Year: 1866

DAY, JANUARY 26, 18(


straight to the door, but saw no one il
| or Immediately near the cabin; the ligh
/ came from large peat-fire, piled upon ,
! hearthstOne at one side of the room; 81
/ bright was the illumination, that it no
| only disclosed every object inside, but
| enabled me to notice distinctly the nature
/ and peculiarly of the building without
/ hesltated to enter notwithstanding the
| tempting look of the fire, where there
was no one to invite me. I called loudly
once or twice, but no reply came: and
at length passed within the doorway. and
proceeded without any ceremony to warm
my limbs at the welcome blaze "Some
one Is sure to be here in two or three
minutes, L thought; this FIRE has been
freshly made up." The room where I
stood seemed to be the only one the place
could boast of, and wretched enough it
was; an old bedstead, with a tattered
curtain, occupied one corner; beside the
fire rose huge pile of dried sticks, flung
loosely together, that nearly reached the
ceiling; a large log Cf timber, against the
wall at the side opposite the fire. formed
kind Of rude seat, while a stool or two





remainder of the furniture When some
short time elapsed. begun to feel lit


g EorvOus at the position IN which I
found myself. Apart from the Yexation


experienced at having gone astray, and
the difficulty / might find In reaching
Dublin IN time for my college duties, /
remembered the troubled state of the
country; and this lonely spot at the foot
Of the mountain, was no desirable place
to be caught IN at night alone and IN
armed.


CHAPTER II.


was celebrating whether I had bet
ter make another attempt to find my way,
or stay until some one came, when the
dead silence was broken by the noise of
evidently more than one person approach
ing. As the party came nearer, l could
discern that some conflict or struggle was
going on; at first, there were no voices,
but peculiar painting sound, such as ac-
companies the movement of people where
effort is made by resistance, until at
length, IN a low, deep voice, like the
grOwl of mastIff, the words reached me.
Curse you, will you come on? I'll
knock you on the head If you don't. p
The Ominous tone in which this brief
sentence was uttered, evidently closing
the doorway, made me bound back from
the glare of the fire, and without a mo-
menUs thought, l glided in behind the pile
of bruhsWood before referred to, between
which and the end-wall of the cabin, a
narrow passage afforded bare space for
concealment. [ had scarcely effected my
purpose, when three men entered the
apartment, or rather two, dragging anoth-
er between them. Shut the door, Bill, F"
gasped the elder of the two for he was
On of aTr-ITa sol
The younger man addressed as Bill com
piled, and then drew large iron bar across
the closed entrance. The screen behind
which | was ensconsced was so lOosly con-
strucued that | could see through the
interstices all that went forward, while
I devoutly hoped that it would prove suf-
ficient to hide me from observation The
third individual of the party, who seemed
to have been brought in as a prisoner,
was a mere STRIPPING, did not look more
than twenty, and had l could notice by
the freight, an expression of extreme
alarm on his pale yeung face as he looked
upon his captors. 'There p cried the
elder man, giving him a violent push
backwards, and shaking his closed fist at
him, you are cocht at last, you miserable
spalpeen you! l had my eye on you when
you little thought 1t. I suspected you
even the very night you took the oath
and tonight [ tracked you down to the
police barrack, and saw what you were
after; but as there's a heaven above US,
it's the last chance you'll ever get Of do
ing the like +,


I tell you Barney, on my solemn oath, y
began the young man, in voice that
trembled with agitation but before he
could utter another word, quick sharp
knocking at the door interrupted him,
and seemed to startle the whole party.
The two men looked inqUiringIy at each
other for a moment "Oh !" exclaimed
the younger, who had been addressed as
Bill, - tbs Gran, I suppose ;" and walk
ing forward, he admitted after a moments S
parley, an old gray haired woman, with a
cloak thrown over her head. An where
were you, now, at this hour of the even
ing ?" asked Barney, accompanying the
inquiry with an oath.


AN where was I, is that it? Afther
them devils of goats there, that were
wanthering off a good two mile or more
from here; and near enough l was, bad
luck to them tumbling in the dark into
the Wizards Hole above there, in the bog
and tbs night, glory be to God, that
would shiver the heart out " your body
But what's along here p asked the old
woman suddenly. What's the mather
Isn't this Ned Sweeney


Matter enough /" returned Barney,
gruf1y. He only wanted to get the rope
around my neck and Bills here he was
turnin' informer on our hands but new
er you fear; we'll stop that work. Here,
Bill, lend a hand, will ye, and the speak
CT strobe across the room with some
strong cord in his hand, that he had
drawn from his pocket The poor youth
uttered cry of terror that rung through
the whole place as the two men seized
him.


Il tell you, Barney" he cried implor-
ingly, Il wasn't going to tell a word to a
mortal soul; all 1 wanted, with COnnors
was to ask him about the rabbits at the
colonels."


whist your iabber, you thin-skinned
Yarmint, you. Keep your breath to cool
your porridge. [ wouldn't believe ye, if
ye kissed all the books in the barony.
Ye'd have told that same foxy cub of a
peeler of our tramp tonight If l didn t
stop your tongue. Ha you'll never see
daylight again, plase providence. Here,
Bill, tie that knot tight, will ye ?"


could see from the spot where l was
sheltered that, after a brief and feeble
struggle, their unfortunate victim had
been bound hand and foot, and was left
sitting upon the log of timber before men,
toned | was at first so absorbed In IN
terest at what I had witnessed, as to be
half uncOncious of my own peril, but a
terrible sense Of it soon recurred. That
had most unfortunately fallen upon a
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