The mob chorus here broke in, and continued with such hearty enthusiasm that I lost the entire of the next verse in the tumult.
“Here 's the pollis!” said a gruff voice from the crowd; and the word was repeated from mouth to mouth in every accent of fear and dread; while in an instant all took to flighty—some dashing down obscure lanes and narrow alleys, others running straight onwards towards Dame Street, but all showing the evident apprehension they felt at the approach of these dreaded officials. The ballad' singer alone did not move,—whether too old or too infirm to trust to speed, or too much terrified to run, I know not; but there she stood, the last cadence of her song still dying on her lips, while the clattering sounds of men advancing rapidly were heard in the distant street.
I know not why,—some strange momentary impulse, half pity, half caprice, moved me to her rescue, and I called out to the sentry, “Let that woman pass in!” She heard the words, and with an activity greater than I could have expected, sprang into the barrack yard, while the police passed eagerly on in vain pursuit of their victims.
I remained motionless in the window-seat, watching the now silent street, when a gentle tap came to my door. I opened it, and there stood the figure of the ballad-singer, her ragged cloak gathered closely across her face with one hand, while with the other she held the bundle of printed songs, her only stock-in-trade.
While I stood gazing at the uncouth and ragged figure before me, she pushed rudely past, and shutting the door behind her, asked, in a low whisper, “Are ye alone?”—and then, without waiting for a reply, threw back the tattered bonnet that covered her head, and removing a wig of long black hair, stared steadfastly at me.
“Do you know me, now?” said the hag, in a voice of almost menacing eagerness.
“What!” cried I, in amazement; “it surely cannot be—Darby, is this really you?”
“Ye may well say it,” replied he, bitterly.—“Ye had time enough to forget me since we met last; and 'tis thinking twice your grand friends the officers would be, before they 'd put their necks where mine is now to see you. Read that,”—as he spoke, he threw a ragged and torn piece of printed paper on the table,—“read that, and you 'll see there 's five hundred pounds of blood money to the man that takes me. Ay, and here I stand this minit in the King's barrack, and walked fifty-four miles this blessed day just to see you and speak to you once more. Well, well!” He turned away his head while he said this, and wiping a starting tear from his red eyeball, he added, “Master Tom, 'tis myself would never b'lieve ye done it.”
“Did what?” said I, eagerly. “What have I ever done that you should charge me thus?”
But Darby heard me not; his eyes were fixed on vacancy, and his lips moved rapidly as though he were speaking to himself.
“Ay,” said he, half aloud, “true enough; 'tis the gentlemen that betrayed us always,—never came good of the cause where they took a part. But you,”—here he turned full round, and grasping my arm, spoke directly to me, “you that I loved better than my own kith and kin, that I thought would one day be a pride and glory to us all; you that I brought over myself to the cause—”
“And when have I deserted,—when have I betrayed it?”
“When did you desert it?” repeated he, in a tone of mocking irony. “Tell me the day and hour ye came here, tell me the first time ye sat down among the red butchers of King George, and I 'll answer ye that. Is it here you ought to be? Is this the home for him that has a heart for Ireland? I never said you betrayed us. Others said it; but I stood to it, ye never did that. But what does it signify? 'Tis no wonder ye left us; we were poor and humble people; we had nothing at heart but the good cause—”
“Stop!” cried I, maddened by this taunt. “What could I have done? where was my place?”
“Don't ask me; if your own heart doesn't teach thee, how can I? But it's over now; the day is gone, and I must take to the road again. My heart is lighter since I seen you; and it will be lighter again when I give you this wamin',—God knows if you 'll mind it. You think yourself safe now since you joined the sodgers; you think they trust you, and that Barton's eye is n't on ye still. There is n't a word you say is n't noted down,—not a man you spake to isn't watched. You don't know it; but I know it. There 's more go to the gallows in Ireland over their wine, than with the pike in their hands. Take care of your friends, I say.”
“You wrong them. Darby; and you wrong me. Never have I heard from one here a single word that could offend the proudest heart among us.”
“Why would they? what need of it? Ar'n't we down, down? ar'n't we hunted like wild beasts? is the roof left to shelter us? dare we walk the roads? dare we say 'God save ye!' when we meet, and not be tried for pass words? It 's no wonder they pity us; the hardest heart must melt sometimes.”
“As to myself,” said I,—for there was no use in attempting to reason with him further,—“my every wish is with the cause as warmly as on the day we parted. But I look to France—”
“Ay, and why not? I remember the time your eye flashed and your cheek grew another color when you spoke of that.”
“Yes, Darby,” said I, after a pause; “and I had not been here now, but that the only means I possessed of forwarding myself in the French service are unfortunately lost to me.”
“And what was that?” interrupted he, eagerly.
“Some letters which the poor Captain de Meudon gave me,” said I, endeavoring to seem as much at ease as I could.
Darby stooped down as I spoke, and ripping open the lining of his cloak, produced a small parcel fastened with a cord, saying, “Are these what you mean?”
I opened it with a trembling hand, and to my inexpressible delight, discovered Charles's letter to the head of the Ecole Polytechnique, together with a letter of credit and two cheques on his banker. The note to his sister was not, however, among them.
“How came you by these papers, Darby?” inquired I, eagerly.
“I found them on the road Barton travelled, the same evening you made your escape from the yeomanry; you remember that? They were soon missed, and an orderly was sent back to search for them. Since that, I 've kept them by me; and it was only yesterday that I thought of bringing them to you, thinking you might know something about them.”
“There 's a mark on this one,” said I, still gazing on the paper in my hand; “it looks like blood.”
“If it is, it 's mine, then,” said Darby, doggedly. And after a pause, he continued: “The soldier galloped up the very minute I was stooping for the papers. He called out to me to give them up; but I pretended not to hear, and took a long look round to see what way I could escape where his horse could n't follow me. But he saw what I was at; and the same instant his sabre was in my shoulder, and the blood running hot down my arm. I fell on my knees; but if I did, I took this from my breast” (here he drew forth a long-barrelled rusty pistol), “and shot him through the neck.”
“Was he killed?” said I, in horror at the coolness of the recital.
