Book: Ridgeway

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"I am Edward Philip Darcy. I have lost, for I know that my hour has
come!"

At the mention of the name "Darcy," Barry sprang to his feet! Before
him lay the son of the man to whose machinations all Kate's poverty
and hardships were clearly traceable. He it was that was now concerned
in the Chancery suit, the decision of which was to be replete with
such serious results, as he presumed, to Kate. His father had been
dead for some time, and had bequeathed his interest in the case to
him! He was the only person living who could stand in the way of the
property it involved being placed in the hands of its lawful heir; for
the claims of Darcy, whatever they might be, expired with this, his
only son, and the last of his name and race. The consideration was
startling in the extreme; but as our hero saw how necessary it was to
command his feelings, and listen to whatever Greaves, or Darcy, as we
shall now call him, intended to say, he resumed his position and
listened, as the wounded man continued:--

"I worshipped gold and power; and as there was some fear of the suit,
of which you have often heard, being decided against as, on the death
of my father, I stepped into his shoes, as a man who could make
himself useful to the Government, and as one, in these troublous
times, pre-eminently calculated to dip into the secrets of Fenianism
at home and abroad, and apprise the British authorities of its power,
aims and objects, as well as make them acquainted with all its plans
and prospects. Although I now surmise I had really to do with the
Privy Council itself, I was ostensibly employed by an important
official connected with the Castle of Dublin, who, besides paying me
liberally for my services, promised to influence the Court of Chancery
in my favor, touching the decision now pending; provided that, after
doing all I could to unearth the leaders and plans of Fenianism in
Ireland, I crossed the Atlantic and commenced operations upon the
Brotherhood in America, of which the Canadian government seemed unable
to say much that was definite, however they might have apprehended
mischief from this quarter. It was known at home, that but little
confidence could be placed in the efficiency and honesty of a Cabinet
that tolerated a shuffling inebriate at its head; so that from the
contradictory official documents reaching the Castle from Canada,
through the Imperial authorities, it was, I suppose, deemed advisable
to send me out to learn something of the true state of the case.
Influenced thus, I set about my work with right good will; and after
doing what I could in Ireland, started for this country, with Fenian
credentials that, I need not inform you, were obtained through the
treason of one of the Organization who had gained admission into the
Brotherhood for the simple purpose of betraying it; but who was not
sufficiently deep in its plans and confidence to damage it mortally.

"But the strongest inducement I had to visit America was the
circumstance of Kate McCarthy's having emigrated to that country, and
a desire which I had long felt of gaining her affections and, if
possible, making her my wife; for notwithstanding all the promises of
the Castle, I was fearful that the Chancery suit would go against
me--a suspicion heightened by the conviction of my lawyer. I knew, of
course, all about your engagement to her, but being aware of your
having entered the army, and of your having, through an adverse fate,
been separated from her by two seas, I thought that I should be able
to estrange her feelings and love from you, and make her mine before
you again saw her face. But here I had deceived myself. She was not to
be moved, and I was repulsed at every point, until, maddened by
repeated failures, I determined to make her mine by force. Under the
name of Edward Lauder, I first was introduced to her, having managed
to trace her from Quebec to Toronto, after rendering good service to
the home government in the former city. From the first moment she
beheld me, she seemed to entertain an aversion towards me; and when
she became aware of my intentions regarding herself, and heard my
repeated insinuations touching the general faithlessness and bad
character of private soldiers on foreign service, all semblance of
cordiality was at an end between us; and soon, perceiving that her
friends favored my suit, she left Toronto and took up her abode with
some relatives in Buffalo."

Here the wounded man became faint and silent; but Nicholas, anxious to
hear all he had to say, bathed his brow and moistened his lips with
the water which still stood in a large wooden vessel by his side. This
seemed to refresh and revive his spirits; so that he soon continued,
although with increasing difficulty.

"I knew that your regiment was stationed in the city where I first met
you; and the thought struck me, that if I could separate you both
forever, by betraying you into some act that would consign you to a
dungeon or penal servitude for life, or else make away with you
secretly, I should have some hope of accomplishing my designs
regarding her; and, in case the Chancery suit was decided against me,
reap the full advantages of it after all.

