'ornia 
 lal 
 
 V
 
 8.C.SB
 
 A LIFE'S HAZARD; 
 
 OK, 
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, 
 ST. JOHN'S SQUARE.
 
 A LIFE'S HAZABD; 
 
 OE, 
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 
 
 BY HENEY ESMOND. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Emtttmt : 
 SAMPSON LOW, MAESTON, SEAELE, & EIVINGTOX, 
 
 CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET. 
 
 1878. 
 \_All rights reserved.'}
 
 A LIFE'S HAZARD; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN the year 18 there dwelt in Swords 
 (which lies north of Dublin) a man of 
 whom the antiquated villagers surmised 
 much but knew little. 
 
 The subject of all this ambiguous 
 thought was one of fine symmetrical 
 proportions, broad-shouldered and un- 
 constrained in gait, while his bronzed, 
 long-bearded face despite its plaintive 
 expression wore an easy appearance of 
 benevolent confidence that never comes by 
 accident. His age was thirty-three years, 
 but he looked considerably older. 
 
 VOL. i. B
 
 2 A LIFE s HAZARD; OE, 
 
 Letters for Harcourt Russell, Esq., were 
 punctually called for each morning, and 
 deferentially tendered to him by the comely 
 wife of the local postmaster; other than 
 which there was no clue to the " strange 
 gentleman," as he was usually called. 
 
 Excellence of quality was unmistakeable 
 in his carriage and appearance ; indeed, it 
 was this conscious superiority that occa- 
 sioned so much wonder as to who he was. 
 Alone, unthought-of and unattended, he 
 presented himself to the widow O'Rourke 
 late one summer evening. 
 
 " I wish to occupy your rooms " were 
 almost his only words as he crossed the 
 threshold, though the worthy estimable 
 relict never could understand how he 
 knew she had apartments to let. 
 
 The year 18 was fast drawing to a 
 close autumn being already at hand. 
 
 This morning, however, was unusually 
 fine. As the sun rose high in its vaulted 
 zenith, the sluggish mists crept from
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENT WORTH WASTE. 3 
 
 their black recesses to be ruthlessly dis- 
 pelled, while the feathered choristers dis- 
 tended their reedy throats and carolled 
 their full notes of gladness. With the 
 same preoccupied look the stranger pre- 
 sented himself as usual at the little post- 
 office and received the customary letters 
 for Harcourt Russell, Esq. 
 
 Politely returning the meek salutation 
 of the attentive official, he was in the act 
 of placing these letters in his pocket, when 
 the superscription on one caught his eye, 
 and uttering an involuntary exclamation, 
 he leaned heavily against the counter. 
 
 The sympathetic face of the postmistress 
 at once showed actual concern as, almost 
 tenderly, she said, " Indade, I hope yer 
 honour's not ill?" With admirable forti- 
 tude he repressed every trace of agitation 
 almost instantly, and in the same subdued 
 manner softly replied, " Thank you, my 
 illness is the growth of years, which time 
 and justice alone can cure." Long was 
 B 2
 
 4 A LIFE S HAZARD ; OR, 
 
 that touching reply remembered by his 
 simple-minded auditor, who, though unable 
 to realize the significance of his words, 
 yet did not doubt their sincerity. 
 
 Towards the evening of this day, which 
 was damp and foggy, a man, heavily muffled 
 and disguised, with measured steps, cau- 
 tiously made his way towards Kilmainham, 
 one of the extreme points of the boundary 
 of the city of Dublin. Continuing his route 
 by the Phoenix Park, he turned to the left, 
 swiftly crossed the road and took a copious 
 draught from St. John's Well. "Many 
 years ago," he ejaculated, " I stood on this 
 hallowed place, but, alas ! how changed am 
 I now ; then I was happy in the pursuit of 
 life's dream ay, joyous in its following as 
 the bird of passage pursues its ae'riel flight 
 across the measureless wave. I too have 
 crossed the wave, and yet again I am here to 
 prove life's treasures lost, lost ! Oh, let me 
 hide the damning thought beyond recalling, 
 and on to my destiny!" Hastily resuming
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENT WORTH WASTE. 5 
 
 his resolute walk and manner he passed by 
 Bully's Acre, where sleeps Ireland's fore- 
 most son, Brian Boru. The path now 
 became winding and rugged, not a soul 
 was visible, nor were the abodes of man 
 to be met with. Fearlessly, however, he 
 pressed on, at length relaxing his pace as 
 he neared Richmond Cemetery, and though 
 the night was dark and dismal he seemed 
 heedless of all that was passing around, 
 but could any one have peered into those 
 dilated eyes they would have read reso- 
 lution and energy therein that would not 
 brook defeat. Silently he stood and listened 
 reclining against the wall of the churchyard. 
 The faint, low simulation of a hoot escaped 
 his lips, when, almost immediately, a rope 
 ladder was cast over the wall, and rapidly 
 ascending it he disappeared on the other 
 side.
 
 A LIFE s HAZAED; OE, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 WHILE the events narrated in the preceding 
 chapter were being enacted, a woman 
 watched from her eyrie height on the Hill 
 of Howth, across the opaque waters of the 
 magnificent bay of Dublin. 
 
 With her face closely pressed against 
 the moist vapour-clad window, she sedu- 
 lously counted the flight of time, now going 
 into the outer passage to listen, and again 
 returning to her observatory to meditate 
 on the strange continued absence of her 
 expected visitor. Dressed in a robe of 
 deep mourning, her face partook of its 
 sombre hue, and looked stony white in the 
 gloomy, clouded chamber. 
 
 She was tall, erect nay, almost rigid in
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 7 
 
 appearance and movements, but a pensive 
 beam shot from out those lustrous eyes, 
 softening the contour of that meditative 
 face, and imparting to it a wealth of truest 
 sympathy. 
 
 The wind swept ruthlessly by, madden- 
 ing the rampant waves that broke in weird 
 discordant sounds, and, with baffled energy, 
 wasted themselves on the rock-bound base 
 of her lonely dwelling. 
 
 Far off in the dim distance she watched 
 the abrupt oscillations of the warning light- 
 ship, as it rose and fell at the behest of the 
 sea, and thought how many like herself 
 had to bend and succumb to the measure 
 of Time's tempests as they permeate and 
 dissever the atomy sands of our too seldom 
 
 joy- 
 In the midst of these wan memories of 
 
 the past her eye was arrested by the ap- 
 pearance of a four-oared boat, lightly 
 speeding towards her, and rapidly ap- 
 proaching. " It is odd," she thought,
 
 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 " he should have chosen this perilous mode 
 of coming, but evil counsellors lean to the 
 strong in everything, even to that which 
 most others dread." 
 
 The wind being off the land was neces- 
 sarily in the teeth of the boat, and, with 
 the back- wash, made her roll in the turbid 
 short waves. 
 
 "Steady, lads! pull strong; that's it, 
 hold together. Now look out ; give way 
 in the bow ; right you are ; unship oars !" 
 were the words of the man at the helm as 
 the oars lay slanting in their rowlocks, while 
 the " way " on the boat was sufficient to 
 carry her through a narrow opening in the 
 rocks, inside of which, under the influence 
 of the " tiller," she speedily hove to along- 
 side a small improvised jetty. Leaping 
 ashore, the late speaker went straight to- 
 wards the house, looming above in the dis- 
 tance. Familiar with its shingly path, he 
 speedily found himself at the door, which 
 instantly opened.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WBNTWORTH WASTE. 9 
 
 " Is her ladyship at home ? " he in- 
 quired of the old woman who presented 
 herself. 
 
 " Arrah ! where else wud she be an sich 
 a night. Av ye call this ould barrack her 
 home ! May I there, share, I won't be 
 afther cursin' " 
 
 Unmindful of these depreciatory remarks, 
 the first speaker resumed : 
 
 " Give her ladyship this letter, and say 
 I wait her commands." 
 
 " Av coorse ye do, an' why not ? What 
 the divil else are ye fit for ? " continuing 
 in an undertone, as she went upstairs, 
 " Ay, an' ye'll wait me commands as 
 well." 
 
 Her auditor smiled good-humouredly, 
 and indulged in blithely whistling the 
 "Groves of Blarney'' whilst waiting. It 
 was not long, however, before the querulous 
 voice again smote his ears, from the end of 
 the small hallway, saying, 
 
 " Clane yer dirty feet, and be afther fol-
 
 10 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 lowin' me upsthairs ; thim's me ordhers," 
 she emphasized, while ascending to the 
 floor above, without waiting to see the 
 injunction complied with. 
 
 Brushing his hair with his hands, he 
 overtook her at almost a bound, when she 
 suddenly barred further progress, exclaim- 
 ing, 
 
 " Aizey ! Yer not much used to sthairs, 
 bud ye'll larn manners for the first time in 
 yer life," saying which she clutched her 
 narrow dress with each hand, and brought 
 it and them to an elevation, effectually 
 keeping him on the lower step, as she rose 
 to the alternate upper one. Reaching the 
 flat, without any token or warning Mag 
 roughly opened the door, and almost 
 pushed him into the apartment, exclaim- 
 ing, 
 
 " Throth, yer ladyship ! I've seen the 
 
 day whin asses had manners, bud here's 
 wan as has nothin' to sphare, bad scran to 
 thim all, crop an' nick ! "
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOETH WASTE. 11 
 
 " You need not heed what old Margaret 
 says," observed the lady in mourning, as 
 she politely motioned her visitor to a chair, 
 while the voice of the old woman reached 
 them, evidently objurgating some one, if 
 only herself. 
 
 The new comer nervously assumed a 
 seat, and, looking downwards, spoke in a 
 tone of inquiry. 
 
 " I brought your ladyship a letter from 
 Lord" 
 
 Raising her hand, she firmly interrupted 
 him, saying, 
 
 " Your master, sir, has sent it." 
 
 " I beg pardon," he faltered. 
 
 No more was rejoined, and a pause suc- 
 ceeded whilst she attentively perused the 
 paper in her hands as he looked towards 
 the carpet. 
 
 "Is it a very dangerous night on the 
 water ? " was resumed inquiringly. 
 
 " No, your ladyship ; it is rough some- 
 what, but nothing much to speak of."
 
 12 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 " There is no great peril in venturing to 
 Malahide?" 
 
 " Not for one with your ladyship's 
 determination," he said in confident voice. 
 
 " Then I shall go," were her quick 
 resolved words. 
 
 " Thank your ladyship. I'll get some 
 wrappers and covering to make the boat 
 comfortable." 
 
 " Nothing, please, out of the way," she 
 faintly smiled, " but see that Margaret 
 provides you and the boatmen with re- 
 freshment while I prepare for the short 
 voyage." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! yes, Margaret, your ladyship. 
 I I in fact, we " (he now reached the 
 door, and hastily escaped outside to finish 
 the sentence) "we will easily thrive on 
 all she'd give us." 
 
 " Ye lie, ye baste ! " was hissed into his 
 ear by old Margaret. " Didn't I hear every 
 word passed; ay, ay, an' I know what 
 didn't pass " (a running commentary as
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENT WORTH WASTE. 13 
 
 he hastily went down the stairs). " She 
 goes o'er the wathers, bud, curse ye an 
 yer employer, even thin ye shan't hurt 
 her ! " 
 
 They had now reached the outer door, 
 and, turning menacingly, he said, 
 
 " Do you mean we want to drown her 
 to" 
 
 " Yes I do, ye black hypocrites, but ye 
 shall not " (notwithstanding his silence 
 reading " wherefore " in his fixed eye as 
 he departed). She raised her voice to a 
 frenzied tone, and shouted on the night 
 wind, " Becayze Heaven scorns the guilty 
 an' withers them in their sin." 
 
 A hand was now placed on her sinuous 
 shoulder, her mistress pleadingly saying, 
 
 " Margaret, nay speak not," repressing 
 her impatience. " In each of our lives 
 there is one supreme hour wherein fortune 
 hangs upon a gossamer thread, the timely 
 severance of which is freighted with weal 
 to our whole future. Mine is at hand, and
 
 14 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OB, 
 
 by that power above you have but now 
 invoked, I shall accomplish all that is due 
 to the honoured proud name of my lost 
 husband, through venturing across this 
 stormy lake ; it is in me to feel, to know, it 
 cannot be otherwise." 
 
 " Ah, Allana," faithful Mag entreated, 
 " yer words are always thrue, but don't go 
 to-night ; layve it till daylight shines an 
 ye asthore." 
 
 " Say no more," was replied decisively; 
 " it would be trifling with my dearest 
 hopes to hesitate. No ! no ! " she said, 
 with a deprecating gesture, " you cannot 
 alter my decision. Good night" (walking 
 towards the boat) " good night, your sleep 
 will not be long ere I return." 
 
 Before the devoted servant could reply 
 her mistress went hurriedly down the 
 rugged path and stood beside the boat. 
 All being now ready, she was respect- 
 fully assisted to her seat, where, declin- 
 ing extraneous covering, she remained,
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOKTH WASTE. 15 
 
 quietly observing the process of depar- 
 ture. 
 
 " It'll be a dirty noight, Jim, said an 
 old salt; see, the wind's comin' up, an' the 
 toide." 
 
 "Not so much," interestedly interposed 
 old Margaret's quondam friend, " when 
 we've passed the chops just outside, and 
 get the regular long swell." 
 
 "But it is a cross sea," observed the 
 passenger, "and time presses." 
 
 " Let go the painter ! " shouted the 
 cockswain excitedly ; "it must be done. 
 Oars ready ! " and the boat noiselessly * 
 moved from her anchorage. 
 
 " You will never pull through that sea," 
 they were surprised to hear the lady say, 
 " and," she added, " there is only one way 
 in which you can succeed." 
 
 " Arrah ! how, yer ladyship ? " Jim in- 
 quired with eagerness. 
 
 " Hoist the main sheet and mizen ; then 
 with a single reach we will make Malahide,
 
 16 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 if the wind holds as it is," was calmly 
 answered. 
 
 " It is very dangerous to tack in this 
 water, yer ladyship," said the cockswain. 
 
 " Tacking will not be necessary. Keep 
 the sail free, and the helm well in hand." 
 
 Before there was time for further parley 
 the fishermen by impulse moved to the 
 suggested course, and the boat, deep set 
 and lying low in the stern, drove headlong 
 through the perturbed waves. 
 
 " She can conquer us all, anyhow," ex- 
 claimed one of the salts aloud, looking 
 towards their * freight.' 
 
 " And well for you it is so," was mut- 
 tered by the recumbent figure of a man 
 rising from behind a rock, where he had 
 intently watched the embarkation, uncock- 
 ing a brace of pistols, which he restored to 
 his pockets.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 17 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE " Darecourt Arms " is the best- 
 known and most frequented hostelrie on 
 the main road between Dublin and Mala- 
 hide. Its owner Peter Gaffeney, was an 
 old retainer of the Darecourt family, and 
 having made the comely daughter of Terry 
 Coghlan of the village smithy believe in 
 him, they joined hands and not insignifi- 
 cant fortunes, amid the good wishes of all 
 their neighbours. 
 
 Shortly after their marriage they suc- 
 ceeded to the ownership of the above- 
 mentioned inn. 
 
 Mrs. Gaffeney, speedily developed into 
 an excellent mother and attentive wife, 
 
 YOL. i. o
 
 18 A LIFE'S HAZABD; on, 
 
 but above all she was eager in the pursuit 
 of business, while her husband as he pro- 
 gressed in years and prosperity revealed 
 two somewhat anomalous characteristics, 
 namely, that he could drink more whisky 
 and tell more lies within a given time than 
 any man in existence. 
 
 There are certain conventional outlines 
 which by common accord are not only 
 expected in the well-known proportions of 
 that civic luminary, the Alderman, but fine 
 absence whereof in any Falstaffian candi- 
 date would be regarded as an anathema 
 upon municipal grandeur, and so with 
 " Blatherbill," as he was commonly called; 
 to dress well, eat well, drink well, and lie 
 well were every-day necessities of his un- 
 thinking life. 
 
 Unthinking it was to a certainty, for he 
 was of believers the most believing. On 
 this evening, the " Darecourt Arms " was 
 unusually well filled, giving the excellent 
 Mistress Gaffeney desirable opportunities
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 19 
 
 of agreeably referring to her pleasure in 
 seeing so many familiar faces, " An' shure 
 it warn't a thaste av throuble at all at all, 
 to repayte the measures," though it brought 
 increased coursing beads of perspiration 
 on her heated face and proportionally filled 
 her " till " (the key of which was always 
 carried by Misthress Gaffeney to spare her 
 unveracious spouse the trouble of account- 
 ing for certain symptoms of emptiness 
 therein, and the disappearance of looked- 
 for metallic records therefrom). Additional 
 chairs and forms were dragged from the 
 kitchen, and extra rushlights posted on 
 available eminences for the unusual event. 
 Drinking vessels, too, of multifarious 
 patterns were industriously improvised, 
 the general disposition being to contribute 
 by individual effort and exertion to the 
 weal of this night's festive commonwealth, 
 and right well did they succeed, for as 
 " Blatherbill " waddled in his huge chair 
 with outstretched legs holding his free 
 o 2
 
 20 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 short pipe in his encircling lips, he tran- 
 scended all former efforts, however success- 
 ful in the field of doubtful lore, although 
 it was a subject of comment that his 
 present vein was of rather a hard, serious 
 mood, instead of the ephemeral nights that 
 were wont to set the table aglow with 
 mirth and whisky. 
 
 " Wid two smoothin' irons ? Arrah, what 
 d'ye mayne, Blatherbill ? " The inquirer 
 looked steadfastly at mine host. 
 
 " Divil a lie, I repayte, 'tis all thruth an' 
 no other." 
 
 " Hem ! strange at any rate," interrupted 
 Johnny Dobbs, the ostler. 
 
 Balancing his clay pipe on the edge of 
 its tin cover to permit the smoke to exude, 
 and folding his arms on the table, " Blather- 
 bill" looked decisively at his interrogator, 
 saying, 
 
 " I repayte, yis, I saw it mesel', an' she 
 may thank the smoothin' irons for gittin' 
 her a husband."
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOBTH WASTE. 21 
 
 Interestedly they closed around the 
 speaker as he continued. . 
 
 " There wor some allowance to be 
 med for the poor sowl, twice he chaytid 
 her, lettin' her com back wid the whole 
 country laughin' in their shleeves at her, 
 bud this time she wor detarmined to hav' 
 him an' no wondher." 
 
 " More power to her praytecake," ob- 
 served his wife triumphantly, waking up a 
 responsive chorus of assent. 
 
 " The power wor in the irons, an' not 
 the praytecake, ma bouchal; tho' a nob 
 av fresh butther shlung on the top av 
 won av thim same an' let tumble agin the 
 trap door to yer stomach is betther nor 
 takin' out a disayzed tooth wid an ould 
 saw." 
 
 This graphic allusion to an alimentary 
 item of common interest and general de- 
 lectation induced an emptying of the 
 glasses in accord. 
 
 Whether amused with himself or in-
 
 22 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OK, 
 
 terested at the prospect of the empty 
 measures waiting replenishment, was not 
 known, but a smile stole across the face 
 of " Blatherbill," as he proceeded. 
 
 " Well, shure, all wint fair wid Biddy 
 till the mornin' av the marriage, whin as 
 usual Tim wor dhrunk or pretinded to be, 
 jist as he thrated her afore ; poor Biddy 
 sat down in front av the fire while he 
 shnored, she purshuaded herself to cry, 
 bud knowin' enof kep her eye an thricky 
 Tim, till she saw he wor skaymin', whin 
 goin' over to him she said, ' Now, Tim, 
 up wid ye; home I'll niver go till we've 
 bin to his riverence, not that he'd marry 
 us while yer dhrunk, but ye see av we 
 only git that far, they can't hav' all the 
 laugh agin me whin I go back, an' I'll 
 niver belayve ye in future av ye don't com 
 now.' 
 
 " He thried to soften her, but it wor no 
 use, so aff they thrudged to Father Blake. 
 Niver wor Tim so dhrunk as whin he sthood
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 23 
 
 afore his riverince, an' Father Blake sed 
 as liow lie would marry thim, bud to com 
 agin to-morrow. 
 
 " ' Throth tliin,' sez she, ' av ids not to- 
 day, 'twill niver be ; what's yer riverince's 
 objection ? ' 
 
 " ' Objection, why the man's drunk.' 
 " 'Dhrunk ! ' she shouted, lettin' fall two 
 smoothin' irons from under her arms, that 
 made the Priest and Tim tumble agin aiche 
 other, Tim havin' the best, for Father Blake 
 lay an the floor, an' whither wid the irons 
 or the fright, Tim niver wor so sober since 
 or afore. But gittin' up an' recoverin' 
 a little, his riverince comminced sayin' he 
 wartn't shure what to do, whin she lifted the 
 irons, an' puttin' wan on the table towards 
 his riverence heavy, an' the other heavier 
 to Tim, the saramony began at wanst. 
 Jist whin Tim had to sphake his words he 
 hesitated, she med a sphring at the irons, 
 whin he an' the priest shouted, an' to the 
 prisint hour nayther knows who had the
 
 24 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 lastli word, or how they escayped the 
 murtherin* shmo others." 
 
 Throughout this recital, " Blatherbill " 
 developed his accustomed mannerism, and 
 the laughter greeting its conclusion was 
 loud and spontaneous, which would pro- 
 bably have induced other cognate efforts, 
 but that abruptly a fair, lithe young man 
 stood in the door-way, when they uprose, 
 warmly welcoming him, to the exclusion of 
 all other thoughts. 
 
 The words of the new comer, " I need 
 hardly assure you of my gratitude for your 
 kind wishes," being echo'd by a concurrence 
 of " Thrue for ye, an' God speed ye." 
 
 " This is yer lasth night among us, 
 Misther Walther," continued mine host, 
 " may ye return from Ameriky lucky in yer 
 sarche." 
 
 " Amen ! Amen ! " confluently followed. 
 
 " Somehow," replied the object of their 
 solicitude, " I have a predetermined con- 
 viction of finding my brother, and ' hesi-
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOKTH WASTE. 25 
 
 tating " Misther Vincent ! Misther Vin- 
 cent ! " exclaimed eager voices. 
 
 " 'Tis even so, despite all we have heard, 
 and some of the reports look true, I cannot 
 believe in their untimely end." 
 
 " But why didn't they turn up whin the 
 ould Lord died ? " 
 
 " I wish ould ' Nick ' had the prisint wan 
 anyhow," said the groom from Lord Dare- 
 court's establishment, who was approvingly 
 nodded to for the remark. Seemingly un- 
 mindful, the latest arrival proceeded, 
 
 " You know I am somewhat of a fatalist, 
 and often since my brother escaped with 
 the Hon. Mr. Darecourt, I have dreamed 
 of them in one position, and in one place, 
 until I am convinced there is reality in it." 
 
 " Blatherbill " now looks very reflective. 
 
 " Yer larnin' has turned yer head," sug- 
 gested Widdy Flannagan. 
 
 : ' "Well, I cannot agree with you ; true, 
 owing to the care bestowed on me by my 
 brother, I had many opportunities of prefer-
 
 26 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 ment unknown to him, and believe I have 
 fairly employed them to advantage, but if 
 there be aught of benefit in this, surely it 
 will give me a larger chance of unveiling 
 the mystery of Darecourt, and with it my 
 brother." 
 
 The landlord gazed long and earnestly 
 into the last speaker's face, as he in- 
 quired, 
 
 " Have you bein dhraymin' lately what ye 
 tould me long ago, Misther Walther ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "When?" 
 
 " Last night." 
 
 " That the two escaped from Gal way ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " In a small boat ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " An' not a sowl knew thim ? " 
 
 " They were not recognized." 
 
 " I shware, word for word, I draymed 
 that mesel' lasth night." This was ut- 
 tered by Gaffeney, in a tone of concern
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOETH WASTE. 27 
 
 hitherto unknown in him, and the general 
 surprise thereat was greatly increased when 
 his wife added, 
 
 " Yis, at the time he tould me exactly 
 what he now sez." 
 
 By a sort of powerful attrition, all crowd 
 closely where young Walter Dillon and 
 "Blatherbill " sternly face each other. 
 
 The former now assumes the role of 
 questor. 
 
 " In your dream you saw my brother ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " How did he look ? " 
 
 " Very sad and wretched like." 
 
 " Exactly ; did you try to converse to- 
 gether?" 
 
 " No, all my looks wor bint an his com- 
 panion." 
 
 " So were mine. Describe his compa- 
 nion." 
 
 " I don't know how, id wor the most 
 melancholy, broken-hearted face I iver 
 
 saw."
 
 28 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 " Too true, so it was. Did it soon 
 turn aside from you ? " 
 
 " No, it watched me in a way that med 
 me think of somethin' years ago, the eyes, 
 the mouth, the forehead, the form, av, av 
 great God ! look, 'tis there, see, the lost 
 heir av Darecoort." 
 
 All eyes are strained to the dewy 
 window whereat, on the outside, resting 
 against it, were the very facial lineaments 
 just mutually depicted. 
 
 For a brief moment they are bereft of 
 speech and power to move, but quickly 
 young Dillon recovered himself, while the 
 apparition had disappeared. 
 
 " Some of you keep me company," he 
 said, vaulting across the table, followed by 
 half-a-dozen willing hands. An interval of 
 a quarter of an hour wore on in agonizing 
 suspense, when Walter and his " Aides " 
 returned, their looks proclaiming a fruitless 
 errand. 
 
 " Seen nothing ? " asked the landlord 
 sententiously.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 29 
 
 " No, nothing, tho' we scoured the road 
 nearly two miles," was uttered very de- 
 jectedly. 
 
 "What can it mayne?" inquired Mis- 
 tress Gaffeney, suppressing her voice, and 
 adding, " No sign for two miles, Misther 
 Walther?" 
 
 "None," he replied. 
 
 " Then," observed " Blatherbill," " it 
 wor no stranger to the wood av Feltram." 
 
 Each and all were relieved by the " Good 
 night, God speed ye," which announced 
 the unexpected breaking up of the 
 gathering.
 
 30 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 VINCENT DARECOURT was only child of the 
 lord of that name, who, intolerant and 
 imperious in all things, destined his son 
 for an ambitious role in the war of ascend- 
 ancy then rampant in Ireland. 
 
 The Lady Darecourt had been dead 
 many years, and as the noble widower 
 heard Vincent was at last housed in classic 
 Eton, he became somewhat relieved of an 
 unspoken restraint, and abandoned him- 
 self to habits of moroseness and impecu- 
 niosity. 
 
 The tenants on his broad estates felt 
 the severity of his rule, a common phrase 
 among them, descriptive of injustice, being 
 " As bad as ould Darecoort."
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENT WORTH WASTE. 31 
 
 Things had gone on in this fashion for 
 many years, until at length they attained a 
 culminating point, when some overt act 
 was contemplated by the tenantry of the 
 Darecourt property to bring its owner to a 
 sense of justice. 
 
 Morose, sullen, and saturnine, Lord 
 Darecourt slept his time in peace and dry 
 content, unconscious of much that was 
 current in the neighbourhood, but well 
 assured his trusted confidant and agent 
 (Misther Brien Flynn) left no stone un- 
 turned to enforce his behests. 
 
 Like many of this class, Brien was 
 essentially born one of the people, but 
 being of a remarkably close turn of mind, 
 he early displayed habits of great frugality 
 and industry, which yielded small yet 
 certain results ; and, however small, they 
 were none too little for him. 
 
 Pence grew to shillings, the latter 
 developed into pounds, and the bad times 
 permitted of endless opportunities for
 
 32 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 extortion, such chances never being missed 
 by the ready and astute Brien. To have 
 the reputation of being rich is sometimes 
 of as much value as the actual possession 
 thereof. Yet so marvellously sudden was 
 the transition from nothingness to un- 
 doubted wealth in this case, that people 
 involuntarily gazed somewhat vacantly 
 when his disliked form went by in that 
 well-appointed gig, and, scratching their 
 heads, usually said, " Begorra, it bangs 
 Bannagher." 
 
 As Brien Flynn climbed higher towards 
 the vane of worldly ambition he changed 
 remarkably. Thinner and narrower he 
 became in physical and mental proportions, 
 viewing all from one standpoint, and that 
 was money. 
 
 The most adamant heart has surely some 
 vulnerable spot, at least so it seemed to be 
 with him. Eepellant, nay scornful to 
 others, and barely civil to those whom he 
 once knew well, he yet contrived to keep
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 33 
 
 up a semblance of affectionate interest for 
 Molly MacCarthy, going every evening to 
 her snug compact house to gloat over his 
 present gains and future prospects. 
 
 This continued until the neighbours in 
 many ways showed their resentment to 
 Molly, who naturally enough came to be 
 regarded as the future Mistress Flynn, and 
 " May his bad money do the hussy good," 
 was often jeeringly hissed at her as she 
 passed. Now it happened that Brien 
 Flynn never indulged in a tender expres- 
 sion to Molly MacCarthy, regular as he 
 was in visiting her home, nor did he upon 
 any occasion admit or deny the report com- 
 monly regarding them as being engaged. 
 It was not so however with the other party 
 to the supposed contract. As she became 
 more spoken of and avoided by the villagers 
 and her former acquaintances, she began to 
 depend more and more on him for protec- 
 tion, and in which frame of mind Molly 
 quietly waited for the day when he would 
 VOL. i. D
 
 34 A LIFE'S HAZARD ; OR, 
 
 say they were to be married without pre- 
 viously asking her permission. 
 
 Time rolled on uneventfully in this way, 
 until one morning it suddenly became 
 known that Brien Flynn was installed as 
 agent over the Darecourt property. With 
 open mouths and pallid faces, the people 
 stared, awed and amazed ; but there was the 
 hard incontrovertible fact, and very soon 
 his sagacity and greediness were manifested 
 by the imposition of supplementary griev- 
 ances unknown even in the lord's stern 
 rule. The popular dislike of Brien was at 
 all times deep if not external, but when it 
 had been found that from the day of his 
 advent to Darecourt he had cut Molly 
 MacCarthy dead, people turned away in 
 loathing from him. 
 
 " Murrain on ye, bud ye'd deny yer 
 mother, ye annathural baste." 
 
 " How cud he whin she died years ago 
 to git away from his greedy claws?" was 
 the speedy response.
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOKTH WASTE. 35 
 
 " He's no worse nor his masther any- 
 how, not that that same's much to Boast 
 av bethune you an' me." 
 
 " Pon me sowl ye'r right, yit av I had 
 the hangin' av both, I'd giv dirty Brien the 
 longist dhrop as the shortest road to the 
 divil." 
 
