Canty foinds himsel' on the way to the 
 jail, I can sthand for'ard to take his place ; be rayson o'havin' 
 me name booked they can't object, an' I can make it appear 
 how I'm a frind o' yours, an' couldn't sthand by an' let you 
 be thrated in such a manner as that ; an' niver fear but iveiy 
 one o' the bettors on our side'll be ready to back me. Now, 
 understhand, Mr. Maloney, it's no intherest o' moine one way 
 or the other it'll nayther put a pinny in me pocket, nor will it 
 take a pinny out o' it ; but I couldn't sthand by quietly an' 
 let a man be bate out o' the sum o' money you'll lose nixt 
 Tuesday, whin it was in me power to purvint it." 
 
 The miser's eyes seemed to glitter through Tighe, so bright
 
 ,g CARROLL O'DONOGHUB. 
 
 and so continuous was their sparkle, while he listened to the 
 rapidly-delivered assertions. Tighe had a dim idea that hi 
 arguments were very illogical, but he trusted that the volu- 
 bility and rapidity with which they were delivered would so 
 becloud the old man's brain as to leave him with little power 
 of reasoning beyond the fact that if he did not accede to his 
 visitor's proposition he would be sure to sustain a great pe- 
 cuniary loss. Tighe's wish seemed to be gratified ; the miser 
 was confused by'the rambling statement, which his ignorance 
 of sporting affairs made all the more rambling and incoher- 
 ent to him, while at the same time he was impressed with 
 Tighe's forcible and apparently honest manner. 
 
 " I should like to communicate with Mr. Carter," he ob- 
 served, his whole manner indicating trouble and perplexity. 
 
 " What for ? " asked Tighe in well-feigned indignant aston- 
 ishment. " Now, Mr. Maloney, didn't you swear solemnly 
 afore Heaven that yer soul moight burn foriver in hell's fire 
 if you revaled a syllable o' what I tould you? An' for what 
 else'd you be writin' to Carther for ? If I tould the saycret 
 to you to save yer bit o' money from bein' thricked out o' 
 you, that's not sayin' that I'm goin' to bethray intoirely the 
 confidence that was put in me ; an' besides, Mr. Carther 
 hasn't the money at stake that you have, an' he won't be the 
 loser that you will. But there's one condition I was for- 
 gettin " the last words were owing to one of Tighe's sud- 
 den thoughts, and with his wonted quickness he determined 
 to act upon it, though it was shadowed with some misgiving ; 
 " if I ride for you, you'll have to give me the money for the 
 jockey's dress. I can have it med in the town be givin' the 
 order in toime." 
 
 The miser's brow knitted. 
 
 " I see, Mr. Maloney," resumed Tighe, " you're not sathis- 
 fied, an' I'll not force you ; the risk is yer own, an' I have a 
 clane conscience now ; I've discharged me duty loike an hon- 
 est man, so I'll bid you good evenin'." 
 
 Again he turned to depart, and he had almost reached
 
 THE MISER OF DHROMMACOHOL. ,8 X 
 
 the door of the little shop when the old man hurried after 
 him. 
 
 "One moment, Mr. Carmody; how much money will thii 
 dress cost ? " 
 
 " Oh, the matther o* a pound or so," answered Tighe, look- 
 ing as if he were very unwilling to be longer detained ; " but 
 I'd rather you'd dhrop it all now, Mr. Maloney ; to ride for 
 you will only be throuble an' inconvanience for mesel'. I 
 didn't think o' it afore, but now that I'm givin' the matther 
 reflection, it'll be best for me not to do it. Agin I bid you a 
 very good evenin', Mr. Maloney." 
 
 He turned quickly and shot out of the open doorway. The 
 miser was after him, out on the road, begging him in an ab- 
 ject manner to return. " I will give you a pound, Mr. Car- 
 mody," and he fumbled in his breast. 
 
 Tighe returned with him to the shop, watching with no 
 slight inward satisfaction the dirty leather wallet slowly and 
 reluctantly brought forth. He turned his back to Tighe while 
 he opened it, and when at last he faced Tighe a Vohr holding 
 out the required amount, his hand trembled so that it seemed 
 as if the bank-note would drop from his fingers. Tighe took 
 it, pocketed it carefully, and then with a hurried air, as if 
 anxious to make up for lost time, he said : 
 
 " Now, Mr. Maloney, I'll be here bright an* airly in the 
 mornin' for the horse, an* do you tell the groom to be bidable 
 to me directions. Thin, whin I get to Tralee, an' see the 
 horse properly stabled, I'll make it me business to call on Mr. 
 Canty, an' deliver yer message to him ; an' if he persists in 
 comin' down here afther that do you act the part I prescribed 
 for you. Are you quite ready an' willin', Mr. Maloney, to do 
 all that ? no hesitation now, but spake up loike a man." 
 
 " Yes," answered old Ned, as if the monosyllable was choked 
 out of him. 
 
 " Very well thin ; an' mebbe whin you're the gainer o' as 
 many pounds as I have holes in me caubeen, " pointing to his 
 tattered head- gear " you'll have cause to be thankful to Tighe 
 a Vohr."
 
 , 8a CARROLL ODONOQHUB. 
 
 There was no solicitation this time to return, and Tighe, 
 with Shaun at his heels, was soon taking hasty strides toward 
 his mother's humble home. 
 
 44 1 may as well kill two birds with one stone," he murmured 
 to himself ; " I'll see me mother, an' thry if I can't put in a 
 good word for Corny O'Toole ; it will rise the spirits o' the 
 little man, an' kape him me constant frind ; an' faith, mebbe 
 I'd need him agin in the way o' writin' or the loike."
 
 CHAPTER XXIt 
 
 CARTER VISITS DUBLIN. 
 
 MORTIMER CARTER was desperate. The fact that his per- 
 fidy seemed so well known to both clergymen caused a hor- 
 rible fear that through their united efforts something might 
 occur to intercept or destroy his plans. He chafed at the 
 bare possibility, and as he walked the narrow confines of his 
 temporary lodging after his meeting with the little party from 
 Dhrommacohol, he muttered to himself, with the savage and 
 threatening look of a wild beast disturbed from its lair : 
 
 " A lifetime in the one pursuit ! I failed with her mother, 
 but by the powers I shall have her, though the devil should 
 have my soul the minute after ! She turned her face away 
 from me to-day ; I am a traitor and a worm in her sight ! " 
 He clinched his hands and paced the room with quicker strides. 
 " Oh, to bring her proud head down ! but it shall be brought 
 down, and that soon. Rick will be prepared to do what I 
 ask him when I return, and if I can succeed in getting Car- 
 roll to try to escape again perhaps he will be shot in the ven- 
 ture, and that will be quicker for me than to wait for his 
 hanging." 
 
 He ceased walking, and standing by the low mantel, folded 
 his arms upon it and gave himself up to moody thought. 
 Captain Dennier's manner to him on the occasion of their last 
 interview had been productive of many a doubt and fear ; he 
 regretted, also, having given the Fenian document to that 
 officer ; he could have cursed bitterly for not being himself 
 the bearer of it to Dublin ; then, the promised reward there 
 was an ambiguity about even Lord Heathcote's assurance to 
 him which did not point so surely to the compensation as tht 
 (183)
 
 ,84 CARROLL VDONOQHUR 
 
 traitor desired. What if on the completion of his web of 
 treachery he should find that he himself had been caught in 
 the meshes ! the thought was maddening, and goaded to an 
 extremity to which in calmer moments he would scarcely 
 have proceeded, he determined to go immediately to Dublin. 
 Rumor had it that thither Lord Heathcote had repaired after 
 his last visit to Tralee ; he would see that high military official, 
 and have a distinct settlement, as well as an assurance that 
 the paper which he had given to Captain Dennier had been 
 received by the proper authorities. He remembered the race 
 for which he had entered Ned Maloney's horse, but a mo- 
 ment's thought convinced him that that need prove no obstacle 
 to his journey ; the preliminaries of the race were all arranged, 
 and Joe Canty, now that he was really secured for the animal, 
 was too good a horseman to require any supervision ; beside, 
 the numerous backers, as interested as Morty was himself, 
 were sufficient to guard the interests of all concerned. He 
 would be obliged to break his promise of bringing the horse 
 up to Tralee, but old Maloney could do that himself, or fail- 
 ing to do it, he could trust the animal to the groom for the 
 journey. These points settled in his mind, he hastily wrote 
 the note which he subsequently intrusted to the boy who was 
 injured by the overthrown gig, and then he rapidly indited 
 another to Joe Canty, which he also sent by hand ; the latter 
 message simply stated his intended absence from Tralee and 
 the uncertainty of the precise time of his return. To Dublin 
 then he set his face, only to find, when he reached the capital 
 and repaired to the castle, that there were more difficulties in 
 the way of seeing Lord Heathcote than he had anticipated. 
 He chafed at the delay which involved a loss of days and ren- 
 dered him more desperate and eager. It dawned upon him 
 at last that the difficulties in the way of seeing his lordship 
 were interposed by the latter himself ; then he sent up an im- 
 portunate card, and after still further delay he was conducted 
 to the nobleman. Dignified and cold to sternness, Lord Heath- 
 cote received his visitor ; but the latter had fortified himself
 
 CARTER VISITS DUBLIN. 185 
 
 too strongly to be abashed by the haughty presence, and hav- 
 ing made his obeisance, he responded to the curt : 
 
 "Well, Mr. Carter, the object of this visit?" by : 
 
 "I have ventured to intrude upon your lordship in order to 
 settle serious doubts which have arisen in my mind." 
 
 " Regarding what ? " asked Lord Heathcote, eying him 
 coldly, and for an instant toying with one of the medals on 
 his breast. 
 
 "Regarding the paper containing information of the Irish 
 Republic which I gave by your order to Captain Dennier." 
 
 " I can quiet your fears about that," was the cold response. 
 " The paper, in a sealed cover, was delivered at the castle, 
 and it is now, with other sealed papers, in possession of the 
 proper authorities ; it will play an important part on the trial 
 of the prisoners who are now confined in the county jail at 
 Tralee. Have you any further business, Mr. Carter ? " 
 
 Still unabashed by the increasing sternness of the noble- 
 man's tone, or the cold manner which so plainly signified a 
 desire for the visitor's departure, Carter said : 
 
 " Captain Dennier's own manner to me, stigmatizing me as 
 a traitor, and showing by his words that his sympathies were 
 more with this country than with his own, led me to fear that 
 there might be foul play with the document." 
 
 There was a knitting of his lordship's brows for an instant, 
 and a firmer closing of his rigid mouth ; but he made no re- 
 sponse. Carter, hurried by his short-sighted eagerness into a 
 remark which should compel some reply from the haughty, 
 impassible being before him, continued : 
 
 " Believe me, your lordship, incapable of saying aught which 
 might lessen the affection you bear Captain Dennier ; as 
 your " 
 
 " Cease ! " the nobleman thundered, bounding out of his 
 chair, and standing before Carter with so stern and command- 
 ing a mien that the traitor trembled and shrunk. "Yean 
 have passed since that time," continued his lordship in the 
 same voice ; " how have you penetrated my secret now
 
 j&S CARROLL VDONOGHUR 
 
 peak ! " The last word was uttered in a still more peremp- 
 tory tone, as Carter, wholly unprepared for the anger he had 
 aroused, and vainly wishing he had been silent, stood in cow- 
 ering hesitation. But that peremptory tone would brook 
 neither delay nor evasion. He forced himself to meet the 
 keen eyes bent upon him as if they would pierce him through, 
 and he answered with a painful tremor in his voice : 
 
 *' The secret of those years ago, your lordship, has always 
 been safe with me ; I have never revealed it, and I should not 
 
 have known this now but for the gossip of the barracks " 
 
 He paused. 
 
 " And that gossip ? " demanded his lordship ; " what did it 
 reveal ? " 
 
 " Your singular interest in the young officer, an interest that 
 extended over years, and the resemblance between his manner 
 and your own how it was marked by the same sternness and 
 power of command ; it flashed upon me then, your lordship, 
 that Captein Dennier was " 
 
 " Stop ! " almost thundered the nobleman ; " never must 
 tongue v'ter that word ! it brings back the disgrace, the pol- 
 lution of that unfortunate, that miserable past." 
 
 Un'ii'ppily excited, despite his evident determination to re- 
 main calm, he paced the room with nervous and hurried 
 treac*. Carter watched him, regaining confidence and assur- 
 ance as he saw this evidence of his power to move that stern 
 and haughty soul. Suddenly he stopped before Carter ; he 
 had subdued his emotions and his mien had recovered its 
 calmness . 
 
 "Hav you betrayed this knowledge, these suspicions" 
 with an emphasis on the last word, as if he would force the 
 belief upon Carter that the latter's mind, ignorant of the true 
 facts in the case, held suspicions alone " of yours, to any 
 one else ? have you hinted of them to Captain Dennier ? " 
 
 " No, your lordship ; I had too much regard for you ; I 
 would let the revelation of this come from yourself ; it wa* 
 not my place to know aught."
 
 CARTER VISITS DUBLIN. jg 7 
 
 " You have acted well ; " for an instant there was a distinct 
 softening of the harsh voice ; the next, however, it had re- 
 covered its repellent tone ; " why did you not tell me what 
 you have told me to-day, on the occasion of our first meeting 
 in Tralee garrison, when you brought yourself to my notice 
 and reverted to our acquaintance twenty-seven years ago ? " 
 
 " I had not then, your lordship, penetrated the present state 
 of affairs." 
 
 Lord Heathcote was silent for a moment, looking keenly 
 at Carter the while. At length he said : 
 
 " You will maintain the same secrecy for the future ? " 
 
 " Certainly, my lord ; " and Carter bowed as low as his cor- 
 pulent form would permit him to do. 
 
 Lord Heathcote, evidently considering the interview ended, 
 turned aside to summon an attendant for the purpose of con- 
 ducting Mr. Carter out ; but the latter had another, and to 
 him, a most important item of business. 
 
 " Will your lordship kindly re-assure me about the reward 
 for my information ? Captain Dennier referred me to you for 
 conference about it, though he told me of your promise to 
 attend to it on the conclusion of the trials." 
 
 " Weil," there was an accent of impatience in his lordship's 
 tone " what assurance do you wish ? " 
 
 " That you will use your influence to secure for me the 
 amount of money which I named when I had the honor of a 
 previous interview with your lordship." 
 
 " Your price is high," said Lord Heathcote ; " what do you 
 propose doing with such a sum ? " 
 
 Carter replied : " To purchase the encumbered estate of 
 the O'Donoghue family." 
 
 His lordship, without answering, resumed his seat, covering 
 his face with his hand, and gave himself up to thought ; Carter 
 patiently waited, a complacent smile half curling the corners 
 of his mouth. " The O'Donoghue family ? " repeated his 
 lordship at length, looking up ; " the family, I presume, from 
 whom comes this young Australian convict who was recap-
 
 ,88 CARROLL &DONOOHUK 
 
 tared on information furnished, I believe, indirectly by 
 you." 
 
 Carter bowed, and the nobleman continued : 
 "The estate became encumbered by debt." 
 Again Carter bowed ; Lord Heathcote still continued : 
 " And you would install yourself on this estate ? Well, Car- 
 ter, if this last information, which you say is so valuable and 
 the most important you have yet given, proves to be all that 
 you claim for it, I have little doubt of your getting the reward 
 you have stipulated." 
 
 Carter appeared to be satisfied ; he was profuse in his 
 thanks and bows, and when he left the nobleman's presence 
 it was with a mind considerably relieved, and with courage 
 entirely renewed for bis nefarious plant.
 
 CHAPTER XXIIL 
 
 TIGHE A VOHR'S PROPOSAL TO HIS MOTHE*. 
 
 WITH a comparatively light heart, having accomplished 
 much of his self-imposed mission more successfully than he 
 had dared to hope, Tighe a Vohr trudged on to his mother's 
 house ; he did not rebuke Shaun's gambols, and if it was not 
 for the weight upon his heart caused by the thought of his 
 imprisoned young master, he could have broken into the 
 merriest of glees ; as it was, the strain died in his throat, and a 
 prayer for poor, unhappy Carroll found its way to his lipt 
 instead. 
 
 " Wisha, welcome, Tighe asthore ! " 
 
 And Tighe a Vohr, to his agreeable surprise, found himself, 
 instead of being scolded and reproached, as he had half ex- 
 pected, heartily embraced by his fond, simple old mother. 
 Curious to know what could have made her conduct so differ- 
 ent from that which he had anticipated, he said slyly, when 
 released from her loving clasp : "Why thin, what has happen- 
 ed to you, mother, that you're not angry wid me for shtayin* 
 away so long ? " 
 
 " Because I know all about it, Tighe, darlin'; wasn't I up 
 to Father Meagher's, an' didn't his riverince tell me himsel' 
 that he was plazed wid you, an' that he had great hopes in- 
 toirely o' you ? " 
 
 " Oh, that's it ! " said Tighe, slowly, as if he was taking 
 time to understand his mother's explanation ; the same while 
 he was thinking how changed would be Father Meagher's 
 notes of praise could the worthy priest know the number of 
 falsehoods recently told by Tighe, and wondering, also, if the 
 old lady knew of his late visit to Dhrommacohol when he and
 
 , 90 CARROLL VDONOQHUK 
 
 Moira employed Shaun to such effectual purpose. If she did, 
 it was still more surprising that the vials of her wrath were 
 not poured upon his devoted head, for upon that occasion he 
 had departed without paying her the semblance of a visit. 
 But it was evident that she did not know, for she made no allu- 
 sion to it ; Moira, probably suspecting that Tighe did not call 
 upon his mother, had prudently refrained from mentioning the 
 visit. His mother seemed, however, to have particulars of 
 his meeting with Father Meagher and the young ladies in 
 Tralee, and to know about his fortunate recovery of Shaun ; 
 and at last she turned to bestow a little of her affectionate 
 attention upon the dog. The animal never responded de- 
 monstratively to any attentions, however affectionate, but 
 Tighe's, and now he received all Mrs. Carmody's pats on the 
 head, and stroking down of his long straggling hair, and all 
 her phrases of welcome, such as : " I'm rale glad to see you, 
 Shaun an' it's a foine dog you are ! " with a gravity quite 
 befitting his canine dignity. With pride and delight the old 
 woman learned that her son would remain until morning ; 
 and she hastened to put fresh touches to the room which she 
 always kept prepared for him, and to set out the remains of 
 hei own frugal supper. Tighe ate and drank, and took so 
 touch pains to be his own old bright, witty self, that the sim- 
 ple soul was lost between admiration and affection. Tighe 
 read it all in her face, and he was well pleased, for in that 
 happy state of mind, she would better receive the communi- 
 cation he was about to make : a communication that was 
 costing him more apprehension than his visit to old Ned 
 Maloney had done. 
 
 " Mother," he said, taking one of her hands affectionately 
 in his own, " it's very lonely for you here wid me away so 
 much." 
 
 " It is, Tighe," replied the innocent old soul ; " but I'm 
 contint so long as no harrum comes to you, an' that I can sec 
 you once in a while." 
 
 Tighe shook his head. " It's many an anxious thought I
 
 TIQHE A VOHR'8 PROPOSAL TO HIS MOTHER. 
 
 191 
 
 have o' you, mother, whin I'm away from you, an' somehow I 
 can't help feelin', that is " glancing furtively into her eyes, 
 and experiencing a sudden dread of coming to the point 
 "that is, thinkin', havin' a thought a soort o' an idea jist a 
 
 somethin' that" disconcerted by his fast-growing fears, 
 
 he paused outright. 
 
 "That what ? say it out, Tighe," entreated the old lady. 
 
 But Tighe still found it difficult to bring himself to an ac- 
 curate expression ; he continued to beat about the bush. " A 
 soort o' a feelin' that somehow comes round me heart a 
 squeezin' loike that makes me think o' I don't know what a 
 sinsation " 
 
 " Why, thin, Tim Carmody, what are you dhrivin' at ? " 
 broke in the old lady, too impatient and too angry to hear 
 further ; " what do you mane be spakin' in such riddles to 
 yer poor ould mother?" 
 
 " Aisy, mother, awhile," coaxed Tighe, " an' I'll tell you ; 
 only give me toime, for it's a delicate subjict." Then straight- 
 ening in his chair, as if he was desperately nerving himself, 
 he continued : " I was often thinkin' that if you had a hus- 
 band to take care o' you whin I'd be away " 
 
 He was cut short by a half shriek from his mother, accom- 
 panied by the noise of the falling stool which, in her sudden 
 rising from it, she had upset She stood before him, her arms 
 akimbo, her face as red as the handkerchief about her neck, 
 and the frilled borders of her cap shaking threateningly with 
 every indignant word she uttered. 
 
 " Timothy Carmody, if you have no betther word for yer 
 ould mother than an insult loike that, it'd be fitter for you to 
 shtay in the barracks you kem from. It was wid no intintions 
 o' matrimony a second toime that I buried yer father, God 
 rest his sowl, an' it's wid no sich disrespect o' the good man 
 in his grave that I've been a widdy all these years. Oh, that 
 I should live to hear me own son axin' me to marry ! " sudden 
 emotion was overcoming her " me, a respectable single, for- 
 lorn widdy, nineteen years come nixt Candlemas ! " Quite
 
 I 9 , CARROLL 
 
 broken down, she threw her apron over her head and began to 
 sob. 
 
 Tighe was sorely puzzled ; he could cozen Corny O'Toole, 
 he could manage old Maloney, he could deceive the love-sick 
 Garfield, he could impose on Captain Dennier, and he had 
 little apprehension of being able to make Joe Canty swallow 
 one of his plausible inventions, but how to win his mother 
 was entirely beyond him. He looked ruefully at Shaun, who 
 seemed to understand the situation and to sympathize with 
 his master, saying to the dog in a whispered aside which the 
 loudness of his mother's grief prevented her from hearing : 
 
 " She's a woman, Shaun, an' that explains it ; if she was a 
 man there'd be rayson in her ; but the wiraen are always on- 
 manageable. Mother," after a pause during which Mrs. Car- 
 mody's sobs had become less frequent " I'm sorry for insultin' 
 you, but it was out o' the kindness o' me heart that I spoke ; 
 I was thinkin' o' the poor fellow that's heart-broken wid love 
 o' you." 
 
 The apron suddenly dropped, and the sobbing ceased. 
 
 44 Yis," said Tighe, growing hopeful as he saw the sudden 
 change produced by his last remark, " it was for his sake 
 that I vintured on me onlucky spache to you." 
 
 44 Who is he ? " interrupted his mother. 
 
 44 No less than Corny O'Toole," blurted Tighe, rising from 
 his chair, and standing with folded arms as if he had nerved 
 himself for the worst. 
 
 There was a pause, during which Tighe was the object of a 
 look of withering scorn ; then there burst upon him in ac- 
 cents of trembling indignation : 
 
 44 Corny O'Toole, is it ? Bad luck to yer impidince, Tim 
 Carmody, for wantin' to throw the loike o' him at me ! he 
 hasn't a sowl above the letthers he writes, an' he's as ugly an' 
 musty as the one little dirty room that he cooks, ates, an' 
 sleeps in. You can tell him from me that if it's marryin' a 
 second toime I was thinkin' av, it's a dacent husband I'd look 
 lor, an' not the loike o' yellow, wizened Corny O'Toole,"
 
 TIGHE A VOHR8 PROPOSAL TO HIS MOTHER I93 
 
 And with the borders of her cap still indignantly shaking, 
 and her whole form responding by its tremor to her outraged 
 feelings, she flounced into Tighe's chamber and slammed the 
 door hard behind her. 
 
 Tighe remained in his erect position, too astonished and 
 too discomfited to do more than look after his mother, and 
 then turn his eyes with a crestfallen air to the dog. 
 
 " That's bad for Corny," he muttered. Then with a sigh 
 as if he had heroically resigned himself to circumstances, he 
 resumed his seat, and patting Shaun, relieved himself by one 
 of his wonted addresses to the animal. " It was no lie, Shaun, 
 whin I tould Garfield that wimen wor quare ; faith, from 
 one to the other o' thim, from Moira Moynahan down to me 
 own mother, they have as many thricks as a wild colt. ' Yellow, 
 wizened, Corny O'Toole ' thim's the words she used ; so 
 it's a fair face she wants ; I don't know if I tould Corny to 
 powdher would it help matthers." He shook his head dole- 
 fully, as if the idea met with little favor, and at length, unable 
 to make affairs look more hopeful, he threw himself on the 
 settle and was soon sound asleep. 
 
 His mother, he r ; \ dignation spent, and her affection for her 
 scape-grace son back in all its wonted ardor, stole softly to 
 his side ; having fondly contemplated his round, rosy face, 
 and soft brown hair clustering in curling profusion round his 
 forehead, she called softly : " Tighe, darlin' ! " 
 
 The sound of the voice partially disturbing Tighe's slum- 
 bering senses, gave a livelier turn to his dreams ; in another 
 moment he was talking in his sleep : 
 
 " Whisht, Corny ! it's too yellow you are the ould woman 
 has an eye for beauty ; you won't do at all, ma bouchal." 
 
 " Tim Carmody ! " and the old woman, again rendered irate 
 by the disjointed phrases which she knew had reference to 
 herself, gave her son a vigorous shake. Tighe started up, his 
 slumber-bound faculties not yet in a condition to remember 
 that he was in his own home with his mother beside him, in- 
 stead of in Corny O'Toole's little bachelor apartment.
 
 , 94 CARROLL CrDONOGHUX. 
 
 " Don't be so obstrepolous, man," he said, striking at his 
 mother under the impression that it was Corny's bald head 
 that glistened before him ; " I popped the question mesel' for 
 you, but it was no use." 
 
 By this time he was quite awake and realizing, by his 
 mother's face and his own consciousness of having talked 
 in his sleep, that he had hindered more than ever the result he 
 wished to effect. 
 
 " Timothy Carmody ! " whenever she called him by his full 
 Christian name, Tighe knew that his mother was hurt in her 
 most tender spot. " Niver agin, as you respect me gray 
 hairs, an* the bones o* yer father in his lonely grave, talk the 
 way you did to-noight. Yer father, may the heavens be his 
 bed, was a foine, big man, six feet in his shoes, wid a clane, 
 sthraight face that hadn't one crooked feature. It's enough 
 to have him turn in his coffin, to mintion the loike o' Corny 
 O'Toole in the same breath." 
 
 " Very well, ma'am," answered Tighe meekly ; " an' I hum- 
 bly ax yer pardon for all I said." 
 
 His penitent air quite mollified the old woman, and re- 
 stored him to her favor ; he was conducted with affectionate 
 eclat to his own room, and soon peaceful slumber bound the 
 eyelids of all within the little cabin, including Shaun, who 
 slept at the foot of his master's bed.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 TIGHK SECURES A HORS*. 
 
 TIGHE was astir early the next morning, and ready for his 
 
 visit to old Ned Maloney. With many an affectionate entreaty 
 and loving counsel, his mother, entirely recovered from her 
 indignation of the previous night, and satisfied that Tighe's 
 inner man was fortified by a hearty breakfast of her plain but 
 abundant fare, allowed him to depart. Tighe did not imme- 
 diately betake himself to the miser's shop ; he had friendly 
 calls to make on some of the neighbors whose residences lay 
 between the car-office and the dingy-looking shop. He was 
 welcome everywhere, despite his vagabond reputation, for his 
 qualities of good nature and simple candor when, to use his 
 own words, " he had no divarsion on hand," made him univers- 
 ally beloved. Pressing were the invitations which he re- 
 ceived to rest himself and to partake of a bountiful though 
 plain hospitality ; but Tighe thankfully declined, and adroitly 
 turned the random conversation upon Ned Maloney. 
 
 " I heerd a quare story about him," said Tighe, dropping 
 his voice to a whisper that brought his eager listeners close to 
 him ; " they say there's some gintleman from Tralee comin' 
 down here in the course o' the wake to see him, an' that the 
 ould sinner kapes a blundherbuss on hand to shoot the gin- 
 tleman the minit he puts his nose inside the shop." 
 
 " The cross o' Christ betune us an' harrum," spoke up one 
 of the women hearers, devoutly crossing herself, " sure that's 
 dhreadful ! " 
 
 " It's awful ! " said Tighe, lifting his eyes in pious horror ; 
 " an' it'll only be the dacent thing for all o' you down here so 
 near the car place, where he must surely come, to be on the
 
 196 
 
 CARROLL &DONOQHUE. 
 
 watch for him sure any o* the bright-witted gossoons that 
 are always round the cars will twig him in a minit ; he's a 
 apoortin' man, an' his name is Mr. Joe Canty ; be followin' 
 him a little distance they can see whether he makes for 
 Maloney's plare, an' if he does, some o' you grown folks can 
 jist go an' beg him not to go there, but to turn back as fast ai 
 he can. If I could shtay down here I'd do it, but I can't." 
 
 " Oh, we'll do it, Tighe," spoke up all the voices at once 
 
 " It'll be a noble act," resumed Tighe a Vohr ; " an' tell the 
 other neighbors, so that whin you all together waylay Mr- 
 Canty he'll surely have to belave you, an' he'll get away wid 
 his loife ; but don't let ould Maloney know a syllable o' this ; 
 nor don't let him see you watchin' him any more than usual, 
 for there's no knowin' what desperate turn he moight take 
 among yersel's." 
 
 " Thrue for you, Tighe ; sure they say he signed his sowl to 
 the divil long ago for the sake o' good luck in his stills an* 
 his smugglin'." 
 
 Tighe shook his head ; " I am afeerd the divil'll have him- 
 sel' an' his money afore a great while." 
 
 " But what is the rayson," asked one of the more inquisi- 
 tive of his listeners, " that he wants to shoot this gintle- 
 man ? " 
 
 " The divil alone, besides ould Maloney himsel', could tell 
 you that," was the response ; " he has such terrible saycrets, 
 that same ould man, that it'd take betther brains than any one 
 here has to discover them. I'm goin' down mesel' to see him thii 
 mornin' on a thrifle o' business for another person, an' it's fright- 
 ened enough I am afther all I've heerd o' him to go near him." 
 
 " Yffu needn't be afeerd, Tighe," spoke up a couple of 
 voices ; " he's always been purty civil to you." 
 
 " You niver can thrust a miser," was Tighe's reply, as with 
 a friendly farewell, responded to by hearty God-speeds, he 
 departed. 
 
 The miser, seated in the doorway of his shop, was await- 
 ing his expected visitor. A greasy coat, buttoned so as to
 
 TIQHE SECURES A HORSE. 
 
 197 
 
 conceal his shirtless bosom, hung upon his spare form, and hig 
 great bony hands, resting on his knees, gave little evidence of 
 any recent ablution. Tighe's salute, accompanied by an 
 energy and independence of manner assumed for the purpose 
 of impressing the old man, was slowly and gravely returned. 
 Then without another word he bade Tighe follow him to the 
 stable. Report had not exaggerated when it said that old 
 Ned Maloney had built a better stable for his horse than he 
 had a house for himself ; the stable was a stanch, comforta- 
 ble structure, well-roofed, well-floored, and abundantly sup- 
 plied with straw and forage ; and the groom was a close, wiry 
 fellow, who evidently knew his business well. The horse was 
 led out, and stood in all its noble proportions before Tighe, 
 whose eyes sparkled as he noted the signs a task in which 
 no one in the county was better versed than himself that 
 marked the horse as being sound of wind and fleet of limb ; 
 from the proud arch of his neck to his slender legs the animal 
 was the thorough-bred racer, with the blood of sire and dam 
 telling in every spirited motion. Tighe's admiration was loud 
 and ardent. 
 
 "There's no fear, Mr. Maloney, but he'll win the race ; he's 
 a rale beauty ! " and with his wonted artfulness Tighe began to 
 display his horsemanlike powers vaulting on the back of the 
 steed, and with his knowing hand causing him to prance, and 
 corvette, and amble, in the inclosed space which surrounded the 
 stable, till both the old miser and the groom were convinced of 
 Tighe's superior skill as a rider. Then, when Tighe deemed 
 that he had given sufficient exhibition of his powers, he dis- 
 mounted, and immediately began to hurry the groom's prep- 
 arations for departure. 
 
 Out on the road, and Tighe made full use of that talent for 
 droll story-telling which he possessed in no limited degree. 
 Having ascertained by apparently aimless questions that the 
 groom, shrewd and artful as he appeared, was unacquainted 
 by any personal experience with the topography of the coun- 
 try three miles beyond Dhrommacohol, Tighe determined to
 
 i 9 8 
 
 CARROLL O'DONOOEUS. 
 
 so divert the attention of the fellow that he would forget to 
 observe the direction they were taking, or the places through 
 which they were traveling, beyond such information as Tighe 
 himself chose to volunteer. And he succeeded : the mind of 
 the groom was so amused, perplexed, and at last so beclouded 
 with the absurd stories in which horses, devils and ghosts 
 were mingled in strange and terror-striking fashion, that the 
 little, wiry fellow was as abstracted and absorbed as his sharp 
 companion wished him to be. Tighe announced at last 
 the termination of the journey, and Arty Moore, the groom, 
 shook himself like one awaking from deep sleep, and looked 
 half stupidly about him. A wide stretch of open country, 
 environed by hills, lay before him, and the only house in sight 
 was that which they were about to enter a small thatched 
 dwelling, with what appeared to be several out-houses adjoin- 
 ing. The groom's full consciousness returned, and with it the 
 suspicions which were peculiar to him. 
 
 "I thought we were going to Tralee," he said, halting 
 within a step of the doorway; " that's what I understood from 
 Mr. Maloney, and that the horse was to be stabled there." 
 
 " And who said we weren't ? " said Tighe, turning round 
 with an assumption of fierceness before which Moore shrunk. 
 u Didn't you tould me you were niver in Tralee ? " 
 
 44 I did," answered the man with a crestfallen look ; " but 
 my common sense tells me that this isn't the town of Tralee." 
 
 "Well, mebbe yer common sinse would tell you how far out 
 o' the town we are," mocked Tighe ; " an' mebbe that same 
 common sinse that you brag av would tell you I have a very 
 good rayson for what I'm doin' an' one that's to Mr. Maloney's 
 intherest. Now, tell me one thing : " going very close to the 
 groom, and continuing his intimidating manner, " didn't Mr. 
 Maloney himsel* tell you to be attintive to my directions ? " 
 
 44 He did." 
 
 " Very well thin ; mebbe you're sharp enough to know that 
 there's a great dale depindin* on this race ; or mebbe you 
 haven't the gumption to see that there's somethin' to be
 
 TIOHS SECURES A HORSE. 
 
 199 
 
 put in yer own pocket if you have discretion in the matthcr. 
 Which is it now ? " 
 
 That was a shrewd way of detecting whether Arty Moore, 
 Ned Maloney's groom, was too faithful to the miser's interest* 
 to be bribed into betraying them. But the groom's principle! 
 were not of the stanchest kind, and there was no very co- 
 gent reason why he should be faithful to old Maloney at the 
 risk of a pecuniary loss to himself ; with a snap of his black 
 eyes, he answered : 
 
 " Trust me for that ; I'm not particular which master I 
 serve, so long as the money's to the fore." 
 
 Tighe turned upon him with well assumed indignation : 
 " Hould, you thraitor ! is that the way you're sarvin' the poor, 
 lonely old man that thrusts you ? It'll not overtake me to let 
 him know your characther." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Carmody, for the love of God don't ! " and the 
 trembling wretch was almost on his knees at Tighe's feet ; " I 
 meant nothing by it ; the words only escaped me ; but Mr. 
 Maloney'd believe them, and I'd lose my place ; it's an easy 
 one, and a pretty good one so far, and I have a wife and 
 family depending on me." 
 
 Tighe pretended to be unmoved for a few seconds ; then 
 he seemed to yield only for the sake of the dependent family. 
 
 " Will you swear to be thrue to Mr. Maloney's intherests be 
 moindin* sthrictly what I tell you ? " 
 
 " I will, I swear solemnly I will ! " answered the groom. 
 
 *' Very well, thin ; you're not to answer any one a single 
 question about this horse, save that you're his groom, an' 
 nothin' more ; you're nayther to tell the name o' the baste, 
 who is his owner, nor the man that's to ride him ; if the ould 
 b'y himsel' was to sthand afore you an' demand such informa- 
 tion, you're to refuse to give it, both now, duriu' these few 
 days afore the race, and till afther the race is oven Do you 
 consint to all that ? " 
 
 " I do, willingly," was the earnest answer. 
 
 The stable to which the horse was led was hardly as
 
 200 CARROLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 fortable as the one from which he had been taken, bat at lent 
 it was sufficient for the proper housing of the steed ; and the 
 sight of old Maloney's bank-notes, that Tighe ostentatiously 
 displayed, made the owner of the stable, which was annexed 
 to a little shebeen, very willing to make every addition in the 
 way of provender. Tighe was satisfied, and having renewed 
 his injunctions of secrecy to the groom, he departed. 
 
 His first impulse was to seek Mr. Joe Canty ; his next to 
 depute Corny O'Toole to deliver the message ; for this step 
 he had an important reason : it might be rather an awkward 
 (ontretemps to have Mr. Canty on the morning of the race 
 recognize in the jockey who would step forth to ride for 
 Quartermaster Garfield the person who had been the bearer of 
 a message from Mr. Maloney, the owner of the horse that Canty 
 expected to ride ; it might cause suspicion of foul play, suffi- 
 cient to arrest Tighe's part in the race even before he had be- 
 gun it. Thus deciding, he turned his steps to Corny O'Toole, 
 faithful Shaun, who never lost sight of his master, closely fol- 
 lowing. He found that the little stranger had departed not 
 an hour before, having sufficiently recovered under Corny's 
 skillful treatment, and he found Corny himself in a very con- 
 tented frame of mind over a piece of bacon and a dish of 
 smoking potatoes. 
 
 " Just in time, my boy ! " and the little man, with refreshing 
 promptness, arranged a place for Tighe at the homely table. 
 The meal was heartily welcome to the tired Tighe a Vohr, and 
 the palatabk fare, (Corny was an excellent cook) together with 
 the contents of a little black bottle, which came forth from a 
 recess in the closet after the table was cleared, put Tighe into 
 very sanguin" spirits. He related his success with Maloney 
 and the grooii, at which Corny signified his delight and admi- 
 ration by slarping his knees, rubbing his hands together, and 
 giving forth Sequent low, prolonged chuckles. Then Tighe 
 paused, ard 'ook another draught from his glass. Knowing 
 the little D-AI-'S peculiarities, he was doubtful of gaining hii 
 consent to "te the message to Mr. Canty.
 
 TIOEE SECURES A IIOR8K , i 
 
 " I had an intherview wid me mother, Corny." 
 
 " Did you now ? " Mr. O'Toole imbibed from his glas* 
 the rosy color of the liquor perhaps helping to make the blush 
 which came into his wrinkled face. 
 
 " I did that, Corny ; an' you were mintioned ; yis, Corny, 
 you were mintioned be the mother an' the son." 
 
 Mr. O'Toole arose. " I trust, Mr. Carmody, that no allu- 
 sions were made to disturb your mother's widowed feelings ; 
 rather would I bear my own unhappy sentiments to the grave ; 
 yes, sir ! " and he stood erect, glowing with the consciousness 
 of his noble rectitude. 
 
 " Sit down, Corny, an' let me tell you ; the mintion o' you 
 put me mother in a very feelin' mood intoirely ; she was 
 touched, Corny, be yer sintimints for her." And Tighe's con- 
 science was quite innocent of any falsehood this time ; for, as 
 he afterward expressed to Shauri, " sure me mintion o' Corny 
 did touch her, only, begorra, it touched her in the way that 
 Corny wouldn't loike. Yis," pursued Tighe, " an' in toime, 
 Corny, whin the rale goodness o' yer noble heart becomes 
 fully known to her, an' she has her eyes opened to all that she 
 missed whin she tuk Timothy Carmody in preference to yer- 
 sel' " 
 
 " Not in preference, Mr. Carmody, "broke in the little man, 
 with dignity, " but because I didn't ask her in time." 
 
 " I beg yer pardon, Corny, that's what I meant. Well, as 
 I was sayin', whin she has her eyes opened to all this, she'll 
 be proud an' happy to become Mrs. O'Toole." He stood up 
 and shook Corny's hand with prolonged vigor. Mr. O'Toole 
 replenished the glasses. 
 
 44 We'll drink, Tighe, to your mother's health." 
 
 "To the future Mrs. Toole," responded Tighe a Voht. 
 Corny was in a state of the highest satisfaction, pleased with 
 himself, with his visitor, and with his surroundings ; and Tighe, 
 in the same happy state, judged it would be a very good time 
 to broach the true object of his visit. 
 
 Mr. O'Toole looked a little doubtful : " I don't know, my
 
 iOl 
 
 CARROLL 
 
 boy, No* 111 bring myself to do that. I haven't been in so 
 cictc rmce your mother married, and I haven't much mind foi 
 talking to any of these sporting characters." 
 
 " The divil a hap'orth you'll have to say to any o' thim but 
 Mr. Canty Mmac-l', an' thin, barrin' he draws you into any re- 
 marks o' his own, you have nothin' to tell him but that Mr 
 Maloney desire* him not to go down there to see the horse ; 
 an' you nadn't moind puttin' the message in very sthrong 
 words ayther ; for if he won't belave you, an' if he will go 
 down to see eld Maloney, faith it's a quare welcome he'll get 
 both from the people in Dhrommacohol an' the miser himsel'! " 
 and Tighe laughed heartily as his imagination vividly pictured 
 the crowd that would surround unsuspecting Mr. Canty, en- 
 treating him to return. 
 
 " May be he'd ask me if I came straight from Mr. Maloney," 
 said Corny ; " what will I answer then ? " 
 
 " The thruth, Corny," responded Tighe, with the energy of 
 conscious virtue ; " always spake the thruth. Lies is bad 
 ivery way, as degradin' to the man that tells thim as to the 
 man that listens ; and there's nothin' loike the voice o' a good 
 conscience for makin' a man feel himsel' afore the world, an' 
 o' importhance in his own eyes." 
 
 " Right, my boy ; every way right ! " responded Mr. 
 O'Toole. 
 
 " Tell him, Corny, that the messenger who kem direct from 
 Mr. Maloney is at yer house, but for some rayson he couldn't 
 take the message himsel', but gev it to you ; an' that'll be the 
 thruth, anyway : sure I have the best o' raysons for not wish- 
 in' to meet Mr. Canty this while yet." 
 
 At length it was settled ; Corny agreed to take the message 
 to the " Blennerhasset Arms," the most probable whereabouts 
 of Mr. Canty, and Tighe departed to seek Garfield for the 
 purpose of bringing him out to view " Brian Boru.**
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 MR. CANTY. 
 
 A SOFT, bright morning, a country redolent of balmy ait 
 and new-mown hay, and the perfume of a thousand wild, but 
 sweet-scented flowers, that decked the fields on every side, 
 together with the prospect of winning his money and redeeming 
 his honor, all conspired to put William Garfield, quartermaster 
 
 in her Majesty's Regiment, in excellent spirits, as in 
 
 company with Tighe a Vohr, and both mounted on horses 
 capable of a fair gallop, they cantered through the stretch of 
 country which led to the stable of " Brian Boru." The English- 
 man was in a humor to relish Tighe's laughable and original re- 
 marks about the locality through which they were riding, the 
 people, their habits, and everything that Tighe could face- 
 tiously twist or make up into a story of laughable absurdity or 
 startling interest. His conversation, however, was not with- 
 out a frequent random remark regarding the Widow Moore, 
 a careless observation containing some item of news about 
 her that was of profound interest to the love-smitten soldier ; 
 and once the artful fellow insinuated how report had it that 
 the widow was excited about the coming race, and anxious 
 fcr Garfield's success. The soldier was in a glow of antici- 
 pation and pleasure. 
 
 " Only win for me, my dear fellow," he said, clapping his 
 hand familiarly for an instant on Tighe's shoulder, "and you 
 will make me your lasting friend, willing and eager to serve 
 you in everything." 
 
 " The divil a fear o' me losin' for you ; I niver lost * race 
 yet. But wait till you see " Brian Boru ; " if his beauty doesn't 
 quicken the soight in yer eyes me name's not Tim Cannody I 
 (203)
 
 to4 CARROLL (TDONOGHUB. 
 
 only I've a word of caution : don't dhrop any remark afore 
 the groom that you'll foind wid the horse don't even call the 
 horse be name ; for the groom is a fellow not much to be 
 thrustcd, I think, an' if he suspected that you were the man 
 I was to ride for mebbe I couldn't kape the saycracy I want 
 to kape till the day o' the race. You can let on to be a care- 
 less frind o' moine that's jist come out for divarsion's sake to 
 have a look at the baste." 
 
 The soldier was strictly obedient to Tighe's injunctions, and 
 though the lighting up of his heavy face, and his start of de- 
 lighted surprise when the magnificent animal was led out, be- 
 trayed his admiration, he was careful not to drop a syllable of 
 remark. Tighe lightly mounted " Brian Boru " and proceeded 
 to still further surprise and delight the soldier by an exhibi- 
 tion of his skillful horsemanship. Garfield was in an ecstasy 
 of joyous anticipation ; he could hardly wait for the exhibi- 
 tion to be concluded, and until Tighe and himself were in the 
 silent open country again, on their return, when he burst 
 forth: 
 
 " I feel as if I owe you an apology, my friend, for my past 
 distrust of you ; yes, I own," becoming more frank as he 
 looked into Tighe's wondering and apparently artless eyes 
 " that until this morning I did not entirely trust you ; there 
 was a lurking doubt which I could not explain to myself that 
 perhaps you were deceiving me ; but this morning, Mr. Car- 
 mody, has obliterated all that. I believe you fully now, and 
 I thank you from my heart ! " 
 
 " That's always the way," responded Tighe ; " thim that'i 
 innocint is suspected, an' thim that's guilty escapes." 
 
 " I did not forget, Mr. Carmody," resumed the soldier, " my 
 promise to you, and out of gratitude I shall fulfill it this very 
 day. I hope 1 shall be as successful for you as you have been 
 so far for me. Come to the barracks to-night, and I shall 
 have an answer for you." 
 
 Almost at that same moment Corny O'Toole was having hii 
 interview with Mr. Joe Canty in the coffee-room of the " Blen-
 
 MIL CANTY. t o $ 
 
 nerhasset Arms." He had sought that gentleman on the pre- 
 vious evening, but without success, either at the " Arms " or at 
 Mr Canty's residence, and at the latter place Corny was told 
 that he would surely find him at the " Arms " by a certain 
 hour the next morning. 
 
 Mr. Joe Canty was the type of a sporting man : not too tall, 
 lithe, wiry, with a look about the legs as if they were always 
 holding themselves in readiness to mount, and a dash and 
 swagger about his bearing that marked the trickster and the 
 dare-devil. From his small, keen eyes, to the tawny mus- 
 tache which shaded his upper lip, there was an expression of 
 half scorn, as if he were constantly mocking his surroundings, 
 and treating to mental sarcasm his very associates. He was 
 popular among sporting circles, because of his abilities in that 
 line ; and the latter, sharpened by an extraordinary shrewd- 
 ness, had made him a most successful counselor on betting 
 interests. He was surrounded by an eager group of his own 
 class, when it was signified to him that some one wished to 
 see him. 
 
 M Let the person come in here," he said, too eager, in his 
 animated description of some race, to care to cease or to 
 break the thread of his voluble account by leaving the com- 
 pany. 
 
 Corny O'Toole was ushered in ; his drab gaiters, bringing 
 into more prominent view his ungainly feet, were surmounted 
 by pantaloons that, having shrunk in size, stood sufficiently 
 above his gaiter-tops to reveal to a considerable extent a pair 
 of brown stockings ; the color of the unmentionables, once 
 black, had become a dingy brown from age and wear, and 
 gave evidence in the several light-colored spots on their sur- 
 face of hard and valuable service. The upper part of his 
 body was incased in a tight-fitting body-coat ; a quarter of a 
 century before it probably fitted its wearer, and could boast 
 of being cut in the style of the day : but now it bore as anti- 
 quated a look as if it had been handed down from the ark, 
 and it was so tight and short a fit for him whose stout, wide
 
 20 $ CARROLL VDONOQUITK. 
 
 back it covered that it suggested the idea of a straight-jacket 
 His shirt-bosom, innocent of starch, hung limp and abundant 
 on his breast, and the equally limp collar about his neck was 
 ornamented in front by a flaring crimson bow. Hissidelocks, 
 oiled and curled, were plastered in greasy twists against the 
 sides of his yellow, wrinkled face. The sight of this strange, 
 comical, antiquated figure provoked a smile that before long 
 deepened into a broad grin upon every face. Corny had not 
 forgotten his old-time bow, when he was a younger and more 
 gallant man, and with this profound salaam he saluted the 
 company, giving a supplementary courtesy to Mr. Canty, 
 whose person he knew. " Your servant, sir; and I would 
 like a word with you." 
 
 Mr. Canty drew himself up, the interruption which Corny's 
 entrance had proved to his story having put him in no gra- 
 cious mood. " Speak out," he said haughtily ; " what is it 
 you want ? " 
 
 Mr. O'Toole s dignity was hurt ; fondly imagining that he 
 vas gifted with literary genius, his absurd conceit led him to 
 f ancy, also, that others must read his mental superiority in the 
 very poise of his form and the expression of his face. This 
 humiliating slight to which Mr. Canty was subjecting him was 
 very gaJling. He flushed and trembled. " Mr. Canty," he 
 said, in deeply indignant tones, " I came here with a message 
 from Mr. Maloney, of Dhrommacohol ; if you were the gen- 
 tleman I thought you were, I'd deliver it to you, sir, in full ; 
 but since you're not, I'll put you to the trouble of asking 
 questions ; " and Corny assumed his most fierce and dignified 
 attitude. 
 
 A half-suppressed laugh went from mouth to mouth, while 
 the circle of amused listeners drew closer to Corny, their faces 
 expressing an eager anticipation of something ludicrous and 
 racy. Mr. Canty did not join in the laugh he was too much 
 nettled by the situation in which he found himself ; and with 
 a still more haughty, supercilious air he answered : " Your 
 message is your own concern, sir ; whether you deliver it Of 
 not is immaterial to me."
 
 XR, CA2TTT. ,07 
 
 "Very well, Mr. Canty, you can take your own risks of 
 what'll happen to you before long ! " and Mr. O'Toole, with 
 a most ludicrously dignified bow, was turning away. 
 
 " For shame ! " echoed a couple of voices ; " the message 
 may be of importance ; question him, or give one of us per- 
 mission to do so." 
 
 " Act your pleasure, gentlemen," responded Canty, curtly ; 
 and one of the foremost of the group, shrewdly devining Mr. 
 O'Toole's vanity, pretended to pander to it by as absurd an 
 air of deference as ever marked the mien of O'Toole himself. 
 
 " I beg you, my dear sir, to overlook the gross incivility 
 with which you have been received, and state your message to 
 me." 
 
 Corny was mollified and pleased ; his wizened face relaxed 
 its severe expression, and he smiled upon the speaker. 
 
 " Mr. Maloney desires Mr. Canty not to go down to Dhrom- 
 macohol to see his horse, 'Charmer'; the animal is kind of 
 touchy, and won't bear looking at, nor trial. On the morning 
 of the race Mr. Maloney '11 have him here in time." 
 
 Mr. Canty's supercilious air changed to one of violent in- 
 dignation. " Does Mr. Maloney suppose that I'm going to 
 obey any such message as that not see the horse I'm going 
 to ride till the very morning I'm expected to mount him ? you 
 can pay my respects to the gentleman, and tell him I shall 
 have the pleasure of introducing myself to him to-morrow 
 afternoon." 
 
 "You had better not," answered Corny, turning upon him 
 with an air which he meant to be intimidating, but which was 
 only a most laughable assumption of fierceness. 
 
 " Indeed ! " sneered Canty ; "pray who are you who have 
 been deputed to direct my movements?" 
 
 "Who am I ?" all the little man's spirit was aroused ; the 
 blood of the princely OTooles tingled in his veins, and gave 
 courage and animation to his voice. " Who am I ? " he re- 
 peated ; " a better man than ever you were ! I come of the 
 house of O'Toole, where kings and princes had their rise and
 
 , S CARROLL VDONOGHUR. 
 
 fall ; my pedigree in unstained, and my ancestry is one 1 M 
 my posterity can boast of ; among my posthumous desc /id- 
 ants " in his excitement Corny was confusing his words 
 "was a great-grand-aunt who, with her own hands and her 
 own noble exertions, educated three hundred young me> for 
 the priesthood ; they went in a body to Rome, and we' re- 
 ceived in the Vatican by the Pope himself. Yes, gentle nen," 
 continuing with greater emphasis " the Holy Father inter- 
 tained them, and drank with them all to the health jf my 
 noble grand-aunt." 
 
 A shout of laughter cut Corny short. Every man w-3 hold- 
 ing his sides, and squirming and contorting his body with the 
 most violent ebullition of mirth. Even Canty was forced to 
 join in the merriment. Corny was enraged ; to have this 
 glowing account of himself and his race, which he intended 
 should be received as a convincing proof of his title to blood 
 and breeding, thus mockingly interpreted was more than his 
 O'Toole spirit could bear. He turned with renewed indigna- 
 tion on Canty : 
 
 " Now let me tell you, sir, who you are. You are the grand- 
 son of a tinker who went mending his wares over the coun- 
 try ; your father wasn't much better, and your mother was 
 the daughter of an ignorant s/ie&een-keepeT ; and as for your- 
 self, you have the breeding of a knave who wouldn't mind 
 betiaying his own father, providing it put a pound in your 
 pocket ! " 
 
 This home-thrust, pointing so directly at the base part 
 wbioh Canty had played in allowing himself to be bought 
 from an engagement to ride for Garfield, stung the sport to the 
 quick. He sprung at Corny, but a dozen hands pulled him 
 back before he could strike the blow aimed with desperate 
 torce at the little man's face ; and more than one voice urged 
 Corny to depart, a request with which Mr. O'Toole, whose 
 courage, while it was equal to a war of words, dwindled be- 
 fore a display of muscular force, eagerly complied ; the flow- 
 ing tails of his body -cc at were speedily seen flying through 
 the open doorway.
 
 CHAPTER XXVL 
 
 MR. CANTY'S RECEPTION. 
 
 MR. GARFIELD'S efforts in behalf of Tighe had succeeded , 
 owing to the quartermaster's intimate acquaintance with one 
 of the chief officials of the jail, all had been admirably man- 
 aged ; by what particular means the soldier did not choose 
 to say ; and Tighe was too happy to ask for further informa- 
 tion than that an unobstructed passage would be afforded the 
 prisoner's three friends, provided they came at a certain hour 
 on the ensuing night. Tighe was so delighted that he could 
 hardly wait for the mail-car to bear him to DhrommacohoL 
 As he stepped from the car he met Father Meagher, who was 
 just returning from his parish rounds ; the clergyman's face 
 brightened when he saw Tighe a Vohr, and he extended his 
 hand in hearty welcome. 
 
 44 1 have good news, father," he whispered, when they had 
 gone beyond curious observation ; " to-night you will be let 
 into the prison to see Mr. Carroll ; you and the young ladies." 
 
 " How did you manage that, Tighe," asked the priest ; 
 " did you obtain a pass ? " 
 
 Tighe was somewhat nonplussed ; knowing the clergyman's 
 stern integrity, his severe reprehension of anything that per- 
 tained to deceit or dishonor, he could have borne better to be 
 executed than to confess to the clergyman by what plans oi 
 deception he had contrived to bring about the present fortu- 
 nate state of affairs. 
 
 " Now, Father Meagher," he said, after a pause during 
 
 which he pretended to be concerned about Shaun, who was 
 
 sportively chasing a butterfly, " it goes to me heart to have 
 
 you all the toime wantin* to know the whys an' the where- 
 
 (Of)
 
 tlo CARROLL VDONOGHU& 
 
 fores o* me doin's it tells so plainly that you have no thrust 
 in me." 
 
 The clergyman looked full in the face of Tighe a Vohr ; 
 not a muscle of the latter's countenance moved, save to re- 
 turn the gaze by one of most dolefully injured innocence. 
 
 " I mane it, father ; an* if you'd only listen whin I bring 
 you news loike the prisint, widout axin' to know how I kem 
 be me good luck, I'd be the happiest man aloive. I'm thryin 1 
 to be good, yer riverince, sayin' me pathers an* ares dutifully 
 an' kapin* from me usual divarsions " 
 
 " Except the drink, Tighe," interrupted the priest slyly. 
 
 " Oh, yer riverince, as to that, I'm kapin' sthraight intoirely ; 
 barrin' a wee dhrop that I had wid Corny O'Toole yestherday, 
 whin the heart was wake widin me, I haven't touched a sup 
 since since I promised Moira I wouldn't." 
 
 Tighe looked up a little fearfully ; he dreaded the effect of 
 his last words on the clergyman ; but the latter, without seem- 
 ing to notice it, resumed : " You say that everything is ar- 
 ranged for our visit to-night ? " 
 
 " Yis, father ; there isn't one thing to do but to put yersel' 
 under me care until we rache the jail, whin I'm to give you 
 in charge o* a trustworthy person." 
 
 Father Meagher made no further observation, save to insist 
 that Tighe should accompany him to the little pastoral resi- 
 dence, in order to be refreshed after his journey. 
 
 " And how, yer riverince, is Moira to behave to me ? " 
 Tighe asked, with a roguish twinkle, as he stood hesitating on 
 the doorstep of the little dwelling ; " is she still under ordhers 
 not to spake to me ? " 
 
 " Tim Carmody, you are an artful rogue ! " Despite the 
 severity the priest strove to assume, a smile curled his mouth 
 as he remembered the trick which had been played upon him 
 by his niece and Tighe a Vohr. He continued : " It was 
 well you knew how to get over the difficulty when she was 
 under orders, as you term it ! and you'll never be at a loss 
 while you have Shaan for a mouth-piece."
 
 MR. CANTY '8 RECEPTION an 
 
 Tighe rolled up his eyes till the whites alone were visible, 
 muttering : " He knows it ; begorra, he knows all about it ! " 
 
 Moira was permitted to speak to him, and while Clare and 
 Nora, in a flutter of anxiety and joyous anticipation, owing 
 to the tidings which Father Meagher brought, were making 
 hasty preparations for their afternoon trip to Tralee, Tighe 
 and Moira were enjoying an undisturbed conversation in the 
 kitchen. 
 
 The sun was in the full glare of its noonday heat when the 
 little party of four left the pastoral residence to take their 
 way to the car-office. But a strange excitement possessed 
 the little village ; men, women, and children were converging 
 to one spot the street on which old Maloney's abode fronted, 
 and where there might be witnessed an unusual and remark- 
 able scene : a man in fashionable sporting dress surrounded 
 by a motley crowd of men, women, and children, some cling- 
 ing to the skirts of his coat, others on their knees before him, 
 and all gesticulating and hallooing in the wildest confusion. 
 The sporting stranger, red, perspiring, and desperate, sought 
 to get on from his captors ; but they, each moment swelled by 
 some new accession, who, knowing nothing of the origin of 
 the excitement, yet catching the infectious passion of the 
 moment, shrieked and gesticulated as wildly as those who 
 had come earlier upon the scene, fettered every step he 
 attempted to take. At last with a sudden dash he cleared a 
 passage, and darted with the speed of a hare toward Maloney's 
 shop. The miser had not been deaf to the uproar almost 
 at his door, and in trembling agony for the safety of 
 his hoarded gold, which he imagined the rabble were seeking, 
 he hastily barricaded door and window. With carbine in his 
 shaking hand, he stood ready to intimidate the first who should 
 force an entrance. On they came, Joe Canty, in torn and 
 dilapidated plight, at full speed, and the whole motley, howl- 
 ing crowd after him. 
 
 By this time Father Meagher, having left the young ladies
 
 jia CARROLL VDONOQHU& 
 
 in the care of Tighe, arrived on the scene, and his presence 
 and voice restored sufficient order for him to learn that the 
 stranger, on his peaceable way to see Mr. Maloney, had been 
 surrounded by a number of people who acted as if they were 
 mad, entreating and praying him to return immediately to the 
 place whence he came ; indignantly refusing to do so, he had 
 been set upon in this howling manner. The priest had not 
 another moment to stop if he would catch the car, and with 
 a hasty rebuke to the crowd, among whom he recognized all 
 the scamps of his parish, he hurried away ; and once that his 
 reverence was out of sight, that portion of the crowd who 
 knew the cause of the " set-to " on Mr. Canty, and who were 
 determined to keep their promise to Tighe a Vohr, began anew 
 their entreaties. 
 
 " Don't you see how ould Maloney has his dure locked agin 
 you ? it's as much as yer loife's worth to go foreninst the ould 
 sinner." 
 
 " Do, ma bouchal, go back afore you're killed ! " " You're too 
 foine a gintleman to be sthretched the way the ould miser's 
 blundherbuss'll lay you." " For the love o' Heaven go back 
 afore you're a corpse intoirely ! " Such were a few of the 
 many shrieking entreaties with which Mr. Canty was freshly 
 assailed. He raged, and swore, and left half of his coat in 
 the hands of the mob, but all availed him not ; at length some 
 one proposed that, as the crowd was sufficiently large to pro- 
 tect the stranger, a truce should be made long enough to en- 
 able him to speak to the miser through a hole in the window 
 of the shop. 
 
 Canty was in no mood to use the mild tones that might 
 have re-assured the trembling miser and induced him to take 
 down his barricade ; he was sore, angry, mortified, and dis- 
 comfited, and he roared through the circular space tor admis- 
 sion in a way that made old Maloney roar back his determin- 
 ation to shoot the first man who dared to force an entrance. 
 Thus repulsed, the humiliated applicant was obliged to desist, 
 and with loud, deep curses he turned his face to the car-office
 
 JfR CANTY' 8 RECEPTION a ,j 
 
 followed by the rabble, the foremost of whom were shrieking 
 in his ears : " Glory be to God that you're saved ! if you list- 
 ened to rayson afore it's not to all this throuble you'd be put- 
 tin' us ; be thankful, man, that you kem off wid yer loife, an' 
 niver moind the condition o' yer clothes," as Canty, r.earing 
 the car-office, took a hasty survey of his dilapidated person. 
 
 By this time a ludicrous side of the affair presented itself 
 to some wag in the crowd, and a mirthful remark from him 
 provoked a simultaneous roar of laughter. That was too 
 much for the hitherto proud and overbearing sport, to be 
 laughed at by that horrid rabble, in addition to the thought 
 of how he would ever face Tralee in his present absurd con- 
 dition ; he was maddened, and darted, he hardly knew 
 whither ; he had taken, however, the road to the post-office ; 
 adjacent were the public stables, and there, fortunately, he 
 found a vehicle. 
 
 " Anywhere," he said to the driver, who was keen enough 
 to suspect that his sorry-looking, breathless customer was the 
 victim of some practical joke, " only get me out of this cursed 
 place ! " 
 
 He jumped into the conveyance, which immediately drove 
 off, followed by as hearty and prolonged a cheer as ever burst 
 from human throats. The fun of the affair now alone pos- 
 sessed the rabble, and some, when Tighe a Vohr's name was 
 mentioned in connection with the origin of the trouble, were 
 shrewd enough to see in the whole one of Tighe's wonted 
 " divartin' thricks." That made their mirth none the less, 
 however, and the fact that old Maloney never relaxed his fears 
 sufficiently to take down his barricade until nearly sundown 
 was an additional incentive to the universal merriment. 
 
 Tim Carmody, on his rapid way to Tralee in company with 
 the priest and the two ladies, was vividly picturing to himself 
 the whole ludicrous scene. Father Meagher had given the 
 account of what he saw, and while the worthy priest was won- 
 dering what could be the origin of the trouble, and deploring 
 the state of society existing among the lower class which could
 
 tI4 CARROLL OfDONOGHUH 
 
 cause such scandalous excitement, Tighe was coughing, wip- 
 ing his face, talking to Shaun, thrusting his head out of the 
 window, and acting in an exceedingly restless manner to sup- 
 press the mirth with which he was inwardly exploding. What 
 would he not have given to be present at Mr. Canty's recep- 
 tion ! and it was only on their arrival at Tralee, and the near 
 approach of that visit to which, though Tighe himself was not 
 to enjoy, he looked forward with anxious interest, that he be- 
 came composed and scriosa.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 CARROLL SEES HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 THE quartermaster had kept his word ; unquestioned, and 
 apparently even unnoticed, the little party of three were con- 
 ducted to the cell of Carroll O'Donoghue. The iron door 
 swung open, and they were in the presence of the prisoner. 
 The feeble rays of a lamp revealing him with partial distinct- 
 ness made him look white and worn, as, seated on his pallet, 
 he had turned his head in anxious expectation at the entrance 
 of the party. He sprung up, but momentary weakness, caused 
 by the sudden joy, overcame him, and he tottered forward. 
 Father Meagher caught him, tears of which the tender-hearted 
 priest was not ashamed rapidly coursing down his cheeks, 
 and Clare's and Nora's grief flowing in unison. Clare, aftei 
 her first wild embrace, would bring the lamp close to her 
 brother to note the ravages of his imprisonment ; though the 
 latter did not complete a month, the marks of that close and 
 solitary incarceration were many and deep. Lines of suffer- 
 ing were worn in his face, which had become so thin and so 
 white as to be almost transparent, while, mixed with the golden 
 'ocks that waved upon his brow, Clare fancied she detected 
 the gleam of many a silver hair. He smiled at her fond sur- 
 vey, the old-time smile that was so wont to kindle his face, 
 but which now, despite his effort to the contrary, had a sad- 
 ness about it more touching than a surer evidence of grief 
 would have been. 
 
 44 1 am not changed," he answered, striving to speak gayly, 
 
 and drawing to a tighter clasp the hand of Nora, which he 
 
 had already fondly seized. Clare put the lamp down without 
 
 answering, but her passionate eyes told the opinion she would 
 
 <>*>
 
 ,,6 CARROLL 
 
 not trust hcnelf to utter. " Tell me how this good fortune 
 has happened," resumed the prisoner ; " I have been solitary 
 so long that I feared I should see none of you until we should 
 meet in the court-room on the day of my trial." 
 
 "It is due to Tighe a Vohr," responded the priest; "by 
 what means he would not say ; but we owe to him the privi- 
 lege of this visit." 
 
 " Always Tighe ! " murmured Carroll ; " my heart has ached 
 to see the faithful fellow. Knowing his affection for me, and 
 his ability to accomplish almost anything upon which he de- 
 termines, I half expected to see him before this ; but he has 
 given sufficient proof of his solicitude for me in contriving to 
 bring about this visit ! " and a smile of tender affection 
 beamed on his visitors, resting longest, however, on pale, 
 silent Nora. 
 
 Father Meagher was mentally debating the propriety of 
 making some communication ; at length he decided. 
 
 " Carroll, I have somethiag to tell you about Morty Carter ; 
 I would put you on your guard " 
 
 He was interrupted by Carroll hastily rising from his seat, 
 and answering with a strange impetuosity : " Father, I beg 
 of you to say no more ; I know all you would tell me, and I 
 implore you to spare me your recital." 
 
 It was the priest's turn to rise in astonishment from the one 
 stool which the cell possessed, and which he had taken, while 
 the ladies had preferred to seat themselves on the pallet be- 
 side the prisoner : " My dear boy, how could you have heard ? 
 who has told you ? " 
 
 " Ask me not, fathei, I implore you, it would be too har- 
 rowing ; I could not bear it ! " 
 
 The priest was silent, convinced that Carroll, by some 
 mysterious means, had discovered Carter's perfidy, little 
 thinking that Carroll had resorted to this entreaty to spare 
 himself the pain of hearing Carter defamed when he was not 
 tt liberty to defend him. 
 
 The short half-hour allotted for the visit was almost ovei.
 
 CARROLL 8EE8 HIS FRIENDS. ai y 
 
 As the minutes drew to a close an insufferable weight pressed 
 upon Nora's heart, a feeling that in all her grief she had 
 never before experienced, and which she was utterly unable 
 to explain ; she clung to Carroll in an agony of sorrow. It 
 was so unusual to see her thus, she, whose calmness, and 
 strength, and heroic resignation fortified Clare, and even edi- 
 fied Father Meagher that both pressed to her now, and be- 
 sought to know the cause ; Carroll himself, in the deepest 
 distress, entreated her to tell. 
 
 " I hardly know," she said through her streaming tears ; 
 " it is as it some other trouble than this dreadful one which 
 threatens was going to part us a something that will make 
 our paths in this world lie widely and forever apart." 
 
 "That cannot be," interposed Carroll, gently; "unless, 
 indeed, you prove false to the troth you have plighted me." 
 
 A look was her only answer ; a look of such affectionate 
 reproach, and deep tenderness, that the young man never for- 
 got it. 
 
 " Nora," he said earnestly, " though the world should 
 change, remember that my heart can never change to you ; its 
 latest affection will be for you ; should I suffer the extreme 
 penalty, as I fear I shall do, my last sigh, my last thought, 
 shall be of you ! " 
 
 The time was quite up ; the guard already at the door, and 
 the horrible grating of the lock as it turned sounding in their 
 ears ; Father Meagher had given his blessing, and torn him- 
 self away, unable to say adieu ; the distracted girls still clung 
 to the prisoner. 
 
 " Oh, Carroll, my brother, how can I leave you ! " and 
 Clare's low, passionate sobs were vented upon his bosom. He 
 held them both ; he sought to comfort each, and when the 
 door swung back, revealing the affecting scene to the guard, 
 even the latter was touched ; he drew back involuntarily, as 
 if he would give them another moment. 
 
 " Go ! " said Carroll, freeing himself from the frantic clasp 
 f hands that would have held him forever ; and they reluc-
 
 sx g OAEROLL VDONOGffUB. 
 
 tantly obeyed. From the doorway all turned to look one mow 
 adieu. On Nora that scene was burningly impressed ; in 
 after days, when a more bitter and dreadful anguish than any 
 which had yet come upon her was searing her heart, she was 
 to revert to that solitary figure standing in its miserable cell, 
 with hands outstretched as if in its agony it would have called 
 them back, and face expressive of so heart-broken a woe that 
 her soul was wrung by it. 
 
 Tighe a Vohr awaited them outside the jail ; his ardent 
 imagination had been picturing an affecting scene, and it 
 needed but one glance at their mournful faces to bring the 
 ready tears to his eyes. 
 
 " Accept our thanks, my faithful fellow," said Father Mea- 
 gher at the station whither Tighe had accompanied them 
 when he learned that they would take the night car to 
 Dhrommacohol ; and the priest warmly shook Tighe's hand. 
 
 Tighe dashed the sleeve of his coat across his eyes ; he 
 could not trust himself to reply ; for if he did he would have 
 blubbered like a child. Pulling his hat over his face, he wait- 
 ed till the car started, and then he turned away to seek the 
 temporary lodging which he had hired in the town. Early 
 the next morning Tighe a Vohr, accompanied by his constant 
 companion, Shaun, was on his way to the stable of " Brian 
 Boru." There were four days yet before that appointed for 
 the race, and thus far all his plans had succeeded admirably ; 
 still he was tormented by one fear, that Carter might return 
 home from Dublin in time to discover the imposition that had 
 been practiced, and to spoil all Tighe's cunningly contrived 
 schemes. Trusting, however, to the singular good fortune 
 which rarely entirely deserted him, and which so often pro- 
 duced something in his favor at the very last moment, he re- 
 solved to yield no more to his fear. His resolution was 
 strengthened when shortly after, mounted on the back of 
 ** Brian Boru," and flying over the country in true racing 
 style, he felt all that elation of spirits which is due to a fine 
 morning, a magnificent thorough-bred, and a stretch of
 
 CARROLL SEES HIS FRIENDS, 
 
 319 
 
 open, delightful country. Shaun with, an enjoyment of his 
 own, entered into the sport ; he could not keep up with the 
 racer, but he gamboled through the fields, and at last waited 
 on the road for his master's return. 
 
 Arty Moore was as civil and obsequious as Tighe could 
 wish, and the latter dropped shrewd remarks calculated to 
 impress Arty with the fact that Mr. Maloncy had been visited 
 by himself since the latter had brought up the horse, and how 
 satisfied the old miser was with all arrangements. 
 
 On his return through the town with a determination of 
 dropping in upon Corny O'Tooie, he sauntered into the hall 
 of the " O'Sullivan Arms," knowing the place to be the head- 
 quarters of much of the sporting gossip. An excited group 
 surrounded one of the tables, but they were talking so rapid- 
 ly, and so many voices together, that for a time Tighe could 
 not catch the drift of the eager conversation. At last he was 
 convinced that the subject was Joe Canty. 
 
 " He is so sore about this affair that he will not ride, I tell 
 you." 
 
 " Oh yes, he will ; his indignation is somewhat spent now, 
 and for the sake of the backers he will not withdraw at this 
 late date." 
 
 " I doubt it ; why, I tell you I never saw a more violently 
 inflamed man than he was ; good Heavens 1 when I think of 
 it ," and the speaker paused to laugh loud and immoder- 
 ately. 
 