"With this scheme deep within me, I followed her to Buffalo, and there
became acquainted with the two men that I saw fall a short time since,
who had engaged with me, for a certain sum, to keep their eyes upon
all her movements whenever I was absent from that city, and obey me in
everything, even to her forcible abduction into Canada, if necessary.
These men I knew to be desperate characters; so when I made this
arrangement with them, and was well assured that they would carry it
out if needs be, I started at once in your direction to see what
opportunities might there present themselves in furtherance of the
design that now seemed to absorb my whole being.

"A man like me, easily found out your city-whereabouts; and, as you
are already aware, shortly after my arrival I formed your acquaintance
and that of O'Brien, whom I previously learned to be a relative of
Miss McCarthy, to whom, since you had been quartered in the Fort, she
had already paid a couple of visits. Soon learning your Fenian
tendencies, and hearing that you had applied for your discharge and
expected to receive it immediately, I determined if possible, to
prevent your becoming a freeman on British soil, and to goad you into
desertion; as it was rumored, that your regiment was soon to be called
home, and knowing that you would never accompany it, even though your
discharge were denied you. My object then was, to do, what I actually
did do the morning I accompanied you to the Fort. While you were
getting ready for parade I managed to exchange a few words with your
commanding officer, showed him my credentials from the Castle, and
told him that you sought your discharge only for the purpose of
joining a Fenian army now about to invade the province; with the
further view of placing them in possession of all you knew of the weak
points of the Fort. The theory worked like a charm,--you were denied
your discharge; and now I knew you would desert. In this, however, I
was determined to help you; and, at the same time, cause your
betrothed to be lured in some way into Canada, and consigned to some
safe, out-of-the-way keeping, where no one should know of her, until I
made my appearance as if by accident before her; and where I knew you
would not be likely to seek her, from the fact, that once you were a
deserter you would be out-lawed forever from British soil.

"You yourself furnished the means of this abduction in a manner the
most innocent. You will recollect the note sealed with a peculiar
device, that you gave me to the deserter concealed in the city in
which you were stationed, telling him to entrust himself wholly, and
without question to whomsoever presented it. This note, after
exhibiting it to your friend, I retained and perceiving that it would
answer my purpose, as it mentioned no names, I enclosed it at once to
my agents in Buffalo, instructing them to present it to Miss McCarthy,
and without a moment's delay, convey her across the river to some
secluded spot, where she was to be held at all hazards, until further
orders from me, or until I was able to visit her myself. My
injunctions were obeyed, and all was well--you had deserted and Kate
McCarthy was in my power!"

At this point of the infamous revelation, Barry writhed in the most
fearful agony, and was on the eve of strangling the villain that lay
helpless before him; but his good angel, rushing to the rescue,
restored him to reason once more; and while great beads of
perspiration stood on his brow, he endeavored to compose himself to
hear the terrible recital to its close.

"But," continued Darcy, "after all my generalship you are master of
the field, and she cannot fail to become the possessor of the property
justly or otherwise so long estranged from her, although I fear it is
already embarrassed with heavy costs."

"But where is she now?" exclaimed Barry, as the gasping man finished
his terrible narrative.

"I know not," whispered the other with an effort. "As I had not an
opportunity of paying the stipulated sum to the men who undertook her
abduction, they kept the place of her concealment secret from me until
I should perform my part of the contract, which I could have done this
day, only for the fate that has overtaken us. There is, however, no
doubt of her being in the Province, and, likely, somewhere in the very
region where we now are."

"But," he whispered, with increasing difficulty and spasmodic
interruptions, "I feel as if I were suffocating! Water! Water! Oh!
God!" And with a bound that almost brought him to his feet, he sprang
clean from the ground on which he lay; and the next moment fell back
heavily, a corpse!

And so perished the four men, who scarce an hour previously were as
full of life and vigor as their hearts were of evil thoughts and
designs. There can be no doubt, that they fell through the
instrumentality, unconscious as it was, of the very individuals whom
they had injured; differing only in their shades of criminality. In
other relations, besides the one to which their fate may be mainly
attributed, they were doubtless guilty to an enormous extent. Black
Jack, Smith and Wilson were unquestionably old offenders; the two
former having the heavy scent of blood about them; while Darcy or the
pretended Lauder or Greaves, whatever his antecedents may have been,
showed himself capable of any atrocity known to the history of crime.
The cup of their iniquity was full; or they had not fallen so
signally, thus. How steadily the avenging angel follows in the
footsteps of the wretch who makes war upon humanity or does continual
violence to the divine spark which, in a greater or less degree,
illumes the breast of every human being born into the world.
Throughout the whole of their infamous career, these men were well
apprised of the fact, that they were engaged in open rebellion against
God and Nature, and thus it was, that they were cut off in their
prime, without one sympathetic tear, to soothe their last moments or
hallow their graves.

