When morning broke, I started up and opened the window. It was one
of those bright and beauteous daybreaks which would seem to be the
compensation a northern climate possesses for its want of the azure sky
of noon and the silvery moonlight of night, the gifts of happier climes.
The pink hue of the sky was gradually replacing the paler tints, like
a deep blush mantling the cheek of beauty; the lark was singing high in
heaven, and the deep note of the blackbird came mellowed from the leafy
grove; the cattle were still at rest, and seemed half unwilling to break
the tranquil stillness of the scene, as they lay breathing the balmy
odours from the wild flowers that grew around them. Such was the picture
that lay on one side of me. On the other was the long street of a little
town, on which yet the shadows of night were sleeping; the windows were
closed; not a smoke-wreath rose from any chimney, but all was still and
peaceful.
In my little parlour I found the good priest and the Major fast asleep
in their chairs, pretty much in the same attitudes I had left them in
some hours before. The fire had died away; the square decanter of whisky
was emptied to its last drop, and the kettle lay pensively on one side,
like some shipwrecked craft high and dry upon the shore. I looked at my
watch; it was but four o'clock. Our meeting was appointed for half-past
five; so I crept noiselessly back to my room, not sorry to have half
an hour to myself of undisturbed reflection. When I had finished my
dressing, I threw up the sash and sprang out into the garden. It was
a wild, uncultivated spot; but still there was something of beauty in
those old trees whose rich blossoms scented the air, while the rank
weeds of many a gay and gaudy hue shot up luxuriantly about their
trunks, the pink marsh-mallow and the taper foxglove mingling their
colours with the sprayey meadowsweet and the wild sweet-brier. There
was an air of solitude in the neglect around me that seemed to suit the
habit of my soul; and I strolled along from one walk to another, lost in
my own thoughts.
There were many things at a moment like that I would fain have written,
fain have said; but so it is, in the wealth of our emotions we can give
nothing, and I could not bring myself to write to my friends even to say
farewell Although I felt that in every stage of this proceeding I had
nothing to reproach myself with, this duel being thrust on me by one who
had singled me out for his hatred, yet I saw as its result nothing but
the wreck of all my hopes. Already had _she_ intimated how strong was
her father's attachment to his nephew, and with an expressive fear
cautioned me against any collision with him. How vain are all our
efforts, how fruitless are all our endeavours, to struggle against
the current of our fate. We may stem for a short time the full tide of
fortune, we may breast with courage high and spirit fierce the rough
billows as they break upon us, but we are certain to succumb in the end.
With some men failure is a question of fear; some want the persevering
courage to drag on amid trials and difficulties; and some are deficient
in the temper which, subduing our actions to a law, governs and presides
over every moment of our lives, rendering us, even in our periods of
excitement and irritation, amenable to the guidance of our reason. This
was my case; and I felt that notwithstanding all my wishes to avoid a
quarrel with Burke, yet in my heart a lurking spirit urged me to seek
him out and offer him defiance.
While these thoughts were passing through my mind, I suddenly heard a
voice which somehow seemed half familiar to my ear. I listened; it came
from a room of which the window was partly open. I now remembered that
poor Joe lay in that part of the house, and the next moment I knew it
to be his. Placing a ladder against the wall, I crept quietly up till I
could peep into the room. The poor fellow was alone, sitting up in
his bed, with his hunting-cap on, an old whip in his hand, which
he flourished from time to time with no small energy; his cheek was
flushed, and his eye, prominent and flashing, denoted the access of high
fever. It was evident that his faculties, clouded as they were even in
their happiest moments, were now under the wilder influence of delirium.
He was speaking rapidly to himself in a quick undertone, calling the
dogs by name, caressing this one, scolding that; and then, bursting
forth into a loud tally-ho, his face glowed with an ecstatic pleasure,
and he broke forth into a rude chant, the words of which I have
never forgotten, for as he sang them in a voice of wild and touching
sweetness, they seemed the very outpourings of his poor simple heart:--
'I never yet owned a horse or hound,
I never was lord of a foot of ground;
Yet few are richer, I will be bound,
Than me of a hunting morning.
'I 'm far better off nor him that pays,
For though I 've no money, I live at my aise,
With hunting and shooting whenever I plase,
And a tally-high-ho in the morning.