 " Tell us about it ! " echoed a half dozen voices ; " give us 
 the true version of the affair, for there are so many stories 
 afloat about it that it is difficult to pick out the right one ; one 
 rumor is that he was set on by this Mr. Maloney and beaten 
 almost to death ; another, that the people of the confounded 
 village, or whatever it is, threatened to devour him, body and 
 bones, if he did not immediately return ; and still another 
 says that the horse, which is reported to be Mr. Maloney's 
 bedfellow, thrust his head through a hole in the door, and so 
 frightened poor Canty that he had to run for his life."
 
 j 20 CARROLL VDONOGHUK 
 
 " Well, boys, the story which says the people ef Dhromma- 
 cohol threatened to devour poor Canty is nearer the truth than 
 any of the others. The moment he stepped from the car, and 
 had received from a little urchin of whom he inquired full 
 directions to Mr. Maloney's, he was accosted first by one man, 
 asking him if he wasn't going to Mr. Maloney's, and begging 
 him to relurn, as it would be as much as his life would be 
 worth to go on ; then by another, with the same story and en- 
 treaty ; immediately after by a third ; and so on, till he was 
 surrounded by a howling crowd of devils, as Canty calls them ; 
 oh, Lord ! it's too much ! " and again the speaker paused 
 to give vent to loud and prolonged mirth, in which he was 
 heartily joined. " Well, although he thought he was sur- 
 rounded by a set of lunatics, poor Joe became desperate, and 
 determined to press on ; the mad rabble were as desperate, and 
 they pressed on, too, holding on to his clothes till they didn't 
 leave a whole tatter on his back, and howling and shrieking, till 
 he felt like becoming as mad as themselves. Then the priest 
 came on the scene, but as he could only stay a minute he didn't 
 make matters much better, for the moment he was gone 
 they set to on Canty worse than before. By this time they had 
 reached old Maloney's place, it seems, and, worse than all, for 
 some reason or other he had it shut up tight ; then some one 
 proposed to have Canty speak through a hole in the door, 
 and when he did he received an answer that Mr. Maloney 
 was waiting to shoot the first man who would try to enter. 
 That settled the matter ; poor Joe faced about for the post- 
 office, followed again by the whole mad, howling crowd, and 
 when he jumped into the first vehicle he could find to bear 
 him from the scene, they set up such a cheer for the poor 
 torn, desperate fellow, that he swears it is ringing in his ears 
 yet, and he relieves himself by cursing Dhrommacohol, Mr. 
 Maloney, and Morty Carter. If he knew Carter's address 
 in Dublin he would send him a pretty stinging message." 
 
 There was another prolonged roar, in which none joined 
 more heartily than Tighe a Vohr, who, from a safe corner,
 
 CARROLL BEES HIS FRIENDS. 221 
 
 could hear and laugh without exposing himself to unpleasant 
 observation. 
 
 " And do you think he will ride after all that ? " 
 
 "I do not," replied the man who had narrated the story. 
 
 " But I do," responded he who previously expressed him- 
 self sanguine as to the prospect of Canty's part in the race. 
 " He'll get over this, and his backers will urge him ; then he 
 is such an excellent horseman that he can well afford to rely 
 upon his skill to bear him through, even though he does not 
 see the horse until the morning of the race." 
 
 "Perhaps he will make another attempt to visit Mr. Ma- 
 loney." 
 
 " Not he ! the very mention of Dhrommacohol is enough 
 to put him in a cold sweat, and he'll no more set foot in that 
 part of the country than the divil'd dip his hand in holy 
 water." 
 
 Tighe, holding his sides, left the coffee-room. " Oh, Shaun, 
 we fixed him sure we laid him out beautifully ! an' now we'll 
 hurry to tell it all to Corny." 
 
 The side-splitting recital which Tighe gave to Mr. O'Toole 
 proved a sovereign balm to the little man for the humiliation 
 to which he had been subjected by Mr. Canty. He chuckled, 
 and rubbed his hands, and shook Tighe's hand in congratula- 
 tion, and actually, to Tighe's intense astonishment and amuse- 
 ment, cut pirouettes upon the floor, supposed to be the diffi- 
 cult steps of an Irish jig. 
 
 " Faith, Corny, if me mother could only see that, hei 
 heart'd be taken intoirely." 
 
 Whereupon Mr. O'Toole's ungainly feet executed new 
 flourishes, until Tighe, catching the spirit of the movement, 
 joined in the jig, snapping his fingers to the motion of his 
 feet, and frequently giving utterance to a cheer expressive of 
 his feelings, and the neighbors, attracted by the noise, began 
 to collect outside the door. 
 
 "Well done, me boy!" said Tighe, stopping at last and 
 shaking Comy's hand vigorously ; and then both, tired and
 
 , 21 CARROLL VDONOGIIUR. 
 
 breathless, threw themselves into seats, while the neighbors, 
 hearing no more jigging, passed on, entertaining stranger 
 opinions than ever about that odd little man, Corny O'Toole. 
 " You'll be to the fore on the mornin' o' the race, Corny ? " 
 aid Tighe. 
 
 "Of course, my boy ; if it was only to see how that knave 
 of a Canty will take his disappointment." 
 
 "But what, Corny, it" ould Gartner should come back afore 
 the d.iy o' the race ; what'd become o' me ?" 
 
 " Tighe, my boy, Heaven always protects its own ; and you 
 the dutiful son of so respected a mother as Mrs. Mollie Car- 
 mody, and the truthful, upright, noble boy that you are, 
 Timothy Carmody, who ought to be Timothy O'Toole, are 
 the object of its constant and special protection." 
 
 Either the great and unwonted exertion which Mr. O'Toole 
 had so recently made, or the effect of a potation that he had 
 taken before Tighe's arrival, conspired to make his voice less 
 steady than usual, and, as if conscious of that fact and de- 
 sirous of making up for it, he nodded his head at his visitor 
 with every word that he uttered, until at the last, entirely 
 overcome, he dropped forward on the table and went ast
 
 CHAPTER XX VIII 
 
 THE RACE, 
 
 THE morning of the race dawned bright and clear, and 
 Tralee, despite the excitement caused by the approaching 
 trials of the Fenian prisoners, six of whom beside Carroll 
 O'Donoghue were confined in the county jail, seemed to 
 be equally excited about the coming race. All the town 
 appeared on its way to the course ; from gigs driven tandem, 
 to curricles, and painted jaunting cars moving on springs, 
 family carts improvised into jaunting cars, and innocent of 
 springs or paint, every description of vehicle was employed, 
 and laughing faces and bright eyes looked from every one of 
 them. The road leading to the course was crowded ; and 
 between the sallies of good-natured drivers, the impreca- 
 tions of jostled pedestrians, and the laughing repartees of 
 some of the occupants of the various vehicles, all was a scene 
 of happy confusion. The stand reserved for ladies and 
 gentlemen of high social position was already full, and still 
 each moment brought a fresh accession of gay gallants and 
 rosy-cheeked, mirthful damsels. The Widow Moore, stout, 
 fair, and resplendent in a light robe that set off her clear com- 
 plexion and admirably displayed her fine form, was foremost 
 among a bevy of beauties, and surrounded by a half dozen 
 admiring masculine satellites. Garfield was there, considera- 
 bly removed from her, but where his eyes could devour her. 
 His jealousy, as he observed the gracious, familiar manner 
 with which she accepted the attentions of her admirers, would 
 have been more violent but that he remembered, and now 
 fondly believed, all that Tighe had told him. He was fully 
 persuaded that she liked him in secret, and that she was
 
 t>4 CARROLL VDONOQHUR. 
 
 anxious for the success of his horse in the race. And Corny 
 O'Toole was there, in his antiquated costume, and as near the 
 place whence the horses were to start as it was possible for 
 him to get, in order that he might have a close view of Joe 
 Canty's discomfiture ; already it was rumored that Canty was 
 well-nigh insane because of the non-appearance of the animal 
 he was to ride, and that messengers and runners were hurry- 
 ing in every direction to obtain some tidings of the absent 
 racer, A telegram had been dispatched to Mr. Maloney, but 
 no answer had been received thus far, and it was within a few 
 minutes of the starting time. Canty danced with passion, 
 swearing that he was the victim of some trick, and all his 
 backers looked blue with consternation. 
 
 " Time ! " called the starter. 
 
 Everything became bustle and expectation. One by one 
 the horses were called, and led out to their respective places, 
 their jockeys standing beside them ready to mount. 
 
 " Brian Boru" was the last called, and a buzz of admiration 
 followed the appearance of the magnificent steed. Timothy 
 O'Carmody, in true, jockey style, every garment a perfect fit, 
 and his lithe form cunningly made up to reach the required 
 weight, stood beside him. 
 
 The horse " Charmer," not appearing, was withdrawn. 
 
 The jockeys mounted, the signal was given, and the horses 
 started. They kept well together for the first stretch, neck 
 and neck with even speed and equal mettle. Intense excite- 
 ment and eager expectation prevailed, even among the fair 
 sex, who, as enthusiastic as the most interested of their mas- 
 culine friends, leaned forward, clapping their hands, waving 
 their handkerchiefs, and making their own shrewd guesses as 
 to the power and endurance of the animals. Neck and neck 
 they flew, now one horse a head's length in front, now another 
 badly lagging for a moment, then recovering lost ground by a 
 sudden feat which brought him the length of a neck ahead ; 
 but " Brian Boru " seemed to continue at the same rate of 
 peed with which he had started, nor did his rider appear to
 
 THE RAVB. M5 
 
 be making any extra effort. With a careless grace Tighe sat 
 his horse, now stretching forward to slacken his bridle rein, 
 now straightening himself to hold in the animal, but doing all 
 with an easy manner which proclaimed his perfect skill and 
 confidence. There was none of the nervous dash about him 
 that marked his fellow riders, and his horsemanship, so easy, 
 so apparently careless of effort, was rather calculated to make 
 an unfavorable impression. 
 
 The horses were now on the home stretch, each animal, ex- 
 cepting Tighe's, spurred to its greatest endurance. On they 
 flew, manes streaming, hoofs striking fire from the track, and 
 riders strained to their utmost nerve. More eager, more wild, 
 grew the expectation of the spectators a breath might be 
 heard ; and cheeks flushed, and bosoms swelled with the ardor 
 of the moment. 
 
 The attention of Garfield, at last withdrawn from the widow, 
 was tremblingly centered on the race. His heavy face was 
 unusually flushed, and his small pale eyes shone with a singu- 
 lar light ; he leaned forward, clasping his hands so tightly to- 
 gether in his excitement that the nails sunk deep into the flesh, 
 A half-smothered oath was on his lips as he saw " Brian Boru " 
 drop a full length behind, and still his easy rider appear to 
 make no effort to recover the loss. 
 
 But Tighe a Vohr knew well what he was doing ; he had 
 not made daily trials of the horse for the past week without be- 
 coming perfectly aware of the nerve and temper of the ani- 
 mal, and by what peculiar means of his own he could cause 
 " Brian " to perform unusual feats of speed. He waited till 
 they were within a quarter of a mile of the home stakes, then 
 with an easy flourish of his whip, a single straightening of him- 
 self in the saddle, he put his horse to its full racing power. 
 In <* short time he had distanced his competitors by a neck ; 
 in vain the latter strove to recover their ground ; "Brian 
 Boru's " mettle, hitherto not fully displayed, was unequaled, 
 and in a few seconds more he came gallantly in, the winner 
 by two full lengths.
 
 2l( j CARROLL VDONOGHVB. 
 
 Cheer after cheer was given : people were wild, and Tigha 
 was speedily surrounded by a dozen or more of hearty, genial, 
 delighted fellows who fain would have borne him in triumph 
 upon their shoulders ; while Garfield was the center of a large 
 group of lucky bettors, each in turn shaking him by the hand 
 and congratulating him and themselves in a breath. 
 
 Corny OToole was beside himself with joy. He threw up 
 his hat, and he executed pirouettes, to the intense amusement 
 of wandering spectators, and then, even before he would see 
 Tighe a Vohr, he went in search of Joe Canty, who, some one 
 said, was being held by main force within one of the booths. 
 Corny's pleasure would not have been complete without a 
 sight of the humbled and discomfited sport, and perhaps, also, 
 without an opportunity of making some mockingly triumphant 
 speech to the latter. 
 
 The report of Canty was not wrong ; four of his own class 
 were about him, seeking to detain him from rushing out madly 
 upon the track. 
 
 " I shall shoot .Carter ! " he shrieked ; " this is all an infer- 
 nal trick to make me fail, and that fellow Carmody, whom no- 
 body except Garfield seemed to know anything about, is at 
 the bottom of it he, and Maloney, and that jackass that 
 came with the message to me the other day." 
 
 " Hew can that be," answered one of his friends, " when 
 Carter and Maloney both will be heavy losers by this affair ? " 
 
 Just then Corny O'Toole thrust his head into the inclosure, 
 " The jackass'd like to congratulate you, Mr. Canty, on the 
 success of your knavery, and to tell you you'd better spare 
 your powder on Carter it'll do you little good." 
 
 " Let me at him ! " shrieked Canty, striving desperately to 
 release himself, and to spring after Corny. His rage was so 
 violent that froth issued from his mouth ; but he was firmly 
 held, and Corny O'Toole, with a mocking chuckle, disap- 
 peared as suddenly as he had thrust himself into their sight. 
 
 Excitement reigned everywhere, and on different parts of 
 the course shillalahs and whisky had a due meed of attention.
 
 THE RACE. 
 
 22) 
 
 The bettors were busy with their important Interests, and 
 Gai field was in too much demand to be able to seek the 
 Widow Moore, as he desired anxiously to do. Now, in the 
 flush of that success for which he fondly believed she also 
 ardently had hoped, he thought he might venture to approach 
 and address her ; but his presence was necessary in the sport- 
 ing circle whose interests were so intimately concerned with 
 his own, and thither he was reluctantly borne by his friends. 
 
 Tighe a Vohr, now that so much had been successfully 
 accomplished, began to think somewhat of what the conse 
 quences must be to himself. Breaking away from his admir- 
 ing friends, many of whom had been astounded to recognize 
 in the successful jockey the well-known Tighe a Vohr, and 
 who now, in their ardent friendship, would have detained him 
 by main force, he sought the stall of " Brian Boru," and there, 
 attending to the horse, he encountered Arty Moore, the groom, 
 whom he had left in the little country place where the horse 
 had been stabled, with an injunction to remain there till he, 
 Tighe, should return with the animal. There was a knowing 
 look in Arty's eyes, and a boldness of manner very different 
 from the cringing, humble air which had previously marked 
 his deportment to Tighe. 
 
 " How dare you disobey me ordhers ? " asked Tighe, with an 
 assumption of indignant authority that would not have done 
 discredit to Lord Heathcote himself. 
 
 Arty nodded with provoking familiarity, and returned 
 Tighe's stare with one of equal fearlessness. Coming close to 
 Tighe a Vohr he whispered : " I know all about it, Mr. Car- 
 mody, and it was a very clever trick indeed, you played ; I 
 have not said a word to anybody here, and I won't, provid- 
 ing you share halves, you know." 
 
 Tighe gave a prolonged whistle, pretending to be dumb- 
 founded, and awed as well. " Tell me how you found it all 
 out, Arty?" 
 
 " Well, do you see, I had a great mind to witness the race 
 a great mind entirely ; and when you told me to remain
 
 2*S CARROLL VDONOGHUB. 
 
 where I was, it seemed very hard. Besides, Mr. Carmody 
 you'll forgive me for saying so but when you were so deter- 
 mined on my staying behind there, and not coming forward 
 with the horse, I began to have suspicions of my own. I 
 waited till you were well gone, and I followed. It all seemed 
 right enough till the horse was led out as ' Brian Boru.' I knew 
 he had been entered for the race as ' Charmer ; ' that opened 
 my eyes a bit, and it wasn't very long till I heard the people 
 talking of the dreadful state Mr. Canty was in because his 
 horse didn't arrive, and then Mr. Maloney's name began to 
 be mentioned ; it all flashed on me, and faith 1 couldn't help 
 admiring you for the clever trick you played on old Maloney. 
 I resolved to keep my counsel, for I thought you'd be gener- 
 ous, Mr. Carmody." 
 
 " An' I will be, Arty," said Tighe, extending his hand, and 
 assuming an expression as if he was just released from a 
 shower-bath. " But the shtakes are not paid up yit, so that I 
 haven't recaved the amount they're to give me. But can I 
 thrust you, Arty, to help me, if I say a fair half ? " 
 
 " With all my soul ! " and the groom's hand clasped Tighe's. 
 
 " Well, thin, it's repoorted that a tilygraph, or some other 
 divilmint, has been sint to ould Maloney, an' I'm afeerd o' 
 what that 11 bring foorth ; now I'd loike to have the horse out o' 
 the way, an' mesel', too. Will you run away wid the baste for 
 a couple or three days, till I see what turn matthers will take ? 
 On the third day from now I'll mate you in Dick Courcy's 
 shebeen, the same that stabled ' Brian Boru ' for us. You 
 can purtind to payple that you're takin' the horse to his 
 masther an' that'll be no lie, for so you will take him to his 
 masther, only we'll thry first what we can knock out o' the 
 ould miser. It'll swell our gains. Do you undhersthand me, 
 Arty ? " And Tighe looked with a wonderfully anxious gaze 
 into the snapping eyes of the groom, 
 
 " I do, Mr. Carmody, perfectly ; and I'll do it On the 
 third day from this, say at noon, I'll wait foi you in
 
 THE RACE. 229 
 
 The conversation had been carried on in a whisper, but 
 even if it were not, everybody who approached the stall was 
 in too much haste and excitement to give it any attention. 
 
 44 Away with you, thin ! " urged Tighe ; and it was with a 
 smile of intense satisfaction that a few moments after he be- 
 held the groom, mounted on " Brian Boru," riding quietly 
 away from the course, and in an opposite direction to the 
 town. 
 
 In one portion of the course the excitement had received a 
 new and extraordinary impulse in the sudden appearance of 
 a man so tall in form as to inspire awe by his unusual height, 
 and with so sinister and repulsive an expression as to win 
 no brief nor pleasant observation, and dressed in so dirty and 
 strange a garb that many shrunk from his approach. He was 
 screaming at the top of his voice, and gesticulating wildly. 
 
 41 My horse ! my horse ! I sent him here ; he was to run ; 
 somebody has stolen him ! " 
 
 A crowd gathered about him, and by degrees sufficient of 
 his story was learned for some one to volunteer to conduct 
 him to one of the stands. 
 
 Tighe a Vohr, arm in arm with Corny O'Toole, beheld the 
 approaching crowd for every one who had heard the man's 
 strange account now followed in his wake ; he ventured near 
 enough to ascertain the cause of the gathering. " Blood an* 
 ouns ! Corny, if it isn't ould Maloney ! oh, where'll I go at 
 all, at all ? It's all up wid me ! " 
 
 Corny became unexpectedly equal to the occasion. 
 
 44 Get to my room as fast as you can, and stay there ; if 
 they do discover enough to put the police on your track, 
 they'll not find you awhile. I'll stay here and see how things 
 goes." 
 
 44 But they'll be afther you too, Corny ; Canty'll tell how you 
 tuk the message." 
 
 44 The divil a one fear of their getting anything out of me ; 
 I'll badger them, Tighe, till they'll think they've got enough 
 of Corny O'Toole, jackass, as Mr. Canty politely called him."
 
 , 30 CARROLL WDONOGHUE. 
 
 Tighe a Vohr followed the little man's advice, and was soo 
 safely housed in the bachelor apartment, much to the delight 
 of Shaun, who had been confined there a very unhappy 
 prisoner since early morning. He immediately began, with 
 the help of sundry garments of Corny's wardrobe, to en- 
 deavor to change his dress, and thus to disguise effectually his 
 appearance. 
 
 At that same time the train which came down from Dublin 
 brought Carter ; he was in a flurry of excitement, having 
 expected to reach Tralee in time to witness the race. He 
 hired a conveyance, and was driven rapidly to the course. 
 He mentally cursed Lord Heathcote, who had been the cause 
 of his unlucky detention, and with a wildly beating heart he 
 ordered the driver to urge his horse, that at least he might be 
 in time for the settling of the stakes. He was met on the 
 grounds, as he descended, perspiring and panting from the 
 vehicle, by one of his intimate sporting friends. 
 
 " Gone Carter we've lost ! " 
 
 " Lost ! " Carter appeared transfixed ; his eyes almost start- 
 ing from their sockets. 
 
 " Yes ; Canty's horse didn't appear, and a magnificent ani- 
 mal named 'Brian Boru,' and ridden by one Timothy 
 O'Carmody, distanced all the others without an effort." 
 
 " Timothy O'Carmody ! " repeated Carter in a dazed way. 
 
 " Yes ; those who know him say he's always called Tighe a 
 Vohr." 
 
 " Tighe a Vohr ! H Carter threw up his hands and gasped 
 for breath. 
 
 " It's the queerest piece of business that ever happened on 
 a course," resumed the first speaker; "all the morning Joe 
 Canty's been swearing and fuming like a madman, and after 
 the race was over an old man, acting as mad as a March hare, 
 came rushing on the course, screaming for his horse, and say- 
 ing that it had been stolen. They have got him now in one 
 of the rooms, and he declares that you sent Tighe a Vohi for 
 the horse, which he says is the one that Canty was to ride ;
 
 THE RACK. ,31 
 
 and they have dispatched me to find Canty ; so you had 
 better hurry in yourself," indicating the room he had just 
 left " and throw what light you can upon the matter." 
 
 Carter required no second bidding ; excited and panting, 
 he soon stood amid the equally excited inmates of the betting 
 room. On his appearance Maloney, who had been talking 
 and gesticulating wildly, gave a shrill scream ; then he bounded 
 toward Carter, uttering some frenzied statement, but his voice 
 was so thick from terror and excitement that the word horse 
 alone could be distinguished. 
 
 " Where is your horse ? " yelled Carter ; " why didn't he 
 run ?" 
 
 " Where is my horse ? " screamed Maloney, this time a 
 little more distinctly ; " you scoundrel, tell me where he is ?" 
 and he shook his bony fist in Carter's face. 
 
 At this juncture Canty entered, and seeing the attitude of 
 Maloney, and fuming himself to be able to revenge his disap- 
 pointment and humiliation, both of which in his blind pas- 
 sion he attributed to Carter, he rushed forward, and before 
 any one could intercept or even devine his intention, planted 
 a well-directed blow full in Carter's face. It staggered the 
 latter, and but for the friendly support of some one in his 
 rear he would have fallen. The friends of Carter, indignant 
 at the outrage, fell upon Canty ; but the latter was not with- 
 out his sympathizers, and they immediately assisted him in 
 true fighting style ; Carter and Maloney, the reluctant centers 
 of the struggle, were obliged to strike in their own defense, 
 even though the courage of neither was of the stanchest 
 kind. Everything became confusion and clamor ; it was the 
 first melee of the day, and the hot young bloods, of that class 
 whose chief sport seemed to be breaking heads and disfig- 
 uring faces, hailed the affair with delight 'Sticks flew, chairs 
 were overturned, and the pewter mugs, which stood on the 
 table still reeking with the remains of Beamish and Craw- 
 ford's porter, were hurled among the combatants. Maloney 
 was knocked down, and Carter was shoved heavily upon hirr,
 
 , 3 a CARROLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 so that the frantic cries of the miser, in which the word horse 
 was incessantly uttered, were somewhat smothered by the 
 heavy weight. The fight speedily attracted attention without 
 its own immediate precincts, and shortly almost every one on 
 the course had arrived at the scene of the excitement. The po- 
 lice followed, and peace was only restored when arrests had been 
 made of the leaders in the affair Mortimer Carter, Joe Canty, 
 Ned Maloney, and a couple of others who seemed to have 
 taken the part of instigators. In vain Carter protested, say- 
 ing that the fight was a mistake, and the origin of a misunder- 
 standing ; in vain Canty swore, and in vain old Maloney 
 pleaded on his knees to be released that he might look for his 
 horse ; all were borne in triumph to Tralee bridewell, and 
 Corny O'Toole, a spectator from a distance of the whole 
 affair, grew so red from laughing that his yellow complexion, 
 to which Mrs. Carmody objected, quite disappeared for the
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 TIGHK A VOHR'S SWEETHEART. 
 
 GARFIELD, and the betting circle of whom he was now the 
 popular center, had gayly pocketed their winnings a proceed- 
 ing which might have been unpleasantly delayed had it not 
 been for Mortimer Carter's incarceration. He was now out 
 on bail, having been confined but a few hours ; and Canty, 
 having given surety, was also at large. 
 
 Old Maloney was not yet released, owing to his inability to 
 procure a bondsman ; he was utterly unknown in Tralee, and 
 if he sent to Dhrommacohol he would be as little likely to find 
 any surety there. In this despondent state he was visited by 
 Carter, at sight of whom the old man raved like a wild beast, 
 *' My horse ! my horse," his loud and incessant cry. It re- 
 quired time for Carter to quiet him sufficiently to gain a co- 
 herent statement ; but at length he learned all : the visit of 
 Tighe a Vohr with the note, the extraordinary tale of Canty's 
 forthcoming arrest, the line of conduct prescribed by Tighe 
 for the miser in the event of Mr. Canty's anticipated 
 visit all of which Maloney divulged now without a re- 
 gard for the oath of secrecy he had taken, his yield- 
 ing of the horse and groom to Tighe, and his remain- 
 ing in quiet certainty of all being right a certainty which the 
 fact of his receiving no visit from Mr. Canty rather strength- 
 ened. The old miser did not suspect, and the cunning rabble 
 of Dhrommacohol, each of whom was too ardent a friend of 
 Tighe a Vohr to disobey him in the slightest particular, did 
 not tell him that the excitement and terror into which he was 
 thrown one afternoon by the horde of yelling people in front 
 of his door was due to the occasion of Mr. Canty's visit He 
 had no suspicion of aught being wrong until the arrival of the 
 (33)
 
 , 34 CARROLL 0DONOQHU& 
 
 telegram on the morning of the race. The contents of that, 
 which ran : 
 
 " Your horse, ' Charmer,' has not arrived ; have you sent 
 him ? " 
 
 and which was signed Joe Canty, put the old man into 
 a fever. His horse not arrived, when a week ago the ani- 
 mal was supposed to be stabled in Tralee ! Horrible fears 
 immediately crowded on his suspicious and sinister mind. 
 Like a madman he locked up his abode, from which he had 
 not been absent for years before, and took the first car to 
 Tralee. He arrived on the course to find the race over, and 
 that his horse was not among those in the stalls ; nor had any 
 animal by that name been seen. 
 
 Carter was in as violent a rage as the miser ; all the more 
 that the payment of the stakes to the fortunate winners was 
 the occasion to him of no inconsiderable loss. Maloney's 
 grief for his forfeit was somewhat absorbed in his greater dis-j 
 tress for the abstraction of his horse. " It's all the doings 
 of that devil of a Tighe a Vohr," said Carter, striding the 
 prison floor ; " I wrote a note telling of my intended journej 
 to Dublin, in consequence of which I should be prevented 
 from going down to Dhrommacohol for the horse as I had 
 promised, and bidding you bring him up yourself ; and that 
 note I gave to a little runner at Hoolahan's, who was going 
 down your way, to give you." 
 
 " He never came near me ! " protested Maloney. 
 
 " Nor Canty ? " asked Carter, though he had already heard 
 a second time from Maloney that there had been :x> visit of 
 the sporting man to his place. 
 
 The miser answered testily : " I told you before he didn't 
 come." 
 
 " It's past understanding," resumed Carter : "but there's 
 nothing too big nor too bad for that infernal Tighe a Vohr : 
 he'd go to hell to serve Carroll O'Donoghue, and I'll warrant 
 he's had some object that was to benefit his master at the bot- 
 tom of all this. At all events, we have a clear case against
 
 TIGHE A VOHRS SWEETHEART. 335 
 
 him : he obtained the horse on false pretenses, and, if it is 
 the same animal that he entered for the race, he entered him 
 without any right to do so ; and now it looks as if he had 
 stolen him. I'll get out a warrant for his arrest immediately." 
 
 "And the horse ?" broke in Maloney, trembling ; " will the 
 warrant recover him ? " 
 
 " To be sure ; if we find Tighe, the horse I think'll not be 
 far off ; but I'll off to Canty now, and find out why he didn't 
 go down to Dhrommacohol as he promised." 
 
 " And me ? " whined the miser ; " how long must I stay 
 here ? " 
 
 " Be still, yoi: old fool ! you'll be out to-morrow." And 
 Carter hastily departed to procure a warrant for Tim Car- 
 mody's arrest, and, immediately after, to seek Canty. 
 
 Canty, not altogether convinced that he was not the victim 
 of a trick originated by Carter, met the latter somewhat 
 haughtily, and seemed inclined to maintain his proud and 
 moody reserve throughout the interview. Carter explained 
 and protested, and swore that he was as innocent of any part 
 in the transaction, and as deeply injured, as those of the 
 duped party, and then he retaliated by denouncing, in no easy 
 terms, Canty's faithless omission to see the horse prior to the 
 race ; upon which followed from the sporting man, in graphic 
 and violently indignant language, an account of the message 
 that was sent to him by Maloney, the messenger being de- 
 scribed by Canty as "a little old yellow fool," and a descrip- 
 tion of his visit to Dhrommacohol, with enlarged details of the 
 reception that was accorded him by the people of that mem- 
 orable village. Carter was shrewd enough to detect in al] 
 that further evidence of Tighe a Vohr's work, and it made 
 him more madly eager for the arrest of Tighe. Venting his 
 rage in loud, deep oaths, he left Canty's presence, the latter 
 at last satisfied that Carter had been as badly tricked as any 
 one else. 
 
 Tighe, arrayed in some old-fashioned garments of Corny 
 O'Toole's, the said garments being much too wide and too
 
 , 3 $ CARROLL VDONOGHU& 
 
 hort for their present wearer, presented a more odd and 
 droll-looking figure than he had been wont to do in his own 
 old costume before he exchanged the latter for a valet's out- 
 fit. He was listening with every evidence of delight to 
 Corny's animated description of the fight on the grounds and 
 the arrest of so many of the parties, but when Corny ceased 
 Tighe became suddenly despondent. 
 
 " They'll make out a clear case agin me," he said, " an ; 
 they'll put me in jail : an' begorra that won't suit at all to be 
 losin' me toime in prison whin the masther's thrial is so near 
 comin' off." He bowed his curly head on his hand for a mo- 
 ment Corny, in deep sympathy, but unable to afford any con- 
 solation in the face of what he felt to be the truth, was silent ; 
 suddenly Tighe looked up : " Corny, jist write a bit o' a note 
 to Carther in my name ; tell him I'd loike to see him a few 
 minits on business that's o' life an' death importhance, an' 
 I'll run down wid it to Hoolahan's ; I think I'll foind him 
 there.' 
 
 " Sure that'll be putting your head in the trap at once," 
 said Corny ; " if you trust yourself out of here before night- 
 fall, you'll not stand much chance of an escape from the 
 peelers." 
 
 " I have an idea, Corny, an' it's that idea that's dhrivin' me 
 to what I'll do ; wid the help o' God, mebbe it'll come out all 
 roight, but, for fear it shouldn't, do you kape Shaun here for a 
 while." 
 
 At the mention of his name the dog roused from his sleepy 
 attitude near Tighe, shook himself, and drawing closer to his 
 master, looked very expressively into the latter's face. Tighe 
 returned the look with one of admiring affection. 
 
 M Faith, it's supernatural sinse you have, Shaun, to be un- 
 dhersthandin' ivery word I say ! look at that now, Corny, 
 the way he tuk it the minit I said his name ! They say 
 animiles have no brains, but the divil as much intilligince 
 among some o' the two-legged animiles that have the impi- 
 dince to be christenin' thimsel's min." An assertion witk
 
 T1QRE A VOHR'S 8WEETHEAST. ,37 
 
 which Mr. O'Toole fully agreed, and to which he certified by 
 patting the dog very affectionately. " Write the note, Corny," 
 urged Tighe ; " it moight be as well for me to have it, in case 
 I can't git seein' Carther at once. Niver moind bein' particler, H 
 as he saw Corny making the same elaborate preparations as 
 he would for the inditing of a more important epistle ; "You'd 
 be only wastin' yer book larnin' an' big words on the loike o' 
 him he's not worthy o' thim, Corny." 
 
 But Mr. O'Toole would not permit his literary reputation 
 to suffer, even in so trifling an effusion as a brief note, and he 
 wrote as follows : 
 
 " MR. CARTER : 
 
 I would like the privilege of your personal and 
 individual presence for a few minutes ; I have a communica- 
 tion of business to make to your private ear which is of the 
 most valuable and highly important consequence and neces- 
 sity. 
 
 TIGHE A VOHR." 
 
 "You gev him too many foine words," said Tighe, turn- 
 ing the note between his fingers with evident dissatisfaction ; 
 then catching sight of Corny's disappointed look, for there 
 was nothing which so touched the little man's feelings as dis- 
 paraging criticisms of his literary efforts he artfully added : 
 " I was forgittin', Corny didn't me mother once tell me as 
 how it was onpossible for you to write anything else but foine 
 big words, be rayson o' the great sthore o' larnin' you got in yer 
 youth ! " 
 
 Mr. O'Toole was beaming again, and explaining to Tighe 
 the mysterious and wonderful power which a big word had of 
 placing the writer in a very important and exalted position be- 
 fore ignorant folk 
 
 " Yis, but ould Carther knows well that I niver got beyant 
 pot-hooks an' thim same wouldn't be in me head now, only 
 the masther dhruv thim in wid a shtick that he broke over 
 me knuckles. How an' iver, I'll thry me luck ; so good-by, 
 Corny, an* take good care o' Shaun."
 
 33 
 
 CARROLL VDONOGHUR 
 
 The dog, fully comprehending the situation, stood with 
 drooped head, and tail mournfully between his legs. 
 
 " Is it to Hoolahan's you'll go now," questioned Corny. 
 
 " Sthraight, Corny ; I'll walk there as bouldly as if I didn^t 
 fale in me bones that there was a have us corpus, or some other 
 law thrickery, backed up mebbe be a rigimint o' the loife- 
 guards, afther me. I'll ax for Mr. Carther, an' thin' if he's 
 there, I'll sind him this bit o' a note, an' I'll wait for his an- 
 swer ; you see I wouldn't loike to face him first widout batin' 
 him loike dhrawin' him out, as we do whin we're anglin' for 
 the unsuspectin' little fishes an' I think the contints, which 
 to me mother's moind would do you credit, Corny, will be 
 jist the bait for Mr. Carther ; he's very shrewd, an* he's very 
 cunnin', this same ould Carther, but I carcumvinted him afore, 
 an' I think I'll carcumvint him agin. Good-by." 
 
 He was off, whistling as he went lightly down the stair, and 
 Shaun, mournfully resigned to circumstances which behaved 
 so cruelly to him, slunk to a corner, whence all Corny 
 O'Toole's enticements could not allure him. 
 
 Tighe's fears of some action of the law being issued against 
 him were fully confirmed ; within five paces of Hoolahan's 
 spacious public house the strong hand of an officer was laid 
 upon his shoulder, accompanied by the words : " You are my 
 man ! " 
 
 " How do you know I am ? " returned Tighe, facing the 
 policeman with the utmost coolness, and assuming his most 
 stupid expression. 
 
 " Come, now, none o 1 that ! " and there was a firmer grip 
 of Tighe's shoulder ; " you are Timothy Carmody, otherwise 
 known as Tighe a Vohr." The policeman was a sharp fellow, 
 and he knew his business ; he was neither to be bullied nor 
 cajoled from his purpose. " I have a warrant here for your 
 arrest, and I've been watching for you all day ; yes, you an- 
 iwer to this description," diving one hand into his pocket 
 and bringing forth a folded paper, while with the other hand 
 be ttill held Tighe.
 
 TIQHE A VOHR8 SWEETHEART. 33, 
 
 u A description o' me ! " echoed Tighe, in well-feigned 
 stupid astonishment ; " is it in airnest ye are ? " while the 
 officer opened the paper. " Read it aloud, avick ; I nivei 
 heerd mesel' descroibed afore, an* I'm curious to know 
 whether they tould all about me good looks. Now do you 
 know there was Mrs. Drumgolland that lived beyant Murrana- 
 kilty, as foine a woman as iver shtepped into two shoes, bar- 
 rin' she was a thrifle above the weight " 
 
 " Hold your prate," interrupted the policeman, " and come 
 along ! " 
 
 " Aisy, man, aisy, an' don't be shakin' me out o* me clothes," 
 as the officer endeavored to thrust Tighe forward; "jist 
 wait a bit, till I tell you the sthory. You won't wait ? well, 
 thin, you're losin' a dale o' divarsion ; but anyhow, shtifle 
 yer impatience till I make mesel' persintable afther the maulin 
 you gev me." 
 
 And Tighe, whose object was to delay the policeman until 
 he could gather a crowd, among whom might be some of that 
 class whose impulsive daring is as ready to attempt a rescue 
 of one who appeals to their sympathies as to defend them- 
 selves, began a series of maneuvers about his odd costume, 
 now stopping to brush the dust from his shoes, and causing 
 the angry officer to stoop also, for the latter would not relin- 
 quish his hold for an instant ; then straightening himself with 
 a sudden jerk which sent his head into no pleasant collision with 
 the face of his captor, and increased not a little the latter's 
 growing indignation, and all the time talking loudly and ludi- 
 crously about Mrs. Drumgolland of Murranakilty. His scheme 
 succeeded perfectly ; a crowd was speedily gathering, much to 
 the officer's anger and disgust. The latter would stand it no 
 longer ; he drew out his baton to compel Tighe to move on. 
 Tighe clung to the railing which ornamented the entrance of 
 Hoolahan's public house, bawling at the top of his voice and 
 in most piteous accents : " Will you let me be murdhered 
 b'ys, afore yer eyes an' I the wrong man ! oh, he's killin' me 
 intoirely 1 " as the policeman, in a rage rendered ungovern*
 
 , 4 o CARROLL 
 
 able by the pushing and swaying to which he was subjected 
 by the crowd, struck Tighe a Vohr, but without even touch- 
 ing him, for Tighe had a peculiar and very successful way of 
 his own of eluding blows, no matter how well directed. The 
 officer rattled for help ; but before it arrived the crowd had 
 forced Tighe from his grasp and covered his retreat into 
 Hoolahan's, making it appear, however, as if he had escaped 
 round the corner of an adjoining street ; in that direction, 
 when the aid arrived for which the policeman had signalled, 
 all the officers hastened. 
 
 Mr. Andrew Hoolahan, the good-natured proprietor of the 
 public house into which Tighe had been hurried, had been a 
 witness of the scene from the first, and his sympathies, which 
 it was no difficult task to awaken, were all in favor of Tighe, 
 whose droll figure and still droller badinage of the officer had 
 afforded him more than one hearty laugh. 
 
 " But they'll more than likely come back and search this 
 place too, when they find they are unsuccessful beyond," he 
 said to Tighe, who stood within one of the small rooms that 
 opened from the main apartment, a ludicrous picture of 
 wonder and dismay. 
 
 "I wouldn't moind that," answered Tighe, "purvidin* I 
 could see Mr. Carther first. I have a note here for him, an' 
 it tells him there's loife an' death depindin' on me seein' him." 
 
 " Mr. Carter is not here now, but I know where he is, and 
 I can send your note to him. Let me have it," and the easy, 
 good-natured Hoolahan extended his hand. 
 
 The officers were returning they were at the very door, 
 loud and angry parley sounding, as they seemed to encounter 
 some opposition. 
 
 " Away with him to the kitchen," some one suggested, allud- 
 ing to Tighe, " and the wimin folks there'll contrive to hide 
 him." Tighe was hurried down by a back stair ; the next 
 instant he heard the tramp of the officers in the room he had 
 left 
 
 The " wimin folks " in the culinary department of M*
 
 TIGHE A VOHR8 SWEETHEART. 24 , 
 
 Hoolahan's establishment fully sustained the reputation which 
 had been given them, and Tighe's own artful tongue, as he 
 told a most cunning story of touching distress, made them 
 eager to save him. In a few moments he was arrayed in 
 female dress, with his brown curls pushed out of sight under 
 a white muslin cap, and he was set to work beside one of the 
 scullery-maids, whom in an instant he had excited to fits of 
 laughter by his droll and absurd remarks. 
 
 The search, all the more vigorously prosecuted that there 
 seemed to be a treasonable attempt on the part of the people 
 to defraud the law, reached the kitchen ; but there was 
 nothing in the scullery-maid, who stood, dish in hand, viewing 
 with open mouth and great, staring eyes the whole perform- 
 ance, to excite any suspicion, and disappointed and discom- 
 fited, the officers were forced to leave, placing, however, a 
 close watch upon the house. 
 
 " Begorra, we managed that beautifully ; " said Tighe to the 
 laughing women, when the policemen had retired ; " an' now, 
 if you've no objictions, I'll maintain me prisint disguise till 
 Mr. Carther comes. I have sthrong suspicions that whin I 
 whisper a few words in his ear he'll put a dacint ind to the 
 whole thing." And Tighe washed dishes, and peeled vegeta- 
 bles, and turned his hand to the divers employments of th 
 kitchen with such wonderful dexterity, at the same time con- 
 vulsing his companions with laughter by the ridiculous stories 
 which he told without ceasing, that one and all expressed un- 
 feigned regret at being obliged to lose his company, when 
 word was at length brought that Mr. Carter was up-stairs, and 
 awaiting the person who wanted to see him. " I'll see him 
 the way I am," said Tighe, " to divart suspicion ; for mebbe 
 it's a couple o' palers he has at his elbow to arrist me, since 
 they couldn't foind me a while ago." And he departed in his 
 feminine costume, his awkwardness in managing the skirts the 
 cause of no little laughter, while he was at the same time fol- 
 lowed by the good wishes of those of whom, during even his 
 short stay among them, he had, by that rare winning powei 
 o natural to him, made warm and earnest friends.
 
 CARROLL VDONOQHUK 
 
 Morty Carter was in a fit of ungovernable rage ; he had 
 heard the circumstances of Tighe's arrest and escape, the evi- 
 dence of which was before him in the guard placed about the 
 house, and he was maddened to think that Tighe had again 
 overreached him, as well as amazed at Tighe's impudence in 
 sending him a written message, the bearer of which said that 
 die sender of the note was waiting at Hoolahan's. " You're 
 a parcel of fools ! " he said to the policemen ; " the fellow's 
 here in the house I hold this note from him." And then he 
 sought leisurely, amiable Andy Hoolahan. 
 
 " You ask me more than I can tell you, Mr. Carter," said 
 Andy, who for special honest reasons of his own was not over 
 partial to Carter. " The note was left here by some party or 
 other to be given to you, and I sent it to you." 
 
 " But the party who left it, Mr. Hoolahan describe him, 
 sir," persisted Carter. 
 
 Mr. Hoolahan slightly straightened himself. " Mr. Carter, 
 I believe you are asked in that note to meet here the person 
 that wrote it ; I'll send word that you're waiting to see the 
 party, if you'll step beyond into that room, please." 
 
 That was the utmost Carter could gain, and inwardly fum- 
 ing and swearing, he obeyed. In a few minutes there was a 
 very timid, gentle tap at the door, and to Mr. Carter's loud 
 and not over-pleasantly spoken " Come in ! " there entered, 
 not, as Carter fully expected to see, Tighe a Vonr, but a stout, 
 good-looking, rosy-cheeked Irish girl, a trifle taller than the 
 medium height, and with her hands hid in her apron. She 
 kept her eyes down in a very bashful way, and spoke as if she 
 was afraid of the sound of her own voice, at the same time 
 maneuvering to get in the shadow of the room : 
 
 " I'm sint by Tighe a Vohr," she began in a voice which, 
 though strongly affected by the brogue, was pitched too low 
 and in too fine a key to bear an accent of resemblance to Tim 
 Carmody's deep, rich tones. 
 
 Mr. Carter, stupefied with surprise, did not answer. 
 
 " I'm his swateheart," she continued, " an' I'm aware o' the
 
 TIGHE A VOHRS SWEETHEART. 243 
 
 throuble he's in ; an' I am aware, too, o' another thing : " she 
 took a step forward " I'm aware o' the docymint you gev 
 Captain Dennier an' that Captain Crawford took on to Dublin 
 to Lord Heathcote, I'm aware o' all that." 
 
 Carter jumped in his horrified astonishment ; he had 
 thought that transaction a secret between himself and the 
 authorities to whom the paper had been delivered. 
 
 The speaker continued : " You didn't tell that to Carroll 
 O'Donoghue whin you got to see him in the jail ; you didn't 
 tell it to the boys beyant that thrusted you so that wouldn't 
 suit yer threacherous purpose ; but there'll not be wantin' 
 others to tell thirn all, onless you withdhraw this charge agin 
 Tighe a Vohr, an' let him go free ! " 
 
 "Who are you that know so much?" demanded Carter, 
 thrown completely off his guard by his angry astonishment 
 and the numerous fears which suddenly tormented him. To 
 have an entire distrust of him spring up in the Fenian circles, 
 to some of which he was still cordially admitted as one of 
 their stanch supporters, would hinder his future purposes ; 
 and to have Carroll O'Donoghue told of his last treachery in 
 furnishing such a document to the government might undo 
 all that he had effected during his interview with the prisoner. 
 It was under the influence of such fears as these that he 
 turned with fierce energy to demand of the speaker who she 
 was. But the latter had drawn back again abashed, her head 
 down, and her hands concealed by her apron. 
 
 " Plaze, sir, I tould you afore I was Tighe's swateheart, an' 
 it's for his sake I'm makin' bould now. If you'll let Tighe 
 go free, I'll ingage that ytr saycrets'll be safe enough, an' 
 ould Maloney'll get his horse back ; an' be the rayson' o' 
 that considheration, mebbe you could make the ould sinner 
 be sathisfied too, and not do anything to Tighe for takin' 
 his horse the way he did. Will you do all this, Mr. Carther ? " 
 
 Carter paced the room, stopping at intervals to clasp both of 
 his hands over his face and to groan, then to cast a long, puz- 
 xled look at his visitor ; but he could make nothing of the
 
 244 CARROLL VDONOQHUR. 
 
 apparent bashful, and yet determined, young woman. " How 
 did you obtain all this information ? " he asked at last, stand- 
 ing before her. 
 
 " That's nayther here nor there, Mr. Carther ; mebbe Tighe 
 tould it to me, an' mebbe he didn't ; mebbe me own obsarva- 
 tion found out a great dale o' it, an' mebbe it didn't. But do 
 you answer me quistion, Mr. Carther, and not be kapin' me 
 from me work. They're waitin' for me in the kitchen." 
 
 ** And what surety can you give me that my secrets will be 
 kept ? Women are not noted for their silence, and you are a 
 woman," said Carter. 
 
 There was a low laugh from the woman in question ; it 
 startled Mr. Carter, bringing a strangely puzzled look into his 
 face surely he had heard that laugh before ; but his visitor 
 was saying in very earnest tones : " You'll have to take me 
 word for that, Mr. Carther, or me oath, whichiver you loike 
 bist ; for I'll be so grateful to you for relasin' Tighe that I'd 
 cut me tongue out afore I'd spake a word to hurt you an' 
 Tiglie bid me say the same thing to you : he'll not revale a 
 word if you relase him." 
 
 Again Carter paced the room. Did he refuse to yield to 
 this proposition, the gain to him after all would be little com- 
 pared to the jeopardy in which his future plans might be 
 placed he would have the darling satisfaction of seeing Tighe 
 a Vohr punished, and of proving to his friends of the course 
 how he had been the victim of a cunning trick ; but, on the 
 other hand, Carroll O'Donoghue might be made to believe him 
 the traitor he was, and he might be ignominiously expelled the 
 haunts to which it was his advantage to resort His prudence 
 counseled him to accept the terms and trust to the promise 
 which was offered. The pledge to restore the horse to Ma- 
 loney would, he felt, satisfy the old man, and prevent him 
 making any charge against Tighe ; and to his friends of the 
 course he could pretend to turn the whole into a good joke, 
 feigning that his innate good nature and compassion for 
 Tight Yohr caused him rather to suffer his own loss than
 
 T1QHE A VOHRS SWEEI HEART. 3 ^ 
 
 prosecute the poor fellow. He stopped again before hii 
 visitor. " I would like to see Tighe a Vohr to treat with 
 himself." 
 
 " You can't, thin, until you've agreed to all I ask ; for 
 Tighe'll not come nixt nor nigh you until I give him, in yer 
 han'writin', a pledge to withdhraw this charge immadiately, 
 an* until you get the guard that's around this house taken 
 away , then Tighe will come to see you." 
 
 Without replying, Carter went into an adjoining room, and 
 speedily returned with three or four lines written on a paper, 
 which he proffered to his visitor, saying at the same time : " I 
 have sent up to the police barracks to have the guard taken 
 away ; and now, how soon shall I see Tighe ? I must know 
 when Maloney can have his horse." 
 
 "Wait for me here, an' I'll see if I can foind him." 
 
 She departed from the room, trying to affect a true mincing 
 style ; but there was something so awkward and constrained 
 about her movements that, had not Carter been absorbed in 
 reflection, with his hand to his face, he must have thought it 
 all very strange. To Mr. Hoolahan she immediately went, 
 proffering the paper which she had received from Carter. 
 " Read that, plaze, Mr. Hoolahan ; I'm not a very good 
 hand at the book larnin', an' somehow the power o' undher- 
 sthandin* writin' has a fashion o' goin' out o' me head alto- 
 gither." 
 
 Hoolahan, who had been breaking his heart laughing from 
 the very first glimpse he had caught of the strange female a 
 couple of hours before in the kitchen, and who laughed 
 heartier now, as he looked at the quizzical expression on the 
 strange creature's face, and felt that a very clever trick was 
 being played on Mortimer Carter, took the paper and read : 
 
 "To THE SUB-INSPECTOR OF POLICE: 
 
 I hereby withdraw all the 
 
 charges which have been preferred by me against Timothy 
 Carmody, otherwise known as Tighe a Vohr. 
 
 MORTIMER CARTER."
 
 246 CARROLL VDONOGHUK 
 
 The strange female nodded her head with evident satisfac- 
 tion. " Thank you, Mr. Hoolahan ; an* now, mebbe you'd 
 be able to inform me if he sint to have the guard taken 
 away." 
 
 " He did that, for I sent the order for him." 
 
 "Thank you, Mr. Hoolahan, an* I'll not forgit the favor 
 you done me this day. I'll go now, an' put on me own proper 
 dhress, for these wimen's skirts are very onhandy to manage." 
 
 Having arrived in the kitchen, he gave an account of his 
 success which, while it was humorous, and seemed to be 
 straightforward and truthful, yet afforded his listeners no clew 
 to the true facts in the case, further than that it was his play- 
 ing a trick on Carter that had made the latter procure a war- 
 rant of arrest, and now it was the playing of another trick on 
 the same gentleman which had effected the withdrawal of the 
 warrant. The account caused successive roars of laughter, 
 and as the women assisted Tighe to doff the feminine gar- 
 ments which had been put on over much of his own clothes, 
 thus giving the apparent female a very embompoint look, and 
 taking somewhat from her height, which otherwise might have 
 been remarkable, they assured him of their regard for him, 
 begging him to be a frequent visitor, and entreating him never 
 to want for a meal's victuals while they were to the fore it. 
 good-hearted Andy Hoolahan's kitchen neither himself nor 
 any friend he might happen to have with him. Tighe ex- 
 pressed himself with becoming gratitude, and with hearty 
 pressures of the hand, which became a most significant 
 squeeze when he held the fingers of the little scullery-maid 
 beside whom he had been set to work, he departed a second 
 time to Mr. Mortimer Carter. 
 
 Having given the same timid, gentle knock with which he 
 had signaled for entrance when he personated Tighe's sweet- 
 heart, and having entered with the same cast-down eyes, and 
 bashful air, and hiding of his hands with a handkerchief in 
 lieu of an apron, he approached Mr. Carter. A sudden light 
 broke on the latter/f mind. He recognized the air, the gait ;
 
 T10HE A VOHR8 SWEETHEART. ,47 
 
 he identified them with those of his previous visitor, and in 
 his discomfited astonishment he sprung from the chair into 
 which he had thrown himself. " May the divil fly away with 
 me if it wasn't Tighe a Vohr all the time ! " 
 
 " The same, an' no liss," responded Tighe ; " an' now 
 there's no use in cryin' over spilt milk ; bear up loike a mar, 
 undher the difficulties afore you, an' listen while I tell you 
 where to foind ould Maloney's horse. To-morrow at twelve 
 o'clock be at Dick Courcy's shebeen you know where that 
 is ; you'll mate there Arty Moore, Maloney's groom ; you'd 
 betther tell him all the villainy is found out, but that we've 
 been pardoned in considheration o" restorin' the baste imma- 
 diately. That's all now, Mr. Carther, but, moind you, if you 
 neglict attindin' to this" shaking the papers he held "for 
 this is only writin' for it, an' I'm still loikely to be arristed 
 till you have the charge properly withdhrawn ; if, I say, you 
 should be guilty o' such neglict as that, an' that I should fale 
 the hand o' a paler on me shouldher agin, that insthant I'll 
 make up me moind to discover you an' yer doin's. Good 
 noight, Mr. Carther ; may you slape aisy, an* have consolin* 
 dhrames ; an* the nixt toime don't be so ready to throw in a 
 woman's face that she can't kape a saycret, as you did to- 
 noight to Tighe a Vohr's swateheart" 
 
 He departed, leaving baffled, humbled, raging Carter to 
 vent his passion in long, hasty strides and violent striking of 
 his forehead with clinched hands.
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 A STARTLING DECLARATION. 
 
 * IT'S little you have to do when you can sleep till this hou 
 ,ja the morning ! " 
 
 The words, somewhat crossly spoken, came from Rick of 
 the Hills, who was standing beside Carter's bed in the private 
 lodging which the latter occupied whenever he sojourned in 
 Tralee. Carter started up, rubbing his eyes and looking in a 
 bewildered way from his visitor to the dull daylight which 
 struggled into the room. 
 
 " How did you get in ; and what time is it ? " he asked, 
 when he seemed to have recovered all his waking faculties. 
 
 " How did I get in ? faith, easy enough ; I came up here 
 this morning and went to Hoolahan's, where you told me to 
 go if I wanted you ; but you hadn't got there yet, and a good- 
 natured man at the counter gave me the street and the num- 
 ber of your lodgings ; so I came here, and the girl below 
 said you weren't up ; but she showed me your room, and 
 when I knocked and received no answer, I tried the door. It 
 was open, and I entered that's how I got in ; and as to the 
 time, it's twenty minutes past the dinner hour." 
 
 Carter started and looked at his watch, which he drew from 
 beneath his pillow. It was true that was the hour ; and he 
 sat motionless, looking at nothing in particular, and holding 
 his watch in a vacant way. But his mind was painfully re- 
 verting to all the events of the previous day ; it was due to 
 them that his morning nap had been thus extended ; for in 
 perplexity and agony of mind, owing to his fears of what 
 Tighe a Vohr, who had already so cleverly outwitted him, 
 might accomplish in the future to hinder his purposes, he had 
 
 (*4)
 
 A STARTLING DECLARATION. , 49 
 
 walked the floor till daylight shone through his uncurtained 
 window, and then he threw himself, partially dressed, on the 
 bed ; he had forgotten to lock his door. 
 
 " How long are you going to stay that way / ' asked Rick 
 impatiently, as the minutes passed and Carter gave no sign of 
 coming out of his gloomy reverie. " I came here after you," 
 continued Rick, " to have you decide the business you want 
 me to do at once. I got tired waiting for you to come back, 
 and I got more tired with the craving want of my heart for 
 Cathleen." A look of agony came into his pinched and hag- 
 gard face ; but it was lost upon Carter, who shook himself 
 erect and began to finish his toilet, answering carelessly : 
 
 " Sit down, Rick, and I'll talk to you as soon as I'm dressed 
 and the breakfast is sent np we'll have it here so that 
 there'll be no greedy ears to take in what we're saying." He 
 rung the bell, and gave an order for what sounded to his hun- 
 gry visitor a sumptuous meal, not forgetting to include a bottle 
 of whisky. 
 
 Over the meal, and after the imbibing of a glass of the 
 liquor, Carter seemed to recover his spirits. He was particu- 
 larly good natured to his guest, pressing him to eat, and fre- 
 quently replenishing his glass. At length, when both had 
 done ample justice to the repast, and both, apparently well 
 satisfied, leaned back in their chairs, Carter said : " Well, 
 Rick, there is only this one piece of work between you and 
 Cathleen. If you succeed in it she shall be yours, with money 
 and prosperity to boot But there must be no flinching, no 
 maudlin sentiment about the matter you must do the task 
 clean and well." 
 
 " I'll try ; " the response was given with a determined ef- 
 fort to make it calm and steady, but despite all the voice 
 shook, and the tone had a mournful, touching cadence. He 
 leaned across to Carter, a slight flush, caused by his rising 
 emotion, dyeing his worn cheeks, and his eyes wearing a look 
 from which Carter involuntarily shrunk. " I didn't think I 
 could do it when you asked me it went against my soul ;
 
 , so CARROLL 
 
 but Cathleen rose afore me Cathleen as she used to be when 
 her little arms were round my neck, and her eyes looking into 
 mine ; oh, God ! I couldn't stand it " He stopped sud- 
 denly, and dropping his head on the table, sobbed like a 
 child. 
 
 Carter looked on unmoved. 
 
 The burst ceased, and in a few moments Rick resumed : 
 " My heart grew so wild with longing for her that I felt I 
 could go to hell to see her ; and since no other way will touch 
 your stony heart, Carter, I'm here to-day to engage again in 
 your dirty work, and to sell myself body and soul to the devil 
 for the sake of Cathleen. But how do I know " he seemed 
 to be seized by a sudden and horrible fear, for he sprung 
 from his chair and stood glowering at Carter, " that you'll 
 not deceive me ? how do I know that when I've served your 
 purpose you won't give me the slip without keeping your 
 promise ? how do I know that Cathleen is living at all, or how 
 do I know, oh God ! how do I know " his form shook like 
 an aspen, and his voice became husky, " but that when I'd 
 find her it'd only be to hang my head for her shame and for 
 mine ?" 
 
 Carter also rose. " I have sworn solemnly to you before 
 that your fears were all false, and I'll give you the same pledge 
 again." 
 
 Rick laughed scornfully. " How much are your oaths 
 worth to me, Carter ? you'd take as many false ones as would 
 make a grave mound over a coffin ! " 
 
 Carter bit his lip to stifle his anger, resuming haughtily : 
 " How much will you gain if you refuse to serve me ? To 
 whom can you apply to find Cathleen for you, and who can 
 force me into an acknowledgement that I know of her where- 
 abouts ? I would laugh at the story, and pronounce it a mere 
 fabrication of your own ; and you know that past circum- 
 stances would bear me out in my statement." 
 
 Rick, as if he was overcome by the truth of what he heard 
 groaned and hid his face with his hands.
 
 A STARTLING DECLARATION. 
 
 25* 
 
 Carter continued, placing at the same moment a pound- 
 note before his guest : " No, Rick, it's better for your own 
 interests every way to trust me and to serve me. This affair, 
 which will be one of my last strokes, will end the business, 
 and I again swear to you that you shall see Cathleen, and see 
 her well and happy. Come, drink to your future joy." He 
 filled the glass to overflowing, and proffered it to his visitor. 
 
 That last struggling remnant of good in the poor wretch's 
 nature urged him to repel the temptation ; he had already 
 sufficient liquor within him, and more would, he knew, make 
 him the degraded and unresisting tool of Carter's most foul 
 machinations ; but the bait was too alluring ; he drew back 
 once in angry refusal, but the next instant he seized the glass 
 and quaffed its contents. 
 
 Carter was satisfied, and he resumed his seat ; Rick dropped 
 
 heavily into his. " How soon will you " there was a sudden 
 
 pause on the part of Carter, as if he were undecided how to 
 frame his question. 
 
 Rick looked up. " You mean to ask, I suppose, how soon 
 I'll be ready to work up this last foul plot of yours ? " 
 
 Carter nodded. 
 
 " Now at once ! " He arose from his chair, and pocket- 
 ing the money which had been placed before him, began but- 
 toning his ragged coat and planting firmly on his head a dirty, 
 well-worn hat. At the door, with his hand on the knob, he 
 turned to say : " Mind you, Carter, this is the last devil's 
 work I'll do for you ; and if, when it's done, you fail in your 
 promise to me, I'll wash my hands in your blood ; aye, if I 
 have to come out of my grave to murder you ! " There was 
 a wild, desperate look in the large black eyes that made Car- 
 ter draw a relieved breath when the door was fairly shut be- 
 hind his visitor. 
 
 A dull, constant rain poured abroad, but beyond a slight 
 shiver, and a closer fastening of his old coat about his person, 
 Rick paid little heed to the storm. Indeed, it would seem 
 from the glitter in his eyes, and the unwonted flush still on
 
 ,j, CARROLL aDOKOamiSL 
 
 his pinched cheeks, that some emotion within made him in- 
 sensible to the uncomfortable atmosphere without He could 
 take the car now to his destination, thanks to Carter's recent 
 gift, and not be compelled to make the journey, as he had 
 done when coming up to Tralee, by begging lifts on passing 
 vehicles, and failing that, by trudging till his feet were sore 
 and blistered. The effect of his weary tramp was visible now 
 in his partially limping gait, and some kind-hearted people 
 looked after the poor wretch as if they would have gladly 
 doled him an alms, but he asked none. It was nightfall 
 when he reached Dhrommacohol, and the storm, which had 
 also raged there, had abated. The stars were beginning to 
 twinkle in the dull sky, and the air had all that refreshing in- 
 fluence upon the spirit which is sometimes so cheeringly felt 
 after a storm. Something of such a feeling stole on the mis- 
 erable man, who, walking slowly by the country lanes, often 
 cast his eyes up to the now star-studded vault above him. A 
 strange fascination impelled his glance in that direction, 
 while the scent of the wild field-flowers came to him, and the 
 gentle waving of the trees in the soft evening wind seemed to 
 salute him all conspiring to harrow his soul with memories 
 at once sweet and heart-breaking. The big tears rolled from 
 his eyes, but were wildly dashed away. " What is unmanning 
 me ? " he said ; " why do I give way now, when I know I must 
 do it ? " he had involuntarily paused, and his eyes were again 
 fixed on the sky. " Why do I look there ? " he resumed ; 
 " there, where / shall never be ! and oh, if Cathleen is there, 
 and if she's looking at me may be, wretched sinner as I am, 
 she'd give me one pitying look ! " He threw himself on his knees 
 by the country hedge. " Blessed mother of God, you that have 
 a tender heart for the poor and the distressed pray for me ! " 
 He started up wildly : " What am I doing me praying ! 
 it'll make the devils in hell laugh to hear the like of me pray- 
 ing ! " He strove to laugh himself to banish the strange, 
 softening influences which were at work about him ; but 
 his mirth sounded hollow and discordant He walked on
 
 A STARTLING DECLARATION. 353 
 
 quickly to Father Meagher's residence, shuddering as he 
 approached the little chapel, and hurrying by it. 
 
 Moira, in the kitchen lightening her evening work by 
 pleasant thoughts of Tighe a Vohr, opened to Rick's knock. 
 " Why, Rick ! " she exclaimed, " where do you come from ? 
 it's so long since you've been here ! " 
 
 " I know it," he responded ; " and now as I am here, and 
 tired and hungry in the bargain, will you give me a meal ? " 
 
 "To be sure, and welcome ! just sit down before the fire, 
 the rain has made it so chilly and I'll have a supper for 
 you in no time." And the kind-hearted girl cheerfully 
 bustled about the preparations. 
 
 " Don't be troubling yourself 
 crust and a cup of tea will do ! " 
 
 But Moira, in the goodness of her heart, would make the 
 poor fellow, whose plight was well calculated to win sympathy, 
 as comfortable as she could, and she set before him the best 
 that the priest's simple larder afforded. 
 
 Rick ate, asking careless questions the while about the 
 household, ascertaining, to his private satisfaction, that Nora 
 McCarthy had gone alone some distance to see a dying crea- 
 ture, and that she would probably not return very soon. By 
 further adroit questions he won from simple Moira the precise 
 location of the house to which Nora had gone on her charit- 
 able errand ; and when he had finished his meal, and thanked 
 his kind little hostess, he set out in the direction which he 
 knew Nora must take on her return. 
 
 The moon was shining, and everything on the lonely coun- 
 try road could be seen as plainly as in the noonday sun. Not 
 a soul crossed Rick's path until he was within sight of the 
 house into which Nora had gone. It was one of the very 
 humble cabins of the Irish poor, and its whole exterior pro- 
 claimed the want which might be within. He gazed- at it with 
 bitter feeling ; too well he knew the poverty which existed in 
 fuch places, and his bosom swelled as he thought of that gov- 
 ernment to whose oppression was due such want and woe ;
 
 *54 
 
 CARROLL VDONOQBUR 
 
 but in the same instant his cheeks tingled with the flush of 
 self -accusation and shame, for was not he the traitor who had 
 betrayed to the authorities the hiding-place of Carroll O'Don- 
 oghue ? He turned away as if in his bitterness he would de- 
 part from himself ; but there was the sound of a light step on 
 the road, and he turned back. It was Nora McCarthy ; well 
 he knew the agile grace of that slight form, and he continued 
 to watch her as she approached him. The moonlight reveal- 
 ed her fully ; a dark cloak enveloping her person, its hood 
 covering her head, and the little basket in which she had car- 
 ried some nourishment for the sick creature pending from her 
 hand. On she came, fearless and apparently thoughtful, and 
 only slightly starting when Rick sprung before her in the road. 
 " I would speak to you, Miss McCarthy I have been watch- 
 ing for you." 
 
 " Certainly, Rick ; anything I can do for you ? do not hes- 
 itate to tell me." 
 
 " Do you mind the last time we met, when you asked me if 
 I was in trouble, and I told you the secret of my heart the 
 sorrowful secret that's been eating my life away for many a 
 year ? " his voice was husky and trembling. 
 
 " I do, Rick, I remember it all," she hastened to answer ; 
 " and I have prayed for you fervently every day since." 
 
 He bent his head forward, and whispered, as if his growing 
 huskiness prevented his speaking aloud : " Do you mind the 
 advice you gave me then ; and would you give me the same 
 now ? " 
 
 " The same, Rick the very same ; it would be the worst 
 of sins to change it." 
 
 " But listen once more," still in a trembling whisper ; "it 
 may break my child's heart to know what she does'nt at pres- 
 ent guess ; think, Miss McCarthy if it was your own case, 
 what would you do ? " he raised his clasped hands to her in 
 wild entreaty. 
 
 All her soul spoke in her beautiful eyes as she answered, 
 with thrilling earnestness : " Were it my case, I should know
 
 A STARTLING DECLARATION. ,55 
 
 &. pause between this knowledge coming to me and my ac 
 knowledgment of my father. No wealth, no home, no friends 
 should stand between us ; were he an outcast from mankind 
 he would be still my father, and 1, thinking alone of the love 
 which had never lost sight of me during all his desolate, wan- 
 dering years, would bound to him, and repay him with burn- 
 ing affection ! " 
 
 " Nora McCarthy, the case is your own you are my child, 
 and I am your father ! " He stood there white and trembling, 
 the blood had flown even from his lips with outstretched 
 arms and humid eyes. 
 
 Her father I she heard like one in a dream ; it was so sud- 
 den, so unexpected, so dreadful, that she could not compre- 
 hend it ; and she stood there so motionless that the gentle 
 swell and fall of her bosom as she breathed could be plainly 
 discerned, while her face was as white as Rick's own. Her 
 eyes were fixed with a wild, frightened look upon his face. 
 
 " I should not have told you," he said mournfully ; " the 
 advice you gave me for another is too hard for yourself to 
 follow ! " He let his hands drop and was turning away. 
 
 " Wait a moment ! " She was clasping his arm with her 
 trembling hands. " Let me think ! " 
 
 Faster than the lightning's flash came a train of thoughts to 
 her terror-stricken mind thoughts that brought her back to 
 the time when, on the eve of her First Communion, she learned 
 from Father Meagher's own lips how she was a waif who had 
 been adopted by the O'Donoghue family ; that her parents 
 were gone gone, and not dead, had been the word used by 
 the priest, though the impression that both her father and 
 mother had died was somehow given to the little girl ; and 
 when she had sought to know more of her origin, she had been 
 told simply that she was the child of humble, but honest 
 parents. It must be so then ; this man, this intemperate beg- 
 gar, this outcast from all respectable society, this wild-looking 
 being, from relationship with whom, and such relationship, her 
 whole soul recoiled, must be her father ! But no answering
 
 356 CARROLL aDONOGHUS. 
 
 instinct responded to his appeal ; no strangely affectionate 
 impulse had sprung into being at his cry nothing but the 
 horrible consciousness that she was the child of a man from 
 whom she recoiled with aversion and terror. In her agony 
 an agony which was causing her frame to work convulsively, 
 and sending pallor and crimson successively into her face, 
 her heart turned to one friend Father Meagher ; he would 
 know ; he would help her to understand this wretched 
 mystery. 
 
 *' Come home with me ! " she said hoarsely, still clasping 
 Rick's arm. " Come home, and I will tell Father Meagher." 
 
 Rick neither objected nor remonstrated, but walked om 
 quietly by her side.
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 NORA MCCARTHY'S SACRIFICE. 
 
 FATHER MEAGHER was in his pleasant fittle study, conning 
 a Latin work which lay open before him, at intervals raising 
 his head to address Clare O'Donoghue, who, at the opposite 
 end of the table, was pretending to do some needlework. 
 Her fingers plied the shining implement it is true, while the 
 clergyman's eyes were upon her, but the moment she was un- 
 observed her fingers ceased to move, and she yielded again to 
 despondent thought. The good priest had observed with no 
 slight concern her growing moody reserve, and. he knew that 
 it boded little good for her health of mind or body. For the 
 purpose of rousing her from her melancholy, he had insisted 
 that she should bear him company in the study until Nora's 
 return, and he had sought to awaken her interest by recount- 
 ing amusing items of the parish gossip. But a slight smile, 
 that was scarcely such, it was so faint, was her only answer. 
 
 " Do you know what I heard an hour or so ago ? " he said, 
 shutting his book, rising from his chair, and beginning to pace 
 the little room. 
 
 Clare had commenced her stitching again, and she seemed 
 too intently at work to care even to raise her head. 
 
 The priest continued : " Tom Murphy at the kilns, was tell- 
 ing me : it seems he has been up to Tralee for the race that 
 took place there a couple of days ago, and some other busi- 
 ness kept him so that he did not get home until shortly be- 
 fore I was speaking to him. Ned Maloney, down here, had 
 his horse entered for that race, with some noted jockey to 
 ride him ; and Tighe a Vohr, by one of his tricks, actually 
 got possession of the horse, rode the animal himself, and woe 
 (57)
 
 , 5 8 CARROLL VDONOGI1UK 
 
 the race, doing Maloney and everybody concerned with the 
 old man in the affair out of all their expectations. It sent poor 
 Maloney nearly crazy so much so, that he has done, for him, 
 a most unprecedented action closed his place, and gone up 
 to Tralee himself. But this is not the whole of the story : 
 Tighe was arrested for what he did, the charge being preferred 
 by Morty Carter ; but he so badgered or befooled the officer 
 who had him in charge that he escaped, and afterward he 
 actually found means to hoodwink or cajole Carter into with- 
 drawing the warrant ; and I believe in my heart now, since I 
 have heard this narrative of Tighe's doings, that he was the 
 instigator of all that rabble and uproar in front of Maloney's 
 place last week. 
 
 " And if he was, uncle, surely you ought to forgive him for 
 the good turns he does everybody." 
 
 It was Moira who spoke ; she was entering with the cup of 
 tea which the priest sometimes took in his study, and she 
 overheard sufficient of the last remark to enable her to know 
 well to whom it had reference. 
 
 " You forget yourself, Moira ! " said the priest a little 
 sternly, though he was somewhat amused at the pertinacity 
 with which his niece insisted on defending Tighe upon every 
 occasion. 
 
 Having set down the tea, she left the room with an appeal- 
 ing look to Clare, as if she would have said : " You speak in 
 his behalf ! " But Clare was too sad to respond to the look 
 by even a smile. 
 
 There was the noise of some one entering by the back way, 
 and an instant after, the sound of hurried steps on the stair 
 and in the little passage which led to the study. Father 
 Meagher opened the door, and beheld Nora so deathly pale, 
 BO wild and frightened-looking that he started in dismay. 
 
 " My child ! what has happened ? " 
 
 His exclamation brought Clare to the threshold. 
 
 Nora did not speak ; as if her voice had left her, she caught 
 the sontane of the clergyman, and tremblingly brought him to
 
 ITORA McCASTHY'S SACRIFICE. 2S9 
 
 the little parlor, at the same time waving back Clare, who 
 attempted to follow. The parlor was but dimly lighted, but 
 it was sufficiently so to show Nora's terror-stricken face as she 
 threw herself on her knees at the priest's feet. " Father, for 
 the love of Heaven, answer me one question is Rick of the 
 Hills my father ? " 
 
 The priest started, and so violent was his emotion that great 
 beads of perspiration came out upon his forehead. He did 
 not reply. 
 
 " For the love of God, I beg you to answer ! one little word, 
 and end my horrible suspense ! " 
 
 " Why do you ask ? " The clergyman's voice was as quiv- 
 ering as her own. 
 
 " Because Rick has told me so ; he claims me as his child. 
 Oh, father, answer me I must know ! " 
 
 She was in no condition to be evaded, or to be calmed by 
 anything save a direct reply, and Father Meagher gasped, 
 rather than said : " He is ! " 
 
 "Then go to him he is down-stairs waiting to see you." 
 
 Hardly with volition of his own, so mystified, and bewil- 
 dered, and pain-stricken was he, the priest obeyed. Clare met 
 him in the hall, but he could not answer her ; he pointed to 
 the room in which he had left Nora. She rushed in. Nora 
 was still kneeling, her face bowed on the crucifix she had 
 drawn from her bosom, and which was the fac-simile of that 
 worn by her betrothed. With one hand she waved Clare 
 back. 
 