“Sorrow one o' me knows. He fell on his horse's mane, and I saw the beast gallop with him up the road with his arms hanging at each side of the neck. And then I heard a crash, and I saw that he was down, and the horse was dragging him by the stirrup; but the dust soon hid him from my sight. And indeed I was growing weak too; so I crept into the bushes until it was dark, and then got down to Glencree.”
The easy indifference with which he spoke, the tone of coolness in which he narrated this circumstance, thrilled through me far more painfully than the most passionate description; and I stood gazing on him with a feeling of dread that unhappily my features but too plainly indicated. He seemed to know what was passing in my mind; and as if stung by what he deemed my ingratitude for the service he had rendered me, his face grew darkly red, the swollen veins stood out thick and knotted in his forehead, his livid lips quivered, and he said in a thick, guttural voice,—
“Maybe ye think I murdered him?” And then, as I made no answer, he resumed in a different tone: “And faix, ye war n't long larnin' their lessons. But hear me now: there never was a traitor to the cause had a happy life or an easy death; there never was one betrayed us but we were revenged on him or his. I don't think ye 're come to that yet; for if I did, by the mortial—”
As he pronounced the last word, in a tone of the fiercest menace, the sound of many voices talking without, and the noise of a key turning in the lock, broke in upon our colloquy; and Darby had scarcely time to resume his disguise when Bubbleton entered, followed by three of his brother officers, all speaking together, and in accents that evidently betokened their having drunk somewhat freely.
“I tell you, again and again, the diamond wins it But here we are,” cried Bubbleton; “and now for a pack of cards, and let 's decide the thing at once.”
“You said you 'd bet fifty, I think?” drawled out Crofts, who was unquestionably the most sober of the party. “But what have we here?” At this instant his eye fell upon Darby, who had quietly ensconced himself behind the door, and hoped to escape unseen. “Eh, what's this, I say?”
“What!” cried Bubbleton; “what do I see? A nymph with bright and flowing hair; a hag like Hecuba, by Jove! Tom Burke, my man, how comes the damsel here?”
“'Tis Kitty, ould Kitty Cole, your honor—The young gentleman was buying a ballad from me, the Heavens prosper him!” said Darby.
“Nothing treasonous, I hope; no disloyal effusion, Tom; no scandal about Queen Elizabeth, my boy,—eh?”
“Come, old lady,” said Cradock, “let's have the latest novelty of the Liberty.”
“Yes,” said Bubbleton; “strike the harp in praise of—Confound the word!”
“Hang the old crone!” broke in Hilliard. “Here are the cards. The game stands thus: a spade is led,—you 've got none; hearts are trumps.”
“No, you mistake; the diamond's the trump,” said Cradock.
“I cry halt,” said Crofts, holding up both his hands; “the first thing is, what's the bet?”
“Anything you like,” cried Bubbleton; “fifty,—a hundred,—five hundred.”
“Be it then five hundred. I take you,” said Crofts, coolly, taking a memorandum book from his pocket.
“No, no,” interposed Hilliard; “Bubbleton, you sha'n't do any such thing. Five,—ten,—twenty, if you wish; but I 'll not stand by at such a wager.”
“Well, then, if twenty be as much as you have got permission to bet,” replied Crofts, insolently, “there's my stake.” So saying, he threw a note on the table, and looked over at Bubbleton, as if awaiting his doing the same.
I saw my poor friend's embarrassment, and without stirring from my place, slipped a note into his hand in silence. A squeeze of his fingers replied to me, and the same instant he threw the crumpled piece of paper down, and cried out, “Now for it; decide the point.”
Crofts at once drew his chair to the table, and began with the utmost coolness to arrange the cards; while the others, deeply interested in the point at issue, looked on without speaking. I thought this a good opportunity for Darby to effect his escape, and raising my hand noiselessly, I pointed to the door. Darby, who had been only waiting for the fortunate moment, stole quietly towards it; but while his hand was on the lock, Crofts lifted his eyes towards me, and then throwing them half round, intimated at once that he observed the manoeuvre. The blood suffused my face and temples, and though I saw the door close behind the piper, I could not recover from my embarrassment, or the fear that pressed on me lest Crofts should have penetrated the secret of Darby's disguise, and augured from the fact something to my discredit.
“The game is now arranged,” said he. “The spade being led here, the second player follows suit; the third, having none, trumps the card, and is overtrumped by the last in play. The trick is lost, therefore, and with it the game.”
“No, no,” interrupted Bubbleton, “you mistake altogether. The diamond,—no, the heart; I mean the—the—What the deuce is it? I say, Cradock, I had it all correct a minute ago; how is it, old fellow?”
“Why, you 've lost, that's all,” said the other, as he looked intently on the table, and seemed to consider the point.
“Yes, Bubbleton, there's no doubt about it; you've lost. We forgot all about the last player,” said Hilliard.
A violent knocking at the outer door drowned the voices of all within, while a gruff voice shouted out, “Captain Bubbleton, the grand round is coming up Parliament Street.”
Bubbleton snatched up his sword, and dashing through the room, was followed by the others in a roar of laughter, Crofts alone remaining behind, proceeded leisurely to open the folded piece of bank paper that lay before him, while I stood opposite unable to take my eyes from him. Slowly unfolding the note, he flattened it with his hand, and then proceeded to read aloud,—
“Payez au porteur la somme de deux mille livres—,'
“I beg pardon,” interrupted I. “There's a mistake there; that belongs to me.”
“I thought as much,” replied Crofts, with a very peculiar smile; “I scarcely supposed my friend Bubbleton had gone so far.”
“There's the sum, sir,” said I, endeavoring to control my temper, and only eager to regain possession of what would at once have compromised me, if discovered. “This is what Captain Bubbleton lost; twenty pounds, if I mistake not?”
“I must entreat your pardon, sir,” said Crofts, folding up the French billet de hanque, “My wager was not with you, nor can I permit you to pay it. This is at present my property, and remains so until Captain Bubbleton demands it from me.”
I was struck dumb by the manner in which these words were spoken. It was clear to me, that not only he suspected the disguise of the ballad-singer, but that by the discovery of the French note he connected his presence with its being in my possession. Rousing myself for the effort, I said,—
“You force me, sir, to speak of what nothing short of the circumstance could have induced me to allude to. It was I gave Captain Bubbleton that note. I gave it in mistake for this one.”
