All Irish Outrage.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 68, 20 September 1884, Page 4

All Irish Outrage.

" I stayed some little time at the Cor macks' seeing the country in company with my host, and forming my ideas of Irish political economy as it is and as it should be, which, being rather a hobby of mine, I won't now trouble you with. There was a gentleman's family living in the neighbourhood, which I soon made the acquaintance ot, as in that out-of-the-way locality the arrival ol a stranger was as great an event as that of a foreign potentate in London. Several afternoons I spent pleasantly at * the big house,' playing lawn-tennis with the young ladies of the place, whom I found to be far more proficient in the art than their English sisters, probably from the solitude of their country life having obliged them to concentrate their erergies on that particular form of amusement. " One day that I had been spending in the above manner, and on which I had accepted a kind invitation to dinner enfamille, I noticed that Mr M. seemed more absent than usual, and a trifle quick-tempered, as though he had been annoyed by something or somebody. When the ladies had left us, and we were sitting over the usual postprandial bottle of wine, he took a letter from his pocket and showed it to me. "'That's the kind of thing we have to put up with hero, Mr Ellerslie,' said he. ' You musn't go away with your ideas of the country too much coideur de rose.' "That was in truth a strange production. It was written, or rather, laboriously printsd, on a sheet of coarse paper, headed by a rough but spirited drawing of coffins and bell-mouthed blunderbusses. Below was the following composition, of which I made a copy out of curiosity :—: — "M. M. DONT . GO . TO . MOTE .OR. I . WL . B . YOOR . END . IET . IT . B . KIT . CHR . WEOSG . IET . "PVT . HIGGINS . STVY . AT . OME. " I looked at my host for an explanation. "'lt is a threatening letter,' said he, and not the first either that I have received. The printing is easy enough to read on the phonographic principle, with the caution that most of the A's and L's are upside down. The meaning is that one of my tenants having against my express orders ploughed up a grass field, I have given him notice to quit, end went into Moate yesterday to consult my attorney as to what compensation I was obliged to pay under the Irish Land Act. I got this the day before. lam not personally afraid of the fellows, but it is very annoying, and I am always on thorns lest one of those letters should reach my wife ; it would almost frighten her to death, I fancy.' "'You mot with no interruption going into Moate, I suppose ?' said I. " ' No ; but I took my precautions. I got a policeman on my car and drove in by a roundabout route. It isn't a pleasant way of doing things, is it ?' " I quite agreed with Mr M. that it was not, and expressed, my surprise that the author of the letter could not be brought to justice, " A sudden thought struck me. I had seen that the last few words of the document were lighter in colour, as if they had been blotted. If so, would there not remain an impression on the blotting-paper ? " I don't know what evil spirit took possession of meat this juncture, unless — I own it with contrition — it were that of inordinate self-conceit. Should Ibe able to get enough evidence to convict Pat Higgins myself, I should certainly derive much credit for my sagacity, and have an excellent story for my friends in England on my return. With this end in view I said nothing of my happy thought, determined to work it out myself. "Next morning, having found out the locality of Higgins's cottage from Cormack, I want to make a call there. The sole occupant of the tenement when I arrived there was a wrinkled old woman sitting on a three-legged stool and smoking a black clay pipe. She looked at me suspiciously, but her native hospitality forbade her to refuse me a seat. For the first time I felt some qualms ot conscience at the character of my errand, but these were speedily dissipated by the sight, in a corner of the large open hearth, of the very thing I was seeking, a piece of dirty blotting-paper crumpled up into a ball. To be sure the floor had not been swept for years, judging from its appearance, and there was no telling how long the pappr might have lain there ; still, I felt a conviction that it was the object of my search. " The devices to which I resorted to get possession of that mute piece of evidence were worthy of a detective policeman. I manoeuvred my chair closer under pretence of feeling a draught, though with the unpleasant consciousness that the old woman did not believe me. Fortune, however, favoured me at last in the shape of a fierce contost between an old sow and a dog just outside the door, which made the crone hobble out briskly to separate the combatants. She was not gone long, but I had plenty of time during her absence to secrete the paper. As soon as I decently could afterwards I took my leave. " The moment I was out of sight of the door I opened my prize, and found it to be what I hoped, a fairly good inverted copy of the threatening letter. Of course the last words were the most distinct, but on the whole it was a very pretty piece of primd facie evidence against Mr Pat Higgins. I presented the paper to Mr M., who orafcsed my sagacity and thanked me warmly for my exertions on his behalf. That same i evening I made a deposition before a magistrate who lived near by, and, much to his surprise, Higgins was arrested. j "Now I come to the unlucky portion of my story. How my share in the foregoing proceedings got about I don't know j but a day or two after this I found a great change in Cormacks manner towards me. Hitherto he had been hospitality itself ; now he seemed anxious to get me to leave bis house, though he was as studiously polite in hiding his wishes as the most finished gentleman could have been. Of course, however, I could not stay longer with a man who was tired of me, and I signified to him accordingly my intention of leaving him. He appeared to me somewhat relieved by, the news. "I dined at Mr M.'s the night before my departure, after a farewell game of tennis with the ladies, and did not leave the house till nearly dusk. As I was walking back to Cormacks I noticed footsteps behind me, and, looking round, saw that I was followed by a small body of men, all