 This was how the lord and his business 
 representative came to be regarded by 
 those who only claimed the right to live 
 and let live. And so we find them on a 
 certain winter night when the warring 
 elements above failed to assuage the stormy 
 agitation within them. The merciless wind 
 rushed savagely by, disporting with the 
 large flakes of snow that pirouetted in 
 fantastic shapes, or fell heavily in muffled 
 thuds on the closely carpeted earth. 
 
 In the wide, dense, overgrown Feltram 
 "Wood no sound disturbed the hollow music 
 of the snow dance, drifting into its deepest 
 dell and obliterating its greatest eminence, 
 snapping almost large branches which had 
 D 2
 
 36 A LIFE'S HAZARD; ou, 
 
 bravely withstood autumn's perils, yet now 
 quail and perish beneath the ever recurring 
 olivet layers. 
 
 The leveret, rabbit, and wild cat slunk 
 into their cheerless cells, while the indige- 
 nous feathery race above, if in existence at 
 all, evinced no symptom of being alive. 
 The scene, however, in the wood near the 
 old time-tossed windmill was now earnestly 
 impressive. An opening had been lately 
 made and remade, as the accumulating 
 drift underwent a repetition of the clearing 
 process by those undaunted weird-looking 
 forms moving unflaggingly to the task. 
 Half-a-dozen lanterns shed a fitful hazy 
 gleam of striving light, their energy and 
 disposition to shine being violently assailed 
 by the biting wind. Nevertheless they 
 were flitted to and fro as beacons on that 
 tempestuous night, and many an eye moved 
 sympathetically to their dancing demon-like 
 beams viewed at first from the grim un- 
 certain distance.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENT WORTH WASTE. 37 
 
 By the hour of midnight a curious scene 
 was being enacted at the before-mentioned 
 windmill. In its shade, fronting the clear- 
 ing, but subject to all the impulse of the 
 storm, a compact body of stalwart men 
 stood intently listening to words addressed 
 to them by a melancholy-looking, yet pas- 
 sionate young man, who was also exposed 
 to the full severity of the weather. He 
 was somewhat demonstrative and dramatic 
 in appearance, but his words burned upon 
 his auditors' ears, showing their results in 
 the subdued breathings of those who 
 eagerly listened absorbed and deeply 
 resolved. 
 
 Other speakers had had their say, and 
 like their many prototypes in this mundane 
 sphere, might have left it unsaid, so far as 
 visible effect went. 
 
 "It must be so," proceeded the success- 
 ful orator. " God wills not injustice, and 
 we have borne its brunt too long." 
 
 Obedience is a forward link in the silken
 
 38 A LIFE'S HAZARD ; OR, 
 
 chain of virtue, but we may outstep its 
 truest value, as those do who cannot 
 distinguish between tyranny and the 
 claims of honesty. A volume of " Go 
 an, right ye are," &c., &c., rose upon 
 the night, and faded into mystic space as 
 he resumed : 
 
 " By Lord Darecourt we are wronged, 
 cruelly so, indeed; but age shields him 
 from our aggressive action. He reviles 
 our most sacred belongings, and contemns 
 our appeals to be fairly judged, listening 
 to the representations of that villain Brien 
 Flynn." 
 
 Loud menacing words followed the allu- 
 sion to ' Brien Flynn,' high above which 
 however the orator was heard distinctly 
 and vehemently. 
 
 " "Tis of him, this watch-dog of hell, I 
 now speak. He has fattened on the visita- 
 tions that heaven has sent upon poor old 
 Ireland, the deeper the ruin the greater his 
 unhallowed gain."
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 39 
 
 Tumultuous agitated voices came, "Down 
 with Flynn. Hurrah, lade us an, hurrah. 
 "Pis now or niver, an to Darecoort, 'tis 
 jist the night. Into the lake wid the agent 
 afore we rest. Away, away." 
 
 By a simultaneous move they rush to 
 where the orator excitedly stands, when 
 suddenly a powerful athletic young man 
 leaped over the white bushes and con- 
 fronted them calmly, with outspread hands 
 motioning them to silence. 
 
 " Your words," he said, " have reached 
 my attentive ear. If the dark wrongs 
 exist that you assert, with the aid of 
 heaven my mission here is and shall be to 
 do you justice." Warmly extending his 
 hand to the successful and flushed orator, he 
 continued, " You know me, do you not?" 
 
 " Oh, wonder," was shouted by the 
 latter. "It is the young lord of Dare- 
 court."
 
 40 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 VINCENT DARECOURT walking homewards in 
 the snow asked of his companion, Eus- 
 tace Dillon, many questions of local inte- 
 rest. As boys they had been fast, loyal 
 friends ; but when the former left home for 
 England, all personal remembrance of each 
 other seemed to have departed with him. 
 
 Vincent possessed a very sanguine tem- 
 perament, regarding everything in the 
 most ornate, hopeful guise, and mid the 
 variety of his new superficial life at Eton 
 he postponed writing to Eustace so indefi- 
 nately, that at length he resolved on wait- 
 ing until they met, which he opined would 
 be soon, but it happened his many vaca- 
 tions were never spent in Ireland, and thus
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 41 
 
 in the long stream of a fashionable exist- 
 ence the former friend was neglected. 
 
 Eustace Dillon was his direct opposite 
 in race, habits, temperament, and position. 
 He deeply pondered on the untoward delay 
 in hearing from Yincent, but when this neg- 
 lect was maintained until it became certain 
 no communication was intended, he bitterly 
 thought of his once-trusted friend's faith- 
 lessness, and his melancholy, pensive nature 
 soon supplied a motive, as it whispered, 
 " How foolish to think of the unstable past. 
 Yincent Darecourt will be a lord, and great 
 amid the great, while I am nature's lowliest 
 offspring, a poor, poor gentleman ! " 
 
 Eustace Dillon's parents were dead, 
 leaving him a very small annuity where- 
 with to maintain himself and his much 
 younger brother, Walter. 
 
 His father had been wealthy, but ex- 
 hausted himself and his property in a fruit- 
 less effort to establish his claim to the title 
 and possessions of the FitzDillons.
 
 42 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 As Eustace slowly realized the difficulties 
 inseparable from his straitened circum- 
 stances, he became very gloomy and 
 despondent. 
 
 Pale, spiritless, and retiring, he made no 
 friends, nor did he wish to know strangers ; 
 rather leaning towards solitude and con- 
 templation, his great absorbing anxiety 
 being for his helpless brother. 
 
 "If I could see his future assured," 
 he mused, " I would quit this desolate land 
 and fight my way to an honourable distinc- 
 tion in another." 
 
 But the opportunity never came, and he 
 moved through life the same pensive 
 brooding misanthropist. To the villagers 
 he was always available with sapient 
 counsel and solid advice, in which way 
 he heard of their hardships under the 
 regime pursued at Darecourt ; indeed, it 
 seemed at once as if his long abandoned 
 energy found therein a congenial groove 
 for kindred action ; thus inspired, throwing
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 43 
 
 himself eagerly into the breach, he became 
 the recognized champion of the " down- 
 trodden people." 
 
 Acting on their behalf, he one day pre- 
 sented himself at Darecourt Castle, to 
 acquaint its noble owner with the position 
 of affairs; but to his utter chagrin, and 
 even disgust, he was ushered into the pre- 
 sence of the agent, who sardonically ob- 
 served, " Lord Darecoort's bysiness is as 
 much mine as id is his, an' whativer ye 
 hav to sphake to his lordship ye can say to 
 me, that's jist how the matther sthands." 
 
 Distraught with passion, Eustace shouted, 
 " Yes, you base-born varlet, it is because 
 Lord Darecourt has forgotten what is due 
 to himself, and those under him, by adopt- 
 ing a village cur to be his representative, 
 that I am here to-day to warn him." 
 
 " Warn him ! " echoed the middleman, 
 " the likes av ye warn me lord, ha ! ha ! 
 ha!" 
 
 In an instant the laugh was crushed out
 
 44 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OE, 
 
 of his cavernous mouth, as lie lay a dis- 
 tempered mass, felled by a blow from 
 Eustace Dillon, who exclaimed with trem- 
 bling accents of rage, " Oh, why have I 
 lived to be derided by a wretch low enough 
 to be rejected by scorpions, and in the 
 house of one not good enough to be my 
 equal were his spoils of pillage and plunder 
 restored to their lawful owners ! " 
 
 The recumbent man answered, " I'll live 
 to pay ye for this bad day's work." 
 
 Instantaneously Eustace dropped on his 
 right knee, and catching the agent by the 
 collar of his coat, drew him close, his 
 mouth almost touching his ear while he 
 uttered, in heated abrupt words, " By 
 the recollection of all that's dear or prized 
 in the past or future I will never rest in 
 my design until I have accomplished such 
 a recompense as your misdeeds and infamy 
 richly deserve ! " 
 
 Notwithstanding his ready habit of self- 
 possession, Brien Flynn crept deeper into
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 45 
 
 his corner as his antagonist departed, a 
 strange defiant reverberation of the ominous 
 words still clinging to him. 
 
 Eustace Dillon fairly inflamed his few 
 auditors by a fiery recital of his interview 
 with the agent of Darecourt, and it was un- 
 animously agreed to secure the attendance 
 of all the employes on the property, in Fel- 
 tram Wood, with the result which we have 
 already shown in the foregoing chapter. 
 
 By the time they reached the principal 
 entrance to Darecourt, its future owner 
 had had a fair resume of the whole position 
 from Eustace Dillon. The former ac- 
 counted for his untoward appearance at 
 the meeting by stating that his return 
 from Eton was yet unknown to his father, 
 who very seldom communicated with him, 
 and who, indeed, left him to take care of 
 himself. During a recent illness, as usual, 
 no letters came from his parent, and on 
 recovering he was advised to seek change 
 of air, when he suddenly resolved to return 
 home. No conveyance being readily avail-
 
 46 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 able in the city at that hour, for so long a 
 distance and in such weather, he set for- 
 ward (contemplating a surprise) on foot, 
 and passing Dillon's well-known house 
 looked in, when young Walter told him of 
 the meeting in the wood, and, it being on 
 his way, he determined on gratifying his 
 curiosity by observing it from a distance, 
 diligently watching, with no little interest, 
 the whole proceeding. 
 
 " Some fatality has brought us together, 
 be assured." 
 
 These words were spoken by Eustace as 
 they stood under the shade of the lofty 
 trees surrounding Darecourt Lodge. 
 
 " Whatever the fatality, I shall know 
 my duty," was responded. " For years 
 past I have come to regard things in a 
 different aspect from the prejudiced one in 
 which they were originally presented to 
 me, and an intestine strife above all others 
 can be generally traced to some local and 
 unjust cause."
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 47 
 
 " Local and unjust they are, and I am 
 truly glad to hear the appropriate designa- 
 tion come from you." 
 
 " Then a prompt remedy shall be found 
 for the hideous wrong. Good night, Eu- 
 stace," continued the speaker, " and may 
 our meeting be the happy omen of a still 
 happier future." 
 
 "Amen! amen!" was responded warmly, 
 " to-night I shall seek my pillow with a 
 lighter heart and more composed mind 
 than I have known for years, ay, since last 
 we met," and shaking hands firmly and 
 heartily they parted. 
 
 A moment later Vincent jumped over the 
 low wall separating him from the broad 
 tree-lined avenue leading to Darecourt 
 Castle, and alighting on the other side he 
 staggered against a man concealed behind 
 evergreens effectually screening him from 
 the road. Recovering himself, Vincent at 
 once seized the unknown with a vice-like 
 grip, inquiring,
 
 48 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 " Who are you ? Why have you been 
 spying in this place ? " 
 
 " Ye impartinint puppy, take yer hands 
 av me at wanst." 
 
 " Not till I know who you are," the 
 grasp was tightened. 
 
 " Yer shuparior, anyhow, av ye keeps 
 company wid the likes av Misther Eustace 
 Dillon." 
 
 The hold was now beginning to be 
 stifling. 
 
 " Untruthful hound ! Mr. Dillon is a 
 gentleman, and my best friend. Tell me 
 who are you, ere I choke you." 
 
 " Curse ye, take yer hands av me, afore 
 I have all the labourers up to dhrag ye 
 thro' the pond." 
 
 The hold was now insupportable while 
 they struggled on to the avenue. 
 
 " Let me go, I say. I'm wan av the 
 ' Darecoorts.' ' 
 
 " Base liar ! I will have the truth out 
 at once. Who are you ? Answer quickly 
 or I will render you speechless."
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 49 
 
 Exhausted from the prolonged struggle, 
 the assailed had hardly sufficient strength 
 to stammer, 
 
 " I'm Brien Flynn." 
 
 " What, the agent ? " relaxing his hold 
 in surprise. 
 
 " Yis, an' I'll make ye know id t' yer 
 cost, who'iver ye are." 
 
 " I'm a friend of Mr. Dillon's, is not that 
 enough?" derisively. 
 
 The agent's courage was fast returning. 
 
 " Little as I think av him, his f rinds 
 ginerally hav a name," he retorted. 
 
 " Well ! would you like to know mine ? " 
 was spoken listlessly. 
 
 " Id 'ill save me the disagreeable throu- 
 ble av findin' out, anyhow." 
 
 " Then, I am" 
 
 " Who ? " apprehensively. 
 
 " Vincent Darecourt," slowly. 
 
 " Oh, moighty power ! " he exclaimed, 
 " 'tis the young lord ! " 
 
 VOL. T. E
 
 50 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE meeting between Lord Darecourt and 
 his only son and heir was as devoid of 
 parental affection or even interest as can 
 well be imagined. 
 
 After an interval of five years they con- 
 front each other, but alas how changed. 
 
 The father wore the visible impress 
 of tune's inflexible finger in his deeply 
 indented face and stooping gait, and would 
 it ended there ; but no, there was a harsh, 
 cruel, greedy look in the thin curves of 
 those thinner lips and small pivot eyes 
 which astonished and alarmed the well- 
 proportioned son now anxiously regarding 
 him. The voice too was so raspish and 
 keen that the latter repeated his inquiry
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 51 
 
 concerning his father's health, with a con- 
 cern broadly tinged with curiosity, to hear 
 the querulous " pretty well " peevishly 
 repeated. 
 
 The interview terminated abruptly, by 
 a sudden intimation from Lord Darecourt 
 that the present was his usual hour for 
 privacy and retirement, an invariable rule 
 not to be departed from. Biting his full 
 arched lip Vincent essayed a further soli- 
 citous remark, which was rudely repulsed 
 as his father pointed towards the portal. 
 
 Rebuked and sorrowful the heir of Dare- 
 court lowered his head and passed through 
 the doorway, on the outside whereof he 
 stumbled over a man kneeling. 
 
 il What ! another eavesdropper ? " 
 
 " I wor only tyin' me shoe. Ah ! " looking 
 up, " the liv long night I've bin thinkin' av 
 yer honour, an' how anfortunate I wor in 
 not knowin' yer lordship yit," rising, 
 " me lord, me lord, ye'll forgiv'." 
 
 Regardless of his words Vincent walked 
 E 2
 
 52 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OE, 
 
 towards the end of the corridor, but when 
 the agent called him " me lord, me lord," 
 he suddenly turned, saying, 
 
 " Peace, man, I am not Lord Darecourt," 
 and immediately afterwards he was gone, 
 his departing steps, however, were still 
 audible as Brien Flynn's eyes shone from 
 out his livid distorted face while silently 
 muttering, "An' niver will be av I can 
 help id." 
 
 The agent now gently entered the apart- 
 ment, taking his accustomed chair before 
 the noble owner ot Darecourt, who was 
 waiting him. 
 
 " Well, have you succeeded ? " 
 
 " Intoirely so, me lord." 
 
 " How many notices were served ? " 
 
 " Forty-three, me lord." 
 
 " Good. If that does not subdue them 
 I shall eject every tenant on the property, 
 and colonize it with Englishmen." 
 
 The owner of Darecourt did not observe 
 the hot flush lighting up his agent's sallow
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOKTH WASTE. 53 
 
 face, who had not yet lost all his nation- 
 ality but who, however, discreetly replied, 
 
 " Yer lordship's too wise for the likes av 
 me to advise." 
 
 " Nay, nay. I hearken to your counsel 
 with interest. Is it not on your advice 
 that I have decreed the present measures 
 against my stubborn tenants, who, as you 
 say, will not follow, but must be driven?" 
 
 This time the agent covertly smiled, 
 and in pleasant tones responded, 
 
 " I cannot deny, me lord, som share in 
 the great work av improvemint now goin' 
 an; depind an me word, yer lordship," 
 he added with resolution, " whin the day 
 is carried ivery sintince I sphoke 'ill com 
 thrue." 
 
 "Did you meet my son Mr. Vincent, 
 who left the room almost as you entered ? " 
 
 "Ay, me lord, I had that misforthin' 
 lasth noight." 
 
 " Misfortune," was the blank rejoinder. 
 
 " Well, shure as I didn't expict his
 
 54 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 honour, an' thinkin' it wor an inthruder, I 
 worn't civil enof to the gintleman who I'd 
 bind me knee to in politeness av coorse, 
 an' why not, had I known at the time." 
 
 Lord Darecourt elevated his brows in- 
 quiringly, saying,- 
 
 " Where did you see my son last night ? " 
 
 "At the mayn lodge frontin' the avenue." 
 
 " Late ? " 
 
 " Past midnight, me lord." 
 
 " How odd ! " escaped the nobleman. 
 
 " I thought he wor a sthranger, me lord." 
 
 " How did you learn he was not ? " 
 
 " Not till he tould me, me lord. Afther 
 I I," hesitating, " hard him in conversa- 
 tion wid 
 
 " Who ? who ? " inquired the old man. 
 
 The agent jealously searched the coun- 
 tenance of his employer as he laconically 
 answered, 
 
 " Wid Misther Dillon, me lord." 
 
 " What ! " shouted Lord Darecourt in a 
 voice at once supercilious and angry, " with
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 55 
 
 the man who above all others you say is 
 hounding on the tenantry against me ? " 
 
 " I'm sorry av I don' wrong in tellin' 
 yer lordship." 
 
 " No, no," petulantly ; " you have done 
 quite right but answer. Was my son 
 with this agitator you have so often spoken 
 against ? " 
 
 " Yis, me lord." 
 
 " The man who owns that small pro- 
 perty the other side of the river ? " 
 
 " The same, me lord." 
 
 " "Who calls himself a gentleman ? " 
 
 " And who is wan " energetically. " I 
 beg yer lordship's pardon," said the agent 3 
 faltering, " people call him a gintleman." 
 
 " Quite a different thing to your saying 
 so, who have so frequently spoken the 
 reverse." 
 
 With which remark Lord Darecourt 
 suffered his nostrils to resume their normal 
 dimensions as he relapsed into his medita- 
 tive mood, observing,
 
 56 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OB, 
 
 " How can my son have met with this 
 paltry person, and so soon too ? " 
 
 " Perhaps," suggestively, " me lord, he 
 knew him afore he wint to the univarsity," 
 answered Flynn. 
 
 "No, no, he had but one companion; 
 to whom also Lady Darecourt was warmly 
 attached. I forget his surname," reflec- 
 tively, " but he was familiarly called Eu- 
 stace." 
 
 The agent leaped in his chair at this 
 discovery. 
 
 " What ails you, Flynn?" 
 
 " Thank ye kindly, me lord ; I wor near 
 shlippin' aff the chair, that's all." 
 
 " Oh, indeed ! singular ! " came slowly 
 from his noble employer ; the ensuing pause 
 was broken by Lord Darecourt saying, " I 
 have been considering the subject we have 
 just spoken upon, and I shall send for my 
 son, to question him respecting his know- 
 ledge of this disreputable man. Please 
 ring that bell, Flynn," motioning to the 
 communicating instrument.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 57 
 
 "Ye'll pardon me, me lord, av I make 
 so bould as to say I wouldn't sphake wan 
 word about id at all at all, till I find what 
 diffmnce the young lord's comin' makes 
 wid this misther ; I mayne this Dillon." 
 
 " I cannot see cause for delay. However, 
 as you understand these people and I do 
 not, I will follow your suggestion." 
 
 " Thank ye, me lord, 'twill be the wisest 
 coorse in the long-run." 
 
 " My son's return is so unexpected and 
 his account of it so vague, that I shall be 
 glad to hear further of his movements ; 
 therefore, Flynn, keep a sharp look-out, 
 and report to me what is passing." 
 
 " Me lord, thin wud ye wish me to watch 
 the young lord an' this Misther Dillon 
 particklarly." 
 
 "Young men are easily led away, and 
 my son has been so long absent, that I 
 cannot account for some possible foolish 
 vagaries he may have acquired ; therefore, 
 I repeat, I shall be glad to learn more of 
 his movements, especially with reference
 
 58 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 to his unaccountable knowledge of a person 
 such as you have often represented this 
 Dillon to be." 
 
 "Yer lordship knows I'm yer humble 
 sarvint, an' ye can dipind an me anteg- 
 rity," a leer covered his averted face for 
 an instant; "no matther who I offind be 
 doin' me duty it shall be don," the last 
 words were strongly articulated. 
 
 "That is right, Flynn; and to none 
 other would I extend the same trust as I 
 repose in you, because in all you say my 
 interest appears to be foremost." 
 
 " I'm behouldin' to yer lordship for this 
 disarvin' complimint, indade I thry to 
 merit id," rising. " Now I'll be afther 
 takin' me respectful mornin's layve, as I 
 want to git to Dublin afore 'tis late, 
 to push an the lawyers wid the c jick- 
 mints.' ' 4 
 
 " Flynn," observed the noble owner of 
 Darecourt, "you are ever intent on busi- 
 ness ; do precisely as you think best, but
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 59 
 
 I regret you do not avail yourself of my 
 offer to provide assistance. It is imposing 
 too much labour upon one person." 
 
 Looking the personification of meekness 
 and renewing his iterations of gratitude to 
 ' me lord,' the agent suavely bowed himself 
 out, passing down the large stone flight 
 of the castle stairs with remarkable alacrity 
 and precision. 
 
 Brien took a key from an inner pocket, 
 and unlocking a small private postern-gate, 
 let himself into the large plantation at the 
 rear of the building. 
 
 Continuing his rapid walk through 
 the tortuous verdant route, he speedily 
 found himself facing a low bricked arch- 
 way, quite obscured by the surrounding 
 foliage. Looking neither right nor left, 
 with decisive steps striding over the mosses 
 and briars struggling for existence on 
 those deep well-cut stairs in the hard 
 flinty ground, heedless of that circle dug 
 out of mother earth, around which a
 
 60 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 natural bench, extended, lie crossed to the 
 opposite side and went down three yet 
 lower steps, wherefrom confronting a deep 
 well in semi-darkness, whose water lay 
 between him and a stone altar used in 
 bygone days for the purposes of religion. 
 To take a small plank from a recess at his 
 side, and place it with one end leaning 
 upon the stone block and the other on the 
 lower step whereon he stood, was the 
 work of a moment. Passing over this 
 tiny bridge, walking to the back of 
 the altar, and touching a secret spring 
 therein, the huge monolith of granite 
 moved inwards, revealing a passage down 
 which he went, while the sacrificial em- 
 blem of the past returned to its original 
 position. 
 
 This passage led into another yet wider 
 and better lit, whereby he reached a third 
 of proportionate improvement, at the end 
 whereof stood a large angular well-shaped 
 chamber, whose grey walls were fitted with
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 61 
 
 various recesses and wooden presses, some 
 few articles of wearing apparel being 
 visible on the outside of these latter, 
 one massive oak chest of enormous size 
 stood in a corner conspicuous by its 
 unequalled dimensions, and secured by 
 a lock equally abnormal in appearance. 
 An oak table in the centre and three 
 chairs completed the leading character- 
 istics of this weird apartment. Rapidly 
 entering, the agent threw himself into 
 one of the seats, burying his face in his 
 hands. 
 
 Long and deep were his mental com- 
 munings. At length in a measured calm 
 tone he slowly said, 
 
 " What a grate an' disperate game, bud 
 I'll sink or shwim ; 'tis too late to think 
 av goin' back now. I always loved money, 
 bud I wor better av afore I kem to Dare- 
 coort ; there me fate wor sayled, for the 
 sight av the goold filled me wid a resthless 
 itchin', an' be degrees I piled that chist so
 
 62 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OB, 
 
 full it'ill hould no more. The ould lord is 
 now cumplately ondher me thumb. I wud 
 go an for iver robbin' him and not a sowl cud 
 know id, bud that unlucky turn up av the 
 son maynes me ruin." He paused. " What 
 is best to be don' ? It looks as av forthune 
 sthands be me ; the ould lord axed me to 
 thrap his son, an' ha ! ha ! I'll thrap 'em 
 both afore I'm tired. There'll not be 
 much throuble gettin' the younsther in 
 the mesh, bud curse an ye, Eustace Dillon, 
 'tis ye I hate and fear. Strange the lord 
 forgot his name ; howsomiver 'twor an- 
 lucky to meet thim togither lasth noight." 
 Another pause ere he resumes : " Some- 
 thin' must be don' to save mesel' put the 
 ould man out av the world the young wan 
 nets me all the sooner, yit somebody niusht 
 go, an' I don't intind ladin' the way. No, 
 the goold is here, an' here I'll sthay till I 
 git more, thin they may look for hanest 
 Brien Fly mi." 
 
 After another interval he decidedly said,
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOKTH WASTE. 63 
 
 " Me game is to wait, wait, wait ; git the 
 young lord into disgrace wid the father, 
 and banish him, av not keep me eye an a 
 chance av puttin' him clane out av the 
 world widout risk ; in ayther case I'll sthick 
 to the prisint lord and bamboozil him to 
 me heart's contint till I'm don' wid him. 
 Dillon gripped me wanst, an be the many 
 gooldin guineas I've hid here in the ould 
 cloisthers av St. Bridgid's Abbey I'll rip 
 him yit, whin a thrust in the dark can 
 be struck from a sthrange hand for a 
 sthrong considherashun. Com','' and he 
 waxed excited, " pearls av me joy, yer 
 me only comfort, me paice av mind, 
 let me look at yer goolden beauty, what 
 else hav' I to care for. Goold ! goold ! 
 here's more," throwing in specie, "an' 
 from this hour begins me fight agin iter- 
 nity itself." 
 
 In stooping, his head touched one 
 of the recesses before mentioned, and the 
 outer door fell back, revealing a tall
 
 64 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 dark young man with a pale irresolute 
 face fixedly regarding him, and uttering a 
 loud shriek the agent fell senseless to the 
 ground.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENT WORTH WASTE. 65 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A DOZEN years ago, as at the present time, 
 the neighbours came to the " Darecourt 
 Arms " of a night to dissipate a few hours, 
 and mayhap money. 
 
 The primitive habits of the people, how- 
 ever, forbade excess, especially at the 
 former period when society was under- 
 mined, the country beggared, and a reign 
 of terror still survived, meet legacies of the 
 rebellion which had but lately desolated 
 Ireland. 
 
 At the village hostelrie the sudden 
 return of the young lord was freely com- 
 mented upon, and many reasons assigned 
 for it, all, however, being mere conjecture. 
 
 In reality none came, even approxi- 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 mately, to the truth, only one thing being 
 known and heartily felt, that " God bless 
 him, he wor not like his father, an' the days 
 av the bad agent wor numbered." This 
 sent a -sudden reaction throughout the dis- 
 trict, everything becoming rapidly improved 
 and comparatively prosperous. The desi- 
 rable impetus was nowhere felt more than 
 at the " Darecourt Arms" where trade 
 revived appreciably. A weight seemed to 
 be lifted off the people, they moved free of 
 restraint, and there was no necessity now 
 for inquiring who is who. 
 
 All this confidence and amelioration of 
 wrongs growing up since the advent of 
 the young lord, even the detested Brien 
 was seldom seen and less thought of. 
 
 The personal attendant upon Vincent 
 Darecourt was an Englishman, pensioned 
 from the army, in whose ranks he had seen 
 much service. He possessed an honest- 
 looking face, crowned by a few bristling 
 grey hairs which, with military pertinacity,
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 67 
 
 always inclined the one way. An ardent 
 lover of the soothing weed, he drank little, 
 but smoked and ruminated a great deal, 
 and no one knew that unobtrusive, tall, 
 weatherworn man, with his three medals 
 the records of hard fought battles, but 
 deeply respected him. He was speedily 
 installed first favourite at the " Darecourt 
 Arms " where his genial smile and untu- 
 tored speech gained him many earnest 
 admirers and sympathizers. 
 
 That he was valet to the young lord was 
 enough indeed to achieve this result, but 
 when saying with moist, expressive eyes, the 
 only truly happy years of his life were the 
 few short ones when both a husband and 
 a father, though but a poor soldier, he 
 became at once consolidated in the warmest 
 esteem and affection of the villagers. 
 
 Every evening occupying his " own 
 
 chair," as it was now usually called, in 
 
 the snug corner where it stood, expressly 
 
 dusted and arranged for him, he delighted 
 
 F 2
 
 68 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 to smoke a long pipe in tranquillity, listen- 
 ing to the broad native humour tripping 
 impulsively along. He had so constantly 
 adverted to his married life in glowing 
 terms that they would frequently request, 
 " Arrah, be afther tellin' us all about id." 
 
 Hitherto the coaxing had been in vain, 
 and entreaties proved inoperative though 
 never harshly declined ; on the contrary, he 
 seemed pleased to be the subject of such 
 universal interest, smilingly saying, " I'm 
 not up to it to-night, another time I'll 
 respond to your call." 
 
 It happened on this particular occasion 
 that every one seemed in unusually good 
 humour and spirits, except the very man 
 most thought of and considered. Sad 
 and reserved the old soldier sat in his 
 accustomed place, but seldom moved or 
 spoke, and hardly smoked, as after a few 
 abrupt puffs of the hitherto ever-welcome 
 pipe, it hung neglected and unused between 
 his closed lips.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WBNTWORTH WASTE. 69 
 
 In monosyllables only did he vouchsafe 
 to answer when addressed, and altogether 
 the barometer of general good spirits fell 
 amazingly under his freezing influence. 
 This example of apathy was fast becoming 
 contagious when the landlord, foreseeing a 
 loss of business if it continued, bestirred 
 himself to arrest the downward magnetic 
 current and after repeated appeals to him, 
 George Rutherford, valet to the young lord, 
 said, " I am sorry to be among you when 
 I cannot do your kindness justice, but to- 
 day I heard of the death of the officer under 
 whom I first served, and who helped me to 
 get married." 
 
 " Good luck to ye. Oh, don't sthop," 
 exclaimed several anxious voices nervously. 
 
