ces, or dare them
by superior numbers. More than once it had occurred to him to join this
lawless band, and many a pressing invitation had he received from the
leaders to do so; but still, the youth's ambition, save in his darkest
hours, took a higher and a nobler range: the danger of the career was
its only fascination to him. Now, however, all these thoughts were
changed: he had given a solemn pledge to his father never to leave him;
and it was with a feeling of half apathy he sat, pondering over what
cutter it might be that had anchored, or whose party were then preparing
to land their cargo.

"Ambrose Denner, belike," muttered he to himself, "the Flemish fellow,
from the Scheldt--a greedy old scoundrel too, he refused a passage to
a poor wretch that broke the jail in Limerick, because he could not pay
for it. I wish the people here may remember it to him. Maybe its Hans
'der Teufel,' though, as they call him; or Flahault--he's the best of
them, if there be a difference. I've half a mind to go down the Glen
and see;" and while he hesitated, a low, monotonous sound of feet, as
if marching, struck on his ear; and as he listened, he heard the distant
tramp of men, moving in, what seemed, a great number. These could not
be the smugglers, he well knew: reckless and fearless as they were, they
never came in such large bodies as these noises portended.

There is something solemn in the sound of marching heard in the
stillness of the night, and so Mark felt it, as with cautious breathing
he leaned upon the window, and bent his ear to listen. Nearer and nearer
they came, till at last the footfalls beat loudly on the dull ground
as, in measured tread, they stepped. At first a dark moving mass, that
seemed to fill the narrow road, was all he could discern, but as
this came closer, he could perceive that they marched in companies of
divisions, each headed by his leader, who, from time to time, stepped
from his place, and observed their order and precision. They were all
country people; their dress, as well as he could discern, the common
costume of every day, undistinguished by any military emblem. Nor did
they carry arms; the captains alone wore a kind of white scarf over the
shoulder, which could be distinctly seen, even by the imperfect light.
They, alone, carried swords, with which they checked the movements from
time to time. Not a word was uttered in the dense ranks--not a murmur
broke the stillness of the solemn scene, a