"Tehee! tehee! agh! What is that?" said the Boxer, showing his white teeth and blubber lips in a furious grin, whilst the eyes which he fastened on the poor burgher blazed up once more, as if he was about to annihilate him.
"What is it, sar?"
"Faith," said the burgher, making towards the door, "I"ll tell you that when I"m the safe side o" the room--devil a ha"porth bar-rin" that neither you nor any man ought to reckon your chickens before they are hatched. Make money of that;" and after having discharged this pleasantry at the black, the worthy burgher made a hasty exit down stairs, followed at a more dignified pace by his companions.
The Dead Boxer, in preparing for battle, observed a series of forms peculiar to himself, which were certainly of an appalling character. As a proof that the challenge was accepted, he ordered a black flag, which he carried about with him, to wave from a window of the inn, a circ.u.mstance which thrilled all who saw it with an awful certainty of Lamh Laudher"s death. He then gave order for the drums to be beaten, and a dead march to be played before him, whilst he walked slowly up the town and back, conversing occasionally with some of those who immediately surrounded him. When he arrived nearly opposite the market-house, some person pointed out to him a small hut that stood in a situation isolated from the other houses of the street.
"There," added his informant, "is the house where Lamh Laudher Oge"s aunt lives, and where he himself has lived since he left his father"s."
"Ah!" said the black, pausing, "is he within, do you think?"
One of the crowd immediately inquired, and replied to him in affirmative.
"Will any of you," continued the boxer, "bring me over a half-hundred weight from the market crane? I will show this fellow what a poor chance he has. If he is so strong in the arm and active as is reported, I desire he will imitate me. Let the music stop a moment."
The crowd was now on tiptoe, and all necks were stretched over the shoulders of those who stood before them, in order to see, if possible, what the feat could be which he intended to perform. Having received the half-hundred weight from the hands of the man who brought it, he approached the widow"s cottage, and sent in a person to apprize _Lamh Laudher_ of his intention to throw it over the house, and to request that he would witness this proof of his strength. Lamh Laudher delayed a few minutes, and the Dead Boxer stood in the now silent crowd, awaiting his appearance, when accidentally glancing into the door, he started as if stung by a serpent. A flash and a glare of his fierce blazing eyes followed.
"Ha! d.a.m.nation! true as h.e.l.l!" he exclaimed, "she"s with him! Ha!--the Obeah woman was right--the Obeuh woman was right. Guilt, guilt, guilt!
Ha!"
With terror and fury upon his huge dark features, he advanced a step or two into the cottage, and in a voice that resembled the under-growl of an enraged bull, said to his wife, for it was she--"You will never repeat this--I am aware of you; I know you now! Fury! prepare yourself; I say so to both. Ha!" Neither she nor Lamh Laudher had an opportunity of replying to him, for he ran in a mood perfectly savage to the half-hundred weight, which he caught by the ring, whirled it round him two or three times, and, to the amazement of the mob who were crowded about him, flung it over the roof of the cottage.
Lamh Laudher had just left the cabin in time to witness the feat, as well as to observe more closely the terrific being in his full strength and fury, with whom he was to wage battle on the following day. Those who watched his countenance, observed that it blanched for a moment, and that the color came and went upon his cheek.
"Now, young fellow," said the Boxer, "get behind the cabin and throw back the weight."
Lamh Landher hesitated, but was ultimately proceeding to make the attempt, when a voice from the crowd, in tones that were evidently disguised, shouted--
"Don"t be a fool, young man; husband your strength, for you will want it."
The Dead Boxer started again--"Ha!" he exclaimed, after listening acutely, "fury of h.e.l.l! are you there? ha! I"ll grasp you yet, though."
The young man, however, felt the propriety of this friendly caution.
"The person who spoke is right," said he, "whoever he is. I will husband, my strength," and he pa.s.sed again into the cabin.
The boxer"s countenance exhibited dark and flitting shadows of rage.
That which in an European cheek would have been the redness of deep resentment, appeared, on his, as the scarlet blood struggled with the gloomy hue of his complexion, rather like a tincture that seemed to borrow its character more from the darkness of his soul, than from the color of his skin. His brow, black and lowering as a thunder-cloud, hung fearfully over his eyes, which he turned upon Lamh Laudher when entering the hut, as if he could have struck him dead with a look. Having desired the drums to beat, and the dead march to be resumed, he proceeded along the streets until he arrived at the inn, from the front of which the dismal flag of death flapped slowly and heavily in the breeze. At this moment the death-bell of the town church tolled, and the s.e.xton of the parish bustled through the crowd to inform him that the grave which he had ordered to be made was ready.