 " Ay," said he, unmindful of the feeling 
 he was fast awakening, " and on one occa- 
 sion he saved the lives of my wife and two 
 children, and probably my own." 
 
 " Arrah., shure, Misther Rutherford, more 
 power ; go an, go an, do avick, an' I'll say
 
 70 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 haf a dozen prayers for ye." This and 
 other like petitions reached him, but they 
 were hardly heeded for oddly enough, at 
 this instant, he displayed a marked in clina-, 
 tion to proceed on his own account. After 
 some trivial preliminaries, continuing, " At 
 an early age I 'listed in the 6th Regi- 
 ment lying at Fulwood barracks, Preston, 
 and very soon picking up a chum, we 
 passed our spare time together. 
 
 " We were both inclined to be saving 
 even on our small pay, and no day passed 
 we did not put by four or five pence each 
 to the good. Every evening we went to a 
 certain house-of-call, the rule being to have 
 a pot of beer between us, that was all, for 
 which I paid one night, and my comrade 
 the next. 
 
 " There was dancing and singing at this 
 public in which neither myself nor my mate 
 joined, but quietly smoking our pipes, we 
 looked on until it was time to go." 
 
 The narrator now became somewhat
 
 THE OUTLAW Otf WENTWOETH WASTE. 71 
 
 affected in tone and manner, however, 
 " pulling up," as he said, the tale pro- 
 ceeded, " It was there I met my poor wife." 
 Here he involuntarily sneezed, the large 
 handkerchief encompassing his copper- 
 coloured nasal organ even reaching to the 
 eyes, while his sympathetic auditors con- 
 sistently looked everywhere except towards 
 the well-known corner whence the noise 
 emanated. 
 
 The seemly pause ended, he continued, 
 with a deep inflation of lung and a voice 
 much forced beyond its ordinary power, 
 
 " On several occasions at the public- 
 house I noticed a young woman looking at 
 me, and I of course returned the compli- 
 ment, at last we got so far as to salute each 
 other ; but we never spoke, for the reason 
 that she was always seated beside a smart 
 chap who, my chum and myself believed, 
 must be her sweetheart. One evening we 
 met as usual, and after saluting her I saw 
 she was alone, whereupon walking straight
 
 72 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 over and taking her hand respectfully in 
 mine, I spoke firmly, e Young woman, ever 
 since I see'd you first I've loved you, and 
 I never met another person I'd like to 
 marry but yerself,' looking truthful, feel- 
 ing what was said. She quickly replied, 
 returning the squeeze of my hand, 
 * Young man, since meeting you first I 
 respects you, and I have no objection to be 
 your wife.' We then sat down, and I 
 called for an extra pot of beer, beckoning 
 my comrade to come to the table. She 
 told us she expected her brother, who, we 
 were surprised to find, was the young man 
 we thought she kept company with ; he 
 drank part of the can of ale and seemed 
 pleased to hear what had passed between 
 me and his sister, giving us an invitation 
 to go to their home and see their mother 
 (the father was dead), which I did the next 
 evening. No more of the public-house 
 after that for me. I plainly told the mother 
 how I was situated, but she would not hear
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 73 
 
 of marrying a soldier at any price, though, 
 she had no doubt I would make her a sober, 
 honest husband. 
 
 "Day after day this went on, Lizzy and 
 I getting fonder of each other, while the 
 old girl, seeing this, began to hate me, 
 but the brother William did all he 
 could on my side. At last orders came, 
 
 draughting us to : now there was 
 
 no alternative, it must be yes or no ; 
 still the mother would not give way. 
 In bidding her good-bye Lizzy burst out 
 crying, declaring she would go with me, 
 even without her parent's consent; but I 
 reasoned with her, saying, as we had to 
 walk from Dublin to our destination, I 
 could not reach my quarters before a 
 certain day, which I told her, and we 
 agreed that she would meet me on that 
 very day, either with or against her 
 mother's wish." Here the old soldier 
 " wet his whistle " from the landlord's 
 proffered glass, the salutary example being
 
 74 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OR, 
 
 speedily imitated by the rest out of their 
 own measures, of course though, to do 
 them justice, they were more anxious to 
 hear him " go an." Proceeding, he ob- 
 served, " There is no occasion to say that 
 every day's march which brought me 
 nearer to my future quarters was most 
 welcome. At last on a cold wet morning 
 we commenced climbing up the steep hill 
 leading to the barracks. My heart fell as 
 I neared the top, seeing only strangers in 
 that dismal place, though I strained my 
 eyes in every direction ; and resigning all 
 hope, I could have cried indeed I have 
 often thought since that I must have done 
 so when from under a window-blind, 
 where she had been sheltering, out stepped 
 Lizzy, saying, ' Young man, you see I'm 
 punctual ;' to which I answered, ' Young 
 woman, so I perceive.' That day I told 
 my Irish officer, Captain Darcy Burke, 
 how the case stood. Although he scolded 
 me warmly, he took us both in hand, put
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENT WORTH WASTE. 75 
 
 her in lodgings in the town till we were 
 married, and then helped us to commence 
 housekeeping. 
 
 " No wonder I felt sorry to hear of his 
 death this day though he must be very 
 old. However, three years after our 
 marriage we were living quite content and 
 blessed with our two children. Captain 
 Burke got me any odd jobs going, knowing 
 I saved every penny for my home, while 
 Mrs. Burke employed my wife whenever 
 she could. Ah, this was my happy time." 
 Another appeal to the nasal organ was 
 essayed, but the disposition to proceed 
 proved irresistible, and he resumed, 
 " Things went on thriving and prosperous 
 till orders suddenly arrived for so many 
 men to be sent out at once to strengthen 
 the regiments then fighting abroad, and it 
 came to my turn to go. 
 
 " In vain we reasoned with my wife ; she 
 said no power should separate us, and I 
 don't know how it would have ended had
 
 76 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 not the good Captain Burke found a 
 racketty dare-devil from his own parts, 
 named Jack Walsh, to take my place for ten 
 shillings cash down and two days' leave of 
 absence for a last good spree. So it was 
 settled, Jack receiving the money and 
 getting the required furlough. 
 
 "On the morning of the third day follow- 
 ing the bugle sounded the parade, every one 
 in barracks turning out to wish Godspeed 
 to the lads about to march to the port of 
 embarkation, some twenty miles distant. I 
 was cleaning the windows in the officers' 
 quarters and chatting to my wife below at 
 the same time, while the names of the men 
 for foreign service were being called out. 
 Suddenly, ' George Rutherford ' sounded 
 throughout the barrack square. * Here, 
 sir ! ' I exclaimed, running down, not know- 
 ing what it meant. ' Fall in ' were the 
 awful words, ' in ten minutes we march.' 
 Jack Walsh had not . returned, and there 
 was no alternative but to take my place
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 77 
 
 in the ranks. My wife was simply mad, 
 nothing would quiet her, and at last they 
 could not restrain her from footing it the 
 whole distance of twenty miles with our 
 two children. She defied any power to 
 separate us, and abroad we would go 
 together. Nearly all we possessed was 
 put up and sold by auction, oddly enough 
 my wife was not so affected by this as 1 
 was. Fancy prices were paid on purpose, 
 and everything that kindness could suggest 
 was done to lessen our troubles, but the 
 broken-hearted wretchedness I felt when 
 the order was given to march I shall never 
 forget, as, each carrying one child and a 
 bundle containing all we had left in the 
 world, my wife and I commenced that 
 dismal journey." 
 
 The narrator could withstand it no 
 longer, and the big tears blinded him, 
 while those listening also gripped their 
 throats at something unusually sudden 
 experienced therein. ,
 
 78 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 The soldier went on in slower, though 
 much lighter accents, "Our brave captain 
 thought of all that was possible to lighten 
 the march, buying endless articles for the 
 children. Their mother would take no- 
 thing, nor even speak, but walked on pale 
 as a ghost. He allowed us to halt where 
 we pleased, and there was not a man in the 
 whole squad who did not beseech Lizzy to 
 let him carry her child, which she refused, 
 while I frequently took advantage of their 
 friendly offers. 
 
 " We had in this way got over half the 
 journey, when the captain's wife drove up 
 on a private outside jaunting-car, so closely 
 packed with boxes and luggage there was 
 hardly room for herself and the driver. 
 No sooner did Mrs. Burke see the mother 
 and child than she comprehended the whole 
 position ; and how she persuaded Lizzy 
 I'll never know^ but in five minutes she 
 was on the car beside her with the two chil- 
 dren, the driver walking with us, while
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 79 
 
 the captain's wife, whip in hand, in his seat, 
 dashed along the road, followed by the 
 hearty cheers of every man Jack of us, 
 including her husband." 
 
 Hurried feet were now passing the 
 " Darecourt Arms " at great speed, but 
 within they heard naught save the veteran's 
 story, who got so far as to say that, when 
 he reached the seaport, the radical Johnny 
 Walsh was there half-sober, waiting to 
 fall in, and hence he was saved from going 
 to the war. Loud cries of " Fire, fire," 
 caused every one, including the old soldier, 
 to rush out, when, on the other side of the 
 bridge, the lone house of Molly MacCarthy 
 was discovered to be a mass of seething 
 igneous flame. As they hastily approached 
 the fated pile two figures were seen on the 
 wooden roof, working might and main to 
 break through it. It was known Molly 
 slept in the upper chamber, hence the exer- 
 tions of these two spectral objects in that 
 red lurid flame.
 
 \ 
 
 80 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OK, 
 
 Voices pealed high in excitement, " God 
 bless the gintlemin ! shure isn't id thim- 
 selves, the young lord and Misther 
 Dillon." 
 
 The latter at length broke through the 
 beams, but whether with fright or premedi- 
 tation it was 'impossible to say, there lay 
 Molly MacCarthy dead, and her would-be 
 deliverers had only time to jump from the 
 roof on to blankets, provided by their sym- 
 pathetic observers, ere the whole burning 
 fabric collapsed and fell, destroying all in 
 its sulphurous embrace, emitting millions 
 of brilliant sparks. While the pile lay 
 entombed in sickening vapour a dog-cart 
 came rapidly along the high road, guided 
 by a solitary muffled figure, who clearly 
 wished to avoid recognition ; but the 
 people had already surrounded the well- 
 known vehicle, exclaiming, " Oh, Misther 
 Flynu poor Molly MacCarthy is burnt 
 to death ! Oh, dear ! oh, dear ! isn't id 
 awful?"
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 81 
 
 " Clear the way," shouted the Dare- 
 court agent, lashing his horse forward ; " I 
 can thrade an a livin' pig, bud a ded 
 woman's cowld comfort anyhow." 
 
 VOL. i.
 
 82 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 LUCY NEVILLE, of Nevillstown, was as fine 
 a specimen of an Irish lady as could well 
 be found. Tall, proud, and dauntless, she, 
 as herself said, went straight to the mark 
 in all that she undertook, even a semblance 
 of doubt or apprehension being unknown 
 in her vocabulary. Her actions were 
 characterized by this same resolution; as 
 though, however daring the enter- 
 prise, its facile achievement was assured 
 beforehand. Her regular, pale, rounded 
 face was seldom moved to superficial ani- 
 mation, but those large, expressive eyes, 
 emerging from beneath well-pointed, dark 
 lashes, were fiery with poetic life, which
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 83 
 
 the slightest incentive woke up to enthu- 
 siastic passion, or equally declared pity, as 
 the varying impulse was eagerly imbibed 
 by a comprehensive and ready grasp of all 
 that passed around. With her to see 
 was to appreciably realize the situation. 
 Riding was her favourite amusement, 
 although she could pull an oar and walk 
 a fair journey across fields ; but to mount a 
 restive ill-tempered colt and subdue it, 
 was her great delight. At the "meet" to 
 be second to Miss Neville was a vaunted 
 triumph, and many a would-be Lothario 
 remembered to his dying day the rich 
 saucy laugh with which she regarded him 
 rolling in the mud, whither he had followed 
 her, while she nimbly flew over the con- 
 cealed quagmire. 
 
 An orphan and an heiress, it is not to 
 be marvelled at that she absorbed the inner 
 thoughts of more than one love-lorn en- 
 thusiast ; but no one had hitherto ventured 
 on whispering a too soft sentiment, for 
 G 2
 
 84 A LIFE'S HAZARD ; OR, 
 
 the simple reason, she never gave the 
 necessary permission. 
 
 Quick as lightning, Lucy Neville knew 
 what would follow, but raising that warn- 
 ing finger, and with it beating time to the 
 ominous words, " No, no, no ; it must not 
 be; no more, please!" the abashed ad- 
 mirer generally sought relief, inwardly 
 declaring, " Confound the girl ! I cannot 
 understand her." 
 
 The subject of her warmest thoughts 
 was Eustace Dillon, not that the feeling 
 passed the domain of the deepest, truest, 
 sisterly regard, but knowing his parentage, 
 straitened circumstances, and his proud 
 melancholy disposition, she often wished 
 he were indeed her brother. Her aunt 
 and guardian frequently invited Eustace to 
 Nevillstown, every time Lucy met him the 
 invitation was warmly supplemented, but, 
 promises notwithstanding, he was very 
 seldom seen there, and even these capri- 
 cious visits at length ceased altogether.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 85 
 
 Respectful pity is a dangerous feeling to 
 play with in girlhood, but the self-willed 
 Lucy never bothered her head about it, 
 she had always liked Eustace Dillon and 
 always would. 
 
 She was also much attached to Fanny 
 Chalmers, a young lady of her own age 
 and nearly equal position. Miss Chalmers 
 was the eldest child of a numerous family, 
 and the direct antithesis of her dear 
 friend Lucy Neville, in every way being 
 at once slow, reserved, cautious, and plod- 
 ding. 
 
 Few of her own sex cared for her, but 
 real admirers were still fewer among the 
 opposite. 
 
 This imparted to her a taciturn dis- 
 position and ready aptitude to discount 
 everybody and everything to their or its 
 disadvantage. 
 
 Yet these two girls were fond of each 
 other, though, had they but known the 
 phases of their future life and their
 
 86 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OK, 
 
 respective influence thereon, they would 
 have anathematized the fatal hour they 
 first became acquainted. 
 
 For some time preceding our story a 
 feeling of coldness, skilfully masked, was 
 being generated by the calculating Fanny 
 Chalmers towards her companion Lucy 
 Neville. She could trace it to no absolute 
 cause, but in after-years she knew it was 
 the offspring of envy, a selfishness which 
 rose in her breast at the admiration every 
 one manifested to Lucy, while herself was 
 neglected if not avoided. 
 
 Singularly it happened that Lucy Neville, 
 perspicuous and clear-sighted in all else, 
 did not notice the altered demeanour in 
 her friend, who insensibly but appreciably 
 grew more reticent and frigid day by day. 
 Eustace Dillon had often formed an em- 
 bittered subject of conversation between 
 them, and this morning his long-continued 
 absence from Nevillstown was freely com- 
 mented upon.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 87 
 
 Fanny tartly resumed, 
 
 " I am astonished to hear Lord Dare- 
 court's son and Mr. Dillon are always to- 
 gether, indeed they seem close intimates." 
 
 "Oh, I am so glad Eustace has found 
 a companion of a kindred disposition," was 
 Lucy's ardent exclamation. 
 
 " What, although this new friendship is 
 the cause of his sacrificing an older one," 
 added Fanny warmly ; "I do not like him 
 for it." 
 
 " Nay," said Lucy, " I am convinced 
 there is another reason. I know too well 
 that Eustace is incapable of forgetting his 
 friends, much less of sacrificing them." 
 
 " You forget it is not every day an heir 
 like the Hon. Mr. Darecourt can be con- 
 sorted with, and I am told he is positively 
 distingue," was rejoined. 
 
 " I suppose," retorted Lucy in a tone of 
 slight consequence, " the gentleman you 
 speak of is just what he ought to be, 
 neither more nor less, but you must not
 
 88 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OB, 
 
 forget in your tanciful admiration that 
 Mr. Eustace Dillon is his equal, if not his 
 superior, in all respects save one." 
 
 "And what is that one pray?" was 
 inquired with asperity. 
 
 " Paltry money." 
 
 "Decidedly the most cogent to my 
 mind," muttered Fanny Chalmers with a 
 discordant laugh. 
 
 " Why are you so unlike yourself to- 
 day, Fanny ? You know I will suffer no 
 one to attempt the depreciation of my play- 
 fellow Eustace Dillon, at least in my pre- 
 sence," and Lucy looked sternly at her 
 companion Fanny while uttering these 
 words. 
 
 The latter rose hastily, and moved to 
 the door, observing, 
 
 " I did not suppose that he could be 
 of such consequence as to cause unneces- 
 sary irritation." 
 
 Repressing her warm resentment, Lucy 
 followed to the landing, where, placing her
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 89 
 
 arms round Fanny, whom she impulsively 
 drew towards her, she said in an almost 
 mechanical tone, 
 
 " It seems a dream to think of our 
 differing about any one or for any one. 
 Oh, let us forget it ; come, Fanny, kiss and 
 be friends ; we cannot be any other." 
 
 Miss Chalmers submitted to, but did 
 not return, the affectionate greeting, and 
 no other word passed between them while 
 the former went downstairs and left the 
 house. 
 
 The young mistress of Nevillstown cast 
 herself into a chair, and vainly tried to 
 crush the swelling feeling within her. 
 Resolving to forget, she would relapse into 
 another vein of musing, and wake up to 
 find herself more deeply annoyed and 
 wounded. She knew her warm advances 
 towards reconciliation were repudiated, 
 and felt that a chasm loomed ominously 
 between herself and Fanny Chalmers. 
 
 The latter walked slowly homewards,
 
 90 A LIFE'S HAZAKD; OR, 
 
 her immovable face suffused with a bitter 
 expression of revengeful annoyance as the 
 fostered thought grew. " She shall feel 
 my jealousy yet when and where it is little 
 expected ; friends indeed ! never, Lucy 
 Neville; we can and shall henceforth be 
 implacable enemies." 
 
 Ah me ! what a demon is pride, or who 
 will curb the war-horse which a mistaken, 
 thoughtless word has ere now created to 
 devastate the home of a once trusted friend- 
 ship. 
 
 Lucy Neville suddenly started to her feet 
 and rang the bell, saying vehemently, 
 
 "Let me escape from this angry in- 
 fluence." 
 
 When the servant entered, motioning 
 impatiently, 
 
 "Have Rover saddled at once ; I will go 
 for a long canter." 
 
 Ten minutes later she went forth from 
 her home at a headstrong pace, heedless 
 of every passing object, including Eustace
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 91 
 
 Dillon, wlio, amazed, saw himself dis- 
 regarded by lier that out of the whole 
 universe he would have called his own, but 
 he could not. 
 
 "What can have happened?" he thought. 
 " Lucy Neville so absent-minded as not to 
 see me is a problem indeed. This path, 
 too, is hardly fit for her horse, though he 
 seemed well pleased with the fleet mission, 
 considering the rate at which he carried 
 her along." 
 
 Looking at his watch, continuing, " I 
 have two hours to spare, and something 
 impels me to follow her. Brave, noble 
 Lucy," as he retraced his steps, " there 
 are too few like you in this adamant world 
 where all is selfishness and for self. Who 
 but you felt for me when my lot was dark 
 indeed, and feels for me still ? and would I 
 not lay my life at your feet ? " 
 
 He had now reached the long, low, crest- 
 drilled sands, and, to his surprise, there 
 was Miss Neville in a dejected contempla-
 
 92 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 tive posture upon her ambling horse, the 
 loose reins dangling idly beside his mane. 
 Hesitating whether to proceed or not, 
 Eustace Dillon mused, " I never saw Lucy 
 so unlike herself, but I will go to her, 
 although in some way I feel as thereby 
 anticipating a fate which it was a mercy to 
 postpone." 
 
 Unconscious of being watched and soli- 
 citously followed, or that she was nearing 
 the low-lying rocky breakwater which had 
 long lain abandoned to the overpowering 
 accumulations of sand, Lucy Neville moved 
 carelessly along. 
 
 The golden sheen of those placid elastic 
 receding waves bore no charms for her 
 now, though she usually revelled in their 
 varying tints of crystal beauty. Nor did 
 the vast covies of sea-fowl energetically 
 pursuing them to glut on their treasures, 
 revealed upon the wet sand, yield her any 
 interest; she was listless, sad, and dispi- 
 rited, as though for the first time in that
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 93 
 
 young life an indefinite impost was cast 
 and forged, portending sorrow. 
 
 " Help, help," now faintly smote her ear 
 from a voice on the far side of the break- 
 water seawards. Rising in the saddle, she 
 looked in vain, nothing was to be seen 
 but Nature's great domain of sand and 
 wave, unrelieved by a single solitary object 
 save that guiding " black buoy " in the 
 distance hardly discernible from the dark 
 waters, which the low swift ebb hurried 
 against it. Again a weaker " Help " 
 assailed her attentive ear, and lifting the 
 horse with one wild convulsive bound she 
 sped through the rent air with an energy 
 of speed and purpose, sending the blood 
 impetuously leaping in its knotted chan- 
 nels. Eustace Dillon, too far off to hear 
 or be heard, wondering at this sudden 
 violent movement, commenced running at 
 the top of his speed in the line whither she 
 was fleeing, knowing that on the left the 
 course was circumscribed by the Darecourt
 
 94 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 property, while straight in front lay the 
 sea, and on the right the breakwater, he 
 calculated on soon overtaking her. 
 
 Overwhelmed with astonishment and 
 dismay, he beheld her head the fiery hunter 
 towards the base of the stony rift, as 
 back flew the layers of shells and sand 
 rudely disgorged by those deep indenting 
 horny hoofs. The tide was not wholly 
 out but, instead of shirking the small 
 lake which it fed, she ploughed through 
 it, emerging therefrom on the opposite 
 side scarcely recognizable by distance and 
 mud. 
 
 Not a trace of uncertainty was about her 
 now. No, she was Lucy Neville once 
 more, and his heart rose suffused with an 
 enthusiast's pride to see how both from 
 shoulders and arms she lifted the respon- 
 sive eager horse along. 
 
 " Oh God ! " he breathlessly exclaimed ; 
 " hold, hold ! Oh girl, you are lost, you 
 are lost."
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENT WORTH WASTE. 95 
 
 Lucy heard not, nor for the thousand 
 part of a second did she waver.. There 
 was the wide-spreading breakwater, and 
 her horse must carry her across its rocky 
 crest or they would perish. Did not that 
 cry for help come from one as dear or 
 dearer to heaven than she was ? 
 
 For an instant the proud panting animal, 
 with the snow-flecks upon his red nostrils, 
 threw forward both ears and tossed his head 
 apprehensively as the rising ground ap- 
 peared in front with the dark line of 
 granite wall beyond; Lucy in silence 
 passed her gloved hand along his mane, 
 which was enough, for lashing that full 
 tail, bending back those ears, and lowering 
 his head, as though to hide the perilous 
 ascent from view, Rover settled into an 
 even steady, uniform motion, biding the 
 time for the supreme effort. 
 
 The face of the breakwater was thickly 
 coated with seaweed, wherein the mussel, 
 periwinkle, and barnacle found a slimy
 
 96 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 home, at the top being somewhat of a 
 plane, but the sides were formed of 
 immense blocks of grey granite thrown 
 down indiscriminately to arrest the inva- 
 sion of sand and waves against the inner 
 concrete lines of the artificial structure. 
 Transfixed, Eustace Dillon at last observed 
 Lucy bend lower in the saddle as she 
 attempted the mad ascent, and it seemed a 
 map of his whole life rose spread out before 
 him in bold relief while contemplating the 
 awful venture. No, no, he could not, dare 
 not look on, and, covering his eyes with 
 each hand, he fell upon his knees, while from 
 within stole up supplicatingly, " Heaven 
 spare her life." Now he ventured to rise 
 again. There she was almost on the top of 
 the rocky ridge ; the horse, having his own 
 way, makes a last plunge, his fore feet 
 already bite the loose covering of the 
 plateau, when, alas, he falters, but Lucy's 
 reserved courageous strength is watchfully 
 at hand, and dexterously moving on Rover 
 they are instantly landed in safety. Not
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 97 
 
 one iota of hesitation succeeding ere horse 
 and rider are plunging on again towards the 
 end of the embankment in wildest speed. 
 Eustace, too, is climbing its base, when, 
 beyond himself with surprise, he beheld 
 Lucy still goading her steed forward. 
 Twice Eover has been wheeled round to 
 jump into the deep wave's washing the 
 extreme point of the breakwater, and as 
 often did he refuse the leap. Once more 
 he is faced at it, but, again refusing, Lucy 
 rises in the saddle and dives into the sea on 
 the far side from where Eustace Dillon is 
 running onwards. 
 
 " She's mad ! " he shouted, as he threw 
 off his coat. " Peace be to you, Lucy 
 Neville. No human arm could save you 
 in this falling tide, but he who has long 
 lived for you alone will at least share your 
 untimely grave." 
 
 The next instant Eustace Dillon was 
 dividing the waves by a wide bold breast 
 stroke to a floating object in the distance. 
 
 VOL. i. H
 
 98 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WHEN Brien Flynn recovered conscious- 
 ness, he found himself, seated in a chair, 
 his face resting against the table, with his 
 neckcloth unloosed, and the pale young 
 man intently looking from the agent to the 
 immense chest of loose gold, and vice 
 versa. 
 
 The expression of the stranger was one 
 rather of anxiety than surprise, but he spoke 
 not, evidently wishing the initiative to 
 come from across the table. 
 
 The agent had essayed to address him 
 more than once, but hesitated ; now, how- 
 ever, summoning all his courage, he said in 
 faltering words, 
 
 Who are ye, sir ? "
 
 ( 
 tt 
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOETH WASTE. 99 
 
 " Dorrington Darecourt," was politely re- 
 plied. 
 
 What ! " starting in surprised attitude, 
 
 the nephew av Lord Darecoort ? " 
 
 " The same." 
 
 " An' couzin av Misther Vincent ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Thin ye are the gintleman as sint me 
 keurious information be post ? " 
 
 " I am." 
 
 " Oh dear ! oh dear ! " with a heavy sob, 
 "what a load that takes av me mind!" 
 observed the deputy. 
 
 "Which I am glad of," responded his 
 observer. 
 
 A pause followed. 
 
 Manifestly there was a confluence of 
 unspoken feeling between them, but each 
 wished the other to speak first. During 
 this interval the agent discovered that the 
 valuable chest was wide open, revealing its 
 enormous contents. Alarmed, he jumped 
 up, quickly closing and locking the treasure, 
 H 2
 
 100 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OK, 
 
 when Dorrington Darecourt cynically 
 drawled out, " I hope there is no necessity 
 for this precaution, Mr. Flynn ! " 
 
 " Well, sir, I'll not bate about the bush, 
 ye shall hav yer share an' welkim," 
 putting down a large roll of bank-notes, 
 "bud I'd lose me life sooner nor part wid 
 any wan avthim goolden guineas." 
 
 " Ah 1 " he continued in a softer tone, 
 "it is me only comfort to com down here 
 an' look at me savins," in confusion " I 
 mayne me me well well, ye know 
 what." 
 
 " I only know, Mr. Flynn," was quickly 
 answered, " I am very glad to make your 
 acquaintance, that I feel much obliged for 
 these notes," which he placed in his 
 pocket, " and that the sooner I can be of 
 service in enabling you to get more, the 
 better pleased I shall be." 
 
 " Well, that's fairly spoken, for bethune 
 us now there ought to be no saycrecy, ye 
 know me book, an' I think I know yer's ."
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOETH WASTE. 101 
 
 The young man interrupted the agent, 
 saying, " It's simple enough, Mr. Flynn, my 
 game is, Coin, money at any price." 
 
 " Say notes insthid, and ableegeme, sir," 
 whined Brien. 
 
 " Anything of value will suffice for my 
 purpose." 
 
 " Good ! from yer litthers I understhand 
 yer father worme lord's brother." 
 
 The pale young man winced somewhat 
 as he replied, " Pray do not go into that." 
 
 " Misther Darecoort, I only seek to make 
 the road plain and riddy bethune us. 
 Whativer I say, ye'll find I'll always thrate 
 ye as me shuparyor, for shure arn't ye a 
 rayl gintleman." 
 
 " I ought to be one," was dejectedly 
 volunteered. 
 
 " So ye are, an' plinty av money ye'll 
 hav' to keep up yer proper stashin." 
 
 The young man began to look brighter as 
 the speaker continued, 
 
 " Well, thin, I know that ye are me lord's
 
 102 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OE, 
 
 nephey, bud how is id ye niver met yer 
 couzin, Misther Vincint ? " 
 
 " Because I was born abroad, and only 
 came to England when I first heard of and 
 wrote to you, with what result you are 
 already aware. Indeed, none of my friends 
 know where I am at this moment." 
 
 " I dare say," was drily answered ; " bud 
 may I ax, Misther Darecoort, how kem ye 
 to be where ye are at this minnit ? " 
 
 "You mean in this odd apartment, I 
 presume ? " 
 
 " Yis, an' I mayne in that other place 
 beyant," indicating the press. 
 
 " 'Tis readily told," responded the young 
 man, " when I arrived in Dublin, I could 
 not find you at the lawyer's, who advised 
 me, if I wished to see you particularly, to 
 take the Malahide road, where I would be 
 certain of meeting you. Well, I walked on 
 until I got near the Castle, when I inquired 
 of a well-built, handsome young fellow, how 
 I could see Mr. Flynn, and very politely he
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 103 
 
 brought me to the door, whence the servant 
 showed me into your room." 
 
 Eagerly the agent interrogated, 
 
 " War he dressed in a dark blue 
 shuite?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Short jacket ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And shmoked a sthrange-lookin' 
 pipe ? " 
 
 '< He did." 
 
 " Thin that wor yer couzin, Misther 
 Vincent." 
 
 "Indeed! how odd!" 
 
 " Ha ! I'm forgettintho'," proceeded the 
 deputy : " how did ye git into that 
 press?" 
 
 " Being of a restless, inquiring mind," 
 was candidly replied ; " after waiting for 
 you a considerable time, I strolled into a 
 gallery out of the room ; hearing footsteps, 
 I retreated into a niche in the wall, which 
 opened at the back, leading to this
 
 104 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 apartment. Only try and you will see the 
 recess wherein I stood revolves, bringing 
 you to the passage I came through." 
 
 " The gallery," said Brien Flynn, " ye 
 sphake av is the sthrong room, where the 
 family papers, charthers, an' valewbils are 
 kep; av I'd known there wor a passige from 
 id to this place, 'twould hav saved me many 
 a journey ; howiver, there's luck in meetin' 
 ye, alriddy ye've found out more nor I 
 larn'd, an' who knows what's goin' to 
 follow?" 
 