 " Leave me let me be alone for a little while with this ! " 
 indicating the crucifix by a motion of her head ; " I am not 
 myself now by and by, some one will tell you, but go away 
 now please go away ! " as Clare still hesitated, ready herself 
 to burst into passionate weeping at this mystery, which, 
 for aught she knew, might mean some dreadful occur- 
 rence to her brother. She obeyed the earnest entreaty, how- 
 ever, and paced the little hall in an agony of suspense. In a 
 few moments Father Meagher, flushed and excited, accom-
 
 ,6o CAE&OLL VDONOGHTTK 
 
 panied by an ill-formed, shambling man whom she recognized 
 as Rick of the Hills, passed her, on their way to the study. 
 The door was shut tight upon them ; still, as she wildly 
 walked, she could hear their excited voices, and the more har- 
 rowing sound of Nora's sobbing. " My God ! my God ! " 
 moaned Nora, deluging the crucifix with her tears ; " I accept 
 it all I unite my will with that of Thine. I begged of Thee 
 once to inflict upon me any suffering so that Carroll would be 
 spared I repeat my prayer, and I accept this trial from Thy 
 loving hands. Oh, Thou who drank to the dregs Thy cup of 
 sorrow and shame Thou whose heart broke in its agony, 
 have pity upon me ! give me strength, give me courage for 
 my duty. Blessed mother of God, whose tender heart is never 
 closed to the cry of the distressed, pray for me ! " and scapu- 
 lar and crucifix were together pressed to her fevered lips. 
 
 Within the study, Father Meagher was saying to the cow- 
 ering man before him : " Did you not solemnly promise when 
 Mrs. O'Donoghue took the infant from its dying mother's 
 arms that you would never claim it that you would never 
 assert your title to it in any way ? And by what right did 
 you dare to make yourself known to her now, when you did 
 not do it before ? you have not even the claim which a decent 
 sober life might have given you. Had you been such, Rick, 
 instead of a worthless scamp, 1 myself would have revealed 
 the secret to her before this ; but to tell her, she, who it 
 almost angelic in goodness, that you, you as you know your- 
 self to be, Rick, without any description of mine, were her 
 father, would be to break her heart, as I doubt not you, by 
 the shock you have given her, have already done. And what 
 good is this going to do, let me ask you ? " the priest's man- 
 ner became more severe " she shall not leave her present 
 home, nor shall you be permitted to molest her in any way." 
 
 Rick answered doggedly : " She is my child, and she is of 
 age to judge for herself ; she told me when I put the case be- 
 fore her as if it was another, and not herself, that were she 
 the child I spoke of nothing should part her from her father
 
 JT0&4 MCCARTHY' s SACRIFICE. a $, 
 
 that she would acknowledge him before the wo: Id, though 
 he was a villain and an outcast." 
 
 The priest's expression changed to one of sadness and per- 
 plexity. 
 
 Rick continued, in a tone that became more full of emotion 
 with every word : " You ask me why I claim her now, whr n 
 I didn't before ? I made the sacrifice long enough to let her 
 have the home, and the education, and the friends she has, 
 while I wandered the world with the heart within me crying 
 for my child ; may be if I'd had her all these years I wouldn't 
 be what I am ; may be if I could feel the little arms around my 
 neck, as I once felt them, they would have kept me from 
 many a crime ! I endured it all, Father Meagher, as long as 
 I could ; I held out against this against the impulse that 
 was maddening me, the impulse to reveal to her who she was. 
 till the heart within me was melting for my child. I bat 
 tied with myself, and then, to satisfy my wild -longing. I tested 
 her once a few evenings ago when I met her alone. She an- 
 swered as I told you ; and what heart could withstand that ? 
 You are a priest of God," he continued, " and you have heard 
 before this the story of wretched and broken hearts ; my 
 heart is such, and you may blame me, aye, spurn me, if you 
 will, but think while you're doing it, Father Meagher, how 
 it's the wild, racking, burning love for my child that has done 
 it all ! " He fell on his knees, sobbing aloud. 
 
 The clergyman was deeply touched ; he made two OT 
 three turns of the little study before he could subdue his emo- 
 tion. " What will satisfy you, Rick ? " he said at last, pausing 
 before the kneeling man. " You surely would not wish her 
 to leave those with whom she has been reared since her in- 
 fancy you could not, you would not dream of asking her to 
 live with you ? " 
 
 Rick arose. " I'll leave it to herself ; 111 abide by what 
 she wants : if it's to wander forth again without her, I'll go ; if 
 it's to depart from her without ever returning to look upon her 
 face, I'll obey, because it will be her wish." He folded his 
 arms and let his head droo forward on his breast
 
 ,6 CAHROLL VDONOGHUR 
 
 Father Meagher looked it him, and for an instant he sick- 
 ened as he thought of that wild, half -cleanly, sinful man be- 
 ing so closely allied to pure, lovely Nora McCarthy. " Re- 
 main here," he said ; and he left the room, encountering the 
 well-nigh frantic Clare. 
 
 " What is it, father ? I shall go mad if you do not tell me ! 
 perhaps my brother has been already executed ! " 
 
 " No, no, my poor child ; it is nothing about Carroll it 
 only concerns our poor Nora ; and now go to your room and 
 be patient ; in a little while you shall know all." 
 
 Somewhat relieved, though still a prey to keen anxiety, she 
 obeyed, and the priest returned to Nora. 
 
 She was still on her knees, but no longer weeping ; her 
 whole attitude was strangely calm, and the face which she 
 lifted on the clergyman's entrance save for its pallor, which 
 was deepened by the dark rings around her eyes, indicating 
 severe mental suffering bore no trace of her late emotion. 
 She rose, and with her hand still clasping the crucifix she 
 said quietly and slowly, but with an accent of touching sad- 
 ness : "Father, I understand it all now, and my duty has be- 
 come plain. He is my father, my poor, wretched father, it is 
 true, but still my father ; his heart has been breaking for me 
 all these years, and it must be my task to comfort him for the 
 future." 
 
 " You would then leave the friends who have reared and 
 protected you who have been more to you than this misera- 
 ble parent ever pretended to be ? Is this your gratitude, 
 Nora?" 
 
 " Oh, father, you are harrowing my soul ! I know, I feel 
 all that you would say, but listen to me. Could you hear him, 
 as I have heard him, depict his broken heart, his blighted life ; 
 and could you feel, as I have felt, that neither might have 
 been had I, his child, whom he so loved, been with him, you 
 would only repeat the counsel my own heart is whispering. 
 He is now a drunkard, a wanderer, an outcast ; if I, by pa- 
 tient, unwearied affection, can win him back, can reclaim hi
 
 NORA McCARTffT'8 SACRIFICE. t 6j 
 
 ionl, is it not my instant duty to fly to him ? Which, father, 
 would you have me do spare the dear ones, who have bcn 
 more than father or mother to me, and spare myself the an- 
 guish of a parting which after all will be the occasion of only 
 a little earthly pain, or seek to reclaim an immortal soul 
 you, whose life is devoted to souls, answer me ? " 
 
 The priest turned away ; he was too deeply affected by the 
 holy enthusiasm, the spirit of self-immolation which spoke in 
 her earnest eyes, to answer her immediately. 
 
 " Speak, father ! " she entreated. 
 
 He slowly faced her. " My child, have you counted all the 
 costs ? where will be your home with this poor wretch ; what 
 your means of support ; how will you endure the hard, pain- 
 ful, perhaps ignominious life to which you may be subjected ? 
 Think well before you decide. And there are other ways by 
 which you may discharge your duty to this miserable being. 
 God does not require such an utter sacrifice of yourself as 
 you desire to make." 
 
 " Nay, father ; " a mournful smile broke over her features 
 for a moment " anything less than living with him, doing foi 
 him, comforting him, would not be fulfilling the duty which 1 
 owe him as his child and it is for this affection that his heart 
 has been crying all these years. You ask me where will be 
 our home, and what will be our means of support : a very 
 little, humble home will suffice for us ; and for our support, 
 I can earn that my needlework has already brought me no 
 inconsiderable sum, and God will take care of us." 
 
 "Have you given a thought to what Carroll will say of 
 this?" 
 
 Oh, the anguish that shone in her dry, burning eyes ! the 
 emotion that became visible in her trembling lip ! for an in- 
 stant it threatened to overwhelm her, and she swayed to and 
 fro with the convulsive throes of her form. " You, father, 
 will break it gently to him, and you will tell him to forget me. 
 I could not, I would not, hold him to his troth now, when I 
 know myself to be the offspring of such a parent J "
 
 *6 4 CAK&OLL VDONOQRUX. 
 
 u 1 shall do nothing of the kind ! " broke out the priest 
 bluntly all the more bluntly, and indignantly as well, that he 
 might hide his own emotion ; " tell him that," he continued, 
 " to break his heart ! and Carroll O'Donoghue is not the man 
 to resign you because of what has occurred ; besides, he is 
 already aware that you were a little waif adopted into hii 
 family, and that your true name is Nora Sullivan." 
 
 As if she longed to end the distressing interview, she turned 
 toward the door, saying : " Come with me, father, and I shall 
 tell him that I am ready to acknowledge him before the 
 world." Without, however, waiting for the priest, she hurried 
 to the study ; but at the door of the little room, with her 
 hand upon the knob, she remained standing till Father 
 Meagher, who had followed, reached her. Perchance she 
 deemed his presence would help her to ward off the feeling 
 of death-like faintness which seized her at the thought of 
 what she was about to do. By a desperate effort she recov- 
 ered herself, and with a mental prayer for strength she entered, 
 the priest, who was unable to prevent, or remonstrate further, 
 following. 
 
 Rick of the Hills was in the same position in which Father 
 Meagher had left him standing with his arms folded, and his 
 bowed head so deeply forward that his chin rested upon his 
 breast. The light from the study lamp fully revealed him 
 his coarse, abundant black hair hanging in disordered masses, 
 his high shoulders, and his whole ungainly form. He did not 
 look up at the entrance ; he did not make a motion ; and 
 Nora, not suffering herself to pause for an instant, not suffer- 
 ing herself to contemplate for a moment that unkempt, misera- 
 ble figure, flew to him, folded her arms about him, and cried, 
 while her tears burst forth : 
 
 " Father ! 1 am here to acknowledge you, to wander o'er 
 the world with you, to pay you back love for love ! " 
 
 Was it fancy on the part of the priest that, for a second, 
 there was an actual shrinking of Rick of the Hills from that 
 embrace : a sudden, involuntary start as if he would have
 
 NORA MCCARTHY' 8 SACRIFICE. 2 g s 
 
 broken desperately from it? but the next moment he had 
 thrown his arms about Nora, and his big and rapid tears were 
 CGirsing with her own. 
 
 He released her gently, as gently as if she were the little 
 babe of whom he so often spoke, whose clinging arms he wat 
 unfastening from his neck, and he put her from him, almost 
 as if he felt some invisible barrier rising between them 
 " Father Meagher ! " He sprung erect as he uttered the 
 name, and stood with a manliness of bearing that seemed 
 strangely foreign to his appearance, continuing : " My soul is 
 black with crimes before Heaven this night. I am a misera 
 ble wretch, fit only to mingle with the scum of the earth,' and 
 perhaps this last act of mine, which has torn her heart " in- 
 dicating Nora by a slight motion of his head " and which 
 may be the means of blighting her life, has gone up to Heaven 
 with a bitter cry for vengeance. I say " in his earnestness 
 he took a step toward the priest " it may be so ; but I call 
 God to witness it was the love for my little one that drove me 
 to it the little one that went from my arms with the smile on 
 her mouth, and the bright look in her eyes the little one that 
 comes to me in my dreams, always a little one ! " 
 
 It was, as he had said, always a little one ; his affection 
 seemed to be centered round the babe that he had resigned, 
 rather than about the woman whom that babe had become 
 as if he could not reconcile himself to the change that tim* 
 had effected. It might be due, as the deeply touched priest 
 thought, to the fact that it was only during the period of her 
 babyhood the wretched father had been permitted to claim 
 and to caress her ; for, though he was bound by a solemn 
 promise not to reveal himself to her, nor to discover to others 
 the relation which existed between them, still there had been 
 frequent and ample opportunities, had he chosen to use them, 
 when he might have seen and spoken to Nora. That he had 
 not done so, now in the face of such wild affection as he 
 evinced, was a surprise to the priest, and he listened to the 
 unhappy man with mingled emotions of wonder and surprise
 
 a66 CARROLL VDONOGHUE. 
 
 " You blame me," Rick continued, with a desperation in 
 his voice which seemed to tell of the last bitter throes of a 
 broken heart, " and spurn me for what I have done ; and she 
 herself," again indicating Nora by a motion of his head 
 " when she feels the poverty and the shame of being my child, 
 may turn against me ; but God, who knows the secrets of all 
 hearts, knows what drove me to do this, and on the last day, 
 Father Meagher, when we are all before the Judgment Seat, 
 perhaps in my soul, damned as it may be, you will be able to 
 read the woe and the despair which have been my company 
 for many a year." For an instant emotion threatened to stifle 
 his voice, but he overcame it, and resumed : " Remember 
 now, that I do not force her I do not ask her to come with 
 me ; I'll wander again, childless, as I did before, and I'll not 
 disturb her with my presence. Let her choose for herself 
 which she will have her father, or the friends who have been 
 more to her than father or mother." He fell back to his first 
 position, his arms folded, and his chin upon his breast. 
 
 Nora threw herself at the priest's feet. " You who have 
 been my friend, my counselor, my father, do not deter me 
 when I say that my choice is with him do not refuse me 
 your approval, and oh, do not deny me your blessing ! " Her 
 voice was choked with tears. 
 
 " My poor child ! I beg God's blessing most earnestly upon 
 you, and I beg Him to give you courage and strength for the 
 hard fate you have chosen ; far be it from me to seek to dis- - 
 suade you from what you so earnestly deem to be your duty ; 
 but I may at least try to smooth the road before you. Go to 
 your room now this distressing affair has been too much for 
 you, and leave me to arrange matters with" he paused 
 uddenly, endeavoring to conceal his hesitation by a slight 
 cough ; then he resumed quickly, " with your father. To-mor- 
 row you shall know our plans." 
 
 She hesitated a moment, as if she fain would have received 
 immediately the information of which he spoke ; but the 
 priest's face expressed too earnestly his desire for her with-
 
 NORA JfcCARTHTB SACRIFICE. ,67 
 
 drawal. With that same quick manner and half-averted gaze 
 with which she approached Rick of the Hills before as if, 
 did she allow herself a moment to think, or to contemplate 
 him, her resolution might fail, she now advanced to him. 
 " Good night, father," her voice sunk as she uttered the last 
 word, but with a heroic effort she instantly recovered it, and 
 continued : " To-morrow, then, the world shall know us 
 both." She wrung his hand, and went quickly from the 
 room. 
 
 Clare was waiting for her ; her eyes red and swollen from 
 weeping, and her whole disordered appearance manifesting 
 how much she had suffered from her dreadful suspense. " At 
 last ! " she murmured ; " now surely you will tell me ! " 
 
 Nora did not answer, but drew her gently within the room 
 drew her gently to an humble image of our lady placed, to- 
 gether with a large crucifix, on a temporary pedestal, and 
 before which they were both wont to say their morning and 
 evening prayers. There, kneeling, and impelling Clare to 
 kneel with her, Nora told the wretched story. She told it 
 without tears, without faltering, without much trace of any 
 emotion ; but the expression of her eyes, fixed on the crucifix, 
 and her face, as ghastly as if it were already beneath the cof- 
 fin-lid, seemed to deny her apparent calmness. 
 
 Clare would not believe the tale at first it was too horri- 
 ble ! Nora, lovely, noble, saintly Nora, the child of such a 
 man ! it could not be ; and she burst into passionate weep- 
 ing. But when she realized at last how true Nora deemed it, 
 and when she divined piece by piece for Nora, fearing the 
 pain it would inflict, refrained from telling fully, how bitter 
 a sacrifice it would entail, she clung affrightedly to her com- 
 panion, and sobbed more passionately : " Surely you will not 
 leave us ! we cannot do without you I, at least shall go with 
 you ! " 
 
 " Hush, Clare ; do not talk so wildly ; it will be your task 
 to pray for strength for me, and for repentance for my poor, 
 wretched father." For the first time her voice faltered ; she
 
 3 68 CARROLL VDONOQHU1S. 
 
 could not pronounce that name without the most bitter 
 tions rising and threatening to overcome utterly all hei 
 courage and devotion. 
 
 " And Carroll," wailed Clare, " how will he bear this ? " 
 
 The mention of him gave new impulse to the bitter and 
 burning anguish which Nora had struggled so long to repress \ 
 it rose now in a paroxysm of agony, and it was Clare's turn 
 to hold, and to attempt to comfort, the grief-stricken girl 
 she was experiencing again that uncontrollable sorrow which 
 she had felt so mysteriously in the prison cell. She remem- 
 bered it distinctly now, that unaccountable paroxysm to 
 which she had given such utter way, and the cause of which 
 she had been unable to explain. This burst was as wild and 
 deep, and she could not but feel that the former was a pre- 
 sentiment, a herald of the too real and lasting grief which had 
 now begun to darken her life. " Father Meagher will tell him 
 gently everything," she said as soon as she could speak ; " he 
 will bear to Carroll my desire to be released from my troth." 
 
 " Released from your troth / " repeated Clare slowly, and as 
 if she did not understand. 
 
 "Yes," was the mournful reply ; "I could not, I would not 
 hold him to our engagement now, when I am the child of such 
 a parent." 
 
 Clare sprung to her feet, her eyes dilated, her cheeks flush- 
 ing, her whole form swelling with indignation ; even her voice 
 was quivering : " Do you think that my brother is so base as 
 to resign you for that ? when he plighted his troth to you, and 
 received yours in return, it was for sake of yourself, Nora Mc- 
 Carthy, and not because of the parents you might have had. 
 It is you he loves, not your origin, nor your surroundings ; 
 And you mistake the character of Carroll O'Donoghue if you 
 think such vileness could exist in it. You have yet to learn 
 that an O'Donoghue prizes virtue in woman far more than 
 her pedigree." She sunk overcome by Nora's side*
 
 CHAPTER XXXIL 
 
 CARROLL'S TRUST IN CARTER. 
 
 TIGHE A VOHR had returned punctually on the expira- 
 tion of his fortnight's leave of absence to his duties as valet, 
 and a smile of pleasure broke over Captain Dennier's grave 
 face as he saw the bright, neat, clean appearance of his 
 droll Irish servant. Indeed, Tighe had taken special pains 
 with his toilet, brushing his brown hair till its gloss and curl 
 would have been an ornament to the fairest feminine head, 
 and arranging and smoothing his clothes upon his person, till 
 he stood forth as neat and lithe a figure as any upon which 
 the Englishman's eyes might care to rest. He was profuse in 
 his thanks for the favor which had been accorded him, de- 
 clared that Shaun was perfectly recovered, and in stanch con- 
 dition to endure the exciting life of the barracks, and he as- 
 serted his readiness to show by his future behavior how truly 
 devoted he was to his master's interests ; all of which state- 
 ments the officer received with an amused smile, though he 
 could not forbear acknowledging to himself that he was really 
 pleased at Tighe's return not because of the services of the 
 latter, for those had been as well, or perhaps even better, ren- 
 dered by an English substitute, but because of that strange, 
 undefinablc something within him which constantly impelled 
 him, despite his birth, his profession, his principles, to incline 
 to the Irish. Perchance the bright, winsome face, which he 
 could not entirely exclude from his thoughts, had much to do 
 with the strange influence. Annoyed with himself, he took a 
 hasty turn of the room, then, as if his pride would cover even 
 that slight exhibition of mental disturbance before his servant, 
 he stopped short, saying : 
 
 (69)
 
 I7 o CARROLL 
 
 " You were away, I believe, what part of the country wer 
 you in ? " 
 
 Tighe pretended to be seized with a very violent fit of 
 coughing. Knowing that Captain Dennier, unlike Captain 
 Crawford, was extremely reserved, and little given to interro- 
 gating subordinates on the latter's own private matters, he was 
 utterly unprepared for the question ; he wanted time to medi- 
 tate the prudence of naming Dhrommacohol. Certainly the 
 officer had never given evidence that he recognized in Tighe 
 any one that had been identified with Carroll O'Donoghue on 
 the night of the latter's arrest, and determining to trust to that 
 assurance, Tighe answered, feigning a husky tone in order to 
 show his great difficulty in recovering his voice after the 
 coughing spell : " I was down to see me mother in Dhrom- 
 macohol." 
 
 " Dhrommacohol! '" the name was repeated with such sur- 
 prise and interest in the tones that Tighe, who had cast his 
 eyes down, now looked up in astonishment. " The name 
 sounds fanaliar," continued the captain ; "have you lived 
 there long ? do you know many of the people ? " 
 
 " I've lived there since afore I was born," replied Tighe a 
 Vchr, who, in his earnestness to impress on his listener the full 
 length of time he had spent in the village, was unaware of the 
 bull he was making ; " and as for the people, there's not one, 
 from the priest of the parish down to the beggar that hasn't 
 a cabin to lie in, that I don't know." 
 
 " Then of course you know a family of the O'Donoghues 
 a brother and sister, I believe, and a young lady who has 
 made her home with them." 
 
 "The O'Donoghues," repeated Tighe slowly, as if for a 
 moment he did not quite remember ; " do you mane Carroll 
 O'Donoghue, that's held in the county jail beyant, on a charge 
 o' trayson to the governmint ? sure they're the noblest family 
 in the whole o' Ireland. Oh ! not a lady in the land, not even 
 barrin' the Lady Mayoress hersel', could come up to Miss 
 O'Donoghue an' Miss McCarthy for rale beauty an' goodness I
 
 CARROLL'S TRUST IN CARTER. 
 
 71 
 
 don't the poor o' siven parishes say particler prayers for thira 
 both the two livin' angels, as they're called, jist for the charity, 
 an' the koind words, an* the swate looks they has always 
 ready for poor craythurs. As for Miss O'Donoghue, she's the 
 idol an' the darlin' o* iverybody for the spirited way she hai 
 about things." 
 
 A sudden and vivid blush dyed Captain Dennier's cheeks, 
 causing him to bite his lip with anger that it should be so, and 
 turning away, he dismissed Tighe to his duties with a curt, 
 " Thank you." 
 
 Tighe a Vohr had lost neither the blush, nor the hasty and 
 abrupt turning away of the officer ; he knew, as well as did 
 that gentleman himself, that the latter action was a pretext to 
 hide his sudden embarrassment, and Tighe departed to his 
 duties with a very expressive look, and an observation to 
 Shaun on his first opportunity of speaking to the dog without 
 being overheard, which told how shrewdly he had divined 
 Captain Dennier's feelings. 
 
 " Faith, Shaun," said he, " there's more nor Moira an' me 
 in love, only the quality has a quare way o' doin' their coortin' 
 I'll engage now, that thim two'll jist kape apart till one or 
 the other dies o' their falins'. That's not the way o' the 
 poor at all they have no such things as pride an' the loike, 
 that the rich payple do be torminted wid, to kape thim from 
 poppin' the quistion. An' I don't know but it's the bist way, 
 Shaun I'd rather be mesel' as I am, wid Moira Moynahan 
 besoide me, than king o' England wid the Indies to boot. 
 And as for him" indicating with a motion of the thumb the 
 part of the barracks where he supposed Captain Dennier to be, 
 " I don't know about the loike o' him for Miss O'Donoghue : 
 to be sure he's a purty dacent koind o' gintleman, not loike 
 the generality o' the scurvy English at all ; but he's not her 
 koind. Faith I'm sorry he's a sassenagh." 
 
 And with that regret expressed very forcibly to Shaun, 
 Tighe plied himself anew to his duties, which had been sus- 
 pended while relieving himself of the foregoing remarks.
 
 7 a CARROLL VDONOOHVX. 
 
 Despite Carter's care to give his own skillfully-concocted 
 version of the manner in which he had forfeited his stakes in 
 the race, the story of Tighe's clever trick, with many a ludi- 
 crous addition, was in everybody's mouth, and Tighe a Voh 
 suddenly found himself the cynosure of many eyes, and the 
 darling attraction of numerous ardent and impulsive hearts. 
 In the very barracks he became the general favorite, and he 
 was permitted dmost as many privileges as the guards them- 
 selves. Garfield had become his warm and devoted friend, 
 and there was no length to which the grateful quartermaster 
 would not go to serve Tighe. 
 
 The fair Widow Moore had not grown a whit more en- 
 couraging in her demeanor to the ardent redcoat ; on two 
 occasions, impelled by his overwhelming desire to have her 
 speak to him, he ventured to approach her ; each time she 
 drew herself up with coldest hauteur, and answered frigidly 
 his stammering salutation, while her brother, the rake, Joe 
 Moore, happening to be present, looked as if he would like 
 to transfix the daring soldier. So the latter was forced to 
 withdraw, too much abashed even to make, as he had intended 
 to do, a whispered allusion to her letter. Tighe, to whom he 
 hastened to tell the story of his discomfiture, sought to com- 
 fort him by saying : 
 
 "You'll spile it all if you kape on doin' thim koind o' 
 things ! didn't I tell you afore to kape out o' her sight in- 
 toirely, an' wait for somethin' favorable to turn up ? A dale 
 o' it is due to her knave o' a brother ; for some rayson that's 
 past undhersthandin' he doesn't loike a bone in yer body, an* 
 if yer kape puttin' yersel' in his sister's soight the way you 
 do, it's turn her intoirely agin you he will Now, if you'll 
 take me advice, Mr. Garfield, you'll shtay complately away 
 from her, an' purtind to iverybody you don't care a thrawntcn 
 for her. Faith, that'll make her fale sore ; it'll be very 
 woundin' to her to think that you could so aisily forgit her. 
 You know I tould you once that the Irish wimen were very 
 quare ; the divil a lie in it, for they have <us many thricks an'
 
 CARROLL'S TUUBT W CARTER. 2 ^ 
 
 humors as'd turn a poor fellow's brain backwards to undher- 
 sthand. If they see a man dyin' about thim, an' ready to fall 
 on his knees at their fate as beggin' yer honor's pardon 
 some o' yer own counthrymin's given to doin', begorra it's 
 small chance at all he'll have ; but, if he's a man that doesn't 
 seem to care one way or the other, that's as ready to lave thim 
 as to sake thim, an' is bould an' indepindint all the toime, 
 faith it's into his kapin' they'll give their fluttherin' hearts ; 
 so you see, Mr. Garfield, the coorse you ought to follow." 
 
 " I acknowledge your advice to be sound, my good fellow," 
 answered the quartermaster, who had listened with profound 
 attention to Tighe's remarks, " and I thank you ; but my 
 fears of orders to leave here would make me risk everything 
 to have an understanding with her." 
 
 " Sure that'd be the viry thing ! " answered Tighe a Vohr, 
 whose own earnest desire was for the arrival of some order 
 which would oblige the quartermaster to leave Tralee before 
 he could discover the deception that had been practiced upon 
 him ; and it was Tighe's steady purpose to keep the man be- 
 fooled until the occurrence of such a happy riddance. " Does 
 not the varse writer, Moore," he continued, " or some o' thim 
 other min that's called poets, say, ' it's dishtance linds inchant- 
 mint to the view ? ' an' it's niver so fond o' you she'll be till 
 you're away ; faith it's thin, whin she'll think she lost you be 
 her own cruel thratemint, that her heart'll be cryin' for you 
 out an' out, an' she'll be so glad to hear from you at all that 
 you may safely sind one o' yer own written letther's widout 
 waitin' to get an Irishman to compose it for you." 
 
 With which consolation Garfield was forced to be satisfied, 
 and which advice, for lack of better, as well as for lack of 
 courage to do otherwise, he followed. 
 
 Tighe was a fair and inspiriting singer of old Irish ballads, 
 and sometimes he tuned and lilted for the amusement of the 
 soldiers. But many a time, when his strain was loudest and 
 most animated, his heart was aching, and his breast was swell*
 
 74 
 
 CARROLL VDONOQHUK 
 
 ing with despondent thoughts of his imprisoned young master. 
 Thus far all his wit and vigilance had not availed to open a 
 passage for himself to Carroll's cell ; and though he believed 
 in Garfield's friendship, and felt that perhaps he might even 
 trust the simple-minded, unsuspecting quartermaster, yet pru- 
 dence constantly dictated to him the necessity of concealing 
 his interest in the prisoner. Propitious fate, however, afforded 
 him an unexpected opportunity. Captain Dennier dispatched 
 him with a message to the governor of the jail, and while he 
 waited for an answer he was granted the permission which he 
 asked to make a tour of the jail yard. He had already learned 
 the side on which Carroll's cell was situated, and knew that it 
 was the corridor which faced the yard. In true clownish 
 fashion he sauntered about, tuning softly, as if the strain 
 broke from him in the very carelessness of his heart. Be- 
 yond a moment's curious stare, the warden s paid him no at- 
 tention. Arrived at the spot below which his master's cell 
 was situated, he suddenly broke into a quaint old Irish bal- 
 lad ; it was one that Nora McCarthy used to sing, and Tighe 
 had learned it that he too might divert the young master when 
 botk were from home, as they frequently had been, on sport- 
 ing expeditions. He sung it now with his heart in the strain, 
 and his soul praying that it might reach the ears of the dear 
 prisoner below. It was a stirring, touching lyric, set to an air 
 so wild that it suggested scenes of lonely mountain passes and 
 distant sea-washed crags. The melody was so finely ren- 
 dered by Tighe's deep, rich voice that the wardens forgot 
 their surprise in their admiration, and they did not disturb 
 him. When the song was ended he resumed his careless, 
 clownish air, and continued to repeat his tour of the yard 
 until he was summoned to receive the answer to Captain Den- 
 nier's message. 
 
 The strain had reached the ears of him for whom it was in- 
 tended ; faintly at first, still sufficient to rouse to an attitude of 
 intensely eager attention the poor prisoner, who was sitting 
 gloomily upon hi bed He sprung to his feet, standing upon
 
 CARROLL 1 8 TRUST IN CARTER. a75 
 
 the pallet as close to the iron bars that guarded the single 
 aperture his cell possessed as it was possible for him to get ; 
 but the grated space was still considerably above his head. 
 
 Louder and louder became the song, and more replete with 
 all the passionate affection of the heart of the singer, and Car- 
 roll, recognizing the voice and the air, gave a scream of joy ; 
 but, alas ! it could not penetrate beyond the walls of his 
 prison. The floodgates of his heart were opened at this touch- 
 ing evidence of Tighe a Vohr's attachment, and the unmanned 
 youth, in his gratitude and joy, cried like a child. " I knew 
 he would find some way of getting near me," he murmured, 
 " and to let me at least know of his presence ; " and when the 
 song was ended, he waited in ardent longing for its renewal. 
 
 The harsh sound of a key turning in his cell door broke 
 upon his ear, and he turned almost in expectation of behold- 
 ing Tighe a Vohr. It was Morty Carter Morty Carter, with 
 all the appearance of ardent affection and extravagant joy. 
 He waited only to have the door tightly closed behind him, 
 when he hastened with outstretched arms to the prisoner. 
 " My dear, dear boy ! you thought I had neglected you that 
 I had forgotten my promise ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ! " answered Carroll simply and trustingly ; " I 
 knew you would do neither ; beside, I have had two gleams of 
 sunshine since our last meeting a visit from Father Meagher, 
 and Nora, and Clare, brought about, I believe, by the dear 
 Tighe a Vohr ; and just now, hardly five minutes before your 
 entrance, I heard the faithful fellow himself singing above my 
 window here." 
 
 Carter was obliged to feign a sort of spasm, in order to 
 conceal the confusion and excitement into which he was 
 thrown by Carroll's statement 
 
 *' What is it, Morty ? " exclaimed the prisoner in affright, 
 while at the same time he endeavored to clasp the corpulent 
 form, which trembled violently. 
 
 "Nothing, my dear boy! absolutely nothing," protested 
 Carter as, feigning to recover, he wiped his face, and appeared
 
 t 7 6 CARROLL VDONOGHUR 
 
 to make an effort to smile. " It is only one of the turns which 
 I have frequently of Hte ; ah, Carroll ! when the heart sus- 
 tains such shocks as mine has received in the undeserved 
 coldness of friends, it would have to be adamant not to break 
 under them some time ; and it is the effect, the bitter effect, 
 of treachery and slander that it has been my fate to endure, 
 which you witnessed in my sudden spasm ; but one day all 
 my wrongs shall be righted." 
 
 " Yes, one day, Morty," spoke up the prisoner cheerfully, 
 both to comfort his visitor, and to hide his own emotion ; 
 " and you will stand forth better known, better loved, than 
 ever." 
 
 44 I care not," answered Carter, mournfully, " so they leave 
 me your affection ; if you, Carroll, do not turn against me, I 
 can face the rest I shall have courage to bear all ! " 
 
 " Have I not already sworn to you," and the young man in 
 his simple earnestness caught Carter's hands and pressed them 
 hard " that I should ever be true ? Cease to press me on 
 this wretched subject, Morty ; it harrows my soul ! " 
 
 44 On the occasion of the visit of which you spoke," asked 
 Carter, M wa3 nothing said of me no word that might make 
 you believe me guilty of what they report of me ? " 
 
 Carroll averted his head and slightly colored ; his tender 
 heart would not inflict upon his visitor the pain which he felt 
 direct avowal of what Father Meagher had attempted to say 
 might do. 
 
 Carter divined the cause of the hesitation. " Nay, tell me, 
 Carroll tell me frankly ; it will not be a pain the more, for I 
 am so hardened by past blows." 
 
 44 Father Meagher attempted to say something, and I, sus- 
 pecting from what you had previously told me what its im- 
 port might be, prevented him by saying that I knew what he 
 would speak, and I begged him to spare me the recital. How 
 he interpreted my entreaty I know not, but all left me with- 
 out saying a word more upon the subject*' 
 
 That information quite elated Mr. Carter ; he recovered
 
 CARROLL'S TRUST IN CARTER. , 7? 
 
 entirely his spirits, and burst out at once with the object of 
 his visit : " My plan for your release is now complete ; a 
 heavy bribe has secured two of the wardens, and on the sec- 
 ond night from this, one hour after midnight, you will find 
 every lock unfastened between you and the jail yard ; the 
 wall of that you will have to scale, but friends will be in wait- 
 ing on the outside with a rope to throw to you ; and once that 
 you are safe without the prison wall, a close-covered vehicle 
 will bear you quickly to Hurley's, where the boys have been 
 waiting for weeks past for an opportunity to row you out to 
 sea; afterward, to get you safely to America will be easy 
 work." 
 
 " Oh, Morty, how can I thank you ! you give me hope, you 
 give me life again ! " In his grateful enthusiasm the young 
 man would have pressed his lips to Carter's hand. 
 
 " Pshaw ! " ejaculated the latter, drawing back, and feigning 
 to brush sudden tears from his eyes. " You will have the 
 nerve for the venture, Carroll will you not ? " 
 
 " The nerve ! with life, liberty, and, above all, Nora McCar- 
 thy as the goal what man would not feel as if he had super- 
 human nerve for such an aim ? " 
 
 " Be on the alert at the hour appointed," Carter said at 
 parting, while he wrung Carroll's hand. 
 
 " I shall," the young man responded cheerfully ; " the 
 stake is worth all the risks." 
 
 The cell door opened and closed, and the prisoner was 
 again alone ; but this time such renewed hope and courage 
 animated him that his dreary abode seemed to have lost much 
 of its gloom and irksomeaes*.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIH 
 
 FATHER AND DAUGHTER. 
 
 A STRANGELY- ASSORTED couple were hastening in the direc 
 tion of Hoolahan's tavern a shambling, ill-dressed, rough- 
 looking man, and a plainly, but tastefully arrayed, and grace- 
 ful female. A long, dark cloak covered her entire person, 
 and her face was concealed by a thick veil ; but, though so 
 disguised, the queenly poise of her slender form, and the 
 grace of her modest bearing, were in such singular and 
 almost painful contrast to the ill-favored being by her side, 
 that more than one paused to look after the pair. As they 
 turned into the entrance of the inn she suddenly grasped 
 her companion's arm. 
 
 " Not here ; surely, not here ! " Her voice quivered with 
 pain and terror. 
 
 The man replied in a low, re-assuring tone : " Only for an 
 hour or so, Nora ; I must see the party who promised to find 
 us a home, and I know of no place so fit to have you wait in 
 as this." 
 
 She was silent, seeming to resign herself without further 
 anxiety to his care. Many wondering looks were directed to 
 her by the loungers in the room as she stood for a moment 
 alone, while her companion went forward and spoke to some 
 man at the counter. The result of the conference seemed to 
 be satisfactory, for Rick returned with a pleased expression 
 upon his face, and accompanied by the man to whom he had 
 spoken. 
 
 "This is Mr. Hoolahan, Nora, and he will himself see that 
 you are made comfortable until I come back." 
 
 " Right willingly, miss," responded the good-natured pro-
 
 FATHER AND DAUGHTER. , 79 
 
 prietor, who had not yet recovered from the amazement into 
 which he had been thrown by Rick's private announcement 
 that the lady by whom he was accompanied was his daughter ; 
 and something about her, though veiled, and covered as she 
 was, impelled him to put as great a deference in his manner 
 as if he were addressing one of the first ladies of his native 
 place. He continued : " I will show you to a room where 
 you can rest after your journey I understand you have come 
 a little distance on the car, and I shall see that some refresh- 
 ment is sent to you." 
 
 Nora bowed, and the gentle courtesy impressed Mr. Hoola- 
 han more strangely than before. He assigned her the best 
 guest-chamber in the house, and thither he invited Rick, in 
 order to assure the latter that it contained every appurtenance 
 for his daughter's comfort. It was a prettier room than the 
 exterior of the building seemed to warrant, and its bright car- 
 pet and freshly done-up muslin curtains looked inviting to the 
 tired and anxious young traveler. 
 
 " It will do," said Rick, quietly, his shrewdness prompting 
 him to conceal his pleasure, for it was not often the poor 
 creature's eyes rested on so pretty a sight ; but, by hiding his 
 unusual satisfaction, he might cause Mr. Hoolahan to think 
 that his guest had not always been the ill-looking, wretched- 
 clad being that he now appeared. " You do not mind, Nora 
 you are not very unhappy ? " Rick hurriedly whispered on 
 the threshold, while Mr. Hoolahan, with instinctive politeness, 
 withdrew. 
 
 Nora raised her veil. " Father ! " The effort which it still 
 cost her to say the word was manifested by the fiery color 
 that rushed to her face. " Are not our fortunes to be hence- 
 forth together ; am I not your own, your only child ? why 
 should I be unhappy ? " 
 
 As if he would break from tones, and from a look that tor- 
 tured him, he answered hastily, without suffering his eyes to 
 meet hers : " I shall be back in an hour ; perhaps in less time 
 good-by."
 
 ,80 CARROLL VDOXOGHVX. 
 
 He shambled through the hall, and Nora, who could not yet 
 trust herself to look after him, turned quickly into her room, 
 and closed and locked the door. 
 
 With hurried gait Rick took his way to Mr. Carter's lodg- 
 ings ; that gentleman was not in, however, and Rick hastened 
 to every haunt that seemed to offer a possibility of his pres- 
 ence. He met him at last, coming from the barracks, his 
 smile and self-complacent air showing his inward good hu- 
 mor. His face darkened for a moment, however, as his eyes 
 fell upon Rick, and the latter said with a scowl : " You 
 need'nt be afeerd there's nothing in my being here to cause 
 you alarm. The business is settled so far that " his voice 
 gulped for an instant " she's here, and I have come for your 
 further orders." 
 
 " Hush ! " said Carter, casting a hurried, half-frightened 
 look about him ; " tell me no more till we reach my room- 
 there we shall be safe ; and don't keep so close to me, Rick ; 
 fall a little behind, so that people won't know we're together." 
 
 Rick obeyed the injunction, but it was with a dogged air 
 and a muttered : " He's ashamed to be seen in my com- 
 pany ; but she's not and I oh, God ! that I was done with 
 it all ! " 
 
 Arrived in Carter's room, the door of which that gentleman 
 locked securely, he turned in a violently excited manner to his 
 companion. " Do you mean that Nora McCarthy is here in 
 Tralee ? " 
 
 " I do ! " there was a fierce energy in the voice of the 
 speaker ; ** I mean that she is here now in a room at Hoola- 
 han's. I mean that she acknowledged me, when Father 
 Meagher confirmed what I told her ; she acknowledged me, 
 and declared her intention to do her duty by me in the face 
 of the priest's opposition, in the face of Miss O'Donoghue's 
 tears and entreaties, and in the face of my own counsel to 
 her to remain with the friends who had been more to her than 
 father or mother ; she braved it all. And when Father 
 Meagher saw that nothing would move her from her duty, he
 
 FATHER AXD DAUGHTER. a g x 
 
 took me alone to talk to me. He begged me to make a. home 
 there in Dhrommacohol, where at least she would be in the 
 midst of her friends. He might better have asked me to put 
 my hand in the fire, and not take it out till it was burned to 
 the bone. He asked me where I would take her, and I was 
 puzzled for an answer ; for mark you, Carter, I was not pre- 
 pared to have her fall into my arms as easy as she did I was 
 not prepared to meet Father Meagher as soon as I did, but I 
 had no power to resist her, when she said in her quiet, firm 
 way : ' Come home with me, and I will tell Father Meagher.' 
 I had nerved myself to meet scorn, and galling repugnance, 
 and bitter denials of all my statements ; but I had not pre- 
 pared myself for the courage and sacrifice of noble Nora Mc- 
 Carthy ! " 
 
 Carter was listening, so eager, so spell-bound, that the per- 
 spiration trickled unheeded down his face. 
 
 Rick continued : " I was puzzled, as I tell you, to know 
 what to answer when Father Meagher asked me where I would 
 take her, and at last I said Tralee saying, further, that I had 
 friends here who would help me at the least to make a de- 
 cent home for her. And when I said that, oh ! the hard way 
 the priest looked at me as he said : ' Rick, it is your strange 
 lot to possess in Nora, as your child, a gem of womanly virtue ; 
 and if you would take her from her present secure shelter to 
 expose her in the vicious haunts which you frequent, or if 
 you would allow her pure eyes to be sullied by one glimpse of 
 the low company with whom you associate, God will as surely 
 blast you as that He exists ! ' I'll never forget his words, 
 Carter, they were burned in my brain ; and sometimes I have 
 started with the ringing of them in my ears. I swore to him 
 that he need have no fear : was she not my child ? and lei my 
 own guilt be what it might, could the father's heart within me 
 expose her to any harm ? He seemed satisfied, and when I 
 proposed that she should remain a week longer as she was, 
 thinking in the meantime to see you and have you arrange 
 matters for us, he seemed better pleased. But the next morn-
 
 282 CARROLL VDONOQHUS. 
 
 ing, when that decision was told to Nora, she would hart 
 none of it ; she would come with me immediately ; whether 
 it was that the shame of being my child made her anxious to 
 leave at once, or the dread of the parting being harder at the 
 end of another week than it would be then, I know not, but 
 she carried her way. Father Meagher would have given 
 me other clothes than these, and he would have put money in 
 my pocket, but I refused both. They would have burned my 
 soul had I taken them, so I came away as I am. I couldn't 
 look at the parting I couldn't look at the way the two girls 
 clung to each other ; the first sight of it was breaking my 
 heart, and I stopped my ears to shut out Miss O'Donoghue's 
 screams, as we turned out of the little gate, Nora and me. I 
 would have walked before her, I would have sent her ahead 
 I would have done anything to spare her the pain of walking be- 
 side me to the car. I might as well have told the sky to fall : 
 I was her father, and wretched, loathsome beggar as I was, 
 she would not abate one jot of what she deemed to be her 
 duty. She walked beside me, Carter, not a falter in her step, 
 and not a quaver in her tone when she answered the greeting 
 of the country people that we met. They looked at her 
 everybody looked at her, wondering to see her with me, be- 
 cause the news hadn't gone abroad yet ; but it is known by 
 this time. I myself told it at Hoolahan's, where she's waiting, 
 and Andy Hoolahan was so struck with surprise when I told 
 him that he could hardly answer me when I asked for a room 
 where she could rest herself till my return. So now, Carter, 
 my dependence is on you, to enable me to keep my word with 
 Father Meagher ; help me to make a decent home for her. 
 The priest said he would not send her trunk till he should re- 
 ceive a letter from her telling him where and how she was 
 situated," 
 
 Carter still only stared, mute and spell-bound. 
 
 '* Are you satisfied ? " asked Rick, impatient for an answer 
 to his lengthy story. 
 
 Carter roused himself and wiped his face. " I don't know
 
 fATEER AND DAUGHTER. ,83 
 
 whether to be or not," he replied, like one awakening from 
 an unpleasant dream : " The affair has taken a different turn 
 from what I expected I thought you would have managed 
 so as to offer the alternative I mentioned ; instead, you have 
 brought the whole to a climax so quickly that you positively 
 leave me no alternative." 
 
 Rick burst out passionately : " Have you no regard, man, 
 for my feelings in this transaction ? I was harrowed to the 
 soul, over and over, till I could have fallen on my knees and 
 asked God to kill me. A devil out of hell could not do a 
 crueler thing take her from all she held dearest to bind her 
 life to a wretched, outcast beggar. You say I didn't mention 
 something you told me-to tell her, I couldn't : not if a dozen 
 bayonets were at my back pricking me with their points, and 
 threatening to pierce me through if I didn't speak, I couldn't 
 open my mouth to say what you told me if I did, I felt that 
 I should have been scorned like a worm of the earth as I am." 
 
 Carter had begun to pace the room ; he stopped suddenly, 
 and, as if influenced by some motive of prudence, he said in 
 a calmer and more conciliatory tone : " Very well, Rick ; I 
 am satisfied ; and now I expect a piece of good fortune, which, 
 should it happen, will make your reward, Rick, nearer than 
 even I thought it to be." 
 
 " What is it ? " the wretched creature was eager in an in- 
 stant. 
 
 " It's this," Carter brought his mouth close to the ear of his 
 listener. " I have managed a plan of escape for Carroll 
 O'Donoghue, and to-morrow, an hour after midnight, some of 
 the boys from Hurley's will wait for him outside the jail wall ; 
 he's to scale that by means of the ropes they'll throw him, and 
 then they're to drive away with him." 
 
 " Well," responded Rick, " and what then ? " 
 
 "Can't you penetrate the rest?" demanded Carter: "it'a 
 too long to wait for his hanging, so I planned this." 
 
 A look of keen intelligence shot athwart Rick's features. 
 u May be it's shot you'd have him in the attempt to escape ? H
 
 ,84 CARROLL VDONOGHUK 
 
 Carter nodded. Rick's head vibrated also with the fuH 
 and rather startling comprehension which had dawned upon 
 him. " And once he's completely out of the way," Carter 
 resumed, " the rest will be easy game. And now, Rick, here'i 
 money for your purpose" he drew out a couple of bank- 
 notes ; " Mrs. Murphy, at the end of street, will let you 
 
 have rooms in her house ; it's comfortable and respectable, 
 and I've no doubt but that you and your daughter will be 
 very happy." 
 
 There was a slight mocking emphasis on the whole of the 
 last sentence ; it was not lost upon Rick, but he did not pre- 
 tend to notice it, only pocketed the money, saying carelessly : 
 " You have no further business of me now ? " 
 
 " No, Rick, none now ; none till this affair of Carroll's is 
 over." 
 
 The door closed upon the shambling visitor, and Carter 
 locked it and turned to pace the floor and to indulge in one 
 of his wonted passionate soliloquies : 
 
 " The courage and sacrifice of noble Nora McCarthy ! " he 
 repeated ; " yes, it is all very well now while her enthusiasm, 
 and the opportunity she has for a heroic display of virtue, 
 together with the novelty of the affair, sustain her ; but I'll 
 wait awhile I'll wait till the constant deprivation of those 
 comforts and luxuries to which she has been accustomed begin 
 to tell upon her ; I'll wait till absence from all congenial so- 
 ciety wears upon her ; I'll wait till the disregard, and worse 
 than that, the disgrace which will attach to her as the daughter 
 of that outcast, Rick of the Hills, eats into her soul, and then 
 will be my time." His eyes kindled with vindictive triumph. 
 " I shall not approach her before ; Rick need not fear that I 
 shall disturb their happy home " he laughed in mockery 
 " nor intrude myself upon her leisure hours ; oh, no ! I shall 
 not cross her path till my time comes, and then, when Carroll 
 O'Donoghue shall have been shot, or hung, I care not which, 
 and she is herself stripped of everything to which her heart 
 clung, perhaps then she will not so scornfully refuse to be-
 
 FATHER AND DAUGHTER 
 
 185 
 
 come my wife. Oh, Heavens ! " he continued, walking with 
 more rapid strides, and speaking through his clinched teeth ; 
 " that I could crush her till her very misery would force her 
 to accept my aid that I could see her lying in the dust, so 
 that her very abjectness would leave her powerless to repel 
 me ! I care not what she becomes, so that she is humbled 
 into becoming my wife ! " 
 
 And thus giving vent to the passions which ceaselessly 
 gnawed his miserable heart, and striding as he talked, he con- 
 tinued till the fading sunlight warned him of the waning day, 
 and roused him to a remembrance of other a&d wKtre im- 
 portant buaiaeaa.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 RICK'S DISCOVERY. 
 
 THE hour which Rick had named to Nora as the extent of 
 his absence had lengthened itself to two, and she had begun 
 to be somewhat anxious for his return. She felt so strange, 
 so desolate, so forlorn, as if only then, when left for the first 
 time quite alone in a strange place, that the full force of the 
 sacrifice which she had made rushed upon her. She could 
 hear the sound of voices, and the clink of glasses, and the 
 tramping of feet below, and from the windows of the apart- 
 ment, did she choose to give more than her first passing 
 glance, she might have witnessed the noisy confusion of street 
 traffic ; but all only served to remind her more bitterly of the 
 quiet home, and lovely country surroundings which she had 
 lost. She threw herself upon the bed to endeavor to sleep, for 
 her eyes had scarcely closed the night before ; but the ex- 
 cited tenor of her thoughts drove all tendency to repose away, 
 and at length, having forced herself to partake of the inviting 
 little repast which kind Andy Hoolahan had dispatched to her 
 room, she sat down and yielded herself to a crowd of wild 
 and melancholy thoughts. 
 
 She was aroused at last by Rick's return, and a faint smile 
 somewhat brightened her features when he announced that he 
 had secured their home. She departed with him, heavily 
 veiled as she had been on her entrance, and giving to Andy 
 Hoolahan, as she passed out, the same gentle, well-bred 
 courtesy which had so charmed him before. They turned into 
 one of the cross streets of the town, and suddenly there sprung 
 from an open doorway of one of the old houses they were 
 passing Shaun, who never forgot a friend ; he jumped about
 
 RICK'S D18COVEET. ,87 
 
 Nora with every sign of extravagant delight. Her heart 
 bounded with joy ; the sight of the sagacious animal so close- 
 ly connected, through his faithful master, with him who held 
 her dearest affections, was like a gleam of sunshine to one 
 who had been kept long in the dark, and she put out both 
 hands to caress the dog, feeling that his master must be some- 
 where near. She was right. Tighe appeared in a moment, 
 emerging from the hall of the house in which was situated 
 Corny OToole's bachelor apartment. He jumped back at 
 least a pace with astonishment when he recognized Nora. 
 She had thrown up her veil, and now stood with hand ex- 
 tended to Tighe a Vohr. 
 
 " I couldn't belave me siven sinses that it was you, Miss 
 McCarthy ! " he said half apologetically, and venturing to 
 clasp her hand gently for a moment, while his eyes turned 
 with new wonder to her companion. " And Rick o' the Hills ! " 
 he continued ; " it bates me comprehinsion intoirely ; what in 
 the world are ye both doin' here in Tralee, an' where's the 
 rist o' thirn Father Meagher an* Miss O'Donoghue ? sure 
 you wouldn't be thravelin' widout thim ! " 
 
 " Yes, Tighe, for I am no longer Nora McCarthy, but Nora 
 Sullivan ; and this is my father." She drew Rick forward as 
 she spoke. He held his head down and seemed unwilling to 
 respond to her effort to draw him to Tighe, while her sudden 
 color was the only sign of her own emotion. 
 
 Tighe a Vohr's eyes became so large that they seemed to 
 have grown to twice their size ; even his mouth was partially 
 open to express his astonishment, and his whole face and 
 attitude were so ludicrously indicative of terrified wonder, 
 that under other circumstances Nora could not have refrained 
 from laughing ; now, however, her heart was too full of sor- 
 row. " Rick o' the Hills yer father ! " he repeated ; " faith 
 the world must be turning upside down ! " and he actually 
 looked about him, as if expecting to see the sky coming down- 
 ward, and the earth upheaving beneath his feet. "Does 
 Father Meagher know ? " he asked, after a moment's pause,
 
 ,83 CARROLL VDONOGHUB. 
 
 during which he dubiously viewed Rick ; " an' does Mist 
 O'Donoghue, an' the young masther ? " 
 
 "All," interrupted Nora, quickly, "all except Carroll." 
 The sudden anguish in her voice, telling as it did how much 
 it cost her to utter that name, caused even Rick to glance fur- 
 tively at her, and somehow, inexplicable to himself, the expres- 
 sion in her face smote him to the heart : perchance it revealed 
 to him a fact which previously he had but imperfectly known, 
 or lightly considered. Nora continued : " Father Meagher 
 will tell him when he sees him." 
 
 Tighe turned away for an instant ; with his wonted keen 
 intuition he had divined the case the bitter sacrifice, the 
 noble heart of the unhappy girl, and he had turned to hide 
 his emotion. At length he faced Rick. " Let me say a word 
 to you. The world has niver given you much else than the 
 could shouldher mebbe if it did different, you wouldn't be 
 the poor craythur you are. I always thought an* said that 
 there was good in you if it was only touched, an' I belave it 
 shtill ; how an' iver God's been good to you, to give you an 
 angel loike this, an' oh, Rick, be good to her, an' be careful 
 o* her, an* for her sake lave off yer hard ways, an' yer wan- 
 dherin' way o' livin' ! " 
 
 There was such true, homely sympathy in the tones, and 
 such honest kindness in the clear, earnest eyes, so different 
 from many of the tones and looks the poor wretch was wont 
 to meet, that his heart was suddenly and mysteriously touched. 
 He caught Tighe a Vohr's extended hand, bowed his head 
 over it a moment, and when he released it and turned away, 
 there glistened upon it a large, warm tear. 
 
 " And you, Tighe, what are you doing here ? " questioned 
 Nora, kindly, as Tighe a Vohr was about to depart. 
 
 " At the ould thrade, mesel' an' Shaun gintleman's sarvints 
 to Captain Dennier in the barracks." And shaking hands 
 with them both he departed, turning into a secluded street 
 that he might have a chance to relieve his feelings by a few 
 remarks to his faithful companion. " The loike o' that,
 
 RICE'S DISCOVERT. 
 
 ,89 
 
 Shaun, bates Bannagher, an' they say Bannagher bate the 
 divil. Rick o' the Hills her father ! sure it's enough to make 
 a man shwear the moon was med o' grane chase, an* the woild 
 was hung on an illiphant's back, to belave the loike o' that ' 
 faith, I can't reconcile mesel' to it at all thim two, that are 
 as onloike ache other as the grizzly bears that Tom Connolly 
 spakes o' havin* seen in Amerikay, an* " Tighe experi- 
 enced his usual difficulty in finding a simile, but he thought 
 of one at last : " an' a noightingale ; thim two to be such close 
 blood relations. Oh, but Providince must be given to playin' 
 divartin' thricks whin He does the loike o' that ! An' the 
 young masther it'll break his heart complately ; begorra, I'm 
 glad I'm not the one that's to tell him, an' I hope Father 
 Meagher will have sinse enough not to tell him ayther. He 
 has enough to bear widout addin' insult to injury in that 
 way." And feeling somewhat relieved, Tighe turned back 
 into the more crowded thoroughfare, in order to pursue his 
 way to the barracks. 
 
 Rick and Nora had arrived at the home of which the for- 
 mer spoke it consisted of plainly furnished, but comfortable, 
 apartments in Mrs. Murphy's neat little two-story house ; and 
 Mrs. Murphy herself, stout and good-natured looking, was 
 present to assure Nora that she should want for nothing in 
 the way of simple comfort. Nora responded to the assurance 
 In her gentle, winning way, at the same time kindly signifying 
 her desire to be left alone with her father. 
 
 " Do you like it ? " asked Rick, in a despondent tone, as if 
 he knew and feared what her answer would be. She surprised 
 him by her cheerful reply. 
 
 " Certainly I do ; it is quiet and plain just what I should 
 choose ; and I think Father Meagher and Clare will be 
 well pleased when I describe it to them." 
 
 Already she had doffed her cloak and bonnet, and was 
 moving in her graceful way through the apartments, altering 
 ihe stiff arrangement of the simple furniture, and giving fresh 
 ind pretty touches to the few ornaments, consisting of at cou-
 
 t90 CARROLL VDONOQHUK 
 
 pie of vases containing artificial flowers, on the mantel, and 
 a pair of fancy baskets of shells pendent in the windows. 
 There were three rooms two sleeping chambers, adjoining 
 each other, and opening into a large sitting-room. The fur- 
 niture in the sleeping apartments was as plain as that in the 
 outer room, but it was spotlessly clean, and Nora returned 
 from it quite satisfied. Rick sat gazing at her with a sort of 
 stupid wonder ; her beautiful presence, his comfortable sur- 
 roundings, the thought that they were all his, was like a dream, 
 and he dreaded some rough awakening ; he would not disturb 
 it by a motion, so he sat and gazed. 
 
 " It will do nicely," she continued ; "and after a little, when 
 I have learned to earn more than will suffice for our support, 
 perhaps we shall have prettier furniture." 
 
 The rude and sudden awakening had come. Her words 
 sent a thrill through the form of the miserable listener. " For 
 our support ! " he repeated, rousing himself to an erect atti- 
 tude ; " do you mean to say that you would work to support 
 me ?" 
 
 " Why not ? " She came and sat beside him ; " are you not 
 my father ? and you are old and worn ; you are too weak to 
 labor ; I told you I would repay your affection, and I shall 
 keep my word. I am not to be outdone by your love for me 
 through all those years, and if I am not permitted to give you 
 affection for the length of time that you bestowed it upon me, 
 at least I shall try to make up for it by the intensity of my 
 filial regard." 
 
 She had learned control at last ; all Rick's penetrating gaze 
 could not discover a trace of the agony with which her heart 
 was torn as she spoke. Rick arose ; he could no longer en- 
 dure his own wild emotions, and he paced the room with 
 downcast head and moody face. Nora watched him ; she 
 had even learned that hard task, and she gulped down with a 
 prayer every feeling of aversion which rose, as her eyes rested 
 upon the wretched-looking being whom she called father. 
 His mental distress appeared to increase ; the contortion of
 
 RICK'S DISCOVERT. 
 
 291 
 
 his features, the clinching of his hands, painfully indicated it 
 She went to his side, and put her hand on his arm. He shook 
 it off, and started back as if her touch had stung him. Then 
 seeing her affrighted look, he approached her and strove to 
 soften his manner. " Nora, never, while the same roof shel- 
 ters us, attempt to touch me again it is worse than the sear- 
 ing of a red-hot iron, for I am too guilty a creature for your 
 pure hands to rest upon ! " She shrunk from his wild eyes, 
 and he continued his moody walk. Suddenly he stopped, 
 asking : " Is there an engagement between you and young 
 O'Donoghue ? " 
 
 She colored, and a lump in her throat prevented her answer 
 for a moment. " There was." 
 
 " There w as 1 " he repeated ; " is it broken ? which of you 
 broke it ? " 
 
 She did not reply the words which she wanted to say 
 would not rise beyond her throat ; she could only look, but 
 that look told Rick of the Hills sufficient. 
 
 He said slowly : " You have broken it, because I am your 
 father." 
 
 She turned away, and he pressed her no more. 
 
 " I am going out," he said, when he had taken a few more 
 turns of the room ; " Mrs. Murphy will get you anything you 
 want ; and don't mind if I do not get back for an hour or 
 two." 
 
 She could easily obey his injunction not to mind, now that 
 she was in a quiet, secluded home, temporary though it might 
 prove to be ; and, alas for all her heroism ! his absence, re- 
 coiling from him as she did, was a relief. She employed the 
 time in writing to Father Meagher and Clare as bright and 
 cheerful an account as she could find it in her heart to give, 
 while Rick was on his hasty way to the barracks. 
 
 " A man to see me ! " repeated Tighe, wonderingly, and look- 
 ing at the bearer of the message with a puzzled air ; " what 
 koind o' a luk has he ? " 
 
 " Faix, an ill luk enough," was the reply, " wid a gait loike 
 a wounded eame cock."
 
 I 9 j CARROLL VDONOGHUK 
 
 " That must be Rick o' the Hills ! what in the world is hi 
 doin' here an* wantin* to see me ? how an' iver, I'll soon 
 know." He hurried to the waiting-room. 
 
 It was Rick of the Hills. " I came here for the purpose of 
 saying a secret word to you," he said, rising on Tighe's ap- 
 proach, and speaking in a whisper. Tighe looked about him, 
 then led the way to a smaller and unoccupied apartment. 
 " Will you keep what I am going to tell you, and use it as u 
 you got it from another source ; will you promise, no matter 
 what comes, that you'll never betray me, Tighe ? " And 
 Rick looked appealingly into the wondering eyes bent upon 
 him. 
 
 "Cartinly, I'll kape whativer it is you're goin' to tell me, 
 as sacred, well, as sacred as the priest'd kape yer confis- 
 sion ! " 
 
 Rick put his mouth to Tighe's ear : " To-night, between 
 twelve and one o'clock, there is to be an attempt made to free 
 Carroll O'Donoghue some of the boys from Hurley's are to 
 be outside the jail wall with a rope ; this will be thrown over 
 into the yard to Carroll, and by it he is to scale the wall ; if 
 it is in your power, do you get word to him not to leave his 
 cell not to make the attempt to escape ; if he should, he will 
 be either a corpse, or he will be seized again. Do you under- 
 stand, Tighe ? " 
 
 " I do," was Tighe a Vohr's response, while a look of keen 
 intelligence suddenly lit his face. " I do," he repeated ; " an 1 
 I thank you, Rick, for this good turn. I'll not forgit it for 
 you, nor shall the masther, if iver he has his own agin." 
 
 " You'll never betray who gave you this information ? " 
 
 " Bethray / I'& sooner tear me tongue out be the roots ! " 
 
 Rick was satisfied, and with a brief adieu he departed. 
 Tighe hurriedly sought Garfield. 
 
 " Misther Garfield, you gev me permission to luk upon you 
 as a thrue frind ; didn't you ? " 
 
 " Certainly, Mr. Carmody ; why do you ask ? " 
 
 " Bekaise I've come to put yer frindship to the thriaL You
 
 BIGS' S DISCOVERT. , 93 
 
 doi.e a great favor for me once, an' I'm about to ax another 
 o' the same koind now. Can you, be any manes at all, man- 
 age to shmuggle or stale me into the jail yard to-noight, so 
 that I'll be there be the toime the clock stroikes twelve ? moind 
 you, it's no trayson I'm afther it's no relase o' a prisoner I'm 
 plottin* ; it's only a little innocint business o' me own. Will 
 you do that for me, Mr. Garfield ?" 
 
 The quartermaster paused. " Well, Mr. Carmody," he an- 
 swered at length, " I think I can arrange it for you. You 
 might go on a friendly visit this evening to Ned Sutton, the 
 warden, the same who managed the business before, when that 
 secret visit was paid to the prisoner, O'Donoghue, and he 
 could hide you somewhere in the vicinity of the yard till the 
 hour appointed." 
 
 Tighe could scarcely find words to express his gratitude ; 
 in his extreme ardor he would have made some promise in 
 the name of the Widow Moore, but fear of saying something 
 too wide of the mark, or too ridiculous to bear a semblance 
 of truth, checked him.
 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 CARTER FOILED. 
 
 " IT'S a foine garmint intoirely !" 
 
 The compliment was addressed to Captain Dennier's cloak, 
 and it came from the lips of Tighe a Vohr. He took it down 
 from its place on a temporary rack, shook out its ample 
 folds, incased his own person within it, and strode about the 
 room with evident pleasure. It was large enough to cover 
 Tighe's whole person, the officer being a much taller man, 
 and Tighe a Vohr folded it about him with intense satisfac- 
 tion. The material was black cloth, but it was hardly as 
 heavy as its somber look would seem to imply, and Tighe was 
 all the better pleased that it was entirely devoid of decora- 
 tion. He took it off at last, and gave it fresh, critical inspec- 
 tion, the result of the latter being announced in a low-toned 
 soliloquy : 
 
 " Somehow, it's a very dun color, an' I think it's spotted in 
 various places " though at the same time, to Tighe's disap- 
 pointment, his eyes were telling him that the cloak was as 
 black and as free from stains as it could well be. " Yis," he 
 continued, "it's me bounder juty to see afther me masther's 
 property, an" it'd be a cryin' sin to let a foine garnunt loikt 
 that go to ruin for the want o' a little touchin' up. Now, 
 there's Sandy Be /el as foine a hand at clanin' thim things as 
 there's to be had in the four counties, he'll do it for a thi ifie, 
 an' as he's in a disthressful way, it'd be a charity to get 
 the bit o' work for him ; besoides, on me way to Sandy's wid 
 it, I nadn't schruple to use it a little while for me own con- 
 rani ence." 
 
 He awaited impatiently Captain Dennier's coming, and the 
 (294)
 
 CARTER FOILED. 295 
 
 officer was hardly well within the room when Tighe confronted 
 him with the cloak on his arm, at the same time bursting into 
 so ridiculous and lengthy an account of the condition of the 
 garment, and the anxiety it caused him when he realized that 
 morning for the first time his grave responsibility regarding 
 his master's wardrobe, that the latter burst into a heartier 
 laugh than had passed his lips for weeks. 
 
 " When did you discover all this ? " he asked, when his mirth 
 had subsided. 
 
 Tighe answered : " Awhile ago, whin I gev the things be- 
 longin' to you a more careful luk than usual ; an' me heart 
 got sorrowful whin I kem to this, to see it spilin' the way it 
 is ; " slightly shaking the garment as it hung on his arm ; 
 " you see, captain, it tuk me eye intoirely, be rayson, as we 
 say here in Ireland, o' its bein' so flohool, that manes plinty 
 it's so loike yersel', yer honor, big an' bountiful ; an' 
 Sandy Bevel'd have it lukin' loike new in no toime." 
 
 " Really, Tighe, I don't see anything the matter with the 
 cloak : I have not worn it so much, and it is quite good 
 enough ; " and Captain Dennier took it from Tighe, much to 
 the latter's reluctance, and shook out its ample folds. 
 
 " Why, beggin' yer pardon, but where's yer honor's eyes 
 don't you see the patch o" brown jist beginnin' to come out 
 loike a loike a " Tighe experienced his usual perplexity for 
 a moment " loike the down on a gandher's back ; an' don't 
 you see a shpot there where the rain ketched it the noight 
 you were out wid Captain Crawford afore he wint away ; an* 
 don't you see another shpot as if it moight be wine yer honor 
 spilled ? " Tighe's finger, moving over the surface of the 
 cloak, was keeping time to the rapidity of his tongue ; " an* 
 don't you see " 
 
 " Stop stop ! " interrupted the officer, laughing ; " I declare 
 I see nothing of what you are so earnestly pointing out, but 
 I suppose the upshot of it all is that you want me to have the 
 clock cleaned by this friend of yours ? " 
 
 a If yer honor'll consint to that, I'll take it as a great favor
 
 , 9 6 CARROLL VDONOQHU&. 
 
 intoirely, both on the part o* me frind, an' for the savin' o 1 
 the cloak itself." 
 
 " Very well, Tighe, do as you choose." 
 
 "An' moight I make bould to ax another favor ?" Tighe 
 was salaaming very profoundly. 
 
 The officer waited with an amused smile to hear the boon. 
 
 " I'm invoited to spind the evenin' wid Mr. Sutton, one o 1 
 the wardens in the jail, an' as he's to have a few f rinds, it'll 
 be a merry-makin' I'm thinkin', so I'd loike to get the noight 
 off, yer honor ; but I'll be back bright an' airly in the 
 mornin'." 
 
 Captain Dennier gave the permission, and Tighe, having 
 thanked him in his own absurd, though eloquent fashion, 
 turned away to his duties with a somewhat lightened heart. 
 
 The evening arrived, and Tighe, with the cloak neatly par- 
 celed, went in search of Garfield ; the latter kindly proffered 
 to accompany Mr. Carmody, and together they repaired to 
 .he jail. 
 
 Ned Sutton, being himself a sociable fellow, had many of 
 his English prejudices dissipated by the very geniality of the 
 Irish with whom he came in contact, and having heard of 
 Tighe a Vohr's clever exploits, he was pleased to accord him a 
 very warm welcome. He conducted his guests to his own 
 little private apartment, and there, over cards and whisky, 
 Tighe proved himself the most enjoyable boon companion it 
 had ever been Mr. Button's chance to meet. " I declare, Mr 
 Carmody," he said more than once, when one of Tight'a 
 humorous stories had convulsed him with laughter, and made 
 the tears course down his cheeks, " you are the pleasantest 
 fellow I have ever met, and I am happy to be acquainted with 
 you." 
 
 The clock struck ten, and Garfield reluctantly rose to 
 depart. 
 
 " It's too devilish bad," said Sutton," that you must go ; 
 but I don't mind so much since I shall have Mr. Carmody'i 
 company another hour or two. You say he can stay till 
 twelve ? "
 
 CARTER FOILED. 3p7 
 
 " Yes, and then " Garfield drew Sutton aside and told 
 
 him in a low voice of Tighe's request. 
 
 " You couldn't choose a better night," responded Sutton, 
 who was too much under the influence of the liquor he had 
 imbibed, and too favorably impressed by Tighe a Vohr, to 
 care to pitch his voice in as low a key as Garfield had used ; 
 consequently Tighe had little difficulty in hearing. Sutton 
 continued : " A strange piece of business has been going on 
 here these few days back there's hardly a warden in the 
 place that isn't bribed by a man they call Carter "Tighe's 
 hearing grew painfully acute ; it seemed as if the words, 
 though they were only spoken in an ordinary voice, were 
 shouted in his ears " and, what's more, there won't be a man 
 on duty in the vicinity of the jail yard to-night." 
 
 " What's that for ? " asked Garfield. 
 
 " That's more than I'm allowed to tell," replied Sutton, 
 " and it's more than I quite understand ; but you see that it's 
 enough to satisfy you how easy it will be for me to grant your 
 friend's request." 
 
 Garfield had a dim idea that there was premeditated treason 
 at the bottom of the suspicious information just volunteered, 
 and that Sutton himself was not lightly implicated in the 
 bribery of which he spoke ; and for a moment the usually 
 slow-thinking soldier was stirred by an impulse that prompted 
 him to warn the authorities of the plot which might be hatch- 
 ing under their very eyes. But in that same instant he thought 
 of Tighe's strange request to visit the jail yard, and at such 
 an unwonted hour might not Tighe a Vohr himself be con- 
 cerned in this mysterious affair ? and to inform upon that 
 would be perhaps to inform upon one who had already served 
 him well, and who might again, from his extreme wit and 
 shrewdness, be exceedingly useful. The latter thought sufficed 
 to stifle his conscientious scruples, and he concluded to let 
 affairs take their own turn. Bidding his companions good 
 night, he took a hasty departure. 
 
 Jolly Ned Sutton, and the no less jolly Tighe a Vohr, grew
 
 , 9 8 CARROLL ODONOQHUR 
 
 more convivial and more communicative ; Tighe pretended 
 to pour the strictest of confidences into the ear of the warden, 
 and the latter in return, the more intoxicated he became, the 
 more freely he imparted all that he knew of Morty Carter's 
 transactions with the jail officials. By the time that the clock 
 was on the stroke of twelve Tighe a Vohr was in complete 
 possession of every thread of Carter's web of treachery. Sut- 
 ton just retained sobriety enough to conduct his guest to a 
 side passage leading to the yard. " You need have no fear," 
 he said in his drunken whisper : " there's not a pair of eyes 
 to light on you, nor won't be for a half hour yet." 
 
 The night was dark enough to throw heavy shadows in 
 corners, but beyond the latter there was sufficient light to 
 plainly reveal outlines, and Tighe's rapid but careful survey 
 convinced him of the truth of Sutton's statement. He longed 
 to venture a request to be shown to Carroll's cell, imagining 
 that the warden was in a sufficiently maudlin condition to 
 grant the favor ; but something, he could scarcely explain to 
 himself what, checked the asking of the boon, the words of 
 which were twice upon his lips, and he determined to trust to 
 ome other favorable accident. Button departed, and he was 
 alone. Not a sound could be heard, not a shadow crossed 
 his vision save those that obscured the angles in the walls. 
 He softly unwrapped his parcel, and shaking out Captain 
 Dennier's cloak, folded its ample proportions about his per- 
 son. Then removing his hat, he bent the rim in such a way 
 that it formed an excellent cover for the upper pzrt of his 
 face. These arrangements satisfactorily completed, he sta- 
 tioned himself against a part of the wall where the shadows 
 2ay deepest, itanding so motionless that he could not be dis- 
 tinguished from the dark mass of stone against which he 
 leaned ; and he watched and listened. 
 
 Minutes passed ; they were like hours to the faithful Tighe 
 a Vohr ; he fancied he could hear the beatLig of his own 
 heart, and ghoul-like forms seemed to start out of the recesses 
 into which he sought to peer. Then alarming suspicions shot
 
 VARIES FOILED. a gg 
 
 Into his mind : what if Rick of the Hills was playing him 
 false ; perhaps throwing him upon a wrong scent in order to 
 make the infamous success of Carter more sure? But the 
 remembrance of Button's information seemed to falsify his 
 fear, and, just as he was fiercely arguing down his doubts and 
 alarms, there was the slight noise of a carefully-opened door 
 directly opposite to where he stood, and some one stepped 
 quickly and noiselessly forth. Too surely Tighe a Vohr rec- 
 ognized that lithe, straight, bareheaded figure, standing in 
 uncertainty and gazing upon every side of it. He sprung for- 
 ward ; Carroll dso, in alarm at the sudden and rapid advance 
 of a form which he deemed to be that of an enemy, sprung 
 back, and then recovering his presence of mind, braced him- 
 self for the encounter. 
 
