Dick."

"Afther waitin' in the still-house till what we thought was the proper
time, we went to O'Driscol's, and first struv to get in quietly, but you
see we had no friends in the camp, for the men-servants all sleep in the
outhouses, barrin' the butler; an' he's not the thing for Ireland. Well
and good, although among ourselves, it was anything but well and good
this night; however, we demanded admittance, an' jist as if they had
been on the watch for us--a windy was raised, and a voice called out to
us to know what we wanted.

"'Neither to hurt or harm any one in the house,' we said, 'or belongin'
to it; but there is a stranger in it that we must have out.'

"'Ay,' said another voice, that several of us knew to be Mr. Alick
Purcel's; 'here I am--you scoundrels, but that's your share of me. If
you don't begone instantly,' says he, swearin' an oath, 'we'll shoot you
like dogs where you stand.'

"'We know you, Mr. Purcel,' says we, 'but it isn't you we want
to-night--your turn's to come yet; time about is fair play. It's
M'Carthy we want.'

"'You must want him, then,' says young O'Driscol, 'for he's not here;
and even if he was, you should fight for him before you'd get him--but
what might your business be wid him?' he asked. 'Why,' says we,
'there's a man among us that has an account to settle wid him.'

"'Ah, you cowardly scoundrels,' says he, 'that's a disgrace to the
counthry, and to the very name of Irishman; it's no wondher for
strangers to talk of you as they do--no wondher for your friends to
have a shamed face for your disgraceful crimes. You would now take an
inoffensive gintleman--one that never harmed a man of you, nor any one
else--you'd take him out, bekaise some blackhearted cowardly villain
among you has a pick (pique) against him, and some of you for
half-a-crown or a bellyful of whisky would murdher him in could blood.
Begone, or by the livin' Farmer, I'll scatter the contents of this
blunderbush among you.' He that wishes to have M'Carthy done for was wid
us himself, and tould us in Irish to fire at the windy, which we did,
and on the instant slop came a shower of bullets among us. A boy from
the Esker got one of them through the brain, and fell stone dead; two
others--we can't mention names--was wounded, and it was well we got
them off safe. So there's our night's work for us. Howaniver, the day's
comin' when we'll pay them for all."

"I think, boys," said a person, whose voice was evidently