aid was all right, Ireland was
badly treated,' and so on; 'liberty was an elegant thing if a body had
it,' and such like; but there ended his patriotism.

Accustomed for many a day to the habits of a people where all were
politicians, where the rights of man and the grand principles of
equality and self-government were everlastingly under discussion, I was,
I confess it, sorely disappointed at this worse than apathy.

'Will they fight?--ask him that,' said Gharost, to whom I had been
conveying a rather rose-coloured version of my friend's talk.

'Oh, begorra! we 'll fight sure enough!' said he, with a half-dogged
scowl beneath his brows.

'What number of them may we reckon on in the neighbourhood?' repeated
the colonel.

''Tis mighty hard to say; many of the boys were gone over to England for
the harvest; some were away to the counties inland, others were working
on the roads; but if they knew, sure they 'd be soon back again.'

'Might they calculate on a thousand stout, effective men?' asked
Charost.

'Ay, twenty, if they were at home,' said the peasant, less a liar by
intention than from the vague and careless disregard of truth so common
in all their own intercourse with each other.

I must own that the degree of credit we reposed in the worthy man's
information was considerably influenced by the state of facts before
us, inasmuch as that the 'elegant, fine harbour' he had so gloriously
described--'the beautiful road'--'the neat little quay' to land upon,
and the other advantages of the spot, all turned out to be most grievous
disappointments. That the people were not of our own mind on these
matters, was plain enough from the looks of astonishment our discontent
provoked; and now a lively discussion ensued on the relative merits of
various bays, creeks, and inlets along the coast, each of which, with
some unpronounceable name or other, was seen to have a special advocate
in its favour, till at last the colonel lost all patience, and jumping
into the boat, ordered the men to push off for the frigate.

Evidently out of temper at the non-success of his reconnaissance, and as
little pleased with the country as the people, Gharost did not speak a
word as we rowed back to the ship. Our failure, as it happened, was of
little moment, for another party, under the guidance of Madgett, had
already discovered a good landing-place at the bottom of the Bay of
Rathfran, and arrangements were already in progress to disemb