TRINITY.
Mr. Curran took the bait tendered to him by the chancellor. He made
inquiries, sorted the fragments of his puzzle after his own fashion,
and, filled with suspicions, became anxious to unveil without delay
the fresh dangers which menaced his friends. And dangers so easy to
unveil! The fowler cared not, it seemed, to mask his engines of
destruction. Mr. Curran, from his place in the senate, publicly warned
ministers of the iniquity of their proceedings, but nobody troubled to
listen. The friends of government gaped, vowing that the orator was a
maniac, that he had the secret society on the brain, and ought to be
carted to the madhouse; the few who were on the other side laughed,
declaring that Mr. Curran was misinformed. What could he do then but
sigh and hold his peace? At least he would speak to the Emmetts and
adjure them to be cautious, for the sake of all concerned.
When Tone's society for the promotion of universal concord was
driven by artful goading to become a secret one, the conspirators met
to discuss their grievances in a cellar in Backlane, near the
corn-market; but when the time came for extinguishing Tone and others,
Sirr, the captain of Lord Clare's sbirri, swept them thence, and they
were forced to find another trysting-place. Pending final decision on
this point, it was arranged as a miracle of cleverness that the
younger Emmett should suddenly become hospitable. Trinity was always
celebrated for its rollicking wine-parties. What more natural than
that young Robert should do as others did; that he, hitherto so
studious, should be led astray a little by the contagious force of bad
example? A good cellaret of claret was provided at the common expense;
songs were sung with open windows, at all hours of the day and night,
of a convivial and bacchanalian character. There was no end to the
shifts to which the patriots resorted, under the belief that they were
hoodwinking Major Sirr. There arose a mania for ball-playing. Clerks,
shopkeepers, attorneys, would meet of an afternoon at a hall taken for
the purpose, and emerge thence in an hour or two singularly cool and
fresh for men who had been practising athletics. There was also a rage
for fencing--a plausible excuse enough for meeting in numbers,
considering that the fire-eaters of the south had just revised the
laws of the duello. The youthful aristocracy, in accordance with one
of the new rules, had already formed themselves into a club, called
the Knights of Tara, whose members met three times a week in the
theatre at Capel Street to display their prowess with the rapier
before an audience of Dublin belles. What then should there be
suspicious if the middle class followed their example?
The case was not quite the same, though; for while the Knights of Tara
courted observation and loved to be seen lounging in cambric shirts
and broidered slippers, with their hair in curl-papers, the members of
the other fencing club kept rigorously closed doors, through which no
one ever heard the familiar cry, sharp as a pistol-crack, of 'Ha! a
hit!'
One evening, shortly after Tone's departure, there was a full
gathering in the chambers on the second floor which looked on the
grand quadrangle. It was necessary to instal with solemn rites a new
chief in place of the wanderer, and to fix on a distinct plan of
operations for enlarging the limits of the society. Tone had left his
mantle to Thomas Addis Emmett as the oldest and wisest of the band--he
was thirty-five--and so, in obedience to his last wishes, the editor
of the _Press_ was duly elected to the dangerous pre-eminence.
Submitting to his brother's entreaties, he commenced his reign by
administering the oath to young Robert, the dreamy lad of seventeen,
which was done with awful ceremonies, as became the doings of
conspirators. Blinds were drawn for a few minutes that no prying gaze
might penetrate the Holy of Holies; then all sat down, with the
neophyte standing in their midst, while their president read through
the constitution. Then the oath was administered upon the Scriptures,
which, together with the constitution, were clasped on the bared
breast, and after that a lock of hair was cut away under the queue
behind, and a formula learnt by heart, by means of which one member
could recognise another. It was touching to look on these brothers
standing side by side, the elder receiving the younger into a
fraternity, each unit of which, before many months were out, might
possibly be called upon to meet an ignominious death. Thomas was big
and burly, with a sedate cast of countenance which betokened thought,
whilst Robert was slight of build, and looked almost like a girl, as
with eyes fixed on space he repeated the strange sentences, his face
aglow with enthusiasm, his body trembling like a leaf.