 " It may be even as you say," was quietly 
 spoken by his auditor. 
 
 "What a strange thing!" the former 
 mused ; " up to an hour ago, there wor not 
 a sowl in the world held me saycrit, ye 
 see the work av years." 
 
 " Come," exclaimed Mr. Dorrington 
 Darecourt decisively, approaching the 
 agent, " it is time we understood each 
 other. I intend to be outspoken with 
 you."
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 105 
 
 His listener rose up excitedly. 
 
 " I know all you have to say, and all 
 you intend to do ; now with this knowledge 
 in my possession, and prepared if necessary 
 to act upon it," the miser dropped into 
 his seat with visible agitation "are we 
 to be true friends in everything ? Answer, 
 Yes or No." 
 
 " Yis," was faltered in reply. 
 
 " Shake hands upon it," Dorrington 
 extended his hand. 
 
 " I niver shake hands wid me shu- 
 paryors." 
 
 The deputy looked upon the floor. 
 
 " Bah ! " was retorted derisively, " we 
 cannot be one in this transaction and two 
 outside of it." 
 
 " Thin be id as ye say, Misther Dare- 
 coort." 
 
 " You'll find no half-measures with me, 
 Mr. Flynn; for weal or woe, we are now 
 linked together, and at the first false step on 
 either side, let the right man strike home."
 
 106 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 " I don't understhand ye, sir ; ye see, not 
 bein' edicated,me lied is aizely moidhered." 
 
 " Ha, ha!" laughed the young man, add- 
 ing coldly, " you are either d d clever 
 
 or the people about here are confounded 
 fools, else how did you climb to this post ?" 
 
 " I oftin wish I wor niver timptid beyant 
 me nathural stashin anyhow." 
 
 There was no doubting the bitter sin- 
 cerity of these words, and so the listener 
 thought as he responded, 
 
 " 1 believe you ; this, however, is not the 
 time to indulge in maudlin sentiment. If 
 you do not move with me, I'll split to my 
 uncle and upset you, but if we hold on to 
 our true colours, we can make our fortunes 
 and I, I may become " 
 
 "What?" inquired the agent nervously. 
 
 "What! why, Lord Darecourt, of 
 course." 
 
 " Oh, moighty sthars, yer not sarious ?" 
 was echoed. 
 
 " Serious, why not ? just now you spoke
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 107 
 
 of putting my cousin out of the way ! 
 Agreed ! but have I no better right to the 
 cause than you, when his death means my 
 inheritance and prosperity ? Yes," he con- 
 tinued with warmth, " my supercilious 
 uncle allowed me to be brought up in 
 poverty after my father perished poor 
 and unknown, in a foreign land ; since 
 I can remember I have vowed revenge for 
 the unnatural deed, and somehow, my 
 new friend, if I ever doubted of success, 
 it is gone now, for, with your aid, the 
 shelter of this room, and that chest of 
 gold" 
 
 " No, no, not the goold, not the goold," 
 pleaded the miser. 
 
 " Any form of money will answer for 
 my triumph," was peevishly retorted; "but 
 come, Mr. Flynn, when do we start ? " 
 
 " Where for, sir ? " 
 
 " For the field of business I mean 
 action." 
 
 All the spirit of individualism had
 
 108 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 forsaken the agent, and he now sat the 
 essence of meekness, although a strange 
 light flickered in his cunning eye. 
 
 " Wheniver ye plaze, Misther Dare- 
 coort." 
 
 " Good ! you will follow me in all 
 things?" 
 
 " Yis, sir." 
 
 " I shall well repay your services." 
 
 " Thank ye, sir." 
 
 " And you will help me to gain posses- 
 sion of the title and belongings of the 
 Darecourts of Darecourt ?" 
 
 " I will, sir." 
 , "Then, swear it." 
 
 " I cannot, sir." 
 
 " Oh, yes, you can. I came provided, 
 for I mean to accomplish what I state. 
 Do you swear you will be true to your 
 promises ? " 
 
 " I will to-morrow, don't ax me to-day, 
 Misther Dorrington." 
 
 A rapid smile illumined the younger
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 109 
 
 man's face as he resumed, " Very well, 
 be it so." 
 
 Brien Flynn felt reassured. 
 
 " Now we understhand ayche other par- 
 fictly, Misther Dorrington." 
 
 " Then let us begin to move." 
 
 "How, sir?" 
 
 " You say the gallery I went into out of 
 your room holds all the proprietary docu- 
 ments of the Darecourt family ? " 
 
 " Yis, sir." 
 
 " Did you ever see any papers referring 
 to the marriage of the late Lady Dare- 
 court?" 
 
 " I'm not shure." 
 
 " Come now, think, please ; honesty, re- 
 member, is our only chance of success." 
 
 " I belayve I did, although I'm not 
 sartin." 
 
 " "We will remain here until you can 
 satisfy me." 
 
 " Thin I may say as how I did, that is I 
 did," was answered in a reluctant tone.
 
 110 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 " Very good," earnestly followed from 
 the young man, adding, " you could easily 
 put your hand upon them, I suppose ?" 
 
 " Yis, sir, I think I cud." 
 
 " That's better," said the former, with 
 an innocent look ; " and you say they are 
 in the gallery I passed through in coming 
 here?" 
 
 " Yis, Misther Dorrington." 
 
 " Then bring them to me," was sternly 
 demanded. 
 
 " Oh, Misther Darecoort ! not now, 
 shurely ?" 
 
 " Yes, now or never." 
 
 The deputy tremblingly hesitated, when, 
 jumping to his feet, his companion 
 peremptorily shouted, 
 
 " Hand me the key of that chest of 
 gold ! " 
 
 The palsied miser felt there was no 
 mistaking the man he had now to deal 
 with as the latter continued, 
 
 " Out with the key at once, or I'll "
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. Ill 
 
 before the sentence was finished, the agent 
 meekly put the key on the table sinking 
 on his knees as he supplicated, 
 
 " Ye sed as how ye'd take id in any 
 form av money, bud not the goold ! " 
 
 "Yes, and I will adhere to my word; 
 bring me those documents, and keep your 
 gold." 
 
 The pleader moved to the door. 
 
 " No," interrupted his visitor, " go the 
 way I came, it is, as you say, nearest," 
 indicating the recess wherein he, the 
 speaker, had first appeared. 
 
 Brien Flynn found it revolved, and enter- 
 ing it, he was instantly on the outer 
 passage. 
 
 Quickly the young man let fall a bolt, 
 securing the movable structure as he said 
 triumphantly, " You are checkmated ; this 
 door is fastened, the spring at the other 
 end of the passage only opens from the 
 outside, you may linger where you are 
 without a chance of discovery, while I can
 
 112 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OE, 
 
 leisurely remove this treasure as I wish. 
 Now hear my terms ; the key is no 
 security, I will give it back ; nor need I 
 touch the gold ; the parchments, too, will 
 answer at another time ; but you return 
 and swear on this sacred book to help me 
 ni becoming Lord of Darecourt, or you 
 shall miserably perish." 
 
 Where the prayers of the just were 
 wont to ascend in the days gone by, these 
 two men, betrothed in infamy, now kneel 
 and ratify their unlawful vow.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 113 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 WENTWOETH WASTE, stretching away west- 
 ward towards Donabate, was widely known 
 as the scene of the brutal murder of the 
 last Earl of Wentworth, when returning 
 from a late debate in the Irish House 
 of Lords, political rancour being uni- 
 versally assigned as the motive for his 
 assassination. 
 
 Since this sanguinary event the Waste 
 had been studiously avoided, and, though 
 affording a short path to the town, peo- 
 ple preferred to continue by the high road, 
 involving a longer distance of some two 
 miles. 
 
 Abandoned to solitude, loneliness, and 
 disorder, its fertile soil soon became over- 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 grown with a rank vegetation, spreading 
 out in all directions. By a Cain-like sin 
 this place was cursed and ominously 
 shunned, yet here the lamp of Faith once 
 shed its assuring light, and the gable of 
 the stone-roofed abbey still remained, 
 though the roof itself was long since 
 broken and gone. It had never been an 
 extensive or imposing building, as so many 
 of the ecclesiastical ruins in Ireland still 
 prove, even in their dust; but from its 
 elevated situation it commanded an ex- 
 haustive view of the surrounding country 
 on every side. 
 
 Before the assassination of Lord "Went- 
 worth, people were in the habit of frequent- 
 ing the sacred ruins, mingling their hearty, 
 untutored prayers with the endless stream 
 of thanksgiving ever going heavenwards ; 
 and truly it was a fit place to sober wilful 
 man. In the space formed by the angles 
 of the building were the remains of a 
 churchyard, long, long since disused, and
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 115 
 
 left to share the fate of the refectory 
 adjoining. 
 
 Throughout its whole extent there 
 was not a fashioned headstone or even 
 the remains of one, yet every slight emi- 
 nence above the level indicated the last 
 resting-place of one or more of the children 
 of nature, while a rugged, any-sized piece 
 of granite was stamped into the ground, 
 marking the head of each grave, except 
 where the remains of a wooden cross for- 
 bade the unnecessary rocky addition. On a 
 summer evening, when the setting sun had 
 dipped below the horizon in its resplendent 
 glory, it was a fair sight to watch the vil- 
 lagers talking, smoking, or knitting, while 
 their children gambolled in youthful ardour, 
 or tended the scanty flocks basking in the 
 luxurious green sward adjoining that greener 
 hill, on the apex of which the ruins stood. 
 
 All this is now changed, most of those 
 actors on life's fitful stage have played out 
 their parts, and others have succeeded to 
 I 2
 
 116 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 their places. Even of those still lingering 
 in this valley of time, none will now go 
 near the unhallowed spot, and the night- 
 fiends of that lonely Wentworth Waste hold 
 undisputed sway over its blood-stained, 
 dishonoured heath. 
 
 A place stamped as anti-human, and 
 avoided by all, was a meet resort for the 
 evil-minded, and here accordingly Dorring- 
 ton Darecourt frequently found himself 
 with his confederate Brien Flynn. 
 
 Free and unreserved, from the convic- 
 tion of being alone, they soon arrived at 
 the conclusion that their interests and 
 intentions were one, and so they appeared 
 to be, but it was a superficial view, at 
 heart each deeply mistrusted the other. 
 
 The younger man was clearly master 
 of the situation, and indeed this was but 
 the natural sequence of the cool, authorita- 
 tive air he invariably assumed towards 
 the deputy. Leaning against the faded, 
 time-decayed portal of the ruin, Dor-
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WBNTWORTH WASTE. 117 
 
 rington leisurely smoked a foreign, sweet- 
 scented cigar, while with his walking-cane 
 he tossed a human bone idly about, now 
 backwards, now forwards. 
 
 The agent dare not express his natural 
 feeling of dislike, but kept his head away 
 from the disagreeable sight, sitting at a 
 respectful distance, waiting rather to an- 
 swer than to inquire anything. 
 
 The former listlessly uttered, 
 
 " Some poor devil once would have 
 missed this atom ; now out of the whole 
 world there's not one to own it ; nay, the 
 earth itself rejects it, else why disgorge 
 this, and retain others ? " 
 
 Again the osseous segment was dis- 
 ported in the air. 
 
 " Ah, sir, don't ; ye giv me a megrum 
 lookin' at ye ; do put id aside." 
 
 The young man smiled as he replied, 
 
 " Perhaps you are right after all ; who 
 can tell what mind may have been en- 
 shrined within the creature of whom this
 
 118 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OB, 
 
 was a member, or what achievements may 
 not have, even indirectly, grown out of the 
 body whereof it formed a constituent 
 part?" 
 
 The speaker took the bone in his hand, 
 continuing, 
 
 "Methinks the earth could hardly set thee 
 free, and still hold captive the spirit hid in 
 the casement of which thou wert a seg- 
 ment : but come, thou hast served my 
 purpose of brief thought, hence ! go where 
 other skeleton offals will keep thee com- 
 pany." 
 
 And lifting the lone residuum of bygone 
 manhood, he cast it into the ruins, where- 
 from a slight scream immediately followed. 
 The agent at once rose up alarmed ; but 
 his companion had already gone in quest 
 of the source of their sudden surprise. At 
 the rear of the ruins, standing in trepida- 
 tion, was a young lady, on seeing whom 
 Dorrington politely raised his hat, saying, 
 in a courteous, easy voice,
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WEMWORTH WASTE. 119 
 
 " I sincerely trust that I have not been 
 the cause of your alarm ? " 
 
 " Thank you, sir, it is not serious " 
 hesitating. " I wandered to this place 
 from curiosity, not thinking of meeting 
 any one, and just now something dropped 
 at my feet, causing me to feel a little 
 frightened." 
 
 He laughed lightly, continuing in an 
 apologetic tone, 
 
 " I am the delinquent, as I flung that 
 * something ' in this direction ; not, I as- 
 sure you " (and he looked earnestly at 
 her), " contemplating so unfortunate a 
 result." 
 
 Throughout Dorrington spoke with un- 
 covered head, and a possessed, gentlemanly 
 bearing. 
 
 " I am much obliged, sir, for your con- 
 sideration in so trifling a matter, and I 
 wish you good morning," responded the 
 young lady. 
 
 " I hope ye're quite well, Miss Fanny?"
 
 120 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 said the agent, emerging from behind the 
 ruins." 
 
 u Oh, yes, thank you, Flynn, this gentle- 
 man " 
 
 " 'Tis Misther Darecoort, miss," inter- 
 rupted Brien. 
 
 Dorrington afterwards recollected the 
 colour warmly tingeing her face on hearing 
 these words. 
 
 "Mr. Darecourt, son of Lord Dare- 
 court ? " she inquired eagerly. 
 
 " Yes," answered Dorrington, bowing. 
 
 " Excuse my seeming curiosity," she 
 continued ; " my surprise was to find any 
 one in this place; it has such a hard, 
 cruel reputation, and I shall be glad to 
 leave it." 
 
 " I know but little of the place or its 
 antecedents nor as a rule do I incline 
 much to popular prejudice but its loneli- 
 ness is a great charm to me." 
 
 At that instant a heavy raindrop caused 
 them to look up, when the deputy said,
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENT WORTH WASTE. 121 
 
 " 'Tis a sthorm, Miss Fanny; I knew id 
 wor hangin' about all the mornin' be me 
 poor corns. Ha ! there it goes," as a flash 
 of lightning was followed by its attendant 
 thunder, " com, miss, the only shelter is 
 the ould ruins," whither all three imme- 
 diately betook themselves. 
 
 And truly it was a storm : an almost 
 incredible change o'er the visage of nature, 
 and so sudden. 
 
 Seaward the sky was one huge black 
 canopy of darkest night, obscuring the 
 neighbouring hills ; indeed, nothing was 
 recognizable, so effectually and quickly did 
 this pall of concealment settle down on 
 everything; even beside you the ebony 
 shadow was seemingly real and startlingly 
 abrupt. Down came the tempest of rain, 
 while the searching lurid flashes careered 
 in wild dismay, reaching the furthermost 
 recesses in the ruin. Louder and yet 
 more loud arose that rolling murmur of 
 colliding elements, relieved only (if relief
 
 122 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OK, 
 
 it were) by the sound of the clanging surf 
 raging upon the distant shore. 
 
 Fanny Chalmers, for it was she, was 
 greatly alarmed, but, heedless of her re- 
 fusals, Mr. Darecourt divested himself of 
 his outer coat to protect her from the rain 
 falling through that roofless, ruined record 
 of time. 
 
 Not many minutes had elapsed while 
 these persons remained together ere they 
 felt a chord of mutual interest awakening 
 within them, and indeed this was reflected 
 from their tell-tale eyes. 
 
 Brien Flynn's face assumed a slight hectic 
 tinge of interest, and from time to time he 
 looked towards the hills opposite, watching 
 for the break in the storm. 
 
 It came at last, as suddenly passing 
 away as had been its advent. Joyous 
 nature shook off its dewy mantle and 
 beamed forth, renewed and reinvigorated 
 by the contest with its late tempestuous 
 assailant.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 123 
 
 Gracefully returning the timely covering, 
 Miss Chalmers feelingly said, 
 
 " I shall always recollect the kindness 
 shown me by you, Mr. Darecourt." 
 
 To which he warmly responded, 
 
 " And I can never forget even so brief 
 an interval of happiness, although I have 
 not the pleasure of knowing to whom such 
 trifling services were rendered." 
 
 "Fanny Chalmers of Fairlea," and she 
 turned to depart. 
 
 The 'agent swiftly whispered in the 
 young man's ear, 
 
 " I'll keep her company to the high 
 road; stay till I com back. Good-bye, 
 sir," he added aloud, in a make-believe 
 voice, "good-bye, Misther Vincent," and 
 he followed the retreating female form in 
 the distance. 
 
 " How strange ! " mused Dorrington 
 Darecourt, regarding them both. " Yes- 
 terday I heard her name for the first time, 
 when Flynn said she was the only girl in
 
 124 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 the country whose family could and would 
 join in my venture for their private ends, 
 yet to-day it seems as though already our 
 future were intermixed in some realistic 
 fashion, though I cannot fathom the 
 mystery without Flynn's help ; so here goes, 
 another weed and another think about you, 
 Fanny Chalmers." 
 
 Turning to look for a seat, a figure 
 noiselessly issued from the ruins and stood 
 confronting him. It was that of an im- 
 mensely powerful square-built man, with 
 sandalled feet, an enormous head of hair, 
 and beard reaching to his waist, almost 
 concealing his tanned face. A coarse 
 faded blue suit, narrow-crowned hat ; and 
 in his hand a heavy knotted stick, his 
 waist encircled by a thick leathern belt, in 
 which were placed a brace of pistols, a 
 hunting-knife, and a drinking-horn. Of 
 such formidable proportions, he yet spoke 
 in a hushed, low voice, taking no notice
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 125 
 
 of the start his appearance caused to his 
 astonished observer. 
 
 " You are Vincent Darecourt ? " 
 
 " So Brien Flynn said." 
 
 " Then you know Eustace Dillon ? " 
 
 "Yes. I I" 
 
 " That will suffice. This particular 
 paper is entrusted to you for him." 
 
 " By whom ? " was asked in blank 
 wonder. 
 
 " Michael O'Grady, the outlaw," saying 
 which the strange man cleared the hedge 
 in front and was lost to view.
 
 126 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OB, 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 LORD DARECOURT'S nephew and the agent 
 paced slowly backwards and forwards in a 
 very secluded part of the large estate, the 
 former with a light, jaunty air, while the 
 latter hung his head and seemed unusually 
 reserved ; this portion of the Darecourt 
 property approximated to the sea-shore, 
 and in winter became the resort of num- 
 berless members of the feathery genus 
 who in hard weather betake themselves 
 inland. 
 
 As these two confederates walked up and 
 down they glanced covert looks of a half- 
 slumbering suspicion at each other, be- 
 tokening mistrust, although, of the two, 
 Dorrington was least sceptical, that furtive
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 127 
 
 hasty gleam of concern from the agent 
 vividly bespeaking a mind ill at ease. 
 
 "Ye say she is fitted wid everything," 
 proceeded the latter. 
 
 " You mean the boat, I presume ? " was 
 replied. 
 
 " Av coorse I do, sir." 
 
 " Then she is." 
 
 "Guns, powder, shot, an' oars?" 
 
 " Yes, all are ready." 
 
 " That's right." 
 
 " But it's the fourth or fifth time you 
 have repeated these questions," remon- 
 strated the younger one. 
 
 " An' avit wor the hundredth time, what 
 matther, sir ? I'm only anxious there'll be 
 no mishtake." 
 
 " There shall be none. If my cousin 
 wishes to make away with himself, he will 
 have ready means whereby to gratify his 
 taste. But, Flynn, you exhibit a concern 
 in the result that I am insensible to." 
 
 " Thrue, for ye, sir, I am consarned till
 
 128 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 id's all over. Whin sthartin' the bysiness 
 I had no iday 'twould com to this." 
 
 " To what?" demanded his auditor. 
 
 " Why, to our disgrace an' his death, for 
 both it will be." 
 
 " Do not indulge in these gloomy fore- 
 bodings. Think that I shall be Lord 
 Darecourt, and you my friend and agent." 
 
 " Niver, sir," was answered by the agent, 
 with a remarkable severity of voice. 
 
 " And why not, may I inquire ? " 
 
 " Bekayze, Misther Dorrington, me grate 
 hope is to finish this deed an eskaype to 
 some furinn land, where unknown I'd 
 linger till the day corns whin I'll shlide out 
 av this world to to niver mind where 
 any place '11 be too good." 
 
 "You under-estimate yourself, Flynn. 
 So far as I am concerned, there shall be 
 but one consideration. If we succeed, we 
 must share the gain ; otherwise, why 
 remain on as you are. I will not interfere 
 with you."
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 129 
 
 " Not now, sir ; 'tis too late. The scint 
 av the goold is in me blood, an' I want to 
 grip id. No matther av id inds in murther, 
 only let id be don quickly." 
 
 " How will it affect you if my cousin 
 does not follow your advice ? " 
 
 " Bud he tould me this mornin' as 
 how he'd like to shoot an the rocks, 
 av coorse I sed he nivir had an iday 
 av the foine sphort it wor. Ha ! ha ! 
 ha!" 
 
 " What if he can swim, Flynn ? " 
 
 " I thought av that, sir, an' axed him. 
 
 No,' sez he, ' I can't put wan foot afore 
 
 another in the wather.' Indade, he wint 
 
 an till I found out he couldn't even hould 
 
 an oar, so thinks I, that '11 do." 
 
 " But how can he impel that boat, or 
 why have the oars in her at this moment ?" 
 was inquired. 
 
 " A make-belayve, Misther Dorrington. 
 I assure ye av he wint widout thim 'twould 
 seem kewrious. Sez I, ' Ye've only to let 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 her dlirift along av her own account ; she'll 
 throt ye there an' back." 
 
 His companion smiled as he observed, 
 
 " Harmless advice certainly." 
 
 " To the innishint all things are in- 
 nishint." 
 
 A feeble leer followed this attempted 
 witticism of the agent. 
 
 " How shall we know the coveted re- 
 sults ? " the young man interrupted. 
 
 " Be remaynin' where we are. Jist hide 
 away a thrifle, while I'm houldin parley. 
 Whin he stharts we'll giv him the binifit 
 av our attintive eyesight, till the consayt is 
 takin out av him this side av the grave." 
 
 " Flynn, who is that walking along so 
 leisurely on the road opposite ? " pointing 
 to the figure indicated. 
 
 "Let me see," answered the deputy; 
 " 'tis Miss Chalmers av Fairlea. Now 
 that ye've put id in me head, av ye cud 
 git an the right side av her ye'd do well." 
 
 " Why so ? " was inquired.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 131 
 
 " Bekayze her ould father is a notorious 
 lawyer, an' she an' he id both go to a 
 sartin place for grandheur. Another thing, 
 she's intimate wid all the high families, an 
 'twould be no throuble to her to git hould 
 av what's nicessary to shut up our 
 inimies." 
 
 "To whom do you allude ? " inquired 
 Lord Darecourt's nephew. 
 
 " That cub Dillon, av coorse," was 
 fiercely replied. 
 
 " There could be no necessity, Flynn ; 
 with the death of my cousin my position 
 becomes an absolute fact." 
 
 " There's many a shlip 'twixt the cup an' 
 the lip, Misther Dorrington. That Dillon 
 sees farther nor most av us." 
 
 " Oh ! this is childish ; you must have 
 another and a deeper reason for enmity 
 towards this person." 
 
 " I hav, he wanst had me down, an' 
 sthruck me ; an' I vow id won't be long 
 afore I pay him afif wid tinfold intherisht, 
 K 2
 
 132 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 till I blast him an' his beyant the chance 
 av ricoveiy." 
 
 The declaimer turned suddenly and 
 resumed his perturbed walk, while his 
 companion looked on vacantly. A shot in 
 the woods now agitated them. 
 
 " Quick, Misther Dorrington ! " said 
 Flynn ; " hide ; that's him," motioning 
 whence the sound proceeded. " Ye'll hear 
 what passes bethune us. When he's gon 
 we'll giv him our blessin' an his long 
 journey." 
 
 " Here goes, then. His father allowed 
 mine to die in need. When I see his 
 son dying for want of assistance, kindred 
 in its necessity if not in form, I will be 
 content.** Whereupon Dorrington Dare- 
 court disappeared in the copious wild 
 surroundings as his cousin came in 
 sight. 
 
 "Ah! is that you?" said the young 
 heir of Darecourt pleasantly, approaching 
 Brien Flynn.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOKTH WASTE. 133 
 
 " Troth id is. Bud had yer honour any 
 luck?" 
 
 " Not much ; the birds are timid on the 
 wing to-day." 
 
 " See, sir, the coveys an the sands 
 yandher, folio win' the toide." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! yes ! " 
 
 "Well, sir, at slack wather, which 'tis fast 
 comin' to, they'll be there in cartloads, jist 
 beyant thim black rocks," moving his 
 finger seawards. 
 
 "Indeed ! But observe," interrupted 
 the heir, " what strange dark bird is that 
 flying so curiously and so low ? Why, it 
 is now settling on these very rocks you 
 pointed to ! " 
 
 " A kormorant, sir ; foine shootin', an' 
 ye'll see widgin, divers, an' wild duck as 
 well." 
 
 " How I wish I could get there ! " uttered 
 Vincent Darecourt with enthusiasm. 
 
 " Well, as I tould yer honour afore, 
 ye've only to sit aizey in the boat; the
 
 134 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 current '11 carry ye down wid the lasth 
 quarther, which id now is, an' bring ye 
 back an the first av the flood." 
 
 " Unfortunately I have no ammunition 
 large enough," was answered in accents 
 of regret. 
 
 " Oh ! that same's soon don ; there's 
 the boat riddy sthocked, for I had a notion 
 yer honour moight wish for the thrue 
 sphort." 
 
 " Thank you ; it is very thoughtful, and 
 I will gladly avail myself of the chance." 
 
 The agent bit his lip as he answered, 
 
 " 'Tis no praze, sir, I need, for 
 wouldn't I do more nor that for me 
 lord's son ? " 
 
 Declining the latter 's company but re- 
 peating his thanks, Vincent Darecourt went 
 downward; bounding over the dwarfed 
 foliage and the open sandbank which suc- 
 ceeded, he speedily made his way to the 
 small lake, where the boat floated with 
 everything in its proper place. Nimbly
 
 THE OUTLAW OF "WENTWOETH WASTE. 135 
 
 casting off the painter, the light open skiff 
 crept gently along in the falling tide, 
 gliding towards the breakwater, whither 
 the current tended. Meanwhile the deputy 
 and his confederate stood concealed behind 
 the brushwood, eagerly noting each move 
 of their predestined victim. Brien looked 
 terribly anxious and preoccupied ; the 
 other leisurely produced the accustomed 
 weed, finding a solace in its soothing 
 effects. 
 
 After a continuance for some time of 
 this silent observation, the young man 
 inquired, 
 
 " Why are you so thoughtful, Flynn ? " 
 
 " Arrah, why not, sir, see the dimrence 
 that little boat '11 make to me." 
 
 " And to me," interposed the expectant 
 heir, " but it's all over with him now. 
 You may wind up his day-book any 
 moment. Here, tell me more about that, 
 what is it you call her ? " 
 
 " Chalmers, sir. What 1 sed is thrue,
 
 136 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OR, 
 
 bud another time '11 do for that ; let's hav 
 this job don clane an' complayte afore we 
 begin somethin fresh." 
 
 " It is positively amusing to see you so 
 excited, when you must know he is fast 
 drifting to his last quarters." 
 
 " I'll not make shure, sir, till id's over, 
 so many sthrange things turn up ginerally 
 at the wrong time, so jist kindly let me 
 hav me own way for a few minnits, thin 
 I'll be a new man." 
 
 " Be it so, my zealous friend," answered 
 his companion, blowing a thin cloud, 
 adding, " why, assuredly my sporting coz 
 has an oar in hand, though you said he 
 could not row." 
 
 " So he tould me, sir. Bad luck to me 
 misf orthin ! can it be he wor f oolin' me ? oh 
 murther ! " letting fall his hands dejectedly. 
 Almost instantly he seized his neighbour, 
 exclaiming, " He can't row ividently, the 
 pace is too slow, an' he thought as how 
 he'd thry. Bud see, hurrah, hurrah, he's
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOKTH WASTE. 137 
 
 put the oars away ! " rubbing his palms 
 gleefully. 
 
 "A splendid shot certainly," was 
 affirmatively uttered by the younger man, 
 as the occupant of the boat brought 
 down a wild duck quite sixty yards dis- 
 tant. 
 
 The maimed bird fell heavily into the 
 placid sea, upon which the sportsman made 
 herculean efforts to reach it. With a 
 single oar in hand, standing towards the 
 stern, he alternately indulged in splashing 
 efforts on each side of the boat. The 
 spectacle was ludicrous to those who could 
 handle a scull, but it sufficed, however, and 
 after rude prodigious labours at the expense 
 of breath and muscle, the skiff lurched 
 from under the protection of the break- 
 water into the open sea, when the wounded 
 fowl duly became a captive. There was a 
 look of admiration about the agent's com- 
 panion, which he did not attempt to repress, 
 as he watched the slovenly exploit, although
 
 138 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OB, 
 
 not an atom of fellow-feeling or pity was 
 in that dissolute face. 
 
 But Brien Flynn was wholly beside him- 
 self, not a feature moved, nor did he seem 
 to breathe, so fixed was the glare in his 
 ashy countenance. 
 
 " Who is that elegant horsewoman 
 ambling on the sands, Flynn ? " inquired 
 Dorrington Darecourt. 
 
 Scarcely deigning to turn, the deputy 
 answered in a hard, resonant voice, 
 
 " The bravest, finest leddy in Ireland ; 
 bud look," he shouted, " see, see, now we 
 hav him, he's in the full shwing av the 
 toide at lasth, that's what I've bin watchin. 
 Hurrah, we're near the mark. See how the 
 boat shoots along, stiddy there she goes, 
 nothin' though to the shwim she'll hav in a 
 ininnit, ha! ha! ha!" swaying about in 
 frenzied delight, his greedy eyes glow- 
 ing with demoniacal fire, while his com- 
 panion, though manifestly deeply absorbed, 
 neither moved nor spoke. And of a truth
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WA.STE. 139 
 
 the trim craft sped lightly and swiftly 
 along, to the growing concern of the 
 heir of Darecourt, who, feeling alarmed 
 at the increasing pace, vainly plied the 
 powerless oar on either side, as he had 
 done before, but it was of no avail in that 
 pent-up sea. 
 