'As I go on foot, I don't lose my sate,
As I take the gaps, I don't break a gate;
And if I'm not first, why I'm seldom late,
With my tally-high-ho in the morning.
'And there's not a man, be he high or low,
In the parts down here, or wherever you go,
That doesn't like poor Tipperary Joe,
With his tally-high-ho in the morning.'
A loud view-holloa followed this wild chant; and then the poor fellow,
as if exhausted by his efforts, sank back in the bed muttering to
himself in a low broken voice, but with a look so happy, and a smile so
tranquil, he seemed more a thing to envy than one to commiserate and
pity.
'I say, Hinton!' shouted the Major from the window of my bedroom,
'what the deuce are you doing up that ladder there? Not serenading Mrs.
Doolan, I hope. Are you aware it is five o'clock?'
I descended with all haste, and joining my friend, took his arm, and set
out towards the rendezvous.
'I didn't order the horses,' said Mahon, 'for the rumour of such a thing
as this always gets abroad through one's servants.'
'Ah, yes,' said I; 'and then you have the police.'
'The police!' repeated he, laughing--'not a bit of it, my boy; don't
forget you're in glorious old Ireland, where no one ever thinks of
spoiling a fair fight. It is possible the magistrate might issue his
warrant if you would not come up to time, but for anything else----'
'Well,' said I, 'that certainly does afford me another glimpse of your
habits. How far have we to go, Major?'
'You remember the grass-field below the sunk fence, to the left of the
mill?'
'Where the stream runs?'
'Exactly; that's the spot. It was old Pigott chose it, and no man is a
better judge of these things. By-the-bye, it is very lucky that Burke
should have pitched upon a gentleman for his friend--I mean a real
gentleman, for there are plenty of his acquaintances who under that name
would rob the mail.'
Thus chatting as we went, Mahon informed me that Pigott was an old
half-pay Colonel, whose principal occupation for thirteen years had been
what the French would call 'to assist' at affairs of honour. Even the
Major himself looked up to him as a last appeal in a disputed or a
difficult point; and many a reserved case was kept for his opinion,
with the same ceremonious observance as a knotty point of law for the
consideration of the twelve judges. Crossing the little rivulet near
the mill, we held on by a small bypath which brought us over the
starting-ground of the steeplechase, by the scene of part of my
preceding day's exploits. While I was examining with some curiosity
the ground cut up and trod by the horses' feet, and looking at the
spot where we had taken the fence, the sharp sound of two pistol-shots
quickly aroused me, and I eagerly asked what it was.
'Snapping the pistols,' said Mahon. 'Ah, by-the-bye, all this kind of
thing is new to you. Never mind; put a careless, half-indifferent kind
of face on the matter. Do you take snuff? It doesn't signify; put your
hands in your pockets, and hum “Tatter Jack Walsh!”'
As I supposed there was no specific charm in the melody he alluded to,
nor if there had been, had I any time to acquire it, I consoled myself
by observing the first part of his direction, and strolled after him
into the field with a nonchalance only perhaps a little too perfect.
Mr. Burke and his friends, to the number of about a dozen persons, were
already assembled; and were one to judge from their loud talking and
hearty laughter as we came forward, it would seem difficult to believe
the occasion that brought them there was that of mortal combat. So, at
least, I thought. Not so, however, the Major; for with a hop, step, and
a jump, performed by about the shortest pair of legs in the barony, he
sprang into the midst of the party, with some droll observation on the
benefits of early rising which once more called forth their merriment.
Seating myself on a large moss-covered stone, I waited patiently for
the preliminaries to be settled. As I threw my eye among the group, I
perceived that Burke was not there; but on turning my head, I remarked
two men walking arm-in-arm on the opposite side of the hedge. As they
paced to and fro, I could see, by the violence of his gesticulations and
the energy of his manner, that one was Burke. It seemed as though his
companion was endeavouring to reason with and dissuade him from some
course of proceeding he appeared bent on following; but there was a
savage earnestness in his manner that would not admit of persuasion; and
at last, as if wearied and vexed by his friend's importunities, he broke
rudely from him, and springing over the fence, called out--
'Pigott, are you aware it is past six?' Then pulling out his watch, he
added, 'I must be at Ballinasloe by eleven o'clock.'
