y papers and other available property are too well
secreted for them to secure them. On discovering Whitecraft's jealousy,
and knowing, as I did before, his vindictive spirit and power in the
country, I lost no time in putting them in a safe place. Unless they
burn the house they could never come at them. But as this fact is not
at all an improbable one--so long as Whitecraft is my unscrupulous and
relentless enemy--I shall seize upon the first opportunity of placing
them elsewhere."

"You ought to do so," said Fergus, "for it is not merely Whitecraft you
have to deal wid, but ould Folliard himself, who now swears that if he
should lose half his fortune he will either hang or transport you."

"Ah! Fergus," replied the other, "there is an essential difference
between the characters of these two men. The father of _Cooleen Bawn_
is, when he thinks himself injured, impetuous and unsparing in his
resentment; but then he is an open foe, and the man whom he looks upon
as his enemy always knows what he has to expect from him. Not so
the other; he is secret, cautious, cowardly, and consequently doubly
vindictive. He is a combination of the fox and the tiger, with all the
treacherous cunning of the one, and the indomitable ferocity of the
other, when he finds that he can make his spring with safety."

This conversation took place as Reilly and his companion bent their
steps towards one of those antiquated and obsolete roads which we have
described in the opening portion of this narrative.

"But now," asked Fergus, "where do you intend to go, or what do you
intend to do with yourself?"

"I scarcely know," replied Reilly, "but on one thing my mind is
determined--that I will not leave this country until I know the ultimate
fate of the _Cooleen Bawn_. Rather than see her become the wife of that
diabolical scoundrel, whom she detests as she does hell, I would lose
my life. Let the consequences then be what they may, I will not for the
present leave Ireland. This resolution I have come to since I saw her
to-night. I am her only friend, and, so help me God, I shall not suffer
her to be sacrificed--murdered. In the course of the night we shall
return to my house and look about us. If the coast be clear I will
secure my cash and papers as I said. It is possible that a few
stragglers may lurk behind, under the expectation of securing me while
making a stolen visit. However, we shall try. We are under the scourge
of irresponsible powe