FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. A True Incident of the Irish Troubles.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 179, 20 November 1886, Page 7

FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. A True Incident of the Irish Troubles.

3?eopi«e say there is, no such thing 'as' liberality among the Scotch, truth Amongst " the Welsh, or loyalty among the Irish. Of the Scotch and Welsh I have no personal knowledge and I cannot believe ao sweeping 1 'an accusation, but I do know something as to the loyalty of the Irish. Loyalty, I mean, not to the Crown, but their em- • ployers. One incident in my usually quiet life 1 brings out to strongly the devotion of an Irish girl to her mistress that I cannot help thinking there will be both interest and profit in the story, even told in the -simple way that I am able to relate it. In the year ISSI, I being then a slip "of b girl of IS, living in a quiet Devonshire home, was wooed and married. My husband was a captain in a line regiment, and shortly After our marriage, his battalion being ordered to Ireland, I of course went with him. No sense of danger ever troubled me, for as long as he was with me what bad I to -fear? arriving in Ireland my husband's company was sent on detachment to an 'insignificant little village rejoicing in the name of Ballyboreen. The small barracks - the soldiers were quartered in afforded no cacommodatioQ for me. I did not require lunch room, but here there was absohitely none. There was no hotel or inn of any description in the place above the rank of a beer-shop, so that when Hugh was told of a • small houao about three-quartera of a mile from the barracks, which was advertised to ■ let furnished, we went to inspect and finally settled down there. Myrtle Cottage, as it wa3 called, was a pretty, two storied house, covered with creepers, standing on rather high ground overlooking a stream, which the natives of these parts delighted in dignifying by the name of river. The cottage stood completely alone : there wae no other building of any sort within half a mile of it in any direction We lived at Myrtle Cottage with great contentment for several months. Our household consisted of two servant?. An elderly woman was cook, whoso name was O'Shea, and who seeLaed a quiet, hardWorking woman. She seldom entered into •conversation with me, but on the few -occasions on which we had any talk together outside household matters she tried to give an impression of the past glories of the O'Sheas, and once or twice hinted darkly that there would be a good time coming yet, when the Sassenachs should be over. I was not much interested in her, and only laughed at her fancies. As housemaid we had a young girl named Neliy Farren, an exceedingly pretty, bright, and pleasant girl She "was engaged to the son of a neighbouring farmer, one Tim Doolan, of whom she piattled to me on the least encouragement. He was rather above her in position, but Nelly was ~80 pleasant and pretty that hia father and mother had not the heart to put a veto on the match, and only made it a condition that she should try to save alittte money in service before they set up housekeeping together. Besides these two women servant', -my husband's soldier servant was employed "About the house, but the cottage was so small that there was no bedroom for him, and he had to sleep in an outhouse. He was a stolid Englishman with little in with the Irish people about her. It was a disagreeable time for soldiers in Ireland then, for they were called upon to assist the civil police at evictions, in dis persing same traitorous or seditious meeting. Much as my husband disliked this kind of work, it had to be done. Unfortunately, one day when his company was helping the police in evicting a small farmer who would not pay any rent, he wa=? called upon by the ' magistrate to fire on the crowd. One volley was quite enough to disperse them, but that one volley had severely wounded one of the " foremost men among the assembled landleaguers. This man, Fat Henessy by name, was so • seriously hurt that he was believed by his companions to have been killed, and the man who picked him up, before carrying him away, turned to my husband, and with a threatening look and gesture said : •• The year won't be out till yell rue this • day's work." I did not of course hear this at the time, but subsequent events recalled the matter to Hugh's mind, and he then told me about it. For another month our life went on uneventfully, and then my husband received orders to march the greater part of his •company to a place some 10 miles away This would involve his remaining out all night ; he could not hope to return before " the following afternoon. It was our first separation, and though 1 tried to make light of it I could not get ever a sense of impending trouble. I was horribly afraid, though I knew not of what. But I did my best to hide all sign of alarm from my husband, and laughed at the idea of feeling nervous. I mad* the best of it, and Hugh started off ' early in the afternoon. I kept my tears back until he had left the house, ani then broke down ; but soon Tallying myself for being ao fooli«h, I called 'Nelly to come out for a little into the garden. We stood on the slope of the hill, 'looking down on the village, less than a 'mile away. In this lonely place it was lome comfort to think that there were some soldiers left in the barracks. Between U 3 and the village rushed the little river, now in full flood, for there had been heavy rains that autumn. A little pathway, hardly more than a sheep track, led direct from Myrtle Cottage into the • village and close up to the barracks This •track crossed the river by what was usually a very shallow ford, but now, in the swollen state ot the stream, was hardly a ford at all. The regular roai led by a circuit of about a quarter of a mile to an old stone bridge, and co into the village. Nelly looking into my face saw that I had been crying, and tried to comfort me ' by aaying : "Don't be on&isy, ma'am ! sure the laet words the masther eaid to me just now was, • Take care of your mistress, Nelly,' and 'it's myself that will do that same to the last drop of my blood. ' Twill be no time at ~ all, ma'am, till heia back again. I'll make you a good cup of tay, and if ye'H go to bed airly, ma'am, yell sleep as sound as a child." Getting some little comfort from the ' bright, cheerful look of her sweet face, I turned into the houso again, determined to ' make myself as buey as possible to pass -away the time rapidly, till I could reaEonably hopeto get to eleep. Before it became quite dark I looked carefully to all the locks and fastenings of the -doors and windows, and ascertained that ' the soldier servant was in his room. I went to bed early, recommended the " servants to retire also, and was soon, " notwithstanding a nervous feeling, fast - Mleep. I waa awakened— it seems to me almost " immediately, though I afterwards ascertained that it was at 1 o'clock— by a con-

fused murmur of voices outside the house and the trampling of many feet. I arose in "£erW;*and juSt'tKe'tf Nelly rushed into* my room as white as a sheet. ,' "os, mfstres^wiiat wtlltyfe'do 1 what will .we do ? The laguers are upon us," ' she 'exclaimed, llf^ >''\ l ! I hardy understood her at first, ' i>ut soon made out that a crowd ot land leaguers' had surrounded the house and were propared to attack' it. Why, I could not; imagine, but Was soon to learn. I put on some clothes as quickly aa possible, and tried to decide what I ought to do. My only hope lay in the soldier servant. I took Nelly with me and crept to a window at the back of the house which looked on the outhouses, from which 1 I hoped to see into the man'd room, aud perhaps communicate with him. To my horror I saw that he on whom we depended for protection was lyiog bound hand and foot in the back yard, and two villainous-looking men with blackened faces and torches in their hands were standing over him. All hope of any succour from him was out of the question. The only thing to be 'done now was to brace up our courage, speak to the men, try to find out what they wanted, and how beat I could conciliate him. 1 went back to my bedroom window, threw up the sash, and, leaning out a little, gazed on the strange scene before me There were perhaps 100 men assembled in the little garden. The fhme of half-a-dozen torches threw a lurid and uncertain light over the restless crowd. More than half of the men s faceß were blackened, and many of them carried bludgeons I could not be sure whether there were any tirearm?, but fancied I could distinguish the gleam of a gun barrel here and there in the torchlight. "What do you all want?" I called out as loudly aa I could. "My husband is not here. Why do you come in this way and frighten us defenceless women in tho middle of che night ? ' "Shure we know that," cried a harsh voice out of the crowd. "We know the captain is away_ on the di%-il'3 business ? buc we owe him one for shooting Pat Heneesy, and we're going to take it oub of you in revenge. Come out here till we talk to ye." "Oh, mistress," cried Nelly, "shutdown the wiudow or they'll shoot you." Seeing 1 was doing no good by talking to them, 1 closed and fastened the window and retired with Nolly inside the room, ' ' What ai eweto do now ?" I whiapered . " There' 3 only one thing, ma'am. I must creep out and go across to tho barracks and bring the cojers Keep a good heart, mi-tress, dear, and I'll be back in no tiino. I'll go right across the stream, and sure its le«a than a mile. Put me out at the drawing room window, through tho glassroom where the flowers do be, and yell fasten it again safe, and sure no one will know anything till I get back )J I went down stairs with her quietly, and without a light softly opened the window into the conservatory, and let her out. ' 'Tis little my life will be worth if they 3\tch a sight of me," said ehe, but 'tis our Dnly chance, and I promisod the master I would take care of ye. May the blessed Virgin p otect me ! Good bye, mistress iear. Yell tell the master I did my beet if 30 be as they catch me." Befo'e she passed through the outer door she turned to me and whispered : "Don't put too much trust in Mrs O'Shea, ma'am • [ wouldn't." "What do you mean, ]Selly?" I eald. " Why can't she be trusted ?" " I wouldn't trust no le who has a eon imongthe moonlighters." And then she parsed into the darkness. Luckily, she had on a dark dress and was hardly visible in the gloom of the night. I Fastened up the door and window securely and went back into the house trembling with [ear. Nelly's last words bad frightened me more than anything else. I had now absolutely no one to trust to for protection, or even counsel. The next half hour was a time of agony. Every moment I fancied the ruffians outs-ido were about to break into the house. They might have done so at any minute, but fortunately for me 1 had friends even among that crowd. I overheard a few words which 3howed me that there was a disagreement amongst them. " Come, lads ! 'tis fooling we are ; we must get her out any way ; so break in the door. With a will now !" (l Stop, boys, stop !" called out another voice; "ye muefc remember Ivelly is iv there, and ehe id not to be hurt ; mind that now. Begorra ! I'll be the death of the firat man that lays a finger on her." I could hear no more distinctly, but amongst the confuaed noise the voice of the man who had spoken of Nelly sounded hard and threatening. I concluded that this must be Nelly's lover, Tim Doolan, and it comforted me a little to think there might be some assistance to be hoped for from him. Every now and then the night air would resound with a loud yell, and deep curses were called down upon the head of mv absent husband. The minutes passed but slowly, but I tried to comfort myself with the thought that rescue might yet come in time. I then bethought me of Mrs O'Shea. She would probably be in the kitchen. I went in to look. She must have gone upstairs. I went