CHAPTER XXX. OLD ROUGH MEETS HIS MASTER,.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 327, 22 December 1888, Page 6

CHAPTER XXX. OLD ROUGH MEETS HIS MASTER,.

There carae no answer to Lord O'Neil s low cry — no answer, although he called on Nora's name yeb more loudly. • Nob here !' he whispered to kimself, his fair bronzed face palmg — * nob here ! Is all losb, after all ? Aly pSor Nora !' He-glanced" around the room swiftly, and ' 'keenly ; and then his eyes' fell upon the . wooden bar of the inner v> door — the door of the young Lady Nora's prison — into which she had been thrust on the preceding day. • ' \ , With one wild bound he gained bhe barred door, 'and beat upon it with his hands. Then he cried out in a passionate voice, clear as a' bugle call, and rich and" deep : . 'Nora ! Nora ,- darling ! are you there?' There was a moment of breathless susf pense, then a swift rush was heard within the little room ; a low, passionless, eager cry sounded on the other side of the door, and Nora answered, in her high, sweet voicefrbroken now, and panting :• ' Larx-y ! It's not Larry ?' , In the wild joy and excitement of that moment the young Lord O'Neil forgot his prudence, and the proximity of the young , girl's enemies. With a joyful exclamation he wrenched the wooden bar that guarded the door from it» sockets, and pulled the door open. And then- a slight girlish : figure came fluttering jou.t. into the fire- lit room a figure with dusky .hair, and a white eager face,; lib .up by a pair .of dusky, passionate *eyes. And this figure flew to his arms as 4 to a rightful Koine. 'Nora'! Nora !' cried O'Neil, his soul in his, voice. - , The girl answered with hysterical laughter and ; tears. . ' Oh, Larry, I've been longing for you to come to me,' she' said, her voice quivering. v ' You don't .know what I've suffered since I 1 lefb Point Kildare ! Take me away, please. Where are the Fogartys ?' His lordship started as they were recalled to liis mind. ' They are out on the rocks, looking for the wreck of their smack,' he said, smiling. 'But how pale and thin you are, Nora, mavourneen ! You have been starved and ill-treated, it's easy to see ; but that's all over ! We'll be going now.' He pub his arm around her slender waist, and drew her toward the door. * One momen,t s ' said Nora, ' Wait one moment, Larry. 3 She broke from his clasp and ran into the inner loom, returning with her hat and cloak on. Then she put her arm in his, signifying her readiness for departure. Too late ! They had not taken a step toward the threshold when the door was burst open, and old Fogarty and his wife, bringing 'with them the wreck of the broken lantern, which had fallen on the rocks, rushed into the room. 4 ' ' The other lanbhenH' cried old Rough. ' Ay the halloo was ginewine we must look for the i>'yes. Ay it were the cry of some murtherin ghost, we ought to know it. Ob, besrorra ! What's this ?' His glances had rested upon the young pair. , i In his terror and astonishment, he leaped back several paces, uttering a shrill yell. This yell was echoed by Mrs Fogarty, who followed her retreating spouse with such impetus as to knock the remnant of the lantern from his hand. ' A — a ghost !' ejaculated old Rough. ' A spalpeen of a man who wanbs to rob us of our five pounds a week !' cried Mrs Fogarby, more sensible than her husband. ' Bate him off, Rough ! Way with ye, ye miserable thafe — ' ' You are not very choice in your terms of address, madam,' observed Lord O'Neil, coolly. ' But lam willing to overlook your discourtesy, in consideration of your exciteihent — ' ' Ann !' exclaimed the utterly bewildered Mrs^Fogarty. * Spake English, will ye, ye blackguai-d ?' * Certainly I will !' declared his lordship, with a quizzical smile. 'I am here to take away this lady, and I'll give you just one minute away ;from-bhab.door,,s6 that we can pass oufc. D'ye' mind that, now ?' he added, with an assumed brogue that would have ? done credit to a native of Kerry. v ' Mrs Fogarty*understood now, but by the sullen, angry look on her face, one might judge she wa3 no better pleased than before. v " 'Old Rough had by -this time recovered from his' temporary paralysis, and was now 1 himself again. He closed the door, bracing his broad back against it, demanding, surlily : 1 * Who are ye now ? And what are ye wantin' ?' * I have no objections to telling you who I am,' returned the intruder, his bold blue eyes looking from one to the other of the grotesque couple. *I am Lord O'Neil of County Antrim — ' * Wild Larry of the Glen V asked Fogarty. ' The same. And what I'm wanting is this young lady, the Lady Nora Kildare, my promised wife. I've traced her here, and I shall take her hence with me.' * Not while I am to the fore,' said old Fogarty, grimly. ' Whether ye're Wild Larry of the Glen, or' whether ye're some mudlarkin' blackguard from Dublin or beyant, I don't know. What Ido know is, that while the young lady stays here for country boord I'm her natheral protector. I'm paid five pound a week for kaping her, arid kape her I f will !' 'We 11 see about that,' said Wild Larry, his blue eyes flashing. ' You can let the Lady Nora go peaceably, or you can let her go after you have your head broktn. Take your choice. ' 'I'll have a fight for her anyhow!' said old Fogarby, resolutely. 'Ann, quit yer snivelling and fetch me my shillaly. The one I had over to Kilkeel, mmd.' Airs Fogarty ran to bring the desired weapon, a great, knotted blackthorn stick on the shelf, over the fire, and handed it to her husband. He flourished it over his head, cutting the air it sharply. 'I'm sp'ilingfor a fight,' he observed,; with increasing grimness. «Ye -won't, make two bites for me, Wild Larry. Maybe ye ain't .heard , why they call me Rough. It's the fighting blood in me. It's from Limerick I came in^ths old times, and down in Limerick they! whisk a man over for , looking at ye. Now, I give j'ou a chance. Walk o' that door alone, and ye may go.' ,^/ril gtewhen I gre,tre«idy, and not- alone,' O'Neil, quietly. M gener T'ally^ do 'as c I please, Mister Fogarby/ . L May/'be'*ye ain?fc*heard f why- thejFcall'me Wild Larry, WeJU I'll show you.'. :

