Litchfield enquirer., 1879-11-20
HID IN A TURF-RICK.
AN IRIH EPISODE.
AN IRIH EPISODE. BY T. PRESTON BATTERsBY, LIEUTENANT, ROYAL

ARTILLERY. ... ''The Irish are a fine race!''
 'That's your opinion,. is it ?"
 The speakers were myself and Ellerslie, cap-
 tain in the Royal Engineers, or the ''Sap-
 pers, as we called them in populars phrase | ology. Place, the smoking room of the R. A.
 mess at Woolwich. Time. anywhere in the l small hours. When 1 say that of the above sentences the first was spoken by me- I shall
 be in position to plunge at once Sn mset5i1s res. After uttering the above oracular answer Elierslie puffed away silently at his long | Havannah for a while. I did not'interrupt him, for saw a twinkle in his eye, and knew that there was something coming presently.
 He was one of those men whose thoughts it is
 not we'll to hurry, for fear of losing their thread altogether
 At last it came as I anticipated.
 II don't think 1 ever told you, did I, of my adventures in that lovely country? In fact. the story is so much against myself, that I | thought it just as well to keep it dark. How
 ever, if you will swear solemnly to be silent as the grave,' don't mind telling you now. At all events, it is not bad joke as it turned
 out though it might have been serious one." Of course l promised inviolable secrecy, however good the story might be, and having | fortified himself with brandy -and-soda, Eller- | slie began:
 II daresay you know that in the spring of 1S7-I was sent to Ireland on special service to see about building new barracks in two or | three places where they were needed, especial | ly at Longford where the Government had at l that time an idea of quartering whole caval- l " regiment, though now 1 believe they have come down to one troop of Scots Grays 1 l was rather pleased with the commission, for l had never been to the Emerald Isle before, and saw my way to pleasant little excursion at Government expense. Of course as all my disbursements en route were to be paid for me by the liberality of my country, l chose the
 most convenient way of getting to my desti-
 nation, and travelled, via Euston and Holy head, by the night-mail, the Wild Irishman, l believe they call it.
 ''We left Huston at 8.25 p. m. didn'tfeel
 much inclined to sleep, and you know am great smoker, so turned into compartment sacred to the consumption of the soothing l weed. There was only one other occupant | besides myself a man of about forty, well dressed, but not to my mind a gentleman.
 Indeed, at first sight, I put him down to be
 what he was, well-to-do Irish farmer return ing from business trip to town, and indulg-
 ing himself in the unwonted luxury of first class carriage.
 'Whatever other faults those Irish have,
 they are certainly most friendly race. By
 the time we got to Rugby had told my fel-
 low-traveIer all about my projected plans for
 seeing his native county, and found that he re-
 joced in the name of Cormack, and lived in
 the county Westmeath, not far from the Long, | ford boundary. Before we reached Chester we were sworn friends, and by the time we
 arrived at Holyhead 1 had promised to pay
 him a visit duringShy stay in his part of the | country. Yhis visit it was which gave me such taste of Irish customs as could very we'll have dispensed with
 'Not to delay too long, I shall pass over all
 the incidents of my first fortnight or so in the
 Emerald Isle, they being no doubt exactly
 what any one else would have experienced un-
 der like circumstances. At length reached Longford, got through my work there, and de-
 termined to call on my new made friend; for
 which purpose 1 took train to little station
 called Edgeworthstown, and there obtained an . outside with lean horse and a very rag
 ged driver, who undertook for the sum of
 eighteen-pence per double mile Qrish) to con- vey me to my destination. As to the name of
 the said destination, dare not venture on it.
 It began with the usual 'Bally,' ended, Ithink,
 with y, and had I fancy about four sylla- bles between, of nature utterly unpronounce- able to English lips. Suffice to say that we
 got there at length, and pulled up at the door of very respectable slated farmhouse, with
 matched out-buildings and a well-kept grass | field, on which two or three colts were feeding
 of slinness of limb and beauty of make that proclaimed their owner racing man. ''The said owner met me at the door with an effusive welcome, and asked me into we'll furnished parlor the taste of whose ornaments contrasted favorably with what should have expected in the house of English farmer of
 the same rank. Presently the mistress of the
 house and a pretty fresh looking daughter entered and shook hands with me with native
 politeness. 1 expressed wish to see the farm,
 and Cormack readily offered to show it to me,
 first, however saying a few words in a low tone to his wife, who went out of the room. A motnent after heard wheels driving away outside
 Only the Car, yer honor,' said Cormack, in answer to :;ly look of inquiry, I made free to send it away for yc: it's with us yell be stopping now, please God
 'lt was true enough. My faithless Jehu, having been paid in advance by me. had been only too ready to depart, and, unless chose to walk back to Edgeworthstown, which dld not feel inclined to do, was to all intents and purposes fixture. At first 1 was inclined to be annoyed, but the exquisite naiveness of the whole proceeding amused me, and was really hattered by the solicitude of my would-be host; so, after few half-relnonstrances, l was in- duced to write telegram for my baggage, which Cormack confided to young imp who appeared to be doing odd jobs about the place, bidding him run over to the post-off1ce and give it to Mister Moran himself, and tell him it's immadiate.
 'I stayed some little time at the Cormacks seeing the country in company with my host, and forming my ideas of Irish political econo- niy as it is and as it should be, which being rather nobby of mine I won't trouble you with. There was gentleman's family living in the neighborhood, which 1 soon made the acquaintance of, as in that out-of -the-way To- na ha rrix 1,f event as that of foreign potentate in London. Several afternoons l spent pleasantly at the
 big house, playing lawn-tennis with the young ladies of the place, whom found to be far more proficient in the art than their En- glish sisters, probably from the solitude of their country life having obliged them to con- centrate their energies on that particular form of amusement.
 "One day that had been spending in the above manner, and on which had accepted kind invitation to dinner efa fansille, noticed that MT. M--seemed more absent than usual, and trif1e quick-tempered, as though he had been annoyed by something or somebody When the ladies had left us, and we were sit- ting over the usual postprandial bottle of wine he took letter from his pocket and showed it to me-
 ' That's the kind of thing we have to put up with here, MT. Elersle,' You mustn't go away with you ideas of the country too much cOatIeNr de rose |s
 "1hot was in truth strange production. It was written, or rather loboriousy printed. on sheet of course paper, headed by rough but spirited drawing of cofins and bell-mouthed blunderbusses. Below was the following com position, of which made copy out of curios- ity:
 'M. M.DoNT. GO. TO. MOTE. oR l. wL B. YooR. END. LET. IT. B. RrT. OR. WRONG. LET. PVT. HIGGINS, STFY. AT. OME' '* s.f
 'sI looked at my host for an explanation.
 '' 1t is threatening letter, said he, 'and not the first either that have received The graphic principle, with the caution that most of the As and L's are upside down. The meaning is, that one of my tenants having against my express orders ploughed up grass field, have gwen him notice to quit, and went into Moate yesterday to consult my at torney as to what compensation was obliged tr, .s.