“I guessed as much, sir,” was the cool answer of Crofts, as he placed the note in his pocket-book and clasped it. “But I cannot permit your candid explanation to alter the determination I have already come to,—even had I not the stronger motive which as an officer in his Majesty's pay I possess,—to inform the Government, on such infallible evidence, how deeply interested our French neighbors are in our welfare when they supply us with a commodity which report says is scarce enough among themselves.”
“Do not suppose, sir, that your threat—for as such I understand it—has any terror for me. There is, it's true, another whose safety might be compromised by any step you might take in this affair; but when I tell you that it is one who never did, never could have injured you, and, moreover, that nothing treasonous or disloyal lies beneath your discovery—”
“You are really taking a vast deal of trouble, Mr. Burke,” said he, stopping me with a cold smile, “which I am forced to say is unnecessary. Your explanation of how this billet de banque came into your possession may be required elsewhere, and will, I am certain, meet with every respect and attention. As for me, an humble captain, with only one principle to sustain me, one clue to guide me, in what I am disposed to consider a question of some importance, I shall certainly ask advice of others better able to direct me.”
“You refuse, then, sir, to restore me what I have assured you is mine?”
“And what I have no doubt whatever you are correct in calling so,” added he, contemptuously.
“And you persist in the refusal?” said I, in a voice which unhappily betrayed more temper than I had yet shown.
“Even so, sir,” said he, moving towards the door.
“In that case,” said I, springing before him, and setting my back against it, you don't leave this room until in the presence of a third party,—I care not who he be,—I have told you somewhat more of my opinion of you than it is necessary I should say now.
The insulting expression of Crofts' features changed suddenly as I spoke, the color left his cheek, and he became as pale as death; his eye wandered round the room with an uncertain look, and then was fixed steadfastly on the door, against which I stood firmly planted. At length his face recovered its wonted character, and he said, in a cool, distinct manner,—
“Your difficulties have made you bold, sir.”
“Not more bold than you 'll find me whenever you think fit to call on me. But perhaps I am wrong for suggesting a test, which report, at least, says Captain Crofts has little predilection for.”
“Insolent cub!” said he, half drawing his sword from the scabbard, and as hastily replacing it when he perceived that I never moved a muscle in my defence, but stood as if inviting his attack. “Let me pass, sir,” cried he, impetuously; “stand by this instant.”
I made no reply, but crossing my arms on my breast, stared at him firmly as before. He had now advanced within a foot of me, his face purple with passion, and his hands trembling with rage.
“Let me pass, I say!” shouted he, in an accent that boded his passion had completely got the ascendant. At the same instant he seized me by the collar, and fixing his grip firmly in my clothes, prepared to hurl me from the spot.
The moment had now come that for some minutes past I had been expecting, and with my open hand I struck him on the cheek, but so powerfully that he reeled back with the stroke. A yell of rage burst from him, and in an instant his sword leaped from the scabbard, and he darted fiercely at me. I sprang to one side, and the weapon pierced the door and broke off short; still, more than half the blade remained, and with this he flew towards me. One quick glance I gave to look for something which might serve to arm me; and the same moment the sharp steel pierced my side, and I fell backwards with the shock, carrying my antagonist along with me. The struggle was now a dreadful one; for while he endeavored to withdraw the weapon from the wound, my hands were on his throat, and in his strained eyeballs and livid color might be seen that a few seconds more must decide the contest. A sharp pang shot through me. Just then a hot gush of warm blood ran down my side, and I saw above me the shining steel, which he was gradually shortening in his hand before he ventured to strike. A wild cry broke from me; while at the instant, with a crash, the door of the room fell forward, torn from its hinges. A heavy foot approached, and the blow of a strong arm felled Crofts to the earth, where he lay stunned and senseless. In a second I was on my feet. My senses were reeling and uncertain; but I could see that it was Darby who came to my rescue, and who was now binding a sash round my wound to stanch the blood.
“Now for it,—life or death 's on it now,” said he, in a low but distinct whisper. “Wipe the blood from your face, and be calm as you can when you're passing the sentry.”
“Is he—” I dared not speak the word as I looked on the still motionless body that lay before me.
Darby raised one arm, and as he let it go, it fell heavily on the ground. He stooped down, and placing his lips near the mouth, endeavored to ascertain if he breathed; and then, jumping to his feet, he seized my arm, and, in a tone I shall never forget, he said, “It 's over now!”
I tottered back as he spoke. The horrible thought of murder,—the frightful sense of crime, the heaviest, the blackest that can stain the heart of man,—stunned me. My senses reeled; and as I looked on that corpse stretched at my feet, I would have suffered my every bone to be broken on the rack, to see one quiver of life animate its rigid members.
Meanwhile Darby was kneeling down, and seemed to search for something beside the body. “Ah! right! Come now,” said he; “we must be far from this before daybreak. And it 's lucky if we We the means to do it.”
I moved onward like one walking ib a dream when horrible images surround him and dreadful thoughts are ever crowding fast; but where, amid all, some glimmering sense of hope sustains him, and he half feels that the terrors will pass away, and his soul be calm and tranquil once more. What is it? what has happened? was the ever-rising question, as I heard Darby groping his way along the dark gallery and the darker stairs.
“Be steady, now,” said he, in a whisper; “we 're at the gate.”
“Who comes there?” cried the sentry.
“A friend!” said Darby, in a feigned voice, answering for me, while he dropped behind me.
The heavy bolts were withdrawn, and I felt the cold air of the streets on my cheek.
“Where to, now?” said I, with a dreamy oonsciousness that some place of safety must be sought, without well knowing why or wherefore.
“Lean on me, and don't speak,” said Darby. “If you can walk as far as the end of the quay, we 're all safe.”
I walked on without further questioning, and almost without thought; and though, from time to time, Darby spoke to several persons as we passed, I heard not what they said, nor took any notice of them.
“Are ye getting weak?” said Darby, as I staggered heavily against him, and gasped twice or thrice for breath. “Are ye bleeding still?” was his next question, while he passed his hand gently within the sash, and felt my wound. I endeavored to mutter something in reply, to which he paid no attention; but stooping down, he threw me across his shoulder, and darting off at a more rapid pace than before, he left the more frequented thoroughfare, and entered a narrow and gloomy alley, unlighted by a single lamp. As he hurried onward, he stopped more than once, as if in quest of some particular spot, but which in the darkness he was unable to detect.
