These and many other schemes were freely discussed by the rebels. After some time another person entered the cavern. Dermot looked up and saw by the light of the lamp, which fell on his countenance, that the new comer was no other than Father O"Rourke. He and the O"Higgins greeted each other warmly. It was evident that they were looked upon as the leaders of the undertaking. The one active in a spiritual capacity, urging on the infatuated men the justice of their cause and promising them his own prayers and the protection of heaven, and telling them to go on and conquer; the other inviting them to follow him, and promising them the victory. Father O"Rourke particularly advocated the most energetic measures. He even advised that they should at once march towards the castle, and, exposing the young lord to view, threaten to hang him if the gates were not opened to admit them.
This plan was, however, overruled by others, who declared that the frigate still lay in the bay, and that whatever the Earl might do, their appearance on the sh.o.r.e would certainly bring the shot of her guns about their ears.
"And what are you afraid of, comrades?" exclaimed Father O"Rourke. "If they do, cannot I give each of you the blessed picture of Saint Patrick, and won"t that, worn about your neck, guard you from the shot of the enemy? Ah, if you knew the value of those blessed amulets, you would all of you be anxious to purchase them. No soldier should ever think of going into battle without such a safeguard. Have I not been offering up prayers day and night for the last month for your success, and are you such heretics as to believe that they have all been uttered in vain?
No, trust me, let us go and attack the castle this night or to-morrow at farthest, and depend upon it, we shall gain such a victory as will make all the people in the country around rise up and join us. They only want to see a little success, and Ireland shall have her own again.
What, boys! are we to be kept down by the red-coats, and the vile heretics who call George the Third king? No, I say again. Ireland for the Irish. May Saint Patrick and all the blessed Saints fight for us, and we will have true liberty once more in the green Isle of old Erin!"
While listening to the address of the priest, very similar to many others uttered then, and even at the present day, by the so-called pastors of the Romish Church in Ireland, Dermot was thinking over what he should attempt to do. He knew perfectly well from the way his feet had been tied to the bed, that he could liberate himself immediately; but how to steal out of the cavern without being observed was the difficulty; even should the chief body of the rebels go to sleep, it was not likely that they would leave the cavern without a guard. If he could escape, however, he thought his best plan would be to hasten off to the castle, to which he felt sure he could find his way, and give notice of the plans of the conspirators.
"The Earl probably does not dream of an attack being made on his residence, and will not certainly be prepared," thought Dermot to himself. "Perhaps the rebels will steal towards the chief door and break it open before any one within can stop them. The frigate, too, if she has not sailed already, will very likely go away, or be misled by the treacherous information those people will send on board. Now, if I could steal away without their finding out who I am, they will not suspect that their plans are discovered as they know that the young lord would not understand what had been said." Dermot"s great desire therefore was to escape from the cavern. He found that not only was it expected that the country around would rise and attack all the Protestant dwelling-houses in the neighbourhood, but that a French squadron with troops would come off the coast and support their cause.
This, altogether, was terrible news, and Dermot felt that it was most important it should be conveyed without delay to Kilfinnan Castle, the princ.i.p.al seat in that neighbourhood.
Dermot had never liked Father O"Rourke, and he had now still less cause to admire him. He guessed, too, from the character of the man, that although he would encourage the people round to rebel, he was not likely to run himself into danger. He was not surprised, therefore, after hearing him inflame the pa.s.sions and ardour of his misguided countrymen, to see him quietly take his departure after uttering his blessing and promising them success if they would follow his injunctions.
We must now return to the vicarage. Scarcely had Dermot left the house on the pony, than Miss O"Reilly began to regret that she had allowed him to go. She went to the door and felt the blast blowing keenly from the north, and knowing the lateness of the hour, she feared that he would be benighted long before he could reach the castle. She would willingly have despatched some one to him, but she had no person to send.
While standing at the door, she heard a voice, singing one of the wild and plaintive airs of the country, down in the valley beneath the vicarage. She knew by the sounds that the singer was drawing nearer and nearer the house.
"It is poor mad Kathleen," she said to herself, "though she has but a small amount of brains, yet she is fleet of foot, and would soon overtake the lad, and bring him back to the house. It would be better to do that, than let him go on with the pony he ill knows how to bestride."
The song continued, and in a short time the singer stood in front of the vicarage.
"Well, Kathleen, what brings you here?" asked Miss O"Reilly, addressing her in a kind tone.
"What brings me here takes me wherever I list to go, my own free will,"
answered the mad girl, who was still young, and possessed of an amount of beauty which made those who saw her feel even more sympathy and compa.s.sion than they might have done, had her appearance been less attractive.
"You are good and kind, Kathleen," said Miss O"Reilly; "you would do me a kindness, I know, if I were to ask you."
"That I would, lady!" answered the girl, in the broken Saxon which was spoken by not many of the peasantry in that part of Ireland; "I would do anything to serve you, just say what it is."
Miss O"Reilly, in a few words, explained to Kathleen what she wished to have done.
"You know him, you know young Dermot O"Neil?"
"Oh yes, I know him well; he is a gentle lad and a good one, and I would gladly serve him, as I would you, lady."
