rode two of the
horses, and the carriage was surrounded by a dozen mounted men.

Everybody was looking at the house and wondering why nobody was there
to welcome them, and very forbidding this stronghold must have seemed
to those who expected to find the doors wide open when they drove up.
I undid the bolts of one of the diamond-paned windows, and, throwing
it open, leaned with my arms on the sill, my head and shoulders
outside.

"Good day to your ladyship and your lordship," I cried,--and then all
eyes were turned on me,--"I have just this day come into my
inheritance, and I fear the house is not in a state to receive
visitors. The rooms are all occupied by desperate men and armed; but I
have given orders to your servants to prepare the Manor House in the
village for your accommodation; so, if you will be so good as to drive
across the valley, you will doubtless meet with a better reception
than I can give you at this moment. When you come again, if there are
no ladies of the party, I can guarantee you will have no complaint to
make of the warmth of your reception."

His lordship sat dumb in his carriage, and for once her ladyship
appeared to find difficulty in choosing words that would do justice to
her anger. I could not catch a glimpse of Lady Mary's face at all at
all, for she kept it turned toward the village; but young Lord Strepp
rose in the carriage, and, shaking his fist at me, said:

"By God, O'Ruddy, you shall pay for this;" but the effect of the words
was somewhat weakened by reason that his sister, Lady Mary, reached
out and pulled him by the coat-tails, which caused him to be seated
more suddenly than he expected; then she gave me one rapid glance of
her eye and turned away her face again.

Now his lordship, the great Earl of Westport, spoke, but not to me.

"Drive to the village," he said to the postilions; then horsemen and
carriage clattered down the hill.

We kept watch all that night, but were not molested. In the southern
part of the house Father Donovan found a well-furnished chapel, and
next morning held mass there, which had a very quieting effect on the
men, especially as Oxenbridge had not walked during the night. The
only one of them who did not attend mass was Jem Bottles, who said he
was not well enough and therefore would remain on watch. Just as mass
was finished Jem appeared in the gallery of the chapel and shouted
excitedly:

"They're coming, sir; they're coming!"

I never b