“Oh, Holy Mother!” he muttered, “the blood is soaking through me! Master Tom, dear! Master Tom, my darlin' speak to me,—speak to me, acushla!” But though I heard each word distinctly, I could not utter one; a dreamy stupor was over me, and I only wished to be left quiet. “This must be it; ay, here it is,” said Darby, as he laid me gently down on the stone sill of the door, and knocked loudly with his knuckles.
The summons, though repeated three or four times, was unheeded; and although he knocked loudly enough to have alarmed the neighborhood, and called out at the top of his voice, no one came; and the only sounds we could hear were the distant cadences of a drinking song, mingled with wild shouts of laughter, and still wilder cries of agony and woe.
“Here they are, at last!” said Darby, as he almost staved in the door with a heavy stone.
“Who's there?” cried a harsh and feeble voice from within.
“'Tis me, Molly; 'tis Darby M'Keown, Open quick, for the love of Heaven! here 's a young gentleman bleedin' to death on the steps.”
“Ugh! there 's as good as ever he was, and going as fast, too, here within,” said the crone. “Ye must take him away; he would n't mind him now for a king's ransom.”
“I 'll break open the door this minit,” said Darby, with a horrible oath, “av ye don't open it.”
“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed the hag. “If ye wor Darby M'Keown, ye 'd know well how easy that is. Try it,—try it, acushla! oak timber and nails is able to bear all you'll do!”
“See now,” said Darby, dropping his voice to a whisper; “see, Molly, here 's five goold guineas for ye, av ye 'll let us in. 'T is a man's life 's on it, and one I 'd give my own for twice over.”
“Av ye offered me forty,” replied she, “I dar'n't do it. Ye don't know the sorrow that 's here this night; 't is Dan Fortescue is going. I 'm coming, I 'm coming!” muttered she to some call from within. And then, without waiting to hear more, she shuffled back along the passage, and left us once more alone.
“There's nothing for it but this now,” said Darby, as, retiring a few paces, he dashed his shoulder against the door with all his force; but though a powerful man, and though every window rattled and trembled with the tremendous shock, the strong panels withstood the stroke, and never yielded in the least. “'T is no use firing through the lock,” said he, in a tone of despair. “Blessed Joseph! what 's to be done?”
As he spoke, the light tread of a barefooted child was heard coming up the lane, and the same moment a little girl approached the door. She carried a cup in her hand, and held it carefully, as if fearful of spilling its contents. As she neared the door, she seemed uncertain how to proceed, and at last, as if gaining courage, tapped twice at it with her knuckles.
“Don't ye know me, Nora?” said Darby; “don't ye know Darby the Blast?”
“Ah, Mister M'Keown, is this you? Ah, I'm afeard it 's little use there is in coming here to-night; Mr. Fortescue's dying within, and Doctor Kenagh can't leave him, I 'm bringing him this to take, but—”
“Nora, dear,” said Darby, “I 've a secret for Mr. Fortescue, and must see him before he dies. Here 's a crown, my darlin', and don't tell any one I gave it to ye.” Here he stooped down, and whispered rapidly some words in her ear.
“Who 's there?” broke in the hag 's voice from within. “'T is me; Nora,” said the child, boldly. “Are ye alone, there? do ye see any one about the door?”
“Sorra one. Can't you let me in out of the cowld?” “Come in quick, then,” said the crone, as she opened the door carefully, and only wide enough to let the child pass; but the same instant Darby dashed forward his foot, and flinging the door full wide, seized me by the collar, and dragged me in after him, closing the door at once behind him.
The screams of the hag, though loud and vehement, were as unheeded as were Darby's own efforts to attract notice half an hour before.
“Be quiet, I say; hush yer crying, or be the sowl o' the man that 's dyin' I 'll dhrive a ball through ye.” The sight of a pistol barrel seemed at last to have its effect, and she contented herself with a low wailing kind of noise, as she tottered after us along the passage.
The cold air of the street and the rest combined had given me strength, and I was able to follow Darby as he led the way through many a passage and up more than one stair.
“Here it is,” said the child, in a whisper, as she stopped at the door of a room which lay half ajar.
We halted in silence, and listened to the breathings of a man whose short, sobbing respiration, broken by hiccup, denoted the near approach of death.
“Go on,” cried a deep, low voice, in a tone of eagerness; “ye 'll not have the cough now for some time.”
The sick man made no reply, but his hurried breathing seemed to show that he was making some unwonted effort.
At last he spoke, but in a voice so faint and husky, we could not hear the words. The other, however, appeared to listen, and by a stray monosyllable, dropped at intervals, to follow the tenor of his speech. At last the sound ceased, and all was still.
“Go in now,” said Darby, in a whisper, to the child; “I 'll follow you.”
The little girl gently pushed the door and entered, followed by M'Keown, who, however, only advanced one foot within the room, as if doubting what reception he should meet with.
By the uncertain light of a wood fire, which threw in fitful flashes its glare around, I perceived that a sick man lay on a mean-looking, miserable bed in one corner of a dark room; beside him, seated on a low stool, sat another, his head bent down to catch the low breathings which the dying man gave forth from time to time. The heavy snoring sound of others asleep directed my eyes to a distant part of the chamber, where I saw three fellows lying on the floor, partly covered by a blanket. I had barely time to see this much, when the figure beside the bed sprang forward, and in a low but menacing tone, addressed M'Keown.
The last words only could I catch, as he said, “And if he wakes up, he may know you still.”
“And if he does,” said Darby, doggedly, “who cares? Isn't there as good blood as his shed for the cause? Look here!”
He dragged me forward as he spoke, and, tearing open my coat, pointed to the sash that was now saturated with the blood that flowed at every stir from my wound. The other looked fixedly at me for a second or two, took my hand within his, and letting it fall heavily, he whispered a word to M'Keown, and turned away.
