"Go at once and give warning of the intended attack."
"I dare not, I should be seen; that man has been watched coming here, and if I were seen going off directly after to town, they would suspect something, and he or I, probably both, would pay for it."
"Shall I go?"
"Oh, if you would! You shall have the little phaeton, and Mike to drive; just go out with the children, take the road to ——— and go about amongst the shops there. After awhile, you can make some excuse, and go alone to Captain Briscoe's; he lives next the post-office, ask to see him, and give him that paper, but tell him I have sworn not to tell the name of the man who gave it to me; only beg him, for Heaven's sake, to lose no time about the business."
I was quite ready for the adventure; but whilst I dressed, and the phaeton was being brought round, I elicited the following particulars from Mrs. Howard.
In one of the largest towns of Tipperary, some eight miles from Howardville, was a firm which had contracts for supplying the military in one or two neighbouring towns with meat and bread. It had somehow been ascertained that on the day of the intended attack, a clerk was to accompany the driver of the large covered cart which was used for the conveyance of the provisions, and this clerk was to receive the money of his employers, thus promising a rich booty to the conspirators. The place selected for the attempt was well chosen; it lay about halfway between the two extreme points of the distance, at a spot where there were no houses save the deserted one of an absentee landlord, and from a breach in the hedge which divided a portion of this neglected park from the road, the assailants were to rush out, seize the horses' heads, and secure their prize. Feeling deeply the importance of my mission, I set out; and, when we had reached the town, I doubled like a hare, going from shop to shop, till 1 left the children in a confectioner's, telling them that I should soon be back for them. I hastened to the house of Captain Briscoe, the police inspector for the district, and found him in his office busied with piles of papers. My errand was soon told, and his acute grey eyes fired with interest as I proceeded.
"If this be not another hoax," he said, "it will probably enable us to lay hold on three or four notorious ruffians for whom we have been long looking out. Please tell Mrs. Howard that I shall take every necessary precaution, and—you will excuse an old man—but I have heard that young ladies must talk about anything they may know, especially if it is supposed to be a secret.
"You need not fear me, Captain Briscoe."
"I hope not, my dear young lady; talking—the merest hint—would in this case do incalculable mischief, for we are surrounded with spies. The country is going to the deuce, for I verily believe the sucking children are sworn into this hellish system which threatens to swamp us all. I am very busy just now, will you go into the parlour and see Mrs. Briscoe?"
"No, thank you, I must be turning towards home."
"Well, I daresay you are right. The days are still short, and it is neither safe nor pleasant to be out after dusk. Good morning."
Thus dismissed, I soon rejoined the children, and we drove rapidly home, where the two succeeding days passed in expectation. In the course of the third day the voice of public rumour brought us to the termination of our surprise. It appeared that in the deepening twilight of the preceding evening the large provision cart, drawn as usual by two stout horses, was nearing "Golden Hill" (the deserted place to which I have before alluded), and on the driving-box sat the driver and the confidential clerk of the firm of "——— Brothers." The two men were laughing and talking loudly, and as they approached the hedge which screened the tangled plantations, a slight hill in the road caused the driver to slacken the pace of his horses. Scarcely had they reached the summit when a group of dark figures with blackened faces leaped into the road. Two of them seized the horses' heads, while two others, darting to either side of the van, demanded money, threatening the apparently terrified men with instant death in case of refusal.
"They are six to our two," said the driver. "It's best to give in at once, Mr. Hill; we can do nothing else; but, boys, this is bad work."
"None iv yer prachin'! we've no time to lose; so jest out with the money, Hill," replied a stalwart ruffian; but ere another word could be said, or another gesture made, the group was augmented by nine policemen, armed to the teeth, who had noiselessly opened the door of the cart, and dropped out of the back, while the intending robbers were busied in front. The surprise was complete, and resistance vain. Yet a powerful attempt at it was made, which ended in the capture of the six "gentlemen of the road," who, securely handcuffed, were placed in the van, the door of which was then locked; and, mounting on the roof, the police (one of whom had received a stab in the shoulder from a knife wielded by one of the resisting party) triumphantly conducted their captives to town.
I have said that this was the last of the events which made that winter memorable to me, and it was in truth the last in which I had any share; but ere I left Howardville another outrage was committed in our vicinity, which I may as well add to my list of horrors.
A retired officer, Colonel P———, having obtained the office of paymaster to the troops stationed in Tipperary and the King's County, as well as to the pensioners there, had fixed his residence in a town in the latter county, whence, in the first week of every month, he repaired to the different towns on his list of stations. He was an old man with but one arm, and it was well known that he carried large sums of money on each of these occasions; but although he had now been for some years paymaster, he had as yet been unmolested, which circumstance may have been attributable to the presence of one or two soldiers, armed to the teeth, who always accompanied him on his business expeditions. One wild night in