 The full tide stretched far up into the 
 beautiful estuary, but declining and 
 coming to its lowest level, it fell slowly 
 and steadily therefrom, impinging upon 
 the side of the long breakwater which 
 restrained and thwarted its natural course. 
 Under this shelter the sea was calm and 
 languid in its onward flow, but as the tide 
 waned lower, beyond its rocky protecting 
 influence the current shot out with violent 
 increasing rapidity, its whole force con- 
 verging towards the furthermost point of 
 that sheltering barrier, which it rounded 
 with irresistible power, exhausting its 
 energies in the wide waters of Dublin Bay. 
 The abortive struggle of Vincent Darecourt
 
 140 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 to restrain the skiff was cruel sport for his 
 two observers. 
 
 " Bah ! " muttered the Darecourt agent, 
 " sit down an' make yer mind up. Ye 
 caught me be the throat, ye did, and soon 
 the conger and crab '11 munch yer's. See, 
 at lasth he's in the thick av the current. 
 Oh, ye fool, av ye'd only let her alon she 
 moight weather the bank hersel. Bad 
 luck to the chance, or av ye jist tilt her 
 aff whin she touches, ye'd be safe in the 
 open ocean beyant; an' who wouldn't be 
 afther sarchin' from Lambay to the Isle av 
 Man for the heir av Darecoort. Bud, 
 hurrah, hurrah, jist as I guessed, he's 
 sthrugglin in the boat wid her hed down in 
 the wather, an sthill he's jumpin' from 
 side to side. Bravo, bravo, now she's 
 shwingin' for the pint. Bang, she's over! 
 Dhrown, heir av Darecoort, an' ye, me 
 young lord, liv to be happy." 
 
 Dorrington Darecourt moved not, irre- 
 sistibly he thought, " What is the worth of
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOETH WASTE. 141 
 
 this fellow'sjielicitations, one gone, and so 
 soon another," but suddenly their eyes 
 are fixed on that giddy flight of rider and 
 horse towards the granite wall. 
 
 " Why, it's the bravest, finest lady in 
 Ireland," observed the recently acclaimed 
 heir of Darecourt. 
 
 " Yis, my curse an' her," hissed Brien, 
 "she'd risk her life to save any wan's ; bud 
 here I'll sthop her gallop." 
 
 He raised the gun left on the spot by its 
 late owner, pointing it at the flying steed. 
 However, the flint missed fire, and, mutter- 
 ing a deep imprecation, he dropped it, 
 adding, 
 
 " What matther ! See, there goes the 
 boat bottom upwards, an where is he? 
 nowhere, ha! ha! ha!" 
 
 As Vincent Darecourt was sinking for 
 the last time, his strained, wild, hopeless 
 glance drank in the sight of two figures in 
 the distance, one of whom stood gleefully 
 gesticulating towards him, while nearer at
 
 142 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 the end of the breakwater a female form 
 rising from her struggling horse, and 
 plunging into the waves, imperiously smote 
 them aside in her onward career of im- 
 pulsive devotion.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 143 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SOME years ago, before the period of which 
 we now write, Michael O'Grady, Esq., was 
 bracketed B.A. at old Trinity, and soon 
 after left the Alma Mater to essay his 
 future as a lawyer in the then wealthy, 
 class-divided city of Dublin. 
 
 O'Grady's enormous physical propor- 
 tions were in keeping with his heart, often 
 naively said to be " as big as a bullock's," 
 and although there were none of the ephe- 
 meral qualities of worldly grace or super- 
 ficial embellishment about him, nature was 
 well represented in its truest form by that 
 ponderous man, at once honest, educated, 
 and humane, and with this disposition in
 
 144 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 the adolescent period of life, need it be 
 affirmed he was widely known and 
 esteemed. The student was very fond of a 
 spree, minus those broad, coarse, sottish 
 characteristics too often disfiguring man- 
 kind, mentally and physically ; but one 
 where the lighter vein within sought free 
 scope in a friendly, quick-witted repartee, 
 and where for a short hour those like him- 
 self abandoned the realities of life, finding 
 repose in forgetting them. 
 
 He was a copious debater, earnest and 
 eloquent in speech, but above all revelling 
 in the facility wherewith he disconcerted 
 his wordy antagonists, rapidly returning 
 their specious utterances, adroitly dis- 
 torted to a different meaning to that which 
 they were manifestly intended to convey. 
 Before leaving " Trinity," some of its 
 kindred spirits had established a private 
 club, called the " Night Rovers," under his 
 inspiration, and so select and recherche did 
 it speedily become, that it was considered
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 145 
 
 no small distinction to gain enrolment 
 amongst the elite of its member-hood. 
 
 His home was at Glenwood, Artane, 
 and though not of the national religion, his 
 greatest friends were to be reckoned among 
 that numerous body of his countrymen, 
 the village pastor figuring foremost in the 
 ranks of his chief intimates. 
 
 Ireland at the time being on the eve of 
 a civil war, that most unrighteous of all 
 contests, it was very hard, if not impos- 
 sible, to withstand the temptation to range 
 yourself on one side or other of the bellige- 
 rents, at all events in sympathy, if not in 
 a more active form. 
 
 Following the public bent, the " Night 
 Eovers " fast drifted from their avowed 
 character of being non-political, degene- 
 rating into two hostile camps, wherein the 
 national party were numerically much 
 inferior to the opposite faction, but im- 
 measurably their superiors mentally and 
 physically. 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 Deprecatingly and regretfully O'Grady 
 beheld this retrocession of the vessel he 
 had created and piloted to the anchor of 
 an impartial, generous neutrality, in the 
 end wholly absenting himself from his 
 one favourite resort, sooner than become 
 identified with either side of mal- 
 contents, esteeming it to be the safest 
 course, as indubitably the masterly didac- 
 tic arguments of the nationalists were 
 permeating through his open unprejudiced 
 nature. 
 
 At this juncture we find him, one cold, 
 wretched day, standing outside the front 
 gates of his ancestral home, when a poor 
 old man accosted him. His ready ten- 
 penny-piece was as usual available ; but to 
 his surprise, the old man thankfully de- 
 clined it, saying, 
 
 " God bless ye, sir ! "Tis not money I 
 want, bud work." 
 
 " What? work ! " was exclaimed in sur- 
 prise, " surely whoever has hitherto em-
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 147 
 
 ployed you will not now let you seek work 
 elsewhere, or what is more just, allow you 
 to labour at all." 
 
 " Ah ! sir," answered his emaciated 
 listener, " 'tis not long I'll be behouldin' 
 to any wan, me heart is bruck ! " and 
 burying his face in his white, trans- 
 parent bony hands, he reclined against the 
 gatepost. 
 
 Without speaking another word, O'Grady 
 took the unresisting, sobbing man to a 
 seat close by, intuitively feeling there was 
 something unusual in his bereft, decrepid 
 condition. After a painful suspense he 
 said soothingly, 
 
 " Come, my friend, it will do no good 
 to give way to grief : have courage 
 tell me the cause of your trouble, and 
 depend on my assistance as far as pos- 
 sible." 
 
 " Ye little know me throuble," was 
 responded with vehemence, " this mornin' 
 I had a home, now I'm roofless, an' 
 L 2
 
 148 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 an' " he broke down with grief that 
 would not be denied, adding through his 
 sobs, " Me wife sits be the roadside, too ill 
 to move, even the ould pigs-sthye we 
 built wor thrown down sooner nor let her 
 lie in it." 
 
 " Oh, heavens ! " passionately exclaimed 
 his visitor. " Answer quickly $ who did 
 this damnable deed ? " 
 
 "The agint, sir." 
 
 " Whose agent ?" 
 
 " Sir Marvyn Marvyn's, sir." 
 
 " Mr. Arkwright is a friend of mine, it 
 cannot be him ! " 
 
 " He's agent for Sir Marvyn Marvyn," 
 said the old man bitterly. 
 
 " So he is ; but tell me more of your 
 case there must be an error somewhere." 
 
 " Ah, sir, I wish there wor," and he 
 feebly smiled, adding, " ye'll soon judge for 
 yersel'." 
 
 " That is what I wish to do," his 
 observer replied.
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 149 
 
 " Well, sir, to begin. 'Tis years ago 
 since I bekem tinnint av the stubble moun- 
 tain land av Dangan." 
 
 " Which I know very well," interposed 
 O'Grady. 
 
 " Yis, av coorse, sir, so ye wud. Well 
 there wor nine acres in all ; afther me 
 day's hard work, or afore I stharted in the 
 mornin', I'd do all I cud to turn id over, 
 pick the loads av sthones, and git id riddy 
 for tillage, bit be bit. I succeeded till I 
 had me first crap, which gav' me grate 
 pluck, an' from wan thing to another, I 
 got an till I built a shlate house, mind ye, 
 not a mud cabbin, got a shmart, useful 
 pony, a heifer, an' haf-a-dozen bonneens, 
 altogether makin' five out av the nine 
 acres fit for the sphade. Thin the rint 
 wor nearly doubled, so as I cudn't help id 
 I had the diskreshun to hould me tongue. 
 At this time the Lord blessed us wid a 
 welkem little sthranger, an' poor Biddy 
 felt the happiest woman in the world at
 
 150 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 havin' wan child at lasth. Things wint 
 an smilin' an' I wor beginnin' to look 
 out for * Biddy ' (that's the name the 
 colleen got, sir, an warn't id nathural, 
 seein' as how her mother wor called so 
 afore her), whin the hard times sit in an us. 
 Ah ! shure, there id is, afore me eyes at 
 this very minnit," and he stretched out his 
 hands, while his voice grew quicker and 
 louder. " There wor the black night an 
 us agin in throth, the smell av that horri- 
 ble blight, aytin in at the alriddy wake 
 timbers, med us sick in mind an' body, 
 knowin' too well as how id spelt ruin and 
 starvashun ; ye may depind, sir, as I got 
 up day afther day to see the incrasin 
 sthruggle, me mind began to giv way ; at 
 lasth the poor ould pony had to go, an' 
 id didn't take long till the rest followed 
 shute, for behould ye, I wor puncthual wid 
 the rint, knowin' av I didn't we'd be left 
 widout a roof to shelther us. 
 
 " In sphite av all, me poor wife an'
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 151 
 
 daughter niver gev way, at laste so far as 
 I cud see, bud used to say to me, ' God'll 
 bless yer labours in His own time,' so 
 I thried to say me prayers rigularly. Well, 
 thin, sir, afther going through all this an' 
 beginnin' to recover like, me poor child 
 Biddy tuck ill, an' an' " again there was 
 a paroxysm of tears, when his attentive 
 and sympathetic listener said, 
 
 " I would not allow you to proceed with 
 this dismal recital, except for my wish to 
 befriend you." 
 
 " Thank ye, sir, the ind isn't far aff. Me 
 poor girl died, things wint to the bad, an' 
 I losth heart intirely, havin' no money, after 
 berryin' her daysintly, to go an wid. The 
 first year's rint I iver owed now kem dhue, 
 an' the agent, Misther Arkwright, sed he 
 must hav the money. I tould him how I 
 wor situatid, bud he sed as how id wor no 
 affair av his, he shud do his ordhers from 
 tother masther. He sarved me wid a 
 jickmint. Me wife's health gev way at
 
 152 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OK, 
 
 this, an' I put all me wits to work to rowl 
 in a good harvisth, pay me way, an' git 
 Biddy an her legs agin, as I tould the 
 agint from time to time ; bud it plazed 
 God for poor Biddy to git worse insthid 
 av betther, an' at lasth I walked in to 
 Marcer's Hospital this mornin' for advice- 
 no small journey, sir, at me years whin, 
 what d'ye think ? " as, rising from the 
 seat, he puts his face close to his anxious 
 listener's ear " gittin' home, sir, I tuck 
 a short cut, an' comin' out suddinly at the 
 usual place, I saw 
 
 " What ? Quick, man ! " exclaimed 
 O'Grady. 
 
 " The home I bilt barred an' boulted 
 the sheds at the back thrown down, me 
 bits av furnishure lyin' about in all direc- 
 tions, an' me poor wife thryin' to sit up 
 agin the door posth, where wan av the 
 naybours God bliss thim ! propped her 
 up wid a pillow." 
 
 The withered speaker now utterly ex-
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 153 
 
 hausted, though tearless, sank heavily into 
 his seat. 
 
 The young man almost forced the blood 
 through his compressed lips brooding 
 over the painful narrative. Suddenly 
 collecting himself, he energetically said, 
 
 " This shall not be allowed. Come with 
 me to the agent at once." 
 
 " 'Tis kind av ye, sir; bud 'tis no use," 
 responded the subject of his pity, shaking 
 his head mournfully. 
 
 Commending the latter to the apt solici- 
 tude of the servants, who already began 
 to place a comfortable meal before that 
 instance of outraged humanity, O'Grady 
 hastily assumed his hat, and, with his large, 
 thinking eyes fixed on the fast-retreating 
 earth, hurried to the outer ga-te ; issuing 
 therefrom, his path was momentarily 
 arrested by a crowd moving towards 
 Dublin, and on nearing a bystander he 
 inquired, 
 
 " What is the matter ? "
 
 154 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 " 'Tis poor Bob Doyle's dead wife," was 
 answered. 
 
 " The cause of her death must have been 
 unusual, I suppose ? " the inquirer observed 
 innocently. 
 
 "Unusual ! not very," was retorted with 
 marked derision as the voice continued, 
 "While her husband wint to Marcer's 
 Hospital this mornin' they turned her out 
 av house an' home, though they knew she 
 wor dyin' ; but now, thank God, she's gon 
 where there's no agints." 
 
 With the vital fluid heaving in his hot 
 veins, O'Grady was beside himself until he 
 stood face to face with his acquaintance, 
 Robert Arkwright, Sir Mervyn Mervyn's 
 deputy, for was not the husband of that 
 dead woman now waiting his return in his 
 father's house ? 
 
 " Hilloa ! what's amiss ? " exclaimed 
 Arkwright in a tone of wonder as the 
 excited face of the former was suddenly 
 revealed.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 155 
 
 "You evicted a woman from Dangan 
 this morning ? " 
 
 "I did," was calmly answered. 
 
 " Did you know the unfortunate creature 
 was dying ? " 
 
 " My dear fellow," followed in a banter- 
 ing tone, " if we gave credence to all we 
 hear, our business would tumble to pieces." 
 
 " The eviction was for rent ? " 
 
 " It was." 
 
 " A year's ? " 
 
 " Yes, but it is drifting into another half 
 year's." The agent became somewhat dis- 
 pleased as he continued coldly, "Really, 
 I do not see " 
 
 However, he was decisively interrupted 
 by the visitor demanding, 
 
 " Did you know there is a large growing 
 crop on the land at this moment ? " 
 
 " Of course I did." 
 
 " Why not be content to hold it for the 
 rent? Surely it will more than pay 
 you."
 
 156 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 "My orders are from Sir Mervyn Mervyn 
 alone," was pertinently retorted. 
 
 Unmindful of this O'Grady proceeded, 
 
 " Cannot you allow the probable value 
 of this crop over and above the rent 
 due?" 
 
 His auditor laughed boisterously, say- 
 ing, " Whew whew, what a Utopian, 
 good-natured idea ha ! ha ! ha ! " 
 
 " Then," was inquired firmly, " am 
 I to understand you decline to aid the 
 evicted, even to any extent ? " 
 
 " Come, come," drawled the agent sul- 
 lenly, "this is going too far. The landlord 
 is travelling goodness knows where at the 
 moment, but if this man sends me a 
 respectful petition, admitting he has been 
 dealt fairly with and soliciting some assist- 
 ance, I will endorse it, and suggest that he 
 should get a trifle the next time I have an 
 opportunity of communicating with Sir 
 Mervyn." 
 
 " Robert Arkwright," resumed O'Grady
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 157 
 
 solemnly, " the husband of that dying, 
 evicted woman came to me, a stranger, for 
 help ; and knowing his case, I ask you 
 fairly, what will you do for the sake of 
 honesty and humanity ? " 
 
 " You've got my answer," was replied 
 with hauteur. 
 
 " Am I to accept that as your final 
 resolve ? " 
 
 " Certainly, I can do no more." 
 
 " Not when I tell you that, as I came 
 here, I met the dead body of that wretched 
 woman being carried to undergo the 
 mockery of an inquest, though her still 
 more wretched husband does not yet know 
 of it ?" he vehemently rejoined. 
 
 " This whole proceeding is more than 
 absurd, and I want to end it ! " exclaimed 
 the middleman wrathfully.- 
 
 " It shall end," was answered in a deter- 
 mined manner. 
 
 " 1 will hear no more," said the former, 
 moving to the door. " We have acted
 
 158 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 within the spirit of the law, and, if it be 
 true of that old woman, it is as good to 
 die in one place as another," was added 
 half -smilingly by Arkwright. 
 
 Smothering his rising passion, O'Grady 
 went close up to him, saying slowly, 
 " When I go back, that old man will hear 
 your reply, and ask me what he is to 
 do." . 
 
 " Then by all means tell him," came 
 from the agent in a smooth tripping voice. 
 
 "Yes, sir," was replied ; " and I shall 
 advise him to do exactly as I would were 
 I in his position. Do you know what that 
 is?" 
 
 The listener's eye quailed under the 
 glare of fierce, undaunted purpose, yet he 
 attempted to laugh it off, saying it must be 
 something worth knowing. 
 
 " What is it, pray ? " 
 
 " Blood for blood ! " shouted O'Grady. 
 " You and your master-confederate are the 
 real murderers of that wretched woman,
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 159 
 
 and I'd hew you both down with as little 
 mercy as was shown to her." 
 
 The deputy was neither a small man nor 
 a coward, but he faded into utter nothing- 
 ness before that giant form waiting the 
 semblance of a chance to annihilate him. 
 
 " Why surely," he muttered, " you 
 must be insane, knowing the law protects 
 me." 
 
 " Then my curse be upon so unjust a 
 law!" was wrathfully exclaimed, "shielding 
 the wretch who dare not avow as a man 
 the dishonouring deed perpetrated under 
 its segis." 
 
 " I cannot account for this marvellous 
 transition." 
 
 The amazed look of the middleman 
 attested the truthfulness of his remark. 
 
 " Enough," answered O'Grady in high 
 sounding tones ; "we meet no more as 
 friends. You pursue the phantom of a 
 false security built on fraud and legalized 
 infamy, from this hour I am devoted to
 
 160 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OR, 
 
 / 
 
 one purpose one honest, unchanging de- 
 termination. Yes ! " he added, with a 
 proud look and heaving chest, " dear, 
 dear Ireland, home of my fathers, become 
 now the home and centre of my only am- 
 bition, my only hope, thy independence. 
 Henceforth my every thought shall be 
 thine ; and, oh ! welcome the death that 
 consecrates thy freedom in my blood ! "
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 161 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE all-absorbing topic in the neighbour- 
 hood, in the city, indeed far and near, was 
 the gallant rescue of Lord Darecourt's 
 only son and heir by Lucy Neville. Of 
 course, it was generally believed that they 
 were either affianced or related, but when 
 it became authoritatively known that the 
 two actors in this eventful scene (largely 
 heightened by supplementary additions of 
 details, however apocryphal), were posi- 
 tively unknown to each other, the interest 
 in it deepened, while the admiration of 
 the " bould Miss Neville " increased. 
 
 Public opinion was in this groove of 
 warm, hearty regard for the young mistress 
 of Nevillstown, when it received a great 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OK, 
 
 shock in the unexpected, much regretted 
 news that the illness thought at first to 
 be a mere cold, consequent upon her abrupt 
 immersion in the sea, and exhausted state 
 when recovered therefrom, had developed 
 into inflammation of the brain of an acute 
 form. The anxiety to hear the last 
 authentic report assumed the semblance of 
 some expected national disaster, whereof 
 the latest bulletin was greedily waited. 
 All of those whom she included amongst 
 her friends were constant in their inquiries, 
 while many a name unknown was in- 
 scribed amid the multifarious number 
 filling the call-book, moved thereto by 
 glowing accounts of the intrepid Lucy and 
 her ever-to-be-remembered heroic exploit. 
 
 Meanwhile the subject of so much sym- 
 pathy and engrossing interest lay in her 
 darkened chamber, rolling her restless, 
 wearied head on the moist, yielding pillow. 
 
 The fever was one of those wherein the 
 wasting force is long ruthlessly exerted,
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WBNTWOETH WASTE. 163 
 
 and the practised disciple of Esculapius 
 rather hopes for the best than prognos- 
 ticates the issue, as it were waiting upon 
 the malady throughout its changeful un- 
 certainties and varying phases. 
 
 The result of the frequent professional 
 consultations was, that "much depended on 
 the physical constitution of the patient 
 herself," and the sapient diagnosis proved 
 correct. After deceiving all by the length 
 of its continuance, the fever slowly abated, 
 finally leaving her, but ah, how changed ! 
 
 Inert, torpid, and fragile, she lived, yet 
 seemed lifeless. It was a severe struggle, 
 and, though emerging victorious therefrom, 
 the tale of long unconscious suffering was 
 sternly revealed in that apathetic body and 
 pallid, ashy face. 
 
 The eyes retained some of their wonted 
 fire, and, unobserved, would richly sparkle 
 in their normal lustre, only however to be 
 succeeded by an utter depletion of phy- 
 sical force. By easy transitions from chair 
 M 2
 
 164 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OK, 
 
 to chair, she began walking slowly so 
 slowly about her bedroom, finally, in a 
 graduated atmosphere, making her way to 
 the outer apartment. 
 
 Her condition now became so assured, 
 that little restraint was necessary ; thus we 
 see her roaming the house at will, at 
 length essaying a transient walk mid the 
 beautiful parterre of roses stretching at 
 her feet. 
 
 All reticence and reservation being now 
 past, an attempt was made by her aunt to 
 lead the conversation back to the nearly 
 fatal day on which the accident occurred, 
 but, divining that probably the subject 
 would end in a homely paraphrase, Lucy 
 dexterously avoided it. Gradually she 
 began to know of the interest generally 
 felt in her recovery ; but the absence of 
 two names in the visitors' book occasioned 
 her much thought, namely, Fanny Chalmers 
 and Eustace Dillon. 
 
 The former she dismissed with scorn;
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 165 
 
 what she had said to Miss Chalmers at 
 their last meeting, recollecting the demand 
 it made upon her pride and its manifest 
 unsuccess in reconciling them, she would 
 have recalled, if she could, as wasted on 
 the saturnine crafty Fanny, but what of 
 the other ? 
 
 One evening, summoning up unusual 
 courage, she wrote reproaching him with 
 neglect ; " although," she thought, " he 
 has a strong motive in whatever he 
 does, strange though his absence may 
 appear." 
 
 An hour later on Eustace was ushered 
 in, looking more melancholy than she had 
 ever previously noticed. Taking both her 
 wasted hands, he gazed long, tenderly, and 
 earnestly at her, his eyes softly filling with 
 tears while saying, 
 
 " Oh, Lucy, how old I have grown in 
 the desire to see you, once more to 
 know " 
 
 " Then what kept you away, Mister
 
 166 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OR, 
 
 Forgetfulness ? " she inquired, with a 
 bright, clear smile. 
 
 " Kept me away ! " he echoed in surprise, 
 " did not Dr. Dease's assistant visit me 
 each day to prevent my coming ! Even so 
 late as yesterday he called with your inti- 
 mation to this effect, which I regretted, 
 but dare not question." 
 
 " There is some deep mystery involved 
 in this," she mused; "directly or in- 
 directly. I knew nothing about it, and I 
 am convinced no person in this house was 
 aware of it." 
 
 "You amaze me, Lucy; did you not 
 decline to see Mr. Vincent Darecourt ere 
 he went away?" 
 
 " I am perfectly innocent of either the 
 wish or its declension. I presume," she 
 added, " this is the gentleman whom I 
 helped to save." 
 
 "And whom you did save," rejoined 
 Eustace Dillon emphatically ; "if you had 
 not supported him when on the verge of
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 167 
 
 sinking for the last time, while you your- 
 self held on to the boat, he must un- 
 doubtedly have been drowned." 
 
 " Come now, Eustace," she said, with 
 an admonishing tone, "you rescued him 
 and myself, but as usual you prefer to 
 attribute the merit to another." 
 
 " Upon my honour, this is a mistake. 
 I wish my dear friend Vincent Dare- 
 court were here to verify my statement ; 
 it was for this he wished to thank you 
 personally ere returning to England, finally 
 accomplishing it by letter." 
 
 " Which I have not received," she deci- 
 sively answered. 
 
 " Oh, Lucy ! there is some dreadful deceit. 
 I often wondered why my friend was con- 
 signed to absolute incivility, though I had no 
 chance of inquiring into the cause before." 
 
 " Eustace, have you made enemies of 
 any one ? " 
 
 " No, Lucy, none." 
 
 " Not even unwittingly ? "
 
 168 A LIFE'S HAZAKD; OR, 
 
 " No; and yet I forgot, there is one, but 
 he is too contemptible to be thought of." 
 
 " Take care, you may underrate the 
 position, there are very few who cannot 
 in some way occasion harm." 
 
 " Well, the person I meant is that hypo- 
 critical agent of the Darecourts, Brien 
 Flynn." 
 
 " Yes," she answered, " I have heard a 
 great deal concerning him, one way or the 
 other, and nothing to his advantage; but 
 may I inquire how you permitted yourself 
 in any sense to be mixed up with this 
 agent, and make him your enemy ? " 
 
 "I will tell you all; and when I have 
 finished, you must give me the benefit of 
 your far- seeing counsel upon the whole 
 case." 
 
 Eustace Dillon lucidly narrated his 
 rencontre with the agent of the Darecourt 
 property, then looking inquiringly at his 
 auditor he asked, 
 
 "Was 1 right or not?"
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 169 
 
 Unheeding this last request, Lucy said, 
 
 " You renewed your acquaintance with 
 your former friend, Mr. Darecourt, at that 
 meeting ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Did the agent know of this ? " 
 
 " That I cannot say." 
 
 " But he saw you together, Eustace ? " 
 
 " So I found out afterwards." 
 
 " And he knew you were warm friends ? " 
 
 " He did." 
 
 " Have you had any further meeting with 
 him since ? " 
 
 "Wo, and never shall." 
 
 " I hope not ; had he many opportunities 
 of meeting your friend ?" 
 
 " Well, Vincent, I mean Mr. Darecourt, 
 said they necessarily met often, that he was 
 commonly civil to his father's employe, no 
 more, until the day before you saved his 
 life." 
 
 " What then?" she inquired with a dis- 
 satisfied expression.
 
 170 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OB, 
 
 " My friend told this Flynn of his desire 
 to have some sea- shooting, but that he was 
 quite unused to such sport, and could 
 neither swim nor manage a boat." 
 
 " Ha ! now let us see," she slowly said, 
 her face looking very earnest ; " did Mr. 
 Darecourt meet the agent on the day of the 
 accident ? " 
 
 " Yes, Flynn induced him to go, pointing 
 out the boat provided with everything ready 
 to start." 
 
 " But he had been already told his 
 master's son could not manage it." 
 
 " Precisely ; when my friend seemed 
 dubious what to do, the agent declared 
 the current would bring him to the shoot- 
 ing-ground and back again, without the 
 necessity for rowing, it being then nearly 
 low water." 
 
 " I have heard enough," she answered, 
 lowering her luminous eyes, " and you 
 say Lord Darecourt hurriedly sent his son 
 from home."
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 171 
 
 " He did, and since his departure the 
 former persecutions of the people have been 
 revived, and the determination of the 
 tenantry to assert their rights, abandoned 
 during the heir's stay, has been renewed 
 with increasing acerbity." 
 
 A pause ensued. Lucy, looking up, in a 
 cool, measured voice, said, 
 
 " Eustace Dillon, I am convinced of 
 three things." 
 
 " Name them, Lucy." 
 
 "The first is, that the agent is plotting 
 against you and your friend Mr. Dare- 
 court." 
 
 " He is too insignificant." 
 
 " And secondly, the individual who repre- 
 sented himself as assistant to Dr. Dease, 
 keeping you away from me, is no such 
 person, but a confederate of this agent." 
 
 " Good gracious ! " 
 
 " And lastly," rising solemnly, " that 
 these associates tried to accomplish the 
 drowning of Mr. Darecourt."
 
 172 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 " My God ! " exclaimed Eustace Dillon, 
 springing backwards from her agitated face 
 and fell words. After a short interval, he 
 attempted a trifling smile, saying lightly, 
 
 " No, no, these unreal apprehensions 
 have overreached your usual powers of 
 calculation." 
 
 " Look after yourself and your friend," 
 was firmly responded, accompanied by a 
 meaning gesture. " There is a deep game 
 being played by clever hands, for a large 
 stake." 
 
 " I cannot comprehend it." 
 
 " It means absolute danger," she con- 
 tinued confidently, " ay, even death ;" 
 adding " You know, Eustace, the warning 
 black gull betokening evil to my family ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "During my illness it perched upon my 
 closed window-sill, and to-day I watched 
 it." 
 
 " But, oh, Lucy, all danger is past," he 
 said tenderly.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 173 
 
 " It was not for me, Eustace, I knew full 
 well, as the eyes kept looking outwards, not 
 inwards, but I am concerned in some fatal 
 way, else why was it there?" 
 
 " You are too credulous," he added assu- 
 ringly. 
 
 " No, it came again, but alas, not alone. 
 Two were then outside my window. I 
 saw them as plainly and perceptibly as I 
 now do you." 
 
 " Oh, wherefore indulge this brooding, 
 fanciful misery." 
 
 " Ah ! " she said wearily, " how foolish to 
 neglect the traditional warning ever pre- 
 saging grief to us ! My thought was of my 
 aunt, but that bird bringing another, I fear 
 there are two of those dear to me in danger ; 
 the next time they appear I shall divine 
 the melancholy mystery." 
 
 " How, Lucy, how ? " 
 
 " When those dark-feathered messengers 
 of woe come again, I will open the lattice ; 
 if the object of their monition be of great
 
 174 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OB, 
 
 interest to me, they will alight close to 
 my station ; otherwise keeping apart in 
 proportion as I shall be influenced by the 
 result." 
 
 " Great Heavens ! see, see," assumed 
 Eustace timidly, pointing to the window of 
 their sitting-room, where, perched, looking 
 in towards them, were the two fated black 
 gulls. 
 
