man. Your lies and folly have confirmed me. You pretend to
carry despatches to a general who has been dead these ten months: you
have an uncle who is an ambassador, and whose name forsooth you don't
know. Will you join and take the bounty, sir; or will you be given up?'
'Neither!' said I, springing at him like a tiger. But, agile as I was,
he was equally on his guard. He took two pistols out of his pocket,
fired one off, and said, from the other end of the table where he stood
dodging me, as it were,--
'Advance a step, and I send this bullet into your brains!' In another
minute the door was flung open, and the two sergeants entered, armed
with musket and bayonet to aid their comrade.
The game was up. I flung down a knife with which I had armed myself; for
the old hag on bringing in the wine had removed my sword.
'I volunteer,' said I.
'That's my good fellow. What name shall I put on my list?'
'Write Redmond Barry of Bally Barry,' said I haughtily; 'a descendant of
the Irish kings!'
'I was once with the Irish brigade, Roche's,' said the recruiter,
sneering, 'trying if I could get any likely fellows among the few
countrymen of yours that are in the brigade, and there was scarcely one
of them that was not descended from the kings of Ireland.'
'Sir,' said I, 'king or not, I am a gentleman, as you can see.'
'Oh! you will find plenty more in our corps,' answered the Captain,
still in the sneering mood. 'Give up your papers, Mr. Gentleman, and let
us see who you really are.'
As my pocket-book contained some bank-notes as well as papers of Mr.
Fakenham's, I was not willing to give up my property; suspecting very
rightly that it was but a scheme on the part of the Captain to get and
keep it.
'It can matter very little to you,' said I, 'what my private papers are:
I am enlisted under the name of Redmond Barry.'
'Give it up, sirrah!' said the Captain, seizing his cane.
'I will not give it up!' answered I.
'HOUND! do you mutiny?' screamed he, and, at the same time, gave me a
lash across the face with the cane, which had the anticipated effect
of producing a struggle. I dashed forward to grapple with him, the two
sergeants flung themselves on me, I was thrown to the ground and
stunned again; being hit on my former wound in the head. It was bleeding
severely when I came to myself, my laced coat was already torn off my
back, my purse and papers gone, and my hands tied behind my back.
The great and illu
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