 " Masther dear ! don't be afeered it's only mesel' Tighe a 
 Vohr ! " and Tighe flung back enough of the cloak to reveal 
 his person. 
 
 " Tighe, my faithful fellow ! " and young O'Donoghue, in 
 the ardor of his joy, could not be content with a pressure of 
 the hand ; he threw his arms about his affectionate follower, 
 and strained him to his breast. 
 
 There was a sudden sound ; they sprung from each other's 
 arms, and looked up to behold something dark falling through 
 the air down almost at their feet ; it was a rope. Carroll 
 hastened toward it, but Tighe intercepted him. 
 
 " Back to yer cell, masther dear, for yer loife : there's a plot 
 afoot to capture you agin ; that's why I'm here to purvint 
 you thryin' to eshcape this noight." 
 
 " Why, Tighe, do you think I would disappoint the brave 
 fellows who are waiting for me outside ? " 
 
 " Och, masther dear, will you listen to rayson this once, an' 
 go back whin I tell you the biggest danger you iver were in 
 is afore you now 1 " 
 
 " No, no, Tighe, I must at least make the attempt ; let me 
 go " as Tighe held him, " see, they are shifting the rope " 
 as the coil at thx'ir feet began to move ; " they wonder where
 
 3 oo CARROLL VDONOGWjE. 
 
 I am. And I must make this venture, if only out of gratitude 
 to him who so nobly planned all this." 
 
 A sudden light flashed on Tighe's mind, and he said in an 
 agonized whisper : " Oh, what'll I say to Mr. Carther at all ! 
 sure didn't he lave it to me wits entoirely to get you back to 
 yer cell, somehow ? He discovered that his plan for to-noight 
 was found out ; but he discovered it too late to give you warn- 
 in" himsel', so his last depindince was on me. He didn't 
 mane me to tell you all I'm sayin' now, for some rayson o' 
 his own, but he lift it to mesel' to get you quietly back ; sure 
 I thried, an' you wouldn't go ; but mebbe, now that you un- 
 dhersthand it, you'll go ! " 
 
 A light suddenly flashed from the opposite side of the 
 jail. Tighe became desperate : 
 
 " Masther dear, will you go ? be all that you iver held sacred 
 an' howly, go go afore you get us all into throuble , the b'ys 
 outside'll be shot afore yer eyes, an' Carther, an' the whole o' 
 us ! Go, an' I'll climb the rope to thim." 
 
 He seized it, and was ready to swing himself aloft Still 
 Carroll hesitated, undecided, and puzzled. 
 
 " Fly, masther dear ! " wildly urged Tighe. 
 
 " Morty Carter directed you to do all this ? " Carroll said. 
 
 " Would I be here if it wasn't for his doin's ? " answered 
 Tighe, even in that moment of anxiety and suspense congratu- 
 lating himself on the truthfulness of his reply. 
 
 Carroll turned back into the passage from which he had 
 emerged, and Tighe a Vohr clambered up the rope to the top 
 of the wall, from whence, having secured the rope round a 
 projection of the parapet, it was no difficult task to swing him- 
 self lightly down. He was received with silent welcome by 
 four of " the boys," the general term for those who were 
 bound m that secret effort for liberty ar.d hurried into a close- 
 covered vehicle which stood in waiting. His person entirely 
 covered by the cloak, and his hat drawn carefully over his 
 face, together with the darkness, effectually concealed his 
 identity. He crouched in a corner of the vehicle, and imme 
 diately a voice called tremblingly forth :
 
 CARTER FOILED. 3<)I 
 
 " We are discovered ! you took too long in getting him over 
 the wall they are after us ! Tell Tim to drive like the devil ! H 
 
 The supposed prisoner and his rescuers were all within the 
 conveyance huddled together, and the driver whipped up the 
 horses and dashed for the suburbs of the town. But it was 
 too late ; mounted guards pursued them, followed by armed 
 authorities. On dashed the vehicle, on raced the guards, till 
 a pistol shot at last felled one of the beasts, and the convey- 
 ance, brought to a sudden halt, was surrounded. 
 
 " Don't foight, b'ys," said Tighe, feigning huskiness, that his 
 voice might not be recognized, as he saw his companions pre- 
 paring to make a desperate resistance ; " I'll give mesel' up." 
 Still feigning huskiness, and careful to allow no part of his 
 muffler to reveal his person, he cried to the first guard who, 
 pistol in hand, thrust himself into the vehicle : " I surrinder 
 I'll go back pacable ! " 
 
 There were twenty to one of the brave rescuers, so that re- 
 sistance would have been vain ; all were speedily overpowered 
 and borne in triumph back to the jail. Tighe kept his cloak 
 closely folded about his person, and his head bowed low on 
 his breast ; no one spoke to him, as if his very captors, ex- 
 ultant though they were, felt a sort of pity for his unhappy 
 situation. Confusion and clamor seemed to reign within a 
 portion of the prison, and where a short while before all was 
 darkness, numerous lights now shone. Tighe, with his four 
 companions, was hurried into an official apartment, and con- 
 fronted with the violently excited and indignant governor of 
 the jail, who stood surrounded by his assistant officers. Tighe 
 a Vohr's disguise was torn off, and there was revealed, not 
 the golden-haired prisoner whom all had expected to see, but 
 a good-looking, rosy-cheeked fellow, in the garb of a valet. 
 Amazement paralyzed everybody, so that for an instant the 
 silence was appalling ; then it was broken by an oath from 
 some one in Tighe's rear an odd, blasphemous expression, 
 which Tighe a Vohr recognized as one that was peculiar to a 
 certain person. He turned shortly, and met the wildly dis
 
 j oa CARROLL 
 
 tended eyea and petrified face of Morty Carter, who formed 
 one of a group of spectators standing near the door of the 
 apartment. That unexpected, and to him horrible, vision of 
 Tighe a Vohr for an instant he deemed it little else had 
 thrown him completely off his guard, and he started forward, 
 and uttered the oath which betrayed his presence. Tighe 
 turned back to the astounded, and still more violently in- 
 dignant governor. 
 
 " Do you call this Chresthen thratemint to have an inno- 
 cint man dhragged afore you in this way ? Wait till Captain 
 Dennier is tould o' this false arrist, an' it's coort-martialed 
 he'll have the whole o' ye ! " 
 
 Some one brought a hurried message to the governor ; it 
 had the effect of suddenly quieting him, and he turned to one 
 of the attendant officers. "What strange business is this? 
 the prisoner, Carroll O'Donoghue, is reported as being safe in 
 his cell." 
 
 " Now hear me, yer worship," demanded Tighe, " an' I'll 
 explain the whole matther ; " and without waiting to be ac- 
 corded the permission, he burst into an absurd and ludicrous 
 account in which Captain Dennier's cloak, Ned Sutton, 
 whisky, the jail yard, and a rope were so ridiculously blended, 
 that many of the officials were struggling to suppress their 
 laughter. 
 
 " Either the man is a fool, or he is endeavoring to play a 
 very clever part ! " said the governor impatiently, and he sig- 
 naled to some of the parties about him to remove the five 
 prisoners ; Tighe found himself seized. 
 
 " Is it widout a hearin' you'd sintince me ? " he cried, strug- 
 gling in the hands of his captors, and suddenly twisting him- 
 self out of their grasp. Then with a bound he flung himself 
 on his knees before the governor. " Oh, yer worship, jist 
 sind to Captain Dennier, an' he'll shwear on the howly Bible 
 that it's all thrue about the cloak, an' himsel', an' Ned Sutton, 
 -he knows me intoirely, an' he'll tistify to me characther. 
 Plaze, yer honer, sind for him, an' don't let me be thrated thif 
 wayl"
 
 CARTER FOILED. 303 
 
 Strong, rough hands had again grasped Tighe a Vohr, and 
 he was forced to his feet ; but he continued to cry : 
 
 " May the Lord be good to yer sowl, yer honor, an' don't 
 refuse me ! " 
 
 " In the morning," answered the governor, impatiently, 
 u the affair shall be properly investigated." 
 
 So Tighe became the unwilling inmate of the jail which 
 held his beloved young master. " Begorra," he said softly to 
 himself when he was left to darkness and solitude, "it's a fix 
 I'm in now, anyway ; an' if Captain Dennier doesn't spake a 
 good word for me, I dou't know what I'll do at all, at all ! 
 What a foine thing that I didn't take the cloak widout his 
 lave ! faith, if I did, it's turn up it moight on me thrial, pur- 
 vidin' they don't hang me widout judge or jury, an' thin 
 mebbe I'd be charged wid stalin", the loike o' which disgrace 
 was niver on the Carmody name yet. An' that divil o' a Car- 
 ther och, but it does me heart good to be upsettin' his plans ! 
 He has the masther won so complately that if I didn't tell the 
 lie I did God pardon me ! I'd niver get him to go back to 
 his cell. It flashed on me all o' a suddint the minit he said 
 he'd have to go on with the vinture out o' grathitude to some 
 one ould Carther was the some one, an' it's well I undher- 
 sthood how he'd niver be willin' to go back if he didn't think 
 the ordher kem sthraight from the ould sinner. How an' ivcr, 
 it's me they have for this noight's work, instead o' the mas- 
 ther, an' faith I'd do it all over agin for the sake o' bcholdin' 
 Carther as he luked whin I turned an' faced him awhile ago. 
 I wondher, now, if it remoinded him o' Tighc's swatcheart ! " 
 and Tighe a Vohr had some difficulty in restraining himself 
 from laughing aloud. At last slumber sealed his eyes, and he 
 did not awake till he was aroused by the warden in the morn- 
 ing.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVL 
 
 TIGHE EXPLAINS TO CAPTAIN DENJTIER. 
 
 CAPTAIN DENNIER was surprised by an early message from 
 the governor of the jail, and still more surprised when he 
 found that it had sole reference to his valet. He hastened to 
 the prison, and had a somewhat lengthy private conference 
 with the governor. 
 
 " I do not know what to make of his story," continued the 
 latter functionary, when he had told such portions of his 
 ridiculous tale as he could remember ; " but the four men who 
 were captured with him disclaim all knowledge of him they 
 utterly deny that he had any part with them." 
 
 " Let me see him," said the officer ; " perhaps I shall be 
 able to make something of his statement." 
 
 The governor led the way, preceding Captain Dennier into 
 his cell. 
 
 The faithful fellow had been pacing the stone floor, his face 
 expressing the perplexed character of his thoughts. He start- 
 ed slightly when he saw the governor, then catching sight of 
 the military figure just behind, he gave a scream of delight 
 and bounded forward. " Oh, captain dear, I knew you'd 
 come ! sure I'm killed intoirely ! they sazed me on false pur- 
 tinses, an' they dhragged me here, an innocint man ! " 
 
 " Tell me about it, Tighe," said the captain ; " tell me as 
 simply and briefly as you can." 
 
 " I will, yer honor sure, what else'd I do but tell a simple 
 shtory ? " and Tighe feigned to be too much overcome by 
 emotion to be able to proceed for a moment. " I kem to 
 shpind the evenin' wid Mr. Button here in the jail, as yer hon- 
 or gev me lave to do, if you remimber, an' I tuk yer cloak in 
 ordhei to lave it wid Sandy Bevel in the mornin' afore I'd go
 
 TIQHB EXPLAINS TO CAPTAIN DSJiJflES. ,05 
 
 kome ; but we tuk a dhrop too mch. Mr. Sutton an' rnesd*, an* 
 we were overcome. I axed him to let me out, an* begorra it 
 was to the jail yard he tuk me, lavin 1 me there alone ; it 
 was no use thryin' to foind me wy back, for the dures were 
 all shut agin me, an' not a turnkay, nor the shadow o' any one 
 that'd help me, could I see. All o' a suddint somethin' shot 
 through the air an' fell jist at me fate ; I luked down an' found it 
 was a rope ; it kem from the outside o' the wall, where the other 
 ind o' it seemed shtill fastened, an* afther considerin' awhile, 
 an' not seein' any one nor hearin' another sound, Imed up me 
 moind to thry what was inlt. The aisiest way o' carryin* yer hon- 
 or's cloak was to put it on mesel', beggin' yer pardon for the 
 great liberty I tuk thin I scaled the wall to foind mesel', whin 
 I dhropped down on the other side, taken for somebody else. I 
 thried to tell who I was, an' to beg thim to let me go, but the 
 darkness o' the noight, an' the excitemint, an' the hurry they 
 were in, wouldn't let thim listen to me. Thin, whin I found 
 mesel' dhrove off, an' the police an' the soldiers tearin' afther 
 us, I was frightened out o' my sinses, an' I jist called out that 
 I'd surrinder pacable. There, yer honor, is me sthory, an' if 
 you'll only get me relase, I'll shwear to you on me two binded 
 knees that I'll niver ax to shpind another evenin' wid any one." 
 
 Captain Dennier seemed inclined to believe the tale, not 
 because he was impressed by its truthfulness, but because of 
 Tighe's well-acted part of distress. " Well, well, my poor fel- 
 low," he said re-assuringly, " be patient, and we shall see what 
 can be done for you." 
 
 a I will, yer honor, for it's well I know I can thrust to yer 
 promise ! " and Tighe courtesied almost to the ground. 
 
 Captain Dennier and the governor left the cell, both in low 
 and earnest conversation ; and the prisoner, (though unable 
 to distinguish a word of the whispered sounds which reached 
 him as the two, arm in arm, passed out) with his wonted shrewd- 
 ness augured favorably from the very fact of that whispered 
 conversation ; and he was hardly surprised when, a couple ot 
 hours later, his cell door was thrown open, and he was per- 
 mitted to oass forth a free
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIL 
 
 THE TRIAL. 
 
 THE day arrived on which was to take place the trial of the 
 unfortunate men who had been captured in the attack on the 
 barracks, and intense excitement thrilled every heart, and 
 manifested itself in every face. For days before the numer- 
 ous friends of the unhappy prisoners swarmed the town, and 
 cheeks blanched, and lips trembled, as the probable result was 
 ominously conjectured. Still, an unusual confidence was felt 
 in the able counsel who had volunteered to defend the accused, 
 and that enthusiasm which sometimes fires the most timid now 
 sustained hearts that perhaps on the disastrous completion of 
 the trial would sink at once into grief and despair. It had 
 been the topic of every household, and the animated subject 
 of every street gathering ; old and young, the stern sex and 
 the fair, were equally exercised ; and while wild and improb- 
 able stories of the number, organization, and plans of those 
 who would make an Irish Republic were circulated, tales 
 calculated to make the timorous shudder, and the determined 
 upholders of English law more resolute to maintain their 
 principles and their government there was at the same time 
 an under-current of ardent sympathy inundating hearts that 
 had no other bond with the poor captives than that evoked 
 by commiseration for their youth and their unhappy plight 
 
 On the morning of the trial the court-room was crowded 
 long before the hour appointed for the appearance of the pris- 
 oners. Fair ladies, many of whom never before had stepped 
 within the precincts of a court of law, crowded the galleries, 
 and leaned forward with the glow and the restlessness of 
 ardent expectation ; stern-browed and fierce-eyed men min- 
 (306)
 
 THE TRIAL. 307 
 
 gled with the crowd that surged and pressed in the space 
 without the prisoner's dock, and more than one pallid face 
 told, by its wild and suffering expression, how life and death 
 hung in the balance of the approaching trial. Soldiers and 
 civilians, bailiffs and barristers, policemen and prison war- 
 dens, mingled indiscriminately, and the elite of the town had 
 little barrier between them and the very beggars, some of 
 whom had early forced their way to desirable places. The 
 fair Widow Moore occupied a prominent position in one of 
 the galleries, her beauty., and graceful air of self-possession 
 dimming the good looks of her fair companions ; and Gar- 
 field, as was his wont on all occasions when the widow ap- 
 peared, stationed himself where his eyes could constantly rest 
 upon her. Tighe a Vohr was early there, awaiting develop- 
 ments which might have some bearing on his master's case ; 
 and Morty Carter, flushed and perspiring, from the effect of 
 his corpulence and the narrow space into which he was wedged, 
 was also present, and apparently in excellent spirits. Tighe 
 watched him, dodging behind taller men than himself when 
 he was in danger of being seen by Morty, and mentally won- 
 dering what could be the cause of the latter's evident self- 
 complacency. Rick of the Hills stood on the outskirts of 
 the crowd, frequently rising to his toes, and sweeping with a 
 rapid look of his deep-set eyes the whole of the crowded court- 
 room. 
 
 The prisoners were ushered in six in number, all young, 
 and types of a higher class than the Irish peasantry. Con- 
 finement and anxiety had made them pale and thin, and two 
 stooped slightly, as if from the inroads of some fatal disease ; 
 but there was a fearlessness about the mien of each, a prompt- 
 ness in their step, and a clear, unflinching look that betokened 
 nobleness of purpose and unfaltering courage. 
 
 After the jury had been impaneled and sworn in, the trial 
 was opened by the reading of the indictment against the pris- 
 oners. They were charged under the treason-felony act for 
 the planning and the execution of the attack on the barracks ;
 
 3 o8 CARROLL (TDONOGHUB. 
 
 the counsel for the crown first stated their case, and called 
 evidence in proof. Then the counsel for the defense arose. 
 Calm, slow, but with a vigor and an eloquence which increased 
 with every word, he described the wrongs of the poor wretches 
 for whom he pleaded wrongs which had their first bitter 
 origin in the oppression that made Ireland little better than 
 the charnel-house of her native people ; in language that drew 
 tears from sterner eyes than are given to weeping, he depicted 
 the sufferings of the accused the impulse, born of despair, 
 which drove them to their last frantic stroke for that liberty 
 which is the innate heritage of each of God's creatures. 
 
 " Look," he said, turning and pointing with a masterly ges- 
 ture to the prisoners, " at those pallid faces, where Suffering 
 has left her mark, and those attenuated forms, on which Want 
 has laid her bony hand ! Remember the youth of the ac- 
 cused, and the feelings which must accompany such a youth, 
 oppressed, enslaved as it was, and then ask yourselves, gentle- 
 men of the jury, what heart could have withstood the tempta- 
 tion to slrike that blow which, if successful, promised at least 
 an amelioration of their condition. There is no proof," he 
 continued, turning back to his first position, that the youth- 
 ful prisoners at the bar were the leaders in this attack on the 
 barracks ; there is no proof that they were even connected 
 with this Irish Republic organization prior to this attack ; 
 but there is proof that they were influenced by older men 
 than themselves, that they were hurried into the act for which 
 they now stand accused by the impulsive and unthinking ardct 
 of sudden feeling. This then, gentlemen, is their first offense 
 if, indeed, it can be called such, being utterly unpremedi- 
 tated, and the court will deal lightly, for the sake of that 
 justice which is her noble prerogative, and her rightful boast." 
 
 He sat down, and witnesses were called for the defense. 
 Then one of the counsel for the prosecution arose, and in a 
 masterly manner spoke in reply to the defense set up ; one by 
 one defenses which seemed to have been firmly established 
 were ruthlessly demolished, facts were presented in a dam*
 
 THE TRIAL. 3O 
 
 aging light, and the whole structure of the evidence so skill- 
 fully brought forward in favor of the prisoners seemed to be 
 swept completely away. Still there was hope : there was not 
 sufficient proof to sustain the blackest aspect of the case, and 
 wildly anxious hearts beat a little more hopefully as he added, 
 after a stern and telling reiteration of the guilt of the pris- 
 oners : " One link alone is wanting in the evidence the arri- 
 val of a certain paper which it is reported would substantiate 
 every charge against the accused. For some unaccountable 
 reason it is not here." 
 
 He paused as if to take breath, and Tighe stole a look at 
 Carter ; the latter was staring at the counsel as if he thought 
 that gentleman, or himself, or possibly both together, had 
 gone suddenly mad. At that instant one of the clerks of the 
 court entered in great haste and put a small packet before 
 the speaker. He glanced at the superscription without lifting 
 it, his face kindling with pleasure. Then he said : 
 
 "The paper of which I spoke has just arrived ; it's com- 
 ing is most opportune, and now it is in my power to prove be- 
 yond the possibility of doubt the guilt of the prisoners." He 
 broke the seal, and whether in the haste of his triumph, or 
 because of his perfect confidence in the supposed contents of 
 the paper, he did not even glance his eye over it before he 
 read it aloud not even pausing when the first ridiculous 
 words had passed his lips, as if he thought they might be only 
 some absurd preliminary to the information which he would 
 certainly reach further on. With the same sonorous ring that 
 had characterized his voice from the beginning, he electrified 
 the whole assembled court by reading : 
 
 " ' DARLING, CHARMING MISTRESS MOORE : 
 
 You have been the 
 
 light of my eyes since I met you, and the pulse of my heart. 
 Without any animadversion, I may say that in all the circumlo- 
 cutions of poetry and logic there is nothing so supereminently 
 perfect found on the face of the globe as the charming Widow 
 Moore. The beaming light of the sun grows dark when you 
 are not in my presence, and the circumlocutions of my palpi-
 
 3 , CARROLL VDONOGHUK 
 
 tating heart no longer go on when your smile is not before me. 
 Like a rose that kisses the morning dew, and a bee that sipi 
 from the fairest flower, consider me, darling, charming Mis- 
 tress Moore, 
 
 Your undivided and undividable lover, 
 
 WILLIAM H. GARFIELD, 
 of her Majesty's Reg't.'" 
 
 There was a scream from the gallery, and immediately after 
 the wildest commotion existed about the Widow Moore, who 
 had fainted in the arms of one of her companions ; at the 
 same time a shout of laughter, so hearty and prolonged that 
 it seemed to shake the building, burst from every throat save 
 those of Garfield and Carter. The former, when the full 
 comprehension of the ludicrous, but to him disastrous inci- 
 dent, broke upon his mind, darted one glance of agony in the 
 direction of the insensible widow, swore wildly, and dashed 
 from the court-room, elbowing his way so fiercely that the 
 crowd fell back in some trepidation before him. Carter raged 
 and cursed so loudly and so profoundly that the people in his 
 immediate vicinity, who were all in convulsions of laughter, 
 began to think he had gone suddenly mad. He felt that he 
 should indeed become speedily insane if he remained another 
 moment within hearing of that mirth, and he too forced his 
 way out, while judge and jury, lawyers and officers, soldiers 
 and civilians, laughed till the tears mingled with the perspira- 
 tion which coursed down their faces. It was a scene of the 
 merriest uproar ; in vain the clerk called for order people 
 were yet too vividly impressed with the ridiculous document 
 just read, and for which so much had been boastingly prom- 
 ised, and no sooner was quiet partially restored than some 
 burst from another part of the room would renew the whole 
 mirthful explosion. It was impossible to proceed, and the 
 court adjourned.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIIL 
 
 CARTER DELUDED. 
 
 TIGHI A VOHR, with Shaun at his heels, was pursuing his 
 rapid way to Corny O'Toole's abode. Frequently, however, 
 he slackened his pace, as "some sudden and pertinent thought 
 gave him the occasion for a pithy remark ; and when at 
 length he stood within the little bachelor apartment, it was to 
 cut such capers in his delight throwing up his hat and exe- 
 cuting fancy steps which surpassed Corny's accomplishment 
 as a dancer as so astonished Mr. O'Toole that he could not 
 find voice to ask an explanation ; and Shaun seemed equally 
 surprised and puzzled by his master's strange conduct. " Wait 
 till I tell you," said Tighe at last, when he had thrown up his 
 heels in a final extraordinary caper, and flung himself into a 
 chair. " It's the natest piece o* work you iver heerd tell av, 
 Corny ; it bates iverything ! Oh, but I was the sorry man 
 that you weren't to the fore yestherday in the coort ! " 
 
 " I couldn't go, Tighe," answered Mr. O'Toole ruefully ; 
 " I had Mrs. McGilligan's letter to her landlord to write, and 
 I had a proposal of marriage to compose for Shaun Carberry : 
 he wanted to make an offer of himself to Judy McGerrity, 
 and as I knew she'd be coming for me to write an answer of 
 acceptance, I thought I'd do the whole at once. So I have 
 Judy's letter here waiting for her, and it's as fine a piece of 
 composition as ever I wrote, Tighe." 
 
 " No doubt o' it, Corny ; you know me mother used to say 
 that she tuk great pleasure in hearin' one o' yer illigint letthers 
 read there was such divarsion in thim. But listen, Corny, 
 while I tell you about yestherday faith, it bates intoirely the 
 row they had the othei noight, whin they found it was mesel'
 
 Jia CARROLL &DONOGHUK 
 
 that had eshcaped from the jail instead o* the young masthei. 
 You moind all about that, Corny, an' how I tould you ould 
 Carther luked whin they pulled the cloak off me, an' lift me 
 fell in his soight ? " 
 
 " I do, Tighe ! " and the little man chuckled gleefully at the 
 remembrance. 
 
 '* Begorrt, thin," resumed Tighe a Vohr, " if the ould vil- 
 lain luked loike one madman that noight, he luked loike 
 tin madmin yestherday ! " and thereupon Tighe gave, in his 
 own graphic and comical way, a full account of the proceed- 
 ings which had terminated so ludicrously in the court on the 
 previous day, continuing : " Whin that letther was read, 
 Corny, faith you'd think ould Gartner's eyes were jumpin' out 
 o' their sockets wid the surprise an' the rage he was in ; an* 
 if you seen him tearin' through the crowd to get out, him- 
 sel' an' Garfield, only Garfield was afore him an' iverybody 
 around thim holdin' their sides an' shoutin' wid the laughther, 
 you'd niver forgit it as long as yer name'd be Corny O'Toole. 
 It was viry divartin' to mesel', Corny, an' I laughed wid the 
 rist o 1 thim till all at once I thought o' the throuble I'd soon 
 be in, sure it would be all up wid mesel' an' Garfield now, 
 an' I expected nothin' liss than that he'd be waitin' to shoot 
 me. Faix, Corny, I was frightened, an' I begun to think o' 
 puttin' me sowl in ordher ; thin Carther kern to me moind 
 sure there was no tellin' what that ould sinner'd be up to. 
 Mebbe it's go to Captain Dennier he would, to demand 
 sathisfaction for the docymint he gev him the docymint that 
 the Widdy Moore's letther tuk the place av ! " here Tighe 
 chuckled, and Corny, equally relishing the laughable hoax 
 which had been perpetrated in the exchange of papers, 
 chuckled also , Tighe resumed : " Mebbe I'm suspected be 
 Carther for havin' a hand in this thing, for there's no knowin' 
 what the ould sandy-haired villain'd think o' ; sure I was 
 afeerd he'd be afther me on account o' the way the eshcape 
 wint the other noight ; but how an' iver that was, he niver 
 ihowed himsel' in me soight, an' that's bad, Corny, for whin
 
 CARTER DELUDED. 3 , 3 
 
 ould Carther kapes himsel' quiet, an* out o* soight loike that, 
 you may be sure that he's plottin' somethin' wid his partner, 
 the other divil below ! " and Tighe's finger pointed significant- 
 ly downward. 
 
 " But how about Garfield ? " demanded Corny, as deeply 
 interested as was Tighe himself. 
 
 " Oh, sure, I was forgittin' the bist o' the joke : Garfield's 
 desarted fled the counthry intoirely, they say. Jack Moore, 
 the widdy's brother, was waitin' for him to shoot him down ; 
 an' I guiss the poor omadhaun o' a quarthermasther got wind 
 o' that, for they say he only waited long enough to buy a dis- 
 guise, whin he quitted a counthry where he had such bad luck 
 wid his love-letthers. His name is the spoort o' iverybody, 
 an' the divil a bit, Corny, but you'll hear the soldiers an* 
 the officers repatin' portions o' the letther, an' thin twistin 1 
 thimsel's wid the laughther about it. Didn't I hear Captain 
 Dennier himsel' last noight, whin he had a couple o' officers 
 in his room, laughin' as if his heart would break whin one o' 
 thim was goin' through the whole thing, an' thryin' to remim- 
 ber the exact contints o' the letther ? An* the Widdy Moore 
 oh, Corny, but she'll niver hould her head so high agin 
 they say she's goin' out o' the counthry intoirely, wid the 
 shame she's in." 
 
 " That's too bad," said Corny ; " she was a fine, full woman, 
 with a very dashing way of her own ! " 
 
 " Yis," echoed Tighe ; " but it's an ill wind that blows no- 
 body good sure that letther, now, that was the disgracin' o 1 
 her, mebbe it would be the savin' o' thim poor fellows that'i 
 on their thrial ; they say there isn't proof enough agin thim, 
 onless the paper is got that the letther tuk the place av, an' 
 faith they'll be a long toime huntin' till they foind that pa- 
 per ! " 
 
 Again he chuckled, and Corny, as before, chuckled with 
 him. 
 
 " But I must be movin'," resumed Tighe, rising, " for the 
 captain'll be wantin' me ; " and whistling to Shaun, who, hav-
 
 S I 4 CAR30LL 
 
 ing ensconced himsclr ir a comer cf Comy's bed. now at his 
 master's signal thrust his head comically fcrth between the 
 curtains, as if to be certain of the call before he quite disturbed 
 himself. 
 
 Corny also rose, and opening the drawer of a little table, 
 took from its disordered contents a carefully-wrapped packet. 
 Proffering it to Tighe, he said with great earnestness : " Mr 
 Carmody, permit me to intrust to your care a letter that J 
 have written to your mother." 
 
 Tighe's face assumed a most ludicrous expression of sur- 
 prise and perplexity. " A letther to me mother, Corny what's 
 in it ? " 
 
 " The expression of my honorable sentiments, Tighe ; the 
 revelation of my honest feelings feelings that burned in my 
 heart when Timothy Carmody stepped in before me and carried 
 the day by offering himself before I had a chance to compose 
 the proposal of marriage it was my intention to make to her." 
 
 " Oh ! " ejaculated Tighe, prolonging the monosyllable and 
 giving a ludicrous twist to his face. " Thin you changed yer 
 moind, Corny, about lavin' her affections in the grave o' her 
 husband ? faith, I think " 
 
 " No," interrupted Mr. O'Toole, warmly ; " no, Mr. Car- 
 mody, I have no intention of disturbing her widowed affec- 
 tions, provided she still desires to leave them in the grave of her 
 lamented husband ; but in case she is not averse to withdraw- 
 ing them, that " pointing to the packet which Tighe had 
 taken " will tell her where she can deposit her delicate sen- 
 timents to the greatest advantage ; it will tell her " Corny 
 swelled and flushed with the tremulous glow of his over- 
 wrought feelings " that there is one heart, sir, that never 
 ceased to beat with the deepest veneration and the most pro- 
 found regard whenever the name of Mollie Carmody was 
 mentioned." 
 
 Tighe turned aside on a pretense of looking for Shaun, but 
 really to conceal the mirth with which he was inwardly con- 
 vulscd, at the same time saying within himself ; " Who ivej
 
 CARTER DELUDED. 
 
 315 
 
 thought o* me mother turnin' a fellow's brain that way ?** 
 When his face had recovered its wonted expression, he turned 
 back to Corny. " I'm loth to take this, Corny, for there's no 
 tellin' whin I'd be in Dhrommacohol agin I don't loike to ax 
 the captain to be lettin' me away too often, so you'd betther 
 kape it awhile ; or sure you could sind it be the mail." 
 
 " I could, Mr. Carmody, but I have my private reasons for 
 wishing it to reach her hand from no one but you. So take 
 it, Tighe, for fear I'd forget to give it to you, and deliver it 
 at your convenience." 
 
 " Viry well, Corny, since you're sathisfied for me to give it 
 at me convanience, there's no more to be said about the mat- 
 ther." And Tighe pocketed the carefully sealed letter, and 
 with another whistle to Shaun, who, still reluctant to disturb 
 himself, had not yet wholly withdrawn from the bed, he de- 
 parted. Arrived at the barracks, and on his way to his mas- 
 ter's apartments, he suddenly encountered Morty Carter. 
 The meeting was mutually unexpected and undesired, for both 
 instinctively recoiled, but Tighe was the first to recover 
 his wonted manner. " How do you do, Mr. Carther ; you're 
 lukin" foine an' well, as if the world hadn't much agin 
 you." 
 
 Carter looked sharply and suspiciously into the face of the 
 speaker, but he gained nothing by the scrutiny. 
 
 " The last toime we had the pleasure o' seein' ache other," 
 resumed Tighe, determined to probe till he should elicit some 
 expression of Carter's feelings toward himself, " I didn't have 
 much toime to pay me rispicts to you ; you see, betune bein' 
 mesel', an' afther, bein' me own swateheart, I was so bothered 
 that it med me forgit me manners altogether ! " 
 
 Still Carter did not answer ; he only continued to look with 
 fierce suspicion. 
 
 " But I'll tell you one thing," pursued Tighe, approaching 
 his listener, and speaking with a confidential air : " I kept me 
 word wid you, Mr. Carther I niver tould a mother's sow! 
 about what I promised you thin I'd kape saycret ; an' mebbe
 
 S i6 CARROLL VDONOQHUK 
 
 you thought I had a hand the other noight in the mattherof 
 the eshcape not a one bit, only that accidint med me in the 
 jail yard at the very toime whin the rope was thrown over, 
 as I tould iverybody. 
 
 Carter's face brightened, and his voice assumed a concilia- 
 tory tone as he asked : " When did you see Mr. O'Donoghue, 
 Tighe when did you have an interview with him ? " 
 
 Tighe gazed about him before he answered, feigning intense 
 anxiety lest there should be spectators, or eavesdroppers in 
 the immediate vicinity ; there were none, however, and he 
 drew still closer to Carter and whispered : "Will you kape the 
 saycret if I tell you somethin' will you shwear niver to let it 
 pass yer lips if I give you a bit o* information now ? " 
 
 Carter was as truly eager as Tighe feigned to be, and in a 
 glow of excitement, he instantly gave the desired pledge. 
 
 "Well, thin," said Tighe, with his mouth close to his 
 listener's ear, " I was shpindin' the evenin' wid Ned Sutton, 
 the warden, as I suppose you heerd, an* whin we were both 
 overcome be the whisky, he said he thought o' somethin' that 
 had come to his knowledge, an' it was that there was an 
 eshcape an' an arrist that noight ; an' whin I happened in the 
 jail yard, as I tould you, sure who did I see poppin' out fore- 
 ninst me but the young masther, an' at the same toime the 
 rope was let over the wall. Thin it flashed on me what Sut- 
 ton said, an' somehow I got it into me moind that there'd be 
 danger if Mr. O'Donoghue'd attimpt to get away. I thried 
 to make him go back ; it was no use he said he'd have to go 
 on wid the vinture, if only for the sake o' one who was so 
 good as to help him. Sure I guissed who that one was, for 
 it's a power he always thought about you, Morty, an' it kem 
 into me head to say that it was through you I was there, to 
 bid him back to his cell as there was danger afore, an' that 
 you had got warnin' o' it." 
 
 " And did he go then ? " asked Carter, trembling with eager- 
 s. 
 Faith he did, an' I wint over the wall in his place."
 
 CARTER DELUDED. 3 , y 
 
 " Tighe, you have done me an inestimable service ! " and 
 Carter wrung Tighe a Vohr's hand. " Though you think I 
 have played the part of a traitor in giving information to the 
 authorities, I'm not the villain you believe ; I planned an 
 escape for poor Carroll, intending to show him and his friend* 
 how true I was to him, and I did receive warning of the dis- 
 covery of my plans ; but it was too late to save the dear boy, 
 or to get word to him in any way, and oh, the agony I suf- 
 fered when I thought it w"as he they had captured ! " 
 
 "I belave you, Mr. Carther," said Tighe, with feigned 
 earnestness ; " didn't I see it in yer face whin I ketched a 
 glimpse o' you that noight as they pulled the cloak off me ! 
 Perhaps" his countenance assumed a very doubtful ex- 
 pression " a good dale o' it is lies that the payple tell about 
 you ; an' mebbe you were dhrove to the one black act you 
 committed, an' mebbe you'd be thrue to the masther for the 
 future." 
 
 Carter eagerly seized the bait which Tighe shrewdly threw 
 out " I was driven to it," he said ; " and Heaven knows 
 that young O'Donoghue has no one more truly devoted to 
 his interests than I am ! " 
 
 " Mebbe you're spakin' the thruth, Mr. Carther," answered 
 Tighe with an expression in his face, and an accent in his 
 voice, as if he was mentally struggling against some sudden 
 conviction ; " how an* iver, I'll belave you for the prisint 
 yis, I'll belave you," his voice growing firmer, as if his doubt 
 of Carter's sincerity had yielded to fullest trust, " an' 
 toime'll tell whether I'm correct in me opinion." 
 
 " It will, Tighe," answered Carter with joyful animation ; 
 " and now tell me if you had any interview with Carroll since 
 the night of his attempted escape." 
 
 " Intherview, is it ? Why, thin, Mr. Carther, where is yer 
 gumption at all ? sure they wouldn't let the loike o' me nixt 
 nor nigh him." 
 
 " He is very strictly guarded," resumed Carter ; " and that's 
 why I'm here to-day to ask Captain Dennier to use his influ-
 
 j,g CARROLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 ence with the governor of the jail in my favor ; you know 
 they are warm friends, Tighe, and if the captain speaks for 
 me, I shall be admitted to Carroll's cell. They are even more 
 strict with the poor fellow since the night of the attempted 
 escape." 
 
 " I knew it," responded Tighe. " An' now come along if 
 you want to see the captain he'll be ready to recave you 
 about this toime." 
 
 He led the way, Carter following, and having announced 
 the name of the latter to the officer and, in obedience to the 
 orders he received, having ushered Mr. Carter into Captain 
 Dennier's presence, he retired to the adjoining apartment, 
 where he vainly sought to distinguish a word of the inter- 
 view. Nothing but an occasional sound of the voices reached 
 him, and that only when either chanced to be pitched above 
 the ordinary key ; and every door leading to the room being 
 tightly fastened, he could not make a pretense for putting one 
 ajar. His efforts all failing to accomplish his object, he shook 
 his fist in the direction of the apartment and muttered : 
 
 " You ould villain it's well I know you to get Captain 
 Dennier to use his influince wid the governor o' the jail ! 
 a loikely sthory, whin the captain wouldn't use his influince 
 for thim he thinks more o' than iver he thought o' that ould 
 thraitor ! An' him to be wantin' influince to get visitin' the 
 young masther ! oh, Morty Carther, it's a wondher yer ould 
 carcass doesn't melt wid the hape o' lies that's coverin' it ! 
 Didn't Ned Sutton tell me that Carther had the run o' the 
 whole prison ? that the government luks upon him as the 
 foinest informer in the whole o' Ireland ; an' that he had the 
 counthenance o' the higher authorities to do as he loiked wid 
 the guards for the sake o' inthrappin' more o' the poor 
 Fenians ? I wondher, now, if it was a bad shtroke for me to 
 say what I did about Sutton ! it was the first thing that kem 
 into me head, an' I thought if I could make Carther belave 
 that I thrusted him agin, mebbe it would binefit the masther 
 someway. He spakes as if he didn't see Carroll since the
 
 CAETEB DELUDED. j, 9 
 
 noight o' the attimpt to eshcape well, if he didn't, the divil 
 a thing kipt him but the fear that Carroll found out his 
 threachery ; an' now that he thinks he's safe agin, an' all his 
 doin's saycret, I'll wager me month's pay that he'll be afther 
 visitin' the cell widout much delay. An' he didn't suspect 
 me o' havin' anything to do wid the Widdy Moore's letther. 
 I wonder now what are his thoughts about that ? oh, Carthcr, 
 you're the broth o' a b'yjfor informing but faix, the toime'll 
 b rare whin you won't be carcumvinted be Tighe a Vohr "
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 INUENDOKS. 
 
 CAPTAIN DKNNIER received Morty Carter with the same 
 cold and dignified manner which had characterized his former 
 reception of him ; while Carter, although his air was marked 
 by a deference but little removed from obsequiousness, still 
 betrayed by his nervousness, and the expression of his face, 
 the indignation under which he labored. 
 
 " Your business ? " demanded the officer frigidly. 
 
 Carter was stung ; he writhed under the lash of the con- 
 tempt implied in the freezing tone, the scorpion whip of that 
 haughty demeanor, and he threw aside his deference and as- 
 sumed a boldness born of his desperation : " I have come," 
 he said, straightening himself, " to know why the paper con- 
 taining information of importance to the government, which 
 I gave into your hands, and which Lord Heathcote assured 
 me should play an essential part in the trial of yesterday, was 
 not produced ? " 
 
 The officer's lip curled for an instant. " Permit me to ask, 
 Mr. Carter, who delegated to you the right of putting such a 
 question to me ? your tone, sir, implies doubt of my having 
 fulfilled the commission intrusted to me regarding the paper 
 of which you speak ; for your satisfaction, I shall say this 
 much : the document passed safely from my hands to the 
 proper authorities." 
 
 " To whom did you give it, when it passed from your im- 
 mediate possession ? " demanded Carter, forgetting, in his 
 eagerness, that he was not speaking to an equal. 
 
 " You forget yourself, sir ! " and Captain Dennier's eyei 
 flashed in angry accompaniment to his indignant tone. " I 
 U'o)
 
 LNUENDOE8. 3 a, 
 
 have given you all the information I choose to impart for 
 further account I refer you to Lord Heathcote." 
 
 Carter's manner became less bold. " You refuse to tell me 
 into whose hands you committed the paper?" he said half- 
 imploringly. 
 
 " I certainly do," responded the officer, " because I recog- 
 nize no righr of yours to question me. And now I must re- 
 quest you to nd this interview." 
 
 Carter was again desperate ; the inner working of his rage 
 became manifest in the swelling of the veins in his forehead, 
 and the spasmodic clutching of his fingers. " I'll end the 
 interview," he said, striving to speak calmly, but despite his 
 effort trembling in form and voice, "but I have something to 
 say first : I'll see Lord Heathcote, as you advise me to do, 
 and I'll communicate to him the result of this interview. Per- 
 haps he will see as clearly as I do how little your heart is in 
 the cause you pretend to serve, and perhaps he will think, as 
 I do, that you are a party to the plot which kept that docu- 
 ment from the court yesterday ; and " 
 
 " Enough, sir ! " interrupted Captain Dennier with the 
 same accent of stern contempt which he had used from the 
 first ; " and leave my presence before I summon some one 
 to eject you ! " 
 
 " I shall go," retorted Carter bitterly, " when I have said 
 another word to you : you are not what you seem ; you have 
 no right to the name you bear, and it is in my power to re- 
 veal to you who you are ; but your treatment of me has sealed 
 my lips." 
 
 The officer, with a look of withering scorn, answered : " Did 
 you choose to reveal my identity, as you imply that it is in 
 your power to do, do you think that I would credit the state- 
 ment of a traitor t go, Mr. Carter, and when next you would 
 use for your own infamous interests any little knowledge that 
 you may have gained surreptitiously of a man's birth, or 
 family, do not choose one who will be as little affected by 
 your knowledge as your present subject." He rung a hand*
 
 32a CARROLL 
 
 bell, and Tighe immediately appeared to show bafflsd, en- 
 raged Carter out. 
 
 " Did you succeed in gettin' what you wanted ? " he whis- 
 pered when they reached a part beyond the officer's quarters. 
 
 " No ! " answered Carter, his face purple from suppressed 
 rage. 
 
 " An' you won't get seein' the young masther ? " said Tighe, 
 in well-affected disappointment ; " sure, I was buildin' on yer 
 tellin' him how it all was the other noight, an* tellin' him also 
 o' the achin' in me heart bekaise I can't get seein' him mesel'." 
 
 But Carter was in no mood either to answer Tighe, or to 
 volunteer any information, and with a hurried good day both 
 parted the former to repair to his lodging in order to delib- 
 erate on his next proceeding, and the latter to seek Shaun, 
 and to give vent to his feelings by the following address to 
 the dog : " Faith, Shaun, I think the intherview, as he called it, 
 wid the captain, didn't do him much good his face was loike 
 a busted bate, an' his eyes'd frighten one. Somehow I'm in- 
 clined to think a dale o' Captain Dennier ; he has viry noble 
 ways wid him, an' I wish it was in me power to do somethin* 
 in his favor wid regard to Miss O'Donoghue. I wondher, now, 
 if I did spake a good word for him would it help matthers ? 
 I'll think over it." And so saying, he proceeded to his duties. 
 
 Morty Carter had reached his lodging, and had just begun 
 his old exercise of walking the floor in order to quiet his 
 disturbed mind, when a knock sounded. He opened to admit 
 Rick of the Hills. " Come in ! " he said in a surly manner, 
 as Rick seemed to pause for an invitation. 
 
 " You are out of sorts," said Rick, quietly seating himself. 
 
 " I am," answered Carter, continuing his nervous stride of 
 the room ; " everything is going against me." 
 
 " Everything ! " repeated Rick, " why, has anything new 
 happened since the failure of your plan for Carroll O'Don- 
 oghue's escape?" 
 
 " Yes ; something that I rested all my hopes on that I 
 plotted night and day for, has failed me : miserably failed
 
 me ! M His pace grew more hurried, as if he would vent his 
 fierce excitement in increased motion. " The disappointment 
 is eating my heart out ! " he continued ; " but " he suddenly 
 changed his voice and paused, standing directly before Rick : 
 " all is not yet lost, and, if the hopes that remain to me suc- 
 ceed, there will be happiness and plenty for us both at last, 
 Rick. I thought of making another journey to Dublin, but 
 I've changed my mind I'll write instead ; and now have you 
 come to tell me that you have succeeded that you have 
 Nora's answer ? " He bent forward in his eagerness, his hot 
 breath fanning the haggard face beneath him. 
 
 " I have come to tell you," answered Rick hurriedly, and 
 with a wild determination in his eyes, "that I have no 
 answer for you." 
 
 " She refused to give it ? " questioned Carter, his brow 
 gathering into a scowl. 
 
 " I did not ask it," responded Rick, rising ; " and, what is 
 more, I shall never ask it ! " 
 
 " Never ! " echoed Carter, as if he were dumbfounded. 
 
 " Never ! " repeated Rick, folding his arms, and confront- 
 ing Carter with the apparent desperation of a wild beast at 
 bay. 
 
 Carter hissed : " So you, too, would turn tail upon me ? 
 perhaps you forget Cathleen I " 
 
 A look of agony broke into the pallid, pinched face for a 
 moment, as if the poor wretch was about to sink under a sud- 
 den swell of emotion ; but some mighty effort kept it back, 
 and he answered as firmly as before : " Could I forget htr> 
 Carter, I would fling you and your hellish work aside forever ! 
 because I cannot forget her, I am still bound to your in- 
 terests ; but Nora is mine do you understand, Morty Carter ? 
 mine ! and before my tongue should say to her what you bade 
 me tell her, I would tear it out from the roots." 
 
 Carter shrunk from the desperate eyes which glared at him, 
 and feeling how impotent would be his own anger to meet a 
 passion as fierce and determined as that now confronting him,
 
 3*4 
 
 CARROLL VSOXOQIIUB. 
 
 he drained from the indignant burst upon his lips, and 
 sought to soothe his visitor. " Perhaps I expected too much 
 of you, Rick, when I asked you to do that ; well, we'll let it 
 go for the present, and when things become more settled I'll 
 put the question boldly and respectfully to her myself." 
 
 " And it's a refusal you'll get, Carter ; mind you, I'm telling 
 you beforehand, so that you'll be prepared." 
 
 " I'll risk it anyway," was the response ; " and now we'll 
 drink to its success ! " he brought forth a bottle and glasses 
 from some recess in the room, and proceeded to fill the latter. 
 Rick pushed his tumbler away. 
 
 " I'll be firm this time, Carter I'll not taste it. I promised 
 Nora this morning when I left her that a drop should not pass 
 my lips to-day, and I'll keep my word." 
 
 Carter laughed, and jokingly nn '; ed Rick's determination ; 
 hut he could hardly conceal his disappointment and his rage 
 when he found that neither pleasantries nor coaxing, nor even 
 implied menaces, could induce his visitor to put the glass 
 even to his lips. It was evident, however, that the poor 
 creature's resistance to the temptation cost him much his 
 tremor ana flush painfully attested that. " It's a wonderful 
 ascendency she's gained over you already ! " Carter said 
 sneenngly at last, when he was forced to put back the liquor 
 untasted, save by himself. 
 
 Rick did not answer ; he stood silently surveying the floor, 
 till Carter returned from his task of putting away the bottle ; 
 then he said in a lower tone than he had previously used : 
 " The money that you gave me is out." 
 
 "And I'm not able to give you more," replied Carter; "I 
 haven't enough for my own expenses, the way things are 
 going. No, Rick " placing his hand on Rick's shoulder, 
 and speaking in a confidential tone, " you'll have to manage 
 the best way you can without any more aid from me till Nora 
 consents. Then, I am not afraid to say, 1 shall be in posses- 
 sion of a fortune, and you shall share it." 
 
 "I see," responded Rick bitterly, shaking ofl the hand
 
 1NUENDOE8. 3 ,^ 
 
 which still rested on his shoulder : " you would make beggan 
 of both Nora and me." He strode toward the door, opened 
 it, and going out, slammed it violently behind him ; the ner? 
 mstant he was hurrying down the stair. 
 
 " I must set a watch upon him," muttered Carter ; M he it 
 rife for treason against me now, and he might take some step, 
 in his desperation, that would ruin my plans."
 
 CHAPTER XI* 
 
 A STORM-TOSSED SOUL. 
 
 NORA MCCARTHY, or Nora Sullivan, as she now ca led her- 
 self, had begun her self-imposed toil, Mrs. Murphy good- 
 naturedly disposing of the fancy needlework, and bringing in 
 return a compensation, alas ! too slight for the demands, 
 economical though they were, which the noble girl would sup- 
 ply. Still she wrought, happy to have employment, and hap- 
 pier still to show the poor creature from whom she continued 
 in secret to recoil, that she was not wanting in a daughter's 
 truest affection. One letter from Dhrommacohol, written 
 conjointly by Father Meagher and Clare, had reached her ; it 
 *as full of the tender regard of both, and it announced their 
 intention to visit Nora when they should come up to Tralee 
 to be present at Carroll's trial, which was ROW but a fortnight 
 away. Filled as was her heart with painful anxiety about 
 Carroll, and torn as it was with anguish whenever she re- 
 verted to the thought of the barrier which she had deemed it 
 her duty to erect between them, she still, on the receipt of 
 the letter, looked about the little humble home with a glow of 
 satisfaction, as she fancied Father Meagher and Clare admir- 
 ing its neatness. Her hands had given a graceful touch to 
 everything; and the sunshine streaming pleasantly into the 
 room, together with her own beautiful self bending over her 
 work, made the little apartment appear so bright and invit- 
 ing that Rick, returning from his interview with Carter, 
 panged as he opened the door in order to view the scene. 
 She greeted him with a smile, and putting down her work, 
 rose to busy herself about his comfort.
 
 A BTORM-TOSSED SOUL. 32y 
 
 " I told Mrs. Murphy not to bring up the dinner untfl you 
 would return," she said ; " so now I shall call her." 
 
 " No ; wait a moment I have something to say to you." 
 He motioned her back to her chair, while he stood before 
 her with folded arms. " It has come to this at last : that 
 I am penniless. The person who helped me before, and that 
 I thought would continue to do so, has refused. It was cruel 
 of me to take you from your comfortable home, when I knew 
 that I might be bringing you to want such as will press upon 
 us now : but it is not yet too late to remedy what I have done. 
 I shall send you back to Father Meagher, and I can live as 1 
 have lived before." 
 
 She was up from her seat, her queenly form drawn to its 
 full height, her beautiful eyes humid with emotion. " Is this, 
 then, the return you will permit me to make for your affec- 
 tion send me back to comfort, while you wander in misery ? 
 Oh, father ! is then my love of such little worth that you 
 think poverty can frighten it away ? I shall never leave you ! 
 what jwr fate is, mine shall be ; should you have to beg, I 
 too can ask for alms ! " 
 
 " You do not know what you are talking about ! " said Rick, 
 wearily and sadly, and with his face averted, as if he feared 
 to look at her. 
 
 " I do," she answered, her voice losing none of its firmness ; 
 " the poverty you speak of means that we cannot even keep 
 this little home we must seek a cheaper abode ; that will not 
 be so difficult to find, and by using econcmy with that which 
 I already earn, it will be enough for us both." 
 
 She would listen to no more from him ; and in truth he 
 eemed too overcome by emotion, or perhaps weakness for 
 latterly but little nourishment passed his lips, to have the 
 strength to urge her farther. He sunk unresistingly into the 
 seat sh had left, and watched her in silence, when, having 
 called to Mrs. Murphy to bring up the dinner, she busied her- 
 self with the simple preparations for the little meal. She 
 coaxed Kick to eat, and to gratify her he made the effort ;
 
 3 2 8 CARROLL VDONOQ1IUB. 
 
 but every mouthful seemed to choke the poor wretch, as ht 
 thought of the life of hardship to which he was about to in- 
 troduce the beautiful girl. " Nora," he said at last, pushing 
 his plate away, " I cannot eat in the face of all you will have 
 to suffer if you remain with me ! beside, I shall be breaking 
 my word to Father Meagher I promised him that you should 
 have at least a decent, comfortable home. It is no longer in 
 my power to give you such." 
 
 " I am capable of enduring much," she answered ; " and 
 Father Meagher need not know just for the present of the 
 change in our circumstances ; it might grieve him, and I know 
 it would cause him to strain his slender purse for our benefit. 
 After a little, when I have learned to work harder, so that my 
 earnings will amount to more, we shall be able to live com- 
 fortably again, and then we shall let Father Meagher know. 
 Cheer up, father ; the dear God will provide for us, and I 
 shall mind nothing poverty, hardship, suffering, if it re- 
 claims you to the religion you have so long forgotten." 
 
 Rick groaned. 
 
 She continued : " I have articles of dress that I do not need, 
 and that Mrs. Murphy will dispose of for me." 
 
 Rick bounded from the table. " I must go out," he said ; 
 " I shall smother if I stay here longer ! " 
 
 " Where ? " she asked, her voice trembling with anxiety, and 
 something akin to terror, for these wild, sudden moods dis- 
 concerted, and even daunted her. 
 
 " To look for a home for us ; since you will share my 
 poverty, you may as well face its hardship at once ! " He 
 darted out, his wild emotions lending new -/rength to his 
 weakened limbs. He could have shrieked ir- h's burning re- 
 morse, his wild despaii , and more than one '^rned to look 
 after the rapidly walking man, whose pallid f -i. - e, compressed 
 lips, and glaring eyes told the story of a tort <ved heart. He 
 halted as he passed the public houses, his w onted haunts, 
 his whole being was crying for a draught of the fiery stuff 
 which would stifle the cries of his miserable conscience, rod
 
 A STORM-TOSSED SOUL. 3 2 9 
 
 give Kim courage for new guilt ; but the thought of the noble, 
 self-sacrificing being from whom he had just parted, the vivid 
 remembrance of her look, her voice, as she had besought hhn 
 that morning to refrain from liquor for the day, held him 
 back ; he turned away and walked on, scarcely conscious 
 whither he was going. 
 
 Could he have bestowed one backward glance into the 
 room he had left, it might have given the last impetus that 
 was needed to make him emerge from the guilt in which he 
 was plunged, and the mire of which was ingulfing him deeper 
 each moment. Nora had flown sobbing to her knees, her 
 grif.f all the more bitter and violent because of its very reac- 
 tion she restrained it so sternly in Rick's presence, she im- 
 molated herself so remorselessly before him, assuming cheer- 
 fulness and tender filial regard when her whole being was 
 recoiling from both, and her heart was torn with the thought 
 of all that she had sacrificed. Then Rick's own manner, 
 moody, silent, repellent, betraying little of the affection of 
 which he had given such touching descriptions to herself and 
 Father Meagher all acted upon her now with resistless sway ; 
 but she had voluntarily accepted her cross, and however deep 
 it cut she would not murmur. She dried her eyes when the 
 burst had spent itself, and calling good-natured Mrs. Murphy 
 to her aid, began to examine her wardrobe for the purpose of 
 disposing of its superfluous articles. Alas ! there were not 
 many ; it looked more meager than even poor Nora had 
 thought, and by the time she had retained the very necessary 
 articles, there was little left, and that little of comparatively 
 small value. But Mrs. Murphy, who had been drying secret 
 tears oi compassion during the whole of the inspection, had 
 words of cheer to offer. She comforted the poor young crea- 
 ture, and taking the garments which had 1 been selected, prom- 
 ised to make a speedy disposal of them. She was true to her 
 word, and returning much sooner than Nora had anticipated, 
 poured into the latter's hand a larger sum than the poor girl 
 expected to receive. Had Nora been aw a. re that the amount
 
 330 CARROLL VDONOGHUtt. 
 
 was swelled from good-natured, sympathetic Mrs. Murphy*! 
 own pocket, she would not have been so joyfully surprised, nor 
 so eager to accept. 
 
 The kind landlady, charmed as she was with the lovely 
 girl, and puzzled to reconcile the near relationship of the 
 latter to so uncouth and vagabond-looking a being as Rick of 
 the Hills, was so touched when she discovered their poverty, 
 and that it was owing to the latter they must leave her, that 
 she would have insisted on their remaining did not her own 
 slender means prevent. 
 
 Rick returned in the wane of the afternoon, and in so 
 exhausted a condition that Nora, filled alone with pity for his 
 evident suffering, besought him to rest. He shook his head. 
 " I cannot till you are settled ; I have hired our new home," 
 speaking bitterly "and we can go there now." 
 
 " You are so weak," she answered, " will it not be better to 
 wait till to-morrow? Mrs. Murphy has kindly said not to 
 hurry." 
 
 " No," he said quickly, " we must go now ! " 
 
 She offered no further remonstrance, though she wondered 
 somewhat at his singular haste, but began her few preparations 
 for departure. 
 
 The abode to which Rick conducted her did cause her to 
 give one little involuntary shudder as she crossed the threshold: 
 it was so small, so sparsely furnished, and situated in a quarter 
 of the town where only the poorest congregated. Still, even 
 in that moment of bitter repugnance, she forced a smile to 
 her lips, and spoke cheerfully, while Rick, as usual, watched 
 her in sullen silence. As in their previous abode, she went 
 about re-arranging the few articles of furniture, and striving 
 to atone, by her own exquisite taste, for the lack of beauty, 
 and even ordinary neatness, in the two little apartments. 
 True to her self-imposed mission, she suffered neither the 
 poverty, nor hardship, nor disgust, with which her hard and 
 isolated life was filled to cause her to betray a murmur of 
 regret or dissatisfaction. She was always the same, when
 
 A STORM-TOSSED SOUL. 33 , 
 
 Rick left her and when he returned cheerful, and apparently 
 contented, making the best of their present position, and 
 hopeful for the future. 
 
 She had learned the way to the shops, and was now able 
 herself to dispose of her handiwork ; but she always went out 
 heavily veiled, and dressed poorly enough not to seem above 
 the humble rank she had assumed. Rick sometimes put 
 money into her hand which he said he had earned by loitering 
 about the public houses > and doing chance errands ; he could 
 have told her how, driven to desperation by her noble sacri- 
 fice, he had sought for steady labor, but his weakened condition, 
 and his wandering life, so little accustomed to work of any 
 kind, utterly unfitted him for it. 
 
 She had not apprised Father Meagher of the change in their 
 circumstances, and perhaps the fact of that bitter isolation 
 from all that she loved told more upon her health and spirits 
 than any other deprivation. She was "wilting," as Rick 
 expressed it, " wilting before his very eyes ; " for despite 
 her assumed cheerfulness, he noticed her daily increasing 
 pallor, and the look about her eyes each morning which indi- 
 cated a night of sleeplessness. 
 
 In her enforced journeys to bring home and to return with 
 her work, she went far out of her way in order to pass the 
 jail there was a melancholy pleasure in being under the 
 shadow of the walls which held him for whom her heart so 
 fondly beat, though she herself had passed the fiat which must 
 perpetually separate them.
 
 CHAPTER XLL 
 TIGHK'S EFFORTS TO AID CAPTAIN DENNIER'S COURTSHIP. 
 
 IT wanted but a week of Carroll's trial, and the interest and 
 excitement which had centered about those recently tried for 
 participation in the attack on the barracks was not yet 
 allayed ; it received fresh and startling impetus from the youth 
 and reputation of Carroll O'Donoghue stories were told of 
 his daring, his wonderful escape from Australia, the loss of his 
 ancient home, which could hardly fail to attract and interest 
 the most indifferent hearts. His name was on every tongue, 
 and more than one fair maid was anxious to obtain a sight of 
 the brave, handsome young prisoner. Even Nora was forced 
 to hear the gossip about him ; in the very shop to which she 
 carried her work men were discussing the probability of his 
 speedy execution. She drew her veil tighter, and clasped her 
 hands on her side under her cloak, to quiet a sudden pain ; 
 and all the way home burning tears obscured her vision, and 
 unhappy thoughts made her brain ache. When Rick came in 
 that night she assailed him with questions about the approach- 
 ing trial, striving to speak with unusual vivacity in order to 
 hide her horrible anxiety. He detailed all that he knew. 
 
 " Will you take me to the court when the trial begins ?" she 
 asked, her voice trembling a little ; " we can stay in some 
 retired part, and I shall be so heavily veiled that no one will 
 recognize me." 
 
 " Yes," responded Rick, looking at her sharply, but not 
 suffering his countenance to show the thoughts which that 
 look engendered ; "we can go where much notice will not be 
 taken of us." 
 
 About the same time, in a different part oi the town, Cap- 
 
 tnO
 
 TIGHE AIDS CAPTAIN DENN1ER3 COURTSHIP. 33J 
 
 tain Dcnnier had startled his valet by saying : " Tighe, 1 am 
 thinking of a journey to Dhrommacohol can you guide me 
 to the home of Miss O'Doncghue, the sister of the prisoner ?" 
 
 Tighe's face became immediately aglow, and his eyes danced 
 with delight. " Faith, yer honor, you couldn't give me a task 
 more to me moind ! I'll be proud an' happy to show you the 
 way." * 
 
 " Very well, then, well take the morning car.** 
 
 Tighe seemed to hesitate. 
 
 "What is the matter ? " asked the officer. 
 
 " I was only thinkin' that it moightn't be respictful to yer 
 honor to take Shaun, but I couldn't lave him, for he'd pine 
 wid the lonesomeness, an' mebbe it'd give him another shpell 
 o' sickness ! " and the look of distress which accompanied 
 the observation was most ludicrous. 
 
 " Oh, bring him by all means ! " laughed the captain ; and 
 Tighe, relieved, left the room to impart to Shaun at his first 
 opportunity his opinion of Captain Dennier's unexpected an- 
 nouncement : 
 
 " Begorra, Shaun, it's nothin' else than love that's takin* 
 him ; he's as lost a man wid regard to his heart as there's in 
 Tralee, aye, as there's in the whole o' Ireland this day ; he's 
 as far gone as that poor omadhaun Garfield was ! How an' 
 iver, as I said afore, it's an ill wind that blows nobody good, 
 an' the wind that's blowin* him to Miss O'Donoghue will 
 blow me to Moira, an' faith it'll blow Corny OToole's letther 
 to me mother ! " 
 
 And laughing softly as he imagined what might be the 
 ridiculous contents of the epistle, he began to busy himself 
 with preparations for the journey. 
 
 Father Meagher was absent on his parish rounds, when 
 Captain Dennier, escorted by Tighe, and followed by Shaun, 
 arrived at the little pastoral residence. Moira admitted them, 
 and the presence of the military stranger awing her some- 
 what, prevented the scream of delight with which she would
 
 334 CARROLL VDONOGHUB. 
 
 have greeted Tighe. She ushered the officer into the parlor, 
 saying she would summon Miss O'Donoghue, and with one of 
 her pretty, naive courtesies, withdrew. Tighe was waiting for 
 her in the hall. 
 
 " Tell Miss O'Donoghue," he said, catching both of Moira's 
 not unwilling hands close within his own, "that I'd loike to 
 see her first. I have somethin' to say privately to her." 
 
 "Why, Tighe, what cznyeu have to say privately to a lady 
 like her?" 
 
 Tighe whispered, casting meanwhile many a significant 
 glance toward the parlor door : " Jist a word, Moira, to take 
 the twists out o' the road that's betune the two o' thim don't 
 you see they're in the same harrowin* shtate as mesel' an' you 
 are ? " 
 
 " What do you mean, Mr. Carmody ? " and Moira gave her 
 pretty head a toss. 
 
 " Mr. Carmody 1 " repeated Tighe, with ludicrous amaze- 
 ment ; " is that the exprission o' yer sintimints for me now ? 
 well, mebbe I had no roight to say you were in the same 
 shtate as mesel'. Faith there's no thrust in wimen these 
 toimes if you have thim one day, you're not sure o' thim 
 the nixt, an' I wouldn't be surprised, Moira, if yer head was 
 runnin' this minit on the flatthery that some omadhaun's been 
 givin* you." 
 
 Moira drew herself up. " And why shouldn't I, Mr. Car- 
 mody, receive somebody else's attentions they tell of your 
 doings in the town your racing, and your sporting, and " 
 
 " Och, Moira darlin', is it that that's throublin' you ? Faith, 
 there's not one thing in that shtory, but a lot o' baldherdash 
 about a horse which I'll explain to you at a more convanient 
 toime ; a,V don't you see how thrue I am ? " he pointed to the 
 fadid bow at the side of his hat ; " through thick an' thin, 
 Moira, it niver laves its place. Come, be yerseP agin, an' 
 give me that flower in yer breast, as a mark o' yer forgive- 
 ness." A bunch of heliotrope, picked that morning, adorned 
 the front of Moira's dress.
 
 TIQHE AIDS CAPTAIN DENN1ERS COURTSHIP. 33S 
 
 Moira could not resist the tone in which the words were 
 uttered, nor the glance by which they were accompanied ; she 
 gave him the flower, and with an ejaculation expressive of 
 her own feelings on the subject of her delay in summoning 
 Miss O'Donoghue, she flew to find that lady. Tighe remained 
 in the hall, and intercepted Clare when she was on her way to 
 the parlor. 
 
 "Only a word, miss," he said with his most respectful 
 bow. 
 
 "Certainly, Tighe" extending her hand with charming 
 condescension ; " have you news of my brother ? " 
 
 " No, miss, I'm sorry to say I have nothin' to tell you about 
 him it's regardin' the captain beyant," indicating the parlor 
 door by a motion of his head, and then stopping short in con- 
 fusion that almost amounted to consternation, as he realized 
 for the first time the boldness and the difficulty of the task he 
 had imposed on himself. 
 
 " Well, Tighe, go on," and Miss O'Donoghue's wonder and 
 curiosity increased. 
 
 "Oh, Miss O'Donoghue, I'm afeerd you'll be angry intoirely 
 wid me, whin you hear what I have to say ; if I thought more 
 about it afore, I wouldn't be takin' the liberty I'm doin'." 
 
 " No, no, Tighe ; go on I shall forgive you whatever it is." 
 
 " Well, thin " blurting the words out, while the rosy hue 
 of his cheeks became deeper, and his hands worked awk- 
 wardly together, " I have the manes o* suspectin' that the 
 captain is dapely in love wid you ; an' oh, Miss O'Donoghue, 
 he's so noble, an' so big-hearted, that it kem into me head to 
 spake a good word for him. If he axes you, an' it'd be agin 
 yer principles to say ' yis,' do the refusin' loightly, so it won't 
 break his heart." 
 
 Clare was painfully scarlet. " You are mistaken, Tighe," 
 she said ; " the gentleman has not met me a sufficient numbe* 
 of times to do more than recognize my face." 
 
 " Faith, miss, it's little matther about that love doesn't 
 wait for toimes nor places. I niver was mishtaken in a case
 
 33 6 CARROLL VDONOQHUE. 
 
 o* it yet ; an* whin I seen the signs an' tokens o' it in the cap. 
 tain, I was touched intoirely be rayson o' his goodness. For- 
 give the liberty I'm takin', but oh, Miss O'Donoghue, promise 
 me you won't give him a woundin' denial ! " 
 
 " Really, this is too absurd ! " and Clare, her painful blush 
 dyeing her very neck, turned abruptly from Tighe, and hur- 
 ried to the parlor. 
 
 " Well," muttered the discomfited Tighe a Vohr, " I thried 
 to do him a good turn, an* if it fails, it's through no lack o' a 
 worthy intintion on my part." 
 
 Captain Dennier, in his impatience at the delay, was already 
 standing when Clare entered she had paused a moment with- 
 out the parlor door to allow her flush to subside, and to ac- 
 quire steadiness in her voice. He came forward with the 
 courtly bow she so well remembereu. 
 
 " Miss O'Donoghue ! " his tones were tremulous, and the 
 color in his cheek and the flash in his eye, evinced painful 
 anxiety. " Pardon my intrusion, made this time, perhaps, 
 with less excuse than it was in my power to offer on previous 
 occasions ; but I have come impelled by a desire to see you^ 
 and to ask you once more to think kindly of me I would 
 have this assurance before I leave forever a land that shall 
 always have for me most sweet, and yet most bitter, memories." 
 
 She had involuntarily started at the announcement of his 
 departure. He observed the motion and it seemed to make 
 him bolder. 
 
 " May I take with me," he said, " the assurance of your 
 kindly feeling ; despite the cruel character it was my painful 
 duty to assume, may I bear with me to the distant land to 
 which I go the remembrance of your charitable forgive- 
 ness ? " 
 
 He had advanced to her, and had extended his hand. 
 Blushing, trembling, confused, Clare listened ; but at his ap- 
 proach she recovered herself, and sought to feign the dignity 
 and reproach which she deemed it her duty to feel ; affecting 
 not to see bis proffered hand, she answered : " If you did but
 
 TIGSB AW8 CAPTAIN DENNIEli'S COVltTSBIP. ^ 
 
 your duty, Captain Dennier, I know not why you should seek 
 forgiveness, and least of all from me, the sister of your vic- 
 tim ; nor can I think of what consequence can be my feeling 
 tOAvard you, whether kindly or not, when I am only one of 
 those rebels it is your choice, and your boast, to crush. You 
 mock rne, sir, by speaking as you do, when my brother lies in a 
 jail in imminent danger of execution through your means." 
 
 She paused, but it was Ohly because emotion threatened to 
 overpower her. 
 
 " Cease, Miss O'Donoghue, I beg of you ! " and the officer's 
 voice was as tremulous as her own had been ; " you misjudge, 
 you wrong me ! " 
 
 Her lip curled contemptuously. " Wrong you ! " she 
 straightened herself, and drew back from him. " A single word 
 from you to the governor of the jail would have won for us 
 the favor we craved an interview with my brother. I knelt 
 to you for it, Captain Dennier, but you refused surely, to 
 one who holds such stern ideas of duty, the feelings of those 
 who are crushed by that relentless principle can make little 
 difference." 
 
 She turned slightly from him, and pressed her clasped hands 
 to her forehead ; it was throbbing wildly from her painful ex- 
 citement. He watched her a moment in silence, as if he would 
 fain read something in that forbidding deportment which 
 would not chill entirely the hope still within him ; but noth- 
 ing appeared evidently she was only waiting for him to end 
 the interview 
 
 " Miss O'Donoghue," the sadness in his voice thrilled 
 her " I see that the opinion which you first formed of me ha? 
 remained unaltered, and I feel now that no explanation, no 
 entreaty of mine, can change it. Be it so ! I shall cease to 
 urge you, and I shall detain you only to say that I could not 
 leave Ireland forever without at least endeavoring to prove 
 to you that I acted in the sad affair of your brother reluc- 
 tantly, and but in accordance with my duty. Because that 
 duty compels so bitter and so constant a sacrifice of my feel-
 
 J3 8 CARROLL VDONOGHU& 
 
 ings, I am about to resign my commission in her Majesty'i 
 service." 
 
 " Resign your commission ! " she turned to him, her dig- 
 nity, that was almost hauteur, the scornful curl of her lip, sud- 
 denly vanished, and in their place delighted surprise and in- 
 terest. The spark of hope still within the officer's breast 
 kindled into flame ; again he approached her, and again he 
 ventured to extend his hand. 
 
 " May I dare to hope that my resignation will be regarded 
 by you as a sort of atonement for the misery I have so un- 
 willingly caused ; and in future years, when time has closed 
 the wounds now so painfully open, will you extend to me the 
 charity you now refuse ? " 
 
 Clare was silent, but she could no longer refuse her hand ; 
 she gave it to him, though apparently with some reluctance, 
 while at the same time she averted her face to conceal its 
 painful color. She was a sad puzzle to herself ; admiring, 
 nay, more, secretly esteeming this man, who had committed 
 no fault save that of stern devotion to his duty, flattered by 
 his deference, and the too evident regard with which she had 
 inspired him, and withal feeling that, because he was her 
 country's foe by birth and principle, she must maintain toward 
 him the cold demeanor which she had first assumed, the 
 struggle between her inclination to meet him with his own 
 frank kindness, and her desire to be true alone to her own 
 stern idea of duty, was excessively painful. Possibly he read 
 much of her inner strife, for he dropped her hand after a 
 moment's warm pressure, and waited in silence. She would 
 be strong, she would be faithful to the patriotism which it was 
 her pride to avow, and calling to mind Nora McCarthy's noble 
 spirit of sacrifice, she determined not to be less self-immolat- 
 ing. 
 
 " Captain Dennier " her voice was tremulous from her in- 
 ward struggle, " truth compels me to admit that I honor and 
 admire the spirit you have shown, but my sense of duty forces 
 me to say that I cannot regard you as the friend you
 
 TIQHE AIDS CAPTAIN DENNIERS COURTSHIP. 339 
 
 rouid be considered to me you are still my country's foe, 
 and my brother's captor." 
 
 She sorght to meet his eyes with a steady gaze of her own, 
 but they dropped before his sad, thrilling look 
 
 " Then, Miss O'Donoghue, I have only to say farewell ! " 
 
 He turned away without again extending his hand, but the 
 sadness of the tone in which his last words were uttered had 
 pierced her through. 
 