 "Without the slightest tremor, Lucy 
 Neville crossed over, opening the casement 
 while her companion wonderingly sank 
 deeper into his seat. Flying straight in- 
 wards, these sea-birds circled twice around 
 the apartment, then poised themselves in 
 mid air, and, as if by a preconcerted action, 
 immediately afterwards settled on the chair 
 wherein their observer, astonished and 
 alarmed, sat, one being on each side. 
 
 It was a brief stay, however; by a like 
 common impulse, they both arose, flying 
 outwards in the same decided mood. 
 
 " Beware, Eustace Dillon," said his
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 175 
 
 hostess, in a sepulchral, deep-drawn voice, 
 " There are two destined to a violent 
 end. Guard well yourself, and well your 
 friend."
 
 176 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 " I HAVE been unusually anxious to see you 
 this morning." 
 
 " Oh indade, me lord. Shure av I'd 
 known I'd av bin here long ago," said 
 Brien Flynn, the agent, standing before 
 his noble master. 
 
 " Sit down," observed Lord Darecourt, 
 pointing to a chair, as he stretched his thin 
 heatless limbs towards the fire. 
 
 " Thank yer lordship," was meekly 
 responded, the deputy placing his hat on 
 the ground, and seating himself, respect- 
 fully waiting his superior's commands. 
 
 " I have thought over your suggestion, 
 and, as you appear to dwell so much upon 
 the results, I think it will be wise to bring
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 177 
 
 Mr. Dorrington Darecourt from Bath as 
 soon as possible." 
 
 " Well, me lord, I am plazed yer av the 
 same opinyon as me humble sel," adding, 
 " ye see the bysiness is very extinsive, an' 
 av yer lordship's nephey " 
 
 " Say, Mr. Dorrington, please," was 
 interposed sharply. 
 
 " Av coorse, me lord, why not? Well av 
 Misther Dorrington id be so kind as to 
 cum wid me now an' thin among the peo- 
 ple, there id soon be a diffirince in their 
 behayvour." 
 
 " That seems feasible," answered the 
 old man. 
 
 " Beside, me lord, id isn't altogither 
 nathural as how no wan looks afther the 
 accounts excipt what I show yer lordship. 
 I'd be betther contint av they wor chicked, 
 an' who so like to purtect yer lordship's 
 intherist as some av yer lordship's own 
 flesh an' blood." 
 
 "It is very candid of you to suggest it 
 VOL. i. N
 
 178 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 in this light, Flynn ; but were I not aware 
 of your honesty and painstaking services, 
 I should not follow your practical advice 
 so implicitly as I have hitherto done." 
 
 " Thank yer lordship for that same, 'tis 
 more nor I merit, but I do me best, any- 
 how," a covert smile swept across his 
 glossy clean-shaven face. 
 
 " You are aware I have never yet seen 
 Mr. Dorrington." 
 
 " I'm behouldin' t'yer lordship for that 
 same informashun," was responded. 
 
 " I may say there were private reasons 
 for this course, and but for the expeditious 
 and accurate reports you gave me concern- 
 ing him, I should have allowed matters to 
 remain unchanged, ^ow, however, I will 
 give you a letter to bring Mr. Dorrington 
 over. By the way," added Lord Darecourt, 
 " how is that person progressing whom my 
 son rescued from drowning ? " 
 
 " Purty well, me lord, from what I 
 hear."
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOKTH WASTE. 179 
 
 " You describe her as being very com- 
 monplace." 
 
 " She is, me lord, an' I regret the mis- 
 forthin av Misther Vincent bein' av use to 
 her, shure she kem here lookin' afther 
 him." 
 
 " What impudence," exclaimed the 
 attenuated form wrathfully. " Your 
 advice to send my son away was evidently 
 discreet and timely." 
 
 " I always sthrive for the bist, me lord, 
 an' Misther Vincent tould me he wor glad 
 to git back to England." 
 
 "It is strange he has not yet written to 
 me, Flynn." 
 
 " "Well, me lord, there must be allow- 
 ances med for young heads absint from 
 home." 
 
 " You are ever creating excuses for what 
 I regard as neglect," said Lord Darecourt, 
 looking into the fire, while the employe 
 concealed a leer on his parted lips by 
 covering them with his fingers. 
 N 2
 
 180 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 " Musha, me lord, wouldn't I be contint 
 av the world wor payceable an' happy." 
 
 " Very laudable indeed, Flynn," ob- 
 served his listener, but with marked 
 emphasis, " I fancy there is less con- 
 tentment among the people since Mr. 
 Vincent went away. How do you account 
 for this change ? " 
 
 " Ah, yer lordship 'ill be so kind as not 
 to ax me." 
 
 " I hope there exists no reason why I 
 should not know." 
 
 " Well, av yer lordship plazes, bud I'd 
 rather not." 
 
 " I insist, sir. What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Thin shure, me lord, 'tis like this. 
 Whin Misther Vincent wor here they 
 chayted him, an' I cudn't interfere be- 
 kayze av affindin' his honour, an' 
 
 " What else ? " petulantly. 
 
 " An' for the rayson, I now make thim 
 do what is only jist to yer lordship, they 
 are throublesome, which don't signify
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 181 
 
 so long as I keep tliim to the right 
 mark." 
 
 " I think less of my son, day by day," 
 bitterly, came from the aged parent. 
 
 " Oh," mournfully echoed the agent. 
 
 " Do not interrupt me," proceeded the 
 former. " If Mr. Dorrington realizes what 
 I expect of him from your report, I shall 
 depute the management of my entire 
 affairs to him and you, my son remaining 
 indefinitely in England until he has fallen 
 into my views in all things." 
 
 As Brien Flynn lowly and respectfully 
 retired from the presence of his noble 
 employer, walking towards Wentworth 
 Waste to meet Mr. Dorrington Darecourt, 
 he took a comprehensive resume of his 
 present and future prospects. "Vincent is 
 gon," he thought, " an' his couzin takes 
 his place. Very good ; what next ? The 
 deeds must be got at, an' the will med 
 complayte ; thin whin all's riddy, the ould 
 lord's got rid av, an' Dorrington' s proved
 
 182 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 to be owner, Vincent becomin' what Dor- 
 rington ought to be, ha, ha ! That's fine. 
 What av poor Miss Chalmers ? Why, av 
 coorse, Dorrington marries her; good 
 enof for him too, afther helpin' him to 
 the little property. Yis, that 'ill do," he 
 mused, "bud Misther Dorrington, I'll be 
 an the shure side, ye nivir seen the deeds 
 yit, an' afore ye do I'll hav' a nate copy 
 med to put in plaice av the rayl parchmints ; 
 thin av ye don't giv' me a fair share av the 
 whack, I'll turn thim over t'yer couzin, the 
 thrue lord, ha, ha, ha. What a lucky 
 card," he silently continued, " that terrible 
 Michael O'Grady plays into our hands, 
 thinking as how Dorrington is Vincent the 
 great frind av Eustace Dillon. Ah," this 
 last hated name fired him up as he went 
 on, " I'd rather not hav' a hand in bringin' 
 the ribel to the often baffled skaffold, he 
 niver don me harm ; bud as id sthands, av 
 I can only git at Dillon an' layve him to 
 the marcy givin' to thraitors be couplin'
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 183 
 
 him wid O'Grady, this I'll do as sartin as I 
 might risk the chance av iternity to make 
 money." 
 
 Reaching Wentworth Waste he walked 
 upwards, where, awaiting him in the ruins 
 stood Dorrington Darecourt. 
 
 The unusually pleased smile upon Brien 
 Flynn's face reflected the successful import 
 of his journey. 
 
 " All right, Misther Dorrington," he 
 jubilantly said, "that's sittled, yer uncle '11 
 write ye a litther this very day, which av 
 coorse," accompanied by a wink, " goes 
 to ye in England, bud in rayality, 'twill find 
 ye here, an' in good time ye'll make yer 
 dhue appearince at the Castle." 
 
 " I must congratulate you, Flynn," 
 replied the young man. " It was evident you 
 would succeed in your skilful attacks on Lord 
 Darecourt' s credulity," here they laugh, 
 "and I am glad the end is at hand. You 
 cannot believe how intolerable it is to be 
 tied down to a certain restraint or fixed idea
 
 184 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OR, 
 
 when one's inclinations lead in an opposite 
 groove, but the game we are playing is of 
 no mean order, and the stake is equally 
 high. Once firmly located in the Castle, 
 there's nothing but an indolent old 
 man's life left standing between us and 
 success." 
 
 "Whew," replied the deputy through 
 his open lips, " that's the ayziest part. 
 What I want is to shnare Eustace Dillon, 
 an' no wan can do id but yersel." 
 
 " No questionable procedure, mind you," 
 answered his companion with an admo- 
 nishing look. 
 
 " What," exclaimed Brien Flynn ironi- 
 cally, " ye talk like that afther what we've 
 don ? " 
 
 " Now, mark me," proceeded the younger 
 man sternly, " our compact refers only to 
 Darecourt, outside of that I do not at 
 present see my way. At all events I will 
 not willingly add to the perils of an un- 
 fortunate man who rightly or wrongly
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 185 
 
 attempted too much in a cause wherein he 
 believed." 
 
 " Misther Dorrington," said the agent in 
 deep hollow tones, " I'd sacrifize all I 
 own or expict to git to hav revinge an 
 Eustace Dillon." 
 
 " And I am equally decided that I will 
 not help you to this laudable consumma- 
 tion if I can possibly avoid it." 
 
 " Not help me," was echoed, " whin I 
 sthrove so much for ye, Misther Dorring- 
 ton," uttered Brien deprecatingly. 
 
 " No idle sentiment, Flynn," was the 
 civil reply. " The day for misunderstand- 
 ing is past between us. You know what 
 I want, and I am well aware you seek 
 money; ' plainest issues are always best,' ' 
 he added noticing the effect his unex- 
 pected words had on his downcast com- 
 1 panion. 
 
 The latter, suddenly uplifting his con- 
 templative face, inquired, 
 
 "Are you aware, sir, Misther Eustace
 
 186 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 Dillon knows more av the affairs av Dare- 
 coort nor is good for us." 
 
 " Ha ! " cried the young man, starting 
 with a hasty apprehensive look. " Pray 
 explain yourself." 
 
 " In the days gon by, whin Leddy 
 Darecoort wor alive, he wor her warm 
 fayvorite, as his lordship tould me himsel', 
 there's not a corner in the Castle anbe- 
 known to him, an' 'tis me mind," bending 
 close to his attentive listener, " Eustace 
 Dillon knows we had a hand in the boat 
 bysiness." 
 
 " Good heavens, how can that be ?" 
 
 " Well, he has sed plainly Misther 
 Vincent tould him as how whin goin' down 
 undher the wather he saw two min in 
 Darecoort jeerin' at him widout offerin' a 
 helpin' hand." 
 
 " That's not true," answered Dorrington 
 fiercely ; " there was one laughing, I was 
 not." 
 
 " Thrue for ye, sir, sthill 'tis bekayze
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 187 
 
 there wor two they cudn't make the 
 bysiness out." 
 
 " But what does all this suspicion avail ? 
 you don't prove anything." 
 
 " Only this, sir," replied Brien Flynn 
 firmly ; "as shure as yer sthandin' there, 
 Eustace Dillon has me book'd for id, 
 an though for the prisint he's baulked, 
 wondherin' who the second man wor, he'll 
 jist put id down to us two, ay, an' be 
 belay ved ; the people all knowin' he's cute 
 an' hanest, to be relied an." 
 
 " Yes, there's something deserving con- 
 sideration in what you now say, although 
 I'm glad it is nothing more serious." 
 
 " Id is, sir, more sarious, too sarious 
 even for you, Misther Dorrington." 
 
 " Amazement ! what do you mean ?" 
 
 " This, sir," said the agent warningly, 
 " wanst he gits the people to belayve 
 ayther av us thried to thrip up yer couzin, 
 we shud go " 
 
 " Go where, Flynn ?"
 
 188 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OR, 
 
 " Anywhere to eskaype bein' shot an' 
 chucked in the toide." 
 
 " This is a serious prospect," exclaimed 
 the aristocrat ; " and I begin to see your 
 view is correct after all; we must keep 
 a sharp look-out Flynn, ready to strike 
 when it is necessary, not sooner. 
 
 " Ah, Misther Dorrington, I'm glad ye 
 kem round to yer thrue self," the speaker 
 gleefully rubbed his hands. 
 
 " What do you wish me to do next, 
 pray?" 
 
 " Whin ye git a chance av meetin' the 
 ribel agin, sthick to him, promise any- 
 thin', make him belay ve in ye, quietly 
 drawin' suffishint out av him to raych 
 Dillon, an' we'll hav' thim both arristed." 
 
 " Would not my name appear in con- 
 nexion therewith?" 
 
 " Not a bit, sir. The govirnmint id 
 give 500/. to git hould av the first, not a 
 sowl bein' minshined." 
 
 " But how does that affect Dillon ?"
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 189 
 
 " Why," replied the agent, laughing, 
 " jist in this way, Misther Dorrington: 
 whin ye've got enof av informashun 
 out av O'Grady to sittle thim both, I'll 
 giv' the nicessary word to nab thim. 
 No wan 'ill know us, an' we'll pockit the 
 500Z." 
 
 " Good heavens," shouted the young 
 man angrily, " do not dare to speak of 
 the base gain in my presence. I loathe 
 the mention of such cowardliness ;" con- 
 tinuing, "it is enough for my complete 
 degradation to hold parley on such a 
 contemptible subject." 
 
 Brien Flynn appeared amazed at his con- 
 federate's foolish resolve, but he thought 
 " so much the betther; afther all, I'll hav' 
 more for mesel'." 
 
 " To-morrow," observed Dorrington 
 Darecourt, recovering his equanimity, " I 
 will be here at the same hour," and turn- 
 ing on his heel they parted, not a sem- 
 blance of mere average warmness being
 
 190 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 interchanged either in glance or form be- 
 tween them. 
 
 The agent moved speedily away, while 
 his dissatisfied accomplice looking at his 
 watch resolved, " I shall remain here, al- 
 though she cannot arrive for another hour ; 
 however, I will smoke and think upon that 
 thoroughbred blackhearted villain whom 
 fortune has thrown in my path to advance 
 my purpose, much as I despise and detest 
 him." 
 
 " Mr. Vincent Darecourt keeps question- 
 able company," was exclaimed from the 
 opposite side of the broad wall, over which, 
 with a sharp clean bound, a figure vaulted, 
 revealing the stern, bronzed features of the 
 intrepid O'Grady.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 191 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE City of Dublin was cast into a state 
 of high, excitement when it suddenly 
 became known that the renowned Michael 
 O'Grady, Esq., B.A., &c. &c. &c., had 
 espoused the national platform, becoming 
 at once its most advanced leader and 
 doughty champion. 
 
 Harrowing the major portion of his in- 
 creasing auditors by the recital of the 
 cause for this adoption, a case in no wise 
 differing from a number of similar in- 
 stances of eviction continually recurring 
 which would only end, he emphatically 
 asserted, " when the control of their dear 
 country was wrenched from the unhallowed 
 grasp of the Saxon."
 
 192 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 The patriot's example was quickly fol- 
 lowed by others of equal social status with 
 himself, but by none so personally gifted 
 or accomplished. 
 
 His accession to the popular side un- 
 questionably stimulated " the good cause," 
 precipitating the issue a fiery, h arrowing 
 rebellion. It is somewhat remarkable that 
 the leaders in this movement were not of 
 the national religion nor of the class 
 sprung from the people, being principally 
 gentlemen, among whom the legal element 
 was largely represented. 
 
 Throwing himself heart and soul into 
 the enticing pursuit, the ardent young 
 lawyer, speedily became one of the most 
 marked men in the land loved or hated 
 respectively by those who either admired or 
 loathed him, with all that fervency of im- 
 pulse at once the characteristic and the 
 bane of the Celt. 
 
 It was generally understood that on the 
 first plausible pretext he would be arrested
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOETH WASTE. 193 
 
 by the government, who were anxious to 
 make a speedy example of one so emi- 
 nently dangerous. 
 
 His natural tact, however, made him a 
 formidable antagonist in the sphere of 
 diplomacy, and overtly there could be no 
 actual charge of treason as yet maintained 
 against him. While playing the victor in 
 these bloodless issues, he made his position 
 more and more impregnable in the public 
 view. 
 
 Deeply pained by his son's secession 
 from the parental opinions and teaching, 
 his father haughtily commanded him to 
 retrace his steps, or he would disown 
 him. That fatal behest to his only child 
 indelibly severed them henceforth they 
 were apart. Ay, and be it noted not 
 only in sentiment but in reality, even 
 his mother turned somewhat angrily from 
 him. 
 
 In Ireland there could be no parallel 
 lines; it must be for, or against ; 
 
 VOL. i. o
 
 194 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 Michael and his parents becoming implac- 
 ably severed. 
 
 He felt the change but little, owing to 
 the exciting nature of his every-day life, 
 sometimes a yearning desire to see his 
 mother took possession of him, never, how- 
 ever, was it carried into practice, and as 
 his name came more and more before the 
 public, in connexion with the Nationalists, 
 so did his father's undying dislike of him 
 and them increase, until at length the son 
 was disinherited. 
 
 Placed suddenly without means, instead 
 of seeking a reconciliation with his parents, 
 as the latter fully expected, the young enthu- 
 siast calmly reasoned, " I have saved a little 
 money, and can hold out for some time; 
 before it is gone Ireland shall be free, or 
 cursed with the taint of a deeper slavery ; in 
 the former event I can survive this unjust 
 act of a bigotted, mistaken father. If the 
 latter, why the paternal Saxon government 
 will be only too anxious to exalt me beyond
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 195 
 
 the reach of necessity," and he laughed 
 sarcastically, simulating the action of 
 placing a rope around his neck. 
 
 The insurgents had already taken the 
 field in several places, but the clergy of the 
 popular Church laboured so assiduously 
 and successfully to prevent the insurrec- 
 tion, that not one out of every fifty 
 calculated upon by their leaders stood to 
 their oaths and guns when needed. Very 
 soon those small bands were either dis- 
 persed by the soldiers, or forced into 
 becoming nomads in the interior of the 
 country. 
 
 It was not so, however, with the league 
 organized and led by O'Grady. Under 
 this intrepid officer, deeply revered by his 
 resolute followers, there had already 
 been fought and won some actually 
 large engagements, wherein the military 
 were severely beaten, which naturally 
 increased his confidence and that of 
 those serving under him, besides bringing 
 o 2
 
 196 A LIFE'S HAZAIID; OR, 
 
 to his ranks contingents from even remote 
 quarters. 
 
 The chief had now several hundred sober, 
 fairly-drilled, determined men, waiting his 
 orders on the outskirts of the "Wicklow 
 Mountains, when he received information 
 that on a certain day a picked number of 
 the elite of the regulars would be des- 
 patched against him, well found in guns, 
 and every requisite necessary to decimate 
 those stubborn insurgents, the order being 
 to give no quarter. 
 
 " This is good news," said he to his par- 
 tisans, with an heroic look, " at one stroke 
 we shall terminate this undertaking;" con- 
 tinuing, "it is only a fair day's march to 
 Dublin by the Enniskerry road. My plan 
 is to anticipate these red-coats by tramping 
 through the night in small numbers, 
 rendezvous at Stillorgan, and either sur- 
 prise them, falling upon them with all 
 our strength, sudden and collective, or 
 by allowing their fruitless journey to
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOKTH WASTE. 197 
 
 Powerscourt we can move straight on to 
 Dublin in their absence, and establish our- 
 selves even in the Castle itself: remember," 
 he confidently continued, " courage does 
 wonders." 
 
 The former course, however, was adopted, 
 presenting as it did every facility for taking 
 the soldiers in ambush, and capturing the 
 guns and war materiel, of which the league 
 had none. 
 
 Sitting in the rude low-roofed farm- 
 house, serving the purpose of a tent and 
 head-quarters, vacantly looking into the 
 brown turf fire, O'Grady thought of the 
 approaching conflict, and glowingly antici- 
 pated a victorious issue. 
 
 The theme was in consonance with his 
 soul-felt longing for the independence of 
 Ireland, and under its absorbing pleasur- 
 able influence and that of the well-stacked 
 fire he soon fell into an easy sleep, 
 dreaming and re-dreaming. 
 
 By the time he woke up, the day had
 
 198 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 sunk upon those wooded hills, and night 
 entombed the valley, stretching far away 
 below his feet, wherefrom a haze came 
 creeping slowly upwards, and a calm, soft 
 stillness pervaded everything. 
 
 Trying to shake off the reminiscences of 
 the late unpleasant reverie, he paced up 
 and down the small room with his hands 
 clasped behind his back, after an interval 
 suddenly exclaiming, " Hesitation is of 
 no use, I shall go to my mother, even 
 now this dream has left an impression 
 upon me that the end of one of us is at 
 hand." 
 
 Eeturning the salute, he quickly left the 
 sentry in the distance. Galloping towards 
 Dublin, his well-fashioned, useful animal 
 soon making tracks on the road, mile after 
 mile being covered until he was pulled up, 
 panting and steaming, at .a well-known 
 house of call in Harold's Cross. After a 
 few careful words with the landlord, 
 O'Grady swallowed a tumbler full of hot
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 199 
 
 brandy, and walked into Dublin, that tall 
 determined-looking man passing onwards 
 with a certainty of being unmolested 
 which would have been hazardous in the 
 equestrian. 
 
 Avoiding the central streets he passed 
 close under the Phoenix Park, and keeping 
 northwards, reached Phibsborough, whence 
 turning to the right he rapidly neared 
 Clontarf; the few persons about were 
 principally of the official element, and mov- 
 ing onwards with a decisive " Good night," 
 he was unquestioned. 
 
 In this way the chief arrived at the 
 turning leading to Artane, when a faint 
 wailing cry rose on his attentive ear, and 
 presently despite the overwhelming dark- 
 ness far out in the mid- stream of that full 
 tide, he discovered the outlines of a boat, 
 with muffled oars, plied steadily by four 
 figures, gliding surely but slowly along. 
 Again that faint cry tinged the sullied night 
 air, making his heart beat tumultuously
 
 200 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 as ceasing to row he observed one of those 
 dark figures rise up in the boat and display 
 certain actions, as though gagging some one 
 lying in its bottom. 
 
 Forgetful of everything else but the con- 
 viction that there was a foul deed contem- 
 plated, if not already perpetrated, in that 
 craft, O'Grady ran on close to the edge of 
 the tide, watching the progress of those 
 silent steady rowers. He anxiously looked 
 for any stray skiff whereby he could at 
 once give chase, but there was nothing 
 except the soft pliant sand, concealing his 
 every footfall, and the mark of the receding 
 limpid wave. 
 
 It now became evident, as the boat 
 headed for Dollymount,that the "Bull wall" 
 was the place to intercept her. Flushed 
 with the unknown adventure and his exer- 
 tions, he soon reached the entrance thereto, 
 creeping along the old bridge, where, in 
 the proud days of yore (he thought), " we 
 beat our invaders, and forced the Danes
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 201 
 
 into the tide." That shadowy vessel did 
 not, however, face towards the bridge, but 
 made straight for the wall itself, somewhat 
 nearing its other end, drawing up beside the 
 rocks, behind which he stooped eagerly 
 listening. 
 
 "Out wid him," said one; "we'll soon 
 put an ind to the garrion." 
 
 The prostrate figure essayed to speak, 
 but the gag fully accomplished its choking 
 mission. 
 
 " I'm not for shootin' him, boys," was 
 an opinion, rather timidly suggested. 
 
 " Bah ! we are," sharply retorted in 
 accord. 
 
 " Git him up ; make him walk ; 'tis the 
 layst he can do for our throuble." 
 
 ' " Where'll he be shot ? " inquired the 
 man who was not for shooting him. 
 
 "There's a posth an the flat above. 
 We'll tie him, an' ivery gun blazes at the 
 word ' Three.' " 
 
 " Don ! "
 
 02 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OB, 
 
 " Don ! " was echoed. 
 
 " Don ! " came later from one voice, 
 however. 
 
 " Make yer pisthols riddy, boys ; thin 
 we'll hoist him up." 
 
 " Right ye are," was answered. " Whin 
 we fire, back the boat av the rocks, an' 
 row might an' main round the Poolbeg to 
 Sandymount ; 'twill throw the divil himsel' 
 av the scint." 
 
 "Thrue for ye," observed the former coun- 
 sellor, adding, " now, thin, up wid him." 
 
 Making a dull sound in his throat, the 
 prostrate figure was uplifted and impelled 
 forward by his captors towards the fatal 
 object looming in the distance. 
 
 With piteous distortions of body, vainly 
 clinging to every obstacle presenting itself, 
 their victim was ruthlessly dragged along 
 and bound firmly to the time-worn post, 
 against which the wretched human outcast 
 helplessly reclined. The preliminaries being 
 complete, a voice was heard, enjoining
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 203 
 
 "Now, face fair, an' at 'Wan, two, 
 three ! ' all fire." 
 
 " Yis, yis," answered two of the con- 
 federates, but the third and last inter- 
 posed, 
 
 "Let the poor wretch say his prayers, 
 anyhow. Out wid the gag even for haf a 
 minnit." 
 
 " Curse him ! not a minnit ! " was an- 
 grily shouted. " He'll die like a dog. 
 Eiddy ! Wan, two," 
 
 " Down, paltry cowards ! " surged upon 
 their ears as a form of immense power 
 already glared upon them with a pistol in 
 each hand, continuing, " Back, I say, ye 
 yelping curs, who would refuse a fellow- 
 being the right to supplicate his God." 
 
 They quickly slunk out of sight while 
 O'Grady withdrew the gag and liberated the 
 unknown, who, recovering speech, threw 
 himself on his knees, saying, 
 
 " Oh, sir ! what can I do for you who 
 have saved my life ? "
 
 204 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 " Nothing ; I only performed my duty, 
 but who are you ? " 
 
 " Robert Arkwright. And may I in- 
 quire the name of my deliverer ? " 
 
 " Yes," was calmly replied, " Michael 
 O'Grady, the rebel."
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 205 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 " IT is useless to try to dissuade me," 
 answered Miss Neville, in the reception- 
 room of Nevillestown, with a ringing tone 
 of nerved purpose. " I own to it reluc- 
 tantly, indeed regretfully, but we cannot 
 be friends longer at all events, in the 
 active sense of the term." 
 
 " Do not be irate, Lucy dear. I am 
 weary of the reflection of having been 
 so unkind, especially in your protracted 
 illness ; but be generous, content that I 
 have awakened to my truer self, late 
 though it is, and that I am here to plead 
 for forgiveness." 
 
 "Forgive yes, that I have already done, 
 but " the speaker grew warm " that I
 
 206 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OR, 
 
 could hold you in sincere friendship again 
 is utterly impossible. It is very hard " 
 lowering her voice " to say those two 
 most melancholy words ' No more/ and I 
 wish ' she faltered, burying her face in 
 her handkerchief. 
 
 Her shrewd observer, interpreting this 
 agitation as a favourable omen, quickly 
 moved to Miss Neville's side, but the 
 transient girlish sentiment had already 
 perished, and its frail, ephemeral chord of 
 emotion was rent, sacrificed to a sense of 
 duty, as the calm, composed face of the 
 young mistress of Nevillestown encountered 
 that of her vacillating visitor. 
 
 " Fanny Chalmers," urged Lucy, in tones 
 almost hard with resolution, " something 
 tells me we were never fitted for each 
 other, and this incompatibility to be true 
 friends shall, I fear, be made apparent even 
 in the proximate future, why, I do not 
 know ; nor do I wish to say more, having 
 already departed from ray intention in
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOBTH WASTE. 207 
 
 going thus far. Leave me," she added, 
 rising, " lest I fail in my duty. May our 
 future careers be so far apart as that we 
 cannot meet again. I bear you no thought 
 but regret, and now bid you farewell, a 
 long, a last farewell." 
 
 " Farewell," was mockingly echoed, a 
 wild, passionate fury gleaming in the 
 speaker's eyes, " but not for long. I will 
 soon bring you to my feet, Miss Neville. 
 My purpose is already formed to annihi- 
 late your contemplated happiness when 
 nearest its achievement. Mark well," she 
 added, in biting, rancorous accents, 
 keenly impinging on the object for 
 whom they were intended, " in the hour 
 of your greatest joy you will meet your 
 deepest sorrow. Remember these my 
 parting words." 
 
 The speaker violently slammed the door, 
 shutting out her own distorted, inflamed 
 face, while the recollection of her cruel 
 threats deepened upon her auditor.
 
 208 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 At length Lucy resolved on shaking off 
 this apathy by indulging in a canter along 
 the coast, when, to her evident satisfaction, 
 Eustace Dillon was announced. "With the 
 old weird melancholy he advanced, and, 
 taking her outstretched hands, looked in- 
 terestedly and musingly, as though in 
 abstract meditation. 
 
 At first the subject of that continued 
 searching gaze of solicitude became some- 
 what embarrassed; however, this feeling 
 of surprise was soon succeeded by an air 
 of calm, gentle anxiety, as she inquired, 
 
 "Eustace, why do you seem so mys- 
 terious ? " 
 
 " Mysterious ? " suddenly letting fall her 
 hands ; " I do not know what way I seem, 
 I only know I am your slave." 
 
 He spoke slowly, with eyes fixed upon 
 the carpet. 
 
 " Oh ! please do not wrong yourself," 
 was answered passionately. 
 
 " Alas ! " he resumed, " there is no
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 209 
 
 wrong, Lucy ; already I feel I am 
 well, well, I will say it a mere 
 fool ! " 
 
 Lucy Neville placed her frail tapered 
 fingers upon his shoulder, and, in a voice 
 swelling with soft gentleness, said, 
 
 " It pains me so much, dear Eustace, 
 to tell you, but I have no alternative ; 
 you know every particle of real devoted 
 sisterly affection in my being is already 
 yours." 
 
 " I do," still preserving his calm, qui- 
 escent, pensive attitude. 
 
 " Then spare me." Her eyes grew dim. 
 " Leave me this devoted sisterly claim. I 
 cannot be more to you." 
 
 " This I also was aware of," he replied. 
 