'Are you straight?'
'I am.'
'How straight?'
'As straight as a rush.'
'Go on then?'
'In truth and trust; in unity and liberty.'
'What have you in your hand?'
'A green bough.'
'Where did it grow?'
'In America.'
'Where did it bud?'
'In France.'
'Where will you plant it?'
'In the Crown of Great Britain.'
'God be with you then, and with us all,' Thomas concluded; 'and now a
glass all round to the health of the new member.'
The pledge was gravely accepted, each one raising his beaker and
saying: 'To the diffusion of light!' ere he drained its contents and
replaced it on the table bottom upwards.
'Now, gentlemen,' pursued Thomas. 'We have serious business before us.
Theobald will be away a year at least before help can come, and it is
his wish that we should without delay prepare to graft the military
upon our civil functions. With arms and ammunition Tone will provide
us if he can, but they will be of little service unless we know how to
use them. In the halcyon days of the Volunteers every Irishman was a
soldier. Let us show that the martial spirit of our ancient kings,
which then for awhile revived, is not quite dead in us.'
'I will never consent to bloodshed,' shuddered young Robert.
'Internecine strife is too horrible!'
'You have been sworn in by your own desire,' returned his brother,
sternly, 'and your first duty is blind obedience. It is Tone's
conviction that we must fight, and fight we will when the time
comes--to the death! In revolutions there is nothing certain but
blood. The march of the captives is through a Red Sea. After forty
years of seeking new abodes, which of those who lead them shall touch
the Promised Land? Lord Clare shows us his cards, and a pretty hand it
is. Sirr is organising his paid spies into a battalion who are to
dwell at the Castle like pampered pets. It is hard to believe that
Irishmen will be so base. These informers are to lie _perdu_ until
wanted--are to worm themselves into the confidence of suspected
persons, to eat of their bread and salt, to nurse their little ones
upon their knees, and then, upon a signal, to give them over to the
hangman.'
'But the Viceroy!' cried Cassidy in indignation. 'Lord Camden is a man
of honour who would never consent to such a plan!'
Thomas Emmett shook his head mournfully.
'We all know,' he said, 'that the cabinet rules the Viceroy, and that
Lord Clare is master of the cabinet.'
'Seeing's believing,' retorted the giant doggedly, as he stretched out
his great hand for the claret bottle. 'Of course we must watch that no
such villain shall creep among us. I won't believe that the English
are without mercy.'
'At the battle of Aughrim,' replied Thomas, 'the blood sank into the
soil of seven thousand Irishmen who were only defending their rights.'
'As for drilling and such like,' said Cassidy, 'I'm with you, and the
sooner we start the business the better. I've learnt a new song that
we'll sing as we march to battle----'
'Oh, you simpleton!' laughed Terence Crosbie, who, slightly touched
with wine, had followed the proceedings of the two Emmetts with
amusement. 'Romancing as usual--giving credence to every scandalous
tale you hear. Even if there were truth in them, your grievances would
not give birth to generals. You will never make colonels out of
linendrapers.'
'No more than purses out of sows' ears,' returned Cassidy, with a
merry twinkle. 'No, councillor, that we never will. But we'll wheedle
a few aristocrats like your honour, whose blue blood shall mingle with
our muddy stuff. When the day dawns, you and a few like yourself shall
lead the boys to victory.'