 " Captain Dennier ! " His name had burst from her in the 
 wild gush of remorseful feeling, and its tone too plainly told 
 of the unmaidenly warmth of her emotions ; but the next in- 
 stant she would have given worlds to be able to recall it. He 
 turned, and read in her trembling confusion more than suffi- 
 cient to give him renewed hope. 
 
 " You have reconsidered your determination, Miss O'Don- 
 oghue," he said ; " you will accord me that which I crave ; 
 you will let me bear from Ireland the promise of at least your 
 future friendly regard ? " 
 
 " No, no ! " she waved him back, maidenly shame alone as- 
 serting itself ; and then overcome by her conflicting emotions, 
 she burst into tears. 
 
 The officer, utterly unversed in feminine moods, was too 
 unskilled to read in that very grief a favorable sign ; he was 
 deeply distressed, and when he had watched her a few mo- 
 ments, as if he could endure the scene no longer, he said : 
 " Miss O'Donoghue, I beg of you " 
 
 " It is nothing, sir," she interrupted, ceasing to weep, but 
 keeping her handkerchief to her eyes ; " pray forget my weak- 
 ness, and as you have already said, so do I now say, farewell. 
 I hear Father Meagher entering ; he will receive you." She 
 went from the room, leaving him too saddened and too bewil- 
 dered to attempt to detain her. 
 
 Father Meagher entered almost immediately, and in his 
 genial, hearty way he welcomed the officer ; the latter was too 
 much under the influence of his recent feelings to be able to 
 r espond in the same cordial manner, but the priest, without
 
 140 CARROLL 
 
 Affecting to notice it, proceeded in his own hospitable fashioi 
 to make the young man perfectly at home. " You must re- 
 main to dinner," he said ; " nay, no denial," as he saw Cap- 
 tain Dennier about to murmur a polite refusal ; " you must 
 test our Dhrommacohol fare this once." 
 
 The captain still courteously declined, and murmured some- 
 thing about Tighe, and the time of the next mail-car. 
 
 " Well, then, that settles it," said the priest ; " for Tighe 
 has taken the liberty of going on an expedition of his own I 
 met him on the way to his mother's, and he beggrd me to 
 make an apology to you, and to say that he expected to b* 
 back before you would have time to miss him. So you see^ 
 captain, you are forced to remain, for, having on<:e experi- 
 enced Tighe's inimitable protection, you would find it difficult 
 to get along without him." 
 
 The officer, despite his heavy heart, found himself smiling 
 at the priest's playful remark, and unwilling as he was to de- 
 fer his departure, he was not able to farther resirt the kind 
 invitation. 
 
 Tighe, on his hurried way to his mother's, with fjhaun at his 
 heels, often chuckled as he thought of the letter snugly away 
 in one of his pockets. It was brought forth w ; th many an 
 amusing gesture, and dramatic display of facial expression, 
 when at length, having arrived in the little dwelling, and hav- 
 ing returned the old woman's demonstrative welcome, he told 
 ^er the object of his visit and the necessity for haste on his 
 part. 
 
 She took the packet from his hand, carefully unwrapped its 
 outer covering, and then stood turning it over and over, gaz- 
 ing at the address when the latter was upside down with the 
 same interest that she bestowed upon it when it was turned in 
 the right direction for the position of the letters made little 
 difference to the honest old soul ; her education was as mea- 
 ger as Tighe's own. " What's in it, Tighe ? " Her eyes were 
 distended with astonishment. 
 
 He took it from her, and proceeded to open it, looking
 
 T1QHE AIDS CAPTAIN DENNIER8 COURTSHIP. 34I 
 
 very knowing and mysterious the while. " Do you see now," 
 when at length he had Corny OToole's deeply-shaded, 
 cramped characters fully displayed " that first word manes 
 
 " He stopped short, and looked significantly at the old 
 
 woman, whose capped head, in her eagerness to see the 
 writing, was very close to Tighe's cheek. 
 
 " Manes what ? you're enough to make a saint mad ! why 
 don't you go on an' rade it for me if you're able to ? " 
 
 " Aisy, mother ; sure I'm preparin' you for the contints. 
 Listen now ! " He bent again very earnestly to the letter, at 
 one time holding it so close to his eyes that his nose well-nigh 
 touched the paper, and again putting it at arm's length from 
 him. 
 
 " Well ! " said his mother impatiently. 
 
 " Och, begorra, mother, what'll we do at all sure it's Lat- 
 in the writin* is in, an' that's the rayson I couldn't make it out 
 afore ! " 
 
 " Latin ! " and Mrs. Carmody's mouth, as well as her eyes, 
 was distended in astonishment. 
 
 " Aye, mother ! listen to the quare sound that the words 
 has : " and thereupon he began so voluble and ridiculous a 
 gibberish, rolling his eyes and working his face, as if the very 
 pronunciation caused him a desperate effort, that his mother 
 added uplifted hands to the other outward expressions of her 
 great astonishment. 
 
 " What does it mane, at all, Tighe ? " she asked. 
 
 " Faith, mother, sure it's well you know I'm not scholar 
 enough to tell you that ! " 
 
 "Well, tell me this, thin, who gev you that letther for 
 me ? " and the old woman stood in a very determined attitude 
 before him. 
 
 " Now, mother, didn't I tell you afore that it was jist gev 
 
 into me hand be a " Tighe was seized with a violent fit 
 
 of coughing, during which, pretending to be in imminent dan- 
 ger of bursting a blood-vessel, he made signs for some salt 
 and water.
 
 34 , CARROLL &DONOGHUB. 
 
 The simple old soul, somewhat alarmed, hastened to obey ; 
 and Tighe, feigning recovery, burst at once into so long and 
 winding an account of his ailment that she forgot to press the 
 question of the letter ; Tighe hastened his departure, not 
 ceasing for a moment, however, to talk about everything save 
 Corny O'Toole's epistle, in order that he might continue to 
 divert her attention. At the last, however, when she stood 
 on the threshold, bidding him adieu, and exhorting him to 
 take care of that distressing cough, she concluded by saying : 
 M An' I'll go up this evenin' to Father Meagher wid the let- 
 ther ; sure he knows Latin,an' he'll rade it for me." 
 
 Tighe with difficulty stifled the laugh which her announce- 
 ment caused, and strode off without looking behind him. 
 Out on the road, he said to Shaun : 
 
 " Faith it's the roarin' toime I'm thinkin' his riverinceT] 
 have whin he rades Corny O'Toole's Latin letther 1 "
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 MRS. CARMOpY'S LATIN LETTER. 
 
 THE dinner at the little pastoral residence passed mow 
 pleasantly than Captain Dennier had anticipated ; Clare pre- 
 sided at the table, and save for her heightened color, and a 
 certain involuntary nervousness of manner, there was nothing 
 to betray her recent agitation. She was studiously polite to 
 the young officer, but her courtesy was cold as well all the 
 colder because she was obliged to confess to a secret pleasure 
 at his presence. She loathed herself for her weakness, and 
 sought to atone for it by putting into her manner all that she 
 dared of repelling dignity. 
 
 The young man felt it, but he was too happy in being so 
 near her to permit her coldness to cast an entire cloud over 
 him. The witchery of her manner, the grace of her person, 
 the charm of her low, sweet voice, all were about him, and it 
 was only by an effort that he could keep himself attentive to 
 the clergyman's genial conversation, and by a still more ear- 
 nest effort that he could contribute to the innocent pleas- 
 antries with which the warm-hearted priest enlivened the 
 meal. But he strove to do his part, and once he met the soft) 
 brown eyes opposite, turned upon him with involuntary admi- 
 ration. 
 
 " So you are fully determined to resign your commission, 
 and to quit Ireland ? " said Father Meagher, when the dinner 
 was nearly ended ; " may I ask to what quarter of the world 
 you will set your face then ? " 
 
 Clare seemed to hang upon the expected answer for a mo- 
 ment, then suddenly remembering herself, she dropped her 
 eyes to the plate, and colored still deeper. 
 (343)
 
 CARROLL VDONOGHUK 
 
 " My destination will rather depend upon Lord Heathcote," 
 Captain Dennier responded. " He is my patron, and I shall 
 possibly guide my future movements by his counsel." 
 
 The priest became silent, and the meal being finished, Clare 
 was glad of an excuse to retire ; she left the gentlemen over 
 their cigars, and hurried to her own room, which she did not 
 leave until summoned to say farewell to the young officer. 
 
 The adieu, save for the pressure of his hand as he held her 
 passive fingers for a moment, was as cold upon his part as it 
 was upon her own ; and not even a glance betrayed to the 
 clergyman the depth and the agony of the feelings that swelled 
 in the two young hearts beside him. Captain Dennier departed, 
 accompanied by the escorts with whom he had arrived that 
 morning, and Clare was forced to hear from Father Meagher 
 a panegyric on the young man's noble qualities. 
 
 " I have rarely met," said the priest, " such an excellent 
 character ; his devotion to principle is remarkable ! " 
 
 " So, also, was his relentless cruelty to my brother ! " spoke 
 up Clare sharply ; she spoke thus in order to hide her remorse 
 for her coldness to the officer a remorse which the clergy- 
 man's praise of the young man made all the keener. 
 
 Father Meagher looked up surprised and pained. " Why^ 
 Clare ! I thought you had learned more Christian charity 
 Carroll himself would laud this young soldier ; and even your 
 unforgiving wrath ought to be appeased by the fact of his in- 
 tended resignation. He intimated to me that he had told you 
 the cause." 
 
 " Christian charity ! " she repeated ; " I see in him only the 
 one who has caused my brother's imprisonment who has re- 
 fused me the favor for which I knelt whose principles are 
 against the poor, struggling, inthralled Irish ! " 
 
 She left the room before Father Meagher could utter a word 
 of the indignant reprimand which rose to his lips, and look- 
 ing toward the door, which she had not closed behind her, he 
 said to himself : " Human nature is difficult to understand, 
 but feminine human nature defies all finite intelligence."
 
 MRS. CARMODY* 8 LATIN LETTER. 34S 
 
 He turned to repair to his study, but he was summoned, 
 before he reached it, to meet Mrs. Carmody. She was in 
 quite a flutter of excitement, drawing a letter from the folds 
 of her shawl and proffering it with a low courtesy to the 
 priest. 
 
 " Tighe says it's a lettheyn Latin, yer riverince, addhressed 
 to me, an' I kem up to have you rade it." 
 
 " A letter in Latin ! " repeated the priest, looking very much 
 astonished ; " why, what learned correspondent have you, 
 Mrs. Carmody, to be addressing you in a dead language ? " 
 
 " Faith, yer riverince, I couldn't tell you, if I was thinkin* 
 from now till the harvest ; nor do I know who'd be writin' to 
 me at all, much liss in such a quare, outlandish way as that." 
 
 "Well, we'll soon see, Mrs. Carmody," and the priest 
 drew the missive from the already opened envelope, his face 
 breaking into a broad smile as he glanced his eye over the 
 contents before reading aloud. " Did Tighe tell you that it 
 was in Latin ? " he asked, looking up. 
 
 " Faith he did ! " 
 
 " Well, this is what the letter says, Mrs. Carmody : 
 
 " ' RESPECTED MRS. MOLLIE CARMODY : 
 
 Permit one to address 
 
 you who, despite the changing vicissitudes of an unhappy 
 fortune, has ever retained your image in his secret bosom. In 
 the golden and hallowed glow of a never-to-be-forgotten 
 past, your beautiful face was the star that lit my ardent destiny, 
 and in the desolate present your widowed heart is the only 
 one to which my own solitary and forlorn organ turns. If, 
 oh, if, respected Mrs. Mollie, it be in your power to withdraw 
 your lonely affections from the grave of your lamented hus- 
 band, and you are not averse to bestow them where they shall 
 encounter only the deepest appreciation and the most respect- 
 ful regard, then Corny O'Toole will be proud and happy to 
 receive them, and to make you, dearest Mollie, the wife of the 
 undersigned. 
 
 I remain, dearest Mrs. Carmody, yours with the 
 most profound sentiments of regard and enraptured admira- 
 tion, 
 
 CORNY OTooi*.' "
 
 34 $ CARROLL &DONOGHUB. 
 
 The clergyman put down the letter, laughing loud and 
 heartily, while Mrs. Carmody's face, between astonishment 
 and indignation, afforded a most ludicrous study. She did 
 not join in the priest's mirth ; she was too angry for being 
 made the object of Corny O'Toole's ardent affection, and she 
 burst out, forgetting, in her vexation, the respectful tone 
 which she was accustomed to use to his reverence : 
 
 " That's the rayson Tighe didn't tell me who the letther was 
 from ; it's well he was aware, ihesfiafyeen, o' who was the writer, 
 an' it's well he was aware that me hand would scorn to touch 
 it if he tould me who it kem from. A letther in Latin, indade ! 
 faith the counthry knows Corny O'Toole's Latin a foine 
 baldherdash o 1 words that have naythur head nor tail to thim !" 
 
 " Why, Mrs. Carmody," answered the priest, when his mirth 
 had somewhat subsided, "you seem to set little value on the 
 honor which is here done you ! do you know that when a man 
 asks a woman to become his wife he confers the greatest pos- 
 sible mark of esteem upon her he shows that he selects her 
 from all the women in the world ? and that is what this poor 
 fellow has done. Surely, Mrs. Carmody, you ought to be at 
 least grateful for the offer." 
 
 " Grateful, is it, to Corny O'Toole ! oh, yer riverince, it's 
 makin' fun o' me you are ! " and Mrs. Carmody's apron went 
 up to her eyes, and in another instant her sobs burst upon the 
 astonished priest. 
 
 He waited till she became quiet, his mouth working, how- 
 ever, as if it was with difficulty that he restrained himself 
 from bursting again into laughter. "Well, Mrs. Carmody, 
 you intend, then, to refuse this offer ? " 
 
 " I do, yer riverince ; an' if you knew Corny O'T*ole as 1 
 know him, you wouldn't spake to me the way you did an' 
 more, too, that iver I'd see the day whin yer riverince'd ba 
 advisin' me to marry agin, afther the good man that I lost, 
 God rist his sowl ! " 
 
 " You mistake, Mrs. Carmody," said the priest, with assumed 
 gravity ; " I did not advise you to marry I only suggested
 
 MRS. CARMODY'S LATIN LETTER. 34? 
 
 what might seem to be your duty in the way of gratitude for 
 this honorable offer." 
 
 "I'm naythur grateful nor plazed, yer riverince, an' I'll take 
 it as a great favor if you'll write a few loines for me, tellin' Mr. 
 O'Toole that I'll be viry thankful to him if he'll place his 
 attintions somewhere elstf." 
 
 Father Meagher led the way to his study, and penned the 
 following : 
 
 " MR. O'TOOLE, 
 
 Sir : Mrs. Carmody desires me to say for her 
 that she has received your favor, and while she thanks you for 
 the honor you would do her, she is obliged to decline your 
 offer. 
 
 REV. M. MEAGHER, 
 
 for MARY CARMODY." 
 
 The old woman expressed herself satisfied, took the letter, 
 thanked the priest, and courtesying deeply, left him. 
 
 Captain Dennier reached Tralee to find a letter awaiting 
 him. Its official seal and coat of arms made his heart beat 
 quicker than usual, and he tore it open to learn that his con- 
 .jecture was right it was from Lord Heathcote, demanding 
 his immediate presence in Dublin. He bit his lip with resent- 
 ment at the imperious tone of the missive, and threw it down, 
 when he had finished the perusal, with a deeply flushed cheek 
 and excited manner. He rung for Tighe, saying, when the 
 latter appeared : " I shall have to depart earlier than I 
 thought." He was so absorbed in troubled reflection that he 
 continued to pace the room while he addressed his valet : 
 " When I told you yesterday of my intended journey, I. 
 thought to have two or three days in which to complete my 
 irrangements, and to provide for you, Tighe." 
 
 " Oh, as to purvidin' for me, yer honor, don't let that 
 :hrouble you I was always able to take care o' mesel' at 
 rhort warnin', an' it's nothin' I moind about this but the losin* 
 o' you. You were viry koind, and Tim Carmody '11 niver 
 forgit you ! "
 
 348 CARROLL VDONOGHUR 
 
 There was an accent of touching sincerity in the last wordi 
 which went to the young officer's heart. He stopped short in 
 his walk, and extended his hand. " And you, my faithful 
 fellow, I feel that I owe you much for your honest service." 
 
 Tighe grasped the outstretched member, gave it a hearty 
 shake, and turned aside to control his emotion, 
 
 "If you could be induced to come to Dublin, Tighe, I 
 could provide well for you there." 
 
 " Don't spake o' it, yer honor, plaze ; aside from Shaun, 
 that the climate wouldn't binefit, I couldn't go so far from 
 Dhrommacohol me heart is there ! " 
 
 Captain Dennier turned away ; the very mention of a spot, 
 the memory of which was at once so sweet and so bitter to 
 him, in some measure unmanned him he was forced to 
 acknowledge to himself that hit heart also was in Dhromma- 
 coboL
 
 CHAPTER XLIIt 
 
 
 SINGULAR INTERVIEW. 
 
 IN one of the apartments of Dublin Castle, where military 
 v-.couterments, disposed with no neat nor careful hand, and 
 the general air of carelessness prevailing, indicated the abode 
 of some free and easy liver, Captain Crawford reclined at full 
 length on a somewhat worn lounge. A fragrant cigar was 
 between his lips, but after intervals of slow, irregular puffs, 
 during which some pleasant conceit seemed to fill his mind, 
 he would remove the cigar in order to burst into a hearty 
 laugh. In the midst of one of these ebullitions he was 
 surprised by a knock, and to his response there entered Cap- 
 tain Dennier. Captain Crawford bounded to his feet. 
 
 " Egad, Dennier ! the very one I was thinking about I was 
 wondering how you got along with that specimen of humanity, 
 Tighe, and laughing at my own experience with him. But 
 how are you, old fellow, and what lucky wind blew you up 
 here now ? " 
 
 " A summons from Lord Heathcote," the officer responded, 
 returning the hearty shake with which he had been greeted. 
 " It was my intention to come unsummoned, but my arrival 
 in that case should not have been so speedy." 
 
 " Lord Heathcote's summons why what is the matter ? 
 any unusual occurrence ? " 
 
 Captain Dennier shrugged his shoulders, and threw himself 
 into a chair. " You know as much about it as I do ; though 
 I suspect the informer, Carter, has something to do with it 
 However, it makes little difference to me my mind is firmly 
 made up. I shall tender my resignation to his lordship." 
 
 " You are not in earnest ? " burst from Captain Crawford,
 
 3SO CARROLL VDONOGHUK 
 
 * Never more so." 
 
 " But what if Lord Heathcote meets you as he did before 
 you will be obliged to defer again to his wish." 
 
 " No ; not this time ! " and there was a look in the young 
 officer's sparkling eyes, and an accent of determination in hi 
 voice, which convinced his hearer. " I must be free," he con- 
 tinued ; " I cannot be shackled to a profession which harrowi 
 my feelings, which conflicts with my manhood ! " 
 
 " Well, Dennier," answered Captain Crawford, " it is just 
 as I have said. These rascally Irish have thrown some witchery 
 about you, and won you over ; or is there an Irish maiden in 
 the case now that I remember, Jack Cade, who was up to 
 see me the other day you remember Jack ? he used to be in 
 the Life Guards, you know, was telling me of some ladies 
 who called upon you at the barracks : two ladies, I believe, 
 accompanied by a gentleman ; at least that was the way the 
 gossip of Tralee had it. Oh, don't look so displeased about 
 it " as Captain Dennier strove to conceal his embarrassment 
 under an appearance of indignation, " I understand these 
 things, Walter ; but seriously, old fellow, I wish it were other- 
 wise with you ! " 
 
 Captain Dennier arose, and passing his hand over his face 
 as if he would brush from it its troubled expression, he said 
 hastily : " I have reason to suspect that my birth and early 
 childhood have not been what I have been permitted to think 
 them. I fancy that Lord Heathcote can, if he will, give me 
 information on the subject, and I intend to urge him to do 
 so." 
 
 Captain Crawford, in the generosity of his friendship, 
 and noting the troubled look of the speaker, became pain- 
 fully interested. " What are your suspicions ? " he asked. 
 
 " Do not ask me," responded the young man ; " I cannot 
 tell you I shall not even suffer myself to dwell upon them 
 until I learn the truth." 
 
 " And then ? " asked Crawford. 
 
 14 And then," was the agitated response, " I shall seek aq
 
 A SINGULAR INTERVIEW. 3S , 
 
 entirely new career, far from all the scenes in which I have 
 mingled. But let us cease to speak upon this subject ; it is 
 unaccountably painful to me ; and pass the cigars " straight- 
 ening himself and trying to assume a cheerful air. " The 
 time for my meeting Lord Heathcote is fixed for four I have 
 barely an hour." * 
 
 He remained chatting over the wine and fragrant Havanas 
 which Crawford produced, occasionally catching so much of 
 the latter's convivial spirit as to burst into momentary laughter 
 at some well-told story, and to find himself detailing a ludi- 
 crous experience of his life while in Tralee garrison. 
 
 " By the way," said Crawford suddenly, " how about that 
 laughable incident which occurred during the trial in Tralee 
 a fortnight ago ? some of the papers gave a most amusing 
 account of it. A ridiculous letter, was it not, that was read 
 in place of some Fenian document which should have been 
 forthcoming?" 
 
 " Yes," replied Captain Dennier, smiling ; " that letter, I 
 believe, took the place of the paper which I, according to his 
 lordship's order, intrusted to you to bring safely to Dublin." 
 
 " O-o-oh ! " and Captain Crawford's face elongated in ac- 
 companiment to his prolonged ejaculation ; " that explains all 
 the fuss they have been making here in the castle. I was 
 summoned before some of the grave signers to swear how, 
 and when, and where I delivered that precious document. It 
 is said that the last official to whose care this paper, together 
 with other damning proofs against these rebels, was commit- 
 ted, was taken suddenly ill, and remaining too unwell to dis- 
 charge his duty with regard to close examination of the pa- 
 pers, the document, detained here longer than it should be, 
 owing to his illness, was sent down to Tralee at the last mo- 
 ment, and without any inspection, further than what was 
 given to the superscription. But who could have abstracted 
 it, and substituted that ridiculous letter in its place ? " 
 
 " I do not know," was the reply ; " it certainly was all right 
 when it passed from ray possession to yours you remember, 
 I read it for you."
 
 35' 
 
 CARROLL VDONOQHUR. 
 
 " Yes," said Captain Crawford thoughtfully ; * and it nevef 
 left ray keeping till I delivered it here at the castle." 
 
 " Well, I am not sorry for its loss," responded Dennier ; 
 " its absence on the trial has been the means of saving the 
 lives of six poor creatures, and its absence will also benefit 
 the case of the prisoner who is to be tried next week." 
 
 " That young rebel, Carroll O'Donoghue ? " asked Craw- 
 ford, an unpleasant expression coming into his face. 
 
 Dennier observed the look, and anxious to avoid the con- 
 flict which seemed to threaten because of his own frank 
 avowal of compassion for the Fenian prisoners, he hastened to 
 burst into a ludicrous account of Tighe's escapade from the 
 jail yard, and the consternation it had created. His ruse suc- 
 ceeded. Crawford, whose sense of humor was unusually 
 keen, laughed heartily. 
 
 " What have you done with him ? " he asked. " I would 
 give a good, round sum to take him back with me to England. 
 The folks would look with horror, I know, on so uncouth a 
 specimen for a body-servant, but it would be worth it all to 
 watch Tighe's manner, and to hear his ludicrous observations. 
 Tell me, Dennier, what have you done with him ? " 
 
 " I was spared the trouble of exerting myself at all in his 
 behalf ; he is such a general favorite in the barracks, he and 
 his inseparable companion, Shaun, that I believe the very pri- 
 vates would conspire to keep him for sake of the entertain- 
 ment which he affords them ; as it was, Major Capdale said 
 he would find use for him, and so Tighe changed masters, not, 
 however, without some touching signs of his attachment to 
 rne. I discovered him at the station though I had already 
 bade him good-by in the barracks, superintending the stow- 
 ing of my baggage, much to the wonder and perplexity of the 
 valet I had that day engaged, and who stood idly by ; and 
 when I expressed my surprise and my gratitude for all the 
 trouble he was taking, he whispered " here Captain Dennier, 
 bending forward, gave an excellent imitation of Tighe's 
 brogue : M ' Sure, yer honor, I'm used to yer ways, an' I'm jist
 
 A SINGULAR INTERVIEW. 353 
 
 tachin' the perticler dhrift o' thira to the valet you're takin* to 
 Dublin. 1 " 
 
 Captain Crawford laughed again more heartily than before, 
 both at the picture which his own imagination drew of Tighe, 
 and at his visitor's comical imitation of the brogue. 
 
 " But I must go," saio! Captain Dennier, consulting his 
 watch ; " Lord Heathcote rarely forgives remissness in punc- 
 tuality, and I have no desire to anger him at the outset of 
 our meeting." He wrung Crawford's hand, promising to re- 
 turn in the evening, and left for his lordship's apartments. 
 
 Lord Heathcote appeared somewhat of an invalid ; a great 
 easy chair supported his person in an attitude that betokened 
 weakness, and his face had all the pallor and lines of physical 
 suffering. He returned, by a slight inclination of his head, 
 Dennier's respectful bow when the latter was ushered into the 
 room, and pointed wearily to a chair directly in front of his 
 own. Then, with a painful effort, he sat erect, and fixing his 
 eyes with no diminution of their keen, disconcerting look at 
 the young officer, he said haughtily : " I have received a recent 
 letter detailing an account of an interview which took place be- 
 tween you and a man a hireling of the government named 
 Mortimer Carter, the account is not to your credit as an 
 English officer." 
 
 He paused as if expecting a reply. The young man was 
 silent, returning the nobleman's look with one well-nigh as 
 stern and undaunted. His lordship resumed : 
 
 " You are spoken of as one in secret sympathy with these 
 Irish rebels as one privy to the disappearance of the paper 
 intrusted to your charge." 
 
 Again Lord Heathcote paused, expecting a reply ; but again 
 he was met by the same dignified silence the same unflinch- 
 ing look. 
 
 " Have you nothing to say, sir ? " he demanded, with some 
 asperity. 
 
 " Has your lordship already condemned me ? " Captain 
 Dennier responded calmly, though his Up trembled ; " h*v
 
 354 
 
 CARROLL 
 
 the charges preferred against me by this hireling, as you term 
 him, carried such weight that your lordship was forced to a 
 conviction before I could be heard in my own defense ?" 
 
 " I have sent for you, sir, to give you an opportunity of 
 making that defense," replied his lordship, coldly. 
 
 Captain Dennier arose ; he could no longer control the ex- 
 citement under which he labored it betrayed itself in his 
 vivid flush, in his trembling enunciation. " The paper given 
 into my hands I delivered safely into the possession of Captain 
 Crawford he can testify to that fact, having read the docu- 
 ment himself the instant it passed to his charge. For the 
 other accusations which this hireling, Carter, makes against 
 me, I consider the source from whence they spring too low 
 for my notice or denial ; does your lordship deign to give them 
 weight, however, I shall attempt no refutation of them." 
 
 He stood with so stately an air, his head slightly thrown 
 b*ck, and his dark, splendid eyes alight with noble feeling, 
 that an expression akin to admiration flashed for an instant 
 across Lord Heathcote's face ; but it was as suddenly gone, 
 and receiving no answer, Captain Dennier resumed : 
 
 " Had your lordship's summons not reached me, I should 
 myself have sought you to learn the truth of the strange 
 inuendoes which this man, Carter, dropped ; my heart tells 
 me that you, Lord Heathcote, possess the entire story of my 
 birth and early life. I conjure you, by your honor as a 
 gentleman, to tell me who I am ! " His voice quivered pain- 
 fully. 
 
 " Who you are ? " his lordship repeated in a somewhat bitter 
 tone. " By what right do you demand from me more knowl- 
 edge of your origin than you already possess ? " 
 
 " By the right of your strange interest and patronage ; by 
 the right of a mysterious impulse within me which impels me 
 to you speak, your lordship, and end a suspense which is 
 crushing my manhood ! " He bent forward in his eagerness, 
 every fiber of his form vibrating. 
 
 "You are dreaming, boy; your imagination has deceived
 
 A SINGULAR INTERVIEW. 355 
 
 you you are simply what you have been told to believe of 
 yourself. The inuendoes of this man, Carter, were perhapi 
 invented for some purpose of his own." 
 
 He spoke so lightly, almost mockingly, a scornful curl upon 
 his lip the while, that the young officer sickened for an instant 
 from the bitter disappointment. He turned away, unable to 
 speak. 
 
 "Dismiss these vague, morbid fancies," continued the 
 nobleman, "they ill befit a soldier, and concentrate your 
 energies upon the stern duties of the life which lies before 
 you." 
 
 " I intend to, my lord." The young man had turned slowly 
 back, and was facing the nobleman with all the eagerness and 
 determination of some violently aroused energy ; " I feel that 
 too long I have been the willing dependent on perhaps a mis- 
 placed bounty. I stifled energies which cried for outlets in 
 other directions than those proposed by your lordship I 
 struggled against feelings that told me of my utter inability to 
 cope with circumstances which appealed alike to my heart 
 and my judgment; but I did it all to prove my gratitude 
 Now, however, the time has come when my manhood refuses 
 to be longer crushed ; it will assert itself by choosing a life in 
 which duty, principle, inclination shall unite ; and it is for the 
 purpose of announcing to you that decision that I am here 
 this morning ; but, before I leave you, my lord, before I resign 
 a career which has been so eventful to me, I would fain learn 
 who I am. You have failed to convince me of the falsity of 
 my suspicions you have failed to lift from my mind the 
 crushing weight of a cruel conjecture ! " 
 
 Lord Heathcote half started from his chair, but the 
 movement seemed to give him pain, for his brow contracted, 
 and his head fell slightly back. " That conjecture ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 Captain Dennier paused for an instant, as if he would 
 gummon strength to make his intended announcement ; then, 
 while the vivid color mounted to his forehead, and his breath
 
 35 6 CARROLL VDONOGHUK 
 
 came and went in gasps, he answered : " That I am your ffla* 
 gitimate oflf spring." 
 
 The nobleman bounded from his chair, but with a half- 
 stifled cry of pain he sunk into its cushions again, while an 
 expression of agony broke over his face which the young offi- 
 cer could not bear to look at He asked hoarsely : ' Did 
 this man, Carter, hint at such a possibility ? " 
 
 " No ; it is my own surmise, formed from reflection* upon 
 your singular interest in me, together with the strange inuendo 
 from Carter that I was not what I seemed." 
 
 "Dennier," the nobleman was again partially erect, but 
 his jeweled hand covered his face, as if he would hide its ex- 
 pression of suffering " if I tell you that you are the legiti- 
 mate son of one who was near and dear to me, but that the 
 circumstances of your birth are such as to compel perpetual 
 secrecy, what will be your decision with regard to your future 
 mode of life ? " 
 
 " The same, my lord ; but I could kneel to you in gratitude 
 for having taken from my mind its horrible weight. Legiti- 
 mate! then I can face the world with an honorable birth- 
 right. I ask no more ; I seek not to penetrate the secret you 
 would hold. I have gained all I craved, and I thank your 
 lordship for the favors of the past, as well as for the happy 
 tidings of the present." 
 
 " By resigning your commission," resumed the nobleman, re- 
 taining his hand to his face, "you will forego all right to a 
 property which will one day be yours you will lose the prof* 
 pect of a magnificent alliance which is already contemplated 
 for you." 
 
 He spoke very slowly, as if each word in the utterance wa 
 receiving new deliberation in his own mind. The young offi- 
 cer replied : "I am willing to forego all ; for I could accept 
 the former of your inducements only at the expense of my 
 principles, the latter at the cost of my affections." 
 
 Lord Heathcote looked up, his hand at last removed, and 
 the lines and careworn look of his face standing out with
 
 A SINGULAR INTERVIEW. 35 7 
 
 painful prominence. " Then your affections are already en- 
 gaged?" 
 
 " They are, but hopelessly ! " 
 
 " May I ask to whom ? " 
 
 " No, my lord ; I cannot tell you her name has never 
 passed my lips it is my own unhappy secret." 
 
 " But why unhappy ? " persisted the nobleman ; " does the 
 lady not reciprocate your regard ? " 
 
 " Unhappily for me, she does not." 
 
 " What is the obstacle ? " and Lord Heathcote seemed to 
 take a malignant interest in thus pressing his visitor. 
 
 " I am the hated foe of her country a soldier in that ser- 
 vice whose boast it is to enslave and to crush her people." 
 
 He spoke with unusual warmth, apparently forgetful of 
 everything save his own impatient ardor. 
 
 " Ah ! I understand," and the nobleman's mouth curled 
 with disdain " a pretty girl is the motive power of all these 
 heioics ; I might have surmised before the cause of your wish 
 to resign ; but you are now, by your own avowal, averse to 
 the cause you have professed to serve, and you are amenable 
 to arrest." He paused, his searching look reading Captain 
 Dennier through. 
 
 " Be it so," said the young man, slightly inclining his head ; 
 " gi ye y ur order, my lord, and I shall be far happier in a 
 prison, knowing that my conduct is consistent with my heart 
 and my judgment, than holding the highest place of honor 
 with every hour bringing some conflicting duty ! " 
 
 " No, Captain Dennier," responded Lord Heathcote ; " 1 
 shall treat you with more magnanimity than you deserve 
 allowing for your youth, and the natural impulsiveness of that 
 mawkish period, I shall pass over your imprudent admissions. 
 Neither shall you resign your commission ; retain your com- 
 mand, sir, and bury in your own breast all that has been said 
 during this interview." 
 
 " I thank you, my lord, for your great leniency, but, par- 
 don me, I must demand that my resignation be accepted. I
 
 JS 8 CARROLL VDONOQHUX. 
 
 cannot, I shall not, longer retain ray commission in her Maj- 
 esty's service." 
 
 " Be it so, then ! " said the nobleman sternly ; " but remem- 
 ber by this headstrong conduct you waive every right to your 
 future inheritance." 
 
 The officer bowed. 
 
 " And may I ask," the speaker continued, * what U to be 
 your first movement ? " 
 
 " I shall remain in Dublin for three or four day ; then I 
 shall go to England, from whence I intend to seek a home in 
 America." 
 
 Lord Heathcote touched the silver hand-bell on the table 
 at his side, and when the attendant entered he waved Captain 
 Dennier away without any further adieu. The young man 
 would have fain had a more kindly parting, or at least 
 one which would have evinced more gratitude upon his part, 
 but the sternness of the nobleman's manner deterred him. 
 He passed out, and Lord Heathcote rung again, saying to the 
 attendant who entered : " Send Curry to me." 
 
 The order was obeyed, and Curry, a small, slender-formed, 
 and sharp-visaged man, stood before his titled master. 
 
 " Watch Captain Dennier dog him secretly day and night, 
 and write to me, or telegraph, information of his whereabouts, 
 and what he may be doing. Do not lose sight of him wherever 
 he goes, be it to England or America. You shall be supplied 
 with ample funds, but let your work be secret. Do you un- 
 derstand ? " 
 
 " Perfectly, my lord." 
 
 " That is all ; " and the nobleman leaned back with an ah 
 of relief, while Curry bowed low, and departed to begin im- 
 mediately his espionage of Captain Dennier. That gentleman 
 had repaired to Captain Crawford's apartment. 
 
 " You look brighter, old fellow," was the salutation of the 
 latter ; " your conference, then, has been satisfactory ? " 
 
 " Yes, in so far as relieving me of a dreadful suspicion 
 and I have succeeded in my purpose to resign. I shall send
 
 A SINGULAR INTERVIEW. 
 
 359 
 
 in the written form of my resignation this evening, and from 
 that time I shall consider myself no longer in her Majesty's 
 service." 
 
 " By Jove ! I am sorry, Walter ! " and for an instant some- 
 thing like emotion showed in the working of Crawford's face, 
 but he recovered himself, Ind resumed : " We have had some 
 pleasant hours together ; but when do you go ? " 
 
 Dennier did not reply immediately, as if he were reluctant 
 to do so ; then, as if he had overcome some secret scruple, he 
 said : " I shall return to Tralee for a day or so I confess to 
 some interest in the approaching trial of the young prisoner, 
 O'Donoghue." 
 
 A peculiar expression broke into Crawford's face : " By 
 Jove ! Dennier, but I begin to have very strange suspicions 
 well, never mind, old fellow ! I shall not press you on the 
 subject I know that some of these Irish girls are deuced 
 witching and handsome, and if you have been so desperately 
 caught, it won't be the first time a poor fellow has had his 
 principles and his creed upset by a pretty face. Only I can't 
 help feeling sorry for you ; you are renouncing a glorioua 
 career, and you are giving way to impulses which the sober 
 judgment of more mature manhood will certainly change." 
 
 " It may be so, Harry, but at least I am acting in accord- 
 ance with my convictions now, and I am the happier for it" 
 
 He turned away with a careless air to prepare for the even- 
 ing dinner to which he had promised to accompany Captain 
 Crawford.
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 CARTER REPULSED. 
 
 THE eventful day of Carroll O'Donoghue's trial arrived. 
 Father Meagher and Clare left Dhrommacohol in the earliest 
 mail-car, and reached Tralee an hour before the opening of 
 the court. They went in immediate search of Nora, only to 
 learn from Mrs. Murphy that the young lady and her father 
 had sought another residence three weeks before, and the 
 good-natured woman was unable to tell them where. With 
 blank faces, and heavier hearts than they had borne thither, 
 they retraced their steps in order to seek places in the now 
 crowded court-room. 
 
 All the wealth and fashion, together with the rank and in- 
 fluence of the town, was represented ; the gallery was crowded 
 with ladies, the bench filled with lawyers, the body of the 
 house thronged with a medley of tradesmen, mechanics and 
 fanners, thickly interspersed with the military, while the uni- 
 form of the police showed in sufficient numbers to warrant 
 the preservation of order. Every face expressed interest, and 
 many of the countenances, even among the grave visages on 
 the bench, evinced an anxiety that might be construed into 
 secret sympathy with the prisoner. 
 
 Clare, her veil down, and her person somewhat shielded by 
 the large f arm of Father Meagher, who sat slightly in advance 
 of her, was seated directly opposite the prisoner's dock. 
 
 On the outskirts of the crowd, yet where, when openings 
 occurred in the latter, she could see the accused, Nora was 
 stationed, her face heavily veiled, and her person shielded by 
 the stooped, shambling form of Rick of the Hills. 
 
 -Breathless interest prevailed when the prisoner entered.
 
 CARTER REPULSED. 3 $, 
 
 Firm, erect, with his wonted noble poise and fearless look, he 
 took his place in the dock ; but when he faced the concourse 
 the ravages of his confinement and anxiety could be plainly 
 seen the intense pallor, the transparency of his face, the 
 lines worn in his features, the unnatural luster of his large 
 eyes, all were painfully disclosed. 
 
 Clare raised her veil in answer to his gaze, that wandered 
 searchingly over the court-room, and immediately succeeding 
 the glance of joyful recognition which he gave to her and 
 Father Meagher, came one of weary disappointment ; both 
 the priest and his young companion sadly divined the cause 
 it was the absence of Nora, and they read in his continued 
 frequent and anxious glance the alarming conjectures which 
 filled his mind. 
 
 Nora, too, had raised her veil, and bent forward to obtain 
 a full view of the prisoner ; she saw his gaze wandering over 
 the court-room, the expression of disappointment which came 
 into his face, and she, too, divined the cause. She fell back, 
 pulling her veil down, and for one whirling moment, while 
 her heart seemed bursting with renewed agony, she murmur- 
 ed : " My God ! that I were dead ! " but the next instant, in 
 deep remorse for her rebellious expression, she added : " Not 
 my will, but Thine, be done." 
 
 The trial was fairly opened, and as it progressed, more de- 
 velopments in favor of the prisoner were produced than had 
 been generally anticipated. Direct proof of his connection 
 with the I. R. B. organization was wanting, owing to the 
 abstraction of the paper by Tighe a Vohr ; and his counsel 
 cited, as one of the points in the defense, the fact of the 
 accused refusing to escape when every door which separated 
 him from freedom had been secretly opened for his release. 
 Faces brightened, and Clare's countenance flushed with ex- 
 cited joy as she heard point after point made in favor of 
 her brother. Nora also breathed freer, and more than once 
 in the ardor of her feelings she forgot herself and threw 
 aside her veil, only, however, to drop it, abashed, when she
 
 3 $ a CARROLL &DONOQHUB. 
 
 caught some curious eyes fixed upon her. But there was one 
 in the thickest of the crowd to whom the progress of the trial 
 afforded only disappointment and bitterness Morty Carter ; 
 his scowling, empurpled face, empurpled from his secret rage, 
 betrayed plainly the purport of his feelings. 
 
 The case was at length adjourned until the following day. 
 
 Rick and Nora hurried out, mingling with the crowd which 
 pressed about them until they could find an opportunity of 
 turning down one of the obscure side streets that led to their 
 home ; while Father Meagher and Clare, loth to return with- 
 out some information of Nora, again sought Mrs. Murphy, 
 thinking to glean by further questioning some clew which 
 might lead them to her whereabouts. But this visit was as 
 fruitless as the former one had been ; the kind-hearted land- 
 lady had nothing more to communicate than a glowing eulo- 
 gium on Nora's sweetness of manner, her own reflections on 
 the contrast presented by the father and daughter, and upon 
 their apparent poverty. She was about to reveal, as she had 
 already been on the point of doing that morning, how the 
 young lady had been obliged to dispose of some of her ward- 
 robe, but she remembered in season her promise of secrecy 
 regarding that matter a promise which Nora, probably fore- 
 seeing this visit of her friends, had exacted. So the two anx- 
 ious inquirers with very sad hearts turned their faces toward 
 Dhrommacohol, which they would leave again for Tralee on 
 the next morning. Father Meagher anxiously thought what 
 forces he could exert in order to find Nora. He fancied he 
 knew the cause of her silence, and her mysterious disappear- 
 ance that both were due to the wretched haunt to which 
 Rick had gone, and to which she, in her noble devotion, had 
 accompanied him. His heart burned with indignation for a 
 moment against Rick ; but the next instant his anger softened, 
 for the image of the poor creature, as he had looked when 
 kneeling in the study pleading his love for his child, rose be- 
 fore him, and the tender-hearted priest murmured a prayer foi 
 Nora's protection, and for poor, miserable Rick's conversion
 
 CARTER REPULSED. 36 j 
 
 Nora was alone, thinking of the trial of the morning ; every 
 word of the evidence seemed burned upon her brain, and 
 though her fingers rapidly plied the needle which formed 
 such shining stitches in her skillful work, her industry was en- 
 tirely mechanical her thoughts were so distant ftom her em- 
 ployment, and they were so wild and troubled. 
 
 Rick had left her after their little frugal meal, which her 
 hands had prepared, to seek the pittance that he sometimes 
 earned, and she had full scope for all her unhappy reflections. 
 She was suddenly startled by a rap ; no visitors ever came to 
 them, and with a wildly bounding heart she answered the 
 summons. It was Morty Carter. He was smiling, fulsome, 
 and arrayed in such elegance as his own vulgar taste dictated. 
 Nora shrunk from him in alarm and horror. He pursued her 
 into the room, first turning to close the door behind him. 
 
 "Miss McCarthy pardon me, Miss Sullivan do not fear 
 me ; I intend you no harm. Listen " as she still cowered 
 from him, retreating to the farthest corner of the apartment, 
 " I have come to save you, to rescue you from poverty, 
 from shame. Be my wife fly with me, Nora, and you shall 
 have all that money can furnish ! I have already riches, and 
 I expect still more." 
 
 He paused for want of breath to continue. Sudden and 
 almost supernatural courage seemed to animate the girl ; 
 ceasing to cower, she confronted him with an indignation be- 
 fore which it was his turn to quail for a moment. 
 
 " Cease, Mr. Carter, and no longer disgrace your manhood ; 
 if you are so lost to honor and feeling as to insult an unpro- 
 tected woman, I have courage at least to defy you ! " She 
 had the poise of a queen, the courage of a lioness. " Become 
 your wife ! " she continued ; " twice before you have made 
 that insulting proffer, and twice you have received your 
 answer. To save me ! from what would you save me my 
 poverty ? it is honorable, and were it ten times as great, it 
 would be far preferable to the fate of being your wife : 
 ihamc ? I have none, sir, save the shame of being forced t
 
 j64 CARROLL VDONOQHUK 
 
 endure your presence. Leave me ! M She pointed to the 
 door. 
 
 " Nora, hear me ! " He approached her, attempting to 
 seize her hand. She receded from him, maintaining her fear- 
 less air. 
 
 " Stop ! " she cried, in a tone that he was forced to obey. 
 " Dare but to lay a finger upon me, and Heaven itself will 
 interpose to check you ! " 
 
 At that instant the door was flung suddenly open, and Rick 
 of the Hills entered. One rapid glance conveyed to him the 
 meaning of the scene. " Back ! " he cried to Carter, and 
 his threatening brow and outstretched hand gave a fierce and 
 determined meaning to his words. 
 
 " Faith, it's a pretty touchy pair ye are ! " said Carter, 
 endeavoring to hide his discomfiture under a semblance of 
 humor ; " I came here with the best of intentions, and this is 
 the way I'm received turned out before I have time to state 
 *he object of my visit. Ugh ! " and he wiped his face with 
 a handkerchief whose crimson color was scarcely deeper 
 than the countenance it pressed. 
 
 " Why have you come ? " demanded Rick, with no diminution 
 of his stern and angry manner ; " we were getting on well 
 without you, and we do not need you." 
 
 There was a hidden significance in his words which Carter 
 too well understood. 
 
 " Oh, come, Mr. Sullivan," he said, in a conciliatory tone ; it 
 was the first time he had ever used so respectful a term to 
 Rick, but it was evidently lost upon the latter, for his lip 
 curled, and his whole haggard face expressed his disdain of 
 the speaker. " Let me explain myself," continued Carter, 
 assuming his blandest air ; " I have come with the honorable 
 purpose of a gentleman to offer to you both a life of inde- 
 pendence and comfort it requires but one condition : that 
 Nora here will become my wife." 
 
 Nora sprung to Rick's side ; for the first time since he had 
 o sternly forbade her to touch him, her hands were upon
 
 CARTER REPULSED. 3 <jj 
 
 him, clasping his arm. "Father," the agony in her voice 
 pierced the heart of the poor wretch " do not let him longer 
 insult me send him hence, for I cannot bear this indeed I 
 cannot ! " 
 
 Her appearance attestetf the truth of her words ; her 
 guddenly acquired strength and courage had as suddenly gone, 
 and her pallid face and trembling form told of the painful 
 reaction which had followed. 
 
 " You hear your answer," said Rick, " and I, too, bid you 
 begone ! " 
 
 But Carter made no motion to obey. He evidently did 
 not believe in Rick's determination he could not realize that 
 Nora's influence, won through her noble devotion, had super- 
 seded his own old, evil power over the unhappy creature, and 
 he waited with a brazen confidence of being still able to 
 accomplish the object of his visit. 
 
 " Go to your own room," whispered Rick to Nora, " and 
 leave me to deal with this man." 
 
 Too glad to obey, the excited girl flew to her little apart- 
 ment, shutting and locking the door upon herself. 
 
 The two men confronted each other ; Rick hissed, but in 
 too low a tone to reach her who had just left them : " Do you 
 believe me now, Morty Carter ? I told you before you would 
 never win her, but you scouted my words." 
 
 " You have thwarted me ! " answered Carter, in as low a 
 tone. 
 
 " Never ! I have been your tool up to the present moment, 
 sending my soul down to hell for your promised reward ; but 
 your purpose is to prove as treacherous to me as you have 
 done to those it was your sworn duty to defend." 
 
 Carter replied doggedly : " I shall keep my word with you 
 when Nora consents to become my wife." 
 " She will never become such." 
 
 " She will," was the angry, but still cautiously-spoken reply, 
 " if you will leave me to pursue my suit without your inter- 
 ference in a word, if you will help me," and the little ferret-
 
 3*6 
 
 CARROLL VDONOQHUS 
 
 like eyes looked significantly into the wild flashing orbs befora 
 them. 
 
 " Never ! " hissed Rick ; " and what is more, I shall protect 
 her from you ; there is many a crime upon my soul, Morty 
 Carter, but the sin of delivering into your hands so pure and 
 noble a being as Nora shall not stain it. In everything else 
 I have done your bidding, but in that I never shall ! " 
 
 " And what of Cathleen ? " said Carter, in his anger slightly 
 raising his voice. 
 
 " Not even for her shall I do your bidding with regard to 
 Nora ! " 
 
 Carter's rage seemed beyond his control his large form 
 trembled, and his hands, according to their wonted habit, 
 clutched convulsively. " What if I open up your secrets to 
 the world ? " he hissed ; " what if I tear off the mask which 
 you now wear ? " 
 
 " I could not be more wretched than I am," was the reply ; 
 " I have tasted so much bitterness under my present mask 
 that it will be a relief to tear it off. I grant you free license 
 to pull it away, Morty Carter to publish all that you know ; 
 but remember" for an instant Rick also forgetfully raised 
 his voice, " ihat I too hold secrets which the world shall 
 have ; that you also wear a mask which it is in my power to 
 tear off ! " 
 
 Carter, in his baffled rage, bit his lip till the blood came. 
 " Rick," said he at last, when he had apparently conquered 
 himself, " I have been, as I always am, too hasty with you ; 
 turely you will not play me false you do not intend to desert 
 me?" 
 
 " If playing you false, and deserting you, means saving her 
 from your insulting presence " he pointed to the room within 
 which Nora had locked herself, " then I intend to do both." 
 
 Again Carter bit his lip. " You will not help me to press 
 my suit ? " he said bitterly. 
 
 Rick shook his head. 
 
 "What has changed you, Rick? you worked in accord
 
 CARTER REPULSED. 3 * f 
 
 with all my plans until this this one last stroke, which would 
 bring me the fulfillment of all my wishes, and you the posses- 
 sion of Cathleen." 
 
 " Would you know what has changed me, Carter ? Nora's 
 goodness. I have looked at her sometimes, wondering if she 
 were not more an angel than a woman, and I have loathed 
 myself for suffering her so near me ! " He folded his arms, 
 and with his old habit let his head fall sadly upon his breast. 
 
 " Well, Rick, bear with it all till Carroll O'Donoghue's trial 
 is over ; I shall not intrude my presence upon your home 
 again ; and here take this money ; I am in better condition 
 to afford it than I was when you last asked me for it." He 
 had taken his porte-monnaie out, and was proceeding to open it 
 
 " Put your purse back," said Rick, " we want none of your 
 money ; when I asked you for it, you drove us to poverty, and 
 now Nora earns for us." 
 
 Carter's eyes opened to a wider stare than from their 
 shrunken size they seemed able to do. 
 
 " It is true," continued Rick, replying to that look of angry 
 surprise ; " and were it in your power to offer me the wealth 
 of Ireland's bank, Morty Carter, I would not touch a ha'penny 
 of it ! " 
 
 Without a word, Carter put up his porte-monnaie, gave one 
 look toward the room into which Nora had retired, a sharper 
 look at Rick, and strode toward the door ; on the threshold 
 he turned to say : " When you think better of this, Rick, you 
 know where to find me." He hurried out, disappointment 
 and rage choking him, and he loosened his cravat and flung 
 his coat back, as if he would thus give vent to his bitter and 
 stifling emotions. " At least I can crush them," he muttered, 
 " and nothing shall stop me this time I shall crush them ! * 
 He ground his teeth together and quickened his pace.
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 A CRIMINATING PAPER. 
 
 CARROLL O'DONOGHUK had returned to his cell, weary and 
 dispirited, on the first day of his trial ; he was not buoyed up 
 by the hope which others entertained regarding him he was 
 scarcely even animated by it, for his mind was racked by wild 
 conjectures about Nora : that she was ill was his first fear, and 
 he tried to comfort himself by thinking that if it was very 
 serious Clare would not have left her. But a strange misgiv- 
 ing tormented him he could not account for it, he could not 
 explain it he only knew that a mysterious fear of some ill 
 having happened pressed upon him, and he passed the heavy 
 hours in a dispiriting mood which he could neither banish 
 nor lessen. In the evening of that day his cell door opened. 
 and Motty Carter was admitted. The visit was like a ray 
 from Heaven to the poor prisoner the sight of one whom he 
 deemed so true to his interests and he sprung to meet him, 
 his face aglow, his form trembling with delighted eagerness. 
 Had Carter any lingering fear of his treachery having been 
 revealed to Carroll, the latter's welcome at once dissipated it ; 
 and thus re-assured, he returned the prisoner's greeting ap- 
 parently with all the warmth of a sincere affection. 
 
 " I felt you would come, Morty," said the young man, " and 
 I looked for you every day since the night of my unfortu- 
 nate attempt to escape." 
 
 " Yes," answered Carter ; and he pretended to gasp, as if 
 in the very thought of his failure on that occasion there wa 
 a threat of one of the spasms of pain which Carroll had be- 
 fore witnessed ; " that faithful fellow, Tighe a Vohr, wai 
 barely in time to warn you back to your cell, was he not ? I 
 (368)
 
 A CRlMUtATLNQ PAPER. 
 
 369 
 
 do not know how I should have managed on that night but 
 for him the discovery of my plan came to me by such provi- 
 dential chance, and there seemed to be no way to get you 
 timely word. I met Tighe, and told him ; in a moment he 
 had an idea, and you, my cjear boy, were saved, and Tighe, 
 as he always does, got beautifully out of the difficulty." 
 
 " And the brave fellows who were waiting without for me 
 what of them ? " asked Carroll. 
 
 "They have been sentenced to imprisonment and hard 
 labor, but it is hoped that they will be pardoned before the 
 expiration of their time." 
 
 Carroll's face fell. " Could I suffer entirely alone," he said 
 sadly, " my pain would lose much of its sting ; but when 
 through me punishment is inflicted upon others, it is a double 
 stab to my own heart, Morty ! " His tone became suddenly 
 eager : " You were in the court-room to-day tell me where 
 was Nora ? she did not accompany Father Meagher and my 
 sister." 
 
 " I know not, my dear boy ; you forget that I am banned 
 by all save you that my presence is shunned as an evil 
 thing. I marked her absence, but I did not dare to inquire 
 the cause." 
 
 " Ah, yes ! I did forget," replied Carroll sadly ; then, as if 
 influenced by some sudden thought, he continued : " But you 
 can learn from Tighe you will do so, and you will let me 
 know to-morrow will you, Morty ? " speaking with renewed 
 animation. 
 
 " Certainly, my dear boy ; but how if I am not admitted to 
 your cell to-morrow my visit to-night has cost me labor, and 
 time, and invention, and if it was suspected by the authori- 
 ties that I was friendly to your interests, your prison door 
 would be as closed to me as it is to Father Meagher and your 
 sister. You know, my poor fellow, that they are even more 
 particular since the unfortunate failure of that attempt to es- 
 cape so particular, that even I, with all the influence I 
 thought I could command, was unable to gain access to you 
 from that time until to-nieht ! "
 
 37 o CARROLL 0DONOQHITR 
 
 Carroll bowed his head in bitter resignation. 
 
 "Do you know, my dear boy," continued Carter, "that 
 the strongest hopes are entertained of your case ? it appears 
 you have attracted the sympathy and interest of some of the 
 highest officials. The fact of your having remained quietly 
 in your cell, as it has appeared on your trial that you did, 
 when every avenue to release was opened before you, has told 
 wonderfully in your favor ; and it is a current belief that your 
 sentence will be comparatively light. In view of that " he 
 drew nearer to the prisoner, and dropped his voice to still 
 more of a whisper, " the boys are hopeful of your speedy 
 ultimate escape your escape in time to take an active part 
 in the organization which is going rapidly forward in America. 
 When that was proposed," Carter continued, " proposed as 
 a plan which would insure your safety, and allow scope for 
 your patriotism, one dissenting voice was raised one voice 
 which said : ' Once Carroll O'Donoghue is free, he will 
 gladly bid adieu to the cause, and turn his face to America, 
 for the sole purpose of insuring his own safety.' " 
 
 Carroll's cheeks hotly flushed. 
 
 " I gave him the lie, Carroll," Carter continued, " I hurled 
 the infamous slander in his teeth ; for I knew my own boy 
 too well not to swear that he would rot in his prison, aye, die 
 on the scaffold, before he would forsake the cause of his 
 poor, downtrodden country ! " 
 
 " And you did well, Morty ; I thank you from my heart ! " 
 And the poor prisoner warmly shook both of his visitor's 
 hands. 
 
 " I did more, Carroll : I swore to them that I would bring, 
 written in your own hand, an expression of your sentiments 
 which should give the lie to this libel upon your character 
 I promised them that they should read for themselves the 
 heart of the man who was thus cowardly defamed ! " 
 
 M Instantly, Morty ; you shall bear back to them how un- 
 changed are my feelings how deep is my love for Ireland ! " 
 He bounded from his seat in pained and angry excitement,
 
 A CRIMINATING PAPER. 
 
 37 1 
 
 but suddenly stopped short, exclaiming in a vexed and disap- 
 pointed tone : " I cannot write I have no materials ! " 
 
 " I have them," said Carter, and he pulled pen, ink and 
 paper from one of his breast pockets ; " knowing what I 
 should ask of you, how coflld you think I would come un- 
 provided ? " 
 
 The feeble rays of the little lamp afforded scarcely sufficient 
 light for Carroll to pen the burning words which sprung from 
 his heart, but he wrote them, however, in large, trembling 
 characters, and handed them to his visitor. 
 
 The latter read them, pretending, when he had finished the 
 perusal, to be too deeply affected to speak ; and he folded 
 the paper and put it carefully into his bosom. 
 
 " The name of the man who thought I could be thus false ? " 
 demanded the prisoner. 
 
 " One who does not personally know you a late-comer 
 into the circle, and whose opinion was probably based upon 
 the fact of your willingness to be smuggled to America ; but 
 his conjecture seemed to acquire weight with others like him- 
 self, and, in order to give the whole a direct lie, it entered in- 
 to my mind to say to them what I have told you. I must 
 leave now " consulting his watch, " and I shall allow no 
 stone to remain unturned in the effort which I shall make to 
 get you some word of Nora to-morrow ; so keep up your 
 courage, and all will be well." He wrung the prisoner's hand, 
 signaled for egress, and departed. 
 
 Another day of the trial passed, having, however, no very 
 marked result. A number of witnesses were questioned 
 and cross-questioned, and an amount of evidence elicited, but 
 nothing to prove decisively, as the counsel for the crown 
 labored hard to do, the identification of the prisoner with fresh 
 treason since his escape from Australia. Again there was an 
 adjournment of the case, and the people poured forth, Rick 
 and Nora, as on a previous occasion, hurrying to escape 
 notice, and Father Meagher and Clare hastening to take thf 
 car back to DhrommacohoL
 
 37' 
 
 CARROLL VDONOGIIUB. 
 
 For the first time in his life Tighe a Vohr, during these two 
 days of the trial, had avoided being seen by the priest and 
 Clare. Watching them from an obscure corner of the court- 
 room, noting Nora's absence with as heavy a heart as that 
 which was borne by those who so fondly loved her, and read- 
 ing in the faces of the clergyman and his fair companion a 
 touching grief and anxiety, he shrunk from meeting them, for 
 he felt, to express his own words : " that he should only make 
 a fool o' himsel* with his blubbering." And now that he was 
 unable to help his beloved young master, to speak a word of 
 hope to the tender hearts he would have comforted, he felt 
 alone like hiding himself, and telling his grief to dumb affec- 
 tionate Shaun. Father Meagher fain would have found Tighe 
 a Vohr, feeling that the latter's shrewdness and wit would be 
 effectual in discovering Nora ; but Tighe had too securely 
 hidden himself, and the anxious clergyman, and his equally 
 anxious companion, turned their faces dejectedly homeward. 
 
 Toward the evening of that day Tighe suddenly encoun- 
 tered Captain Dennier, in the dress of a civilian, and just 
 issuing from the coftee-room of the " Blennerhasset Arms." 
 
 " Why, Tighe, my faithful fellow, how are you ? " and the 
 shapely hand of the aristocratic gentleman seized Tighe's 
 brown, hard palm in a cordial clasp. " I have just returned 
 from Dublin," the captain continued, " and I intend to re- 
 main a few days I am stopping here," glancing at the hotel. 
 
 Tighe's eyes were wandering with a surprised look over the 
 civilian dress. Captain Dennier understood the look. 
 
 "Ah I " he said, smiling, " I am a man again you see, Tighe, 
 and not an officer having resigned her Majesty's service, I 
 am no longer Captain Dennier." 
 
 Tighe a Vohr's eyes and mouth opened in astonishment. 
 
 "Never mind being so surprised about it," laughed the 
 gentleman, " but tell me how you have been getting on." 
 
 " Sorry enough," answered Tighe ; " Major Claptail " 
 from the first Tighe had ludicrously twisted the name, much 
 to the amusement of the military subordinates " hasn't thf
 
 A CRIMINATING PAPER. 3?3 
 
 regard for Shaun that yer honor had ; but how an' iver, it'll do 
 mebbe there's worse places than Claptail's ! " 
 
 " I have no doubt of it," said Dennier, laughing. 
 
 Tighe looked as if he would like to say something, but 
 lacked the courage ; he glaWed into the gentleman's face, 
 then down to the ground, then on all sides of him, with a puz- 
 zled, somewhat confused air, and all the time he worked his 
 hands in a bashful, awkward way. 
 
 The captain seemed to divine his desire, for after watching 
 him a moment, he said : " Can I do anything for you, Tighe ? " 
 
 Tighe a Vohr's face brightened. " You can that, Captain 
 Dennier forgive me for givin' you yer title shtill, but it 
 comes readiest to me tongue : if you'll get permission from the 
 governor o' the jail for me to see the prisoner, Mr. O'Donoghue, 
 I'll pray, yer honor, that yer sowl may be in Heaven afore yer 
 fate are cowld I " 
 
 The young man did not answer for a moment ; then, passing 
 his hand over his face as if he would thus brush away some 
 painful thought, he said : " You are deeply interested in thig 
 poor prisoner, Tighe ? " 
 
 The tone in which the last remark was made, the expression 
 in the dark eyes of the speaker, convinced Tighe of what he 
 had for some time suspected that the young ex-officer was 
 well-nigh as deeply interested in the poor prisoner as was 
 Tighe himself. 
 
 " I am, yer honor, an' it'll make me heart as loight as a 
 feather to see him once more ! " 
 
 " Come with me," said the gentleman, " and I shall see what 
 I can do for you." He turned abruptly, and walked with a 
 rapid pace in the direction of the jail. Tighe followed, wait- 
 ing, when they had arrived at the prison, in one of the outer 
 rooms, while Dennier was closeted with the governor. In a 
 comparatively short time the order came for Tighe a Vohr to 
 be conducted to Carroll's cell 
 
 The poor, pale prisoner started up with wild delight when 
 he beheld his visitor. " Tighe, my faithful, faithful Tighe a
 
 J74 CARROLL VDONOQHUJl 
 
 Vohr ! " Emotion would let him say no more, and the affec- 
 tionate Tighe was as deeply affected. " Morty, 1 suppose, hai 
 sent you," Carroll said, when he recovered his voice ; " he 
 promised to leave no stone unturned in his efforts to get me 
 word of Nora he said he would find you, and learn from 
 you of her whereabouts ; and I suppose, as he could not come 
 himself to me, he has managed to gain admission for you." 
 
 " Is it Morty Carther you mane ? " replied Tighe, contempt- 
 uously, " that ould thraitor to get lave for me to visit yer 
 cell ! faith, it's chokin' me, an' not wid butther aythur, he'd 
 rather be doin' this minit ! " 
 
 " Tighe," said Carroll, sternly, " do you, too, believe the 
 lies that have been told of poor Carter ? I thought, from the 
 very fact of his deputing you to warn me not to escape the 
 other night, that you, at least, were his friend ! " 
 
 Tighe's face twisted itself into a most comical expression, 
 and his lips emitted a half-suppressed whistle, meant to be 
 expressive of his amazement at the revelation which had burst 
 suddenly and clearly upon him. " Oh ! that's it ! " he said, 
 lengthening each word, " so that ould knave has been here, 
 jist as I thought he would, playin' his double game upon you ! 
 Tell me, masther, dear, what he said to you." 
 
 " Now, Tighe, this is too bad that you too should believe 
 these infamous slanders of the poor fellow ! He has proved 
 himself my more than friend, not alone in planning my escape 
 the other night, but in taking care of my reputation with 
 those who should think better things of me ! " and then, not 
 deeming that the former pledge of secrecy which Carter had 
 extracted from him was binding in this instance, he detailed 
 the whole of his interview with Carter, even to the recounting 
 of the contents of the paper which he had given to the 
 miscreant. 
 
 " Och, masther dear, you are lost ! " and Tighe, in his agony, 
 was on his knees at Carroll's feet ; " that paper '11 be used agin 
 you on the thrial you're gone you're gone ! " The blub- 
 bering of which the poor fellow seemed to be so much afraid 
 a other occasions, now earnestly beean.
 
 A CRIMINATING PAPER. 37J 
 
 "Hush!" commanded Carroll, " and stop this instantly; 
 you are letting your heart run away with your head. I tell 
 you, Tighe, Morty is as true to my interests as you are he 
 has sworn it to me here ; and when I remember his distress 
 when he detailed to me those wretched reports, I am more 
 than convinced. No ! " waxing warmer in his defense, " it is 
 horribly false I shall not believe a word of it ! " 
 
 " Sworn to you," repeated Tighe ; " sure that ould thraitor 
 no more moinds the takin' o' a false oath than I'd moind 
 callin' Shaun to me ! oh, masther dear, listen to me while I 
 tell you ! " 
 
 " I'll listen to nothing," interrupted Carroll ; " you shall not 
 say one word against him in my presence ! " 
 
 " Och, wirra asthru ! but what'll become o' us all ? " and 
 Tighe wrung his hands in fruitless agony. 
 
 " Come, Tighe," said his master soothingly, " stop this folly, 
 und tell me about Nora." 
 
 " I can't," answered Tighe sadly, shaking his head. 
 
 The prisoner's wildest alarm was immediately aroused. 
 " Tighe " placing his hand heavily on Tighe a Vohr's 
 shoulder, " I beg of you I command you to tell me of 
 Nora 1 she is dead ? " he almost screamed, as Tighe, still 
 refusing to speak, continued to shake his head. " Tell me," 
 he pleaded ; " I shall go mad if you do not speak ! " 
 
 Tighe could not longer resist that frenzied entreaty, and he 
 blurted out : " Rick o' the Hills came an* claimed her at 
 his daughther, an* she has gone to live wid him." 
 
 The tidings seemed to paralyze the poor prisoner for a 
 moment he could not speak ; and Tighe slightly shrunk before 
 the wild, burning gaze of his large bright eyes. " Rick of tht 
 Hills Nora's father, and she has gone to live with him I " he 
 repeated slowly at last. " Oh, God ! " He held his clasped 
 hands before his face, as if he would shut out the sight of hia 
 beautiful, peerless affianced being the daily companion of 
 such a man. 
 
 "Don't take on so, masther dear!" said Tighe, dashing
 
 37 g CARROLL VDONOQHUR 
 
 away the big tears which filled his eyes ; " I'm sure her love 
 for you is none the liss, an* it's tramplin' on her heart she if 
 in tfce givin' up o' you." 
 
 " Giving up of me!" dashing his hands from his face, and 
 speaking in a terrified tone " why should she give me up ? " 
 
 " Don't you undhersthand it, masther dear ? she has such 
 foinc, noble falin's that she wouldn't have you marry her now 
 whin she's his daughther." 
 
 A new light shone in Carroll's eyes, a new expression came 
 into his face, as if he had made some sudden discovery. 
 " Tighe," he said, seizing the latter's two hands, " see Nora 
 for me, and tell her that if she would break my heart, if she 
 would see the grave close upon me before even the scaffold 
 can claim its victim, to persist in this cruel determination ; 
 tell her that she would be the same to me though her parents 
 might be the vilest in God's creation ; tell her that my love is 
 for herself, and that it is as unchangeable as eternity ! " 
 
 " I will, I will, masther dear ! " said Tighe, and anxious to 
 break from so harrowing a scene, he was scarcely sorry that 
 the guard was at the door announcing that the time allotted 
 for the visit was ended. With an embrace from which both 
 parted with moist eyes, Tighe tore himself away.
 
 CHAPTER XLVL 
 
 A BOLD VENTURE. 
 
 'j TTSIDE the prison wall Tighe paused for a moment to de- 
 lit crate ; then he hurried in the direction of the " Blenner- 
 hasset Arms." He found, to his satisfaction, that Captain 
 Dennier, as the gentleman was still to Tighe, had already re- 
 turned to the hotel, and on learning of the latter's desire to 
 see him, ordered that he should be immediately admitted to 
 him. 
 
 " You saw the prisoner ? " questioned the gentleman, won- 
 dering a little what could be the purport of this evidently hur- 
 ried visit. 
 
 " I did, an' I'm viry thankful to yer honor for the great 
 favor you done me ; but I've a quistion to ax, an' the answer- 
 in' o' it, if yer honor doesn't considher it too bould, '11 be a 
 great settlemint o' me falin's." 
 
 " Well, Tighe, what is it ? " 
 
 " Supposin' now, Captain Dennier, that an informer a man 
 who was playin' a double part, purtindin' to be the frind o' 
 the prisoner an' the frind o' the governmint, was to go into 
 the poor, unsuspectin' prisoner an' to win from him in writin* 
 a shtatemint that's enough to hang the poor craythur sup- 
 posin', now, that was done late this afthernoon, in view o' the 
 thrial that'll be goin' on to-morrow, could the informer make 
 use o' that paper to-noight, or would he be loikely to kape it 
 till the mornin' ? " 
 
 A peculiar smile played upon Captain Dennier's features 
 " I think I can read your riddle,Tighe," he said : " some 
 informer has won admission to Mr. O'Donoghuc, and ob- 
 tained the statement of which you speak ; and you think 
 (377)
 
 37 8 CARROLL &DONOGHUX. 
 
 if the paper does not leave the informer's possession until tht 
 morning you shall be able perhaps to get it." 
 
 " Faith yer honor has the clarest head for guissin' o' anj 
 gintleman in the counthry that's jist it ? I'll make no con- 
 calemint o' the matther, for I know I can thrust yer honor." 
 
 " Well, Tighe, this informer, whoever he be, will rather b 
 obliged to retain the paper until the morning, for the authori- 
 ties to whom he might give it would hardly suffer themselvet 
 to be disturbed by such business after hours, and especially ai 
 it is a matter that can be attended to as well in the morn- 
 ing." 
 
 " Thank yer honor I'm grateful intoirely, an' me loife- 
 long prayer'll be that you may proshper in love an' war I " 
 
 " What is it you propose doing ? " asked Dennier. 
 
 " Plaze don't ax me, yer honor, for I haven't it well settled 
 yet it's only a thought, but I'll thry what's in it." 
 
 " Well, Tighe, you have my best wishes for its success ! * 
 and Dennier turned away, his mind suddenly reverting to tha 
 story which Tighe had told of how his exit from the jail yard 
 had been effected on the night of the attempted release of th& 
 prisoner, and for the first time the truth of the matter flashed 
 upon him. " Ah ! " he said to himself, " that was all a pre- 
 concerted plan of this faithful fellow, and I doubt not, as he 
 succeeded in that, so will he succeed in the carrying out of 
 this ' thought,' as he calls it. Well, Carroll O'Donoghue has 
 a truer follower than it is the good fortune of most men to 
 find." 
 
 Tighe, not even pausing to call for Shaun, who had been 
 confined, very unwillingly, the greater part of the day in the 
 barracks, hastened to the abode of Corny OToole. He had 
 absented himself from the little man for some days, fearing 
 that the latter might have received an indignant answer to his 
 letter to Mrs. Carmody, for since the old woman had an- 
 nounced her intention of taking it to Father Meagher, Tighe 
 a Vohr well knew that his reverence would be good-natured 
 enough to write a replv which would give entire satisfaction tc
 
 A BOLD VENTURE. 3?9 
 
 his mother. And his fear with regard to Corny was verified, for 
 Tighe was not well within the room when the little man, with 
 most woe-begone face and distressing air, drew forth Father 
 Meagher's missive written in behalf of Mrs. Mollie Carmody, 
 and he read it for Tighe. 
 
 " Tut, tut," said Tighe a Vohr, " is that all that ails you ? 
 Why thin, Corny O'Toole, is it you that's in it to be cast dowa 
 be thim few words ? why, man aloive ! where's yer brains ? 
 don't you see it's the praste that writes that ? sure she'd be 
 ashamed to let his riverince know that she'd be think- 
 in' o' marryin' agin ; an' thin she was vexed that you'd put 
 the loike o' what you did in writin' whin you knowed she 
 hadn't larnin' enough to rade it. No, Corny ; it's go to her 
 you should, an* tell her wid yer own captivatin' tongue the 
 falin's you have for her ; but it's not too late yet, me boy 
 you'll do the business roight afther awhile or so, an' one o' 
 these days we'll have a tarin' weddin' down there in Dhrom- 
 macohol, wid Father Meagher to do the jinin' o' the couple 
 eh, Corny ? " and a vigorous slap between Corny's shoulders 
 gave evidence of the speaker's energy. 
 
 The little man brightened ; once more hope rilled his heart, 
 and his melancholy air gave place to sudden liveliness. 
 
 " I have business on hand," said Tighe, assuming a serious 
 tone, "and I want your help, Corny." He dropped his 
 voice, and detailed the plan which he had conceived for the 
 foiling of Carter. 
 
 " It is a great undertaking," said Corny. 
 
 " But I'll do it," repeated Tighe, " if you'll sthand by me." 
 