Such were the meditations of Barry, as he stood over the inanimate
frame of his implacable foe; but soon awaking from his revery, he felt
how dreadful to know that his beloved was, perhaps at that very
moment, suffering in captivity or exposed to dangers consequent upon
the disturbed state of the country at some point, where, now that her
persecutors, who had at least provided for her daily sustenance, were
dead, she might, on this fact becoming known, be subjected to further
injuries, or wrongs that might be irreparable. The thought maddened
him; and he was groaning aloud, in the agony of his spirit, when his
ears were arrested with the returning tumult of O'Neill's forces,
after their having made the second of June, 1866, memorable in the
annals of Canada, and those of Irish Independence. Gazing steadily for
a moment on the terribly distorted features of his fallen enemy, he
turned towards the wide shed-door to make some arrangements regarding
the removal of his wounded comrades, when his opportune friend again
emerged from the house, and rejoined him as he was stepping across the
threshold.

"How fares it with your antagonist, now?" enquired the stranger as he
cast a hurried glance towards the body of Darcy, not knowing that its
spirit had already taken its flight forever.

"Dead!" returned Barry. "They who assailed us but a short time ago are
all gone to their last home, save the man who made his escape on your
arrival and interference, whoever he may be."

"That's sharp practice," rejoined the other; "but in my opinion they
richly deserved what they got, for they fought as murderers and not as
men."

"Would to heaven," returned Nicholas, "that one of them at least had
escaped the fearful chastisement inflicted upon him; for his death has
enshrouded in darkness a question which presses heavily upon my heart,
and one that I have no means of solving. But pray, sir," he continued,
"do you reside in this vicinity, and if you do, perhaps you would be
kind enough to say, whether you have heard, recently, of the arrival
of a strange lady in this locality, who had been lured from her home
and friends under false pretenses; and who is, as I now have every
reason to believe, in questionable hands?"

"May I ask your name?" returned the stranger, without replying to the
question, and eyeing Barry from head to foot, "and may I, in addition,
inquire what is the name of the lady to whom you allude?"

"My name," replied our hero, "is Nicholas Barry, and the name of the
lady is Miss Kate M'Carthy."

"Mr. Barry," hastily observed the stranger, extending his hand, "my
name is Henry Evans, and my kinswoman, Kate M'Carthy, is well and now
in safe keeping."

At the mention of the name, Evans, and the assurance that his
betrothed was safe and well, the heart of Berry so bounded within him,
that after the blood had poured itself in one mighty torrent through
his whole frame and blazed over his face and brow for a moment, he
became as pale as death, and had not his newly found friend leaped
forward and caught him in his arms, he should have fallen fainting to
the ground. Recovering himself speedily, however, he leaned against
the huge door-post at his side, and, breathing with more regularity,
soon became cool and collected.

Evans could well understand this sudden emotion. His own heart was
just in the vein to sympathize with it; so, in a moment the subtle
freemasonry of kindred spirits was established between them.

Who can explain it? Here was a brave, young fellow, with the heart of
a lion, who had faced death in various shapes but an hour or so
previously--who had within the brief space of two days engaged hand to
hand in the most dreadful encounters with the enemy, without
experiencing the slightest sense of fear, or condescending to yield a
single inch of ground where he had set down his foot--here, we say, we
see him succumb at once, and rendered as helpless as a child at the
mere mention of a woman, and the assurance of her safety, although not
by any means thoroughly satisfied of her being in anything like
imminent danger. We shall not attempt to analyse the subtle and
powerful influences at work in such mysterious cases; but simply
content ourselves with the observation, that men who are susceptible
of such influences, and who strike at once to the first tap of their
drum, are not notorious for any great deficiency when brought face to
face with a more tangible and terrible enemy. And so thought Henry
Evans as both he and Nicholas sallied forth; the former to report to
the gallant O'Neill, and the latter to re-enter the house already so
often referred to, where Barry agreed to join him when he had seen the
hero of Ridgeway.