Terence looked annoyed, but said nothing; while Cassidy and the others
scanned his face narrowly. He was not affiliated to the society, nor
had the remotest ambition of becoming so; for he knew that it behoved
not one of his order to join in such movements as this. Yet there was
a fascination for him in its doings, which kept him dangling upon its
outskirts. Some of his most valued friends were enrolled on the list
of United Irishmen, and he knew well how Doreen was praying for their
success. So he attended the supper-parties sometimes in his
purposeless way, and they permitted him to do so freely, despite the
maxim that in troublous times half-friends are no friends. They knew,
or thought they knew, that he was the soul of honour, who would never
betray a confidence; and hoped, encouraged by Cassidy, that some day
he might be cajoled or stung into their ranks, which would be a
feather in their cap indeed; for to be led by a Crosbie of Ennishowen
would give them a prestige at once such as in these democratic days we
can hardly realise. And Terence, seeing through the simple scheme (for
he was sharp enough, though lazy), was flattered by their confidence.
Yet for all that he promised himself to hold aloof from active
co-operation with hot-pated friends who made mountains out of
mole-hills. He had no intention of heading the forlorn hope of a
misguided rabblement who would fly helter-skelter before the first
puff of cannon smoke. So he prudently refrained from picking up the
gauntlet, and listened to the giant, who was delivered of an idea.
'I've a notion!' cried Cassidy, thumping the table till the glasses
rang again.
'Be cool now!' cautioned Tom Emmett. 'You are as dangerous as a
powder-magazine.'
'Is it dangerous I am?' grumbled the other. 'Sure something must be
risked, or we'll niver get along. I've an idaya, gintlemen, which I'm
willing to see to at my own expense, though a poor man. I've reason to
know that the militia may be tampered with. Their hearts are with the
cause, and they're as poor as rats or your humble servant. Money and
drink will do much, and women will settle the matter. Here's a letter
from Belfast which says that two hundred and fifty of the men in camp
there have secretly declared for us, and that it only needs the
personal presence of a delegate to bring over half the rest. When the
French land they'll rise and kill their officers. Think of the fine
fright that'll give the royalists! Sure and isn't that the way to
out-plot England? Shall I go to Belfast and reconnoitre? Of coorse ye
must give me credentials. A little note, signed, will do the trick,
and show I'm honest. As for the town-major of whom ye're all so
frightened, his bark's worse nor his bite. The Irish Jonathan Wild can
be bribed. I'll answer for him; but there's time galore for that.
Dangerous, am I? I'm the only one, I think, with a drain of sperit.
There's a great speech. Phew, I'm dhry! Hand round the clart, boys,
and we'll have a stave.'
The simple giant's harangue was favourably received, the paper was
penned and signed, and he was wetting his whistle for a song when Tom
Emmett raised his hand.
'Hark! who comes?'
There was a footstep on the creaking stair; then a knock; and a
familiar voice said: 'It is I. Curran.'
'Nurse Curran!' sneered Cassidy, annoyed. 'Come to look after his
foster-babby.'
The little advocate entered, and leaned against the door with his arms
folded.
'Terence, my lad,' he said. 'You must come away with me. What would my
lady say, if you came to be arrested?'
'Arrested!' echoed a dozen voices. 'Within Trinity? Impossible!'
'I fail to see that it's impossible,' snarled Curran. 'Hide those
foolish papers there, or burn them--children, too easily beguiled with
toys! And you, Terence, come away with me at once. Why? Are not
convenient edicts being passed each day to simplify the work of
government? Laws for the suppression of gaming, profane swearing,
atheistical assemblies, which places every man's home under
surveillance of the town-major?'
'You have explicit information?' inquired Tom Emmett, anxiously.
'I don't say that!' stammered Curran, somewhat confused. 'I only say
that your threshold might be invaded at any moment, and that ye've
yourselves to thank if ye get into a hopeless scrape. A few hours
since, a carpenter who is under obligation to me was at work in Ely
Place. While repairing the floor between two double doors he
distinctly heard Lord Clare in conversation with the town-major, in
which Sirr told his chief that there would be a strong muster to-night
in this boy's chambers. Am I making too free in asking you to lock
away those documents, or would ye prefer hanging at once to save
trouble? The carpenter wrenched off a hinge and begged to be allowed
to fetch a new one; but instead of going straight to the ironmonger's
he ran to me with commendable speed, gave the office, and returned to
his work. What it all means I am not in a position to say; but mark my
words, you have a traitor in your midst, who reports to the enemy
every word you utter. Your necks are your own, to do with as you like;
but I'm responsible for you, Terence, to your mother, and I summon you
to go away with me.'