“No, no!” cried Darby, violently. “By the holy Mass! ye 'll not trate me that way. Sit down, Master Tom,” said he, as he forced me into an old armchair beside the fire. “Here, take a drink of water. Come here, doctor; come here, now; stop the bleeding. Stand by me this wonst, and by this—”
Here he crossed his fingers before him, and looked fervently upwards. But at this instant the sick man sprang up in his bed, and looked wildly about him.
“Isn't that Darby? isn't that M'Keown there?” cried he, as he pointed with his finger. “Darby,” he continued, in a low, clear whisper, “Darby, see here, my boy. You often said I 'd do nothing for the cause. Is this nothing?” He threw back the bedclothes, as he spoke, and disclosed a ghastly wound that divided his chest, exposing the cartilage of the ribs, which stood out amid the welling blood that oozed forth with every respiration he made. “Is it nothing that I gave up rank, and place, and fortune; the broad acres that were in my family for three centuries; all my hopes, all my prospects—”
“And if you did,” interrupted M'Keown, hastily, “you knew what for.”
“I knew what for!” repeated the sick man, as a deadly smile played upon his livid face and curled his white lip. “I know it now, at least. To leave my inheritance to a bastard; to brand my name with disgrace and dishonor; to go down to the grave a traitor; and, worse still—”
He shuddered violently here, and though his mouth moved, no sound came forth; he sank back, worn out and exhausted.
“Was he there,” said Darby to the doctor, with a significant emphasis on the word,—“was he there to-night?”
“He was,” replied the other. “He thinks, too, he fired the shot that did it; but, poor fellow! he was down before that. The boys brought him off. That child is going fast,” continued he, as his eye fell upon me.
“Look to him, then, and don't be losin' time,” said Darby, fiercely. “Look to him,” he added more mildly, and “the Heavens will bless ye! Here 's twenty goolden guineas,—it's all I've saved these eight years,—here they 're for you, and save his life.”
The old man knelt down beside me, and slipping a scissors within the scarf that lay fastened to my side with clotted blood, he proceeded to open and expose the situation of my wound. A cold, sick feeling, a kind of half-fainting sensation, followed this, and I could hear nothing of the dialogue that passed so near me. An occasional sting of pain shot through me as the dressing proceeded; but save this, I had little consciousness of anything.
At length, like one awakening from a heavy slumber, with faculties half clouded by the dreamy past, I looked around me. All was still and motionless in the room. The doctor sat beside the sick man's bed; and Darby, his eyes riveted on me, knelt close to my chair, and held his hand upon the bandage over my wound.
A gentle tap here came to the door, and the child I had seen before entered noiselessly, and approaching the doctor, said, “the car is come, sir.”
The old man nodded in silence, and then, turning towards Darby, he whispered something in his ear. M'Keown sprang to his legs at once, his cheek flushed deeply, and his eyes sparkled with animation.
“I have it! I have it!” cried he, “There never was such luck for us before.”
With that he drew the old man to one side, and speaking to him in a low but rapid tone, evinced by the violence of his gestures and the tremulous eagerness of his voice how deeply he was interested.
“True enough, true enough,” said the old man, after a pause. “Poor Dan has but one more journey before him.”
“Is he able to bear it, doctor?” said Darby, pointing towards me with his finger; “that's all I ask. Has he the strength in him?”
“He'll do now,” replied the other, gruffly; “there's little harm done him this time. Let him taste that whenever you find him growing weak; and keep his head low, and there 's no fear of him.”
As he spoke, he took from a cupboard in the wall a small phial, which he handed to M'Keown, who received the precious elixir with as much reverence as though it contained the very wellspring of human existence. “And now,” said Darby, “the less time lost now the better; it will soon be daylight on us. Master Tom, can you rise, acushla? are you able to stand up?”
I made the effort as well as I could, but my limbs seemed chained down, and even my arm felt like lead beside me.
“Take him on your back,” said the old man, hurriedly; “you 'll stay here till sunrise. Take him downstairs, on your back, and when you have him in the open air, turn him towards the wind, and keep his head low,—mind that.”
I made another attempt to stand up; but before I could effect it, Darby's strong arms were round my waist, and I felt myself lifted on his shoulder and borne from the room, A muttered good-by passed between the others, and Darby began to descend the stairs cautiously, while the little child went before with a candle. As the street door was opened, I could perceive that a car and horse stood in waiting, accompanied by two men, who, the moment they saw me, sprang forward to Darby's assistance, and helped to place me on the car. M'Keown was soon beside me, and supporting my head upon his shoulder, he contrived to hold me in a leaning position, giving me at the same time the full benefit of the cool breeze, which already refreshed and restored me.
The vehicle now moved on in darkness and in silence. At first our pace was slow, but it gradually quickened as we passed along the quay; for as such I recognized it by the dull sound of the river near us. The bright lamps of the greater thoroughfares soon made their appearance; and as we traversed these, I could mark that our pace slackened to a walk, and that we kept the very middle of the wide street, as if to avoid observation. Gradually we emerged from this, and, as I heard by the roll of the wheels, reached the outskirts of the town. We had not been many minutes there when the horse was put to his speed, and the car whirled along at a tremendous rate. Excepting a sense of weight and stiffness in the side, I had no painful feeling from my wound; while the rapidity with which we passed through the air imparted a sensation of drowsiness far from unpleasant.
In this state I scarcely was conscious of what passed about me. Now and then some occasional halt, some chance interruption, would momentarily arouse me, and I could faintly hear the sound of voices; but of what they spoke I knew nothing. Darby frequently questioned me, but my utmost effort at reply was to press his hand. By times it would seem to me as though all I felt were but the fancies of some sick dream, which the morning should dispel and scatter. Then I thought that we were flying from an enemy, who pressed hotly on us, and gained at every stride; a vague, shadowy sense of some horrible event mingling with all, and weighing heavily on my heart.
As the time wore on, my senses became clearer, and I saw that we were travelling along the seaside. The faint gray light of breaking day shed a cold gleam across the green water, which plashed with a mournful cadence on the low, flat shore. I watched the waves as they beat with a heavy sough amid the scattered weeds, where the wild cry of the curlew mingled with the sound as he skimmed along the gloomy water, and my heart grew heavier. There is something—I know not what—terribly in unison with our saddest thoughts, in the dull plash of the sea at night: the loudest thunders of the storm, when white-crested waves rise high and break in ten thousand eddies on the dark rocks, are not so suggestive of melancholy as the sighing moan of the midnight tide. Long-buried griefs, long-forgotten sorrows, rise up as we listen; and we feel as though that wailing cry were the funeral chant over cherished hopes and treasured aspirations.
