The Osceola times., 1882-12-16
begged Maher TO
SPARE THF LIFE OF HER COUSIN,

SPARE THF LIFE OF HER COUSIN,
and he promised 10 do so. On the Monday
night set for the wholesale assassination,
anxiety for the life Of her cousin induced
Mary Kelly TO rise from her bed at mid
night and cautiously creep along the
hedges 10 Maher's house. There she hid
herself. At length the door opened, and
crouching close under the brambles TO
avoid discovery, which would have been
death, Mary marked the murderers as
they came forth Eight of them she dis
tinctly recognized. Some of them carried
pieces of turf lighted at the ends. Trem-
bling and tcrror-struck she followed them
from hedge to hedge till they stopped
and Mary hid herself at "A short distance
from the Sheas' house. 4 fire suddenly
appeared in the roof The wind was high
and the fire rose rapidly into flame un-
til the whole house was in blaze, cast
ing around the rocky glen n frightful
splcndor, and furnishing in its diffusion
of light the means of bcholding all that
took place close to the burning cottage,
in which shrieks and cries for mercy were
heard. The murderers had secured the
doors, and stood about gazing exultingly
on the pitiless conflagation. They an
swered the cries for mercy with yells of
savage laughter and discharged their guns
to celebrate their victory.
Sometimes there was a pause in their
demoniac shouts. Nothing then was
heard but the cracking of the flames that
threw far and wide their desolate illum-
nation. The solitary witness of this
scene, Mary Kelly, declared that in the
temporary abatement of the wind she
could hear the heart-rending
GRoANs OF THE DYING
and the gasps of agony which concluded
their tortures Soon all was over. The
roof fell in, and the ruins of the cottage
became sepulchre.
German and Maber, the leaders of this
band of internal fends, returned by the
path by which they had come. They
passed Mary's place of concealment, and
German amused the party of red-handed
assassins by mimicking the groans of the
dying, and laughing ever their agonies.
As morning broke, Mary Kelly, haggard
afirighted, and laden with terrible knowl-
edge, dragged herself to her miserable
home, keeping the secret even from her
husband; nor did she even dare to re-
proach Maher with the murder of Cath
crime Mullaly. STILL the deeds which she
had seen were burned in dreadful colors
in her mind. The recollection of the
frightful spectacle never left her.
SHE COULD NOT SLEEP,
and, haunted by images of terror, would
rise in the dead Of night and wander over
the lonely glen in which she had seen
such ghastly sights. There she would
remain until morning broke, and then
return wild and wan to her home She
was pursued by the spectre of her wretch
ed cousin, and whenever she lay down
to rest the image of Catherine Mullaly
rose up before her holding in her hands
her child, as black as a coal.
At length Mary's conscience got the
better of her fear and she confessed all
to a priest, who prevailed on her to give
information to the authorities, which she
did sixteen months after the tragedy.
German and Maher were executed; the
rest escaped with lighter punishment. To
this day the terrible story of the Sheas
is related to the traveller as he descends
the narrow defile of Glenbower. The
dark and gloomy glen in which the saw
age deed was done can be seen when the
mists that hang upon the lofty ridge do
not hide it, and ii is always with awe,
assisted by the loneliness and dreariness
of the scene, that the passer-by turns to-
ward that dismal valley, directed by the
remark, "There is the place where the
Sheas were burned"