CHAPTER XVII.


As remarked in a preceding chapter, Kate M'Carthy had some distant
relatives in the vicinity of Fort Erie; and, as fortune would have it,
the two strangers who, on the night before the battle of Ridgeway,
interrupted the murderous designs of Smith, belonged to the family
with whom she claimed kindred. One of these, Henry Evans, who had once
met her in Toronto, on hearing from Martha of her presence in Wilson's
house and the circumstances that surrounded her, instantly requested
to be conducted to her, with a view to reassuring her and offering her
the protection of which he was satisfied she stood so much in need.
The recognition was mutually exciting, and on the part of Kate
appreciated with heartfelt gratitude. Explanations ensued which placed
her friend in possession of all that was, for the present, necessary
for him to know; and it was at once agreed upon, that she should
accompany him on the ensuing morning to the residence of his widowed
mother, not far distant, where she was to remain until Barry or her
friends in Buffalo could be communicated with; as her return to the
United States, at a period so disturbed and critical, was, of course,
out of the question. New life and hope welled up through this
arrangement; and the poor girl, who but a few moments previously
believed herself in a position the most dangerous and difficult, now
found herself under the protection of her own stalwart kinsman.

Martha, also, was delighted that the being she herself so loved had
made a discovery that not only quieted the painful anticipations and
reflections of her new friend, but gave herself an opportunity of
speedily abandoning forever a roof that had now become loathsome to
her, as she had already made up her mind to accompany Kate to the
house of old Mrs. Evans, who, notwithstanding her suspicious
associations, loved her for her own sake, and desired that she should
forgo all further intimacy with her uncle, and become the wife of
young Henry. In this way matters stood until the morning of the second
of June--Henry remaining throughout the night with the alarmed family;
there being nothing to fear in the direction of his own residence,
which lay quite out of the line of the two armies that were now about
to close in mortal strife.

The Kid and the cousin of Henry had, as already shown, gone in the
direction of the village, where, on arriving in due course, they found
the inhabitants in a state of the greatest consternation. As in Port
Colborne, here, also, was to be observed that spirit of disaffection
towards the British Crown which led to the hoisting of the American
flag over a public building at the former place, when it was
ascertained that the Province had actually been invaded. As yet, the
troops under Lieutenant Colonel Booker had not arrived, and as there
was no opportunity for Smith to ply his vocation, that worthy,
emulating the course pursued by his companion, rested quietly on his
oars, until the cars arrived with the army that was to contest the
field of Ridgeway with the soldiers of O'Neill.

On the arrival of this train, Smith, as we have already perceived,
encountered Darcy, and had a conversation with him, the substance of
which is already known to the reader, as well as his subsequent
falling in with Wilson and Black Jack in the immediate rear of the
Fenian forces. Before the British had proceeded from Ridgeway towards
Chippewa, for the purpose of forming the junction with Colonel
Peacock, the cousin of Evans had returned to Wilson's with the
intelligence that the command of Booker was about to move along the
Sodom Road; upon which he was begged, by Henry, to start off and
inform the widow, his mother, of the approaching storm, and assure her
that he should not take up arms against the invaders, nor approach the
scene of conflict, if the contending armies joined issue at any point
in the neighborhood. These two young men, although born in Canada,
were, yet, the sons of Irishmen, and felt that it would be criminal in
them to raise their hand against the freedom of the land of their
fathers, or in behalf of a government that had for centuries subjected
it to every wrong and insult that could be heaped upon it. This they
felt; and entered into a mutual compact to remain passive at least,
should the tide of the conflict surge their way--hoping only for the
success of the cause of poor, down-trodden Erin, without feeling
themselves impelled to raise an arm in her defense against a body of
men made up in part of their friends and acquaintances.