 " Then," she surprisingly inquired, 
 " wherefore agitate me by referring to 
 what is impossible ? " 
 
 " Lucy, listen to me." Again he took 
 her hand in his, standing erect, with those 
 full, black, passionate eyes, miser-like, 
 
 VOL. i. p
 
 210 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 fixedly regarding her. " This day I re- 
 solved to anticipate my destiny, and seek 
 the refuge of some other land, where, 
 forgotten, I will close my clouded clays and 
 ill-starred nights in unavailing recollections 
 of what I have been, since fate would seem 
 to have decreed it so." In visible emotion 
 she bowed her head, unmindful of which 
 he proceeded. " Who but the Great Dis- 
 penser of all things can ever know what 
 existence has been to me, separated from 
 those congenial in habit and in years, with 
 my reserved inner self, the thought of my 
 orphaned brother alone reconciling me to 
 life ? Ah ! then it was, Lucy, I first knew 
 what you had become to me in this blank 
 world. Ay," he added, restraining her 
 imploring gesture, " how on my bosom's 
 deepest page your name was indelibly 
 written. You need not repeat," he con- 
 tinued in a bitter tone, " nor tell me what I 
 have long known, that the forlorn Eustace 
 might be your brother ; but no more. The
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 211 
 
 heart truly speaks its own burden and 
 reflects its own answer." 
 
 " You are terribly perverse in over- 
 estimating others," said Lucy bluntly. 
 " Tell me, has anything recently happened 
 to you of undue moment ? " 
 
 " There has." 
 
 " May I inquire what it is ? " , 
 
 " My sole trusted companion, Darecourt, 
 has just wilfully terminated a sincere 
 friendship of deep and long continuance." 
 
 " Impossible ! " was ejaculated. 
 
 " Alas ! I have the irrefutable evidence 
 in his own handwriting," he answered, 
 placing a letter on the table, of which she 
 took no notice, but continued, 
 
 " You must have erred grievously in the 
 character you gave me of this gentleman 
 Lord Darecourt's son." 
 
 " Ah, no ! " was his dejected reply, " it is 
 my unlucky fate. Why should even one 
 be left on whom I could place an honest 
 reliance ? " 
 
 p 2
 
 212 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OB, 
 
 " May I venture upon another query ? " 
 she said, with a glance full of mean- 
 ing. 
 
 " Oh with pleasure." 
 
 " Eustace, have you seen Mr. O'Grady 
 lately ? " 
 
 " I have not." 
 
 " How mysterious ! " was spoken aloud. 
 
 " Why mysterious ? " 
 
 " I cannot inform you at present," she 
 went on significantly ; " very soon I will 
 tell you all. Meanwhile the advice I gave 
 before will bear repetition : guard yourself 
 and your friend ; for, notwithstanding this 
 annoying epistle from Mr. Darecourt, I still 
 believe you wrong him." 
 
 As she finished the last word, Lucy 
 lifted a letter from off the sofa, handing it 
 to her companion. 
 
 " Thank you," he answered. " I would 
 it were as you say. But, great Heaven ! 
 what is this ? " reading aloud.
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOETH WASTE. 213 
 
 " Dublin, 9 o'clock. 
 " MY CABLING FANNY, 
 
 "I send this by special messenger. 
 To-day ; old place, at four. 
 " Your devoted 
 
 " VINCENT DAEECOUET." 
 
 Speechless, they regard each other in 
 wondering anxiety, when suddenly Lucy 
 Neville hurried to the side of Eustace 
 Dillon, saying, 
 
 " I have it now ! Fanny Chalmers called 
 here before you arrived, and sat there," 
 indicating the place where the mysterious 
 letter had been found. 
 
 "Then," he soliloquised sadly, "can it 
 be possible Vincent Darecourt is in Ireland 
 unknown, and has become the victim of 
 that designing girl ? Oh ! it is mon- 
 strous to conceive such a misfortune ! " 
 
 After reading and re-reading that ano- 
 malous communication, they sat in 
 silence apart, engrossed in the reflection,
 
 214 A LTFE'S HAZARD; OB, 
 
 "What did it all mean, and how could 
 such an incomprehensible thing have 
 occurred?" 
 
 The long-sustained pause was broken 
 by the hostess slowly saying, 
 
 " You remember our recent rencontre 
 with those black gulls, Eustace ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Then be convinced," she continued 
 affirmatively, " that in some way Miss 
 Chalmers is associated with the issue 
 portended by those fatal birds." 
 
 " Whatever the issue, I may well renew 
 my raillery against the turpitude of society 
 if so good a man as Vincent Darecourt has 
 fallen, ensnared in the meshes of this un- 
 womanly girl." 
 
 " Think it seriously over between now 
 and to-morrow, and I will do likewise," 
 said Lucy, rising and going towards him. 
 "You must be my brother, my fond 
 brother, Eustace; although not blessed 
 with keen prescience, 'it is plain to me
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 215 
 
 my future is drifting into a perilous 
 labyrinth, wherein such a help will be 
 sadly needed." 
 
 " May no shadow mar your dearest, 
 best aspirations ! yet thrice welcome 
 would be the happy hour wherein I 
 could end my miserable existence to serve 
 you." 
 
 " Oh ! " warmly, "forego this phantasy, 
 you shall live for the sake of others; 
 I will not assail your present convictions 
 further to-day at all events ; you must 
 endeavour to arrive at some conclusion 
 respecting this momentous letter by the 
 time we meet to-morrow," and exchang- 
 ing the firmest of friendly saluta- 
 tions, they parted, Eustace going home- 
 wards, while Lucy soon after betook 
 herself for a meditative saunter on the 
 sea-shore. 
 
 Hitherto, she had only traced a fugitive 
 outline of the face of the drowning Yin- 
 cent Darecourt, whom she had not seen
 
 216 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 before or since his rescue, although its 
 helpless resigned look was surely inefface- 
 able, heightened by that dread accompani- 
 ment of death. 
 
 Still until that mysterious missive from 
 Eustace Dillon's associate to the discarded 
 Fanny Chalmers lay before her, Miss 
 Neville had never thought interestedly 
 of Lord Darecourt's son. Now she paced 
 the strand, wondering by what fatuity he 
 had prostrated himself at the shrine of 
 that heartless girl, while she was even 
 unthanked for having saved his life, 
 thereby almost forfeiting her own. Eu- 
 stace had told her of his friend being 
 prevented seeing her by the presumed 
 assistant of Dr. Dease, and that, failing 
 in this, he had written his thanks before 
 leaving Ireland, but she knew nothing of 
 either circumstance, and cared but little, 
 she supposed until now, when a feeling 
 of apprehensive dislike dawned in her 
 mind against Fanny Chalmers, whose
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENT WORTH WASTE. 217 
 
 significant vengeful words were vividly 
 before her. 
 
 " Eustace ! alas," she contemplated, 
 " what would I not give to rescue him 
 from his melancholy brooding habits? 
 Poor fellow his is a hard lot to endure, 
 and this unaccountable failure of Mr. Dare- 
 court's friendship tells heavily upon him. 
 I will induce him to come each day and 
 accompany me in my walks and rides ; 
 what need we care, all that a sister could 
 I shall be to him, and when this is under- 
 stood, he cannot have a valid reason for 
 absenting himself from Nevillstown. No 
 more of those superficial Fanny Chalmerses 
 living to assail and waylay the peace of 
 others. 
 
 Strolling along these sloping white sands, 
 Lucy pondered deeper than she had hitherto 
 done upon that eventful day when Rover 
 spirited over the very place she was now 
 passing. There it was she heard the first 
 faint wail of distress, and here at her feet
 
 218 A LIFE'S HAZARD; on, 
 
 are those seemingly inaccessible time-worn 
 rocks, her horse so marvellously scaled. 
 
 Thus communing within herself with 
 eyes rivetted on each freshly revealed 
 mark of interest, she reached the end of 
 the breakwater, sitting down thoughtful 
 and meditative on the spot wherefrom, 
 when her restive animal refused the leap, 
 she had cast herself fearlessly into the tide. 
 
 A desolate weary feeling almost over- 
 powered her while gazing seaward towards 
 the fatal place where the drowning stranger 
 had been seen fast sinking; deeper and 
 more real became her pensive, dejected 
 abstraction, until half aloud she solilo- 
 quized, " What a cruel world is this, to-day 
 tossed against a chance object, influencing 
 our whole future, yet to-morrow it is gone 
 for ever. Ah, my destiny, say, shall we 
 meet again ?" 
 
 " If Miss Neville deems it not too worth- 
 less, will she take back the life she gave ? 
 Without her it has become insupportable."
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOKTH WASTE. 219 
 
 The slight colour on Lucy's classical face 
 fled, as, transfixed with astonishment, she 
 beheld Vincent Darecourt, hat in hand, 
 standing respectfully before her.
 
 220 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OB, 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 AT that advanced hour it was impossible 
 for O'Grady to go in quest of his mother, 
 and the city being under martial law, the 
 task of getting back through it was neces- 
 sarily attended with great risk; however, 
 it had to be accomplished at any peril. 
 The agent clung to his deliverer in the 
 homeward walk along the "Bull wall," even 
 the displacement of a tiny stone freezing 
 him x with renewed alarm and apprehen- 
 sion. 
 
 Avoiding all efforts at conversation, 
 the chief anxiously meditated how to re- 
 gain his horse and return to the camp : 
 one course finally resolving to follow, 
 when, turning sharply to his companion as
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 221 
 
 they neared Clontarf, he peremptorily 
 inquired, 
 
 " Arkwright, are you willing to do me 
 an important service to-night ? " 
 
 " Willing to move heaven and earth for 
 you so far as I can," was the warm 
 affirmative. 
 
 The questioner rebukingly replied, "Ex- 
 tremes are to be avoided," continuing, 
 " but you are known here, and I want you 
 to procure a conveyance to take us across 
 Dublin." 
 
 " That I will do," was replied with re- 
 covering calmness, as the blood continued 
 its revivifying course through his benumbed 
 veins. 
 
 At this point a night patrol overtook 
 them, demanding, 
 
 " Who are you ? " 
 
 " Mr. Robert Arkwright," came from the 
 owner of that name. 
 
 " Who is this gentleman ? " 
 
 "A friend of Mr. Arkwright," was almost
 
 222 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 sternly volunteered by the stranger indi- 
 cated before the sentence was finished in 
 the agent's mouth and bowing they went 
 onwards. 
 
 Now it happened that something in 
 Arkwright's manner or voice aroused 
 O'Grady's suspicions ere they had gone 
 many yards further, when, in a tone preg- 
 nant with meaning and resolve, the latter 
 observed, 
 
 "Did you think I was afraid of those 
 agents of the Saxon ? " 
 
 " It was not an envious position, you 
 must admit," was tartly answered. 
 
 " I am always prepared for danger," con- 
 tinued the former speaker ; " and though 
 fifty met us to-night ay, and if they 
 knew me, I should still go forth un- 
 harmed." 
 
 " This is marvellous. Are you certain 
 of what you assert ? " 
 
 " I am," answered the chief, " and you 
 shall know it."
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 223 
 
 " I will be glad to do so," in an affected 
 tone. 
 
 " Then," in slow, laboured accents, 
 " this is my plan. You have materially 
 risen in the world since last we met, revel- 
 ling in the expatriation of our countrymen, 
 while creeping up in the sphere of an 
 unholy ambition, accomplished by the rob- 
 bery of both employer and tenant." 
 
 " Am I to bear this, even from you ? 
 No, I will not ! " was passionately 
 echoed. 
 
 " You shall and will ! Mark me, Robert 
 Arkwright,". continued his deliverer, "I 
 will place my life in no man's keeping, least 
 of all in that of yours, a servile tool 
 of the Government in their policy of spoli- 
 ation and infamy. To-night you shall help 
 one to escape for whose capture this 
 same Government would give an un- 
 known reward not that paltry 500," 
 pointing to an official document affixed to 
 the post they were now passing.
 
 224 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 " I " interrupted Arkwright in un- 
 steady accents, " I will get the convey- 
 ance : more I cannot offer." 
 
 "Yes, you both can and must," was 
 sternly replied. " Look at these pistols, 
 and hearken to my words ! Instantly 
 procure that vehicle, and accompany 
 me therein to Harold's Cross ; to the de- 
 mand of every patrol, affirming I am your 
 friend or, should you fail, and I be recog- 
 nized, I will blow you to atoms before I 
 lose my liberty ;" adding, with a smile of 
 contempt, " they would sooner connive at 
 my escape than forfeit your bloodhound 
 services." 
 
 Thus these two went through the city of 
 Dublin, the agent owing his life to the 
 celebrated rebel now coolly and watchfully 
 sitting beside him, the latter being well 
 aware that gratitude from that trafficker 
 in humanity was as little to be depended 
 upon as that the fleet, unstable imagery of 
 childhood will withstand the test of real life.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 225 
 
 " My best wish is that we shall never 
 meet again," said O'Grady, alighting at the 
 foot of Harold's Cross bridge. 
 
 Before the echo of his words was lost, 
 he had swiftly disappeared on the other 
 side, while Arkwright hissing " We shall 
 meet again" through his ground teeth, 
 lashed the horse at a furious pace, gallop- 
 ing back along the road they had tra- 
 versed, until in Harcourt Street he met 
 an escort, to the leader of whom he shouted, 
 
 " Quick, for your lives ! Take the road 
 from Harold's Cross bridge, and you will 
 come up with the rebel O'Grady, whom but 
 ten minutes ago I saw pass over it on foot." 
 
 " On, my men ! " excitedly replied the 
 officer, returning Arkwright's salute, and 
 placing himself at the head of the troops they 
 went forward at a fierce pace, passing the 
 Portobello Gardens, and over the bridge. 
 
 Dividing into pairs the soldiers scoured 
 Harold's Cross Common and the adjacent 
 lanes, unsuccessfully, until despairing and 
 
 VOL. I, Q
 
 226 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OK, 
 
 wearied of the search they turned their 
 horses' heads towards the city, proceed- 
 ing in a dispirited, straggling fashion 
 in the dark. The officer, somewhat near 
 the footway, had just passed the corner 
 of a bye-road, when a glove struck him 
 in the face, and a mocking voice greeted 
 him, saying, " With Michael O'Grady's 
 compliments ha, ha, ha ! " The leader 
 and his men instantly settled into a head- 
 long gallop, pursuing that indistinct figure 
 fleeing ahead. A derisive " Ha, ha, ha ! " 
 again discordantly assailed them, and a 
 moment later the rebel was gone, every one 
 of their horses baulking at the wide mill- 
 stream he had just vanished across. Day 
 woke up, shaking off the sable of night, 
 ere O'Grady appeared in the camp, and, 
 resigning his horse to an orderly, he 
 speedily slept, a deep, refreshing sleep, 
 known only to those whose office in this 
 life is to toil. 
 
 On the next night the momentous march
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 227 
 
 towards Dublin to intercept the regulars 
 was to be essayed, and the chiefs of the 
 movement had already assembled for the 
 last council, assigning to each his decisive 
 part in the hazardous undertaking. 
 
 O'Grady occupied the post of honour, 
 and the subject of conference was early 
 settled, terminating with a hearty, " God 
 send us success ! " 
 
 Leaving the camp for a look around, 
 the chief was accosted by a stranger, who, 
 touching his rough cap, meekly inquired, 
 " D'ye think, yer honour, be any maynes I 
 cud git to deliver a litther to the bould 
 Gineral O'Grady?" 
 
 " You are unconsciously flattering," was 
 responded with a smile ; " but answer, 
 who is the letter from ?" 
 
 " An ould man jist at the point av death, 
 yer honour." 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 " Marcer's Hospital, sir." 
 
 " What is his name ?" 
 Q 2
 
 228 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 " Bob Doyle." 
 
 " Then give it to me." 
 
 " Shure ye don't mayne to say as how 
 yer honour is that great splindid gineral 
 Misther O'Grady. Oh dear, oh dear," 
 rubbing his hands gleefully. 
 
 " Enough of this," was answered from 
 beneath a grave, displeased brow, the rebel 
 reading as follows : 
 
 " Marcer's Hospital. 
 
 " HONOURED SIR, Pardin this inthrusin. 
 I'm lavin' this world, God help me, to join 
 me poor wife, who ye know died here 
 afther we wor lift widout the shelther av 
 the ould home in Dangan. Afore I die I 
 want to see ye to tell ye a saycrit that 'ill 
 presarve yer honour in the hour av throuble. 
 Don't niglict a poor sinner's grateful 
 request an' warnin', com to yer thrue 
 
 sarvint, 
 
 "Bos DOYLE." 
 
 " This is a remarkable request; the
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 229 
 
 circumstances, too, are very fresh in my 
 memory; but what can he want with 
 me?" and the reader relapsed into a fit of 
 musing, holding the open letter in his 
 hand. 
 
 "Has yer honour any answer?" respect- 
 fully inquired the messenger. 
 
 " None, there is some money, go your 
 way back. Yet I really do not know what 
 to do." 
 
 " The ould man is very bad, sir," was 
 pathetically pleaded. 
 
 " Say no more, I will see to it," ex- 
 claimed O'Grady, and, turning on his heel, 
 he went thoughtfully by the watchful 
 sentry. 
 
 " It is remarkable that I should be 
 written to by this old man," he pondered, 
 " the knowledge of whom has made me 
 what I am. Yet something moves me to 
 go ; the novelty of the mission, too, is its 
 best guard against danger. Maybe it will 
 promote the dying man's happiness. It
 
 230 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 shall be," he continued," but to Laffle even 
 the possibility of deceit, I will set forth at 
 once, thus anticipating the messenger." 
 
 It -was during that dubious interval 
 marking the last hour of day and the 
 first of night, that a steaming horse drew 
 up in front of Marcer's Hospital, and, care- 
 lessly throwing the reins to the porter, 
 its rider ascended the high flight of 
 steps leading into the not over capacious 
 hall. 
 
 "You have a patient here named Bob 
 Doyle," was inquired by the warm eques- 
 trian. 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Could I see him." 
 
 "Yes, sir. Tim," continued the door- 
 keeper, "take this gentleman to No. 49 B.," 
 and, following the ready Tim, the gentle- 
 man soon found himself in a large ward 
 fitted up with beds on both sides, all 
 occupied by those clean white-capped 
 patients.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 231 
 
 " This gentleman is for 49 B." 
 
 " This way, sir, playze," responded the 
 dumpy nurse. " Aizey, I think he's 
 ashleep." 
 
 The equestrian stooped over the form, 
 drawing the close curtains gently back, 
 when he was immediately seized and held 
 from behind by a dozen hands, despite 
 his almost superhuman struggles. Robert 
 Arkwright, the agent, leisurely rose from 
 the bed where he had successfully simulated 
 the sick man, and, looking with a sar- 
 donic grin at the bound, prostrate giant, 
 said, 
 
 " Ha, ha, Mister rebel O'Grady, we 
 have met sooner than you contem- 
 plated." 
 
 Now standing upright the captive re- 
 pressed every trace of emotion, exclaiming in 
 a voice overwhelming in its concentrated 
 intensity of warning, 
 
 " Robert Arkwright, last night I saved 
 you, when but one short word stood be-
 
 232 A LIFE'S HAZAKD; OK, 
 
 tween you and eternity; to-day this act 
 is requited by dragging the great name 
 of the Omnipotent into your deceptive 
 plot, to make me your dupe; but, 
 beware, my end is not yet come. We 
 shall meet once more, when, if but to 
 avenge this outrage against gratitude, 
 you shall fall crushed by my withering 
 hand." 
 
 " Great Heaven, what is that? see, see," 
 exclaimed several voices at once, and, turn- 
 ing, all looked horrified. There high up 
 over the spot just vacated by Arkwright 
 rose a magnificent constellation of light 
 completely eclipsing all else in that large 
 ward, its beams expanding until it became 
 painful longer to look upon it, but rivet- 
 ting the fascinated eyes of these unwill- 
 ing observers who were held spell-bound 
 whereby. 
 
 Gradually the illumination parted in the 
 middle, evolving a colour resembling a 
 beautiful delicate sea green, while the Bay
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 233 
 
 of Dublin lay miniatured in that unnatural 
 yet too perfect semblance. 
 
 The plains of Malahide next rose up, 
 holding their recognized place in the mar- 
 vellous delineation, but the acme of power 
 and effect was clearly reserved for that 
 which was now presented. There stood a 
 four-roomed, strong-built, slated house, 
 a pony harnessed to a smart, well-built gig, 
 a fine heavy milch cow, several industrious 
 pigs, and a whole tribe of poultry. 
 
 The door of the house slowly opened, 
 revealing, located before a fire in a well- 
 furnished apartment, a family consisting of 
 three persons, evidently in good circum- 
 stances, and happy, consisting of father, mo- 
 ther, and daughter. Like a lightning flash, 
 this domestic scene was replaced by the 
 same home in ruins, having a child's grave 
 near thereto, the mother's further away 
 and the father's more distant still, while, 
 with a final refulgent effort, letters of fire 
 rose high above all, notifying the "Dangan "
 
 234 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OK, 
 
 e\Iction. That mysterious, wonderful 
 light now vanished-, and the long corridor 
 looked its normal self, but on the floor 
 lay Arkwright insensible, when, turning 
 to leave with his captors, O'Grady quietly 
 observed, 
 
 "Where did Mrs. Doyle die?" 
 
 " In that bed," pointing to the one 
 wherein the agent had lain. 
 
 " Is her husband alive?" 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 "When did he die?" 
 
 " Some months ago." 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 " In that bed also ! "
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOETH WASTE. 235 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 " WHY wait until your father's death ? " 
 inquired Fanny Chalmers, pleadingly look- 
 ing into those averted eyes of Dorrington 
 Darecourt. 
 
 "My dear," he answered, "that event 
 cannot long be delayed." 
 
 " Then this is doubly a reason why our 
 marriage should not be postponed," she 
 urged. 
 
 "But would it not be wise to guard 
 against the possibility of his objecting?" 
 was counselled. 
 
 " What care I for any but you, my Lord 
 Darecourt," accompanying the last words 
 with a deep courtesy; the speaker laughingly 
 continued, " I must rehearse the role of 
 * your ladyship ' at my leisure."
 
 236 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 " There will be no need, Fanny ; you 
 have but to comport yourself naturally. 
 Many nobly born are often not half so 
 good as some of their less fortunate fellow- 
 creatures, and the former ought to make 
 way for those whom nature, not accident, 
 decreed for the position." 
 
 " But Vincent, dear, you would not 
 retire from your birthright in favour of any 
 cousin or other relative who might present 
 himself in the future. Oh, the mere idea 
 makes me tremble," and she manifested 
 symptoms of syncope. 
 
 " Fear nothing on that score, Fanny ; 
 but really until within a very recent 
 period I hardly thought of my future 
 position." 
 
 His companion opened wide her eyes, 
 laughing merrily. 
 
 " The idea," she went on, " of not 
 thinking of the day when people will say 
 ' my lady ' I I " confusedly " meant 
 'my lord,' with carriages, servants, horses,
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOKTH WASTE. 237 
 
 a box at the theatre, and all the other et- 
 ceteras I have read of ; why I could never 
 rest until I were in the enjoyment of the 
 splendid position in all its plenitude;" 
 then she languishingly pleaded, " dear, 
 dear Vincent, say, love, we will be married 
 without delay, that people can call me ' your 
 ladyship,' now, although it may not be 
 strictly accurate; then when your father 
 dies I will be no novice in the character of 
 Lady Darecourt." 
 
 " Dismiss any concern on that point, 
 Fanny. [ will play the Mentor when the 
 occasion arises ; but, dearest girl, do not 
 force me to break the news to my governor 
 yet, and I equally hope your parent is not 
 aware of our engagement." 
 
 ;: T " 
 
 " You know of the promise not to speak 
 to any one about our betrothal," he 
 interrupted. 
 
 " But," she said peevishly, " although I 
 have not broken my word, nor shall I,
 
 238 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 what do I want of your father or mine. 
 All that I seek is to be your wife, dearest 
 Vincent, not to linger longer in uncer- 
 tainty," and she gazed archly into his 
 face. 
 
 " What a wild, wilful girl," he exclaimed, 
 with a tone of real admiration, " but one 
 cannot expect to have their own way in 
 everything. You must endure our engage- 
 ment a little longer, until I either secure 
 Lord Darecourt's consent to the marriage, 
 or he dies and I succeed him in the title 
 and property." 
 
 " But he has no power or control over 
 either, has he, Vincent? Do ease my 
 alarm." 
 
 Her companion merely replied, 
 
 " Fanny, you must be aware of the value 
 of his good wishes." 
 
 The cogency of this remark was un- 
 answerable, and she relapsed into silence. 
 It was manifest that Miss Chalmers had 
 greedily swallowed the bait skilfully cast
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOKTH WASTE. 239 
 
 by Brien Flynn, fully believing his com- 
 panion Dorrington to be Vincent, heir of 
 Darecourt, and that her whole energetic 
 mind was directed to the accomplishment 
 of the one darling object, how to become 
 e Your ladyship;' while he, to do him justice, 
 wished to postpone their nuptials in order 
 to shield her from any unforeseen dis- 
 appointment in his perilous game. Dor- 
 rington was attached to Fanny ; but love 
 in its purity, which misfortune only makes 
 the more closely dear, was a stranger to 
 both, although he was the weaker of the 
 two, and she revelled in this discovery. 
 
 The latter caused her to assume a pro- 
 nounced manner towards him, which had 
 the reverse effect to that intended, and 
 but that Flynn constantly paraded her 
 power to aid their common cause, Dorring- 
 ton would have grown cold or mayhap 
 wholly indifferent ; as it was, he resolved 
 not to marry until the game of speculation 
 for depriving his cousin Vincent of the title
 
 240 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OR, 
 
 and estates was brought to a successful 
 issue, then he might wed. 
 
 The falling of night spoke the hour for 
 separation, and Dorrington escorted Fanny 
 towards her father's home, being careful to 
 part from her where none could see or 
 know of their acquaintanceship. 
 
 Miss Chalmers reached her boudoir, 
 feeding anew the flame of her implacable 
 purpose to become the future Lady Dare- 
 court, while the other party to this conjugal 
 scheme walked quietly along towards the 
 Castle, and into the agent's room, who was 
 awaiting his arrival. 
 
 " I suppose there wor the usual in- 
 thirishtin' evint to kape ye, Mishther 
 Dorrington?" said Fly nn, with a know- 
 ing leer. 
 
 " Exactly, and 1 wish it were 
 settled one way or other ; Miss Chal- 
 mers seems resolved on doing what she 
 pleases." 
 
 " Well, sir, belay ve me, av ye don't
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENT WORTH WASTE. 241 
 
 hould her an somehow, we'll looze a 
 tlirump card intirely." 
 
 " You weary me with this repeated 
 laudation of her." 
 
 " Do as ye plaze, sir, av coorse. Still, the 
 nearer we git home to our mark, the more 
 I feel sartin av her value." 
 
 " Perhaps you are right, bat I have 
 news for you, Flynn." 
 
 " Thank ye, sir," said the agent, bowing. 
 
 " Yes, Miss Chalmers told me she had 
 been to this Miss Neville, and that the 
 latter is very anxious to do what is asked 
 of her." 
 
 " Good," smiled Flynn ; " that's a great 
 sthroke in our favour, for I thought whin 
 Miss Chalmers kep' away durin' her illness 
 she'd never resayve her agin." 
 
 "She did though, and most cordially," 
 observed the young man. 
 
 "Bravo!" exclaimed the agent, chuck- 
 ling, and adding, " what did Miss Neville 
 say about Misther Vincent's appearance?" 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 A LIFE'S HAZARD ; OR, 
 
 " That she could not recollect his face 
 in the least, being so agitated on the day 
 she saved him." 
 
 " Bedad, that's wonderful luck, anyhow, 
 an* yer ground is clear; Miss Chalmers 
 doesn't know Misther Vincent, nor does 
 Miss Neville ayther, so ye hav' it all yer own 
 way, ha, ha !" and Flynn laughed heartily. 
 
 " Come," interrupted his visitor, " let 
 us proceed to sterner matters. Have you 
 got the deeds yet ?" 
 
 " Throth, av coorse I did, Misther Dor- 
 rington, an' there they are," untying a 
 parcel of discoloured, faded parchments, 
 bearing heavy, old-fashioned seals and 
 ribbons attached. He pushed them across 
 the table towards his confederate, the 
 latter saying, 
 
 " We will compare these with the origi- 
 nals." 
 
 " Which I can't help ye much in," 
 observed the deputy, with a weary look. 
 " Av I cud only git through thim inatthers
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOETH WASTE. 243 
 
 av readin' an' writin' as aizey as ye, 
 Misther Dorrington, I'd be difFerint to 
 what I am to-day." 
 
 Unheeding this encomium, Dorrington 
 Darecourt was now intently immersed 
 in the extensive legal scrolls set out before 
 him, diligently tracing line after line 
 throughout, until satisfied that the original 
 and its masterly simulation were identical. 
 Whereupon, rising, he paced the floor 
 thoughtfully while inquiring, " How did 
 you secure these remarkably clever coun- 
 terfeits ? " 
 
 " Well, ye see, Misther Dorrington, me 
 nephey (son av me dead sisther) as liv's 
 in Kevin Street, bein' brought up to the 
 law an' a fine scholard, I tould him what 
 I wantid, an' what I'd giv' to hav' id don', 
 an' now this is the result. Av coorse, sir, I 
 only gev him a bit to work an ayche time, 
 so he niver had the whole av the papers 
 at wanst. Whin ye are satisfied they'll 
 do, I'll pay his passage to Amerikey, 
 K 2
 
 244 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OK, 
 
 lavin' him to make his own way in the 
 world." 
 
 " Very sensible indeed, Flynn, than which 
 nothing could be better. By all means 
 treat him liberally and send him off without 
 delay." 
 
 " It shall be as ye say to-morrow, sir, at 
 the laytist, av the packet goes ; though they 
 don't often sail from the Pidgeon house 
 howsomever, I'll thry 
 
 " Now to classify and put these away," 
 said Dorrington, arranging the documents 
 on the table. 
 
 " Here is the marriage settlement made 
 on the late Lady Darecourt, dated and 
 witnessed. 
 
 " This is the last will and testament of 
 Lord Darecourt, disinheriting his son Yin- 
 ceen in favour of his nephew Dorrington, 
 who succeeds him in the title and all in the 
 present or future appertaining thereto, re- 
 lying upon the Government to support and 
 maintain the aforesaid nephew against the
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOBTfl WASTE. 245 
 
 machinations of the previously mentioned 
 Vincent, the latter having forfeited all claim 
 to the protection of his country, &c., &c." 
 
 " Bravo ! " exclaimed the young man 
 exultingly, " this game is now reduced to a 
 dead certainty, and the sooner my respected 
 uncle vacates his place in this world the 
 better pleased will be his very respectful 
 nephew and heir, Dorrington Darecourt, 
 gentleman, and Brien Flynn, his agent." 
 
 " Yis, sir, that's jist id ; bud let us be 
 aftherputtin' everythin' in ids proper corner; 
 now is a good time while yer uncle takes 
 his usual shleep." 
 