up noiselessly, and looked into the servant's room ; she was not there. I went on quickly to my bedroom, and stood at the door peering into the darkness. I heard someone moving, and knew it must be the cook. She passed round the bed to the other side, where stood always a little table ©n which I had placed aU my keys when I went to bed, amongat them tho key of the front door, which I had taken up3tairf" fo' greater security, "I saw a woman strike a match. She only allowed it to burn for five or bix seconds, but in that time I saw her put out her hand and take up the big front-door key. Whatcould she want with it? I held my breath, and kept every faculty at its highest tension. She moved quietly and quickly to the window, against the pane of which the key in her hand rattled as she threw up the sapb. All of a sudden I understood her motive. She m<;ant to throw out the key of the front door, and so let the men in. My mind was made up on the instant. I watched her narrowly until I saw that my opportunity had come. As soon U8 she had opened the window, ehe leant over the sill and called in a low tone : " Larry, the kay ; the kay of the door : open it ye'rself, but never say it was me." As she swung her band back, before throwing out the key, I sprang forward, snatched it away, and lifting her up sharply by the feet, sent her by a great effort of strength out of the window. It eeemed a terrible act, but what was I to do ? • In the hands of tins strong and determined woman I should have been powerless. Once ehe found hereelf discovered, it would have been her life against mine. The act, terrible as it peemed, I have always looked upon as a oort of inspiration. She fell on the soft turf beneath, and perhaps was almost as much frightened as hurt. I may mention hero that I never saw or heard of her again. She left the neighbourhood, and it was supposed was conveyed by her friends to America.

v As the time } passed slowly on and still they did not actually break into the house, coutfagerose again/ • • Surely v I though V the soldiers will soon be hero— if Nelly only got safe away. ' •'<'<'* < i•" >> I took up my atatioh close to the 'door of the conservatory, rea'dyto 1 let Kelly in if she returned, and waited anxiously from minute to minute. At'laar, peering oufe into the darkness, 1 made out a tigure stealing quietly up through the bushes. I saw that it was certainly tho figure of a woman, and felt it must be Nelly. As shecamecloseuplwaßftbouttoopentho door to let her in, when there was a flash of light, followed instantaneously by the report of a gun clo^e by, and tho girl fell heavily at the threshold of the door. 1 Forgetting all precautions, I sprang out. and in an instant had the girl in my anu j , for it was indeed poor Nelly. She was in horrible agony, but she just managed to gasp out : " The sojers aro here, mistresß : you are saved. Tell the master I saved you." I was about to try and cirry her into the house, when a man sprang out of the bushes, close by, calling out, in an agony of voica I shall never forgot, "Is it Nelly I've shot?" and flung himself on tho g>ound in a transport of grief and horror An the same instant the tramp of many feet moving at a fast pace wa3 heard, and the word of command given to " Fix bayonets." I rea iaed that I was saved ; and i>he cowardly crowd outside, crying out: "The eojera ! tho police !" dispersed in all directions. Tim Doolan —for it was indeed he who had fired the shot — helped me to carry Nelly into the house. We laid her on a eofa and did all we could .think of for her. Tim then told me, with many exclamation? of grief and distress, that on Nelly's account he had determined to try and prevent anyone get ting into the hou?e. He knew that the conservatory door was the weakest place, and was watching that when he saw a figure stealing up, and evidently going to enter. It was so dark that he could notdntinguish the figure ; had no idea it was a woman's ; and he believed, of course, that Nelly was inside with me. He fired deliberately, with the intontion of stopping that person from entering ; tired with such fatal aim that she he loved best, and would have died to save, was dying by his hand. We sont one of the police for a doctor, but he could not hope to bring him under half an hour. Even if he had been on the spot he could not have saved her life. She spoke but little. Once she turned to me, saying, "I did my beat, mistross, didn't I ?" With biter tears I assured her, over and over again, she hud done as noble a deed as any man or woman that ever had lived, and that her memory should bo held in sacred reverence by me and Hugh for all time. "Good-bye.mistref dear,*'phe whispered. I kissed the gentle face passionately, and went into another room, that sho and her lover might say tnair long farewell with no outsider to interfere, I sought out the sergeant in charge of the detachment of soldiers and gave him a few directions, and when I returned to Nolly's eofa, rive minuter later, the faithful eoul had passed to God who gave it. Surely there was a rich rewdrd in store somewhere for that true heart, •' Faithful unto death." Tim's grief and distress were most painful to witness, and I could not in any way help him or attempt to give him consolation ; so I left him to watch over the quiet form on the so f n, and triod to get some rest myself. Now that I was safe, andtheneed for bracing up my courage was over, the reaction came, and I passed from one fib of hysterics into another, till tho poor troubled sergeant of the detachment thought, I balieve, that I should certainly die. However, he did the very best thing be could. He sent down into the village to the wife of the head constable of the policy, and begged her to come up and take charge of me. She came, and never left me for a moment till the'happy time came when, late in the afternoon, I was able to pour out all the story of my troubles, fears, and perils in the strong arms of him from whom I trusted I might never again be parted. — *' Argosy."