The solemnity of these preparations, joined to the almost superhuman proof of bodily strength which he had just given, depressed every heart, when his young and generous adversary was contrasted with him. Deep sorrow for the fate of Lamh Laudher prevailed throughout the town; the old men sighed at the folly of his rash and fatal obstinacy, and the females shed tears at the sacrifice of one whom all had loved. From the inn, hundreds of the crowd rushed to the church-yard, where they surveyed the newly made grave with shudderings and wonder at the strangeness of the events which had occurred in the course of the day.
The death music, the m.u.f.fled drums, the black flag, the mournful tolling of the sullen bell, together with the deep grave that lay open before them, appeared rather to resemble the fearful pageant of a gloomy dream, than the reality of incidents that actually pa.s.sed before their eyes.
Those who came to see the grave departed with heaviness and a sad foreboding of what was about to happen; but fresh crowds kept pouring towards it for the remainder of the day, till the dusky shades of a summer night drove them to their own hearths, and left the church-yard silent.
The appearance of the Dead Boxer"s wife in the house where Lamh Laudher resided, confirmed, in its worst sense, that which Nell M"Collum had suggested to him. It is unnecessary to describe the desolating sweep of pa.s.sion which a man, who, like him, was the slave of strong resentments, must have suffered. It was not only from motives of avarice and a natural love of victory that he felt anxious to fight: to these was now added a dreadful certainty that Lamh Laudher was the man in existence who had inflicted on him an injury, for which nothing but the pleasure of crushing him to atoms with his hands, could atone. The approaching battle therefore, with his direst enemy, was looked upon by the Dead Boxer as an opportunity of glutting his revenge. When the crowd had dispersed, he called a waiter, and desired him to inquire if his wife had returned. The man retired to ascertain, and the Boxer walked backwards and forwards in a state of mind easily conceived, muttering curses and vows of vengeance against her and Lamh Laudher. After some minutes he was informed that she had not returned, upon which he gave orders that on the very instant of her appearance at the inn, she should be sent to him. The waiter"s story in this instance was incorrect; but the wife"s apprehension of his violence, overcame every other consideration, and she resolved for some time to avoid him. He had, in fact, on more than one occasion openly avowed his jealousy of her and O"Rorke, and that in a manner which made the unhappy woman tremble for her life. She felt, therefore, from what had just occurred at Widow Rorke"s cabin, that she must separate herself from him, especially as he was susceptible neither of reason nor remonstrance. Every thing conspired to keep his bad pa.s.sions in a state of tumult. Nell M"Collum, whom he wished to consult once more upon the recovery of his money, could not be found. This, too, galled him; for avarice, except during the whirlwind of jealousy, was the basis of his character--the predominant pa.s.sion of his heart. After cooling a little, he called for his servant, who had been in the habit of acting for him in the capacity of second, and began, with his a.s.sistance, to make preparations for to-morrow"s battle.
CHAPTER VII.
Nothing now could exceed the sympathy which was felt for young Lamh Laudher, yet except among his immediate friends, there was little exertion made to prevent him from accelerating his own fate. So true is it that public feeling scruples not to gratify its appet.i.te for excitement, even at the risk or actual cost of human life. His parents and relations mourned him as if he had been already dead. The grief of his mother had literally broken down her voice so much, that from hoa.r.s.eness, she was almost unintelligible. His aged father sat and wept like a child; and it was in vain that any of their friends attempted to console them. During the latter part of the day, every melancholy stroke of the death bell pierced their hearts; the dead march, too, and the black flag waving, as if in triumph over the lifeless body of their only son, the princ.i.p.al support of their declining years, filled them with a gloom and terror, which death, in its common shape, would not have inspired. This savage pageant on the part, of the Dead Boxer, besides being calculated to daunt the heart of any man who might accept his challenge, was a cruel mockery of the solemnities of death. In this instance it produced such a sensation as never had been felt in that part of the country. An uneasy feeling of wild romance, mingled with apprehension, curiosity, fear, and amazement, all conspired to work upon the imaginations of a people in whom that quality is exuberant, until the general excitement became absolutely painful.
Perhaps there was not one among his nearest friends who felt more profound regret for having been the occasion of his disgrace, and consequently of the fate to which he had exposed him, than Meehaul Neil.
In the course of that day he sent his father to old Lamh Laudher, to know if young O"Rorke would grant him an interview, the object of which was to dissuade him from the battle.
"Tell him," said the latter, with a composure still tinged with a sorrowful spirit, "that I will not see him to-day. To-morrow I may, and if I don"t, tell him, that for his sister"s sake, he has my forgiveness."
The introduction of the daughter"s name shortened the father"s visit, who left him in silence.