 " Never fear me, Tighe I'll do my part ! " 
 
 Then followed whispered directions from Tighe a Vohr, to 
 which Corny nodded assent, and when the whispering ceased 
 the little man departed on some errand. 
 
 Tighe proceeded to make sundry changes in his toilet, don- 
 ning some of Corny's garments, and in his efforts to increase 
 their length, stretching and tugging at them till the well-worn 
 material gave way and left rents which it taxed his ingenuity
 
 jSo CARROLL VDQNOQHUB. 
 
 to conceal. When at length he was fully dressed, the sight 
 which he presented was such as to make himself burst into a 
 fit of hearty laughter his pantaloons were so short as to ap- 
 pear like knee-breeches, only cut oddly out of the style of that 
 garment, while their extreme width about the upper part of 
 the body gave a most comical rotundity to Tighe's slender 
 person. The coat was wide enough to look as if the wind 
 might blow him out of it, while at the same time it was so 
 short in the body that its swallow tails were but little below 
 the wearer's waist. One of Corny's slouched, low-crowned 
 hats covered Tighe's brown curls, and being pulled forward, 
 somewhat concealed his face. The little man on his return 
 expressed his admiration of the change which had been ef- 
 fected, and he proceeded to give Tighe a little package, which 
 the latter immediately opened, saying : 
 
 " Now, Corny, while I'm busy wid this, do you write what 
 we were spakin' av." 
 
 Mr. O'Toole sat down to his table, covered as usual with 
 literary appurtenances, and Tighe proceeded deftly to dye his 
 face and hands. Both tasks were completed about the same 
 time, and the little man, with his usual dramatic gesture, read 
 this latest production of his imagined wonderful genius. 
 Tighe expressed his satisfaction, and after a brief delay while 
 Mr. O'Toole waa busy with his toilet, only to the extent, how- 
 ever, of polishing his face with soap and water, and brushing 
 his hair, the two went forth together. 
 
 " You know where he stops ? " questioned Corny. 
 
 " Yes ; didn't Mr. Hoolahan say the addhress to me the 
 day all the perlace was af ther me, whin the wimen in the kitchen 
 dhressed me loike one o' thimsel's ? " 
 
 " And if he's not in ? " said Corny again. 
 
 " Thin we'll wait, if we wait till mornin' for him." 
 
 Mr. O'Toole went in alone to the house in which Morty 
 Carter lodged, and was met by the information that Mr. 
 Carter had not been in all day. He repaired without to re 
 port to Tighe.
 
 A BOLL VENTURE. 3 g f 
 
 " Well," was the latter's answer, " you wait widin for him, 
 an' I'll watch for him here, so that I'll know whin he inters, 
 an' I'll be on hand for you to call me whin you're ready." 
 
 Corny went back to wait in the little untidy parlor, and an 
 hour before midnight Carter returned, somewhat under the 
 influence of liquor. He scowled at the queer little figure 
 which presented itself before him, but Corny, with his most 
 polite air, bowed and said : " Mr. Carter, I believe." 
 
 " Yes," was the gruffly spoken response ; " what is your 
 business with me ? " 
 
 " I think this will tell you quicker and better than words " 
 and Corny proffered the paper which he had written in obedi- 
 ence to Tighe's direction. 
 
 Carter took it, walking unsteadily to the light, and read 
 with strained eyes the following : 
 
 " MR. CARTER : 
 
 The bearer can give you information of the 
 Fenian document which has been missing from the recent 
 trials ; he will confer with you, and if you can come to rea- 
 sonable terms, he will let you have possession of it, as it will 
 be of great importance on the present trial." 
 
 There was neither signature nor date. 
 
 Carter's little eyes lost their half-drunken stare, and snapped 
 with eagerness ; he was all aglow in a moment. " Who are 
 you ? " he asked. 
 
 " Never mind who I am," responded Corny, speaking in a 
 whisper ; " the document was got from Tighe a Vohr, and if 
 you will take me where we can be more private than this, 
 we'll talk over the matter ; I have a grudge against that same 
 Tighe a Vohr, and glad enough I am to have an opportunity 
 for a little revenge ! " 
 
 " Come up-stairs to my room," said Carter, who seemed to 
 have become sober at once ; and he led the way rapidly to 
 his own apartment. 
 
 "You see, Mr. Carter," said Corny, in a tone of eager con- 
 fidence, when both were seated, " there were two of us con-
 
 3 3 t CARROLL VDONOGHUK 
 
 cerned in the stealing of that document from Tighe a Vohr ; 
 and my friend, who holds it, isn't willing to let it go without 
 making something by it and as it's of importance for thia 
 trial against the prisoner, he thought you'd be willing to pay 
 cmething for it" 
 
 " How much does your friend want ? " asked Carter, his 
 anxiety betraying itself in his voice. 
 
 " Well, how much would you be willing to give ? or, stay 
 a moment perhaps I could induce him to come up and see 
 you. He's a queer, shy fellow, and he wouldn't come in with 
 me ; but he's waiting for me at the corner beyond. May be I 
 could get him to come up shall I try ? " 
 
 " I'll go down with you," said Carter, rising, and looking 
 for his hat 
 
 " It wouldn't do," answered Corny ; " if he saw you with 
 me, he's such a frightened, nervous fellow, he'd think may be 
 you were going to force him into giving the paper, or that you 
 were going to set the law on him no ; the only way is to let 
 me try and bring him up." 
 
 " Well," said Carter, resuming his seat, " do so." 
 
 Corny feigned to be calm, and even slow, about his move- 
 ments, shutting the door of Carter's room behind him, and 
 descending the stair as if the semi-darkness the entry light 
 had not been quite extinguished, out of respect to Mr. Carter's 
 visitor caused him to grope and stumble. He met Tighe 
 directly without the hall door. 
 
 " It's all right, so far," he whispered ; " he's waiting for 
 you to come up, in order to make terms for the document" 
 
 They both entered the house, Corny leading the way to 
 Carter's room ; he ascended slowly, and looked cautiously to 
 ascertain if the door of the room was closed as he had left 
 it It was; he signified that fact to his companion, and 
 Tighe paused to draw from his pocket a sponge and a vial, 
 partially saturating the former with the contents of the latter. 
 Then Corny, with a knock which he did not wait to have 
 answered, entered Carter's room. The occupant was still
 
 A BOLD VENTURE. 
 
 383 
 
 seated, his arras folded, and his head inclined. There was a 
 sudden springing forward of some one in Corny's rear, and 
 before Carter could recover his startled senses, he was pin- 
 ioned in his chair, and the sponge held to his nose. A stupor 
 seized him he fell back like a log, almost overturning his 
 chair ; and Tighe, drawing a rope from his pocket, proceeded 
 to bind him. 
 
 " Quick ! " he said to Corny, " sarch his pockets the 
 stupor mayn't last long." 
 
 Corny obeyed, turning out pocket after pocket of Carter's 
 capacious garments, and nervously reading in a loud whisper 
 the contents of every paper he found ; but the latter com- 
 prised only business memoranda no document contained 
 anything like the words which he had heard Carroll repeat. 
 
 " We're too late," said Tighe, in a tone of bitter despond- 
 ency ; " he's given it to some o* the authorities, onless it could 
 be hid somewhere in the room." He glanced doubtingly 
 about him. 
 
 " Wait awhile," said Corny ; " we haven't done searching 
 him yet ; sometimes a man has secret pockets in his breast," 
 and with trembling haste he tore open Carter's vest. There, 
 in an inner pocket, he found a folded paper. 
 
 Carter gave signs of returning consciousness, but Tighe's 
 sponge was instantly to his nostrils, and the heavy form 
 relapsed into stupor. Corny read : 
 
 " The undersigned swears that his fealty to Ireland's cause is un- 
 changed, that his loyalty as a sworn member of the Irish Republic 
 Organization is undiminished, and that, declaring himself an opa 
 enemy to the English Government, he i ready to die in th 
 defense of his country. 
 
 CAKSOLL O'DoxoanuB." 
 
 "That will do ! " and Tighe seized the paper, concealed it 
 upon his person, and unbinding Carter, extinguished the light 
 Then both men stole softly down the stair and from the 
 house, and both were exulting over their success in Corny 
 O'Toole's little apartment by the time that Carter recovered
 
 j3 4 CARROLL VDONOQHU1L 
 
 from the effect of the narcotic which had been administered 
 to him. His restoration was slow, and the darkness in which 
 he found himself seemed to convince him for a while that he 
 had fallen asleep in his chair, and dreamed the whole of the 
 incidents which he was beginning to remember in an indis- 
 tinct and confused manner. By degrees all came fully to 
 him his strange visitor, the return of the latter with a 
 companion, the sudden bounding of some one to him, the 
 vise-like grip in which he was held and that was all. He 
 recalled the face of his visitor perfectly but of the face of 
 the latter's companion he could remember nothing, save that 
 it was a colored face. He roused himself and called for help ; 
 in a brief time the whole household was about him, frightened 
 men and women half dressed, and with their lamps high above 
 their heads, peering from safe distances into Carter's room, as 
 if they expected to meet a whole army of desperate thieves. 
 
 "I have been robbed," shrieked Carter "bound down in 
 my chair and robbed an outrage has been perpetrated upon 
 me ! " But the condition of the room did not corroborate 
 his story ; not an article had been disturbed. 
 
 " Of what have you been robbed ? " gasped one terror- 
 stricken voice. It was not his money, for his porte-monnaie 
 was safely in its accustomed place ; nor his watch, for that 
 was in his fob pocket ; yet his disarranged garments gave 
 evidence of some unusual proceeding. He discovered his loss 
 at last, and with a yell, as he fruitlessly searched foi the paper 
 which he had received from Carroll, he bounded to the middle 
 of the floor. " It is gone ! " he screamed, " gone ! " 
 
 " What is gone ? " asked two or three of the mystified crowd. 
 
 "A paper an important paper ! " he gasped ; and then he 
 threw himself into a chair, burying his face in his hands, and 
 groaning, while the puzzled lodgers, their tongues at last 
 becoming loosed, burst into their own wild conjectures as to 
 what had really happened, and they offered equally wild 
 suggestions as to what had better be done. Some were for 
 running for the police, others for making a general alarm in
 
 A BOLD VENTURE. 385 
 
 the neighborhood, and otherj, shaking their heads, said it wa 
 too late to attempt a discovery of the thieves. 
 
 Carter had a horrible suspicion of the truth he felt that 
 Tighe a Vohr was the perpetrator of the theft ; but what could 
 he do in the matter now ? he knew that no efforts of his could 
 recover the paper, and did he bring a charge against Tighe 
 he had no witnesses, no proof to sustain it. 
 
 The lodgers, finding that Carter seemed more disposed to 
 commune with his own unhappy thoughts than to listen to 
 their suggestions, gradually returned to their rooms, and 
 Carter was left alone with his landlord. 
 
 "What will you do about this thing, Mr. Carter?" he 
 asked. 
 
 " I'll do nothing about it till the morning," was the sullen 
 reply ; and the landlord, having relit Mr. Carter's lamp, with- 
 drew, leaving his lodger a. prey to ungovernable hate and 
 fury.
 
 CHAPTER XLVIL 
 
 CRUEL TREACHERY. 
 
 IT was the third day of the trial, and interest and expecta 
 lion were more rife and eager because current rumor had it 
 that on this day it was certain the prisoner would be sentenced. 
 
 Father Meagher and Clare were in their accustomed places, 
 as were also Rick and Nora ; and Tighe a Vohr and Corny 
 O'Toole were in the center of the throng that densely filled 
 the court-room, both eagerly peering in every direction foi 
 Carter, but he was nowhere to be seen. In one of the fore- 
 most seats, yet sufficiently in the rear not to be seen by Clare 
 O'Donoghue, sat Dennier. He could only see the back of 
 Clare's form, with an occasional glimpse of her clear-cut pro- 
 file, but there was evidently enough in the view to chain his 
 gaze ; his eyes never turned from her until the prisoner 
 entered. 
 
 A quarter of a century seemed to have passed over the 
 latter's youthful head, his form was so bowed, and the lines in 
 his face were so deeply worn ; even physical strength appeared 
 to have deserted him for a brief interval after he had taken 
 his place in the dock, for he tottered and caught the railing 
 of the enclosure for support. 
 
 The mass of evidence already collected was increased by 
 new testimony the witnesses on both sides pressed and 
 worried, or re-examined, and at length, just when it was sup- 
 posed that the last evidence had been taken, and people were 
 settling themselves back in their seats to listen with fresh zest 
 to the summing up by the counsel, it was rumored through 
 the court that a new witness on the part of the crown was to 
 be called. Ears were strained to catch the name, and necks 
 (**)
 
 CRUEL TREAOHERT. -g. 
 
 stretched that the earliest .glimpse might be caught of the 
 person of the witness. Another instant, and the name rung 
 through the court, falling like molten lead on more than one 
 quivering heart it was Mortimer Carter. 
 
 As if it were the result of some magician's power, the pris- 
 oner's bowed form straightened to its former erectness, his 
 face, so ghastly a moment previous, flushed with all the 
 crimson of his fiercest moods, and his eyes, which from 
 physical weakness had worn that morning so dull a stare, 
 now seemed to shine with supernatural brilliancy. 
 
 The corpulent form ascended to the witness-box, breathing 
 BO heavily that it seemed to pant, and the round, red face was 
 so thickly covered with perspiration that it required a pro- 
 tracted use of the crimson-colored handkerchief. He seemed 
 to avoid turning his eyes in the direction of the prisoner, and 
 when by accident he caught a glimpse of that flushed and 
 startled countenance, he instantly turned his eyes away. The 
 witness required no pressing to tell his tale clear, decisive, 
 in almost true legal style, it fell from his lips from the first 
 moment of Carroll O'Donoghue's connection with the I. R. B. 
 down to the expression of Carroll's treasonable sentiments 
 which the witness had obtained from the accused in writing 
 on the previous day, but which statement had been purloined 
 from him on that same night by unknown parties all was 
 sworn to without a pause, or even a tremulous accent. 
 
 Not a shadow of hope remained for the horrified prisoner 
 that testimony was sufficient to convict him of the most 
 felonious treason. People held their breaths, and even those 
 who had been attracted to the trial from no motive of sym- 
 pathy with the poor accused felt their hearts tighten a little 
 as they listened to the damning proofs of a guilt which must in- 
 sure the most stern conviction. Clare had thrown up her 
 veil, and with compressed lips and hard breathing she had 
 listened to the testimony, while Father Meagher's horror and 
 indignation were plainly visible in the expression of his 
 countenance. Even Dennier's face expressed contempt and
 
 3 88 CARROLL VDONOGHTTR. 
 
 loathing, while Tighe a Vohr could hardly refrain from 
 bursting aloud into his own peculiar expressions indicative of 
 his feelings. Nora, removed from the support of those whose 
 very tenderness would have been a stay in this terrible time, 
 felt herself sicken when she heard the name and saw the per- 
 son of the last witness ; she was obliged to catch Rick's arm 
 to save herself from falling, and she was forced to retain her 
 clasp in order to prevent herself from sinking under the icy 
 weight which seemed to press upon her. Carter stepped down 
 from the witness-box, and with brazen effrontery took a seat 
 almost on a line with the prisoner. 
 
 The jury retired, and within a half-hour returned with a 
 verdict of guilty, without the slightest recommendation to 
 mercy. 
 
 There was no scream from the sister of the prisoner, no un- 
 due excitement on the part of his nearest friends, as perhaps 
 some of those in the court-room expected there was only a 
 longer drawing of breaths, and a rustling of garments as 
 people changed their positions. On the part of Clare there 
 was not a motion : she sat in the same inclined manner, her 
 lips still compressed, her breathing still hard, and her eyes 
 fixed in a wild, agonizing stare on the unhappy prisoner. 
 The latter stood erect, his gaze fixed on Mortimer Carter ; the 
 verdict had not affected him, for he was absorbed in the 
 horror of the traitor's act. The judge arose, and after the 
 usual form, asked the prisoner if he had anything to say why 
 sentence of death should not be pronounced upon him. Car- 
 roll drew a long, heavy breath, while his nostrils dilated, 
 and his keen glance withdrew for an instant from Mortimer 
 Carter, to fix itself upon those whom he was about to address ; 
 then, folding his ai ns, he began, his voice sounding at first as 
 if it had been weakened by physical suffering. 
 
 " My lord, and gentlemen of the jury : You ask me if I 
 have anything to say. In the face of the conviction which 
 has just been returned, of what use, in your judgment, would 
 be anything I could say ? And yet, do not construe my re-
 
 CMUJSL TBSAUHISMI. 
 
 3** 
 
 marks into a semblance of a wish to retract from the senti- 
 ments which have been sworn as mine into any desire to have 
 my sentence lighter than the court will adjudge. I am proud 
 to stand here as the avowed friend of Ireland, and I am not 
 afraid to denounce that system which makes as its base of 
 operations in treason trials the information of perjured 
 traitors. To yonder man " his voice, increasing startlingly 
 in tone, reached to the extreme ends of the crowded space, 
 and his arm, outstretched, pointed in scathing denounce- 
 ment of Morty Carter, " I owe my present conviction : as 
 my sworn bosom friend, he extorted my secrets under the 
 guise of the tenderest affection, and he has revealed them 
 here, to exemplify in his own person how fiendish can be the 
 heart of a traitor. But he has only harmed my poor perish- 
 able body my soul he cannot touch, and that, my lord, and 
 gentlemen of the jury, is guilty of no crime to your govern- 
 ment beyond love for a country which centuries of oppres- 
 sion has only left more endeared to the hearts of her inthralled 
 sons. I have done !" His hands fell to his sides, his head 
 dropped forward, and all the marks of premature age and 
 suffering returned which had been so manifest on his en- 
 trance to the court-room. 
 
 The sentence was passed it was the extreme penalty of 
 the law, and the execution was announced to take place on a 
 date which left little more than the interval of a month. 
 
 " Come home," whispered Nora to Rick ; " quick ; or I 
 shall faint by the way ! " 
 
 He half carried her out, being obliged to support her totter- 
 ing steps, even on the street 
 
 Father Meagher was obliged to shake Clare slightly in 
 order to rouse her ; she seemed to have sunk into some hor- 
 rible lethargy, and Dennier, observing the anxious effort of 
 the priest, could control himself no longer. He forced his 
 way to them, and begged to be allowed to render some assist- 
 ance. The clergyman gave him a grateful look, and Clare, 
 awakened at last to all the hoiror of the recent moments, 
 burst into wild sobbing.
 
 J90 CARROLL VDONOQHU& 
 
 The prisoner, in the act of being hurried to his cell, caught 
 the sound, and turned his face for a moment in the direction ; 
 the next instant he had disappeared with his guard. 
 
 Dennier, under the influence of feelings bitter, and yet in a 
 measure also sweet, from the fact that he could be of some 
 crvice to her who had grown to be the constant object of his 
 thoughts, flew to give an order for a carriage. He met Tighe, 
 and giving him the commission, returned. A number of re- 
 ipectful sympathizers had gathered about the priest and hig 
 companion, and the latter, after the first burst of her wild 
 grief, shrunk from the notice of which she was the interesting 
 object She pulled down her veil, stifled her sobs, and 
 seizing Father Meagher's hand, whispered to him to go ; but 
 Dennier begged them to wait the arrival of the carriage which 
 he had ventured to order. 
 
 Tighe speedily returned to say that the carriage waited, and 
 the clergyman found an opportunity of speaking briefly to the 
 faithful fellow about Nora, and of requesting him to try to 
 discover her whereabouts. 
 
 As the three took their seats in the vehicle, Dennier said : 
 " Permit me, reverend sir, to insist that you shall partake of 
 my hospitality to-day." And the priest found it useless to 
 attempt to decline the invitation. They were driven rapidly 
 to the hotel, but Clare seemed to take no note of what passed \ 
 every thought was concentrated upon that dreadful sentence, 
 and she answered Father Meagher's inquiries in a wild, vacant 
 way that alarmed the clergyman, and caused an expression of 
 intense concern to come into the face of Dennier. She 
 tasted nothing of the repast that was ordered, and she 
 listened like one in a dream while the priest and his young 
 entertainer sadly discussed Carroll's unhappy case. 
 
 The young man, unfettered now by the trammels of a re- 
 pulsive duty, could give unchecked expression to ideas and 
 sentiments which stamped him as Irish in feeling as the most 
 loyal of Ireland's devoted sons. The clergyman was more 
 than ever charmed with the frank, ardent young fellow, and
 
 URUEL TREACHERY. J9 , 
 
 he found himself giving involuntary vent to his anxiety about 
 Nora. He told of the sacrifice which she had made of her- 
 self for her wretched father, and the cheek of the manly list- 
 ener flushed with admiration of the noble girl 
 
 " Allow me, also, reverend sir," he said, " to unite my effort* 
 with those that may be made by the faithful Tighe to find the 
 young lady." 
 
 Father Meagher bowed his grateful acceptance, saying, 
 after a brief pause : " I am confident that Tighe will succeed, 
 for he knows every haunt, and he is familiar with the person 
 and character of this man who is called Rick of the Hills. I 
 think he can hardly fail in his search." 
 
 Clare, at the mention of Nora's name, aroused for a moment 
 from her melancholy lethargy, but the next instant she was as 
 abstracted as before ; nor did she again show any emotion until, 
 when ready for departure, Dennier stood bidding her adieu. 
 
 " Miss O'Donoghue," he said, his deep voice penetrating 
 for the first time that day with something of its olden power 
 through the horror of her thoughts, " once you asked a favor 
 which I could not grant without violating my duty, now I 
 proffer to you, unasked, a similar boon. All my influence 
 with the governor of the jail shall be used in your brother's 
 behalf ; I think I can promise that you shall be admitted to 
 him to-morrow, and after that very frequently ; no effort on 
 my part shall be spared to serve you and yours." 
 
 She was herself at last ; she bent over the hand he extend- 
 ed, and her burning tears, bringing relief to her aching 
 heart and whirling brain, gushed wildly forth. Ah ! for that 
 one moment, in which he felt that he was entirely forgiven, 
 in which hope whispered that the future might win for him 
 a return of his regard, young Dennier would have cheerfully 
 taken his place in the dock beside Carroll O'Donoghue. 
 Having promised to telegraph the time which the governor 
 might appoint for their first visit to the poor condemned, the 
 final adieu was taken, and Father Meagher and Clare were 
 driven in the carriage, again provided by Dennier's careful 
 forethought to take the mail-car for DhrommacohoL
 
 CHAPTER XLVIIL 
 
 SACRIFICE BEARING FRUIT. 
 
 HURRIED steps had pursued Nora and Rick when they o 
 hastily left the court-room that morning steps which speedily 
 overtook the pair, while at the same time a voice that was 
 full of wonder and pain cried : " Nora ! " 
 
 Both turned to behold Father O'Connor. The sight of 
 him, connected as he was with all that was dearest to her, 
 and dear himself, because of his own inestimable qualities 
 and companionship when they were children together, opened 
 the flood-gates of her already overcharged emotions she 
 wept with all the abandon of a broken heart. Passers-by 
 were attracted, and most of them stood to watch the strange 
 scene, made up of a weeping lady, a young priest, and be- 
 side them a queer, ill-dressed, awkward-looking man. 
 
 " Come home with us," gasped Nora, seizing the clergy- 
 man's arm ; " we cannot speak here ! " 
 
 He obeyed, walking beside her, while Rick, considerably 
 abashed, walked behind them. The residents of the squalid 
 quarter who chanced to be about gazed with reverential 
 wonder at the young priest, as he accompanied the painfully- 
 contrasted pair to their humble abode. 
 
 " Do you know have you heard ? " said Nora, looking 
 in a wild way from one to the other of her companions, 
 when the three were within the little sitting-room, and the 
 door securely shut on all prying eyes. 
 
 Father O'Connor seemed to understand her. " Yes ; " he 
 
 answered ; " 1 know what you mean. Father Meagher wrote 
 
 to me the strange history of Rick here being your father, and 
 
 how you had renounced us all. My duties prevented m 
 
 (39)
 
 SACRIFICE BEARING FRUIT. 
 
 from going to Dhrommacohol, and they have been so pressing 
 as to keep me from Carroll's trial until to-day. I only arrived 
 in time to hear the verdict and the sentence." 
 
 " The sentence ! " the crushing weight of all that was con- 
 tained in those two dreadful words fell on the agonized heart 
 of the wretched girl. Her brain whirled, and feeling that 
 consciousness was about to forsake her, she stepped forward 
 to save herself from falling ; but it was a useless precaution, 
 and, before either of her companions could interpose a hand 
 to prevent, she had dropped insensible at their feet. 
 
 Scalding tears fell from Rick's eyes on the white, upturned 
 face as he raised her, and with Father O'Connor's assistance, 
 placed her upon a lounge. 
 
 " Has she no female friend whom you can summon ? " asked 
 the priest. 
 
 Rick thought of good-natured Mrs. Murphy, and mentioned 
 her. 
 
 " Summon her," said the priest ; " I shall watch until you 
 return," and he began to apply such simple restoratives as 
 were at hand. She recovered before Rick's return, and the 
 sight of the young clergyman's pale face with its deep, soft 
 brown eyes bent so pityingly upon her, brought back all the 
 agony of the past few hours. 
 
 " Oh, father ! " she said, striving to sit up, but failing in the 
 effort from very weakness, and clasping her hands tightly over 
 her eyes, as if to shut out some dreadful scene. 
 
 " My poor, poor child ! " 
 
 It was all in the way of earthly comfort that he, though 
 deeply affected, could say her worldly future appeared so 
 bleak and desolate. He resumed, after the silence of a mo- 
 ment : 
 
 " Father Meagher and Clare why were they not with you 
 in the court-room ; or had you parted from them before I saw 
 you ? " 
 
 It was evident that he did not know how Nora had con- 
 cealed herself from her friends. The good pastor of Dhrom-
 
 9AA CARROLL VDONOQHUK 
 
 jy* 
 
 macohol had not had time to communicate that fact in addi 
 tion to the other news, and the young priest did not dream 
 that Nora had not alone withdrawn from the protection of 
 Father Meagher, but that she had also renounced all com- 
 munication with the friends of her childhood. Now, how- 
 ever, he speedily won all the facts from her, and he stood a 
 little appalled at the extent of the sacrifice she had deemed it 
 her duty to make. He attempted to combat her resolution, 
 pleading the affection of Clare, and her plighted troth to Car- 
 roll 
 
 " No, father," she said, striving to speak calmly ; " Carroll 
 will need these last days for his God it is better that I should 
 be forgotten. I could not, being the child of such a man, go 
 among them now and then our poverty would rend their 
 hearts ; they would think that I was suffering greater priva- 
 tions than I am, and they would take from themselves to give 
 to me. No ; I have thought, and wept, and prayed over it 
 all, and I feel that this sacrifice which I am making, bitter 
 though it is, is best Promise me, father, that you will not 
 let them know you have seen me should you " as she saw 
 the priest hesitate " we shall fly, my father and I, to a surer 
 retreat" 
 
 He tried to evade her by answering : " I shall not see them 
 for a week or more, owing to duties which require my imme- 
 diate return, and which will detain me at home for that 
 period. Then I shall return here, in order to make an effort 
 to see CarrolL" 
 
 She perceived his subterfuge, and was quick to plead : 
 " Promise me that you will not write to them of my where- 
 abouts.** 
 
 He deemed it better, because of her weakened condition, to 
 gratify her. " Since you desire it so earnestly, I shall not 
 write." 
 
 But he did not promise to be silent about her when he 
 should visit Dhrommacohol, which he was now determined to 
 do on the earliest opportunity, and she seemed to overlook
 
 SACRIFICE BEARING FRUIT. 39J 
 
 that probability in her eagerness to win from him the promise 
 not to write. 
 
 Rick returned with good-natured Mrs. Murphy. Her 
 motherly skill immediately devised means of comfort for Nora 
 which were grateful and refreshing to the still weak girl She 
 reclined on the well-worn lounge, and looked at the kind- 
 hearted matron bustling about in services for Rick, as well as 
 for the invalid she had come to tend, with, as Mrs. Murphy 
 expressed it, " the smile of an angel." Father O'Connor was 
 obliged to depart, and having taken adieu of Nora, he turned 
 to Rick. 
 
 " Good-by," he said, holding the coarse palm of the latter 
 warmly in his clasp, " good-by, Rick, and may Almighty God 
 reward Nora's devotion by making you what you yourself 
 would be in the sight of Heaven." 
 
 Rick started had the eyes bent so earnestly upon him the 
 power of reading his soul ? did the priestly attributes of the 
 speaker enable him to penetrate the secrets of his wretched 
 heart ? It would almost seem so from the deep import of the 
 words ; and under the influence of such feelings, Rick could 
 not answer he wrung the clergyman's hand hard and turned 
 away. 
 
 Mrs. Murphy was also obliged to leave to attend to her own 
 household, but she promised to return in the morning, and 
 the painfully contrasted pair were left alone together. 
 
 " Nora," said Rick, when a long interval had passed in 
 gloomy silence, " would you be content to remain with Mrs. 
 Murphy for a few days while I go away on a little business ? " 
 
 She endeavored to assume a sitting posture, but weakness 
 made her sink again on her pillow. " Perhaps you want to 
 leave me," she said, faintly, " perhaps you are troubled at my 
 condition, and would take this means of restoring me to 
 Father Meagher ; but do not, I beg of you do not now de- 
 prive me of what I have prayed and hoped for so long ! " 
 
 " And what is that ? " he asked. 
 
 " To see you once more before God's altar, a true penitent "
 
 i9 $ CARROLL VDONOGHUB. 
 
 her cheeks flushed with the ardor of her feelings, M U 
 know that you knelt again in that tribunal where God him- 
 self would give you pardon and peace ! " 
 
 He rose from his chair and approached her. " Nora," he 
 said, standing where she could not see his face, " this in- 
 tended journey of mine will be for the purpose of making a 
 restitution and il I would, I could not take you with me, 
 because of your feeble state. It is due to your influence that 
 I have at last made up my mind to perform this act of justice ; 
 perhaps, if I delay, my weak soul may fly from the task." 
 
 " Then go, father ; I shall not bid you stay but where and 
 when is this journey to take place ? " 
 
 " To-morrow, when I have seen Mrs. Murphy, and made 
 arrangements with her concerning you ; I have little doubt 
 that she will give you a home with her until I return ; but 
 where my journey is to be I cannot tell you it is one of my 
 guilty secrets." 
 
 She said no more. 
 
 Mrs. Murphy came in the morning and gladly consented to 
 Rick's proposition ; later in the day, when Nora's strength 
 was sufficiently regained to enable her to walk, leaning on the 
 good-natured woman's arm, the three set out for Mrs. Mur- 
 phy's abode, and there, having reluctantly allowed himself to 
 be persuaded to remain for one of the good woman's sub- 
 stantial meals, Rick bade Nora adieu and left her.
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 MACI TO A STORM-TOSSED SOUL. 
 
 FATHER O'CONNOR, after his hurried visit to Tralee, 
 arrived at home, much to the satisfaction of his old house* 
 keeper, and to the extravagant delight of stuttering Jerry. 
 There was also another in the little household to welcome 
 him a beautiful boy of some twelve summers ; but his beauty 
 bore the traces of recent illness, and his dark eyes had the 
 brilliancy which gives evidence of early decay. He had been 
 sitting on the lowest step of the little porch, so that he might 
 be ready to spring forward at the first glimpse of the return- 
 ing clergyman, and with many an anxious question to both 
 the old housekeeper and Jerry he had long maintained his 
 watch. He had been rewarded at last ; the tall, clerical form 
 appeared, turning into the boreen, and the anxious boy, for- 
 getting that his limbs were still enfeebled by recent illness, 
 bounded forward, his cheeks flushed, his eyes sparkling, and 
 every feature of his exquisitely beautiful face expressing 
 gratitude and affection. 
 
 " Bartley, my boy, how are you ? " asked the priest, grasp- 
 ing with the tenderness of a father the lad's outstretched 
 hands. 
 
 " So much better, your reverence, that I think I'll be strong 
 enough for my journey to-morrow." 
 
 Father O'Connor shook his head. " No, Bartley ; you 
 must not think of that yet these cheeks must grow more 
 plump," and he playfully patted the boy's face. 
 
 " F'm pining for Cathleen ! " The flush suddenly faded 
 from the fair countenance, and the dark eyes glistened with 
 tears. 
 
 (397)
 
 39* 
 
 CARROLL VDONOGHUK 
 
 " But Cathleen knows why you remain from her," answered 
 the priest ; " have I not twice written to her about you how 
 you were hurt in Tralee by the overturning of a vehicle, how 
 strangers kindly cared for you, and how you persevered in 
 journeying to me only to become ill as soon as you found me ? 
 She knows these particulars, and she knows, also, that I will 
 send you back to her as soon as you have sufficiently recov- 
 ered are you tired of me, Bartley, that you want to leave me 
 so soon ? " 
 
 " Tired of you, your reverence ! " the boy's two hands 
 closed with an affectionate pressure upon the priest's hand, and 
 his eyes met those of the clergyman with an eloquent ex- 
 pression of gratitude, while he continued : " I place you in 
 my heart with Cathleen." 
 
 No more was said, and the boy walked confidingly by the 
 side of his benefactor to the little dwelling, where the self- 
 iacrificing priest found that, comparatively short as had been 
 his absence, there had been numerous calls for him. So per- 
 fect, however, was his discipline of himself that, though tor- 
 tured by distressing thoughts of the doomed Carroll and the 
 unhappy Nora and Clare, each the fond playmate of his 
 youth, no trace of his inward agitation was suffered to ap- 
 pear his exterior had all that calmness which is ever the 
 sign of a truly mortified will. 
 
 The next day was the vigil of the Assumption, and in the 
 afternoon many waited in the little chapel to be admitted to 
 shrift. Hour after hour the poor, patient priest sat, hearing 
 the doleful story of sin and voluntary imperfection, and re- 
 proving, admonishing, exhorting and counseling. He never 
 teemed to weary ; even when the tale was but the outpouring 
 of a morbid self-love craving for the sympathy which should 
 minister to its vanity. 
 
 The last penitent had disappeared within the confessional, 
 and the whispered sound of voices from the curtained recesi 
 could be heard throughout the little chapel, when an ill- 
 man with shambling gait entered, and knelt for an in-
 
 PEAOB TO A STORM-TOSSED SOUL. 399 
 
 tant near the door. Then rising, he looked about him with 
 a wild stare. There was no one within sight, and guided by 
 that sound of whispering voices, he walked slowly to the con- 
 fessional Kneeling almost in front of the sacred tribunal, he 
 bowed his head and beat his breast, while burning tears gushed 
 from his eyes. The penitent came forth, and Father O'Con- 
 nor, observing the kneeling form, waited. It rose, walked a 
 few steps forward, then, as if deterred by some sudden fear, 
 paused, and knelt again to bow its head and beat its breast 
 Still the priest waited. 
 
 At length, with a motion so sudden and hurried that he 
 seemed to be impelled by an unseen power, Rick of the Hills 
 arose and darted within the penitent's side of the confessional. 
 
 What was there in the tale he so gaspingly told to make the 
 priest start and tremble to make him lift the curtain which 
 screened him from view, and lean forward as if he was stifling 
 for air ? 
 
 " You do not speak, father," gasped the penitent, when the 
 last of that thrilling confession was told " is there no pardon 
 for me ? " 
 
 The priest turned to him, his breath scarcely more regular 
 than the quick and fevered breathings of the wretched man 
 beside him : " Are you willing to make all the atonement 
 that is in your power will you reveal those secrets to the 
 world, so that justice may be done ? " 
 
 " I will, father : I will make a public confession of all ; I 
 ask for no earthly mercy for myself I seek nothing but the 
 pardon of my offended God." His sobs burst forth. 
 
 " Then make your act of contrition ; speak the words from 
 your heart, and God, whom you have so outraged, will Him- 
 self give the absolution my unworthy lips shall utter." 
 
 He raised his hand and pronounced the words by which 
 the fetters of that miserable soul were unloosed, and Rick 
 rose up a freer and happier man than he had been for twenty- 
 even years. A strange peace had descended into his soul, 
 and he tottered to the altar, there to make, by his "lappy teart
 
 A00 CARROLL &DONOQHUB. 
 
 w* 
 
 and broken contrite prayers, such a thanksgiving as would 
 have made Nora, could she have witnessed it, feel amply paid 
 for all her self-immolation. 
 
 The priest also left the confessional. His face was deathly 
 pale, and his inward agitation was somewhat visible in the 
 unsteadiness of his step. He too sought the altar, first paus- 
 ing to whisper to Pack : " Come into the house when you 
 have finished I ha\e something to aay to you." 
 
 The kneeling man nodded an assent, and the clergyman 
 passed on to the sanctuary. He heard Rick leave the chapel, 
 and then he prostrated himself before the altar. " My God ! 
 my God ! " he murmured, " why hast Thou reserved this rev- 
 elation until now ? but Thy will be done, and parden those 
 who have been the cause of so much suffering." 
 
 Long he knelt there, praying, and struggling with the horde 
 of unhappy feelings called up by that mysterious confession. 
 But at length he regained his wonted calm, and with a 
 steadier gait than that with which he had walked to the altar, 
 he left the chapel to return to the house. 
 
 Rick was waiting in the little parlor ; if he had feared to 
 meet the priest because of his recent wretched tale, the first 
 glance of the clergyman's soft, pitying eyes, the first touch of 
 the friendly hand so cordially extended to him, at once 
 restored his confidence. 
 
 "Father," he said, looking steadily into the face of the 
 priest, though his voice trembled, " will you take the respon- 
 sibility of the matter which I have confided to you ? will you 
 let me tell you everything fully, here, and will you give it forth 
 to the world ? it will come with better favor from you than 
 from me." 
 
 Father O'Connor did not reply for a moment ; his eyes 
 sought the floor, and his lips moved as if in prayer ; at last he 
 looked up. " Yes, Rick, since you so desire ; and now tell 
 the story as clearly as you can." 
 
 He tightly closed the little parlor door, took from the 
 pocket of his sontane a small tablet and pencil, and as Rick
 
 PEACE TO A STORM-TOSSED 80VL. 4O1 
 
 proceeded with his tale, marked down sufficient vo enable him 
 to repeat the account. On its conclusion Rick sat with 
 flushed face and folded arms. 
 
 The priest arose : " Rick," he said, and his voice had a 
 startling clearness, "thank God from your heart for this 
 night's work ! He has already pardoned you, and He would 
 even now give you an earthly reward for your act of justice, 
 late though you have performed that act Cathleen your 
 Cathleen is within your reach ! " 
 
 " Great God ! what do you mean ? " The poor startled 
 creature was up from his seat, his wild eyes turned appeal- 
 ingly on the clergyman's face, and he was gasping for breath. 
 
 The priest said softly : " You shall know in a moment ; " 
 and then he left the room, returning shortly, and leading by the 
 hand the beautiful boy whom he had called Bartley. " Tell," 
 he said to the wondering lad, "all that you know about 
 Cathleen Kelly, this person here thinks he too knows her, 
 and he would like to hear you speak of her." 
 
 An exquisite smile broke over the boy's face ; he needed 
 no pressing to accede to the request, for instantly and artlessly 
 he poured forth all that his own ardent affection for Cathleen 
 prompted her sisterly kindness to himself to her was owing 
 his own unusual intelligence, her charity to others, her con- 
 stant gentleness ; all was told with a candor and earnestness 
 which must have carried conviction to the most unbelieving 
 mind. Rick could not restrain his emotion ; he held his 
 clasped hands before his face, but the tears trickled through 
 his fingers. 
 
 "Perhaps, after all," he said brokenly, "it is not she 
 not my Cathleen." 
 
 " It is, Rick," the priest's hand was upon Rick's shoulder 
 " I have other reasons than Bartley's story for knowing that 
 the Cathleen he speaks of is your Cathleen ; and you shall b 
 speedily convinced, for in company with this lad you shall go 
 to her, now that he will have some one with him, I think per- 
 haps he will be strong enough to make the journey."
 
 ^ t CARROLL VDONOQHVX. 
 
 " I will, father ; indeed I will ! " said the boy joyfully. 
 
 " But even though I should recognize her," resumed Rick, 
 mournfully, " she will not know me, and she may refuse te 
 acknowledge me." 
 
 " I think not," answered the priest ; " Providence, who has 
 dealt so mercifully with you, will not now imbitter your cup 
 of happiness just as it is at your lips. Besides, you will carry 
 to her a letter from me, and you can get the record of her 
 baptism." 
 
 Wild hope once more flooded the heart of the excited man ; 
 in his joy he dropped on his knees at the feet of Father 
 O'Connor. " Father, ha.vtyou forgiven me ? " 
 
 For an instant the priest's eyes were turned upward ; then 
 they fell with their wonted kindly look on the kneeling sup- 
 pliant, as he answered : " When God forgives, of what have 
 I, the creature, to complain ? " 
 
 Rick bent over the hand he grasped, and bedewed it with 
 his tears. " Nora," he said, when his emotion calmed suffi- 
 ciently to let him speak, " how shall I quiet her anxiety ? " 
 
 " I shall attend to that," answered Father O'Connor ; " give 
 yourself no concern, Rick, save to thank God for His wonder- 
 ful goodness to you. To-morrow I think you and Bartley can 
 begin the journey." 
 
 For the first time in twenty-seven years, Rick knelt that 
 night before he went to sleep, and the next morning, for the 
 first time in twenty-seven years, he attended the holy sacrifice 
 of the mass. Three hours after, having been provided with a 
 bountiful breakfast, and comfortably equipped by the thought- 
 ful kindness of Father O'Connor, he, accompanied by the de- 
 lighted Bartley, began his journey to Cathleen,
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 A HAPPY MEETING. 
 
 UNHAPPY Nora ! it required all her heroism to endura 
 without repining the hard lot she had imposed upon herself. 
 Never to see Carroll again to have him die without hear- 
 ing from him one last word, without catching one farewell 
 look ! her heart swelled, and its icy weight grew heavier. 
 She sought to busy herself with her own light labor, in the 
 hope of winning at least temporary forgetfulness of her sor- 
 rows ; but the needle fell unheeded from her hand, and she 
 dropped unconsciously into the most melancholy reveries. 
 Sympathetic Mrs. Murphy endeavored in her kindly way to 
 cheer the unhappy young creature, whose mysterious grief 
 for she knew nothing of Nora's antecedents won her deepest 
 pity; but she soon learned to feel that the greatest kind- 
 ness she could show the young lady would be to leave her 
 to her own reflections. So Nora divided the day between 
 visits to a neighboring chapel, fruitless attempts to work, 
 and in the evenings, choosing that time because she thought 
 the would be less remarked, a stealthy walk to the jail. On 
 one of these occasions she was seen by Tighe a Vohr, who 
 had spared neither time nor labor in the search he had been 
 requested to make ; thus far he had been unsuccessful, owing 
 to his efforts having been made in places not so respectable 
 as Mrs. Murphy's abode. His first impulse, when he was 
 sure of the identity of the veiled girl, was to rush to her and 
 give vent to his delight by an extravagant greeting ; but some- 
 thing prompted him to restrain himself, and he caught Shaun, 
 lest the dog, having no reason for restraint in his case, might 
 be less discreet. At a safe distance, and with a command 
 (403)
 
 404 CARROLL (TDONOGirUB. 
 
 which kept Shaun quietly by his side, he followed Nor*; 
 he noted the house which she entered, and then he hasten- 
 ed to the " Blennerhasset Arms " to report to Captain Den- 
 nier, between whom and himself a series of communicationt 
 existed regarding the efforts which both had been quietly 
 making for the discovery of the missing girl. 
 
 Nora, unsuspecting, and absorbed in her unhappy thought^ 
 little dreamed of the surprise which was on the next day to 
 greet her. She had just returned from her stealthy walk to 
 the jail, and was vainly endeavoring to busy herself with her 
 work, when the knocker affixed to Mrs. Murphy's hall door 
 loudly sounded. It put the good lady herself in somewhat 
 of a flutter, but it did not affect Nora she was so sure that it 
 bore no reference to her. There was the bustle of more than 
 one person entering, the sound of more than one pair of feet 
 upon the stair, and before she could even rise from her seati 
 Clare O'Donoghue, conducted by delighted Mrs. Murphy, who 
 recognized her visitors as those who had twice before called 
 to learn of Nora's whereabouts, had rushed across the room, 
 and was wildly embracing her. 
 
 " Nora, darling, at last ! how could you be so cruel ? but 
 we have found you now, and we shall never, never let you go 
 again ! " 
 
 Her happy tears would let her say no more ; and even 
 Father Meagher, who had followed Clare, and was now stand- 
 ing with outstretched hands waiting his turn to welcome and 
 be welcomed, showed traces of emotion. Mrs. Murphy was 
 weeping copious tears of sympathy. 
 
 For Nora, her tired, sick heart could no longer resist an 
 affection which was so delightful ; she yielded herself at last 
 to all its refreshing tenderness, and she sobbed in Clare's arms. 
 
 Mutual explanations at length followed, and while the vis- 
 itors discovered the depth of that sacrifice which would have 
 completed itself at the risk of an utterly broken heart, Nora 
 had to learn that her discovery was due to the faithful Tighc 
 a Vohr, and not, as she had supposed, to Father O'Connor. She
 
 A EAPPT MEETING. 4 o 5 
 
 had also to learn of Captain Dennier's noble kindness, and 
 more than all, to hear that she was to accompany the party 
 that evening to see Carroll. That information was sufficient 
 to send the blood in a mad glow to her face, and to cause her 
 to tremble so that Clare, beside whom she sat, felt the tremor ; 
 she threw her arms more warmly about Nora, and whispered : 
 
 " You are Carroll's affianced, remember ; nothing can undo 
 that bond nothing ! " 
 
 The words with which Nora would have repeated her reso- 
 lution not to disturb Carroll's last days died upon her lips ; 
 she had not the strength to complete her self-imposed sacri- 
 fice now, and she silently yielded. But it was in vain that 
 they attempted to control her resolution of remaining with Mrs. 
 Murphy to await Rick's return in vain they used every 
 entreaty to persuade her to return to Dhrommacohol at least 
 for the time of his absence : her determination was firm with 
 regard to the place of her present abode ; and then Clare, 
 with equal firmness, declared her intention of remaining with 
 Nora, appealing to Mrs. Murphy for accommodation ; and 
 the latter lady gave delighted assurance of her willingness and 
 ability to grant the request. 
 
 Mr. Dennier's influence, vigorously exerted as it was, was 
 powerless to win all he craved for his friends. The governor 
 of the prison was under too strict a charge to be able to 
 throw open Carroll's cell as often as the young ex- officer 
 hoped and this visit, and perhaps one more before the final 
 parting, was all that could be anticipated. Thus it was with 
 the saddest emotions that the little party of three left Mrs. 
 Murphy's for the jail. 
 
 It needed no words from the unhappy prisoner to convince 
 Nora of the unchangeableness of his affection ; the fond, 
 devoted, yet agonizing look that he turned upon her, the 
 thrilling touch of his wasted hand, spoke more eloquently 
 than a thousand utterances, and she nestled by his side, happy 
 and rested for the moment in being so near him, and yet 
 broken-hearted at the thought of that fate which was so
 
 4o6 CARROLL VDONOGHUB. 
 
 to snatch him from her. For the first few moments but little 
 was said the dreadful shadow of that approaching doom 
 overhung them all, and restrained for a time even the words 
 that Father Meagher would speak ; but at last the interchange 
 of final thoughts and sentiments began, and Carroll, antici- 
 pating the clergyman, himself reverted to the traitor, Morty 
 Carter. 
 
 " I attempted to tell you of his perfidy," said the priest, 
 11 that you might be on your guard ; but you would not listen ! " 
 
 " I remember," said Carroll, putting his hand wildly to his 
 forehead ; " I remember," he repeated, his voice showing how 
 much that painful memory cost him, " and oh, I understand 
 it all ! " 
 
 " Tell me, my boy," the priest stood up, putting his hand 
 affectionately on Carroll's shoulder, " what are your feelings 
 for this poor wretch can you forgive him ? " 
 
 The prisoner's hand sought the crucifix within his bosom. 
 "With this, father, before my eyes" holding up the image 
 which he drew forth, " and remembering that a greater than 
 I was betrayed before me, I have learned to forgive him." 
 
 " Thank God ! " the kind old clergyman's eyes were moist 
 with the earnestness of his thanksgiving, and Nora too looked 
 up with humid, grateful glance. 
 
 The time allotted for the visit was short, and hardly had 
 the full tide of loving confidence begun when the turnkey was 
 at the door signaling for the visitors to come forth. They 
 tore themselves from the prisoner, turning again and again 
 from the threshold to look fond, mournful adieus ; but the 
 door of the cell at last shut them out, and the poor captive 
 was left to resume that intercourse with Heaven which alont 
 made him resigned to his fate, and strong to suffer.
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 FATHER O'CONNOR'S TALE. 
 
 IK one of the courtly apartments of Dublin Castle, with 
 undry papers and dispatches spread on an open cabinet 
 before him, sat Lord Heathcote. His face wore an anxious, 
 disturbed look, and his hands nervously turned over the doc- 
 uments. One, a recently dated letter, came to his grasp, and 
 though he had evidently perused it before, he scanned it again 
 with more than ordinary interest, reading aloud the following 
 portion : 
 
 " Captain Dennier is still in Tralee ; he has been more than 
 once in company with a Catholic clergyman and a young lady 
 who is reported to be the ward of the latter, and the sister of 
 the Fenian prisoner, Carroll O'Donoghue. He was also 
 present in the court during the trial of the Fenian prisoner, 
 Carroll O'Donoghue. What his business in Tralee is I have 
 been unable to discover." 
 
 The nobleman put down the missive without reading 
 farther, and threw himself back in his chair as if he would 
 yield to some painfully absorbing reflection. There was a 
 signal for ingress at the door, and to his response a servant 
 entered with a note. The nobleman hastily tore it open : 
 
 " To His HONOR, LORD HEATHCOTE : 
 
 Will your lordship kind- 
 ly consent to see a Catholic clergyman on business of vital 
 importance the unfolding of a tale which dates back more 
 than a quarter of a century, and which will disclose at this 
 late date the perfidy that has separated two faithful heart* 
 and sent one broken to the grave ? 
 
 I have the honor to remain 
 
 Your lordship's obedient servant, 
 
 REV. CHARLES O'CONNOR. 
 
 Again and again Lord Heathcote read the brief missive, hit 
 (407)
 
 ^08 CARROLL aDONOGHUE. 
 
 face darkening, and his manner growing strangely excited. 
 
 " I will see the gentleman," he said, at length, to the attend- 
 ant in waiting. " Conduct him here." 
 
 The servant withdrew, and in a few minutes Father O'Con- 
 nor stood in his lordship's presence. With no diminution of 
 his wonted ease and grace of manner, the priest courteously, 
 but calmly, saluted the nobleman ; and save for an unwonted 
 color in his cheeks, and a strange sparkle in his eyes, one 
 would little have dreamed that he was inwardly the prey of 
 violent emotions. Lord Heathcote had simply inclined his 
 head, not deigning even to motion his visitor to a chair ; but 
 the latter's own ineffable grace, and the sweetness of a coun- 
 tenance which combined the charm of physical and spiritual 
 beauty, gained insensibly upon the nobleman ; he found him- 
 self, somewhat to his own surprise, requesting the clergyman 
 to be seated. 
 
 " Pardon me, my lord," answered the priest, " if I ask to be 
 permitted to stand. I am only here for the purpose of un~ 
 folding to you this tale ; I have nought to do with the result 
 that will remain with your lordship." 
 
 "This tale ?" repeated Lord Heathcote, straightening him- 
 self in his chair, and speaking coldly, that he might hide hia 
 agitation ; " why do you ask to unfold it to me ? " 
 
 " Because it directly concerns your lordship because you 
 alone have the power of meting out justice to the injured 
 parties ! " 
 
 " Speak on ! " commanded the nobleman, shading his face 
 with his hand. 
 
 " Have I your lordship's permission to tell the tale in my 
 own way to go back to the beginning, and give you the 
 dates and the facts as I received them ? " 
 
 " You have go on." 
 
 The flush in the priest's face deepened. " Twenty-seven 
 years ago," he began, his voice for the first time slightly 
 trembling, " there lived in one of the northern counties of 
 Ireland an aged t impoverished, Catholic
 
 FATHER O'CONNOR'S TALK 4O9 
 
 gentleman named Dougherty. Only one member of his fan> 
 ily remained to him a daughter. This girl, Marie, who had 
 not yet reached her seventeenth year, was famed throughout 
 the liule district in which they lived for her devotion to her 
 father, her kindness to the poor, and her extraordinary 
 beauty. Educated by her accomplished father, her culture 
 rivaled that of more richly nurtured ladies, and her kind and 
 simple manner won for her universal affection. Near them 
 lived a young man named Mortimer Carter ; he had scarcely at- 
 tained his twentieth year, but natural sharpness and an educa- 
 tion which had been the boon of a wealthy, deceased uncle, 
 had fitted him for schemes demanding rare skill of brain and 
 strength of nerve. The last of a family which early decay 
 brought at youthful ages to the grave, he was the trusted and 
 cherished inmate of an abode that comprised a newly-wedded 
 couple as youthful as himself. The husband, Richard Sulli- 
 van, lived but for his wife, and devoted every energy to mak- 
 ing for her a comfortable livelihood. Springing from an 
 honest, well-to-do stock, he also had received a fair education, 
 and sought opportunities of adding to the latter by receiving 
 instruction during the long winter evenings from their young 
 boarder and friend, Mortimer Carter. Carter, from the first 
 opportunity that enabled him to render some important ser- 
 vice to Mr. Dougherty, and which gained for him frequent 
 access to the house, was struck with admiration and love of 
 the beautiful daughter. He concealed the fact, however, prob- 
 ably because he feared that a disclosure of it would exclude 
 him from the family, and he feigned to be only the ardent and 
 disinterested friend. In time, and before Marie had reached 
 her eighteenth year, there visited that part of Ireland a young 
 gentleman, the sole scion of a wealthy and ancient English 
 house. A title would descend to him on his father's death, 
 but until then the young man, who was simple in his tastes 
 and preferred quiet and obscurity to the ostentation of wealth, 
 chose rather to be known by his own plain name of Berkeley. 
 Accident brought Marie Dougherty to his notice, and di*
 
 I0 CARROLL ffDONOQHUR. 
 
 closed sufficient of her cultivated mind to win the young stran- 
 ger's heart. He found his way to the cottage, and by his ad- 
 dress obtained the favor of the old gentleman ; a few weeks 
 more, and his love was reciprocated entirely with the father's 
 sanction, though Marie refused to marry, because young Berke- 
 ley was not of her faith. He promised her untrameled free- 
 dom in her practice of her religion, unrestrained liberty in the 
 Catholic education of their offspring, should Heaven grant 
 them such ; but still the pious girl hesitated, and so great and 
 so entirely trusted a friend was Mortimer Carter, that it was 
 into his ears she poured her doubts and fears. Her fond old 
 father, fearing from the growing feebleness of his health his 
 own speedy demise, and confident from all that he had ob- 
 served of their young visitor, and from numerous letters which 
 the latter had shown, that his daughter's future would be well 
 assured, would have persuaded her into the alliance ; but she, 
 though loving with all the strength of her nature, still hesi- 
 tated because he was not of her faith, until the blow fell 
 which her father had feared. He was stricken with a fatal 
 illness, and yielding at last to his wish, she was married by his 
 dying bed. A Catholic priest performed the ceremony which 
 united Marie Dougherty to Walter Berkeley, and Mortimer 
 Carter and Richard Sullivan were the witnesses. Immedi- 
 ately afterward, however, a college mate of young Berkeley's 
 who had taken orders in the Episcopal Church, and who hap- 
 pened to be visiting in the vicinity, performed the ceremony 
 anew, that no invalidity might ever be brought against it" 
 
 Father O'Connor paused, as if he expected some remark 
 from his listener, but the latter was as motionless as though 
 he had been turned to stone not a tremor being visible even 
 in the hand which shaded his face. The priest resumed : 
 
 44 Young Berkeley was not in possession of much fortune ; 
 his father was a hard man, and ill disposed to gratify youth- 
 ful extravagance ; still less would he, with his strong English 
 and Protestant prejudices, brook the thought of his heir mar- 
 rying an Irish Catholic. So the young man deemed it best
 
 FATHER V CONNOR 8 TALK 4 ,, 
 
 to write nothing of his alliance in his letters home ; he had 
 sufficient means to live in comfort, and the novelty of his sim- 
 ple home, with the constant charm of a beautiful wife whom 
 he devotedly loved, amply compensated for the loss of titled 
 grandeur. 
 
 " Mortimer Carter was now the trusted friend of both wife 
 and husband ; the latter, induced by the kindly representations 
 of Marie, and influenced by her example, learned to make an 
 entire confidant of him. 
 
 " Thus they lived for a year, when Marie gave birth to twin 
 boys ; they were christened, by the clergyman who had per- 
 formed the first marriage ceremony, Walter and William. At 
 the same time a little girl was born to Richard Sullivan, but 
 at the expense of its mother's life, and the babe was left to 
 the care of its heart-broken father. A kind neighbor volun- 
 teered to assist him in its care, and Sullivan soon learned to 
 concentrate in his child the love which he fancied had been 
 buried in the coffin of his wife. 
 
 " One night, just as he had parted from the caress of his 
 little one, now old enough to evince her delight at his pres- 
 ence, he met on a lonely road a bailiff with whom in bygone 
 days Sullivan's father had some unpleasant transaction. 
 Contrary to wonted circumstances, old Mr. Sullivan had tri- 
 umphed, and the bailiff was made thereby more angry and re- 
 vengeful. He never lost an opportunity of taunting any mem- 
 ber of the family, and on this occasion he poured forth a 
 torrent of abuse on young Sullivan, and spoke insultingly of 
 the latter's father, long reposing in his grave. The young 
 man was goaded beyond endurance in the heat of sudden 
 passion he struck his aggressor a most unfortunate blow ; the 
 man, after three heavy groans, expired. 
 
 " While the murderer, realizing what he had done, stood 
 horror-stricken above the corpse, unable either to leave it, or 
 to take precautions of secrecy, accident led Mortimer Carter 
 to the very spot. With his usual quickness he immediately 
 thought of a plan by which the guilt could be transferred.
 
 4 , t CARROLL VDONOQHUB. 
 
 The ribbon men were about, their aggressions frequent, and ac 
 the murdered bailiff was known to be disliked because of his 
 hard measures, it would excite little wonder or doubt, could it 
 be made to appear that he was another victim of the mys- 
 terious band. Carter was familiar with their signs, and it re- 
 quired but little time to affix to the corpse the paper which 
 should tell of another crime by the nightly marauders. They 
 'hurried from the spot, the deadly secret buried in both breasts. 
 
 " Carter's ruse succeeded ; there was not a suspicion that 
 the bailiff was murdered in any other manner ; but Sullivan 
 was haunted by a horrible remorse ; safe though he was, his 
 fears gave him little peace, and the love for his child alone re- 
 strained him from some desperate act 
 
 * Letters from England requesting young Berkeley's return 
 had become frequent ; letters which contained ardent expres- 
 sions of the old lord's desire for his son to contract a befitting 
 alliance, and there was mentioned the name of the lady so 
 designed. But Berkeley gave little heed, returning evasive re- 
 plies now citing his health as demanding a longer stay, now 
 expressing a desire to prosecute at further length some re- 
 searches. And thus matters continued for a little more than 
 another year, when a third child was born a girl ; it was 
 christened Marie. Then, when the young mother was still too 
 weak to clasp her baby, a letter came demanding young Berke- 
 ley's instant presence in England his father was dying. The 
 young man, seized with remorse for his long absence, hurried 
 his departure, leaving to the care of the still trusted and cher- 
 ished friend, Mortimer Carter, his little household. He tore 
 himself from his babes and his wife, telling the latter not to 
 fatigue herself in her weak state by writing to him that Mor- 
 timer would do all. And thus he departed." 
 
 Again Father O'Connor paused, but there was still no mo- 
 tion from the statue-like form in the easy-chair ; and there was 
 no remark, further than a brief request to proceed. The cler- 
 gyman drew forth his little pocket tablets, and holding them i 
 a convenient manner for frequent consultation, resumed :
 
 FATHER O'COmrOKS TALE. 4 , 3 
 
 " Now was the time for Carter's work ; he had never ceased 
 to love Marie Dougherty, wife though she had become, and 
 jealousy of the youthful husband, combined with his own un- 
 requited passion, made him skillful to plot, and strong to exe- 
 cute. Mrs. Berkeley, instead of recovering, seemed to grow 
 daily weaker ; indeed, she was in no condition to answer her 
 husband's affectionate letters, which came with every mail, 
 and upon Mortimer devolved entirely the task of amanuensis. 
 She would not suffer him, however, to state truly her feeble 
 condition ; she insisted rather that he would ascribe it to her 
 perfect obedience to her husband's request regarding her fa- 
 tigue. So Mortimer, by the young wife's own feebly accorded 
 permission, had ample opportunity to read each English let- 
 ter when it came, and from them he learned that the illness 
 of the old lord, fatal as it was certain to be, might still pro- 
 tract itself to the duration of months, and that young Berke- 
 ley, owing to the slight tenure upon which his father's life 
 was held, could not tell him of his marriage that he was even, 
 for the sake of that frail life, compelled in a measure to feign 
 assent to a future alliance with the lady whose name, from 
 past letters, was familiar to Marie. But all gave the devoted 
 wife little concern she loved her husband so truly, she con- 
 fided in him so surely, that nothing short of his own sworn 
 statement would convince her that she had anything to fear. 
 Carter studied to imitate Berkeley's handwriting ; he suc- 
 ceeded admirably, and then, intercepting the next English let- 
 ter which came, he opened it, and substituted for its content* 
 a letter which he had penned in his forged hand. 
 
 " That letter told the young wife that her husband, yielding 
 at last to his father's persuasions, was about to m?rry the lady 
 with whose name Marie was familiar. It deplored the cruel 
 necessity, it assured her of his undiminished affection, but it 
 repeated in unmistakable terms the terrible fact Marie, 
 with sudden supernatural strength, arose from her couch a 
 determined and desperate woman ; she would go immediately 
 to England, she would force her way to the dying lord, she
 
 4I4 CARROLL VDONOGHUR 
 
 would herself proclaim her marriage not for her own sake, 
 but for that of her children. The very strength of her grief 
 favored Carter's designs ; he approved of her resolution, he 
 sought to facilitate it when she announced her determination 
 to take her baby with her, by proposing to find a trusty man 
 to take care of the little party, which would consist of the 
 mother, and infant, and a nurse for the latter, while he would 
 remain to guard the twin brothers, now sturdy little fellows of 
 eighteen months. She assented, and Carter sought Richard 
 Sullivan. To him he made it appear a necessary and noble 
 act to accompany the young wife to England, but not, how- 
 ever, to lead her as she desired to the home of her husband ; 
 instead, she was to be conducted to a different part, and there 
 kept in seclusion till Carter could join her. Carter insisted 
 that such a course was absolutely necessary, in order that she 
 might retain her children, and preserve to them their faith 
 otherwise their treacherous father would tear them from her ; 
 and Sullivan's warmest sympathies were enlisted, and full 
 only of a wild anxiety to save this broken-hearted woman 
 another blow, he finally consented. Unsuspecting Marie grate- 
 fully agreed to travel with Richard, whom she well knew, and 
 Carter, having promised to take Richard's place for the time 
 to the latter's little one, supplied him with ample means. 
 
 " But the night before the journey, as Marie stood trem- 
 blingly looking at her marriage certificates preparatory to put- 
 ting them safely away for they were to accompany her the 
 reaction of her strained feelings, her sudden unnatural strength, 
 her wild fears set in, and she fell fainting to the floor. When 
 he recovered it was with her reason gone her bright, culti- 
 vated mind had flown forever. Carter, prepared for any 
 emergency, kept the fact of her harmless insanity a secret even 
 from the few servants in the little household, bringing for 
 immediate attendance upon her a foolish girl of the neighbor- 
 hood ; but, innocent though the latter was termed by the 
 neighbors, she had sufficient sense to wait upon her mistress, 
 and idiocy enough not to understand what might be going oa 
 bout her.
 
 FATHER Of CONNOR 8 TALE. 4 ,- 
 
 " The journey was delayed, and Carter wrote to Berkeley 
 one of the letters which the latter was wont to receive from 
 his wife Then, while waiting for Marie to gain strength suf- 
 ficient to leave her couch, he feigned to have frequent need 
 of Sullivan at the house, forming pretenses which should take 
 the latter, who was not ill-looking, nor of bad address at that 
 time, to Marie's room at questionable hours, and taking 
 care that some of the gossiping servants should know of the 
 fact He further pretended to the domestics to be astounded 
 at, and suspicious of, the favor with which young Sullivan 
 seemed to be received by the lady of the house, hinting that 
 an attachment had existed between them previous to her 
 more advantageous marriage ; but of all this young Sullivan, 
 anxious alone to be of service to the young creature whom he 
 sincerely pitied, was ignorant. He fell blindly into the trap 
 which was prepared for him. Marie had recovered strength 
 to walk, but she still remained without sufficient mind to rec- 
 ognize any one but her baby ; and Carter came to Sullivan 
 with a marriage certificate in which the name of Walter Berke- 
 ley had been skillfully erased, and Richard Sullivan inserted 
 in its place. He pretended to have received news of the im- 
 mediate return of Berkeley, and he affrightedly said that the 
 very condition of the poor wife would but further the hus- 
 band's design of casting her off, and taking her children 
 that as a foil to this, and as there might be danger of meeting 
 him if he now made a journey to England, he had thought 
 of another plan. That Richard should pass to strangers as 
 her husband she was in no condition to contradict the state- 
 ment ; and for that purpose, lest any one perhaps, surprised 
 at the eminent superiority of the beautiful wife, should ques- 
 tion the assertion, he had changed the marriage certificate 
 which certified to her marriage by a Catholic clergyman. 
 Sullivan could travel with her and her baby, from whom she 
 refused to be separated for an instant, to the southern part of 
 Ireland, and there wait for Carter to join them with the twin 
 boys ; he also promised to bring with him Sullivan's little
 
 4 , 6 CARROLL VDONOGHUS. 
 
 daughter. Again poor Sullivan, though at first shrinking and 
 hesitating, was induced to consent, and from no motive but 
 that of saving Marie and her children. 
 
 " Shrouding their departure with all the secrecy he could 
 throw about it, Carter saw them go : the poor young wife 
 having been induced to allow her baby to be carried by the 
 foolish girl who had been her last attendant clinging to Sul- 
 livan's arm and laughing as gleefully as a child. Then Carter 
 turned to the execution of the remainder of his plot. He 
 stole immediately from the little household one of the twin 
 brothers, the baby William, and traveled with it to friends 
 whom he expected to find in the extreme northern part of 
 Ireland. He found, however, that his friends had emigrated 
 to America nearly a year and a half before, taking with them 
 their sole child, at that time a boy of six months. That in- 
 formation made him determine on another plan. The babe 
 of six months who had been taken to America, and whose 
 name was Charles O'Connor, would be now about the same 
 age as the little William Berkeley, the companion of Carter's 
 journey. Going to the parish clerk, he obtained a copy of the 
 baptismal certificate of little Charles O'Connor on the pre- 
 tense of being commissioned to do so by the child's parents ; 
 and then, hastening to a remote convent, he induced the good 
 religious to assume temporary charge of his little com- 
 panion, to whom he gave the same name as that on the bap- 
 tismal certificate. Then he returned, and he pretended to be 
 amazed and horrified by the discovery of the elopement of 
 Berkeley's young wife with Richard Sullivan. Already he had 
 paved the way for belief in the horrible tale by the few ser- 
 vants of the house, and they had not been slow to propagate 
 hints of the scandal abroad. The whole district, comprising 
 even those to whom her charity had been most largely dis- 
 pensed, and by whom the purity of her character should have 
 been undoubted, seemed to be convinced of her guilt, and 
 expressions of horror came from every mouth. It was re- 
 ported that she had taken two of the children with her many
 
 FATHER Of CONNOR 8 TALK 4 ,j 
 
 asked why she had left the third. Carter insinuated that it 
 was because he bore his father's name, Walter. 
 
 "Giving sufficient time for Richard to have advanced far 
 on his journey, Carter wrote to the young husband an account 
 of the terrible circumstance ; then, pending the answer, 
 which he felt would be young Berkeley in person, he repaired 
 to the woman who had charge of Sullivan's little daughter ; 
 deploring the guilt which now attached to her father, and ex- 
 pressing his assurance of the fact that the little girl was en- 
 tirely deserted, he announced his intention of caring for the 
 child. Amply compensating the woman, and without telling 
 his destination, he departed with the little one. 
 
 " Young Berkeley came, as Carter had anticipated came 
 with all the incredulousness of a devoted and entirely trusting 
 affection. He found the proofs of the horrid tale in his de- 
 serted household, in Carter's apparently distracted demeanor, 
 in the account given by the servants, in the excited gossip of 
 the place. Horrified, sickened, he seemed after the first 
 dreadful shock to shut himself within a stern pride and re- 
 serve. What his feelings were no one knew. When Carter 
 would propose pursuit of the fugitive, and at least recapture 
 of the children, the young husband answered sternly : 
 
 " ' She has stained my name ; let her infamy shroud her 
 and hers ! ' 
 
 " He paid and dismissed the servants, bade Carter a short 
 farewell, and engaging a nurse for his remaining child, de- 
 parted with it to England. 
 
 " In the interval Sullivan, passing as the husband of Marie, 
 and the father of her beautiful babe, journeyed to the place 
 designated by Carter ; but in a village near Tralee the poor 
 young mother became unable to proceed. They were in an 
 inn, and Richard, in deep distress, knew not what to do ; the 
 kind landlady called the attention of the Catholic pastor to 
 the case, and he in turn, strangely interested, brought it to the 
 notice of one of his wealthy and estimable parishioners, Mrs. 
 O'Donoghue. She immediately removed the little family to
 
 4lg CARROLL O'DONOGHTTR 
 
 her own spacious home, and there cared for the sick lady with 
 all the tenderness of a mother. Sullivan was interrogated 
 upon his past history ; he shrunk from maintaining the false 
 pretenses he had been induced to assume, and he felt that 
 he had met with true friends, who would aid in rescuing his 
 unhappy charge ; but he feared to change his line of conduct 
 without Carter's sanction, and as there was not time to com- 
 municate with the latter before satisfying his questioner, he 
 determined for the present to adhere to his falsehood, and 
 after, when he should have acquainted Carter with the whole, 
 he would retract his statement, giving reasons for the same 
 which must prove a sufficient excuse. So he told an appar- 
 ently straightforward story a truthful one so far as Marie's 
 early life was concerned, adding that in her unprotected state 
 her dying father had consented to her union with a man who 
 was her inferior in everything save honesty. Illness after the 
 birth of her child had unsettled her reason, and they were on 
 their way to friends who would care properly for her. Sulli- 
 van also produced the marriage certificate, and thus convinced 
 Mrs. O'Donoghue and Father Meagher of the truth of his 
 tale. But Richard had no opportunity of retracting his story ; 
 his account to Carter brought back immediate directions to 
 maintain the part he had undertaken, that he, Carter, would 
 explain why when he joined him, as he speedily intended to 
 do. All the tender care availed naught ; Marie died, clasping 
 her baby, but giving no other sign of returning reason ; and 
 Mrs. O'Donoghue, charmed with, and strangely attracted to, 
 the beautiful infant, proposed to Sullivan that she should 
 adopt it. Poor, unhappy Sullivan, too glad to be rid of a 
 charge which galled him to care whether this proceeding on his 
 part would please Carter or not, eagerly consented, and when 
 they would have continued to call the little one Marie Sulli- 
 van, he begged them not to saying that now, as the child 
 was provided with such a home as it should have been her 
 mother's right to grace, and as her future would be one befit- 
 ting all her lady mother's culture, that he would not mar hei
 
 FATHER VCONNOK8 TALK 4ig 
 
 prospects by thrusting himself, comparatively uneducated as 
 he was, and so inferior as he felt himself to be, in her path 
 he would rather that his identity be concealed from her ; let 
 her think that her parents had both died, and he would be 
 happy in knowing that she was so well provided for in being 
 occasionally near her when she would not know of the fact. 
 For that purpose he wished her name changed. His wishes 
 were gratified, though the kind people wondered much at an 
 affection which, seeming to be so deep, could thus make an 
 entire surrender of its beloved object. That arrangement had 
 been little more than completed when Carter arrived in the 
 neighborhood, bringing with him little William Berkeley, whom 
 he had taken from the convent in which he had temporarily 
 placed him. To Sullivan's dismay, he did not bring the lat- 
 ter's child ; and then for the first time the poor fellow discov- 
 ered how sadly he had been the dupe of Carter's nefarious 
 schemes. The whole of Carter's jealousy and hate of young 
 Berkeley, his unrequited passion for Marie, the successive steps 
 by which his plot of villainy had been executed all were 
 bared, and Sullivan discovered for the first time that the fury 
 which had refused to spare ks two fated objects would hence- 
 forth relentlessly pursue him, unless he yielded implicit assent 
 to every future scheme. It threatened him with disclosure of 
 the murder it told with infernal triumph of the abduction of 
 the little one which was to Sullivan as the apple of his eye ; 
 and when the poor, duped man, appalled, despairing, and 
 desperate, sought for some outlet from his dreadful situation, 
 Carter mockingly bade him remember that he was a wretched 
 culprit, on every side were proofs of his horrible guilt, and 
 that did he set foot within the place from which he had taken 
 Marie, it would only be to fall into the merciless hands of 
 those whom young Berkeley had employed to avenge his 
 wrongs ; and Carter threatened further to remove Sullivan's 
 little daughter, Cathleen, whom he had already abducted, to 
 some place utterly beyond her unhappy father's reach ; but 
 h pledged himself, if Sullivan remained true to kirn, to Ukt
 
 420 CARROLL 
 
 the most tender care of her, and in the future, when all feat 
 of discovery of Carter's villainy should be removed, to restore 
 her, rich, educated and accomplished he promised, however, 
 that in the event of her dangerous illness, her father should be 
 conducted to her. 
 
