with ease.
Curses and actual yells of execration followed their course; and as,
in crossing the brow of a neighbouring hill, they turned round in
the saddle to observe if they were pursued, every gesture which could
express fury and defiance was exhausted by the enraged and defeated
multitude.

'Clear the way, boys,' said young O'Grady, who with me was kneeling
beside O'Connor, while we supported him in our arms; 'do not press so
close, and be d--d; can't you let the fresh air to him; don't you see
he's dying?'

On opening his waistcoat we easily detected the wound: it was a little
below the chest--a small blue mark, from which oozed a single heavy drop
of blood.

'He is bleeding but little--that is a comfort at all events,' said one
of the gentlemen who surrounded the wounded man.

Another suggested the expediency of his being removed homeward with as
little delay as possible, and recommended, for this purpose, that a
door should be removed from its hinges, and the patient, laid upon this,
should be conveyed from the field. Upon this rude bier my poor friend
was carried from that fatal ground towards Castle Connor. I walked close
by his side, and observed every motion of his. He seldom opened his
eyes, and was perfectly still, excepting a nervous WORKING of the
fingers, and a slight, almost imperceptible twitching of the features,
which took place, however, only at intervals. The first word he uttered
was spoken as we approached the entrance of the castle itself, when
he said; repeatedly, 'The back way, the back way.' He feared lest his
mother should meet him abruptly and without preparation; but although
this fear was groundless, since she never left her room until late
in the day, yet it was thought advisable, and, indeed, necessary, to
caution all the servants most strongly against breathing a hint to their
mistress of the events which had befallen.

Two or three gentlemen had ridden from the field one after another,
promising that they should overtake our party before it reached the
castle, bringing with them medical aid from one quarter or another;
and we determined that Mrs. O'Connor should not know anything of the
occurrence until the opinion of some professional man should have
determined the extent of the injury which her son had sustained--a
course of conduct which would at least have the effect of relieving her
from the horrors of suspense. When O'Connor found himself in his own
room, and laid upon hi