Ho, turned to the young j»irl dinging?- .to (his arm, and put her from him gently »nd tenderly, smiling into her anxious eyes. • Sit'dowri a minute, darling,' fye said, iri a, low, yoice.j ',*.I M must; jusfc^give .this»old fellow a lesson. HavVnV fears.' ' ... His confident.emiiere-psWred Lady .Nora. She sat down on a bench near the slowburning fire. 1 Come on !' cried Fogarty, waving his big shillaly, 3 andutbering'a cr,y* th&t would havVdohe' 1 credit 'tb the I'^1 '^ B\ilPof VBaghari.' | 4 Come on', ? I want to 'give ye the | taste of Limerick timber ! Come on !' • 'I'm coming !' gaid Wild Larry; smiling. And he went. Oh© swift "bound brought j him to old Rough's side. Fogarty raised • his club to cr.ush or fell the audacious young fellow, but, with a movement- as agile as that of a panther, his lordship knocked the weapon out of the old man's hand to the floor. • And before Fogarty could stoop to pick ib up the young lord had caught it. 'I've come, you see,' - he said, still smiling, •Do you want to feel my presence also?' As he spoke he gave the old man a playful tapping on either side of the head with the shillaly. Fogarby's rage at this point was fearful to witness. He had long been the bully of the coast;, and was noted as a brawler ,and tighter. To have his laurels torn from him by ' a young aristocrat,' * to' be disgraced in the eyes of his own wife, who had the family veneration for muscle, and contempt for physical weakness, was not to be borne. With a yell and a roar, he hurled himself against the young lord. 'Let 'em tight fair!" muttered the old woman, seating herself on a bench and rocking her body to and fro. 'Let 'em fight tair ! But "Rough will beat. He always does.' The Lady Nora could scarcely keep back the cry of fear that trembled on her lips. Yet even in that moment she c»uld not resist a thrill of admiration, as her lover's brighb and dauntless face, and lithe, active figure flashed again and again across her vision. He did not look like one to be easily beaten. He looked rather, in his bold, spirited attitudes, like one born to be a conqueror in everything he undertakes — like one who knows 'no such word as fail.' Presently his lordship llung away the 3hillaly, and a vigorous hand to hand con- j flict succeeded. The white firm hands of Wild Larry pummelled his adversary with crushing force, now parrying a blow, now striking one home in the burly breast, or in the red and puffy face of the old smuggler. 'All that's gone has been play,' said Lord O'Neil, when old Fogarty began to pan* for breath. ' This is earnest.' He accompanied the words with a blow so unexpected, and so stunning, delivered full upon the lisher's thick skull, that the old man reeled and stumbled to- the floor, where he lay for a moment half stupefied. 'It was a fair fight — a fair fight !' muttered old Mrs Fogarty, rocking herself with greater vehemence. ' Old Rough has met his match at last— and,' she added, under her breath, ' I'm glad of ib !' The fallen man glared up at his conqueror. The latter looked down upon him unruffled, unperturbed, and smiling easily. ' Now you know why they call me Wild Larry,' said the young lord, quietly. ' • Ay,' 1 know," grunted old Fogarty ; ' I know to my cost. And why didn't they call ye the divil while they were naming ye?' * Hearing you praise " your Limerick blood,' remarked Lord O'Neil, ' I thought I'd let >ou know' the quality of Antrim blood. You see, my good man, that Antrim isn't far behind Limerick. Perhaps now,' he added, as the burly Fogarty struggled to his feet, 'you 'might like a look at this ?' He drew out his pi»tol, the one he had purchased in Dublin, and turned it over carelessly in his hands. Old Rough and his wife uttered exclamations of terror. Like many who pride themselves on physical prowess, they had an exaggerated horror of firearms. Old Fogarty, blinded and dizzy, staggered to a seat. 'Put up yer fowling piece, my lord,' he said, humbly enough. 'For the first time in my life I've found my better. Ay ye j lived in County Down, I'd move out of it. I have nothing more to say.' ' I presume not,' observed the young lord, smiling coolly. r And now we will leave you to search for Mike and Tim, whom you seem to have temporarily forgotten.' Wild Larry Look up the small parcel of the Lady Nora's effects, gave the young girl his arm, and led her to the door. He j opened it, and they passed oub together into the lonely, dreary night, with its dun, heavy shadows, its chill autumn wind, and j the roaring murmur of the sad waves. .But to the young Lady Nora the night was gloriously beautiful. Had she not I been saved from a fearful bondage by the one she loved best on earth, and was not Larry with her now ? - i The lovers did not speak until they had crossed the garden patch and gained the high road beyond. Then Lord O'Neil gathered the young girl to his heart, and she whispered softly, as his kisses fell upon her perfumed hair : • This moment pays me for all ! The future looks dark to me, Larry, but this moment has brightness to gild all its gloom 1' 'There'll be no more trouble for you, darling,' cried the young lord, in his passionate joy. 'No one shall ever dare to harm you. As old Fogarty says, ' I'm to the fore.' I shall never lose sight of you again. '