This was not genuine patriotism, we know; but, still, under the
circumstances, it had its merits. In addition, it had enough of the
real stuff about it to be capable of being shaped readily, under
certain not unreasonable conditions, into a most useful and active
element in the cause. Where a sentiment is not absolutely hostile, but
on the contrary even imbued with some slight degree of friendliness,
it is easily brought into line with the cause towards which it leans.
And thus it is with a vast body of the people of Canada, who do not
take any active part in the great question that now so agitates the
Empire and shakes the tyrant England to her very foundations. They
would like to see Ireland free; but they do not care to come into
collision with the British authorities on the subject. Could they lend
her a helping hand in secret and without detection, they would extend
it cheerfully; but they have not the nerve or moral courage to give
her three cheers in the market place. To this numerous class, these
two young men belonged; and, singular as it may appear, we count on it
for real support in the final struggle that must take place between us
and England upon this continent, one day or other. We think, also,
that in the hands and under the fostering care of the out-and-out
Irish Nationalists of Canada, who are ready to mount the scaffold at
any moment, this friendly element could be fostered into a great and
irresistible power; for we have been always of the opinion, that
nine-tenths of those who have even one, single drop of Irish blood in
their veins, can, by judicious treatment, be developed into the
deadliest enemies of our ancient and implacable foe. Let these people
be educated in the history and the wrongs of Ireland, as well as the
extent to which England is indebted to that unfortunate country for an
that she now is. Let them take the Penal Laws for a text-book, and the
murders and confiscations of Elizabeth, Cromwell and the Georges, for
their "Reading Made Easy," and no fear but they will soon fall into
the ranks from which they now, alas! keep aloof. Let them dwell upon
the ages of famine, fire and sword to which we have been subjected by
a wretch who in the days of her gross darkness came begging to our
door in her breeches of blue paint and asked us for an alphabet, while
we were yet the day star of European civilization and Christianity,
and then they will be enabled to justify in their own bosoms any act
that would tend to her humiliation, and comprehend fully how bitter
and eternal the enmity between us, and how just, whatever stroke
should seal her doom at our hands.

Seek music in the wolf's fierce howl,
Or pity In his Wood-shot eye,
When hanger drives him out to prowl
Beneath a rayless northern sky.

But seek not that we shall forgive
The hand that strikes as to the heart,
And yet in mock'ry bids us live
To count our stars as they depart.

We've fed the tyrant with our blood,--
Won all her battles!--built her throne!--
Established her on land and flood,
And sought her glory, next our own.

We raised her from her low estate
And plucked her pagan soul from hell.
And led her up to heaven's own gate,
Till she for gold, like Judas, fell.

And when in one long soulless night
She lay unknown to wealth or fame.
We gave her empire---riches--light,
And taught her how to spell her name.

But, now, ungenerous and unjust,
Forgetful of our old renown,
She bows us to the very dust,
But wears our jewels in her Crown!

This is the sentiment that fires the heart of every true son and
daughter of Ireland; and all that is necessary to its general adoption
on the part of those related to us by even the most distant ties of
country, is the constant promulgation throughout the length and
breadth of the New Dominion, etc., of sound information regarding the
past and present of our native land, and the true history of English
legislation affecting us.

Scarcely had the cousin of Evans disappeared from Wilson's on his
mission to the house of the widow, when the echoing woods in the
vicinity of the place gave evidence of the meeting of the two hostile
forces. The first discharge of the Fenian rifles, after Col. Starr
had driven in the advance posts of the enemy, brought Kate to her
feet, and kindled in her eye a flame so intense, while her white
teeth glistened through her parted lips, that she seemed the very
personification of female courage and patriotism. As she listened
through her open casement, and caught the distant cheer of her
countrymen, the wild music of which she thoroughly recognized, her
bosom rose and fell with terrible emotion, while her delicate nostrils
were distended in a sort of passionate ecstasy that might be termed
the climax of the most sublime enthusiasm. Once more the Saxon and the
Celt had joined in the death struggle; and she felt as though she
herself ought to be in some way identified then and there with the
conflict. Thoroughly appreciating the mighty issues at stake, she
implored heaven, in language the most fervent, to crown with victory
the standard of Ireland, and nerve the arm of O'Neill in this the hour
of his need. And as the moments rolled by, and the tide of the contest
ebbed and flowed upon her ear, her excitement became so intense, that
she begged of Henry to venture out to some point where, without
personal danger to himself, he might learn something of the actual
state of the battle and the prospects of her gallant countrymen.

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