From my dark musings I was roused suddenly by Darby's voice, asking of the men who sat at the opposite side how the wind was.
“Westing by south,” replied one; “as fair as need be, if there was enough of it. But who knows, we may have a capful yet, when the sun gets up.”
“We 'll not have long to wait for that,” cried the other; “see there!”
I lifted my eyes as he spoke, and beheld the pink stain of coming day rising above the top of a large mountain.
“That's Howth,” said Darby, seizing with eagerness the proof of my returning senses.
“Come, press on as fast as you can,” said one of the men; “we must catch the ebb, or we'll never do it.”
“Where does she lie?” said Darby, in a low whisper.
“Under the cliffs, in Bolskaton Bay,” said the last speaker, whom I now perceived by his dress and language to be a sailor.
My curiosity was now excited to the utmost to know whither we were bound; and with an effort I articulated the one word, “Where?”
Darby's eyes brightened as I spoke; he pressed my hand firmly within his, but made no reply. Attributing his silence to caution, I pressed him no further; and indeed, already my former indifference came back on me, and I felt listless as before.
“Turn off there to the right,” cried the sailor to the driver. And suddenly we left the highroad, and entered a narrow byway, which seemed to lead along the side of the mountain close to the water's edge. Before we had proceeded far in this direction, a long, low whistle was heard from a distance.
“Stop there, stop!” said the sailor, as he knelt upon the car, and replied to the signal. “Ay, all right; there they are,” said he, as, pointing to a little creek between the rocks below us, we saw a small rowboat with six men lying on their oars.
“Can't he walk?” said the sailor, in a half whisper, as he stood beside the car. “Well, let 's lose no more time; we 'll take him down between us.”
“No, no,” said Darby; “put him on my back; I 'll do it myself.”
“The ground's slippier than you take it,” said the other; “my way 's the safest.”
With that he lifted me from the car, and placing me between Darby and himself, they grasped each other's hands beneath me, and soon began a descent which I saw would have been perfectly impracticable for one man to have accomplished with another on his back.
During the time, my desire to know where they were bringing me again grew stronger than ever; and as I turned to ask Darby, I perceived that the tears were coursing each other fast down his weatherbeaten cheeks, while his lips shook and trembled like one in an ague.
“Mind your footing there, my man, I say,” cried the sailor, “or you'll have us over the cliff.”
“Round the rock to the left there,” cried a voice from below. “That's it, that's it; now you're all right. Steady there; give me your hand.”
As he spoke, two men advanced from the boat, and assisted us down the sloping beach, where the wet seaweed made every step a matter of difficulty.
“Lay him in the stern there; gently, lads, gently,” said the voice of one who appeared the chief amongst them. “That's it; throw those jackets under his head. I say, piper, ar'n't you coming with us?”
But Darby could not speak one word. A livid pallor was over his features, and the tears fell, drop by drop, upon his cheek.
“Master Tom,” said he, at length, as his lips almost touched me, “my child, my heart's blood, you won't forget poor Darby. Ye 'll be a great man yet; ye 'll be all I wish ye. But will you remember a poor man like me?”
“Jump ashore there, my good fellow,” cried the coxswain; “we'll have enough to do to round the point before the tide ebbs.”
“One minit more, and God love ye for it,” said Darby, in a voice of imploring accent. “Who knows will we ever meet again; 't is the last time, maybe, I 'll ever look on him.”
I could but press his hand to my heart; for my agitation increased the debility I felt, and every effort to speak was in vain.
“One half minit more,—if it 's only that he 'll be able to say, 'God bless you, Darby!' and I 'll be happy.”
“Push off, my lads!” shouted the sailor, sternly; and as he spoke the oars plashed heavily in the sea, and the boat rocked over with the impulse. Twice the strong stroke of the oars sent the craft through the clear water, when the piper clasped his arm wildly around me, and kissing me on the cheek, he sprang over the side. The waves were nearly to his shoulders; but in a few seconds he had buffeted through them, and stood upon the shore.
With a last effort I waved my hand in adieu; and as I sank back exhausted, I heard a wild cry burst from him, half in triumph, half in despair. One glance more I caught of his figure as we stood out to sea; he was kneeling on the beach, bareheaded, and as if in prayer. The tears gushed from my eyes as I beheld him, and the long pent up sorrow at last broke forth, and I sobbed like a child.
“Come, come, my lad! don't feel downhearted,” said the sailor, laying his hand on my shoulder; “the world can scarce have been over rough to one so young as you are. Lift up your head, and see what a glorious morning we 've got! And there comes the breeze over the water. We hadn't such weather the last time we made this trip, I assure you.”
I looked up suddenly; and truly never did such a scene of loveliness meet my eyes. The sun had risen in all his glorious brilliancy, and poured a flood of golden light across the bay, tipping with a violet hue the far-off peaks of the Wicklow mountains, and lighting up the wooded valleys at their feet. Close above us rose the rugged sides of Howth in dark shadow; the frowning rocks and gloomy caverns contrasting with the glittering tints of the opposite coast, where every cottage and cliff sparkled in the dancing sunlight.
As we rounded the point, a cheer broke from the men, and was answered at once. I turned my head, and saw beneath the tall cliffs the taper spars of a small vessel, from which the sails hung listlessly, half brailed to the mast.
“There she lies,” said the skipper. “That 's the 'Saucy Sal,' my master; and if you're any judge of a craft, I think you 'll like her. Give way, lads,—give way; when that rock yonder 's covered, the tide is at the flood.”
The boat sprang to the strong jerk of their brawny arms, and in a few minutes glided into the little creek where the “Saucy Sal” lay at anchor.
Lifting me up, they placed me on board the little vessel; while, without losing a moment, they proceeded to ship the anchor and shake out the canvas. In less than five minutes the white sails bent to the breeze, the water rustled at the prow, and we stood out to sea.