Tom Emmett flushed scarlet, and involuntarily placed a hand upon the
pistol in his breast. A low murmur went round the room as Cassidy
sprang to his feet.
'Take care!' he shouted, 'how ye bring vague charges. Many a
disfigured corpse has Moiley eaten--many an informer has floated out
to sea. Give a name--only a name--and I'll scrunch the spalpeen so
flat that ye'll not know him from a sheet of paper, save for the coat
on him!'
Curran shrugged his shoulders.
'Do you think if I knew the scoundrel I'd not have pointed at him long
ago? It's for you to find him out. Don't glare at me, man--I'm not a
youngster who has never blazed. Mind, I've warned you to be
circumspect. The Irish nature is too open. It can't keep a secret
without telling a lie, and lies lead to awful tangles. It's no affair
of mine. Terence, come along.'
The junior rose and stretched himself, and prepared to follow his
chief.
A betrayer in their midst! The case did seem hopeless to the young
councillor; so hopeless as to be almost contemptible. Possibly Lord
Clare was a trifle over-strict with them, but he certainly appeared
justified to a certain extent in assuming with the children the manner
of a severe pedagogue. What a pity that they persisted in fathering
every enormity upon him!
'It's a bad job, my friends,' he said. 'Curran's right about the
papers. Good-night.'
As they crossed the quadrangle his mentor became wondrous voluble. He
was garrulous as to my lady, and her unfortunate penchant for the
chancellor; talked of Glandore, and all the titled in the land, till
his companion eyed him in indolent surprise. To occupy his attention
was the design of his mentor, for lurking in the shadow of doorways
were certain darkling figures who were not gownsmen; and the little
king's counsel feared lest Terence, if he perceived danger to be
imminent, should be ill-judged enough to retrace his steps and get
mixed up in the misfortunes of his friends.
The spectres allowed the pair to pass, and then, gliding to the door
from which they had issued, left half their number there, whilst the
rest stole through the gateway to the inner court--so as to command
two special windows which were pointed out to them.
Meanwhile the party above, having completed the business of the
evening, prepared itself to be jolly. The story of the proposed
arrest, the vague charge about an informer, were evidently Bugaboos
invented by nurse Curran for the luring away of his junior.
Cassidy, who was in great spirits to-night, and had drank deeply,
demonstrated with the utmost clearness that the fabrication was
absurd. By an old law of Queen Elizabeth (the only pleasant law she
ever made for Ireland), no bumbailiff or importunate creditor might set
his foot within the College-gates. Alma Mater was a sanctuary from
which none might be taken an any account without an order from the
authorities of Trinity, who were too jealous of their rights ever to
grant such order. Moreover, the watch (harmless old women!) were
always friends with the gownsmen--ready to lend a staff or lanthorn,
or feign sleep or assume deafness, just as the frolicsome young
gentlemen should decree. It was quite unlikely that they would witness
any threatening demonstration without instantly giving an alarm, and
even Sirr would think twice before daring an assault upon the inmates
of Trinity without the assistance of the junior dean. Not that the
undergraduates were as bold a body now as when they slew my Lord
Glandore, or so unanimous either, as none knew better than Lord Clare.
Yet they were no cowards, and always ready for a 'blaze.'
