e
terminated between him and the baronet it is out of our power to detail.
The man was at all times desperate and dreadful, where either revenge
or anger was excited, especially as he labored under the superstitious
impression that he was never to be hanged or perish by a violent death,
a sentiment then by no means uncommon among persons of his outrageous
and desperate life. It has been observed, and with truth, that the Irish
Rapparees seldom indulged in the habit of intoxication or intemperance,
and this is not at all to be wondered at. The meshes of authority
were always spread for them, and the very consciousness of this fact
sharpened their wits, and kept them perpetually on their guard against
the possibility of arrest. Nor was this all. The very nature of the
lawless and outrageous life they led, and their frequent exposure to
danger, rendered habits of caution necessary--and those were altogether
incompatible with habits of intemperance. Self-preservation rendered
this policy necessary, and we believe there are but few instances on
record of a Rapparee having been arrested in a state of intoxication.
Their laws, in fact, however barbarous they were in other matters,
rendered three cases of drunkenness a cause of expulsion from the gang.
O'Donnel, however, had now relaxed from the rigid observation of his own
rules, principally for the reasons we have already stated--by which we
mean, a conviction of his own impunity, as falsely communicated to him
by Sir Robert Whitecraft. The sheriff had not at first intended to be
personally present at his capture; but upon second consideration he came
to the determination of heading the party who were authorized to secure
him. This resolution of Oxley's had, as will presently be seen, a
serious effect upon the fate and fortunes of the _Cooleen Bawn_ and her
lover. The party, who were guided by Tom Steeple, did not go to Mary
Mahon's, but to a neighboring cottage, which was inhabited by a
distant relative of O'Donnel. A quarrel had taken place between the
fortune-teller and him, arising from his jealousy of Sir Robert, which
caused such an estrangement as prevented him for some time from visiting
her house. Tom Steeple, however, had haunted him as his shadow, without
ever coming in contact with him personally, and on this night he had
him set as a soho man has a hare in her form. Guided, therefore, by the
intelligent idiot and Fergus, the party readied the cottage in which
the