The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-09-30


offered commission in his corps but,
with a reticence there was no breaking
down, had declined it. He very seldom
spoke, and 1 never saw smile disturb
the wave of that heavy black mustache.
Ireton, though he looked young, was
fully fifty. . =, = ..-
Ireton, the messman will give you a
basket of provisions follow up the
stream to the outlet of the lake, and
leave it in the cove for Miss Martin.
Slip blanket on your mare, and do not
mention the character of your mission
to any one. Here is your pass, and the
word is Water the countersign 'loo.'"
have previously reverted to the evi.
dences of the fearful famine which was
beginning to pervade the whole land
from Skibbereen to Galway. The Irish
potato-that succulent which constituted
the sole subsistence of the Irish peas
antry-had been DESTROYED bv a disease
that fell as blight upon the crop be-
fore it had half matured. The Irish, in
those days, had no other conception of
food but potatoes and milk, chickens and
q hog, the latter of which We're devoted
to paying rent and the priest. The
spread of the potato disease was so rapid
| anu 81 SclltIul, Ullt
with the interior 80 defective, and the
government of Great Britain so shame
fully neglectful, that hundreds had
starved TO death in Connaught before
Downing street had received any intima-
tion of the terrible distress that had be-
fallen poor Ireland. What private re-
sources could do--what such men as fill
ed the official rank of the army then in
Ireland, in the institution of soup kitch-
ems, and endeavoring to instruct the
wretched people how to make bread
was done. L know we took the allow
ances Of oats for our horses, half the
rations from the men, and stopped our
own mess, to provide the soup kitchens
with material. For all that, we were
under heavy escort duty, and we shared
very nearly the common lot around us.
So, in our terrible escort work, we
would enter once thriving village, and
meet funeral procession of living
skeletons, bearing some stiffened enact
alton of humanity to its grave, and sit
ting in the sunshine, propped for very
weakness, would be poor little children
in the last apathy of utter starvation,
smiling and even laughing to them
selves. The sight of such scenes would
have melted heart of steel, and 1 have
seen grave, bronzed old soldiers cry like
women over such hapless, but common,
Illustrations of famine it was beyond
our power to relieve. Often, indeed,
did we dismount and try and induce
these poor little things to accept food,
but they were past the effort to swallow.
Despite our soup kitchens, our forays
among the wild fowl and game, and the
active benevolence of such women rs
Miss Martin, the famine increased, and
with it agragrian outrage became rife
among the Connemaras. We were in
great perplexity, and the men and horses
suffering from hunger, and yet the gov
ernment seemed insensible to the ex-
tremity. / had sent Ireton to them
tain lake, and 1 observed his name was
absent at muster-roll the same night,
and the sergeant of the guard could give
no information. Now, for a man of Ire
tons regular habits, this seemed
strange. [ sought Sir William Russell,
and he highly disapproved my sending
Ireton to the lake. In fact, high words
passed between us. 1t was late at night
that | started, of my own volition and
contrary to our orders, to search for Ire
ton. In the abrupt, hasty conversation
with Sir William, 1 had CLEANED clew
to IetOns actual identity, and I was
filled with alarm for his safety.
My horse, though thoroughbred,
had great difficulty in carrying me to
the cove where had parted with Miss
Martin. 1t was a brilliant moonlight,
and l tethered him some little distance
below the old trysting place. / could
plainly hear voices in the distance loud
in alteration. A pistol shot, and then
a horse dashed through the brushwood
towards me. [ knew the dark bay at
4 glance, and calling her by name she
came up to me, looking wild and alarm
ed, and snorting as horses do when
startled by some hidden danger. L
qnieted her and secured her by the hal
ter chain. Then ] ran rapidly to the
lake margin and could see the silvery
path made by boat vigorously propell-
ed from the shore, but too obscure to
distinguish whom it might contain. A
stifed groan attracted my attention to
the fallen tree where, ON my previous
visit, had met Miss Martin, and ap.
preaching nearer found her kneeling,
her face covered with her hands, and in
her lap lay the head of a man. Half
PCbIlLCo Mlbh llOlIOlj l. bcnU ON6E IL anu
recognized it as Ireton's, quite dead.
"Miss Martin, l exclaimed, putting
my hand on her shoulder, "who has
done this internal work." But she gave
me no reply, merely looking up with
silly smile, and said 4: Glow handsome
my lord looks even in DEATH"
Her intellect was gone. The silver
cord was snapped, indeed, for them
both
The explanation of this terrible
tragedy was subsequently given by the
confession of the murderer and the
secret knowledge possessed by our
commanding officer, and in subsequent
years confirmed by Miss Martin when
eventually she recovered her reason.
Ireton was really Lord Dunston, who
for some unexplained reason had en-
listed and renounced his title and social
position. He had met Miss Martin, and
a mutual passion was conceived for each
other. But Dunston had an unknown
rival who watched and detected his
secret meetings with Miss Martin. He
had overheard my previous conversation
with her, and had waited and surprised
them, and had assailed the soldier,
whom, after fierce struggle, he sue
ceeded in shooting in the presence of
the lady. 1t was all that our force could
do when the murderer was captured to
save him from the fury of the outraged
tenantry of Connemara, and the scene
at the scatfold on the day of his execu-
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