The younger Emmett, alarmed at first by Curran's dismal prophecies,
was convinced by Cassidy's gibes that his terrors were ill-placed, and
set about producing from mysterious lurking-places the elements of a
good supper--ham, chickens, bread--furtively glancing in the mirror
now and then at the tiny tonsure which marked him for a patriot. The
giant arranged knives and forks, and filled the round-bottomed claret
decanters, trimming the table with a tasty eye as a patriotic table
should be laid. In the centre he placed the constitution--bulwark of
the society--throned on a loaf of bread. Close to it the president's
badge, whilom Tone's--Tom Emmett's bauble now which consisted of a
shamrock in green silk bearing a harp without a crown. Near this the
copy of the Scriptures; and by his own place a list of toasts such as
should help to pass the time till chapel-hour. When all was ready he
called on his companions to fall to; and discussed with the president,
while the viands disappeared, the details of his journey to Belfast.
As they talked the claret waned, and the views of the company grew
rosier. Thomas agreed that it would be a wise system to spread
disaffection among the soldiery. The patriotism of the militia might
surely be counted on, he thought. With the yeomanry it might be
otherwise, as it was officered by the upper class. Deliberation and
prudence must be the watchwords of the giant at Belfast, for months
must pass before Tone could hope to accomplish anything; and all were
of one mind as to the necessity of French assistance. At the earliest,
no French fleet could be expected till the summer of '96, therefore it
behoved the leaders of the cause to keep the broth gently simmering
till the moment of the crisis--organising battalions, drilling
companies during the night, establishing a vast military system which
should enable the four provinces to effect a simultaneous rising. That
was the important point, spontaneity of movement; and he, Emmett,
would make it his business to see that the unity of action should be
complete.
The danger was (he impressed on Cassidy) lest the wickedness of
England should exasperate the people too soon. A given degree of
cruelty will drive the wisest mad. Patience is among the greatest of
virtues. Here was another thing, which it was all-important to
consider. Terence Crosbie had put his finger on one of their weakest
points--their lack of military genius. The best army in Christendom is
powerless without a general. What a pity that Tone should be gone
away, for the germ was visible in him which would have blossomed forth
into glorious fruition under the sun of opportunity!
'Now!' Cassidy cried, after a while, remarking that some of the
delegates were beginning to snore, 'fill your glasses, and I'll sing
ye the new song which shall sound the knell of the Sassanagh. 'Tis
written by Barry, a mere gossoon, who's in Kilmainham at this minute.
Bad cess to the ruffians as put him there!' Then, draining off a
bumper, he loosened the voluminous folds of his cravat, and commenced
in his mellow voice, while those who were sober enough yelled the
refrain:
'"What rights the brave? The sword!
What frees the slave? The sword!
What cleaves in twain the despot's chain, and makes his gyves
and dungeons vain? The sword!
Then cease the proud task never! while rests a link to sever.
Guard of the free, well cherish thee, and keep thee bright for
ever!"'
So loudly was 'The Sword' trolled forth, that more peaceful
neighbours, worn out with study, turned uneasily in bed, cursing the
rackety crew ere they slept again; so loudly was the final chorus
shrieked, that none heard the tramp of footsteps on the stairs, none
heeded the groping of unaccustomed fingers upon the handle, till the
door was flung open, displaying a body of men upon the landing whose
crossbelts showed white through a disguise. The young men stared
bewildered as on some horrid vision, and strove to get up on their
feet. Thomas, more sober than the rest, laid his hand upon his pistol,
but withdrew it again, seeing how numerous were those who stood
without.
'What do you want?' he asked.
A short man stepped from behind the rest. He was remarkable for a
hooked beak, eyes too close together, shaded by heavy brows which met
in a tuft over his nose. He wore a tight stock with a large silver
buckle, hair plainly clubbed, and a silver whistle like a boatswain's
attached to a buttonhole by a thong.
'I am Major Sirr,' he snapped, 'and arrest all present in the King's
name. Seize those documents!'
Cassidy took a paper from his flapped pocket and tried to swallow it,
but the major's men, marking his clumsy movement, pressed his
bull-throat till he gave it forth again. How arbitrary is the effect
of drink! Some men it renders furious, endowing them with double
strength; others it makes dull and stupid, robbing them of the power
that they had. Cassidy's giant bulk and tremendous muscles should have
stood him in good stead now or never; but he certainly had imbibed a
portentous quantity of claret, and the shaking he was getting seemed
quite to muddle him.