 "The meshes of that web of villainy were too intricately 
 and skillfully woven about the wretched man to permit him 
 to make an effort to escape, and when reflection convinced 
 him that any attempt he might make to expose Carter's guilt 
 would be futile because of his inability to produce proofs of 
 the same, and that perhaps such endeavor on his part would 
 only result in more suffering to himself, even perpetual sep- 
 aration from his child, he became the unresisting tool of 
 Carter. Entirely abandoning his once steady habits of em- 
 ployment, he tried to drown his wild longing for his child, 
 and his dreadful remorse, by indulging a growing appetite for 
 liquor. Under that influence he was still weaker to oppose 
 schemes of evil, and Carter, speedily becoming aware of that 
 fact, plied the poor wretch with drink in order to induce a 
 readier assent to his evil plots. Thus Sullivan sunk until he 
 became at last so wandering a begger, rarely remaining two 
 consecutive days in the same place, and taking mostly to the 
 mountains, that people gave him the sobriquet of ' Rick of 
 the Hills.' Everybody knew him because of his wandering 
 habits, and while most persons were repelled, because of the 
 repulsive exterior which his hard, wretched life had given 
 him, no one feared him. It was not known that he was inti- 
 mate with Carter, for it was a part of the latter's policy to con- 
 ceal that fact. With the little boy he had in charge, Carter 
 had taken up his residence in the immediate vicinity of the 
 O'Donoghue homestead ; he had sufficient means to live in a 
 style which must proclaim to the simple country folk a person 
 of no mean birth nor breeding, and as he was a regular 
 attendant, and in time a generous benefactor of, the little 
 parish chapel, he won the favor of the kind-hearted clergy- 
 Giving out that his youthful charge, whom he continued
 
 FATHER (f CONNOR 8 TALE. 4a , 
 
 to call by the name in the baptismal certificate which he had 
 o fraudulently obtained, was the orphan child of dear deceased 
 friends, he hired a nurse for it a woman of the neighbor- 
 hood whose gossipy character was in itself a recommendation 
 to the wily Carter. He managed so that she should repeat 
 incidents of his daily life and instances of his charity which 
 must win for him the esteem and trust of the entire neighbor- 
 hood. He succeeded ; not even Cairn O'Donoghue, the head 
 of the O'Donoghue homestead, and a man whose virtues were 
 written on every heart that ever knew him, was regarded with 
 more favor than Mortimer Carter eventually received. 
 
 " His unrequited love for Marie had transferred itself with 
 as wild an ardor to Marie's daughter. In the youthful linea- 
 ments of the child was a growing reproduction of her mother's 
 face, and each time that Carter saw her, which he frequently 
 did, through opportunities of his own making, he yearned to 
 hasten the time in which, with Marie of marriageable age, he 
 intended, by fair means or foul, to make her his wife. He 
 was not well pleased that Sullivan had surrendered possession 
 of her, but with his usual confidence in his own ability, he 
 doubted not, at the arrival of the time, to be able to devise a 
 scheme which should place her within his power. 
 
 " One day he was afforded an opportunity of saving the life 
 of the youthful heir of the O'Donoghues Carroll, a baby, 
 who, springing from his nurse's arms, had fallen into the 
 stream, on the bank of which little Marie, now known as Nora 
 McCarthy, and Carter's little charge had been playing. 
 Carter, who was present and witnessed the accident, saved the 
 child. The boy's parents sought every means of testifying 
 their gratitude ; Carter and his charge became constant 
 visitors, and the former, in his business conference with Cairn 
 O'Donoghue, evinced so much financial ability, as well as 
 shrewd judgment in other matters, that the intimacy culmi- 
 nated in Carter making his abode with the family, and his 
 youthful charge receiving the same care and attention as the 
 children of the house.
 
 42a CARROLL GTDONOQHUE. 
 
 " During this time the unhappy, wandering Sullivan wan- 
 dering always with the hope of somewhere meeting with his 
 little one, and of whom he never could conceive that she was 
 other than the infant who had been snatched from him, fre- 
 quently sought Carter by stealth to beg the whereabouts of 
 his child ; but the answer was always the same : the child was 
 well, and well done for, but the time had not come to give 
 her to her father ; and then the wonted threats were repeated, 
 and the liquor used, and ' Rick of the Hills ' sunk again into 
 his miserable cowardly state. 
 
 " Mrs. O'Donoghue, as beloved as her husband, died in 
 giving birth to a girl two years the junior of the heir of the 
 house, and the little family, now comprising the brother and 
 sister, and the adopted girl and boy, were as fond and united 
 as though really bound by the ties of kindred. When the 
 boys became old enough, they were sent to college ; it was 
 the first separation among the young people, and it was sorely 
 felt. But a greater trouble was to visit them ; before the 
 education of either was completed they were recalled to the 
 death-bed of him who had been so true a father to them all. 
 Cairn O'Donoghue died, appointing Mortimer Carter the legal 
 guardian of his children. The boys returned to college, the 
 girls lived daily lives of edification and blessing, while Carter 
 apparently was so exemplary in his conduct that he had the 
 entire trust and affection of his wards. 
 
 " On the completion of Carroll's collegiate course, and when 
 he came home in the full vigor of buoyant manhood, Carter 
 perceived what he had feared would happen an affection 
 springing up between Carroll and Nora ; but he would do 
 nothing just then to prevent it ; he preferred to wait, feeling 
 that before the affair would reach its climax, a scheme which 
 he had already devised would prove an effectual bar. Acci- 
 dent favored him. The Fenian rising was in agitation, and 
 Carroll, of the very temperament to be allured into the move- 
 ment, participated with heart and soul in all its measures. 
 Then was Carter's time. He was the idol of the impulsive
 
 FATHER VCONNORB TALK 4aj 
 
 young fellow to him Carroll confided everything ; and to 
 Mortimer now, believing that the latter was as devoted an ad- 
 herent of the cause as he was himself, he repeated all that he 
 knew of the secrets of the organization. It was easy then for 
 Carter to connive at Carroll's arrest and conviction, and the 
 young man was transported to Australia, and the ancient 
 O'Donoghue homestead, with its broad, beautiful lands, encum- 
 bered by debt, owing to the expense of Carroll's trial, and 
 other causes, passed from possession of its heirs, and was put 
 into the market to be sold. 
 
 " Carter exulted that so much was accomplished ; then, 
 providing a moderately comfortable, but humble, home for the 
 two girls, he proposed for the hand of Nora McCarthy ; that 
 was the first revelation which his ward had of his true charac- 
 ter ; he was scorned, and the favor with which he had been 
 regarded was changed to indignation and contempt. 
 
 " Then his passion for revenge became active. He threat- 
 ened them with eviction from the very shelter which, with 
 pretended kindness, he had provided, unless Miss McCarthy 
 consented : he was again spurned, and the two unprotected 
 girls took refuge in the home of their life-long friend, the 
 pastor of the village. All of Carter's transactions, feigning to 
 be one in heart with the Fenians, and cloaking the free access 
 which he was permitted to Tralee garrison under the pretense 
 of securing information for the adherents of the Irish cause, 
 were fully understood by poor Rick of the Hills ; his wander- 
 ing life enabled him to learn various items of news, and he 
 was shrewd enough to fathom more of Carter's secrets than 
 the latter desired him to do. Carter's sincerity was beginning 
 to be doubted by others also ; various reports were circulated 
 about him, but with all that, he had sufficient powers of arti- 
 fice to maintain, not alone his reputable standing, but the un- 
 reserved confidence of those partisans of the Irish cause who 
 were most influential in his neighborhood. He had turned 
 secret informer for the sake of the reward. 
 
 " Carroll O'Donoghue escaped from Australia and returned
 
 4S4 CARROLL VDONOQHUK 
 
 safely to Ireland. He was in secret quarters waiting an op- 
 portunity to pay a stealthy visit to his sister and his affianced. 
 Rick knew of his arrival, though Carter did not, and Rick had 
 learned, through unguarded hints dropped by Carter, that in- 
 formation had been supplied to the authorities which would 
 bring a military force to the very spot where Carroll was se- 
 creted in the bosom of a devoted band. Rick warned the un- 
 suspecting fellows, without disclosing his own suspicion that 
 it was Carter who had supplied the information not that he 
 did it to save the traitor, but lest the latter, discovering at 
 any time that Rick had been in any instance untrue to him, 
 might take the revenge he never ceased to threaten. The 
 military force, with Captain Dennier at its head, marched to 
 the spot to which they were ordered, only to find all flown 
 whom they had expected to capture. On their return they 
 lost themselves in the wild way by which they had to journey. 
 Rick of the Hills saw them, and concealed himself, till, divin- 
 ing from th?ir manner that they had lost their way, he 
 was impelled, by the hope of perhaps learning something 
 which might benefit Carroll O'Donoghue, to appear among 
 them as a wild fellow who had little or no sense. He did 
 so, and acted as guide for the party back to the garrison, 
 where he met, to his own surprise, and to Carter's discom- 
 fiture, Mortimer Carter, and the latter learned from Rick 
 of Carroll's presence in Ireland. His scheming now became 
 more vigorous and deadly. He set every faculty to work to 
 gain information which should insure young O'Donoghue's 
 recapture ; and he succeeded so far as even to make the 
 miserable Rick become at last the betrayer of Carroll the 
 latter was arrested just without the house which had been the 
 shelter of his sister and his affianced. But the law was too 
 slow for the traitor Carter he would have O'Donoghue out 
 of the way quickly ; and he planned an escape for the pris 
 oner, then gave information to the authorities which should 
 cost Carroll his life, either by a shot from one of the armed 
 guards, or a speedier conviction when this attempt to escape
 
 FATHER VCONNOR8 TALK 42J 
 
 should be brought forward on the trial as evidence against the 
 prisoner. Carter was also determined to press his suit with 
 Nora McCarthy in a way which he fancied must compel her 
 to accept him. He took Rick more into his confidence, and 
 revealed to him for the first time all his mad passion for the 
 beautiful girl ; degraded as poor Sullivan was, he had yet 
 sufficient manhood to express to Carter's face his indignation 
 at the thought of such an alliance ; but what was his horror 
 and d'smay when he found it proposed to him that he should 
 claim this girl as his daughter ! sufficient was known to 
 Father Meagher to prove his claim, and then, to Rick's greater 
 horror, he stated how that it was in view of this very pro- 
 ject he, Carter, had concealed for all these years Cathleen Sul- 
 livan from her father. From the moment that he had learned 
 of Rick's surrender of little Marie to the O'Donoghues, and 
 knew what advantages would be hers, he thought how, should 
 she, when of marriageable age, refuse his hand, he could 
 humble her by producing Rick as her father that was the 
 plan by which he had intended to frustrate her marriage with 
 Carroll O'Donoghue ; and should it be insufficient to prevent 
 it, at least it would cover her with shame. For the purpose 
 of carrying out his cruel scheme he had continued to hide 
 Cathleen Sullivan from her father ; so doing gave him a 
 power which always kept Rick his unresisting tool. And 
 Rick was forced to consent. But Carter did not bargain for 
 the issue. He had not correctly estimated Nora McCarthy's 
 noble character. He had supposed that she would shrink 
 from the horror and the shame of being this vagabond-beg- 
 gar's daughter, and he had told Rick to place before her two 
 alternatives either to become Carter's wife, with the world 
 remaining in ignorance of her parentage, or to refuse to do 
 so, and be published as the daughter of Rick of the Hills. 
 But Sullivan, dumbfounded at the noble manner in which she 
 received his revelation, could not speak to her as Carter had 
 bade him do he could only endeavor to act his wretched 
 part as best he might. Nora McCarthy, believing herself to
 
 4 a6 
 
 CARROLL &DONOGHUB. 
 
 be Rick's child, yielded all to go with him home, friend^ 
 the lover to whom she was affianced, and her noble devotion 
 to the unhappy wretch, her efforts to reclaim him, her pure, 
 angelic character, touched and won his heart ; he could no 
 longer endure her sacrifice, and he came to me and told this 
 story. Previously accident had given me information of a 
 young woman, named Cathleen, whom Carter had brought 
 when a baby to a widow living in the north of Ireland, and 
 to whom he paid regular sums for the child's care. He claimed 
 to be the little one's uncle, and he made occasional visits to 
 see her. I had no hesitation in pronouncing her to be Sulli- 
 van's abducted child, and I saw the poor, unhappy father de- 
 part for the place of her abode. 
 
 " I have finished, my lord, and I await your answer." 
 
 He stood with folded arms, and head slightly bent forward, 
 the flush on his cheeks deepened to a vivid glow. Lord 
 Heathcote at last removed his hand, and raised his head ; was 
 that the stern, cold face which had dropped to its hidden po- 
 sition at the beginning of the tale that white, aged looking 
 countenance ? every line had been brought forth with startling 
 distinctness, every feature betrayed an agony upon which it 
 was painful to look. He rose from his chair, and tottered to 
 the priest, saying, in so cracked a voice that it might have be- 
 longed to eighty, rather than the fifty years he was ; 
 
 " This cruelly injured husband of Marie this Walter 
 Berkeley did he who unfolded to you this tale tell you who 
 he was ? " 
 
 The priest bowed low, and responded ; " He did, my lord. 
 Carter had unguardedly on one occasion imparted to him 
 that knowledge. You, my lord, are the Walter Berkeley of 
 my tale." 
 
 " Oh, God!" 
 
 The nobleman flung his hand wildly to his forehead, then, 
 as if seized by some sudden convulsion, he clutched frantic- 
 ally at the air for a moment, and Father O'Connor, alarmed, 
 hastened to support him.
 
 FATHER Gf CONNOR B TALR 4,7 
 
 * Thank you ; I am better," he said, when he had rallied ; 
 and he stiove to assume the wonted coldness of his voice, as 
 he released himself from the gentle hold. " But this is an 
 idle tale," he continued, quickly ; " what proofs have you to 
 sustain Marie Dougherty's innocence of all that has been im- 
 puted to her what proofs to show that Sullivan's story is not 
 a concoction to shield himself ? " 
 
 " None, my lord, beyond what I have told you she who 
 could prove its truth has long since been accorded justice in 
 Heaven." 
 
 " Do you believe it did this mysterious tale carry convic- 
 tion to your heart ? " and the nobleman seemed to await th 
 answer in trembling expectation. 
 
 " It did, my lord ; full and entire ! " 
 
 Lord Heathcote tottered to his chair, and sunk into it The 
 perspiration stood in beads upon his face, and his breath was 
 labored. " You tell me," he said, speaking with difficulty, 
 " that the daughter of this Marie Dougherty grew to be the 
 image of her mother is she aught like this ? " 
 
 He pulled from his bosom a golden case, set round with 
 pearls ; touching the spring, it opened and revealed the 
 counterpart of Nora McCarthy. The likeness was so exact 
 and so vivid that the priest started, and his manner, 
 more even than his words, expressed the resemblance which 
 the picture bore to its living copy. He closed the case and 
 returned it to his breast, then, leaning forward until his 
 labored breath seemed to fan his listener's face, he said : 
 
 " The twin son of this Marie Dougherty whom Carter ab- 
 ducted where is he now what is he doing ?" 
 
 " Living obscurely among the poor of Ireland, with no de- 
 sire save to do what little good he can, and remain un- 
 known to the world." 
 
 " Is he known to you ? " The question was put in a pain- 
 fully eager way. 
 
 "He is, my lord." 
 
 Lord Heathcote leaned back and closed his eyes ; but Uv
 
 4a g CARROLL VLONOGHUK 
 
 working of his mouth betrayed how little diminished was hw 
 inward agitation. After a few minutes he looked up, and said 
 with the first natural tone of voice he had used since the con- 
 clusion of the startling tale : 
 
 " You have admitted that you know this son of Marie 
 Dougherty whom Carter is said to have abducted do you 
 also know his twin brother, whom Berkeley was reported to 
 -have carried to England ? did no suspicion ever enter the 
 mind of Sullivan did he never gain from Carter any infor- 
 mation which might lead him to surmise the identity of this 
 son ? " 
 
 " Never, my lord, to my knowledge I do not know the 
 young man." 
 
 " But this daughter this counterpart of her injured mothei 
 you know her ? " 
 
 " I do, my lord, well." 
 
 " And did you not, when this strange story was told you, 
 immediately unfold it to this sister and brother, or did you 
 not hint at portions of it which might work upon their 
 minds ? " 
 
 M No, my lord ; my first and only impulse was to come 
 to you. All that I have told you is buried in my own 
 breast." 
 
 A look of satisfaction crossed Lord Heathcote's features, 
 and he said in a still more natural tone : " Will you bind 
 yourself to follow some instructions I desire to give you ? " 
 
 " I shall be happy to do so, my lord, if they conflict with no 
 duty." 
 
 "They will not. I would have you maintain profound 
 secrecy about all that you have told me, and I would have 
 you bring to me, here in the castle, this girl, Nora McCarthy 
 I would see her without having anything of this interview 
 disclosed to her. Can you do this ? " 
 
 A shade passed over the priest's face. " I do not know, my 
 lord ; but I can try, and should I fail I shall acquaint you* 
 lordship."
 
 FATHER V CONNOR 8 TALK 42 g 
 
 Lord Heathcote bowed his assent, then touched the hand- 
 bell at his side, and waving an adieu to Father O'Connor as 
 the attendant entered the room, leaned back in his chair and 
 dosed his eyea.
 
 CHAPTER Lit 
 
 THl WORK OF A SPY. 
 
 FATHER O'CONNOR, the prey of emotions as wild and varied 
 u much of the scenery through which he passed on his return 
 journey, hastened back to Tralee. There he found, to his 
 relief, Nora once more in the bosom of her friends Clare and 
 she both inmates of genial Mrs. Murphy's home, Father 
 Meagher coming up from Dhrommacohol as often as the duties 
 of his pastoral charge would permit, and Dennier, in his 
 courteous, kindly way dropping in as frequently as tke laws of 
 etiquette allowed, but far too seldom to satisfy the desire of his 
 own impetuous heart ; and he found also Tighe a Vohr once 
 more installed as Dennier's valet ; but he found all too sad at 
 the thought of Carroll's approaching doom to wear even 
 the semblance of a smile, and his own emotions, roused into 
 wildest being by the scene through which he had so lately 
 passed, were also subdued and saddened by the near approach 
 of that dreadful end. He had little time, however, to give to 
 deliberations other than those required for the delicate mission 
 intrusted to him by Lord Heathcote, and he seized the first 
 opportunity of requesting from Nora a private interview. 
 
 She bad become anxious about Rick, and having received 
 no word from him, her first thought was that Father O'Connor 
 had perhaps some alarming intelligence to communicate. 
 
 " No," the priest said in answer to her fears when they were 
 alone, " you have no cause for alarm ; but perhaps you will 
 wonder when I ask you to come immediately with me to 
 Dublia." 
 
 14 To Dublin why ? * she could hardly speak from surprise. 
 
 * I cannot tell you, Nora I have only to ask you to sub- 
 (430)
 
 TEE WORK OF A SPY. 43, 
 
 mil blindly to my directions in this matter I have only to 
 say that I think it is well for you to go." 
 
 " Ah ! I understand," she said quietly ; "poor Rick " and 
 then she stopped and corrected herself " my father is there 
 ill ; he has acquainted you of it, but he would not let me 
 know, lest it should induce me to make some sacrifice, and he 
 has written to you not to tell me ; but you think it is my duty 
 to know and to go to him. Is not that it ? " 
 
 " No, Nora ; that is not it ; but this journey, if you will 
 undertake it, may go far to right a wrong of the past, and to 
 restore a reputation which has been foully defamed." 
 
 " Carroll," she said, " it will take me from him." 
 
 " Only for a few days, and as they tell me all of you have 
 been refused access to him for the present, your absence can 
 hardly make much difference." 
 
 " I shall go," she said quietly. " How soon shall we start ? " 
 
 " Can you be ready this evening ? " 
 
 She gave a brief assent. 
 
 They turned away to join Clare, and at that instant the 
 knocker on Mrs. Murphy's hall door sounded. It was Den- 
 nier, with the announcement that he was called to Dublin by a 
 most importunate letter from Lord Heathcote, and that he 
 would be obliged to start for the capital that very evening. 
 
 " Miss McCarthy and I are also going," said Father O'Con- 
 nor ; " with your kind permission, we would prefer to travel in 
 your company." 
 
 It was the first announcement of Nora's intended journey, 
 and Clare became frightened. " Going to Dublin ! " she ie- 
 peated in a dazed way ! " going to leave Carroll and to leave 
 me what does it mean ! " 
 
 Father O'Connor took her aside, in his own quiet, gentle 
 way soothing her and explaining without, however revealing 
 aught that he was told to conceal, why it was not practicable 
 to grant her request to accompany Nora. She seemed satis- 
 fied, determining to return at once to Dhrommacohol, and 
 there remain until Nora came back ; and when the two gen-
 
 43 , CARROLL VDONOQHUR. 
 
 ticmen, each actuated by the thought of how to provide an 
 escort for her in the short time that remained before the be- 
 ginning of their own journey, looked blankly at each other, 
 he herself proposed that Tighe should accompany her. Den- 
 nier gladly assented, willingly submitting to the inconvenience 
 of providing another servant during his stay in Dublin. Hasty 
 preparations for the journeys began, and then all accompanied 
 Clare to see her first upon her way. The little party were too 
 absorbed in themselves to note how their steps were dogged 
 from the moment of their departure from Mrs. Murphy's until 
 their arrival at the place where Clare and Tighe and Shaun 
 were to take the mail-car for Dhrommacohol. There the spy, 
 a dark-browed, heavy-looking man, waiting only to see the 
 little party standing together as if all were about to journey 
 the same way, turned about, and hurrying into a side street, 
 entered a place which seemed to comprise all the character- 
 istics of a shebeen. There, lounging against the counter, was 
 a man as villainous looking. 
 
 " Good day to you, Jack," said the new-comer ; " faith 
 you're in luck's way, for I have Carther's money to trate you 
 wid ; come, old fellow " accompanying his last words by a 
 hearty slap on Jack's stalwart shoulders, " and we'll have a 
 pint of mulled porter together." 
 
 With every evidence of delight, he to whom the invitation 
 was given accepted it, and the two repaired to an inner room, 
 which was filled up with round tables and wooden chairs. 
 
 " So things are progressing, Thade," said he who had been 
 addressed as Jack, " between yoursel' and Carter ? " 
 
 " Faith, they couldn't be foiner I have nothin' to throuble 
 me moind wid but watchin' Rick o' the Hills an' his young 
 lady daughther, an* jist repoortin' all their movemints to ould 
 Carther, an' he grases me fist for it ivery toime. First, whin 
 the pair lived at Mrs. Murphy's, it seems he didn't have any 
 watch on thim, but jist as they were lavin' there he gev me 
 the job. Well, I thracked thim closely. They wint from 
 Mrs. Murphy's to a poor place intoirely, an' I used to see UM
 
 THE WORK OF A SPY. 4J3 
 
 young lady it'd be a sin to call her anything else, even if she 
 is Rick's daughther, be rayson o' her beauty, goin' out as if 
 it moight be on business, an' goin' out o' her way to pass the 
 jail ; well, I tould ould Carther the whole o' it, an* I don't 
 know what happened, or what was betune thim, but what do 
 you think o' this, Jack ? " Thade's voice descended to a very 
 low whisper, and his head leaned forward till it almost touched 
 that of his listener " the ould sinner planned to carry her 
 off ; to take her be stealth away from her father. He had 
 mesel', an* Shaun Hurley, and Jimmy Carberry, all ingaged, 
 an' it was to be the most parfect abduction at all. He'd have 
 no difficulty in the world in gettin' into the house, for he was 
 already purvided wid a skeleton kay to open the hall dure, 
 an' we were to folly him up to Rick's apartmints, an' 
 he was to rap for admission, an' invint some sthory that'd 
 make Rick open to us, whin we were to fall on Rick an' over- 
 power him, an' thin secure the young lady. A carriage was 
 to be in waitin', an' we were all to dhrive off to a distant part 
 intoirely. Well, that was all fixed, Jack, for the noight afther 
 Mr. O'Donoghue's sintince was passed, an' we were in readi- 
 ness, whin, what did I see that viry mornin' but Rick, an' his 
 daughther, an' Mrs. Murphy, all goin' to Mrs. Murphy's 
 house, an' I found out that they had lift where they lived, 
 intoirely. Whin I tould that to ould Carther he was loike a 
 ragin' madman ; you see he was afeered to folly up his scheme 
 in Mrs. Murphy's house, bein' a different place intoirely, an* 
 moreover, Mrs. Murphy havin' a husband, an' two young min 
 o' sons that it moightn't be well to encounther. So he jist 
 had to let the matther dhrop until he could invint another 
 plan. He tould me, howiver, to continue the watch, an' I 
 did, an' whin I repoorted how the young lady began to go 
 out agin alone, he was hopm' that she'd go out some evenin' 
 alone ; and I had me ordhers, me an' Shaun Hurley, who was 
 to be always ready wid a carriage widin hearin' o' me 
 whistle. Me ordhers were to rush up to her, an' hould her 
 in such a way that she couldn't scream while I whistled for
 
 434 CARROLL VUUJXVVHUK 
 
 Shaun, an' the pair o' us were to hustle her into the carriage 
 But that too didn't happen, Jack, for the rayson that she 
 niver wint out afther dark, an' there was no chance o' kid- 
 nappin' her in the middle o' the open sthrate in dayloight 
 Well, now she's off to-day wid some o' her frinds for Dhrom- 
 macohol, an' how ould Carther will take that I'm powerliss to 
 ay." 
 
 "And Rick of the Hills "asked Jack, "did he go to 
 Dhrommacohol to-day too ? " 
 
 " I didn't see him ; he's away somewhere, for I haven't laid 
 eyes on him since the mornin' he wint wid his daughther to 
 Mrs. Murphy's roight afther that I saw him lave the house, 
 but as he didn't have the young lady wid him, I didn't moind 
 follying him, to me own loss, for it's Carther that's anxious to 
 know where Rick is he offered to double what he gives me 
 if I'd foind out for him, an* I've been strainin' me eyes wher- 
 iver I'd be, but it's no use ; Rick isn't in Tralee. Come, drink 
 man, an* we'll have another pint afore I go to give me re- 
 poort to Carther." 
 
 The second pint was ordered, and over its inspiriting con- 
 tents the boon friends grew more genial and more communi- 
 cative. 
 
 " It was a great surprise," said he who had already imparted 
 so much information, " whin Carther turned informer in the 
 open coort it med the greatest sthir that was med in Tralee 
 for many a day." 
 
 " Well then," answered Jack, " it's past my understanding 
 why it should ; Carter was suspected all along of giving infor- 
 mation to the government sure how could he make the 
 money he has, if it wasn't for that ? " 
 
 " True for you," was -he response ; " but somehow, Carter 
 had a way wid him that med some payple thrust him roight 
 in the face o' the decate he moight be playin' at that minit 
 You moind, Jack, the toime he was robbed in his room o' a 
 curtain paper the toime that he said two min rushed in an' 
 med him insinsible, an' thin sarched him till they found the 
 they wanted ? "
 
 THE WORK OF A SPT. 4^5 
 
 * I do," answered Jack. 
 
 "Well, you moind how he laid Tighe a Vohr down for 
 that I heerd him say that in me own prisince > an' he had 
 throng thoughts o' takin' the law an Tighe ; but he found he 
 couldn't, for he hadn't one proof to bring forward. He'd have 
 to shwear to the man who rushed at him, an' the clarest case 
 he'd be able to make o* it would be that Tighe had hired the 
 parties to rob him ; an' even that same he wouldn't be able to 
 prove so he had to dhrop it. An' it was said in McGinnis's 
 the other noight " again the voice dropped to a very low 
 whisper " that Carther wouldn't have gone on the witness 
 shtand himsel' only for the loss o' the paper he was robbed 
 *v, he was afeered if that tistimony was wantin' he'd lose the 
 money that he gets for his informin'." 
 
 Jack nodded his head in knowing corroboration of the 
 statement, and both worthies, having exhausted their budget 
 of contraband news, and drained the last of their mulled 
 porter, rose to depart. He who had been addressed as Thade 
 wended his way to Carter's lodgings. 
 
 That gentleman was only then breakfasting ; a late debauch 
 the state of his conscience, and the failure of his plans 
 goaded him to deep potations keeping him in bed till long 
 past noon. He ordered Thade to be admitted, and without 
 relinquishing his efforts to masticate the grilled bone before 
 him, he said with his mouth full : 
 
 " Well, Thade, what's the news now ? " 
 
 " The divil a liss than Miss Sullivan is off to Dhrommaco- 
 hol wid Miss O'Donoghue, an' that Englishman that goes to 
 Mrs. Murphy's so much lately, an' a young praste, an' Tighe a 
 Vohr." 
 
 Carter dropped his bone, and ceased to masticate. 
 " When ? " he asked. 
 
 " They wint in the last mail-car that lift." 
 
 "And Rick of the Hills where was he?" Cartel's voice 
 had become agitated. 
 
 14 The divil a know I know sure there's nayther hide not 
 hair o' him to be had in Tralee."
 
 CARROLL VDONOQHUTS. 
 
 Carter rose his agitation would find its old vent he must 
 pace the room, and he did so, stopping after intervals to rub 
 his face, as if that action might help to clear his intricate 
 thoughts. His visitor watched with a look expressive of his 
 own shrewd conclusions. Carter paused at length. "Will 
 you run down to Dhrommacohol, Thade, and keep the same 
 watch there that you did here ? you know the place well, and 
 it will not be difficult for you to act the spy on Miss Sulli- 
 van's movements, and report to me by letter ; you are able to 
 write, I believe ?" 
 
 " Oh, I can write, Mr. Carther, aisy enough it's only the 
 spellin' that bothers me ; but it'd be unconvanient for me to 
 lave Tralee now, onless you'd make it worth me while." 
 
 " Certainly, Thade, I'll do that and welcome ; you shall 
 have no cause to complain only serve me well." 
 
 " Never fear, Mr. Carther I'll sarve ye to the bist o' me 
 powers ! " and having received from Carter the stipend which 
 was always the reward of his report, and promising to depart 
 that very evening for Dhrommacohol, Thade took his leave. 
 
 Once more the traitor began his agitated stride of the room, 
 and this time all his fiendish emotions were suffered to appeal 
 in his bloated countenance rage, hate, jealousy struggled to- 
 gether in his breast, and swept by turns over a face in which 
 the stamp of a guilty soul had long been set " Rick has at 
 last discovered upon me !" he said, as he walked ; "it must 
 be so, or he would be seen somewhere ; and that is why Nora 
 has returned to Dhrommacohol. They all know the story 
 now, and what will become of me what, oh what, if any of 
 them should take steps to acquaint Lord Heathcote ? Pshaw ! 
 what a fool I am ! there is no proof to fasten the guilt upon 
 me, but there is every proof to place it on Rick ; I shall not 
 fear." He straightened himself and walked with a firmer step. 
 " I have wealth, and when I receive the amount which I ex- 
 pect for having turned witness against Carroll O'Donoghue, I 
 shall have enough to purchase the O'Donoghue estate, and 
 when Carroll is hung i may nnd means to ooiam possession
 
 THE WORK OF A SPY. 437 
 
 of Nora, If I do not, I shall at least gall them all by my 
 ownership of the O'Donoghue property, even though I can- 
 not make of it a home. It was a desperate stroke," he con- 
 tinued, folding his arms and walking with slower gait, "to 
 turn open informer in the court, but the loss of the paper I 
 had obtained from Carroll left me no other alternative the 
 case was to be closed that day, and the testimony did not 
 seem to be sufficient to fully convict him ; did I not go on 
 the stand I should have been despoiled, not alone of the 
 O'Donoghue homestead, but of my revenge the execution 
 of Carroll. Beside, there was nothing more to be gained by 
 pretending to be true to the prisoner, and by informing thus 
 openly I could crush both him and his affianced," speaking 
 with bitter mockery " Nora Sullivan, or Marie Berkeley." 
 
 He strode to the closet and helped himself bountifully to 
 the contents of one of the bottles on the shelf ; then, ap- 
 parently calmed and fortified, he returned to the table, and 
 prepared to resume operations on his grilled bone. 
 
 " No," he said, suspending his knife and fork in the air for 
 a moment, " I am safe and I shall remain quietly wait- 
 ing Carroll's hanging, and Thade's reports from Dhrommaco- 
 hol, and then, when I have purchased the O'Donoghue estate, 
 I shall plan for other successes." 
 
 He bent to his breakfast with renewed ardor, compensating 
 by his animal gratification for all his recent discomfiture ad 
 anxiety.
 
 CHAPTER Lilt 
 
 FATHER AND SON. 
 
 THE journey to Dublin was made with all the speed oi 
 moderate steam travel, but the little party, each of whom was 
 earnestly wrapped in his or her anxious and wandering thoughts, 
 could have wished that the speed was increased Nora, be- 
 cause of the fears of being delayed from Carroll ; Father 
 O'Connor, from a certain anxiety to know what would result 
 from the journey ; and Dennier, owing to a wild desire to 
 learn at once on what business Lord Heathcote wished to see 
 him ; he questioned not how his lordship knew the very ad- 
 dress to which to send his summons he deemed it the result 
 of accident ; and when he looked at his two companions, 
 reading with pain the care and grief marked in their counte- 
 nances, he fancied he knew the cause of their mysterious 
 journey to Dublin that it was to beg Lord Heathcote to 
 use his influence for some mitigation of the sentence of the 
 beloved prisoner ; yes, he was sure that such was the object 
 the silence of both regarding the cause of their journey, 
 the refusal to permit Clare to accompany them, all tended to 
 prove the truth of his conjecture, and he almost sickened as 
 he thought how worse than useless would be their effort 
 Having arrived at the capital, they repaired to one of the 
 hotels for refreshment and a brief rest, in order that pale, 
 tired Nora might be somewhat recruited. The afternoon wai 
 far advanced, but Father O'Connor would make the effort to 
 ice Lord Heathcote, unseemly as might be the hour. 
 
 44 You are not too fatigued to make a visit with me ? " he 
 aid kindly to Nora. 
 
 " No, my anxiety lends me strength ; but surely you caa 
 tell me now where we are going." 
 (438)
 
 FATHER AND 802T. ^ g 
 
 The priest flushed slightly. " Pardon me, Nora, if even 
 yet I must refuse to gratify you ; it seems cruel to keep you 
 in such suspense, but I am bound I have given my word, and 
 I cannot break it ; and this affair, so mysterious and harrowing 
 to you, is equally so to me." 
 
 There was such a quiver of sadness in his voice that the 
 gentle girl's heart was at once touched ; she put her hand 
 upon his arm with the old fond, familiar touch of their early 
 childhood, and answered : " Forgive me, Charlie ; and I shall 
 repress my curiosity I shall not ask a single question more, 
 but simply do your bidding." 
 
 How the young priest quivered at her touch ; how he 
 yearned to strain her to him, and to tell her that that paternal 
 affection which had always existed between them was theiri 
 by right that he was her brother ! but the time had not yet 
 come, and he turned away to meet Dennier, who had just 
 returned from his room, where he had made a careful toilet 
 for his visit to the castle a visit which his impatience would 
 not allow him to defer. 
 
 " Are you going out ? " he asked ; " to what part of the 
 city ? perhaps it lies in my direction ; and as I am rather 
 more familiar with the streets of Dublin, I may be of some 
 service as an escort." 
 
 The priest seemed a little nonplussed, but a moment's re- 
 flection enabled him to answer : " Mr. Dennier " it had been 
 the young man's earnest request to affix no military title to 
 his name, " for certain reasons I have refrained from speak- 
 ing of the immediate place of our destination, but I may tell 
 you now : it is Dublin Castle." 
 
 " Ah ! " young Dennier's countenance kindled, and he 
 seemed about to burst into some ardent statement ; but he 
 evidently controlled the impulse, for the light died as sudden- 
 ly out of his face, and he was silent for a moment. He was 
 more than ever convinced of the truth of his suimise, and he 
 had, during that instant that his face shone, burned to tell 
 how he guessed the import of their mission, and how he would
 
 .^ CARROLL VDONOQHUR 
 
 ^Ar* 
 
 fain dissuade them, knowing that the only result would b 
 failure and bitter humiliation ; but it was so delicate a matter, 
 and they had been so silent about it, that a second thought 
 prompted him to restrain his speech. He said instead after 
 that moment's silence : " Permit me, then, to be your escort 
 to the castle being somewhat familiar with the place, perhaps 
 I can facilitate your interview with the party whom you wish 
 to iee." 
 
 " But your own visit to the castle our going now may in- 
 terfere with, or delay it," said the priest. 
 
 " No," answered Dennier, " there is sufficient time for me ; 
 I beg you to allow me to perform this service." 
 
 Father O'Connor seemed to accept gratefully, and Nora, 
 despite her promise to repress her curiosity, looked the latter 
 feeling from her beautiful eyes. The three repaired to the 
 castle, and there, just as they were about to enter, the priest 
 admitted that it was Lord Heathcote he wished to see. Den- 
 nier expressed no surprise, but Nora started, and she could 
 scarcely restrain the exclamation upon her lips ; yet, true to 
 her promise, she did not question, and the young ex-officer, 
 having accompanied them to the room in waiting, whence 
 Father O'Connor dispatched his name to the nobleman, he 
 took a kindly leave. The answer was almost immediately re- 
 turned, that his lordship would see the Reverend Father 
 O'Connor. 
 
 " You will not fear to wait my return here ? " he whispered 
 to Nora. 
 
 " Oh, no," she answered, striving to accompany her words 
 with a smile, but her surprise and anxiety were too painfuL 
 She was not left long alone ; in a comparatively short time 
 Father O'Connor returned : 
 
 " Lord Heathcote desires to see you, Nora," trying to 
 speak quietly, but his manner betrayed more agitation than 
 she had perceived ever before. She rose to accompany him, 
 but her limbs trembled so that she was obliged to cling to 
 him for support
 
 FATHER AND SON. 44I 
 
 " Why, what is the matter ? " he asked ; " you have nothing 
 to fear." 
 
 " I do not know why I should feel so," she answered ; ** but 
 oh ! Charlie, this dreadful mystery oppresses me." 
 
 Her looks gave evidence of the truth of her statement 
 her cheeks were flushed to the deepest crimson, her eyes 
 sparkling with strange excitement, and the small chiseled 
 mouth parted to emit the labored breathing ; but all only en- 
 hanced her beauty, which, despite the plainness of her garb, 
 never had been more striking nor brilliant. 
 
 " Pray ! " whispered the priest 
 
 She did pray all during the ascent to Lord Heathcote's 
 apartments, and even for the first moment after her entrance 
 into the presence of the nobleman, her lips moved with the 
 closing of her favorite petition, the " Hail Mary." 
 
 His lordship did not look at her at first he sat in his 
 invalid chair with his hand before his face ; and it was only 
 when his visitors stood fully within the room, and the usher 
 had withdrawn, that he dropped his hand, and rising, stood 
 before them. 
 
 What strange feeling was it which came over poor bewildered 
 Nora, as she met the earnest, unveiled gaze of those dark, 
 stern eyes, as she looked into that worn and prematurely aged 
 face, bent now upon her with so singularly wistful an expres- 
 sion ? what wild emotion was it which, threatening one mo- 
 ment to stifle her, the next left her pale and faint, clinging to 
 Father O'Connor's arm ? But the eyes were withdrawn 
 from her, and a cold, careless voice was saying : 
 
 " I have heard that both of you favor the prisoner who is 
 under sentence of death in Tralee are you aware that thii 
 is treason upon your part to the government ? " 
 
 And the stern eyes were again fixed upon Nora, as if an 
 answer was expected from her. But she only clung the 
 tighter to her companion. His lordship resumed, still look- 
 ng at Nora : 
 
 " I have been told that you are the affianced of this
 
 ... CARROLL O-DONOGffUS. 
 
 ^^* 
 
 man ; you then love him, I presume ? " He spoke slowly, ai 
 if he took pleasure in the agony which the words seemed to 
 cause her : " You would then suffer with him, I suppose you 
 would even suffer for him, perhaps ? ** 
 
 Nora never knew by what impulse she was prompted, as the 
 nobleman's last words passed his lips, nor could she ever ex- 
 plain how it had occurred, but she suddenly found herself on 
 her knees at his feet, wildly imploring Carroll's life. 
 
 " Oh, my lord ! " she said, with no thought beyond the 
 wild, uncontrollable feeling of the present moment, " if it is in 
 your power, save him use your influence that they may not 
 take his young life, spare hearts that are already wretched, 
 and which this stroke must surely break do this, my lord, 
 and the life-long prayers and gratitude of many shall be 
 yours ! " 
 
 " Rise, young lady ; you ask of me what is not consistent 
 with my office." He turned away, as if he would not witness 
 the priest's efforts to raise Nora and quiet her. 
 
 44 Take me away," she moaned " I am fainting ill ! " 
 
 "Will your lordship excuse us? we must retire," Father 
 O'Connor said, deeply agitated. 
 
 The nobleman returned : " Yes ; and to-morrow I would 
 see you alone," speaking to the priest. 
 
 Father O'Connor bowed, and the attendant, entering in re- 
 iponse to Lord Heathcote's summons, conducted them out. 
 In the waiting-room, whither the young clergyman paused to 
 allow Nora to recover the strength of her tottering limbs, a 
 servant entered, saying he was sent by Lord Heathcote to see 
 that the young lady received any attention she might require ; 
 but Nora only pleaded the more eagerly to be taken back to 
 the hotel, and there, when alone in her room, having assured 
 the priest and Dennier, who had met them on their return 
 from the castle, that she only needed rest, she gave free vent 
 to the anguish which had been so cruelly renewed by the 
 failure of her impulsive plea.
 
 FATHER AND SON. 443 
 
 Dennier, from a feeling of delicacy, still restrained all utter- 
 ance of the thoughts which burned all the more to break into 
 speech since Nora's disturbed manner gave such vivid color 
 to his suspicions.
 
 ^ CHAPTER LIT. 
 
 tm SUMMONS TO DUBLIH. 
 
 DENNIER had not long to wait for his interview with Lord 
 Heathcote almost immediately that his name was dispatched 
 the summons came for him to repair to his lordship. He was 
 not prepared for the altered appearance of the nobleman the 
 hair, which he had left but sparsely streaked with gray, was now 
 as white as if the snows of eighty winters had frosted it ; the 
 strong, stem face, bearing little mark to indicate that it had 
 more than passed a manly prime, bore painful evidence of 
 premature age ; and the form, so erect, so firm, so full oi the 
 vigor of its best days, was now bowed and tottering. Con- 
 trary to his usual custom, he was standing when Dennier 
 entered, and as the latter marked with painful surprise all the 
 evidence of the mysterious decay, there came into his heart, 
 with the itrange feeling which the sight of Lord Heathcote 
 always caused, a pity akin to filial tenderness for the noble- 
 
 Beyond the respectful greeting of the visitor, to which his 
 lordship responded by a slight bow, there was not a word 
 spoken for some seconds, and the young man was beginning 
 to feel a painful embarrassment. But Lord Heathcote spots 
 at last : 
 
 "I have sent for you, Dennier, to give you a final chance. 
 Youth is ever impetuous, and perhaps even now you regret the 
 hasty action of your resignation ; a position, wealth and in 
 the futre perchance, a title await you ; there is but one 
 condition required upon your part : the severing at once of 
 every attachment you may have formed in this country " 
 
 "I cannot, my lord, not if a kingdom Uy at any 
 The voice was low, but unmistakably firm.
 
 THE SUMMONS TO DUBLIN. ^ 
 
 "Who is the object of this loyal attachment of yours?" 
 Lord Heathcote asked hurriedly. 
 
 " The only sister of the prisoner who is to be executed in 
 Tralee two weeks from to-morrow," was the unhesitating 
 answer. 
 
 " And there is an engagement between you ? " 
 
 " On the contrary, my lord, no hint which might be con- 
 strued into affection upon either side has ever been dropped 
 the esteem, the love which from the first I have borne this 
 estimable girl, I was compelled to keep within my own breast 
 because I was the hound upon her brother's path, becoming 
 finally his captor ; she was noble enough to resent the friendly 
 feeling I fain would have expressed, pointing out its incon- 
 sistency with my profession. Since, however, it is no longer 
 my duty to be her enemy, my heart rests itself in the satis- 
 faction of being near her, to render what little service may be 
 in my power when the blow given by her brother's execution 
 shall have lost some of its pain, and when I shall have 
 asserted my manhood by devoting myself to some humble 
 toil ; then, should she refuse to reciprocate my regard, I shall 
 still remain near her to give her such protection as may be in 
 my power." 
 
 Lord Heathcote did not answer for a moment ; then he 
 spoke hurriedly, and with painful agitation : " Dennier, you 
 are the son of one near and dear to me, but his heart was 
 broken by the perfidy of an Irish wife she abandoned her 
 husband for an earlier love ; and the deceived man, from 
 that moment in which he was so ruthlessly dishonored, in 
 which all his wild affection for his young wife was so cruelly 
 betrayed, shut himself within the recesses of his own wretched 
 heart his pride would suffer him to inflict no punishment on 
 the guilty ones ; it would not permit him to blazon to the 
 world the defamation of his honorable name. His Irish mar- 
 riage had been a well-kept secret from his English friends 
 he would throw the veil of secrecy more profoundly about it 
 
 " He took back to England with him the child which th
 
 446 
 
 CARROLL VD02MGHUB. 
 
 guilty mother had left in the home she had deserted, and he 
 put it away from his household, and gave to it another name ; 
 and though he provided for it, and took extraordinary interest 
 in its career, people never dreamed of the secret motive of all 
 that singular concern. 
 
 " Honors and a title came to the unhappy father ; peers 
 ought him for an alliance with their daughters, the favor of 
 the very court became his, and unsought, and unwished, 
 wealth and influence showered about him but his heart 
 remained the cold, proud, aching thing it had become on the 
 wreck of his early happiness. He could not marry with all 
 his pride and sternness, with all the guilt of her who had so 
 miserably fallen, he could not shut her entirely from his heart. 
 He wore hei picture she had given it to him in the days of 
 their betrothal, and, oh, bitter confession ! he loved her still. 
 
 " The son grew up to win honor and distinction by the 
 rectitude of his conduct, and the father was secretly proud of 
 him, for secretly he well loved him ; but that son now refuses 
 to comfort a heart so long in sorrow ! " 
 
 Dennier could no longer control himself the face, the voice, 
 the manner of the nobleman thrilled him too earnestly, and 
 too strangely, for him to doubt longer the suspicion which 
 had entered his mind soon after the nobleman had begun his 
 last remarks. He bounded forward : 
 
 "This story is your own, Lord Heathcote you are my 
 father ! " 
 
 The nobleman's arms opened, and Dennier wa clasped 
 within them heart to heart, face against face.
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 CARTER'S HIGH HOPES. 
 
 THE fatigue of the journey, the pain of the suspense to 
 which she had been subjected, the renewal of her grief in the 
 failure of her plea to Lord Heathcote, told somewhat alarm- 
 ingly on Nora, when the next morning she struggled from her 
 room to meet Father O'Connor. The latter was wondering 
 a little at the absence of Dennier he had not returned to the 
 hotel since his departure for the castle the evening before. 
 
 " And I hesitate to leave you here alone," said the priest to 
 Nora, "while I call upon Lord Heathcote." 
 
 " Oh, no ! " she answered, smiling faintly ; " I can rest in 
 my room until your return. Perhaps then you will be able to 
 tell me the object of this journey." 
 
 "Perhaps so," he replied ; " but I assure you, Nora, it was 
 not to subject you to the pain which our visit yesterday gave 
 you." 
 
 44 Certainly not ; I understand that ! " striving to speak 
 cheerfully. 
 
 With some misgiving as to whether the solitude and retire- 
 ment of her own room were best for her in her present appar- 
 ently weak state, he left her, trusting, however, that the 
 period of his absence would be very brief. 
 
 In answer to the message which he sent to Lord Heathcote, 
 he was told that his lordship was too ill for an interview, but 
 he was requested to call on the morrow. Disappointed, and 
 more anxious than ever, he hastened back to Nora. 
 
 " To stay here another day ! " she exclaimed in sad dis- 
 may ; but that was her only murmur ; she saw that Father 
 O'Connor deemed it better to wait, and she tried to appear 
 (447)
 
 CARROLL VDONOGHUR. 
 
 resigned. Later in the day, when they were both growing 
 alarmed at Dennier's continued absence, a servant bearing a 
 note arrived from the castle it was from Dennier, addressed 
 to the clergyman, and ran : 
 
 " Forgive my apparent desertion I am engaged with some- 
 thing that may benefit our dear Carroll. Do not on any 
 account return to Tralee until you have seen me, and teu 
 Miss Sullivan not to be anxious because of the delay. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 WALTER." 
 
 Nora was instantly aglow. "What is it, Charlie ? is he, this 
 dear Captain Dennier, using his influence with Lord Heath- 
 cote will it be a commutation of the sentence?" She 
 seemed to have recovered in a second all her strength. 
 
 " I do not know I fear to allow myself to surmise," an- 
 swered the priest ; " but pray, Nora." 
 
 ***** 
 
 Carter's spy, Thade, had found quarters far too comfortable 
 in Dhrommacohol to care to report truthfully to his employer. 
 With money to treat old and long-absent cronies, with noth- 
 ing to do but plan for his comfort and enjoyment the whole 
 day long, and with a quiet, refreshing country life about him* 
 he compromised with his conscience by saying that, of course, 
 as he did not see Nora, she must be leading a very peaceful, 
 domestic life within doors. Did he report, the contrary, did 
 he conscientiously say that he saw nothing of her, neither in 
 the chapel on Sunday mornings, where she would be certain 
 to be, nor anywhere in the district of Dhromroacohol, he well 
 knew that he would be instantly recalled, and perhaps the 
 means of earning his comfortable stipends taken entirely from 
 him. So he wrote that Nora was quietly living in the little 
 pastoral residence, and Carter, not doubting the report, was 
 satisfied, and with his brazen confidence, constantly assuring 
 himself that he was safe, he waited for the execution of Car- 
 roll O'Donoghue. A week after Thade's departure, Cartet 
 was somewhat startled one morning to receive a letter with an
 
 CAHTEIi'S JUG II HOPES. 449 
 
 official seal, and marked with Lord Heathcote's coat of arms ; 
 it was from his lordship, speaking in terms which, though am- 
 biguous, still might be construed by a conceited mind into a 
 gratifying significance, and such an interpretation Carter put 
 upon them ; his round red face glowed with delight, and it in- 
 creased when he found on further perusal that his immediate 
 presence was requested at Dublin Castle. 
 
 41 Ah," he said, rubbing his hands together when he had 
 read the letter a third time, " I have nothing to fear from any 
 quarter if Dennier told his lordship the hints I dropped re- 
 garding his birth, evidently it has not angered Lord Heath- 
 cote, and should he tax me with betraying anything of hia 
 secret, I can explain the matter by saying that I was provoked 
 to it by Dennier's insolence, but that I was careful all the 
 time to say no more than these mere hints." He took up the 
 letter again, and reading for a fourth time its contents, con- 
 tinued to soliloquize : " It looks as if I were to receive im- 
 mediately the sum which will enable me to purchase the 
 O'Donoghue estate his lordship hints at my reward for such 
 faithful services having been too long delayed egad ! but 
 luck is turning in my favor at last ; Carroll O'Donoghue hung, 
 his estate mine, and with money to boot, I think then the 
 means will not be wanting to make dainty Nora mine, too." 
 He put down the letter and gave himself up to thought for a 
 moment. Then, rousing suddenly, he said, as he began to 
 bustle about the apartment : " Well, things will keep here 
 until I return I'll be off to-night." 
 
 He would not have been so elated, nor would he have 
 started on his journey with such assured confidence, could 
 he have given one look into the little pastoral residence at 
 Dhrommacohol. There, also, much about the same time, a 
 letter had been received from Dublin, but it came in Den- 
 nier's hand, begging Father Meagher and Clare to come on 
 immediately and join Father O'Connor and Nora ; it also 
 requested that the clergyman should telegraph the time of 
 their start There was nothing more it did not even hint.
 
 4SO CARROLL VDONOGHUK 
 
 as Dennier's note to Father O'Connor had done, of effortf 
 being made in Carroll's behalf. 
 
 And Clare, wild with wonder and anxiety, appealed to the 
 old clergyman for an explanation ; but he was as powerless 
 as herself to give one 
 
 " You will go ? " she said ; " you will start immediately ? 
 perhaps, oh, perhaps it has some reference to Carroll ! " 
 
 " Yes," was the reply ; " I can send Moira down to ask 
 Father McShane to take my place here, and we can start in 
 the morning." 
 
 Clare's face slightly fell to wait till morning was so long, 
 though she knew that even did they leave Dhrommacohol 
 immediately they would reach Tralee too late to take the 
 train for Dublin. 
 
 Moira, with an injunction to be quick, was dispatched on 
 her errand to Father McShane. 
 
 Tighe a Vohr, since the time that he had accompanied Miss 
 O'Donoghue from Tralee, now little more than a week, had 
 twice performed the journey to Tralee. He could not keep 
 himself entirely from his master's prison, though the grim 
 exterior was all that he was allowed to see ; and he was 
 equally anxious to be near Clare, that he might learn the first 
 news of the two who had made such a mysterious journey to 
 Dublin ; he had his own wild hopes regarding that journey, 
 and many were the fervent petitions the faithful fellow put 
 up to Heaven that his hopes might be realized. Now, when 
 Moira confided to him the story of the intended journey of 
 Father Meagher and Clare, he jumped into the air, and gave 
 one of his peculiar whistles : 
 
 44 Faith, Moira, but that's rale news to Dublin, eh, the 
 pair o' thim is goin' ? now, mark me words, Moira, but there's 
 somethin' big afoot ; an' I suppose they'll go widout as much 
 as axin' me nor Shaun to go wid thim ! well, that's not to me 
 notion o' how things should be done at all, an' mesel' an 1 
 ShaunTl jist folly thim, an' they won't know a word about it 
 till they see us both in Dublin along wid thimsel's."
 
 GARTER'S HIGH HOPES. 45 , 
 
 " Yes, and leave me," pouted Moira ; " you are alwayi 
 going away somewhere just as soon as you get here I don't 
 believe in the affection you say you have for me ! " 
 
 " Now, Moira Moynahan, was there iver a man as thried as I 
 am ? betune me anxiety for the masther, an' the sthrivin' that 
 I have to kape me mother in timper, an' the way that I'm 
 humorin' Corny O'Toole jist to save him from despair, an* 
 the manner that I'm takin' to show Father Meagher how 
 mebbe it's a saint in sackcloth an' ashes I'd be some day, to 
 have you at me now ; faith, it's enough to crass an angel ! 
 don't I wear the sign o' me pledge to you, ivery day in the 
 year ? " He took off his wretched-looking hat, and pointed 
 to the dirty, tattered mass of ribbon at its side. "Isn't it a 
 burnin' shame for me, a dacent b'y as I am, wid a characther 
 for sarvin' gintlemin that can't be bate in the whole o' Ireland 
 isn't it a burnin' shame, I say, to have me head disgraced 
 be the loike o' that ? an' it's all owin' to you, Moira Moyna- 
 han ; you won't give me another kapesake that'd enable me 
 to dispinse wid this ! " and he angrily clapped the dilapidated 
 head-gear again on his brown curls. 
 
 "Well, I can't help it," pouted Moira ; "uncle won't let me 
 receive you as a suitor, and not even for you, Tim Carmody, 
 shall I disobey my dear old uncle ! " She drew herself up, 
 her air of willful firmness making her look prettier than ever 
 to the enamored eyes of her lover. 
 
 " Nor would I ax you to, Moira darlin' ; but God is good, 
 an' mebbe He'd put pity for us both in yer uncle's heart, an' 
 whin he sees how sober an' shteady I am, mebbe it's not 
 always he'd be houldin' back his consint." 
 
 " I don't know about that," said Moira, shaking her pretty 
 head, and directing one of her arch glances at Tighe. 
 
 " Na bockalish," said Tighe ; " anyway, we'll not moind 
 biddin' the divil good-morrow till we mate him so kape up 
 yer heart, Moira, an' perhaps it'll all come roight yet ! " 
 
 Moira with some affright remembered her errand. " And 
 uncle told me to be so quick ! " she said.
 
 4ja CARROLL &DONOQHUB. 
 
 " Well, run on now," said Tighe ; " an' I'll run alongside o' 
 you, an' we'll be there in no toime." 
 
 " No, Tighe ; I'll not let you take a foot with me I'll go 
 the quicker without you ! " and without waiting for his answer 
 she hurried on. 
 
 But Tighe would be true to his determination of accom- 
 panying her, and he followed, never suffering himself quite to 
 overtake her, however, while Shaun, seeming equally im- 
 pressed with the maneuver, followed directly behind his mas- 
 ter. The procession was the same on the return, and to 
 Moira's dismay, Father Meagher saw it from the window of 
 his study, where he had been anxiously waiting the return of 
 his niece. 
 
 " Do not attempt to excuse yourself, Moira," he said stern- 
 ly ; "I saw enough to give me all the facts." 
 
 "Well, but uncle, I wouldn't even let him come with me; 
 he followed me himself, and Shaun followed him." 
 
 " And a pretty precious pair you are, both you and Tighe ! 
 Go to your work, miss ! " 
 
 Moira obeyed, muttering when she had reached her own 
 domain : " It's dreadful hard to be treated this way ; but 
 Tighe loves me, and I don't think he'd ever marry any one 
 else, even if uncle never gave his consent." 
 
 Father Meagher and Clare were early astir next morning, 
 *nd after some directions to young Father McShane, whose 
 delicate health exempted him from regular duty, and some 
 parting orders to Moira regarding any interviews she might 
 be tempted to have with Tighe a Vohr, at which Moira pri- 
 vately laughed, knowing more about Tighe's intentions than 
 did the worthy priest, the two departed. What was their 
 astonishment when, having arrived in Dublin, and Father 
 Meagher was about to engage a cab to take them to Father 
 O'Connor and Nora, Tighe a Vohr and Shaun stood sudden- 
 ly before them. 
 
 M Forgive me, yer riverince, for follyin' you, but be rayson 
 o' me anxiety about you all I couldn't shtay bhoind I've
 
 CARTER'S HIGH HOPES. 453 
 
 an inklin' someway or another that this journey'll bring good 
 to the young masther, an' I kem on to know the good news 
 as soon as the rist o' you would." 
 
 " Well, as to that, my good fellow," said Father Meagher, 
 when he had recovered from his surprise, " we are as much 
 in the dark about the object of our journey as you are. But 
 jump in," pointing to the cab "we'll find a place for you." 
 
 " But Shaun ? " said Tighe, ruefully. 
 
 " Give him the order to jump in too," said the priest, laugh- 
 ing. The dog required no second bidding; he was soon 
 ensconced in a corner of the cushion, opposite Clare, and all 
 having entered, they were rapidly driven to the hotel. 
 
 Father O'Connor and Nora could hardly believe it possible 
 when they were summoned to meet the new-comers, but the 
 greetings on both sides were none the less eager and warm. 
 
 " What does it mean ? " said Nora and Clare in a breath, 
 when Father Meagher had told all about his mysterious sum- 
 mons, and Father O'Connor had narrated simply what he had 
 said to Nora, adding, however, an account of their interview 
 with Lord Heathcote, and dwelling on Dennier's absence. 
 The latter had not yet returned, and beyond that one singular 
 note, he had sent them no word. " It is, it must be," said 
 both girls, " something about Carroll ; he will be saved ! " 
 
 And hope once more asserted its sway, and under its in- 
 fluence their countenances and their manner resumed almost 
 all their olden brightness. 
 
 Father Meagher was not so hopeful, though, loth to repress 
 the buoyancy of the two eager girls, he pretended to share 
 their sanguine expectations. Father O'Connor was so unusu- 
 ally agitated that the older priest could not but express his 
 suspicion that the young clergyman was in possession of more 
 knowledge than he had imparted. 
 
 " I am, father," he answered ; "but I cannot tell you yet." 
 
 A few hours later, and there promised to be at last an end 
 to their suspense a message came desiring them all, provid- 
 ing Father Meagher and Clare had arrived, to repair to the 
 castle that evening.
 
 CHAPTER LVI 
 
 CARTER CONFRONTED WITH HIS QUILT, 
 
 * Eo AD, Dennier ! but you are the biggest puzzle of th 
 ft g e ^hat with your melancholy that nothing could chase 
 away, then your attachment to some wonderful Irish beauty, 
 and after that your resignation for no reason under the sun 
 but to gratify an outlandish whim, you were enough to turn 
 sager heads than mine ; and now you burst into my quarters 
 with hints of mysteries that are enough to make one's hair 
 stand on end ! " And Captain Crawford, with a quizzical ex- 
 pression on his face, approached the flushed and excited 
 Dennier, and began to make a critical survey of the latter's 
 person. 
 
 " Well, well," said Dennier good-humoredly, " this evening, 
 I fancy, will end it all ; and after that, Harry, you shall hear 
 one of the strangest stories it ever has been your fate to 
 listen to something that will make you cry from your heart : 
 1 truth is indeed stranger than fiction ! ' " 
 
 "Let me see how much I already know," said Crawford 
 playfully, and holding up his fingers, he began to enumerate 
 upon them each assertion that he made. " You have told me 
 that this infonner, Carter, has been at more rascally business 
 than betraying unsuspicious Fenians, and that, by a decoy 
 letter, you have caged him so far as to have him already in 
 the castle, firmly believing that he is about to receive some 
 reward from the government, whereas to-night he will be un- 
 masked before those whom he has foully injured ; you have also 
 toli me that two near friends of the injured parties, summoned 
 from some country place to be present at this unmasking, 
 have arrived ; further, that you have not trusted yourself i 
 (454)
 
 CARTER CONFRONTED W1T11 HIS GUILT. 455 
 
 the presence of any of these parties who are to come in obe- 
 dience to their summons to the castle this evening, lest your 
 agitation should betray what you desire to conceal for the 
 present ; then, also, you have written to two other parties, 
 away up somewhere, to come at o^ce, and be present at this 
 mysterious something that is to happen, but so far you have 
 received no reply from them. Now, Dennier, in Heaven's 
 name give me the key to all this ! " 
 
 " I cannot, Harry ; not till after to-night," was the tremu- 
 lous response. 
 
 " Will you come to me, no matter what the hour, when the 
 business, whatever it is, is over ? " asked Crawford. 
 
 " Yes, Harry ; I give you my word I shall either come to 
 you, or send you a message to come to us." 
 
 " Us ! " repeated Crawford ; " by Jove ! Walter, but you 
 have me as excited as yourself ! " 
 
 Dennier laughed ; it was so like one of his olden bursts of 
 merriment before either had left England, that Crawford could 
 not refrain from saying : 
 
 "Well, whatever this latest mystery is, it has had a most 
 refreshing effect upon you." 
 
 The young ex-officer did not reply, but waving back a 
 laughing adieu, he left the room. 
 
 The hour arrived which had been appointed for so strange 
 an assemblage within the walls of Dublin Castle, and then at 
 last the four anxious and mystified persons who came from 
 the hotel met Dennier; he awaited them in an apartment 
 belonging to Lord Heathcote's suite, to which they were con- 
 ducted, and he met them with so beaming a face, and so joy- 
 ful a manner, that the hope which had fired the hearts of the 
 two girls now flamed more ardently. 
 
 Clare's eyes turned eloquently upon him as she said : " You 
 have favorable news to give us of my brother ? " 
 
 " I cannot tell you anything yet, Miss O'Donoghue," was 
 his response ; " I have only to request you to be very patient 
 for a little while. And now " turning to Father O'Connor, 
 "Lord Heathcote would see you first alone."
 
 4S g CARROLZ &DOXOGJ1VB. 
 
 The young priest repaired to one of the inner apartment! 
 to which the attendant, summoned by Dennier, conducted him. 
 Lord Heathcote met him ; not sitting, as Father O'Connor 
 had seen him on the two previous occasions, but standing, 
 and nervously tapping the floor with a cane. 
 
 "Mr. O'Connor," he said, speaking rapidly, " I cannot con- 
 /ince myself of the truth of the strange tale you have told 
 *ne ; reflection but makes me think that this man, Sullivan, 
 fabricated the whole to hide his own guilt ; you see there are 
 no proofs further than Sullivan's own statement, and though 
 he has been imperatively summoned here, there is not even a 
 reply from him." 
 
 Pardon me, my lord, Father Meagher is here, and he can 
 testify to the insanity of your dead wife ; he can also bear 
 evidence to the fact that Carter came to reside in Dhrom- 
 macohol with a boy in his charge who answered to the 
 description of one of your sons." 
 
 " Pshaw ! " said his lordship impatiently, " the assertions 
 you make are not proofs my wife having died insane is no 
 evidence that she was not guilty, and this boy whom Cartel 
 had in his charge who is to prove that he was my son ! " 
 
 He paused, waiting some reply, but Father O'Connor was 
 silent. 
 
 " No," resumed his lordship, " I am not convinced ; and if 
 Carter, who is here in the castle by my order, denies the 
 charges brought against him, I shall refuse to credit what I 
 have heard." 
 
 The priest ventured to say : " Even, my lord, in the face 
 of the evidence given by the picture about your neck ?" 
 
 " No, no ; I do not mean that ; this young woman whom 
 you brought to the castle, and whom I saw, I know to be my 
 daughter " his voice trembled ; " but I mean regarding the 
 guilt of Marie Dougherty." 
 
 "Well, my lord," Father O'Connor said again, "if you rely 
 for your full conviction on a confession from this man, 
 Carter, you will be disappointed unless some influence can
 
 CARTER CONFRONTED WITH HIS GUILT. 457 
 
 be exerted which will force him to confess ; otherwise, if he 
 finds there are no important proofs against him, he will have 
 effrontery enough to perjure himself." 
 
 " And in that case," said Lord Heathcote sharply, " in the 
 case of his refusal to confess, and my refusal to believs, and 
 consequently to acknowledge my offspring, would you still 
 keep my secret would you retain from this young woman the 
 story of her birth ? " 
 
 " In justice to her, my lord, I could not do so ; she has 
 bitterly sacrificed herself for a man whom she still believes to 
 be her father, as you are already aware from my recent tale, 
 and so devoted is she, that she has not ceased to be anxious 
 about this poor wretch since her arrival in Dublin. No 
 inducement can make her leave him, can cause her to abate 
 any ot that self-immolaiion which she deems to be her duty ; 
 would it be just, my lord, to permit this to continue for the 
 sake of sparing your pride ?" 
 
 " You would then tell her," said the nobleman somewhat 
 bitterly, "that she is the daughter of an English peer?" 
 
 " Yes, my lord ; but when with that information I must also 
 tell her that the English peer, refusing to credit the testimony 
 which has been given him, refusing to obey the promptings of 
 his own heart, believes his wife, the mother of this girl, to 
 have been a wretched, guilty woman, how much of sweetness 
 will be left in my announcement ? Ah ! my lord, your 
 daughter would rather have an heirloom of virtue than all 
 your titles and estates." 
 
 The nobleman bit his lip, and was silent for a moment ; 
 then he said with startling abruptness : " You have not yet 
 told me the name of the boy whom Carter had in charge, nor 
 where he can at present be found." 
 
 " Pardon me, my lord, I think I told you at our first inter 
 view that he was leading an obscure life among the Irish poor, 
 with no desire save that of performing well his humble duty ; 
 he will not trouble your lordship." 
 
 " But who is he I would know give me his name 
 peak ! " And the stern eyes were bent upon the priest
 
 CARROLL VDONOGHUR. 
 
 "Since you w/</know, my lord I am he.** 
 
 And Father O'Connor stood with folded arms and bowed 
 head. He made no motion to approach Lord Heathcote 
 he did not even look at him, but kept his eyes turned to the 
 floor. 
 
 " My God ! my God ! " came from the white lips of the 
 peer ; still neither did he make any motion to the clergyman ; 
 he only continued to look, his gaze growing more wild and 
 thrilling us it traversed every part of the priest's person. " If 
 I could only fully believe," he said, gaspingly ; " but it may 
 not have been my son whom Carter had in charge ; and yet 
 my heart misgives me that it was ; and the resemblance 
 comes out now as I did not notice it before the profile of 
 the face, the form, are like Walter's yes, it must be my son 
 my son ! " 
 
 The thrill of that heart-cry pierced Father O'Connor with 
 one simultaneous movement the priest and the peer were in 
 each other's arms. 
 
 The delay seemed long to the little party which Father 
 O'Connor had left all the longer because every nerve was 
 strained with hope and expectation ; and the excitement and 
 anticipation of the two girls were increased by Dennier's un- 
 usually joyous and animated manner. Even Father Meagher 
 had caught the extraordinary eagerness, and he watched with 
 restless longing for one of the doors of the apartment to open 
 and admit some one who would put an end to all this suspense. 
 
 At last his wish was gratified ; a door opened, and Lord 
 Heathcote, accompanied by Father O'Connor, entered. Both 
 bore traces of recent agitation, but the nobleman had re- 
 covered his wonted manner sufficiently to bear himself with 
 his accustomed dignified carriage, and to throw upon all sides 
 of him his old piercing glance : the latter, however, was tern- 
 pered by a smile which softened his countenance, and im- 
 parted to it a singular charm. Dennier immediately p. 
 proached him.
 
 CARTER CONFRONTED WITH HIS GUILT. 459 
 
 " Introduce me to these people, Walter," he said quietly ; 
 and Dennier, with his own courtly grace now enhanced by the 
 joy which shone so unmistakably in his manner, offered his 
 arm to the nobleman, and conducted him first to Father 
 Meagher. The gray-haired priest returned the kind saluta- 
 tion in his simple, hearty manner, and Clare was next intro- 
 duced, her heightened color and animated eyes forming a 
 pretty picture as she responded to his lordship's greeting. 
 Nora was next, and to her Lord Heathcote said, as he ex- 
 tended his hand : " We have met before, and I have not for- 
 gotten, young lady, the request which you asked of me 
 then." 
 
 His manner, even more than his words, seemed to indicate 
 that he had given her plea some favorable reflection ; her 
 heart beat high with hope and gratitude, and she could have 
 fallen at his feet and embraced them in the excess of her joy. 
 Her ardent feelings were portrayed in her beautiful face, 
 never more beautiful than at that moment when she stood di- 
 rectly under the rays of the chandelier ; and the nobleman, 
 as if suddenly impressed, and struggling with feelings which he 
 could not master, continued to hold her hand and to gaze into 
 her eyes. But he conquered himself at last, and he turned away, 
 saying kindly, and looking from one to the other of the 
 little party : 
 
 " I thank you, good people, for obeying so promptly my 
 mysterious summons to you all. Your presence here was 
 necessary to help to prove the innocence of a certain party, 
 and I have adopted this means in order to attain my end. I 
 must crave your patience a little longer, and then all shall be 
 explained to you." 
 
 He gave a signal to Dennier ; the latter left the room, but 
 returned in a moment, and in a few seconds more seconds 
 that were like hours to some of the mystified and anxious 
 party another door opened, and Mortimer Carter was ushered 
 in. With his very first glance of the assemblage he compre- 
 hended its purport, and he braced himself to meet it : throw-
 
 4<0 CARROLL VDONOGHUX. 
 
 ing about him an unflinching look, he advanced to the noble- 
 man, and with startling firmness made his obeisance. 
 
 "Look about you, Mortimer Carter," said Lord Heathcote 
 sternly, " and meet the evidences of your guilt acknowledge 
 the innocence of Marie Dougherty confess the crime which 
 despoiled me or my wife, and stigmatized my children ! " 
 
 " I know not what you mean, my lord ! " and Carter drew 
 himself up undauntedly, even defiantly. 
 
 Lord Heathcote, despite his efforts to be calm, was grow- 
 ing strangely agitated. 
 
 " Restore to me my son, whom you abducted from his home 
 after you had caused his mother to leave him ! here is a wit- 
 ness " with a sweep of his hand indicating Father Meagher 
 "who can prove where you fled to on the disappearance of 
 my family, and also that you carried with you a boy who cor- 
 responded in age to my son." 
 
 " Which does not prove, my lord, that it was your son,' 
 answered Carter ; " and I, knowing my innocence in this mat- 
 ter, shall not take the trouble to show that the boy you speak 
 of is the son of one who was an intimate and dear friend of 
 my own a Charles O'Connor ; the baptismal certificate of 
 the boy has proved his identity long ago. I perceive that 
 you have him present, my lord," and he indicated with a most 
 brazen bow Father O'Connor. 
 
 The nobleman, to Carter's secret triumph, was evidently 
 disconcerted ; a look of bitter disappointment came into hii 
 face, but he resumed after a moment's painful silence : 
 
 " Will you deny, also, that my daughter lived in your 
 vicinity, "vithin your sight, from her infancy to her woman- 
 hood?" 
 
 " No, my lord, for that would be a falsehood." The same 
 effrontery marked Carter's manner. 
 
 " And you suffered this," resumed Lord Heathcote, " with- 
 out acquainting me you knew of her whereabouts and you 
 did not tell me ? " 
 
 " I forbore to tell you, my lord, for this reason : when I
 
 CARTER COftFROtfTED WITH BTS GUILT. 4 g 1 
 
 arrived in Dhrommacohol with the child of my friend, in 
 tending to make my home there, I found that strange acci- 
 dent had brought me to the very spot where Marie Dough- 
 erty's child had found a home as comfortable as that from 
 which her mother had taken her ; but her mother was dead 
 had died insane, I learned, and her reputed father had dis- 
 appeared for the time. Your lordship, if you remember, had 1 
 already told me at our final interview that you wished never 
 to look upon the children of her who had so deeply disgraced 
 you ; that her infamy might shroud her and hers ; of what 
 use, then, would it be for me to acquaint you with the where- 
 abouts of your child ? she was well done for, and so long as 
 a comfortable home was assured to her, it could make little 
 difference to her who was her father ; after, when chance 
 threw me in the presence of him who had reported himself to 
 be her father, and I saw the miserable vagabond-beggar he had 
 become, and I knew, also, that he did not seek any longer to 
 claim the child, pity for the unhappy creature for I saw that 
 he was unhappy deterred me from endeavoring to bring him 
 to justice beside, no justice could restore the innocence of 
 her whom he had caused to fall." 
 
