There here intervened a pause of some length, at the end of which the soldier said, in the same gruff voice, but in a lower key:
"Look ye, comrade, it will be your own fault if you die this night. On one condition I promise to get you out of this hobble with a whole skin; but if you go to any of your d----d gammon, by G--, before two hours are pa.s.sed, you will have as many holes in your carcase as a target."
"Name your conditions," said I, "and if they consist with honour, I will never balk at the offer."
"Here they are: you are to be shot to-night, by Captain Oliver"s orders.
The carbines are cleaned for the job, and the cartridges served out to the men. By G--, I tell you the truth!"
Of this I needed not much persuasion, and intimated to the man my conviction that he spoke the truth.
"Well, then," he continued, "now for the means of avoiding this ugly business. Captain Oliver rides this night to head-quarters, with the papers which you carried. Before he starts he will pay you a visit, to fish what he can out of you with all the fine promises he can make.
Humour him a little, and when you find an opportunity, stab him in the throat above the cuira.s.s."
"A feasible plan, surely," said I, raising my shackled hands, "for a man thus completely crippled and without a weapon."
"I will manage all that presently for you," said the soldier. "When you have thus dealt with him, take his cloak and hat, and so forth, and put them on; the papers you will find in the pocket of his vest, in a red leather case. Walk boldly out. I am appointed to ride with Captain Oliver, and you will find me holding his horse and my own by the door.
Mount quickly, and I will do the same, and then we will ride for our lives across the bridge. You will find the holster-pistols loaded in case of pursuit; and, with the devil"s help, we shall reach Limerick without a hair hurt. My only condition is, that when you strike Oliver, you strike home, and again and again, until he is FINISHED; and I trust to your honour to remember me when we reach the town."
I cannot say whether I resolved right or wrong, but I thought my situation, and the conduct of Captain Oliver, warranted me in acceding to the conditions propounded by my visitant, and with alacrity I told him so, and desired him to give me the power, as he had promised to do, of executing them.
With speed and prompt.i.tude he drew a small key from his pocket, and in an instant the manacles were removed from my hands.
How my heart bounded within me as my wrists were released from the iron gripe of the shackles! The first step toward freedom was made--my self-reliance returned, and I felt a.s.sured of success.
"Now for the weapon," said I.
"I fear me, you will find it rather clumsy," said he; "but if well handled, it will do as well as the best Toledo. It is the only thing I could get, but I sharpened it myself; it has an edge like a skean."
He placed in my hand the steel head of a halberd. Grasping it firmly, I found that it made by no means a bad weapon in point of convenience; for it felt in the hand like a heavy dagger, the portion which formed the blade or point being crossed nearly at the lower extremity by a small bar of metal, at one side shaped into the form of an axe, and at the other into that of a hook. These two transverse appendages being m.u.f.fled by the folds of my cravat, which I removed for the purpose, formed a perfect guard or hilt, and the lower extremity formed like a tube, in which the pike-handle had been inserted, afforded ample s.p.a.ce for the grasp of my hand; the point had been made as sharp as a needle, and the metal he a.s.sured me was good.
Thus equipped he left me, having observed, "The captain sent me to bring you to your senses, and give you some water that he might find you proper for his visit. Here is the pitcher; I think I have revived you sufficiently for the captain"s purpose."
With a low savage laugh he left me to my reflections.
Having examined and adjusted the weapon, I carefully bound the ends of the cravat, with which I had secured the cross part of the spear-head, firmly round my wrist, so that in case of a struggle it might not easily be forced from my hand; and having made these precautionary dispositions, I sat down upon the ground with my back against the wall, and my hands together under my coat, awaiting my visitor.
The time wore slowly on; the dusk became dimmer and dimmer, until it nearly bordered on total darkness.
"How"s this?" said I, inwardly; "Captain Oliver, you said I should not see the moon rise to-night. Methinks you are somewhat tardy in fulfilling your prophecy."
As I made this reflection, a noise at the outer door announced the entrance of a visitant. I knew that the decisive moment was come, and letting my head sink upon my breast, and a.s.suring myself that my hands were concealed, I waited, in the att.i.tude of deep dejection, the approach of my foe and betrayer.
As I had expected, Captain Oliver entered the room where I lay. He was equipped for instant duty, as far as the imperfect twilight would allow me to see; the long sword clanked upon the floor as he made his way through the lobbies which led to my place of confinement; his ample military cloak hung upon his arm; his c.o.c.ked hat was upon his head, and in all points he was prepared for the road.
This tallied exactly with what my strange informant had told me.
I felt my heart swell and my breath come thick as the awful moment which was to witness the death-struggle of one or other of us approached.
Captain Oliver stood within a yard or two of the place where I sat, or rather lay; and folding his arms, he remained silent for a minute or two, as if arranging in his mind how he should address me.
"Hardress Fitzgerald," he began at length, "are you awake? Stand up, if you desire to hear of matters nearly touching your life or death. Get up, I say."