“Where to?” said I, in a faint whisper, to the sailor who held the tiller beside me.
“Down Channel, sir.”
“And then?” asked I once more,—“and then?”
“That must depend on the revenue cruisers, I believe,” said he, more gruffly, and evidently indisposed to further questioning.
Alas! I had too little interest in life to care for where, and laying my head upon my arm, fell into a heavy stupor for several hours.
The hot sun, the breeze, the unaccustomed motion, and worse than all, the copious libations of brandy and water I was forced from time to time to take, gradually brought on fever; and before evening, a burning thirst and throbbing headache seized me, and my senses, that hitherto had been but lethargic, became painfully acute, and my reason began to wander. In this state I remained for days, totally unconscious of the flight of time; frightful images of the past pursuing each other through my heated brain, and torturing me with horrors unspeakable.
It was in one of my violent paroxysms I tore the bandage from my side, and reopening my half-healed wound, became in a moment deluged with blood. I have no memory of aught that followed; the debility of almost death itself succeeded, and I lay without sense or motion. To this circumstance I owed my life, for when I next rallied the fever had left me, my senses were unclouded, my cheek no longer burned, nor did my temples throb; and as the sea breeze played across my face, I drank it in with ecstasy, and felt once more the glorious sensations of returning health.
It was evening; the faint wind that follows sunset scarce filled the sails as we glided along through the waveless sea. I had been listening to the low, monotonous song of one of the sailors as he sat mending a sail beside me, when suddenly I heard a voice hail us from the water. The skipper jumped on the halfdeck, and immediately replied. The words I could not hear, but by the stir and movement about me I saw something unusual had occurred, and by an effort I raised my head above the bulwark and looked about me. A long, low craft lay close alongside us, filled with men, whose blue caps and striped shirts struck me as strange and uncommon, not less than their black belts and cutlasses, with which every man was armed. After an interchange of friendly greetings with our crew,—for such they seemed, although I could not catch the words,—she moved rapidly past us.
“There's their flotilla, sir,” said the helmsman, as he watched my eye while it wandered over the water.
I crept up higher, and followed the direction of his finger. Never shall I forget that moment. Before me, scarce as it seemed a mile distant, lay a thousand boats at anchor, beneath the shadow of tall sandhills, decorated with gay and gaudy pennons, crowded with figures whose bright colors and glittering arms shone gorgeously in the setting sunlight. The bright waves reflected the myriad tints, while they seemed to plash in unison with the rich swell of martial music that stole along the water with every freshening breeze. The shore was covered with tents, some of them surmounted with large banners that floated out gayly to the breeze; and far as the eye could reach were hosts of armed men dotted over the wide plain beside the sea. Vast columns of infantry were there,— cavalry and artillery, too,—their bright arms glittering, and their gay plumes waving, but all still and motionless, as if spellbound. As I looked, I could see horsemen gallop from the dense squares, and riding hurriedly to and fro. Suddenly a blue rocket shot into the calm sky, and broke in a million glittering fragments over the camp; the deep roar of a cannon boomed out; and then the music of a thousand bands swelled high and full, and in an instant the whole plain was in motion, and the turf trembled beneath the tramp of marching men. Regiment followed regiment, squadron poured after squadron, as they descended the paths towards the beach; while a long, dark line wound through the glittering mass, and marked the train of the artillery, as with caissons and ammunition wagons they moved silently over the grassy surface.
All that I had ever conceived of warlike preparation was as nothing to the gorgeous spectacle before me. The stillness of the evening air, made tremulous with the clang of trumpets and the hoarse roar of drums; the mirror-like sea, colored with the reflection of bright banners and waving pennants; and then the simultaneous step of the mighty army,—so filled up every sense that I feared lest all might prove the mere pageant of a dream, and vanish as it came.
“What a glorious sight!” cried I, at length, half wild with enthusiasm. “Where are we?”
“Where are we?” repeated the skipper, smiling. “Look out, and you 'll soon guess that. Are those very like the uniforms of King George? When did you see steel breastplates and helmets before? This is France, my lad!”
“France! France!” said I, stupefied with the mere thought.
“Yes, to be sure. That 's the Army of England, as they call it, you see yonder; they are practising the embarkation. See the red rockets! There they go,—three, four, five, six,—that's the signal. In less than half an hour thirty thousand men will be ready to embark. Mark how they press on faster and faster! and watch the cavalry, as they dismount and lead their horses down the steep! See how the boats pull in shore! But, hallo there! we shall get foul of the gunboats,—already we 've run in too close. Down helm, my lad; keep the headland yonder on your lee.”
As he spoke, the light craft bent over to the breeze, and skipped freely over the blue water. Each moment wafted us farther away from the bright scene, and soon a projecting point shut out the whole, save the swell of the brass bands as it floated on the breeze, and I might have believed it a mere delusion.
“They practise that manoeuvre often enough to know it well,” said the skipper, “sometimes at daybreak, now at noonday, and again, as we see, at sunset; and no one knows at what moment the attack that seems a feint may not turn out to be real. But here we are now alongside; our voyage is ended.”
The anchor plashed from our bow, while a signal was made from the shore and answered by us; and in an instant we were surrounded with boats.
“Ha, Antoine!” cried a sous-officier in a naval uniform, who sat on the gunwale of a long eight-oar gig, and touched his hat in recognition of our skipper; “what news outre mer? what are we doing in Ireland?”
“My young friend here must tell you that,” replied the skipper, laughingly, as he laid his hand on my shoulder. “Let me present him to you: Mr. Burke,—Lieutenant Brevix.”
The lieutenant saluted me politely; and then, springing up, he jumped gayly on board of us, and shook our hands with great appearance of cordiality.
“They 'll want to see you ashore, Antoine, as soon as may be; there are despatches going off to-night for Paris, and they 'll be glad to send the last accounts of the state of the Channel.”
“Light winds and no cruisers are all I have to tell them, then,” said the skipper.
The lieutenant now took him aside, and they conversed for some time in a low tone, during which I occupied myself by watching the sentinels who paraded incessantly to and fro along a low wooden pier that stretched out into the sea, and formed, with a promontory at some distance, a small harbor. Their watch seemed of the most vigilant, if I might judge from the low but continued cry which passed from mouth to mouth of “Sentinelle, prenez garde a vous;” while from each boat across the harbor a sing-song note chanted in response the monotonous sounds, “Bon quart!” as each quarter of an hour stole past.
