replied the sheriff, "I shall give you nothing now; because
I know not whether what you say can be relied upon or not. In the
meantime, I shall remain an hour or better, in Brady's house; and if
your words are not made good, I shall send to Sir Robert Whitecraft for
a military party to escort me home."

"I know, your honor," replied Fergus, "that Sir Robert and his men are
at home to-day; and if I don't fulfil my words, I'll give your honor
lave to whip me through the county."

"Well," said the sheriff, "I shall remain an hour or so in Brady's; but
I tell you that if you are deceiving me you shall not escape me; so look
to it, and think if what you propose to me is honest or not--if it be
not, woe betide you."

Fergus immediately repaired to Sir Robert Whitecraft, to whom he
represented himself as a poor Protestant of the name of Bingham,
and informed him that a Popish priest was then in Tom Brady's house,
administering the rites of Popery to those who were sick in the family.

"I seen him, your honor, go into the house; and he's there this minute'.
If your honor makes haste you'll catch him."

In less than a quarter of an hour Sir Robert and his crew were in
stirrups, and on their way to Tom Brady's; and in the meantime, too, the
sheriff, dressed as he was, in black, came outside the door, from time
to time, more in apprehension of a plot against his life than of a visit
from Whitecraft, which he knew must end in nothing. Now, Whitecraft and
his followers, on approaching Brady's house, caught a glimpse of him--a
circumstance which not only confirmed the baronet in the correctness of
the information he had received, but also satisfied the sheriff that the
mendicant had not deceived him. Rapid was the rush they made to Brady's
house, and the very first that entered it was the Red Rapparee. He was
about to seize the sheriff, whom he pretended not to know; but in a
moment Sir Robert and the rest entered, when, on recognizing each other,
an explanation took place, with all due apologies to the functionary,
who said:

"The mistake, Sir Robert, is very natural. I certainly have a clerical
appearance, as I am in mourning for my wife. I trust you will neither
hang nor transport me."

"I am very sorry indeed, Mr. Oxley; but I only acted on information
received."

"And I don't doubt, Sir Robert," replied the sheriff, "that the person
who gave you the information may have been deceived himself by my
ecclesiastical lookin