I arose doggedly, and affecting the awkward movements of one whose hands were bound,
"Well," said I, "what would you of me? Is it not enough that I am thus imprisoned without a cause, and about, as I suspect, to suffer a most unjust and violent sentence, but must I also be disturbed during the few moments left me for reflection and repentance by the presence of my persecutor? What do you want of me?"
"As to your punishment, sir," said he, "your own deserts have no doubt suggested the likelihood of it to your mind; but I now am with you to let you know that whatever mitigation of your sentence you may look for, must be earned by your compliance with my orders. You must frankly and fully explain the contents of the packet which you endeavoured this day to destroy; and further, you must tell all that you know of the designs of the popish rebels."
"And if I do this I am to expect a mitigation of my punishment--is it not so?"
Oliver bowed.
"And what IS this mitigation to be? On the honour of a soldier, what is it to be?" inquired I.
"When you have made the disclosure required," he replied, "you shall hear. "Tis then time to talk of indulgences."
"Methinks it would then be too late," answered I. "But a chance is a chance, and a drowning man will catch at a straw. You are an honourable man, Captain Oliver. I must depend, I suppose, on your good faith. Well, sir, before I make the desired communication I have one question more to put. What is to befall me in case that I, remembering the honour of a soldier and a gentleman, reject your infamous terms, scorn your mitigations, and defy your utmost power?"
"In that case," replied he, coolly, "before half an hour you shall be a corpse."
"Then G.o.d have mercy on your soul!" said I; and springing forward, I dashed the weapon which I held at his throat.
I missed my aim, but struck him full in the mouth with such force that most of his front teeth were dislodged, and the point of the spear-head pa.s.sed out under his jaw, at the ear.
My onset was so sudden and unexpected that he reeled back to the wall, and did not recover his equilibrium in time to prevent my dealing a second blow, which I did with my whole force. The point unfortunately struck the cuira.s.s, near the neck, and glancing aside it inflicted but a flesh wound, tearing the skin and tendons along the throat.
He now grappled with me, strange to say, without uttering any cry of alarm; being a very powerful man, and if anything rather heavier and more strongly built than I, he succeeded in drawing me with him to the ground. We fell together with a heavy crash, tugging and straining in what we were both conscious was a mortal struggle. At length I succeeded in getting over him, and struck him twice more in the face; still he struggled with an energy which nothing but the tremendous stake at issue could have sustained.
I succeeded again in inflicting several more wounds upon him, any one of which might have been mortal. While thus contending he clutched his hands about my throat, so firmly that I felt the blood swelling the veins of my temples and face almost to bursting. Again and again I struck the weapon deep into his face and throat, but life seemed to adhere in him with an almost INSECT tenacity.
My sight now nearly failed, my senses almost forsook me; I felt upon the point of suffocation when, with one desperate effort, I struck him another and a last blow in the face. The weapon which I wielded had lighted upon the eye, and the point penetrated the brain; the body quivered under me, the deadly grasp relaxed, and Oliver lay upon the ground a corpse!
As I arose and shook the weapon and the b.l.o.o.d.y cloth from my hand, the moon which he had foretold I should never see rise, shone bright and broad into the room, and disclosed, with ghastly distinctness, the mangled features of the dead soldier; the mouth, full of clotting blood and broken teeth, lay open; the eye, close by whose lid the fatal wound had been inflicted, was not, as might have been expected, bathed in blood, but had started forth nearly from the socket, and gave to the face, by its fearful unlikeness to the other glazing orb, a leer more hideous and unearthly than fancy ever saw. The wig, with all its rich curls, had fallen with the hat to the floor, leaving the shorn head exposed, and in many places marked by the recent struggle; the rich lace cravat was drenched in blood, and the gay uniform in many places soiled with the same.
It is hard to say, with what feelings I looked upon the unsightly and revolting ma.s.s which had so lately been a living and a comely man. I had not any time, however, to spare for reflection; the deed was done--the responsibility was upon me, and all was registered in the book of that G.o.d who judges rightly.
With eager haste I removed from the body such of the military accoutrements as were necessary for the purpose of my disguise. I buckled on the sword, drew off the military boots, and donned them myself, placed the brigadier wig and c.o.c.ked hat upon my head, threw on the cloak, drew it up about my face, and proceeded, with the papers which I found as the soldier had foretold me, and the key of the outer lobby, to the door of the guard-room; this I opened, and with a firm and rapid tread walked through the officers, who rose as I entered, and pa.s.sed without question or interruption to the street-door. Here I was met by the grimlooking corporal, Hewson, who, saluting me, said:
"How soon, captain, shall the file be drawn out and the prisoner despatched?"
"In half an hour," I replied, without raising my voice.
The man again saluted, and in two steps I reached the soldier who held the two horses, as he had intimated.
"Is all right?" said he, eagerly.
"Ay," said I, "which horse am I to mount?"
He satisfied me upon this point, and I threw myself into the saddle; the soldier mounted his horse, and dashing the spurs into the flanks of the animal which I bestrode, we thundered along the narrow bridge. At the far extremity a sentinel, as we approached, called out, "Who goes there?