armed with sticks. Not wishing them to come up with me, I quickened my pace a little. They did the same, and closed on me somewhat. " I had to pass a sharp turn of the road. Just as I neared the hedge, and for the moment lost sight of my followers, I saw a woman on the other side close to me. Leaning forward, she said eagerly : * Run for yer life, sir ; it's you they're after.' Before I could reply she had sunk down behind the hedge again, as my pursuers came in sight. " I hope if ever there be any chance of holding my own that I shall not be found ready to run away ; but when followed by a dozen men with sticks it is about the only thing that can be done, so I trust I may be pardoned for taking to my heels. "The men instantly followed at full §>eed, and for a time the pace was hot. ut, having still my tennis shoes on, and being naturally swift of foot, I soon distanced them, and they were a good halfmile behind me when I reached Cormack s door. " Cormack himself was standing on the threshold. At one glance he took in the situation, having probably had some previous information as to what was going to happen. With a muttered oath he seiaed me by the arm and hurried me through the house and into the yard at the back. There was a rick of turf there which had that day been opened, leaving a small aperture in the smooth continuity of its rows. "Get in there, sir,' said Cormack, 'and you, Pat' (addressing his son, who was working in the yard when we entered), ' build up the clamp again while I go and lock the door. An' if ye tell the boys where the gentleman is ye'er no son of mine.' "The case was not one which admitted of parleying. I got into the rick, and Pat buildup the outside turf with marvellous celerity. There was room enough for air and sound to enter through the interstices between the sods, but the dust nearly choked me. However, I was glad enough of even that refuge when I heard the storm of cursee that broke from my pursuers, as, having at length burst open the door, they poured into the yard. "I could hear Cormack saying: 'I let him out at the back-door, boys. Was Ito let the gentleman be murdered in me own house, and he staying there ?' "Curiously enough, as I thought, the angry men admitted the plea, but all now turned upon Pat to know which way I had gone. He gave them most minute, though untrue, directions as to the route I had taken, and, after a hurried search of the house and yard, they started off in pursuit. "When they were out of sight Patjunpacked me. By this time I was almost fainting from the suffocating dust and smell of the turf, and I was glad to sit down in the kitchen and have a draught of buttermilk. Meanwhile Cormack had saddled one of his horses and brought it round to the door. " 'Get up on that horse, sir/ said he, ' and ride as hard as ye can to the policestivtion at Bally— it's the only place yell be safe in after this. I'll send on yer luggage there for ye. I've saved ye this day because ye were stopping in me own house, but only for that I wouldn't have put out a finger to help ye for an English informer as ye are. So there's no thanks due to me.' " I attempted a few words of explanation and gratitude, but I confess to feeling decidedly ' small ' as I rode away, and inwardly took a vow never to interfere with other people's business again. " I sent my late hoet a cheque afterwards for what I considered a fair sum for my fortnight's board and lodgings, with a letter expressing my sense of obligation to him, and my wish to have made him a present to remember me by did I not fear to offend him. The cheque was returned without a word. " I was obliged to attend at the trial of Pat Higgins, who, rather to my satisfaction, was triumphantly acquitted by a jury of his compatriots, so that all my trouble and danger had been incurred for nothing." " Who was the woman who warned you ?" asked I ; "did you ever find out ?" "She was Cormacks daughter, and, curiously enough, was engaged to Pat Higgins, as I found out afterwards," answered Ellerslie.