gh my mind; and as the storm would shake the rude
door, I would stand up with eagerness, hoping every moment to see
him enter. But the day moved on, and the dusky half-light of a wintry
afternoon was falling, and Darby made not his appearance. When I spoke
of him to the others, they expressed no surprise at his absence, merely
remarking that he was always uncertain,--no one knew when to expect him;
that he rarely came when they looked for him, and constantly dropped in
when no one anticipated it.

"There he is now, then!" said one of the young men, springing up and
opening the door; "I hear his voice in the glen."

"Do you see him, Maurice?" cried Malone. "Is it him?"

The young man stepped back, his face pale as death, and his mouth partly
open.

He whispered a word in the old man's ear; to which the other
responded,--"Where?"

The youth pointed with his finger. "How many are they?" was his next
question, while his dark eye glanced towards the old musket that hung on
the wall above the fire.

"Too many,--too many for us," said Maurice, bitterly.

The women, who had gathered around the speaker, looked at each other
with an expression of utter wretchedness, when one of them, breaking
from the others, rushed into the little inner room off the kitchen, and
slammed the door violently behind her. The next instant the sound of
voices was heard from the room, as if in altercation. Malone turned
round at once, and throwing the door wide open, called out,--

"Be quiet, I say; there's not a moment to be lost. Maurice, put that gun
away; Shamus, take up your net again; sit down, girls."

At the same instant he drew from his bosom a long horse pistol,
and having examined the loading and priming, replaced it within his
waistcoat, and sat down on a chair beside the fire, his strongly marked
countenance fixed on the red blaze, while his lips muttered rapidly some
words to himself.

"Are ye ready there?" he cried, as his eyes were turned towards the
small door.

"In a minit," said the woman from within.

At the same instant the sounds of voices and the regular tramp of men
marching were heard without.

"Halt! stand at ease!" called out a deep voice; and the clank of the
muskets as they fell to the ground was heard through the cabin.

Meanwhile, every one within had resumed his previous place and
occupation, and the buzz of voices resounded through the kitchen as
though no interruption whatever had taken place. The lat