'Ah now, major dear,' he whimpered, smiling a sickly smile, 'you'd not
take it from me and shame a poor colleen? Don't look at her name now!
Bad luck to ye! Don't, now!'
''Tis an order signed by the committee of the United Irishmen--no
lady's billet,' Major Sirr replied coldly, holding the paper to the
candle. 'My friend, I regret to see you in this plight--but I must do
my duty.'
Robert, on the first entrance of Sirr's lambs--for such he knew them
at once to be, though robed in long gowns--made a rush to the window
of the inner room in order to alarm the college, but speedily drew in
his head again, for a row of muskets was pointed at him which glinted,
pallid, in the light of early dawn.
'Trapped!' he exclaimed, wringing his hands in despair. 'No, not yet!'
Then, perceiving that Sirr and his band, expecting no resistance, were
busily engaged gleaning together badge, constitution, and list of
treasonable toasts, he stole to the discomfited giant--a hero but a
moment since--and whispered rapidly, 'Come! A dash at the door, and we
can get downstairs. I'll lead you to the campanile. One ring at the
bell, and the college will awake!'
Cassidy shook himself and appeared to understand. Flinging aside the
two men who loosely held him, he butted forward, upsetting table and
lights, and in the confusion and darkness all who barred the passage.
Swiftly he rolled, rather than ran, down the steep staircase, closely
followed by Robert, and sent sprawling in the doorway a fat old
person, who yelped piteously for mercy.
'The junior dean!' ejaculated Robert. 'The dastard! Himself to betray
our ancient rights! But come--we'll attend to him later--to the
campanile, to rouse the college!'
Sirr's lambs, recovering from their surprise, pursued the fugitives;
but a little time was gained by their all tumbling in a heap over the
unhappy dean, before he had time to scramble out of the way.
'O Lord! O Lord! I'm kilt! Follow them!' he panted; 'the campanile's
at the corner of the inner yard. If they ring the bell for a rescue,
I'm a dead man, for they'll surely murder me! Oh that I had never
mixed in this hellish business!'
His lamentations died away in a groan, for Sirr held a pistol to his
head, calling the skies to witness that he would shoot him unless he
instantly led the way. Never since he was a child did the pursy old
gentleman run as fast as he did now. Terror gave wings to his gouty
feet, and the invading party reached the campanile to see Cassidy's
burly shoulder force in the door, and Robert Emmett precipitate
himself within. It was a race who should first reach the platform.
'Is it the dean that's rooned us?' Cassidy had been exclaiming. 'By
Jabers, then, I'll wring his neck for him before he's much older! Run,
jewel, for you know the place, which I don't, while I attend to him.
Here's a string that'll do the job.'
And in a trice he had cut the rope which swung before him as high up
as his long arms reached, and was fastening at one end a noose.
'What are you doing?' cried Robert, in dismay, 'the ringing-rope of
the great bell!'
'Oh, tear and 'ounds! is it?' murmured the giant, with a blank look,
as he dropped it. 'Sure, I tuk it to hang the dean with!'
It was a fatal piece of stupidity, but the mischief was irretrievable.
The rope-end dangled just out of Robert's reach. The men who had been
watching in the inner yard closed in, and levelling their muskets,
summoned them to surrender quietly. By the time Sirr's party came up
with the panting dean the giant was pinioned with the unlucky rope,
while Robert was in the grip of two sturdy soldiers.
