his first
version, and assured them that he, M'Carthy had laid down in Finnerty's
for an hour or so to recruit his strength. He supposed he would soon
be home, he said--or for that matter, maybe as he found himself
comfortable, he would stop there for the night. Mogue himself had come
home to make their minds easy, and to let them know where he was, and
what had kept him away. To a certain extent the family were satisfied,
but as M'Carthy had communicated to the male portion of them the
friendly warning he had got from the Whiteboy, they said, that although
he might have been, safe enough when Mogue left him in the mountains,
yet considering the state of the country, and that he unquestionably
had enemies, he might not be free from danger on his way home. There
was scarcely a night in the week that the country was not traversed by
multitudes of those excited and unscrupulous mobs, that struck terror
to the hearts of the peaceful, or such as were obnoxious to them.
Accordingly, after waiting a couple of hours, Alick Purcel got a double
case of pistols, and proposed to go as far as O'Driscol's, where they
took it for granted, as he had not been able to come to dinner, they
would find him should he have returned.

"Alick," said the father, "after all the notices we have got, and
considering the feeling that is against us, it is ridiculous to be
fool-hardy--don't go by the road but cross the fields."

"Such is my intention, sir," replied Alick; "for although no coward,
still I am but flesh and blood, and it is death you know, for mere flesh
and blood to stop a bullet. Give me my enemy face to face and I don't
fear him, but when he takes me at night from behind a hedge, courage is
of little use, and won't save my life."

On arriving at O'Driscol's, he found that M'Carthy had not come, and
after waiting till one o'clock, he prepared to take his departure. At
this moment, a female servant tapped at the drawing-room door, and after
having been desired to come in, she communicated the following startling
particulars:--She had forgotten her washing, she said, and gone out a
little time before to bring it in, and in doing so, she spied several
men with black faces and white shirts skulking about the house. She was
not sure, she said, on having the question put to her, whether she had
been seen by them or not.

This communication, which was given with every mark of alarm and terror,
completely altered the posture of affairs at