These precautions against the approach of any strange craft extended, as I afterwards learned, along the entire coast from Dieppe to Ostend; yet were they not sufficient to prevent frequent visits from the English spies, who penetrated into every quarter of the camp, and even had the hardihood to visit the theatre of the town, and express loudly their disapprobation of the performance.
“You 'd better come ashore with me, sir,” said the lieutenant; “Colonel Dorsenne will be glad to ask you some questions. What papers have you got?”
“None, save a few private letters,” said I, somewhat confused at the question.
“No matter,” said he, gayly. “I hear from Antoine you wish to join the service here. That wish is your best recommendation to the colonel; he 'll not trouble you for reasons, I warrant you. Conduct monsieur to the quartier-général,” said the lieutenant to a corporal, who, with his party of four men, stood awaiting at the landing-place the arrival of any one from the boats; and in an instant, the men falling to each side of me, took their way along the pier.
I could mark as we went that more than once their looks were bent on me with an expression of compassion and pity, which at the time I was at a loss to explain. I knew not then that the road we were taking was that which so often led to death; and that it was only on the very day before, two Englishmen were shot for having ventured on shore without authority.
The consigne of the corporal passed us through one post after another, until we reached the open plain, over which now the night was falling fast. A lantern at some distance off marked the quarters of the officer on duty; and thither we directed our steps, and at last reached a small wooden hut, from within which the sounds of mirth and revelry proceeded. The voice of the sentinel who challenged us brought an officer to the door, who the moment his eyes fell on me stepped back, and passing his hand hurriedly across his forehead muttered, half inaudibly, “Another already!”
While he retired into an inner apartment, I had time to look at the singular decorations which adorned the walls of the antechamber. Around on every side, and arranged like trophies, were grouped the weapons of different arms of the service, surmounted with some device emblematic of their peculiar character; or sometimes the mere record of some famous battle in which they had pre-eminently distinguished themselves. Here were the long, straight swords of the cuirassier crossed above the steel breastplate, and surmounted by the heavy helmet half hid in leopard skin, and bearing the almost effaced word “Arcole” in front; there was the short carbine of the voltigeur, over which hung the red cap and its gay gold tassel, with the embroidered motto “En avant” in gold letters. The long and graceful weapon of the lancer, the curved sabre of the chasseur à cheval, even the axe of the pioneer was not wanting,—displaying at a glance some trait of every branch of the mighty force that bore the proud designation of “La Grande Armée.”
I was busily engaged inspecting these when the door opened, and an officer in full uniform appeared. His figure was above the middle size, strongly and squarely built; and his bronzed features, and high, bold forehead, gave him a soldier-like air.
“Your name, sir,” said he, quickly, as he drew himself up before me, and looked sternly in my face.
“Burke,—Thomas Burke.”
“Write it down, Auguste,” said he, turning to a young officer, who stood, pen in hand, behind him.
“Your rank or profession?”
“Gentilhomme,” said I, not knowing that the word expressed nobility.
“Ah, pardieu,” cried he, as he showed his white teeth in a grin; “produce your papers, if you have any.”
“I have nothing save those letters,” said I, handing him those of De Meudon.
Scarce had his eye glanced over them, when I saw his color heighten and his cheek tremble.
“What!” cried he, “are you the same young Irishman who is mentioned here, the constant companion and friend of poor Charles? He was my schoolfellow; we were at Brienne together. What a mistake I was about to fall into! How did you come, and when?”
Before I could reply to any of his many questions, the naval officer I had met at the harbor entered, and delivered his report.
“Yes, yes; I know it all,” said Dorsenne, hurriedly throwing his eye over it. “It 's all right, perfectly right, Brevix. Let Capitaine Antoine be examined at the quartier-général. I 'll take care of monsieur here. And, to begin; come and join us at supper.”
Passing his arm familiarly over my shoulder, he led me into the adjoining room, where two other officers were seated at a table covered with silver dishes and numerous flasks of wine. A few words sufficed for my introduction; and a few glasses of champagne placed me as thoroughly at my ease as though I had passed my life amongst them, and never heard any other conversation than the last movement of the French army, and their projects for future campaigns.
“And so,” said the colonel, after hearing from me a short account of the events which had induced me to turn my eyes to France,—“and so you'd be a soldier? Eh bien! see nothing better going myself. There 's Davernac will tell you the same, though he has lost his arm in the service.”
“Oui, pardieu,” said the officer on my right; “I am not the man to dissuade him from a career I 've ever loved.”
“À vous, mon ami,” said the young officer who first addressed me on my arrival, as he held out his glass and clinked it against mine. “I hope we shall have you one of these days as our guide through the dark streets of London. The time may not be so distant as you think; never shake your head at it.”
“It is not that I would mean,” said I, eagerly.
“What then?” said the colonel. “You don't suppose such an expedition as ours could fail of success?”
“Nor that either,” replied I; “I am not so presumptuous as to form an opinion on the subject.”
“Diantre, then! what is it?”
“Simply this: that whatever fortune awaits me, I shall never be found fighting against the country under whose rule I was born. England may not be—alas! she has not been—just to us. But whatever resistance I might have offered in the ranks of my countrymen, I shall never descend to in an invading army. No, no; if France have no other war than with England,—if she have not the cause of Continental liberty at heart,—she 'll have no blood of mine shed in her Service.”
“Sacristi!” said the colonel, sipping his wine coolly, “you had better keep these same opinions of yours to your self. There 's a certain little General we have at Paris who rarely permits people to reason about the cause of the campaign. However, it is growing late now, and we 'll not discuss the matter at present. Auguste, will you take Burke to your quarters? And to-morrow I 'll call on the general about his brevet for the Polytechnique.”
I felt now that I had spoken more warmly than was pleasing to the party; but the sentiments I had announced were only such as in my heart I had resolved to abide by, and I was pleased that an opportunity so soon offered to display them. I was glad to find myself at rest at last; and although events pressed on me fast and thick enough to have occupied my mind, no sooner had I laid my head on my pillow than I fell into a sound sleep.