'If you speak another word, sir,' said the old Colonel, with an air
of offended dignity, 'I leave the ground. Major Mahon, a word, if you
please.'
They walked apart from the rest for a few seconds; and then the Colonel,
throwing his glove upon the grass, proceeded to step off the ground
with a military precision and formality that I am sure at any other time
would have highly amused me.
After a slight demur from the Major, to which I could perceive the
Colonel readily yielded, a walking-stick was stuck at either end of
the measured distance; while the two seconds, placing themselves beside
them, looked at each other with very great satisfaction, and mutually
agreed it was a sweet spot.
'Would you like to look at these?' said Pigott, taking up the pistols
from where they lay on the grass.
'Ah, I know them well,' replied the Major, laughing; 'these were poor
Tom Casey's, and a better fellow, and a handier with his iron, never
snapped a trigger. These are ours, Colonel'; presenting, as he spoke,
two splendid-looking Mortimers, in all the brilliancy of their maiden
freshness. A look of contempt from the Colonel, and a most expressive
shrug of his shoulders, was his reply.
'Begad, I think so,' said Mahon, as if appreciating the gesture; 'I had
rather have that old tool with the cracked stock--not but this is a very
sweet instrument, and elegantly balanced in the hand.'
'We are ready now,' said Pigott; 'bring up your man, Major.'
As I started up to obey the summons, a slight bustle near attracted me.
Two or three of Burke's friends were endeavouring as it were to pacify
and subdue him; but his passion knew no bounds, and as he broke from
them, he said in a voice perfectly audible where I stood--
'Won't I, by G----! then I'll tell you, if I don't shoot him-----'
'Sir,' said the Colonel, turning on him a look of passionate
indignation, 'if it were not that you were here to answer the appeal
of wounded honour, I'd leave you to your fate this moment; as it is,
another such expression as that you 've used, and I abandon you on the
spot.'
Doggedly and without speaking, Burke drew his hat far down upon
his eyes, and took the place marked out for him.
'Mr. Hinton,' said the Colonel, as he touched his hat with most
courteous politeness, 'will you have the goodness to stand there?'
Mahon, meanwhile, handed each man his pistol, and whispering in my ear,
'Aim low,' retired.
'The word, gentlemen,' said the Colonel, 'will be, “One, two, three.”
Mr. Hinton, pray observe, I beg of you, you 'll not reserve your fire
after I say “three.”' With his eyes fixed upon us he walked back about
ten paces. 'Are you ready? Are you both ready?'
'Yes, yes,' said Burke impatiently.
'Yes,' said I.
'One, two, three.'
I lifted my pistol at the second word, and as the last dropped from the
Colonel's lips one loud report rang through the air, and both pistols
went off together. A quick sharp pang shot through my cheek as though it
had been seared by a hot instrument. I put up my hand, but the ball had
only touched the flesh, and a few drops of blood were all the damage.
Not so Burke; my ball had entered above the hip, and already his
trousers were stained with blood, and notwithstanding his endeavours he
could not stand up straight.
'Is he hit, Pigott?' cried he, in a voice harsh from agony. 'Is he hit,
I say?'
'Only grazed,' said I tranquilly, as I wiped the stain from my face.
'Another pistol, quick! Do you hear me, Pigott?'
'We are not the arbiters in this case,' replied the Colonel coolly.
'Major Mahon, is your friend satisfied?'
'Perfectly satisfied on our own account,' said the Major; 'but if the
gentleman desires another shot----'
'I do, I do!' screamed Burke, as, writhing with pain, he pressed both
hands to his side, from which the blood, now gushing in torrents, formed
a pool about his feet. 'Be quick there, Pigott! I am getting faint.' He
staggered forward as he spoke, his face pale and his lips parted; then
suddenly clutching his pistol by the barrel, he fixed his eyes steadily
on me, while with a curse he hurled the weapon at my head, and fell
senseless to the earth. His aim was true; for straight between the eyes
the weapon struck me, and felled me to the ground. Although stunned
for the moment, I could hear the cry of horror and indignant shame that
broke from the bystanders; but the next instant a dreamy confusion came
over me, and I became unconscious of what was passing around.