 " Very practical advice," was answered. 
 " Lead the way, and I will help you to 
 stow these parchments in their customary 
 receptacles until required for the finale in 
 our great enterprise." 
 
 Gliding into the adjoining room they 
 noiselessly went forward, reaching a door 
 in the wall, which opened, as the deputy 
 pushed back the spring, revealing a multi-
 
 246 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 tude of antiquated miscellanea, bracketed 
 and numbered with scrupulous care. Un- 
 hesitatingly Flynn placed the short ladder 
 he carried against the wall and mounted it. 
 
 " There, sir," said he under his breath, 
 pointing, " is where I tuck the rayl dockie- 
 mints from ; hand up thte copies, an' I'll 
 put thim in their sthead." 
 
 " No," replied his companion firmly, 
 " it is better that I should place them 
 where they can most readily be found when 
 wanted. Step down, Flynn; I will take 
 your station." 
 
 Distraught with rage the agent, shield- 
 ing his livid face from his confederate's 
 view, descended the ladder, and commenced 
 handing up the spurious skins, Dorrington 
 marking each one privately ere depositing 
 them. However, with surprising celerity, 
 Flynn had produced a second set of counter- 
 feits, which he rapidly substituted for the 
 originals, left on the table by his partner, 
 putting the former deftly aside. The
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 247 
 
 housing of the parchment being complete, 
 the occupant of the ladder came down, and 
 taking possession of what he supposed 
 were the genuine deeds, went out lazily, 
 saying, 
 
 " Good-night, Flynn, close up these re- 
 cesses ; when next they are opened it will 
 be to acclaim me lord of Darecourt ; 
 good-night." 
 
 " Yis," muttered the deputy, looking after 
 him, " provided ye don't thry to git me 
 undher yer thumb ; whin ye do, I'll sind ye 
 down deep to the flames av perdishun idself. 
 Ye've got the rayl wans, hav' ye ? ha, ha, 
 ha ! I've got thim, an' I mayne to sthick 
 to thim till the money's mine." 
 
 Brien Flynn, turning to leave the apart- 
 ment, suddenly beheld the form of Vincent 
 Darecourt standing in the open doorway 
 with his full eyes fixed upon him. " Great 
 Heaven ! " gasped the agent, tottering help- 
 lessly backward.
 
 248 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 " I DO not understand you, that is, I hardly 
 know what to say, it is so unexpected, 
 so unthought of." 
 
 Vincent Darecourt, still uncovered, with 
 a face calm, though the muscles of his 
 mouth were somewhat undecided, pro- 
 ceeded, 
 
 "Miss Neville, will you take back the 
 life you gave?" After a slight pause, 
 he resumed, " Pardon my impetuosity, I 
 have merged every consideration in that 
 grave inestimable one, whereof you are the 
 sole arbiter, and here I wait the verdict for 
 which I have expressly returned to Ireland, 
 unknown to all but you." 
 
 " Mr. Darecourt," she answered firmly,
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOETH WASTE. 249 
 
 "your knowledge of me is not sufficient 
 to" 
 
 "Miss Neville," he interrupted hastily, 
 bowing low, " spare yourself the effort 
 of telling me that my Utopian dream is 
 impossible. It must be so, but while life 
 be allotted to me I will seek in unknown 
 lands the peace I have for ever lost in 
 Ireland." 
 
 She looked with interest towards the 
 speaker, for was he not of Eustace Dillon's 
 temperament. 
 
 "From boyhood," was continued, "I have 
 known no parental affection, my beloved 
 mother gone to another world, my father 
 chilling me by the coldness of death." 
 
 " I, too, am an orphan, Mr. Darecourt," 
 hurriedly escaped her. 
 
 "Then," he replied, "you can realize 
 my superficial life among strangers. Yet 
 even this was comparatively happy until I 
 came here, where, through you, I live to 
 regret existence."
 
 250 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OB, 
 
 " I am grieved if unconsciously I have 
 darkened your path." 
 
 "It is but too true, yet even this 
 brief expression of concern is worth 
 more than the world else could offer." 
 Adding with acerbity, " alas, how hollow is 
 life ! " 
 
 "Was this the friend who had played 
 false to Eustace," thought Lucy, saying 
 aloud, "I fear, Mr. Darecourt, you will 
 not stoop to understand others, in this 
 way misinterpreting them as well as 
 yourself." 
 
 " Would it were so," he responded in a 
 low tone ; " but no, no, it is useless longer 
 to contend with the phantom of happiness, 
 the dream is past; when I have seen my 
 callous father for the last time, I shall 
 turn my back on all T once prized and visit 
 Ireland no more." 
 
 " But pardon me, do you not owe a duty 
 to your inheritance and to those whom it 
 concerns?"
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 251 
 
 " The instant Darecourt descends to 
 me I shall sell it," he answered vehe- 
 mently. 
 
 "Yet," she looked fixedly at him, "I 
 have heard quite the reverse from my dear 
 friend Eustace Dillon." 
 
 " Eustace Dillon ! may I never hear his 
 name again ! " 
 
 Lucy Neville felt she was now mistress 
 of the position, saying with easy con- 
 fidence, 
 
 " Mr. Darecourt, will you think me bold 
 if I suggest the wisdom of covering your 
 head, and indulging in a rest on one of 
 those rude rocks, known to me from in- 
 fancy, but which to you " 
 
 " Can never be forgotten," he observed, 
 with a warmth of emphasis causing her to 
 lower her eyes, while he seated himself 
 somewhat nearer than the precise spot 
 indicated. 
 
 " I was going to suggest that perhaps you 
 arrive at conclusions rather hastily."
 
 252 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OK, 
 
 " In one remarkable instance I certainly 
 must have done so." 
 
 "That is?" 
 
 " Yourself, Miss Neville," spoken with 
 such naivete, that even the resolute Lucy 
 had to laugh lightly, observing, 
 
 " I will be more guarded the next time 
 I put a personal question to so far-seeing 
 a gentleman." 
 
 " And I," energetically, " shall not ask 
 you again." 
 
 Tempted beyond her usual restraint, 
 Lucy could not avoid exclaiming, 
 
 " The world is large, Mr. Darecourt." 
 
 " Eternity transcends this world, yet 
 you kept me from it." 
 
 The ensuing pause was broken by the 
 gentle maiden inquiring, 
 
 " Why have you not written to Eustace 
 Dillon since you last went away ?" 
 
 " I did frequently." 
 
 " He has not received your letters." 
 
 " Impossible ; I hold his impertinent
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 253 
 
 reply, declining to correspond with me, ay, 
 and on your account, Miss Neville." 
 
 " Which he did not write," she com- 
 posedly rejoined; " but again, may I ask, no, 
 no, I cannot bring myself to do so. Pray 
 overlook my folly, Mr. Darecourt." 
 
 The latter eagerly said, 
 
 " I would much prefer you to proceed if 
 in any way it will elucidate the mystery 
 attending Mr. Dillon, once my trusted and 
 best friend." 
 
 These words moved Lucy to emotion. 
 Stretching forth her hand, which he gently 
 took, she said, 
 
 " Oh ! he has long been dear to me 
 even as a brother, and I have been greatly 
 pained to witness his sorrow at your 
 neglect of him." 
 
 " My neglect ! I pledge you my sacred 
 word of honour, I have had no acknow- 
 ledgment of my several communications 
 to him except the offensive epistle just 
 alluded to arousing my deep resentment."
 
 254 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 His observer grew confident. 
 
 " The question I would have put 
 to you, Mr. Darecourt, is this, ' Do you 
 write to any one in this neighbour- 
 hood?'" 
 
 " To none in Ireland," was rapidly re- 
 plied, " excepting my father, who by the 
 way never answers me." 
 
 " Not even to Miss " hesitating, " to 
 Fanny Chalmers." 
 
 " I never heard the name before," he 
 peremptorily avowed, while the fugitive 
 colour returned to Lucy's face. 
 
 " Then rest thoroughly assured there 
 is a conspiracy on foot inimical to your 
 interests, and that an estrangement be- 
 tween both you and poor Eustace Dillon 
 is sought for by some one or more per- 
 
 sons." 
 
 " I beseech you explain this thoroughly, 
 Miss Neville ; do your suspicions revert to 
 any particular source ? " 
 
 " None ! although Eustace and myself
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 255 
 
 exchanged ideas upon it, leading however 
 to no definite results. To begin with," 
 she added, " you and he were prevented 
 calling at Nevillstown during my ill- 
 
 ness." 
 
 " I but too well remember it," he ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 " By a supposed assistant of my medical 
 attendant ; then you wrote to me, Mr. 
 Darecourt?" 
 
 " I did, and I never could account lor 
 your silence," was said hastily, yet in- 
 quiringly. 
 
 "For the obvious reason," she con- 
 tinued, " that I knew nothing of either 
 occurrence until Eustace told me of both 
 this very day." 
 
 " This indeed is absolutely alarming, 
 particularly so from the fact that to resort 
 to such machinations implies the existence 
 of some deep unusual motive, whereas there 
 is not even one to whom I am an object of 
 mere passing interest."
 
 256 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 Their eyes gravitated towards each other 
 with a mutual impulse, and after a some- 
 what embarrassing interval Lucy resumed 
 in pleading accents, 
 
 " Mr. Darecourt, will you not please to 
 see Eustace, and jointly concert measures 
 to discover who are the delinquents, and 
 what are the motives for a course 
 fraught, I fear, with evil to one or both of 
 you?" 
 
 "You seem positively apprehensive, Miss 
 Neville." 
 
 " Yes, I own to it," was answered 
 energetically ; " else why this daring 
 fraud?" 
 
 " Your conjecture must be well founded," 
 he observed ; " but I cannot bring myself 
 to attach the same importance to it that 
 you do, as I discern no motive in it." 
 
 " Mr. Darecourt, I will not seek to in- 
 fluence you, though it is impossible to 
 divest myself of the feeling that it inti- 
 mately concerns your future."
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWORTH WASTE. 257 
 
 " Alas, Miss Neville, in a foreign land, 
 severed from all I formerly knew, and the 
 only being I could ever love what will the 
 strivings or plottings of others signify 
 to me? Let life ring out its varying 
 theme of joy or sorrow, I have but one 
 ambition, one purpose, to hide myself in 
 solitude." 
 
 Lucy looked sadly on the sleepy, le- 
 thargic waves, while the speaker noise- 
 lessly rose from the rough seat, and ap- 
 proaching closer, watched her pensive 
 musings. 
 
 At length with a deep sigh, she buried 
 her face in her hands. 
 
 " I hope, brave girl," entreated a soft 
 mellow voice in her ear, " I am not the 
 cause of your sorrowful reflection ?" 
 
 " Yes, Mr. Darecourt, you are indeed," 
 fixedly regarding him ; " had we never met 
 you would have excelled in your sunny, 
 coveted sphere without the untimely 
 thought of pursuing an inane future, lost 
 
 VOL. i. s
 
 258 A LIFE'S HAZAKD; OR, 
 
 to yourself and to others, while I, in my 
 secluded rustic home, would have preserved 
 a contented girlhood not undermined by 
 the reflection now presenting itself that I 
 have contributed to your misanthropy." 
 
 " Miss Neville, do you with your visible 
 powers of reflection ascribe our tragic 
 meeting to mere chance, or wonder that 
 it has possessed my whole thoughts 
 until in one broad stream of pure, un- 
 selfish love and gratitude they overflow 
 their normal limits, gently exhausting 
 themselves at your feet ? " 
 
 " Mr. Darecourt, you cannot imagine 
 how your words agitate me, depriving me 
 of the power to realize our positions as 
 they are and that which you would make 
 of them." 
 
 "By the sweetest memories of child- 
 hood, by the recollections of my mother's 
 home, since when, alas, a shallow fashion- 
 able world has given me protection : 
 yea, by all that is in the power of man to
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 259 
 
 feel, I tell you, Lucy, that the being 
 whom you succoured from the waves had 
 better never have had an existence than 
 that he should be doomed to languish 
 without you while life shall last. 
 
 " Heed me, dear girl," he added, " I 
 speak not the frenzy of mere sentiment, 
 nor unreal passion fading with time ; ah, 
 no, I plead with the calm assurance of 
 devotion that neither years nor circum- 
 stances dare mitigate or alter." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Darecourt ! " she exclaimed, 
 in distressed accents, doubly harmonious 
 in their plaintive cadences, " I will not, I 
 could not doubt your sincerity; but give 
 me time to awaken to myself, to think why 
 you honour me with an avowal as eloquent 
 in expression as it is undeserved by me." 
 
 " What ! undeserved, nay, say justly : 
 even in proportion as my future proves 
 happy, and of benefit to others, so will the 
 worth of thy daring valour become aug- 
 mented. Speak, then, but one syllable to 
 s 2
 
 260 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 allay my doubt. Ah ! " lie fervently went 
 on, " what miracles have not been wrought 
 of that slender word hope ! the sulky mon- 
 ster, Despair, flying vanquished before its 
 inspiring influence when all seemed lost ! 
 Breathe but the semblance of its elastic 
 spirit to me and my joy shall be 
 replete !" 
 
 Putting up her two hands he clasped 
 them with tender avidity, assisting her to 
 rise from that rocky couch, when, with a 
 resolute face and voice impressive in its 
 solid bell-like tone, she said, 
 
 " Vincent Darecourt, you can never wish 
 me to think more deeply " hesitating, 
 "I mean more fondly of you than I do 
 at this moment." 
 
 Transported with joy he would 'have 
 pressed her to his bosom; but, holding 
 up her finger, she calmly motioned 
 towards home, and in silence they re- 
 traced their steps. A sparkling deep 
 fount of bright crystal joy came bubbling
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 261 
 
 up between them, invading their heart of 
 hearts, where the imperishable records of 
 a first love were closely and rapturously 
 enshrined. 
 
 They continued their walk in tranquil 
 communion, silent from the very conviction 
 of that requited affection, heedless of all but 
 its one absorbing impulse. 
 
 When almost at the extremity of the 
 sands, near to Nevillstown, a hard, satur- 
 nine laugh caused both to look forward, 
 where, coming towards them, Lucy Neville 
 recognized Fanny Chalmers and a strange 
 gentleman. 
 
 These four persons, destined in the near 
 future to play so important a part in the 
 respective careers of each other, met and 
 passed onwards unnoticed, Fanny only 
 wishing to know from her companion, 
 " "Who the strange man was who went 
 
 *>y-" 
 
 Dorrington Darecourt replied, " I never 
 saw him before."
 
 262 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OB, 
 
 That night Lucy Neville lay upon her 
 pillow, exhausted by the exciting events of 
 the day, when turning restlessly towards 
 the casement she beheld to her dismay 
 those omens of ill to her race the black 
 gulls.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENT WORTH WASTE. 263 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE capture of the renowned rebel O'Grady 
 was indeed a triumph the importance of 
 which could hardly be over-estimated, and 
 notwithstanding every exertion of the 
 authorities to the contrary the report of 
 the disaster reached his comrades in arms 
 in time, permitting of their escape before 
 the soldiers despatched against them could 
 reach the belligerent camp. 
 
 The patriots, of course, cursed their evil- 
 star, while in official circles there was great 
 jubilation and triumph, the hero with the 
 latter element being Robert Arkwright, 
 and even lordly was he feted on his exploit 
 in crushing the traitor. 
 
 There were not many who heard of that
 
 264 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OE, 
 
 remarkable mystic transparency witnessed 
 in Marcer's Hospital, or that Arkwright 
 displayed abject terror on seeing it, finally 
 becoming insensible ; but even these few 
 soon regarded it as apocryphal and un- 
 worthy of credence. 
 
 The capture was speedily followed by 
 the appointment and opening of the 
 Commission to try O'Grady, the Govern- 
 ment being represented by a very power- 
 ful bar, while no stone was left unturned 
 to impannel a jury who would do their 
 work fearlessly, and, it might be, dispas- 
 sionately; but a verdict of "Guilty" was 
 necessary, and, as a matter of course, it 
 must be forthcoming. 
 
 At last the eventful day broke for the 
 trial, the accused, looking at the faint 
 sunshine upon the opposite wall, thought, 
 " What right had the patriot rebel to the 
 sniile of Heaven ? " By upraising his arms 
 he could have felled to the ground these 
 men pinioning him as easily as he was
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 265 
 
 known in bygone days to place a twelve-foot 
 plank on the level and, by a standing jump,, 
 to clear it from end to end ; but he sub- 
 mitted with a haughty reserve, simplysaying, 
 to reassure these functionaries of the law, 
 
 " Proceed with your office. Do your 
 duty. I am ready." 
 
 The stalwart prisoner now stepped into 
 the criminals' dock, regarding with a de- 
 termined air of lofty defiance all before 
 him, including the judge, counsel, jury, 
 and other officials incidental to the court. 
 
 " What impertinence is in the fellow's 
 look," exclaimed one hot-headed, well- 
 known Government partisan. 
 
 " Av he'd lind ye a thrifle av his lucks 
 for yer shnuff-coloured muzzle, yer wife id 
 be much obleeged to him, or I'm mish- 
 taken," was swiftly retorted. 
 
 "Arrah, don't be afther annoyin' the 
 gintleman. How cud he keep a wife whin 
 he can't keep a civil tongue ? " suggested 
 a confrere of the late speaker.
 
 2G6 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OK, 
 
 The irascible aristocrat now muttered 
 something inaudible, but evidently of a 
 passionate nature. 
 
 "Is he conthradictin' himsel' agin ? " 
 was volunteered by another of the dis- 
 putants. 
 
 " No, the gintleman sez yer wrong, 'tis 
 his wife keeps him." 
 
 " Bad luck to me, that accounts for his 
 eyes bein' darned wid red thread " (al- 
 luding to obvious blotches around the 
 eyelids). 
 
 These and other kindred colloquial items 
 formed a pastime until the Attorney- 
 General rose in his place and began a 
 narration of facts against the arraigned. 
 
 Dispassionate hitherto, the prosecuting 
 counsel reached the peroration, and then 
 his speech revealed such a broad leaven of 
 intolerant bigotry that many of those on 
 his side, including the Judge, regretted it 
 as calculated to embitter public feeling 
 rather than to allay it. When the Rt. Hon.
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOBTH WASTE. 267 
 
 gentleman resumed his seat there stole up a 
 faint buzz of approval, which was instantly 
 annihilated by the storm of indignant 
 hisses spontaneously yelled at him. 
 
 It was only by a supreme effort O'Grady 
 maintained his temper, especially when 
 characterized by the first law-officer of the 
 Crown as the "renegade" and "outcast," 
 abhorred of honest men, associate of 
 "thieves," "scoundrels," &c., &c. Docu- 
 mentary evidence incriminating the prisoner 
 speedily followed, then the few witnesses 
 were easily got through, and at last the 
 well-known Robert Arkwright, agent of 
 the wealthy English baronet, Sir Mervyn 
 Mervyn, was paraded, lighting anew the 
 flame of general interest. 
 
 A very showy examination was that of 
 the deputy by the senior counsel, at the 
 close whereof the former speedily de- 
 scended from the witness-table, while the 
 rebel chief was observed to move forward 
 and bowing to the Judge, calmly said,
 
 268 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OK, 
 
 " I demand the right to cross-examine 
 the last witness." 
 
 His lordship nodded affirmatively, accom- 
 panied by " Certainly, certainly." 
 
 The middleman at once returned to the 
 table, when the prisoner began to interro- 
 gate him : 
 
 " Have you told the Court all you know 
 about me ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Concealing nothing ? " 
 
 " Nothing." 
 
 "Good or bad?" 
 
 " I know nothing good of you," 
 laughing, in which the Attorney-General 
 joined. 
 
 " My Lord," urged the accused with im- 
 perturbable gravity, " I have two requests 
 to make first, I wish you particularly to 
 note that the witness swears he knows 
 nothing good of me " 
 
 " That certainly is true," iterated the 
 agent.
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 269 
 
 " No interruption, please," enjoined his 
 lordship. " Your first request I have 
 noted, prisoner ; what is your next ? " 
 
 " My lord, the next is that the 
 Attorney- General, who consorts with the 
 witness " 
 
 Judge. " I cannot hear " 
 
 " In laughter, I was going to add, my 
 lord," O'Grady proceeded, " that the 
 Attorney- General will not, and dare not 
 look me straight in the face." 
 
 Amid the commotion following this 
 extraordinary statement, the Judge 
 heatedly exclaimed, " I must clear the 
 court if this unseemly state of things 
 continue, I cannot allow the public time to 
 be occupied unnecessarily. Is there any- 
 thing else you wish to say, prisoner ? " 
 
 " Has your lordship taken down my last 
 request ? " 
 
 " Well, really, I cannot see its appli- 
 cation." 
 
 " You will by-and-by, my lord. I
 
 270 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 repeat that the Attorney-General dare not 
 look me in the face, much as he may indulge 
 in splenetic, unfounded vilification shielded 
 by the law." 
 
 The Judge waved his hand imperiously, 
 " Go down, witness," whereupon Ark- 
 wright instantly disappeared, his lordship 
 continuing, " move back in the dock, pri- 
 soner." 
 
 " I respectfully refuse to do so until I 
 cross-examine the last witness," said the 
 traitor composedly, followed by great 
 excitement. 
 
 " The witness has been sufficiently long 
 on the table for you to have examined him 
 had you been so minded." 
 
 " I would have done so if your lordship 
 had recorded my second request, which I 
 will hereafter prove to be fair and well- 
 founded in law." 
 
 " You must not lay down the law, sir." 
 
 " Nor can you, my lord, limit the 
 powers of defence, which that same law
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 271 
 
 confers upon every person in my posi- 
 tion." 
 
 " Go back, sir," was the mandate of the 
 Judge, whereupon O'Grady turned to the 
 jury, observing, 
 
 " I scorn your mercy, but I demand 
 justice." 
 
 " Officers," his lordship peremptorily 
 ordered, " secure the prisoner." 
 
 With a spring the latter tossed the 
 first official out of his path, getting wedge- 
 like into an angle of the dock as he ex- 
 claimed, " Move at your peril, no tyranny 
 shall restrain me from my lawful means of 
 defence : I defy you all." 
 
 The jailors faced him, but seemed un- 
 willing to attempt more, and, indeed, well 
 they might, for with those two ponderous 
 arms raised to his immense chest, they 
 full well knew he could have felled a 
 bullock by a single blow. 
 
 The public sprang upon the benches and 
 every available prominence, the excitement
 
 272 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 fast boiling up to fever-heat, when, amid 
 the increasing tumult, one of the oldest of 
 the jury got up, saying in a tremulous 
 tone, 
 
 "My lord, it might be as well to recall 
 the late witness, and allow the prisoner to 
 examine him." 
 
 "Yes, if he attempts no further vio- 
 lence," responded the law-giver, inwardly 
 glad to end the commotion. 
 
 " I shall adhere to my full legal rights, 
 and nothing less." 
 
 " And I will carefully guard against their 
 transgression," answered his lordship, add- 
 ing " Call back the witness." Whereupon 
 O'Grady said courteously, " Thank you, 
 sir," to the juryman who had interfered. 
 
 " Prisoner, address me in future," roared 
 the aged official irately. 
 
 " To cross-examine the witness and 
 address the Judge is what I cannot do at 
 the same time ; therefore, I shall attempt 
 the former only," observed the accused in a
 
 THE OUTLAW OP WENTWOBTH WASTE. 273 
 
 jocose voice, as lie turned to Arkwright, 
 " Now, sir, answer on your oath. Did I 
 ever aid you in any way ? " 
 
 " I submit that this is not relevant to the 
 issue," interposed the Attorney- General. 
 
 "As I do not see the face of the 
 objector I will not answer him; but I 
 maintain, my lord, that whereas the agent 
 for Sir Mervyn Mervyn swears I never did 
 him a service, and as I can establish 
 beyond doubt that I saved his life," 
 excitement " will it not prove that his 
 oath is worthless by my doing so ? " 
 
 Arkwright revealed alternately every 
 colour and shade in the rainbow during 
 this statement. 
 
 The Judge responded, " What you have 
 said appears to me but fair ; therefore you 
 may proceed with your questions without 
 fear of interruption." 
 
 "You maintain that I never rendered 
 you a service ? " continued the rebel. 
 
 " Never," was answered firmly. 
 VOL. i. T
 
 274 A LIFE'S HAZARD ; OR, 
 
 "Nor befriended you in anyway?" 
 " No." 
 
 " On your oath, Robert Arkwright, did I 
 not rescue you when bound to a post to be 
 shot?" "You did not." 
 
 " On your oath ? " " On my oath." 
 
 " On the Bull Wall ? " " No." 
 
 " The night before you decoyed me to 
 Marcer's Hospital ? " " No." 
 
 " Nor you never told this to any one ? " 
 " Never." 
 
 " That you swear ? " " I do." 
 
 " And if any one says so it is untrue ? " 
 " It is untrue." 
 
 " My lord, may I ask that the officials 
 from Marcer's Hospital be called?" 
 
 " Certainly, they are present," answered 
 the Judge. 
 
 " Are any of the soldiers here who took 
 part in my arrest ? " 
 
 " Yes, all of them." 
 
 " Then I also claim the right to call 
 them."
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOBTH WASTE. 275 
 
 These several witnesses individually and 
 collectively testified to that night's event- 
 ful circumstances, the fiery simulation of 
 the Dangan eviction, the subsequent horror 
 of the agent, and his acknowledgment of 
 having been saved by the prisoner on the 
 previous night when tied to a stake to be 
 shot. 
 
 A tumult of agitated feeling now per- 
 vaded the court, even those against the 
 accused wondering at the conduct of the 
 deputy and the mystic unaccountable 
 appearance in the hospital ward. 
 
 This, however, came to an end, when 
 O'Grady observed, 
 
 " With your lordship's permission I will 
 address a few brief words to the Court, 
 when you can close this trial in the way it 
 was predestined from the beginning, for 
 I well know my doom." 
 
 Every one anticipated a fierce, fiery 
 harangue, for which the patriot was noto- 
 rious, but to their chagrin he quietly said, 
 T 2
 
 276 A LIFE'S HAZAED; OE, 
 
 "When called upon to plead to the 
 indictment, I said I was not guilty, though, 
 from your point of view, I must be wrong, 
 whereas from mine I know I am right, the 
 logical consideration now being, what is 
 your platform, what is mine ? By numbers 
 you conquered Ireland, but never did or 
 can subdue her. By force you maintain 
 a resolve to hold her prostrated, and all 
 the blood and money necessary to achieve 
 this sacrilegious end would not be con- 
 sidered shed in vain. Is this right ? My 
 contention is, that nothing can justify 
 wrong. You have no claim upon us while 
 we have the memory of persecution and 
 our dispossessed fathers, whose blood will 
 still cry heavenwards until justice, if not 
 retribution, is decreed in the extermination 
 of the Saxons, as they have proved them- 
 selves on our desecrated soil. Fulminate 
 your sentence against me, my lord. I have 
 no greater ambition than to die fearlessly 
 in the noble cause wherein I have humbly
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWORTH WASTE. 277 
 
 served the emancipation of my native 
 land," suddenly adding, as if by impulse, 
 " My lord, may I have the Hon. William 
 Hawkes called ? " 
 
 "What, my son?" inquired the Judge. 
 
 " The same, my lord." 
 
 " He is here, but I cannot understand 
 your motive." 
 
 While this witness was being sworn the 
 leading prosecutor sank upon his seat, 
 where, with drooped head and locked arms, 
 he remained motionless. 
 
 "Were you not a student in Trinity 
 College?" "Yes." 
 
 " We graduated together, did we not?" 
 
 " We did." 
 
 " I may flatter myself by saying we were 
 then intimate friends ?" 
 
 " Yes we were very intimate friends." 
 
 "You are an Englishman?" 
 
 "lam." 
 
 " Yet you are not ashamed to avow this 
 intimacy?"
 
 278 A LIFE'S HAZARD; OR, 
 
 " I cannot refrain from truth, and, 
 although we have not met for years, I 
 still hold the same conviction, that I can 
 never know or expect to find a nobler, 
 honester, more large-hearted man than my 
 former friend, Michael O'Grady." 
 
 There was much amazement in the 
 court at this declaration, and, for the first 
 time throughout the case, the prisoner was 
 visibly affected; however, he comported 
 himself firmly, although his voice appa- 
 rently faltered, as he responded, 
 
 " Thank you for those kind words here, 
 and when least expected : " continuing, 
 " Now I come to a serious question. Mr. 
 Hawkes, did you at any time while in 
 College complain of various articles of pro- 
 perty having been pillaged from you?" 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Did others complain ?" " Many." 
 
 " Often ?" " Several times." 
 
 " Did you one day show me my stolen 
 watch?" "Yes."
 
 THE OUTLAW OF WENTWOETH WASTE. 279 
 
 " Hid in a recess near the Provost's 
 house?" "Yes." 
 
 " Did we together lie in ambush waiting 
 for the thief?" "We did." 
 
 " Did we succeed in detecting him ?" 
 
 "Yes, we captured him when passing 
 the porter's lodge with the watch." 
 
 "What did I do?" 
 
 " You knocked him down with a single 
 blow." 
 
 "What else?" 
 
 " The blow broke his jaw-bone." 
 
 " True : was he afterwards expelled the 
 University?" "Yes." 
 
 " Have you ever seen this estimable 
 person since?" "I have." 
 
 " Do you see him now ?" " I do-." 
 
 " On your solemn oath, is not the so- 
 called Right Hon. gentleman, the Attorney- 
 General for Ireland, that outcast of Trinity 
 College?" 
 
 " He is." 
 
 " And the disfigurement of his face,
 
 280 A LIFE'S HAZARD, ETC. 
 
 wherefore he could not look at me, was 
 caused by my hand ? " 
 
 " Yes, undoubtedly." 
 
 Amid the greatest excitement all eyes 
 are now concentrated on the bent, im- 
 movable figure of the first law officer of 
 the Crown; but a deeper consternation was 
 yet in store when the Solicitor-General, 
 approaching his leader, violently pro- 
 claimed, " My lord, the Attorney- General 
 is dead!" 
 
 It were fruitless to attempt a descrip- 
 tion of the commotion attending this ap- 
 palling discovery, notwithstanding which, 
 an hour later, Michael O'Grady was sen- 
 tenced to suffer the extreme penalty of 
 the law. 
 
 END OF VOL. i. 
 
 OILBEET AND KIV1.NGTON, FRINTEKS, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE, LO.NT'ON.
 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 
 
 Return this material to the library 
 
 from which it was borrowed. 
 
 n 
 o 
 
 c 
 o 
 o
 
 A 000 460 756