So much rowdiness was habitually perpetrated within Trinity--such a
succession of practical jokes and madcap tricks--that none were likely
to heed the hubbub of this chase. Thomas, who had so sagely
recommended prudence half an hour since, stood in bitter reverie among
his fellow-prisoners, reproaching himself mournfully for his
blindness; wondering in self-abasement whether it was not better after
all that one who had at starting shown himself so bad a chief, should
be thus summarily deposed from office. For he saw at once that his
fate would be the same as that of those already sacrificed--either
exile beyond seas, or dreary rotting in Newgate or Kilmainham--for was
not his signature appended, in the capacity of newly-elected
president, to the paper which loyal Cassidy had tried to swallow? And
what a covey had been captured beside himself! what gaps there would
be now in the already thinned ranks of those who were prepared to
win or perish! Curran's words had come true with regard to the
capture--was his other assertion equally correct? Was there a Judas in
their midst who was handing them over to the avenger, the while he
gave the kiss of fellowship? The thought was too horrible. Whom was he
to suspect? Not Cassidy, or Bond, or McLaughlin, or his fervent
brother Robert--or Curran himself. None of these--who then? It must be
Terence Crosbie, whom they had weakly admitted behind the veil,
trusting to his honour as a gentleman. His honour! One of the
semi-English aristocrats, whose brother was a Blaster--whose mother
was Clare's dearest friend. Scales seemed to fall from his eyes, and
he stood staring at his own folly. It was evident that Terence had
coquetted with them merely to study their plans. That frank air of
_bonhomie_ was assumed. He was like his brother Glandore--only more
crafty and astute instead of imbecile; that was all. He was deceiving
Curran now as he had deceived them, and Curran was watching over him
with the solicitude of a father. It was all too horrible--the world a
place of blackest infamy--Ireland the darkest spot upon its face. Yet
no. His better judgment revolted against such a belief. The fresh air
was balmy; the yellowing sky of surpassing loveliness. Man, if made of
stuff so innately vile, would never have been placed in so fair a
casket. Facts are stubborn things, though. The meeting had been
betrayed by somebody. Who was the wretch?
It was by this time quite light, and the town-major deemed it wise to
remove his prey before early-rising undergraduates should be stirring.
He gave his orders therefore--softly, but with martinet decision--and
the party marched away, leaving Robert sitting on the platform.
'I am ready,' he said, leaping up. 'I am one with them, and will go
quietly;' but Major Sirr held up his hand and grinned.
'You are fine devil's spawn, no doubt,' he said, while his nose
wrinkled, 'but we don't want you just yet. You're but a baby
blustering like a man. Look at his smooth chin--or is it a girl?
Newgate's a brave residence for summer, if your purse is well lined;
if not, best hang yourself before going thither. No, no! I've no
warrant to arrest your ladyship--but your time will come, I doubt
not.'
'Let him be!' cried his brother Thomas. 'Whither do you take us?'
'First to Kilmainham with you,' Sirr replied sharply. 'Then with the
rest to Newgate; then to your offices to seize your precious
newspaper, demolish your press, and scatter your type. Have you any
objection?'
'That is illegal,' Thomas affirmed, 'till the paper is condemned for
sedition.'
The town-major gave vent to a grumbling cachinnation like the rattling
of a skeleton in a cupboard, but no smile lit up his sinister
countenance. Then he echoed:
'Illegal, ha, ha! That can be set right. Forward--march!'
The cortege moved across the quadrangle, and the massive gates of Alma
Mater closed behind it. Robert Emmett sat dazed, while the yellow in
the sky above the roofs changed to pink and then to blue; for they
were gone--away from the sanctuary into the wicked world without; no
hue and cry could save them now. The junior dean, his nerves calmed by
whisky-punch, lay cosily between the blankets, dreaming of the
bishopric he had won that night. An early gownsman, flinging wide his
shutters before settling to his morning's work, smiled down on the
wild rake who must have come in too drunk to find his way to bed. Boys
will be boys, though their mammas wish that they would act as sages;
and they must season their heads while they are young.
But the studious undergraduate was wrong in his surmise. Excitable by
temperament, delicate in body, and overwrought in mind, Robert Emmett
had swooned away.