ith a candle in one hand and a revolver in the other, with
which he was rubbing his sleepy eyes.

'"Singular time of night, John, to try chemical experiments without our
permission, is it not?" said my father.

'Then John and my mother went downstairs to inspect the premises; of the
back windows, thirty-four in number, there was not a bit of glass as big
as a threepenny piece left. Our brougham was in the yard; the window
next the explosion was intact, but the one on the further side was blown
to smithereens.

'The servants were very scared, and one maid having rushed straight to a
sitting-room, was there found hysterically embracing a sofa cushion.

'We received one odd claim for compensation. An old woman living half a
mile off complained that the force of the explosion had knocked some of
the plaster off the wall, and that it had fallen into a pan full of
milk, spoiling it.

'Whilst we were all chattering about the outrage, father said:--

'"Don't be uneasy about a mere dynamite explosion; it's like an
Irishman's pig, you want it to go one way and it invariably goes in the
other."

'And with that he went off to bed again, with the remark about having a
quiet night which he has mentioned earlier in this chapter.

'The only other thing which I now recall is, that a detachment of the
Buffs in the neighbourhood had found us the only people to entertain
them.

'On being told that Edenburn had been blown up, one of them said:--

'"They were the only neighbours we had to talk to, and the brutes would
not leave us them as a convenience."'

The Cork correspondent of the _Times_ wrote:--

'Among the general body of the people of Kerry, the news of the attempt
to blow up Mr. Hussey's house at Edenburn caused comparatively little
excitement. In the County Club at Tralee, the announcement was received
with something like a panic. Hitherto, persons who considered themselves
in danger were careful to be within their homes before darkness had set
in, and when going abroad had a following of police for their
protection. Now it is shown that their houses may prove but a sorry
shelter, even when a protective force of police is about, and it is no
wonder that, with the terrible example furnished in this instance of the
daring of those who commit foul crimes, the class against whom the
outrages are directed should be filled with fears for the future. The
people generally show but small interest in the occurrence.

'The at