Miss O"Reilly again endeavoured to impress upon the wandering mind of the poor girl what she was to do, and then begged her to hasten off to overtake Dermot. However, neither she nor Miss O"Reilly were aware of the distance Dermot would have got before Kathleen could overtake him.
The mad girl went singing on as was her wont for some time, till suddenly she became unusually silent. She had not gone far when she heard the loud talking of a body of men approaching her.
"Those voices at this time of the evening bode no good," she said to herself. "They are some of the rebels who they say are about the country. I never loved such. I will hide and watch to see what they are about."
She accordingly concealed herself among the rocks and uneven ground with which the road was bounded. The tramp of feet approached, coming from the direction of the castle, and she saw some men leading a pony on which a lad was mounted, hurriedly proceeding towards the north.
From what she had heard from Miss O"Reilly, she at once concluded that the person she had seen in the hands of the insurgents must be Dermot himself.
"Now the next thing I have to do," she thought, "is to follow and try to find out where they are taking him to. Surely they will not do him an injury, but still they have no right to carry him off; of that I am certain."
Gathering her cloak around her, she quickly followed the footsteps of the party she had seen pa.s.s. She had to keep at a cautious distance, lest in crossing any open s.p.a.ce, she might have been discovered, but where a person in their right mind might have hesitated, she went on fearlessly. The road was rough and up and down hill, but she continued her pursuit till the party suddenly came to a halt.
"Oh!" she said to herself; "I know the spot where they have gone to; shall I go on, or shall I go back to Miss O"Reilly and tell her how I have been defeated in fulfilling her directions?"
In spite of the distance she determined to follow the latter course.
The astonishment of Miss O"Reilly was very great when, at a late hour in the evening, Kathleen appeared and told her what had befallen young Dermot.
Miss O"Reilly instantly consulted her uncle, who fortunately was at home.
"There is something wrong going forward, at all events," he observed.
"But why the rebels should have made Dermot prisoner is more than I can say. However, perhaps you can persuade Kathleen to go back to the cave and endeavour to release him. I don"t know what else we can do. In the morning I will ride over to the castle and consult with the Earl. He should be informed that a rising of some sort is on foot through the country, though I do not suppose it is of much consequence."
Kathleen was perfectly ready to undertake the release of Dermot if she could accomplish it, and she promised at all events to enter the cavern and to communicate with him.
"He is a wise lad, and it will be a wise thing to do as he bids me," she observed.
"But you must be weary, Kathleen," said Miss O"Reilly; "you will want some refreshment before you set out again to-night."
"No, no, when the mind"s at work the body requires no food," said the mad girl, and she burst forth in a wild song which showed the excitement under which she was labouring.
CHAPTER FIVE.
Without waiting for further directions, away went the mad girl over moorland and glen at a speed which, considering the darkness, scarcely a wild deer could have rivalled, and before long she stood at the entrance of the cavern. She waited for some time, in the hopes that the inmates would go to sleep, and that she could more easily find an entrance.
Listening, she heard voices within, and that of Father O"Rourke above all the rest.
"Where the priest is, there there"s mischief," she said to herself. "If he"s going to stay there"s little I shall be able to do."
She had not waited long, however, concealed behind a rock, when she saw Father O"Rourke issue forth and take his way down the hill. She waited some time longer, then quietly entered the cavern, gliding past the table and up to its further end. The men, who were still awake, gazed at her with astonishment, wondering what had brought her there, but none ventured to speak to her. She was held in a sort of superst.i.tious reverence by the ignorant peasantry; and seeing her fearlessly enter, they fancied that she had authority for coming among them. No one suspected, indeed, that she would not prove faithful to their cause, had she discovered their intention. Silently she pa.s.sed up the cavern and sat herself down on a chest at the further end, where, concealed by the darkness, she yet could look forth on the objects lighted by the lamp, and make her observations.
She had not been there long before she discovered Dermot resting on his elbow on the bunk where he had been placed. She watched till those around her appeared to be asleep, and she then noiselessly glided up to where he lay.
"I have come to look for you, Dermot," she whispered. "Have you any message to send to friends, or would you have me set you free? The message I might take, but if I were to try and set you free, I might be made prisoner myself."
"I will send a message; that will be the safest plan," said Dermot.
"But how did you find me out?"
She told him briefly.
"Stay, I can take a leaf from one of my books," he observed. "I will write it, it will be safer, and you will remember to deliver it, Kathleen, if you wish to do me and others real service."
"Oh yes, Dermot, write, you may trust me; it is better than putting it into my poor mind, though I can remember if it is not overcharged," she answered with a sigh. "But be quick, or some of these people will be suspecting us."
Dermot sat up. He had fortunately a pencil in his pocket, and taking a leaf from one of his books, he wrote a few lines, addressed to the Earl, telling him of the intention of the rebels to attack his castle, and also of their purpose of getting the frigate out of the way.
The note may not have been well written or very well expressed, but it was clear and to the purpose. After signing his name he added, "Oh, trust me, my lord, I would come myself but I am a prisoner, and I pray heaven that this may reach you in time to be of service."