The evening was very chilly,and myself weary,hungry,and much in need of sleep,so that I preferred seeking to cross the hill,though at some risk,to remaining upon it throughout the night.Stumbling over rocks and sinking into bog-mire,as the nature of the ground varied,I slowly and laboriously plodded on,making very little way in proportion to the toil it cost me.
After half an hour's slow walking,or rather rambling,for,owing to the dark,Ivery soon lost my direction,I at last heard the sound of running water,and with some little trouble reached the edge of a brook,which ran in the bottom of a deep gully.
This I knew would furnish a sure guide to the low grounds,where I might promise myself that I should speedily meet with some house or cabin where I might find shelter for the night.
The stream which I followed flowed at the bottom of a rough and swampy glen,very steep and making many abrupt turns,and so dark,owing more to the fog than to the want of the moon (for,though not high,I believe it had risen at the time),that Icontinually fell over fragments of rock and stumbled up to my middle into the rivulet,which I sought to follow.
In this way,drenched,weary,and with my patience almost exhausted,I was toiling onward,when,turning a sharp angle in the winding glen,I found myself within some twenty yards of a group of wild-looking men,gathered in various attitudes round a glowing turf fire.
I was so surprised at this rencontre that I stopped short,and for a time was in doubt whether to turn back or to accost them.
A minute's thought satisfied me that I
ought to make up to the fellows,and trust to their good faith for whatever assistance they could give me.
I determined,then,to do this,having great faith in the impulses of my mind,which,whenever I have been in jeopardy,as in my life I often have,always prompted me aright.
The strong red light of the fire showed me plainly enough that the group consisted,not of soldiers,but of Irish kernes,or countrymen,most of them wrapped in heavy mantles,and with no other covering for their heads than that afforded by their long,rough hair.
There was nothing about them which I
could see to intimate whether their object were peaceful or warlike;but I afterwards found that they had weapons enough,though of their own rude fashion.
There were in all about twenty persons assembled around the fire,some sitting upon such blocks of stone as happened to lie in the way;others stretched at their length upon the ground.
'God save you,boys!'said I,advancing towards the party.
The men who had been talking and laughing together instantly paused,and two of them--tall and powerful fellows--snatched up each a weapon,something like a short halberd with a massive iron head,an instrument which they called among themselves a rapp,and with two or three long strides they came up with me,and laying hold upon my arms,drew me,not,you may easily believe,making much resistance,towards the fire.
When I reached the place where the figures were seated,the two men still held me firmly,and some others threw some handfuls of dry fuel upon the red embers,which,blazing up,cast a strong light upon me.
When they had satisfied themselves as to my appearance,they began to question me very closely as to my purpose in being upon the hill at such an unseasonable hour,asking me what was my occupation,where I had been,and whither I was going.
These questions were put to me in English by an old half-military looking man,who translated into that language the suggestions which his companions for the most part threw out in Irish.
I did not choose to commit myself to these fellows by telling them my real character and purpose,and therefore Irepresented myself as a poor travelling chapman who had been at Cork,and was seeking his way to Killaloe,in order to cross over into Clare and thence to the city of Galway.
My account did not seem fully to satisfy the men.
I heard one fellow say in Irish,which language I understood,'Maybe he is a spy.'
They then whispered together for a time,and the little man who was their spokesman came over to me and said:
'Do you know what we do with spies?
we knock their brains out,my friend.'
He then turned back to them with whom he had been whispering,and talked in a low tone again with them for a considerable time.
I now felt very uncomfortable,not knowing what these savages--for they appeared nothing better--might design against me.
Twice or thrice I had serious thoughts of breaking from them,but the two guards who were placed upon me held me fast by the arms;and even had I succeeded in shaking them off,I should soon have been overtaken,encumbered as I was with a heavy pack,and wholly ignorant of the lie of the ground;or else,if I were so exceedingly lucky as to escape out of their hands,I still had the chance of falling into those of some other party of the same kind.
I therefore patiently awaited the issue of their deliberations,which I made no doubt affected me nearly.
I turned to the men who held me,and one after the other asked them,in their own language,'Why they held me?'adding,'I am but a poor pedlar,as you see.
I have neither money nor money's worth,for the sake of which you should do me hurt.You may have my pack and all that it contains,if you desire it--but do not injure me.'
To all this they gave no answer,but savagely desired me to hold my tongue.
I accordingly remained silent,determined,if the worst came,to declare to the whole party,who,I doubted not,were friendly,as were all the Irish peasantry in the south,to the Royal cause,my real character and design;and if this avowal failed me,I was resolved to make a desperate effort to escape,or at least to give my life at the dearest price I could.
I was not kept long in suspense,for the little veteran who had spoken to me at first came over,and desiring the two men to bring me after him,led the way along a broken path,which wound by the side of the steep glen.