Ellen, however, had struggles to endure which pressed upon her heart with an anguish bitter in proportion to the secrecy rendered necessary by the dread of her relations. From the moment she heard of Lamh Laudher"s challenge, and saw the funeral appendages with which the Dead Boxer had darkened the preparations for the fight, she felt her heart sink, from a consciousness that she had been indirectly the murderess of her lover. Her countenance became ghastly pale, and her frame was seized with a tremor which she could hardly conceal. She would have been glad to have shed tears, but tears were denied her. Except the Boxer"s wife, there was no one to whom she could disclose her misery; but alas! for once, that amiable creature was incapable of affording her consolation.
She herself, felt distress resulting from both the challenge, and her husband"s jealousy, almost equal to that of Ellen.
"I know not how it is," said she, "but I cannot account for the interest I feel in that young man. Yes, surely, it is natural, when we consider that I owe my life to him. Still, independently of that, I never heard his voice, that it did not fall upon my heart like the voice of a friend. We must, if possible, change his mind,", she added, wiping away her tears; "for I know that if he fights that terrible man, he will be killed."
At Ellen"s request, she consented to see Lamh Laudher, with a view of entreating him, in her name, to decline the fight. Nor were her own solicitations less urgent. With tears and grief which could not be affected, she besought him not to rush upon certain death--said that Ellen could not survive it--pleaded the claims of his aged parents, and left no argument untouched that could apply to his situation and conduct. Lamh Laudher, however, was inexorable, and she relinquished an attempt that she felt to be ineffectual. The direction of her husband"s attention so unexpectedly to widow Rorke"s I cabin, at that moment, and his discovery of her interview with Lamh Laudher, determined her, previously acquainted as she had been with his jealousy, to keep out of his reach, until some satisfactory explanation could be given. Ellen, however, could not rest; her grief had so completely overborne all other considerations, that she cared little, now, whether her friends perceived it or not. On one thing, she was fixed, and that was, to prevent Lamh Laudher from encountering the Dead Boxer. With this purpose she wrapped herself in a cloak about ten o"clock, and careless whether she was observed or not, went directly towards his aunt"s house. About two-thirds of the way had probably been traversed, when a man, wrapped up in a cloak, like herself, accosted her in a low voice, not much above a whisper.
"Miss Neil," said he, "I don"t think it would be hard to guess where you are going."
"Who are you that asks?" said Ellen. "No matter; but if you happen to see young O"Rorke to-night, I have a message to send him that may serve him."
"Who are you?" again inquired Ellen. "One that cautions you to beware of the Dead Boxer; one that pities and respects his unfortunate wife; and one who, as I said, can serve O"Rorke."
"For G.o.d"s sake, then, if you can, be quick; for there"s little time to be lost," said Ellen.
"Give him this message," replied the man, and he whispered half a dozen words into her ear.
"Is that true?" she asked him; "and may he depend upon it?"
"He may, as there"s a G.o.d above me. Good night!" He pa.s.sed on at a rapid pace. When Ellen entered his aunt"s humble cabin, Lamh Laudher had just risen from his knees. Devotion, or piety if you will, as it is in many cases, though undirected by knowledge, may be frequently found among the peasantry a.s.sociated with objects that would appear to have little connection with it. When he saw her he exclaimed with something like disappointment:--
"Ah! Ellen dear, why did you come? I would rather you hadn"t crossed me now, darling."
His manner was marked by the same melancholy sedateness which we have already described. He knew the position in which he stood, and did not attempt to disguise what he felt. His apparent depression, however, had a dreadful effect upon Ellen, who sat down on a stool, and threw back the hood of her cloak; but the aunt placed a little circular arm-chair for her somewhat nearer the fire. She declined it in a manner that argued something like incoherence, which occasioned O"Rorke to, glance at her most earnestly. He started, on observing the wild l.u.s.tre of her eye, and the woebegone paleness of her cheek.
"Ellen," said he, "how is this? Has any thing frightened you? Merciful mother! aunt, look at her!"
The distracted girl sank before him on her knees, locked her hands together, and while her eyes sparkled with an unsettled light, exclaimed--
"John!--John!--Lamh Laudher Oge--forgive me, before you die! I have murdered you!"
"Ellen love, Ellen"--
"Do you forgive me? do you? Your blood is upon me, Lamh Laudher Oge!"
"Heavens above! Aunt, she"s turned! Do I forgive you, my heart"s own treasure? How did you ever offend me, my darling? You. know you never did. But if you ever did, my own Ellen, I do forgive you."
"But I murdered you--and that was because my brother said he would do it--an" I got afraid, John, that he might do you harm, an" afraid to tell you too--an"--an" so you promise me you won"t fight the Dead Boxer?
Thank G.o.d! thank G.o.d! then your blood will not be upon me!"