 Lord Heathcote groaned, and passed his hand wildly across 
 his forehead ; but again he quickly recovered himself. 
 "When, in your business of informer," he said with bittei 
 irony, "you met and recognized me in the garrison of Tralee, 
 why did you not speak of these things ? " 
 
 " Your stern manner to me, my lord, forbade it I felt that 
 my revelations would but further anger you, since the guilt of 
 your wife would still remain." 
 
 There was a taunting emphasis on the last words. Lord 
 Heathcote flushed angrily. " After," he said, " when you be- 
 came courageous enough to brave my manner " speaking 
 with stinging sarcasm, " and you dropped hints of the past 
 in my presence, why did you not speak of these things 
 then ? " 
 
 ** You forget, my lord ; you yourself closed my lips by com-
 
 46a CARROLL VDONOQHUR. 
 
 manding me to stop, and to continue to bury within my 
 wn breast all that I knew of your history." 
 
 " But again," said the nobleman, " when this child, claimed 
 herself by this wretched man, sacrificed herself for him leav- 
 ing home, friends, and all that was dearest to her, why did 
 you not speak then to save her ? " 
 
 " Because of my desire to save>w/,[my lord." 
 
 " It is enough ! " said the nobleman, and he waved him 
 away. 
 
 Carter, with an unflinching look about him, walked trium- 
 phantly from the room. Lord Heathcote turned to Dennier, 
 who had not left his side, and said faintly : 
 
 " Assist me to another room I would see you alone ; and 
 ask these people to wait a few moments." 
 
 Dennier did as he was requested, and the little party were 
 once more left to themselves. 
 
 Clare, so wildly expecting to hear favorable tidings regard- 
 ing her brother, felt her heart sicken with disappointment ; 
 perhaps tf is was all they had been summoned for to listen 
 to some revelation which for her had no very special interest ; 
 for so far, all that she had heard had not caused her a sus- 
 picion of the truth, further than to think from the conver- 
 sation which passed relative to Father O'Connor that his 
 might be a case of mistaken identity. Neither did Nora dream 
 that she was the daughter spoken of, and while she too was 
 disappointed that the nobleman had not as yet made good 
 the promise he had seemed to imply by his remark to herself, 
 hope did not leave her, and she sought to cheer Clare by 
 whispering her own reasons for confidence. 
 
 Father Meagher was so bewildered and so agitated by all 
 that he had heard that he could not keep his chair. He paced 
 the room with his hands behind him and his head down his 
 whole appearance indicating troubled thought. One by one 
 he was linking incidents of the past ; going over in minute 
 detail the death of Marie Dougherty, every circumstance 
 that had attended that strange and sad demise ; then his
 
 CARTER CONFRONTED WITII HIS GVTLT. 4 6, 
 
 thoughts adverted to the arrival of Carter in Dhrommacohol 
 Carter having in possession a noble looking little boy, and 
 succeeding these reflections came others, equally as agitating, 
 on the remarks which had passed relative to Father O'Connor ; 
 and then, with still more startling anxiety, his thoughts ad- 
 verted to all that had been said of the child of the poor dead 
 mother. He looked at Nora ; could it be that she was the 
 daughter of whom Lord Heathcote had spoken. Unable to 
 contain himself longer, he hurried to impart his startling con- 
 jecture to Father O'Connor, who, absorbed in his own melan- 
 choly thoughts, sat with his head so deeply bowed that his 
 chin touched his breast. He never for an instant doubted 
 Rick's story the earnestness, the truthfulness of the poor 
 creature had been too unmistakable ; and he grieved now, not 
 that his father's heart, which had but just opened to him, had 
 closed again because of Carter's miserable falsehood, but be- 
 cause of the sorrow which Carter's wretched lies would bring 
 to other hearts than his own. He looked up at Father Mea- 
 gher's touch, but at that moment Dennier entered. 
 
 What had occurred to so change the young man ? his joy- 
 ful mien had entirely disappeared, and his mouth was com- 
 pressed as if from intense inward suffering. 
 
 " I would see Father O'Connor alone for a moment," he 
 said ; " and you, my friends, be patient a little longer." 
 
 The two withdrew into one of the adjoining rooms, and 
 there, when the door had closed upon them, Dennier turned 
 abruptly, and faced his companion. All the mysterious long* 
 ing which on the occasion of their first meeting, six months 
 before, had shone in his eyes, came into them now, and the 
 singular feeling by which he had been actuated then aroused 
 again with renewed force ; but now he understood its cause- 
 He extended his arms, and. cried : 
 
 " William ! I have heard the whole story, and I feel that 
 you are my brother." 
 
 The young priest needed no second invitation to clasp to 
 his heart one whom he had already learned to esteem and to
 
 ^ 4 CARROLL VDONOQHU& 
 
 like, and long and tender was the embrace which united flt 
 last the twin brothers. 
 
 " And you are the son of Lord Heathcote who was taken 
 to England in your infancy ? " said the priest, when each had 
 released the other. 
 
 " Yes ; " and then followed from Dennier, or rather Walter 
 Berkeley, a brief account of the strange events in his life. 
 " But I cannot linger," he said abruptly ; " I am only here on 
 Lord Heathcote's bidding. He desires you, Walter, to tell 
 the others all, but only on proviso that they pledge themselves 
 to keep it a profound secret. He intends to have another in- 
 terview to-night with Carter, the result of which will deter- 
 mine our fate whether we are to be acknowledged as the 
 children of his lordship, or whether we are to lock within our 
 own breasts the story of our birth ; should Carter confess, it 
 will be the former ; should he persist in denying, Lord Heath- 
 cote's stern pride will not allow him to acknowledge to the 
 world that we, the offspring of such a guilty mother, are also 
 his children. Go, William," how sweet the name was to the 
 ears of Father O'Connor, or rather Father Berkeley ! " take 
 them back to the hotel and tell them all this later, I shall 
 join you with the result of the approaching interview with 
 Carter. Now you understand why I kept away from you ; I 
 could not trust myself in your presence, and that of Nora, 
 without betraying myself. Tell her so, William, and tell them 
 all how it was my proposition to bring Carter here and con- 
 front him with you all. I suggested to Lord Heathcote that, 
 since we were denied direct proof of the traitor's guilt, per- 
 chance a sudden accusation, before those whom he had so 
 cruelly injured, might extort from him an involuntary confes- 
 sion ; and Lord Heathcote, who had already given me his 
 entire confidence, revealing phases of his heart which could 
 not but excite my pity, allowed me to manage everything as 
 I would ; but so far all has failed." 
 
 His lip trembled, and he turned away ; in a moment, how- 
 ever, he turned back, and having taken a warm adieu of hie
 
 CARTER CONFRONTED WITH HIS QUILT. 465 
 
 newly-found brother, he departed to seek the nobleman, while 
 Father O'Connor, as we must continue to call him, joined his 
 friends. They returned to the hotel, and there the young 
 priest told the strange, strange story. 
 
 " I felt it," said Father Meagher, jumping up with all the 
 alacrity of a young man, and seizing the clergyman's two 
 hands. 
 
 "My brother!" exclaimed Nora, every vestige of coloi 
 flown from her face, and her larjje eyes looking larger and un- 
 natural in the intensity of their wild stare. " Father O'Con- 
 nor my brother, and Captain Dennier my brother also surely 
 it is a dream ! " 
 
 She did not seem to be so impressed by the fact that Lord 
 Heathcote was her father, as that she was the sister of the 
 two young men, and it required Father Meagher's assurances, 
 and Father O'Connor's affectionate reiteration of all that he 
 had told, and Clare's joyfully weeping congratulations, to con- 
 vince her of her singular relationship. 
 
 " Do you swear to these statements ? " 
 
 It was the interrogatory put by Lord Heathcote to Mor- 
 timer Carter, with Dennier as the solitary witness. Not a 
 ruffle appeared in Carter's manner ; not a deepening of his 
 florid color, not even an instant's dropping of his tyes, but with 
 all the assurance of well-imitated conscious rectitude, he 
 stood firmly drawn to his full height, and his face expressing a 
 bold triumph as he answered in a distinct, ringing voice : 
 
 ** I do, my lord, swear most solemnly that all which I repeat- 
 ed to your lordship a short time ago in the presence of those 
 who were there assembled is most assuredly and unqualifiedly 
 true." 
 
 ** Allow me to remind your lordship," interposed Dennier, 
 M that the oath of a traitor is of little worth this man must 
 hare already perjured himself many times in the despicable 
 service in which he has been engaged, so that it required little 
 effort for him to take a false oath now."
 
 66 CARROLL aDONOGHUR. 
 
 Carter affected to bear in silence the scathing imputation, 
 waiting respectfully for Lord Heathcote to speak. His lord- 
 ship said quietly, after he had turned over nervously some 
 papers on the open cabinet before him : 
 
 " You have expected, I believe, as your reward for recenl 
 information a sum of money sufficient, if I mistake not, to 
 purchase the estate of the prisoner, Carroll O'Donoghue ? " 
 
 " I have had your own assurance of it, my lord," answered 
 Carter, his eyes beginning to sparkle. 
 
 "Well, Mr. Carter," the nobleman arose, and placing his 
 hands with a careless gesture behind him, bent his sternest 
 look upon the miscreant, " perhaps you are already aware 
 that her gracious Majesty, the Queen, has pardoned recently 
 some of these Fenians ? " 
 
 He spoke very slowly, as if he would give his listener 
 ample time to comprehend : 
 
 " Feeling grateful for the care which was given to my 
 children by this O'Donoghue family, I have interested myself 
 in behalf of the doomed prisoner ; the result of my efforts 
 reached me to-day it is an entire pardon of Carroll 
 O'Donoghue, and an order that his estate be purchased and 
 restored to him." 
 
 The florid color of Carter's face changed to purple, be- 
 coming so deep that it threatened to end in an alarming 
 blackness ; the veins in his forehead and neck swelled he 
 ,was obliged to loosen his collar to give himself air. 
 
 " My lord," he gasped, " you do not mean that I am to lose 
 my reward I toiled for it night and day ! " 
 
 " I regret, Mr. Carter," said the nobleman ironically, " that 
 you are so little the Christian as to desire your reward at the 
 expense of a fellow-creature's life so diabolical a spirit 
 would indicate deliberate error in the matter of your sworn 
 statements." 
 
 Carter bit his lip until the blood came in his effort to re- 
 press his baffled rage. " Am I, then, to have no reward fof 
 my work in behalf of the government, my lord ? " he asked, 
 kfc voice husky and trcml>liv
 
 CARTER CONFRONTED WITH HIS GUILT. 467 
 
 Lord Heathcote answered quietly : * None, Mr. Cartel; 
 *ave the testimony of your own conscience." 
 
 He touched the bell ; an attendant entered, and baffled, 
 discomfited, humbled Carter was obliged to leave the room 
 without uttering another remonstrance. 
 
 The nobleman turned to Dennier, the anguish which he 
 had striven to repress showing so painfully in his face that 
 the young man could not bear to look at it " Walter," he 
 said, speaking with difficulty, " I shall do every justice to you 
 all save that of making any public acknowledgment my 
 wealth shall be at your disposal ; it will enable Marie to bring 
 a dower to him to whom she has already given her heart ; it 
 will place within your reach affluence for the lady you would 
 wed ; and it will give to this young priest, to whom my heart 
 yearns, though I cannot yet entirely believe that he is my 
 son, enough to enable him to dispense his charities. For my- 
 self, my failing health has made me think for some time of 
 resigning my onerous position I shall now do so, and re- 
 turning to England, I shall bury, in a life of quiet and retire- 
 ment, this heart which has sustained so many shocks." 
 
 " Father ! " The young man knelt beside him : " Since 
 your own voluntary act will give to her I would wed the pro- 
 tection of her brother and her home again, I ask no more. I 
 shall devote my life to you, and my brother and sister will, I 
 doubt not " 
 
 " Cease ! " interrupted the nobleman, with something of his 
 olden sternness. " You do not understand me, Walter," his 
 voice softening. "I shall go away without seeing again those 
 who remind me of that unhappy, that guilty past. I shall bury 
 myself in a solitude which they must not disturb. If you, 
 the sole one whom Marie left to me when she took her guilty 
 flight, if you choose to cheer my declining years, I feel they 
 will be few I shall accept the sacrifice ; understand, I place 
 no restriction upon as much of the tale being told as may be 
 necessary to make people know that my daughter is not the 
 child of the degraded man who claims her as such. I only 
 ask that my name be spared I "
 
 4 58 CARROLL O'DONOGHZTK 
 
 * Do not fear, father,** answered the young mat) somewhat 
 bitterly ; " in the pain which must result from the thought of 
 the guilt which you still believe adheres to our mother, there 
 will be little disposition to mention your name." 
 
 "Well, go now," said the nobleman wearily, "you say 
 that you promised to join your friends and come to me in 
 the morning. I shall leave for London to-morrow." 
 
 Dennier took a hasty adieu, and hurried to the hotel, where 
 his friends so impatiently awaited him. 
 
 What a greeting was his what a welcoming upon every 
 tide ! and as he stood, one arm encircling Nora, the other 
 hand clasped tightly in both of Father O'Connor's, and 
 directly in front of him Father Meagher and Clare, and the 
 whole party too excited, and too wildly joyful to do more 
 than look at each other and give vent to their feelings by 
 incoherent exclamations, he also gave himself, for the moment, 
 entirely up to that unrestrained joy. He would not tell them 
 yet of the sadness which oppressed his own heart instead, 
 he would whisper first into Clare's ear the story of her 
 brother's pardon, and the restoration of his property. She 
 repeated aloud the delightful tidings, and then, while joyous 
 excitement again reigned, she seized his hands and cried 
 her grateful tears upon them. He could not restrain the im- 
 pulse to stoop and whisper : 
 
 " Have I made amends for all the past, Miss O'Donoghue?" 
 
 " Captain Dennier Mr. Berkeley, I mean, how can you 
 ask ? " and her beautiful eyes turned upon him with a look 
 which thrilled him. 
 
 At length Dennier's communication was entirely made 
 Lord Heathcote's determination and his own resolution. To 
 leave them to go back to England ! not even to accompany 
 them on their return to Tralee in order to congratulate Car- 
 roll on his wonderful good fortune ! How Clare paled and 
 quivered ! and then for the first time he read the reciprocation 
 of his passion. He extended his hand while he ventured to 
 whisper:
 
 CARTER CONFRONTED WITH HIS QUILT. 469 
 
 M Clare I may call you so this once you will sometimci 
 think of me you will pray for me you will hope with me 
 that one day Heaven itself will interpose to rend this veil 
 before my father's eyes, and that " 
 
 She broke from him to conceal her painful blushes, but he 
 had read more than enough to convince him of a very bliss- 
 ful fact. 
 
 He bade them all adieu, confiding his newly-found relative* 
 to each other's care ; and promising to write speedily, he tore 
 himself away, hurrying to the quarters of Captain Crawtwrd, 
 though it was long past midnight.
 
 CHAPTER LVIL 
 
 THE RETURN TO DHROMMACOHOL. 
 
 NEVER was there a more exultant heart than that of Tighe 
 a Vohr when he learned of Carroll's pardon ; it was only his 
 respect for Father Meagher, the relator of the good tidings, 
 which prevented him from throwing his caubeen up to the 
 ceiling of the hotel parlor, and shouting aloud ; as it was, his 
 body squirmed with contortions expressive of his efforts to 
 contain his joy, and the moment he found himself below stairs 
 in the servants' quarters his comical gyrations, and the tricks 
 through which he put Shaun, relieved his overcharged heart 
 and convulsed the domestics with laughter. He had one 
 anxiety, however : how should he ever wait the return to Tralee 
 to be assured by the evidence of his own eyes that his young 
 master was once more free. The party, however, were already 
 preparing for their return, and in a tew hours all were once 
 more on their whirling journey. 
 
 On their arrival at Tralee they found Carroll's release still de- 
 layed by some preliminaries required by the law, but a couple 
 of days sufficed for all arrangements, and Carroll O'Donoghue, 
 pale, emaciated, but a free man at last, was in the midst of 
 his friends. No eye could remain dry, no heart without a 
 wild palpitation, as they looked into his dear face, and felt 
 that he had been rescued from the jaws of death itself. They 
 would not wait to tell him, there in the private apartment of 
 the governor of the prison, the wonderful circumstances which 
 had brought about his release, but in a private parlor of 
 ** Blenner's," whither they were immediately driven from the 
 prison, and over a repast of which all were too excited to p* r - 
 Uke, the wonderful, wonderful story was told to Carroll 
 (470)
 
 TEE RETURN TO DHROMMACOHOL. 47 , 
 
 "And so my lady-love," he said playfully to Nora, or 
 Marie, as she was now called by her friends, " turns out to be 
 a real lady after all the daughter of a nobleman ! why, it is 
 like one of the romances we used to read in our childhood." 
 
 Nora blushed, and was silent. 
 
 There was one cloud, however, on the happiness of the lit- 
 tle party the absence of Dennier, or Walter Berkeley, as they 
 all now called the young ex-officer. Carroll so yearned to 
 welcome him, and even Tighe a Vohr, who had been favored 
 with an embrace from his young master as warm as any the 
 latter had bestowed, wondered to himself why the Englishman 
 kept away at this time, when he was so attentive to the little 
 party before they started on that mysterious journey to Dub- 
 lin. And in the visit that he contrived to make to Corny 
 O'Toole, before they all started for Dhrommacohol, when he 
 had given Corny a graphic account of as much as he knew ot 
 the wonderful events which had happened, he concluded by 
 saying : 
 
 " You see, Corny, the comfortable misgivin* I had about 
 somethin' good comin' out o' all thim quare journeys to Dub- 
 lin that Father O'Connor an' Father Meagher wor makin', 
 wasn't far wrong. It's all roight now, an' if only Captain 
 Dennier, or Mr. Berkeley, as they tould me his name was now, 
 was here, I'd be quite contint ; but somehow I don't loike to 
 see him away from Miss O'Donoghue at this perticler toime 
 how an' iver, it's all roight, or mebbe it'll come all roight 
 whin the twists an' the knots that's always in thrue love is 
 taken out. An' now, Corny, we're all off for Dhrommacohol 
 this viry evenin', an' I won't forgit to thry an' do me part for 
 y OU an * do you hould yersel' in readiness to come on to us 
 as soon as I sind you word ; for jist as shpeedy as I foind me 
 mother in the roight koind o' humor to recave the offer o' yer 
 heart an' hand, I'll aythur come mesel', or I'll foind some 
 manes o' sindin you word." 
 
 " Thank you, Mr. Carmody, thank you ! " and the little man 
 was radiant with smiles.
 
 iy t VA&ROLL 
 
 Moira Moynahan was hardly prepared for the Infltfl df 
 visitor! which came so suddenly to the little pastoral resU 
 dence ; but the fact that Tighe accompanied them, and the 
 still more joyful fact of being permitted to hear all about it 
 from Tighe's own lips, while the remainder of the party re- 
 paired to the study, or to the parlor, put her into excellent 
 humor. 
 
 What thoughts filled Carroll's mind as he stood once more 
 in the house in which his last arrest had taken place what 
 burning admiration and love for her whose noble sacrifice of 
 self had really been the cause of his release ! he turned to 
 her: 
 
 " Marie ! " 
 
 Accustomed as he had been to Nora, singularly enough this 
 newer name came to him with little effort to remember it. 
 
 " A life of devotion to you, as I shall strive to make my 
 future, will be far too little to show my gratitude, my 
 love ! " 
 
 A troubled look came into her eyes, though she smiled 
 faintly ; and without answering him, she found some pretext 
 to leave him, and at length to steal to her old favorite haunt, 
 the chapel. There, with her face uplifted to the tabernacle, 
 she prayed : 
 
 " Oh, my God ! I thank Thee Thou hast well rewarded 
 the little I have done ; and now, I pledge myself to do Thy 
 work, to serve Thy poor, to wait upon Thy sick, to deny 
 myself ! " She rose when her prayer was finished, and re- 
 joined her friends. 
 
 It still required some little time before the ancient home of 
 the O'Donoghues would return to the possession of its heir ; 
 but Carroll, knowing it would certainly return to him, was 
 well content to wait passing delightful hours in rambling 
 over the old grounds, planning improvements, and greeting 
 old friends. All Dhromrnacohol was aroused by the story of 
 his wonderful release > and the still more marvelous tale of 
 Nor* McCarthy not being even Nora Sullivan, but having to
 
 THE RETURN TO DHROMXACOHOL. , 4?3 
 
 change her name a second time to Marie Berkeley ; Clare, 
 as happy and as eager as himself, always accompanied him, 
 but Marie sought for pretexts to decline joining in the ram- 
 bles. At first Carroll laughed at the work which she alleged 
 as her excuse, then he became a little annoyed, and at last, 
 on the fifth day of their sojourn in the pastoral residence, he 
 deliberately stood in the doorway of a room which Marie was 
 about to enter, and said reproachfully : 
 
 " Now, Marie, this is positively cruel of you ! why, if you 
 treat me so unlover-like now, what will bt your manner when, 
 on the restoration of our home, I dare propose for a right to 
 your obedience ? perhaps, however," he continued in a play, 
 ful tone, " it is because my lineage does not compare with 
 your own you, you know, are the daughter of a peer I " 
 
 She looked at him with gentle reproach, but, before he 
 could answer, Father Meagher's voice was calling to them 
 both from the foot of the stair. They hurried down to find 
 themselves face to face with Rick of the Hills. Yes, there he 
 was, but so wasted by disease that he seemed like the ghost 
 of his former self ; his face, however, had no longer its wild, 
 unhappy expression ; haggard and worn though it was, there 
 was a peace, and even joy upon it, which told of quiet and 
 happiness within. Beside him was a pale and delicate, but re- 
 markably pretty, young woman a charming modesty marked 
 her mien, and the taste and simplicity of her dress gave evi- 
 dence of no ordinary mind. She was in turn accompanied 
 by an elderly female dressed in deep mourning, and on the 
 other side of Rick was a beautiful boy but his beauty, ex- 
 quisite though it was, was also saddening by the evidence it 
 gave of early decay the hectic color, the lustrous eyes, the 
 marble brow, all told of fast approaching dissolution. 
 
 Clare was already in the room, standing near the young 
 woman, and on the entrance of Carroll and Marie, Rick 
 trembled so violently that he could scarcely stand. 
 
 " You have nothing to fear, Rick," said the priest re-as- 
 furingly ; " you have been forgiven everything. Here," ap
 
 474 CARROLL &DONOGHUR. 
 
 preaching the young woman, and leading her forward" li 
 Rick's true daughter, Cathleen. And here" drawing for- 
 ward also the elderly lady " is the good woman who has 
 proved a true mother to Cathleen. And here " crossing to 
 the boy, and taking him by the hand " is the little lad of 
 whom Father O'Connor gave us so touching an account. 
 Now, Rick, tell us why you did not reach Dublin in time to 
 be present at the interview we all had with Lord Heath- 
 cote?" 
 
 The poor fellow, weak as he seemed to be, would have 
 stood to tell his story ; but Father Meagher forced him into 
 his chair ; and he dispatched Moira, whose curiosity had 
 made her thrust her head in at the door, for a drink which 
 should revive the feeble man. 
 
 " Why, do you see," he began, " the shock of what I told 
 Cathleen, together with my own wild feelings for I couldn't 
 contain myself at all when I saw in her face that same look 
 that had never left my heart since she was taken from me, 
 prostrated her entirely ; and when she recovered enough to 
 weigh well all that I told her, and to look into the proofs that 
 I brought her of my strange story, and to listen to the prompt- 
 ings of her own heart, which forced her to believe me, it 
 left her so weak though at the same time happy that for 
 some days there was even danger of her death. The letter, 
 which told me to come immediately to Dublin, arrived at that 
 time ; I could not leave my darling then, when there was like- 
 lihood of God himself taking her from me, and I waited, pray- 
 ing to have her restored ; she was restored, and with her first 
 return of strength, learning of the letter which had come to 
 me, she insisted on bearing me company. Although she is 
 present, I may tell you what she said. 
 
 " ' Father, let me go with you ; let me beg forgiveness for 
 you from her whom you caused to make such a bitter sacri- 
 fice !' 
 
 " So we all came the good woman, who would not b 
 parted from Cathleen, and the boy, Hartley Donovan, who
 
 THE RETURN TO DHJIOMMACOHOL. 47 j 
 
 would not remain after us and we reached Dublin, to find 
 nobody there who wanted us ; we came on then to Dhrom- 
 macohol, and before we got as far as this we heard every, 
 body full of Mr. O'Donoghue's release, and the rumor that 
 his estate was to be restored to him, and how Miss McCarthy 
 that was, was no longer even the daughter of Rick of the 
 Hills, but a Miss Berkeley ; though the people, who thought 
 they knew so much, did not seem to know any more than 
 just these bare facts. They were enough, however, to tell 
 me that justice had been done, and I came here with a 
 lighter heart ; and now " he would rise and face them all, 
 " I have a few explanations to make for my own peace of 
 mind : I'll not dwell on the influence that Carter had upon 
 mej I'll not tire you with telling of the remorse which tor- 
 mented my conscience through all that dreadful time perhaps 
 Father O'Connor has told you a little of it but I must say 
 this : Father Meagher " he turned more immediately to the 
 priest, " when I sought to excuse my claiming of Miss McCar- 
 thy as my daughter by saying that it was the love for my child 
 which drove me to it, and when I, seeing you touched and 
 won by my plea, made it the stronger and wilder, it was not a 
 lie I told you no falsehood for it was of Cathleen I thought ; 
 it was of my love for Cathleen that I spoke. And afterward, 
 not to be guilty in the sight of Heaven of allowing a touch of her 
 pure hands upon me, she herself can tell you how I commanded 
 her never to rest even her fingers upon my arm. God, how- 
 ever, had his own blessed way of rewarding her goodness. 
 Her devotion to me, her kindness, even when I read loathing 
 and horror in her eyes, were breaking my heart ; her efforts 
 to reform me so touched my soul that many a time, whsn 
 nothing else would stop me, the thought of her face, the 
 memory of her words, kept me from drowning my misery in 
 drink. And at last, when Father O'Connor came to us, when 
 he said to me at parting such strange words that they seemed 
 as if he had read my heart, I took desperate courage and de- 
 termined to fling off my burden ; there was little use in wait-
 
 476 
 
 CARROLL 
 
 ing longer for Carter to redeem his word, and restore to me 
 Cathleen ; my heart misgave me that Cathleen was dead, and 
 that Carter would not tell me, knowing that in that case his chief 
 influence over me would be destroyed. I went to Father O'Con- 
 nor, and you know the result. I feel now that my days are num- 
 bered ; but my peace is made with God, and when all of you, 
 whom I have so cruelly injured, assure me that you forgive 
 me, I have nothing more to ask." 
 
 He turned tc Marie, and before she could prevent him, he 
 was kneeling at her feet 
 
 Everybody was crying : even Father Meagher, though he 
 sought to conceal his emotion by shaking his head and pre- 
 tending that the use of his handkerchief was only to remove 
 the perspiration. Carroll O'Donoghue, who stood beside 
 Marie, instantly stooped with her to raise the suppliant. 
 
 " Dear Rick," said Marie softly, " my part, my sacrifice, 
 have been little compared with your noble repentance ! " 
 
 A smile of ineffable joy broke over his face, and motioning to 
 Cathleen to draw near, he put her hand in that of Marie, 
 saying to the latter : " May I ask you to be her friend ? " 
 
 Marie's answer was a warm embrace of the young fragile 
 girl 
 
 Tighe a Vohr had heard from Moira something of the 
 strange scene in the parlor ; she had contrived to remain 
 when she returned with the drink which her uncle had 
 ordered for Rick, but which the latter had forgotten to take, 
 though it had been placed beside him. And Tighe, when he 
 had heard sufficient from the priest's niece to know that Rick 
 was craving forgiveness, ventured himself to the parlor door 
 and asked permission to add a little to Rick's statement. 
 The permission was willingly given, and then, in his own 
 peculiar, but none the less interesting manner, he told of the 
 way in which Rick had intercepted Carter's plan for Carroll's 
 mock release. 
 
 " I tould you I'd not forgit that good turn," he said, as a 
 sort of explanation to Rick, " an' I think I can shwear that 
 the young masther'll not forgit it avthur,"
 
 TOE RETURN TO DHfiOMMACOBOL. 4 jj 
 
 " Indeed you can, Tighe ! " And Carroll O'Donoghue wat 
 again supporting Rick, and warmly shaking his hand. " You 
 shall live with me, Rick," he said ; "your home, your happy 
 home, with Cathleen at its head, shall be upon our estate, and 
 neither you nor yours shall ever want for anything again." 
 
 " Surely, God is too good ! " murmured the poor fellow, 
 looking about him with eyes swimming in grateful tears. 
 
 All were to dine in the little pastoral residence, and Clare, 
 when the joyful excitement was somewhat subdued, stole 
 into the kitchen to assist Moira. Nora would have followed, 
 but Carroll intercepted her, insisting that she should repair to 
 the study to listen to some communication from him. She 
 entered reluctantly, and he, closing the door, leaned against 
 it with folded arms. 
 
 " Now, Marie, I insist upon a straightforward answer. We 
 have both gone through too much to trifle with our happiness 
 longer. In a fortnight work will begin upon the estate, and 
 the dear old home will be speedily renovated. When that is 
 done, will you become my wife ? " 
 
 She did not speak ; instead, her bosom heaved, and her 
 eyes filled with tears. 
 
 " Answer me, Marie ! " he said in an alarmed tone. " Surely 
 there is nothing now to prevent ? " 
 
 She answered slowly : " I would not have your wife one 
 who is stained with the disgrace of her mother." 
 
 " Is that all ? " he exclaimed joyfully. " Marie, did you 
 think this heart of mine could give you up for anything in 
 the world ? it \*you I want -you, as you are, with your own 
 pure heart and noble mind, regardless of what those may 
 have been from whom you have sprung ; further, I deem the 
 innocence of your mother to be firmly established. Are you 
 satisfied ? " 
 
 Yes," placing her hands voluntarily in his " but I hav 
 a request to make." 
 
 " Speak, dearest ; it is granted before you utter it* 
 
 * That you defer our wedding."
 
 47 
 
 CARROLL VDONOGHUE. 
 
 His face fell ; he had not dreamed that such was to be tht 
 purport of her boon. 
 
 " There is no need for haste," she said ; " wait, and busy 
 yourself with the improvements you have planned on the estate. 
 I have a hope that something will happen to convince Lord 
 Heathcote of my mother's innocence, and I would bring to 
 the altar with you a name as unstained as your own is." 
 
 It was useless for him to remonstrate or entreat ; the utmost 
 to which she would yield was not to delay the wedding longer 
 than a year. 
 
 "And in the meantime," he asked, "what will you do?" 
 
 " Continue to live here with Father Meagher and Moira ; 
 I thought of going to Father O'Connor, now that he is really 
 my brother, you know " speaking playfully, " but his rever- 
 ence, in answer to the letter which I wrote him to that effect, 
 disapproves of the plan he says it is better to let his parish- 
 ioners remain ignorant of his changed identity, especially as 
 Lord Heathcote could not be quite convinced that he was 
 his son. So, as I could not go to him known as his sister, 
 why, I shall remain as I am, and he will be still plain, humble 
 Father O'Connor." 
 
 Carroll shook his head. " Clare and I shall remove to the 
 old home as soon as it is prepared, and your home shall be 
 with us, as it always has been." 
 
 44 No, no, Carroll, you must let me have my own way in this 
 matter ; and after, when Providence deigns to permit our 
 union, I shall be as obedient as even you can wish me to be,** 
 
 He was forced to be satisfied. 
 
 That very afternoon Carroll, accompanied by Fathei 
 Meagher, sought for a cottage which might form a temporary 
 home for Rick and his family ; and one was secured not a 
 great distance from the little pastoral residence. Thither* 
 after an interval of two days, during which Carroll had it re- 
 paired and neatly furnished, the little family removed. 
 
 Sullivan had grown alarmingly weak, even more so when 
 be learned from Father Meagher the latter being obliged to
 
 TEE RETURN TO DHROMMAUVHOL. 479 
 
 tell him because of Rick's own earnest questions that, had 
 he reached Dublin in time to give his evidence to Lord Heath- 
 cote, the latter might have been convinced of the innocence 
 of his wife. 
 
 " I shall endeavor to get to London," he said, " I shall 
 compel his lordship to believe me." 
 
 But the priest well knew that his journey would be sooner 
 to the bourne beyond the grave than the one he contemplated. 
 And so it proved to be. From the moment he entered the 
 pretty little cottage he was scarcely able to leave his bed ; 
 everybody vied with Cathleen in ministering to him even 
 the neighbors, who could not cease to wonder at the strange 
 fact of Rick's new daughter, as they called Cathleen ; but, 
 next to Cathleen's own tender hand, Rick liked to have Tighe 
 a Vohr about him ; the simple fellow, gentle and kind as a 
 woman, had won the poor sick man's heart, and to Tighe, when 
 Rick's strength would permit, he loved to talk of all the re- 
 cent strange events, and to deplore his absence from Dublin 
 at a time when his evidence might have done so much. In 
 that way Tighe learned all about Lord Heathcote's refusal to 
 make any public acknowledgment of his children, owing to 
 Carter's denial of his guilt of the past, and with his natural 
 shrewdness, he divined the cause of Dennier's (or Berkeley's) 
 absence, and on the day on which he was thus enlightened 
 by his reflections, he vented his feelings to Shaun, when the 
 two were out on the country road : 
 
 " So, it's that ould baste o' a Carther that's the manes o 
 kapin' Miss O'Donoghue an' that noble-hearted Englishman 
 apart ! it's a wondher the loightnin' o' Heaven doesn't 
 sthrike the ould vagabone an' make him confiss ! How an* 
 iver, it's a long lane that has no turn, an' mark me words for 
 it, Sbaun, but he'll be ketched in a noose o' his own makin*
 
 CHAPTER LVIIL 
 
 COVICTID AT LAST. 
 
 TAUTER was in his old room in Tralee, a bottle an 1 glass 
 0i tb table before which he sat, and his bloated face and 
 blood-shot eyes betraying how deep had been his potation. 
 
 "They thought to snare me," he muttered, again half -filling 
 his glass, and draining its contents, " but I carried the day 
 by my courage. It's a wonder they didn't have Rick of the 
 Hills to face me and if they did, it would have been the 
 same, for I'd pretend to put the lies down his throat. They 
 snatched the game from me they foiled me of my revenje^ 
 but I'll give them a parting blow before I leave ! I'll wait 
 awhile yet, and I'll set another watch on Dhrommacohand 
 may be I'll find some opportunity of abducting that pretty 
 Marie, and if I don't, I'll put a bullet through Carroll 
 O'Donoghue's heart that will give his dainty affianced a 
 life-long grief. It is time Thade was here," looking at his 
 watch ; and then he helped himself to another glass of the 
 liquor. At that instant there was a knock at the door, and 
 before Carter could respond, Thade entered. "Well, will 
 you be ready to start this evening ? " said Carter. 
 
 " Aye," answered Thade. 
 
 " And mind you do your business better than you did it 
 before sending me reports that ev erything was quiet, and 
 the pastor of the parish at that very time thinking of starting 
 for Dublin ! " 
 
 "Well, how was I to know that?" said Thade surlily; 
 
 " didn't I watch, an' as soon as I saw himsel' an' Miss O'Don- 
 
 oghue, an' Tighe a Vohr follyin' thim, didn't I write to tell 
 
 you BO ? but you vere away whin the letthcr came, an* I, 
 
 (480)
 
 CONVICTED AT LAST. 4$, 
 
 wondherin* that you gev me no answer, naythur to that nor 
 to another that I sint, came up here mesel', to foind that you 
 had gone to Dublin. It's you that had a roight to sind me 
 word, an' not be kapin' me in the loike o' that suspinse ! " 
 
 "Well, I suppose I had," said Carter, considerably molli- 
 fied ; " but I didn't expect to be gone long, and I wouldn't 
 have been, either, only they showed me such attention in 
 Dublin Castle, telling me that Lord Heathcote was too ill to 
 see me for a few days, but that he wished everything to be 
 done for my comfort." 
 
 " Faix, Mr. Carther, but you must be a great man intoirely 
 to be recaved at Dublin Castle that way ! " 
 
 " May be I am, Thade ; and may be, if you serve me well, 
 there's no knowing what I'll do for you." 
 
 " The divil a fear o' me, Mr. Cariher ; I'll sarve you as if 
 you were me own brother ! " 
 
 " Very well, then, Thade ; and here are the funds you will 
 need " counting out a couple of pound notes ; " and help 
 yourself to a drink before we part." 
 
 Thade, with every sign of delight, obeyed the invitation, 
 drinking to Carter's health and success, and at length, having 
 safely put away his money, he departed. 
 
 Every day or two Carter received plainly-written, but badly- 
 spelled letters, and for a fortnight after Thade's departure 
 they contained no news further than that Mr. O'Donoghue 
 and his sister, with the young lady now known throughout 
 Dhrommacohol as Miss Berkeley, were residing with Father 
 Meagher ; that improvements were being made rapidly on the 
 O'Donoghue estate, and while everybody seemed to be antici 
 pating the speedy marriage of Mr. O'Donoghue and Misf 
 Berkeley, no one seemed to know the precise date of the ex- 
 pected event ; the letters also stated how Rick of the Hills, 
 in a dying condition, lived in a cottage near the pastoral resi- 
 dence, with a young woman said to be his daughter. And 
 Carter read the missives again and again, and said to himself : 
 
 " I'll wait awhile longer ; I'll wait until the full tide of hap-
 
 4 g, CARROLL VDONOQHUK 
 
 piness sets in upon them until both of their hearts are burst- 
 ing with joy and then I'll strike ! " He ground his teeth 
 with savage feeling. 
 
 One day a letter came to him stating that Carroll O'Don- 
 oghue and his sister had gone to reside in their old home, and 
 that Miss Berkeley did not accompany them that it was even 
 reported how her marriage had been postponed for a year, for 
 some unknown reason, and that she would continue to live in 
 the pastoral residence. 
 
 " Now is my time ! " said Carter glowingly, and that even- 
 ing saw him on his way to Dhrommacohol. 
 
 Rick of the Hills was dying. ; about his bed were gathered 
 all those he so loved to see Cathleen, his own tender Cathleen, 
 on one side of him, Marie on the other ; Clare, with affectionate 
 Bartley, and Mrs. Kelly, the good woman whom Rick loved 
 for her kindness to his child, and Carroll, and Tighe, all kneel- 
 ing about his bed. Father Meagher, who had already admin- 
 istered the last rites, stood close to the dying man, often re- 
 placing the crucifix which fell from his clammy hand. He 
 was perfectly conscious, and he turned to them frequently 
 with such an exquisite smile that it seemed to transfigure his 
 countenance, murmuring : " It is so sweet to be forgiven ! " 
 
 But his lips closed at last to open no more, and the cold 
 dew of death, and the ashen color of his face, proclaimed that 
 his soul had fled. Then Cathleen's wild grief burst forth : 
 
 " My poor, penitent father ! " she said, throwing herself 
 upon his body, and pressing to her own the clammy face. 
 
 Brief as the time was during which she had known him, she 
 had discovered all th* depths of that touching love for her- 
 *elf ; and his gentleness and patience during his illness, to- 
 gether with his contrition for the past, which was so constant 
 and so sincere, had won all the affection of her gentle nature. 
 
 They would not leave her, and as she could not be per- 
 suaded to be removed from the lifeless body, it was decided 
 that all should remain in the little cottage until morning it 
 was now an hour past midnight ; and Tighe volunteered to go 
 on anv immediate errands which might be required.
 
 CONVICTED At LAS?. 4 g 3 
 
 Two stalwart neighbors, who had kindly remained in an 
 adjoining room waiting for the final scene, proffered to ac- 
 company him, and the three departed. As they neaied 
 Father Meagher's residence, which lay in their immediate 
 direction, and the moon emerging from a cloud distinctly re- 
 vealed objects for a moment, Tighe fancied he saw the shadow 
 of a man loom up against the wall of the house. He knew 
 that Moira and his mother, who came on certain days to help 
 the priest's niece, and at such times generally remained all 
 night, were the sole occupants of the little domicile, and his 
 heart beat wildly at the thought of danger to them. 
 
 " Hist ! " he said to his companions, who declared that they 
 also had seen the shadow ; " do ache o' you take a soide o' 
 the house an' watch ; I shall take the shpot where I thought 
 I saw the man." 
 
 All were armed with good stout sticks, and they separated, 
 each walking as guardedly as possible. It was quite dark 
 again not an object could be discerned ; and with his ears 
 strained, and with every nerve drawn to its utmost tension, 
 Tighe waited. A long time elapsed so long a time that 
 Tighe began to think he was mistaken ; and just as he had 
 determined to end his suspense by rapping up Moira and his 
 mother, a window just above his head was raised gently, and 
 a voice called softly : 
 
 " Hist ! she's not here she's not in the house.** 
 
 No answer being returned, the voice repeated its call, and 
 even whistled a low, shrill, peculiar whistle. But again, no 
 answer being returned, Tighe heard the window closed. 
 
 Fearing now to rap up Moira and his mother, lest, while 
 responding to his summons, they might encounter the robber 
 which Tighe deemed the owner of the voice to be, he waited 
 with wildly beating heart and trembling limbs for further de- 
 velopments. The developments came in a few moments, 
 in the bold opening of the front door by the supposed robber, 
 and in the same instant a man started up from the side of the 
 house, against which he had been crouched. The moon, par*
 
 4 g 4 CARROLL VDONOQEUK 
 
 tially emerged from a cloud, just revealed the outlines of hit 
 form, and Tighe, calling to his companions, grappled with the 
 man in the doorway. He was opposed by monster strength ; 
 both fell, desperately clinched, and rolled down the little 
 itoop, and out on the walk. Tighe heard his companions 
 scuffling with some one else, and his collar was caught in 
 so tight a grasp by his antagonist that he could not shout 
 for aid. At length his adversary seemed to gain the mas- 
 tery ; with one stunning blow at Tighe, he freed himself 
 and ran at full speed. The moon was once more fully out, 
 and it revealed his flying figure. 
 
 " After him ! " shrieked Tighe, whose stunned faculties 
 recovered in an instant, and picking himself up, and wait- 
 ing only to divest himself of his coat, he took up the chase. 
 
 On they went, pursued and pursuer, the moon fortunately 
 not entirely disappearing down the village street, on to the 
 country road ; then, making a turn, they continued to dash 
 on to where a steep, rugged descent led to a deep hollow 
 filled with bowlders, through which a stream of water mean- 
 dered at certain seasons of the year. Would the robber keep 
 on to that did he know his danger ? or would he stop him- 
 self in time ? No ; on he went, and just as the moon came 
 brilliantly out, now sailing in an unclouded sky, he disappeared 
 with a wild cry over the descent. Tighe, horrified, stood on 
 the summit and looked below. He saw the man lying help- 
 less among the stones, and he shut his ears to the fearful criei 
 and groans which reached him. Knowing that he would be 
 unable to render assistance alone, he hurried back. His 
 companions had made a capture, and Moira and Mrs. Carmody, 
 who had been aroused and were sadly frightened, now 
 encircled Tighe for an explanation. 
 
 ** Some o' you come wid me," he said ; " he's killed intoirely, 
 I'm afeered he fell into the glen, an' his cries are ringin' in 
 me ears ! " 
 
 It was decided that the prisoner, who was surly and who 
 refused to open his mouth, be left in charge of one of the
 
 CONVICTED AT LABT. 4 8 S 
 
 stalwart young men, while the other accompanied Tighe and 
 Mrs. Carmody, and Moira volunteered to go and tell Father 
 Meagher. 
 
 " An' if he's so badly hurt that he won't bear much movin', 
 where'll we take him ? " said Tighe ? " Oh, I have it ; I'll 
 take him into our house, mother it's only a little piece beyant 
 where he's lyin'." 
 
 All departed on their various eriands. 
 
 " Aisy ; even if he is a robber, he has a sowl," said Tigh, as 
 his companion and himself, having scrambled down the descent, 
 were about lifting the writhing, groaning form. 
 
 It was that of a large, heavy man, and having fallen head 
 foremost, the face was downward. They lifted him carefully 
 and turned his face to the moonlight. It was Mortimer 
 Carter. Tighe, in his surprise, well-nigh ceased his hold. 
 
 " Well, you ould sinner," he said, as soon as he recovered 
 from his astonishment sufficiently to speak ; " you've got yer 
 desarts at last, an' it's a wondher Almighty God didn't shtrike 
 you afore ! " 
 
 They tried in vain to bear him from the glen the ascent 
 was too steep ; and though Tighe had felt confident of being 
 able to do so, he found now that with every effort he made he 
 but incurred the danger of all three being precipitated back- 
 ward. So Carter was placed gently upon the stones again, 
 his head lying in Tighe's lap, while Tighe's companion went 
 to arouse some of the people who lived near, in order to get 
 more effectual assistance. 
 
 Carter was dreadfully injured ; his arm and one of his legt 
 seemed broken, and his face was a frightful mass of blood and 
 bruises, beside some internal injury which caused a groan 
 with every breath. 
 
 " Mebbe now you'll confiss all the wrong that you done to 
 Lord Heathcote," Tighe could not refrain from saying, " now, 
 when there's no hope for you ; for if you do get over this, 
 which isn't loikely, seein' the luk o' you this minit, you'll bt 
 thranspoorted for the way you broke into the praste's house."
 
 4 g$ CARROLL VDONOOHUK 
 
 " Transported 1 " said Carter, faintly, and striving to loofc 
 up into the face above him. 
 
 "Yis; what else would it be," said Tighe, " wid all the 
 proof that's agin you ? mesel' an' the two min that were wid 
 me saw the whole o* it, an' the villain that was wid you ii 
 taken he's a. prisoner this minit, an' willin' enough, I guiss, 
 to tell all he knows." 
 
 Tighe was not so sure of the truth of his last words, but, 
 with his usual cunning, he hazarded the remark. A deeper 
 groan than any he had yet given issued from Carter, and a 
 worse agony than that caused by his physical pain distorted 
 his features. 
 
 "Will nothing save me ?" he gasped. 
 
 " Yis," said Tighe, fairly trembling with the hope which filled 
 him, " if you will confiss the guilt that you denied in Lord 
 Heathcote's prisince, I'll ingage that Father Meagher'll not 
 prosecute you for this." 
 
 " I will confess," gasped Carter, " tell Father Meagher 1 
 will ! " and then, from the combined Affects of pain and 
 exhaustion, he fainted. 
 
 "Oh, blissed mother av God, kape him aloive don't let 
 him die till he sets matthers roight ! " prayed Tighe, while he 
 kept an agonized watch on the top of the descent for a glimpse 
 of the aid he expected. 
 
 They came at last a perfect array of the neighbors, and in 
 t little while, by the help of ropes, a chair, and sturdy hands, 
 the still insensible Carter was borne up, and carried to Mrs. 
 Carmody's residence, where Father Meagher had just arrived. 
 A physician was summoned, but, before he came, Carter had 
 recovered sufficient consciousness to know the clergyman. 
 The latter had been told by Tighe of the promises which had 
 been made by himself and the injured man. 
 
 " Will you prosecute me for this act," said Carter, wildly, 
 his very agony giving him strength for the moment, " if I 
 confess the crimes I have committed ? " 
 
 " Confess your crimes for the sake of your poor soul, MOP.
 
 CONVICTED AT LAST. .g? 
 
 timer Carter," was the priest's answer ; " seek the pardon of 
 your offended God while there is yet time." 
 
 " God pardon there is none for me ! " shrieked the 
 agonized wretch. 
 
 "There is," whispered the clergyman, "even at this late 
 moment, if you are sorry for the past, and will make what 
 atonement may be in your power." 
 
 " No, no," screamed the despairing man, ' there is only 
 hell's fire for my soul ; see, see Marie Dougherty ! the young 
 wife that I tore from her home, that I slandered to her hus- 
 band she taunts me she curses me ! Oh God ! I am damned 
 damned ! " 
 
 It was horrible to look at him ; horrible to listen to his 
 ravings. He tore away the bandages which charitable hands 
 had put upon his wounds, and the blood spurted forth, caus- 
 ing him to shriek and blaspheme at the sight. 
 
 The doctor now arrived, and he at once pronounced the 
 case hopeless. The size of the man had rendered his internal 
 injuries fatal, and a few hours at most would end his wretched 
 life. 
 
 " Die ! " he said, when Father Meagher whispered his dan- 
 ger in his ear, and besought him to prepare for his end : 
 " who says that I shall die ? " 
 
 He would have forced himself erect in the bed, but they 
 held him down. 
 
 "I tell you I have years of life before me, only do not 
 prosecute me tell me, Father Meagher, that you will not ! " 
 and he tried to clutch the priest, who was standing by his 
 bedside. 
 
 The clergyman whispered that he would not, and the dying 
 man became quieter, during which time Father Meagher 
 eized the opportunity to say : 
 
 " Carter, are you willing to do justice to those you have 
 wronged ? will you state now, in the presence of witnesses, 
 that Marie Dougherty was innocent of all that you said of 
 her ? that the story which Rick of the Hills told of youi 
 crimes is all true ? "
 
 4 88 
 
 CARROLL &DONOGHUK. 
 
 u Yes, yes ! " was the faint response. 
 
 " Will you let me take down, from your lips, such facts u 
 may be required to convince Lord Heathcote of the innocence 
 of his wife ; and will you swear to them in the presence of 
 the witnesses I shall call ? " 
 
 44 1 will" 
 
 All were summoned within the room Carroll, who had 
 now arrived, Tighe a Vohr, his mother and two of the neigh- 
 bors who had been foremost in helping the injured man, and 
 Father Meagher, rapidly jotting down the brief facts which 
 were necessary to convince Lord Heathcote ; Carter was 
 assisted to rise, and his feeble hand was guided while he af- 
 fixed his dying mark to the paper ; then were appended the 
 signatures of the witnesses. After that he sunk into a fevered 
 slumber. Father Meagher, with crucifix in hand, knelt beside 
 him, striving with Heaven that contrition might be vouchsafed 
 this wretched soul. He woke to know the priest for an in- 
 stant, then to glare at him with eyes whose look the clergyman 
 never forgot, and to give such an unearthly scream that every 
 one within reach of the sound was startled, and then, with 
 one wild gasp, to die unshriven, unrepentant, the soul o4 
 Mortimer Carter had gone to its Maker.
 
 CHAPTER LIX 
 
 A HAPPY RESTORATION. 
 
 Tmt two funerals took place on the same day ; but wkila 
 Rick of the Hills was followed to the grave by sincerely 
 mourning hearts, Mortimer Carter was laid in the ground 
 without a regret being passed above his coffin, and with only 
 the prayer said over his remains that charity prompted. The 
 money for which he had toiled and schemed, for which he had 
 sacrificed his soul, having no one to claim it, reverted to that 
 government whose spy and informer he had been. 
 
 His accomplice in the surreptitious entrance to Father 
 Meagher's house, who was no other than Thade, Carter's paid 
 spy, being told of Carter's death, and hoping to obtain some 
 mitigation of the punishment due to his own crime, made a 
 frank confession. On that night which had resulted so dis- 
 astrously for Carter, the latter, not knowing that Marie had 
 gone to the home of Rick of the Hills, to be absent until 
 morning, had stolen after midnight to the pastoral residence, 
 and noiselessly cutting a pane from one of the kitchen win- 
 dows, the blinds of which Moira habitually kept unfastened, 
 he had found it easy to insert his hand and loosen the clasp 
 which held the window down ; that done, he had raised the 
 sash and entered the kitchen, while his companion waited 
 without. His purpose had been to drug every sleeper that 
 he found in the house, and Ihen, with the insensible form of 
 Marie in his arms, to walk boldly out of the front door, which 
 he, being within, would have little difficulty in opening. He 
 intended to have borne her to a vehicle that, in the charge of 
 another hired accomplice, waited a little distance up theroad^ 
 and the driver of which, at the first sound of Tighe's voict 
 (489)
 
 CARROLL O'DONOOHUR 
 
 calling to his companions, had whipped up his horse and es- 
 caped ; Thade gave his name and description, but the officers 
 of the law were unable to find him. 
 
 Thade's punishment was mitigated through the merciful 
 interposition of Father Meagher, and the fellow in his grati- 
 tude promised with apparent sincerity to reform his evil 
 ways. 
 
 Father O'Connor was summoned to Dhrommacohol, and 
 just as he had heard a full account of Carter's death a letter 
 came from Walter Berkeley, he who had been so well known 
 as Captain Dennier. The letter contained an alarming ac- 
 count of Lord Heathcote's failing health, and Father Meagher, 
 perceiving Marie's eyes fill with tears, and Father O'Connor 
 look troubled, said, with his hand on the young priest's 
 shoulder : 
 
 " Charlie forgive me William, it is but just that you all, 
 father and children, should meet once more ; you and Marie 
 be yourselves the bearers to his lordship of this paper signed 
 by Carter ; I shall telegraph to the Bishop for leave of ab- 
 sence for you, and Father McShane will go down to your 
 place until his grace sends a substitute." 
 
 Marie hailed the proposition with frantic delight ; the young 
 priest, with some misgiving as to whether it was quite his 
 duty to leave his beloved parish for the sake of visiting a par- 
 ent who had even doubted the evidence of his own heart ; 
 and Carroll looked with blank dismay at the prospect of a 
 separation from his affianced, short though it might be ; he 
 would have accompanied her, but Father Meagher said 
 quietly : 
 
 " No, Carroll ; this affair comprises a time and a place upon 
 which you must not intrude Lord Heathcote's family must 
 be alone until this dreadful business is finished." 
 
 So the brother and sister departed, first telegraphing the 
 time of their start from Dhrommacohol, and that they bore 
 important news. What was their surprise, on their arrival' in 
 London, to be met by a servant in livery who mentioned theii
 
 A HAPPY RESTORATION. 49 , 
 
 names, asking respectfully if he was correct. Being answered 
 in the affirmative, he requested them to follow him ; he led 
 the way to an emblazoned carriage, drawn by two magnifi- 
 cent horses. 
 
 " Mr. Berkeley sent it for you," said the liveried servant ; 
 and with wondering looks at each other, the brother and sis- 
 ter took their seats within the handsome vehicle. 
 
 Could that be their destination that palatial edifice before 
 which the carriage stopped ? It was, for Berkeley himself, too 
 impatient to wait, at the first sound of the wheels grating on 
 the space before the house had come forth, and was descend- 
 ing the broad stone steps. Another moment, and he was em- 
 bracing his brother and sister. He drew them within the 
 house, so excited, so eager to tell them his news that he could 
 hardly wait to hear their tidings ; and when he heard, when 
 he held the paper and saw upon it that blotted mark the 
 hand had been so weak that made it when he read the sig- 
 natures of the witnesses, he fell upon his knees and said 
 aloud : 
 
 " My God ! I thank Thee." 
 
 Rising, he told them how on the receipt of their telegram 
 he had acquainted his father with the facts, and the suffering 
 nobleman already strangely softened because of that very 
 suffering, and yearning, as he felt his death approaching, for 
 another sight of his children broke forth into joyful expres- 
 sions at the unexpected news, acknowledging to Walter that 
 for the last few days he had been struggling with himself to 
 subdue his pride and send for them. 
 
 " I shall go to him now," said young Berkeley, " and tell 
 him all ; and in the meantime you can rest, and partake of 
 some refreshment." 
 
 He rung for a servant to conduct his guests to separate 
 suites of private apartments, and he repaired to Lord Heath- 
 cote. In a comparatively short time, however, he rejoined 
 his brother and sister his face aglow, his form so violently 
 trembling that his very voice quivered :
 
 49 , CARROLL aDONOGHUR 
 
 * Come,*' he said, seizing a hand of each ; " he knows all, 
 and he is convinced he yearns for you, he waits to clasp you 
 both ! " 
 
 Yes, there he stood in the center of his private apartment, 
 actually standing, though his feeble strength had not permit- 
 ted him to assume that position for days before his arms 
 outstretched, his stern face now softened to inimitable tender- 
 ness by suffering and the wild yearning of his long-pent 
 heart, and his voice crying : " Come ! my children my chil- 
 dren I " He encircled them both, he pressed each in turn to 
 his heart, but it was to Marie his longest and fondest caress 
 was given. " My darling ! my darling ! " he murmured ; " it 
 is as if my lost one had returned to me my poor, injured, 
 slandered lost one ! " 
 
 His sudden strength gave way, and he was borne to his 
 bed, but with his children about him : Marie's hand perform- 
 ing for him the tender offices she had so often performed for 
 the sick and lonely poor. 
 
 With the next day came a transient return of strength, and 
 while it lasted the nobleman would work. Lawyers and 
 friends whose friendship he had tested, and whom he wanted 
 now to serve as witnesses, came in obedience to his summons, 
 and the story of his Irish marriage, with the legitimacy of his 
 three children, and their right and heirship to his property, 
 were for the first time given to the English public ; then the 
 matter of his will was settled his title, with the bulk of the 
 property, would descend to Walter, who was the elder twin 
 brother ; the remainder of the estate, comprising a much 
 larger portion than Marie dreamed of, would be divided be- 
 tween her and Father O'Connor, now compelled to assume 
 his true name of Berkeley. When all was completed Lord 
 Heathcote laid his head on the pillow again with an air of 
 intense relief. 
 
 Walter wrote a faithful account of all to the anxious dear 
 ones in Dhrommacohol, adding that, as his father's death 
 seemed so near, his guests would remain until the end.
 
 A HAPPY RESTORATION. 49 j 
 
 The end did take place, but not as the young priest and 
 Marie had devoutly prayed and wished Lord Heathcote did 
 not die a Catholic ; though expressing himself satisfied that 
 his children should be of the faith of their mother, he persisted 
 in his determination to die in that creed in which he had been 
 reared. So, even with his priestly son at his bedside tenderly 
 holding one of his hands, the Episcopal clergyman came and 
 read the prayers prescribed by the Church, and the old no- 
 bleman breathed forth his soul in one of his efforts to respond. 
 
 Carroll and Clare, now deeming it a duty to join their 
 bereaved friends, arrived in London in time for the courtly 
 funeral ; and when the obsequies were over, and everything 
 pertaining to the strange events which had been made public 
 regarding Lord Heathcote's early life was arranged, then ail 
 turned their faces once more to Ireland.
 
 CHAPTER LX 
 CORNY O'TOOLE is SATISFIED. 
 
 TH* little village of Dhrommacohol seemed to have loft 
 hi identity in the gala place which it had become it was so 
 utterly unlike its former staid, quiet self. Excitement ran so 
 high within it, owing to the many strange events that were 
 taking place Miss Berkeley, regarded as the angel of the little 
 district because of her kindness to the poor, turning out to be 
 the daughter of an English lord, and about to wed young 
 Carroll O'Donoghue, the darling and idol of all his tenantry ; 
 then Carroll's sister equally loved with himself, though she 
 was not noted for the gentleness which marked her friend, 
 Marie, about to marry Marie's brother, now bearing a title, 
 and the possessor of a vast English estate, and better than 
 all, reported to have become a Catholic in faith and practice. 
 In addition to these startling facts, there was still another : 
 that of Father O'Connor being now Father Berkeley, and the 
 son, also, of this great English lord. People wondered some- 
 what if the wealth which report said was now his would make 
 any difference in his simple style of living. In a little while 
 they were answered : the aid which poured into every impov- 
 erished cabin, which provided for the sick and the ignorant, 
 which lessened not a mite of the economy of his own house- 
 hold, told of one who in wealth, as in poverty, would follow 
 in his Master's steps. 
 
 Both weddings were to take place on the same day. Father 
 Meagher, assisted by Fathers Berkeley and McShane, was to 
 perform the ceremony in the little parish chapel of Dhrom- 
 macohol ; immediately after, the bridal parties were to start 
 for London, in which city Walter Berkeley now holding hii 
 (494)
 
 COUNT VTOOLR IS SATISFIED. 49 j 
 
 father's title of Lord Heathcote and his wife, who would b 
 Lady Heathcote, intented to make their home during certain 
 seasons of the year. 
 
 So it was little wonder that the whole village of Dhromma- 
 cohol was aroused, and in such a state of joyous excitement 
 that even old Ned Maloney, the miser, who was yet alive and 
 pursuing his ostensible trade in his general shop, was noticed 
 by parties who entered his dingy place to be more gracious 
 than usual it might be owing to the stir given by approach- 
 ing events to even the little business he conducted. Disgust- 
 ed and alarmed by the deception practiced upon him regard- 
 ing the first and only race in which he had ever engaged, he 
 had, on recovering his horse, availed himself of the first op- 
 portunity to sell the animal, and to discharge the groom, Arty 
 Moore. 
 
 The only visage that was somewhat lengthy was that of 
 Tighe a Vohr. 
 
 " Faith, Moira," he said one day, just a week before the 
 eventful day of the weddings, " it's a burnin' shame, afther 
 all me good behavior, that Father Meagher won't as much as 
 tip me a wink to let me know that he's aware o' me impatience 
 in this matther o' our coortship he jist purtinds to be 
 noticin' nothin' ! an' the same toime sure the whole o' Dhrom- 
 macohol can see that I'm dyin' about you. Now it's hard to 
 be thrated in this manner, an' I lave it to yersel', Moira, if 1 
 haven't been as sober, an' as dutiful, an' as attintive for the 
 past two months as you'd wish me to be haven't I left off 
 all me wild thricks ? " 
 
 " Indeed you have, Tighe ! " said Moira warmly ; " and I 
 undertook to tell uncle something about it last night." 
 
 " An' what did he say, darlin' ? " And Tighe leaned for- 
 ward with bated breath to catch her answer. 
 
 " Why, he said that you hadn't been tested enough yet- 
 that I must wait until you were more settled down, and until 
 he could be sure that you would abstain from liquor." 
 
 Tighe leaned back in his chair, disappointed and crestfallea
 
 49 
 
 CARROLL 
 
 * Well now, that's moighty hard, wid me heart breakin* fot 
 you the way it is ! but niver moind ; it's far off God sinds, 
 an' mebbe He'd sind a bit o* luck to us afore the wake if 
 out." 
 
 His hope was realized, for on the evening of that same 
 day, meeting Carroll and Clare together and unaccompanied 
 as on most other occasions they were, by the young 
 Lord Heathcote and Marie, Tighe stopped them to ask a 
 favor. 
 
 "Granted before you ask it, Tighe," said Carroll laugh- 
 ingly, " even to the half of my estate, my faithful fellow ! " 
 
 " No, Mr. O'Donoghue, it isn't anything loike that I want ; 
 it's to ax you to get something for me that will make me 
 happier than the whole o' yer estate could do. You see, 
 Masther Carroll, me heart is breakin' wid love o' Moira 
 Moynahan, an' Father Meagher thinks I'm not shteady 
 enough to get her, though I've been on me good behavior 
 so shtrict that I didn't as much as give one crooked luk 
 this while back. Now, mebbe if you'd give Father Mea- 
 gher this characther o' me, an' at the same toime puttin' in 
 a coaxin' word to hilp the matther, an' mebbe if Miss O'Don- 
 oghue would do the same, things would come roight for poor 
 Moira an' me." 
 
 Carroll laughed heartily, and Clare joined him in the burst 
 of merriment. " Why did you not tell me this before ? " he 
 said. 
 
 " Beikase I thought his riverince, seein* me efforts to do 
 betther, an' me melancholy luks, would take pity on me, an* 
 tell me from himsel' that I moight have Moira." 
 
 " Well, well, Tighe, make yourself content I think I can 
 manage it for you." 
 
 u Thank you, Masther Carroll ; you were niver yet wantin' 
 in settlin' a difficulty ! " And Tighe a Vohr departed, so 
 light-hearted that his joyful spirits would find vent in a 
 merry refrain. That evening he was summoned to Fathei 
 Meagher's study.
 
 CORNY &TOOLE 18 SATISFIED. 
 
 497 
 
 " Now, Tighe," said the priest, assuming a severity to make 
 his words the more impressive, " if I consent to your marriage 
 with -my niece Moira, remember that I shall be confiding to 
 you care the only, and to me the dearest, relic of my family ; 
 she is young and guileless, and unfit to cope with the trouble 
 which an unsteady husband would bring upon her." 
 
 "I know that, yer riverince, but marriage'll make a man o' 
 me." And Tighe a Vohr straightened himself, and looked 
 with clear, frank eyes into the priest's face. " It will be the 
 dearest task o' me loife, yer riverince, to protect ivery hair o' 
 her head." 
 
 44 Well, Tighe, if you will promise to be as true to her in- 
 terests as you have been to those of your young master, Car- 
 roll O'Donoghue, I shall be satisfied." 
 
 " Oh, thin, I can shwear to that, yer riverince you'll niver 
 have cause to regret givin' Moira Moynahan to Tighe a Vohr ! " 
 
 44 Then God bless you, Tighe ; and may He ever keep you 
 faithful to Him ! " 
 
 The priest's hand was raised in blessing, which Tighe, 
 deeply affected, knelt to receive. Then Father Meagher said : 
 
 "Send Moira to me I have something to say to her." 
 
 With a light heart he sought the young girl, and in the ex- 
 uberance of his joy, when he had told her the good news, for- 
 getting that he had not yet the right which alone would make 
 Moira grant him the privilege, he would have caught her to 
 him and pressed a kiss upon her forehead, but she, with in- 
 tinctive delicacy, drew herself back : 
 
 u You forget, Tighe, we are not married yet." 
 
 44 Thrue for you, darlin', an' I loike you the betther for yer 
 modesty." 
 
 But when she had gone, and he was alone with Shaun, feel- 
 ing that he must give vent somehow to his wild emotions, he 
 caught up the dog, much to the animal's astonishment, and 
 gave to it the embrace he would have fain bestowed on 
 Moira. 
 
 * Shaun, agra ! sure we were niver in such luck : marriag*
 
 49 g CARROLL VDONOQHU& 
 
 afore us, an* oceans av joy ! Oh, how'll we contain oursel'i 
 at all, at all ? " 
 
 And Shaun was hugged until the poor brute, fond as he 
 was of his master, fain would free himself. 
 
 Had Carroll O'Donoghue his wish, he would have had the 
 wedding of Tighe a Vohr occur at the precise time of his own, 
 but Father Meagher refused to have it so, saying that it would 
 be better, and that the young couple themselves would prefer 
 to have a very quiet ceremony when the other bridal parties 
 had gone to London. So it was arranged ; and the important 
 day arrived on which four faithful hearts were to be ^united. 
 
 The ceremony was quiet and simple, devoid of showy cos- 
 tumes and magnificent wedding favors ; the ostentation con- 
 sisted rather in munificent gifts to the poor, in lavish hospitality 
 to the tenantry; and true blessings went up from simple, 
 earnest hearts, and grateful God-speeds, which bore an omen 
 of good in the very manner of their utterance, followed the 
 wedded couples. 
 
 Never were there two more beautiful brides the very sim- 
 plicity of their costumes enhancing physical charms which 
 derived not a little of their beauty from the loveliness of the 
 pure souls within. 
 
 Father Berkeley was the last to receive their adieus, and to 
 his sister he turned for the final embrace. He held her to 
 him ; it was the first time his mortified heart would permit 
 him so fond a caress. 
 
 " Marie ! " he whispered, " to your noble sacrifice is due 
 all our happiness. Heaven has well rewarded your devotion 
 to duty. May He in whose footsteps you have sought to fol- 
 low ever keep and guide you ! " 
 
 One kiss upon her forehead, one more touch of his beloved 
 hand, and he turned away, while she, weeping with joy and 
 gratitude, stepped into the carriage in waiting. 
 
 The quiet little wedding ceremony which Father Meagher 
 denied for his niece was performed, and Tighe'g " best man *
 
 CORNY &TOOLE IS 
 
 had been Corny O'Toole. Tighe, however, had stipulated 
 with Corny that he must permit himself to be dressed in 
 accordance with Tighe's taste, and the latter man, too happy 
 in the prospect of an opportunity to be near Mrs. Carmody, 
 willingly asgented. The result was that Corny appeared to 
 better advantage than he ever had done before, although 
 pretty Moira, excited as she was with joyful anticipation, 
 could not help laughing at his odd little figure, and wrinkled, 
 ill-featured face. 
 
 Cathleen Sullivan and Mrs Kelly, with fragile Hartley Dono- 
 van the latter growing more fragile, and at the same time more 
 beautiful every day were also present, with many of Tighe'f 
 old friends and acquaintances. 
 
 At the repast which followed the ceremony, Father Meagher 
 presided, and a merrier party had never assembled. In the 
 midst of a temporary lull which had followed the ebullition of 
 mirth caused by one of Father Meagher's excellent witty 
 stories, the company were suddenly and amusingly electrified 
 by Corny O'Toole who had contrived to be seated next to 
 Mrs. Carmody rising and saying with his hand on his heart : 
 
 " Understand me, Mrs. Carmody ; I never meant to have 
 you remove your affections from the cold grave of your 
 lamented husband ; if it is any satisfaction, ma'am, to have 
 them remain there, Corny O'Toole is not the man, no, Mrs. 
 Mollie Carmody, Corny O'Toole is not the man to ask you to 
 remove them ! " 
 
 The words, the look, the attitude of the little man, together 
 with Mrs. Carmody's flushed and indignant face, convulsed 
 the assemblage. Roar after roar shook the table, in the midst 
 of which Father Meagher's hearty laugh could be distin- 
 guished ; he remembered the episode of Mrs. Carmody's love- 
 letter, and it made his mirth the heartier, while Tighe a Vohr, 
 laughing as loudly as the rest, thought within himself : 
 
 " Poor Corny has proposed to me mother at last, an' I'm 
 afeerd he's got his final answer." 
 
 Quiet was restored at length, and Mr. O'Toole humbly ay.
 
 SOQ CARROLL &DONOGUUB. 
 
 ing that, as he now was convinced of Mrs. Carmody's sentt 
 ments, he would no longer annoy her by an offer of himself 
 that indignant lady consented to pardon him ; and when ht 
 explained further to the company how the unbounded admi- 
 ration which, from his earliest manhood, he held for Mistress 
 Mollie Carmody, would descend unchanged with him to the 
 grave, she deigned to be exceedingly friendly, thus cheering 
 the little man's heart, and the perfect peace and pleasure of 
 the party were restored. 
 
 On their short wedding trip to Tralee, Tighe and his pretty 
 young bride were one day confronted in the street by a couple 
 whose faces were familiar to Tighe, and the sight of which 
 brought back some of the amusing incidents of his life. They 
 were Joe Canty, the sporting man, and the fair, stout Widow 
 Moore. Evidently from their manner to each other they were 
 husband and wife ; and Tighe, looking at them with a roguish 
 twinkle, was met by a glance of haughty contempt from 
 Canty. 
 
 " I supposed he learned all about the thrick I once played 
 on him," said Tighe to Moira, " an' that's the rayson he gey 
 suck a luk whin he passed." And thereupon Tighe told the 
 whole story of the race which had resulted so disastrously for 
 Mr. Canty, concluding with a humorous detail of the decep- 
 tion regarding the Widow Moore which he had practiced on 
 the soldier Garfield, and Moira was so convulsed with laughter 
 that she was obliged to lower her veil 
 
 Weeks passed, marked by no sad event save the death of 
 Bartley Donovan, and that was so like the end of some fair, 
 youthful saint, that even those who loved him best could 
 scarcely regret his demise. With his hand in Cathleen's, with 
 his eyes fixed upon her face, he had said with one ol hii 
 exquisite smiles : 
 
 " Do you think I shall see that Heaven you used to tell me 
 to much about and that dear God, and his blessed mother ? M 
 
 His lips and his eyes had closed simultaneously with th 
 Iterance of the last words, and with one gentle sigh he had
 
 CORNY V TOOLS 18 SATISFIED. Jo| 
 
 Father Meagher, hardly thinking that the end was so near 
 and yet prompted by a singular impulse, had brought him the 
 Viaticum scarcely an hour before. Mrs. Kelly would no 
 longer detain Cathleen from the desire of her heart to con- 
 secrate herself to God in religion ; and as the good woman 
 herself had been offered a permanent and lucrative position in 
 the home of Carroll O'Donoghue, and nothing now remained 
 to keep the young girl, the latter gladly availed herself of the 
 opportunity. Marie, or Mrs. O'Donoghue, on being told of 
 Cathleen's desire, insisted on furnishing a munificent dower. 
 
 Mrs. Carmody had taken the place of Moira in Father 
 Meagher's household, and Corny O'Toole was quietly living 
 his old obscure life in Tralee ; but he sometimes cheered 
 himself by a visit to his Dhrommacohol friends. 
 
 Tighe and Moira were the happy owners of a pretty little 
 home on the O'Donoghue domain, and Shaun, faithful Shaun, 
 as devoted to his master as ever, had a most honored place in 
 the household. 
 
 One morning the whole village was electrified by the news 
 that Maloney, the miser, had been found dead in his bed. 
 " Died widout praste or docther ! " was the conclusion of 
 every announcement of his death made by the simple folk, 
 and accompanied by a look which told their horror of such 
 an end. More money than even people dreamed he possessed 
 was found in his wretched abode, and having no one to claim 
 it, it reverted to the government. 
 
 We leave them all at last the friends whose fortunes 
 have accompanied so long happy in the reward of that virtue 
 which sacrificed no duty, and which never forgot its allegiance 
 to Him who even in this world so lovingly rewards goodneia, 
 mad so justly punishes crime.
 
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