nds
gave us some capital Burgundy, and that is some consolation."

In this strain the eccentric Hibernian ran on till I had to hint that it
would be wiser not to speak, lest we might be overheard by any of the
enemy. He then told me that Colonel Carlyon and Mr Sutton had given
him a pass that, should we fall in with any of their party, we might not
be stopped. We, however, proceeded as cautiously as before, for we had
no wish that our expedition should become known. We got as far as
Mackey's Mills without meeting with any adventure. As before, we gave
it a wide berth, for we could hear the sound of voices, and it appeared
evidently occupied by a body of men. However, as long as they all kept
talking together they were less likely to discover us. We paddled,
therefore, quickly and cautiously on, but without any apprehension of
being found out. We had almost lost sight of the mill, and were
congratulating ourselves on getting clear altogether, when the stillness
of the night was broken by a loud sharp voice exclaiming--

"There they go! Give it them, lads, give it them! After them, after
them!"

The next moment a sharp fire of musketry was opened on us, the flashes,
however, showing that we had passed the spot where our enemies were
posted. The balls, however, fell round us unpleasantly thick. Then
again there was another volley, and, by the flash of the pieces, we
could see a number of men hurrying into a boat, with, we had no doubt,
the intention of pursuing us. Our skiff pulled well. O'Driscoll and
Rockets, who were rowing, bent manfully to their oars. Away we flew
over the water, and though the troops on the shore still continued to
fire, the bullets happily flew wide of us. We had a good start of the
pursuing boat. From the glimpse we got of her she was of some size, but
if, as we hoped, she was heavy in proportion to her size, that would be
in our favour. At all events, all we could do was to pull away with all
our might, and to keep a straight course down the river. We could hear
the shouts of our pursuers, and of the people hailing them from the
shore. They only induced us to make greater exertions to keep ahead of
them. On we dashed. In a short time we felt sure that we were already
distancing them. Their voices grew fainter and fainter. We got into
the broad part of the river. We had now another chance of escape.
Should they be overtaking us, we might slip on one side, and in the
darkn