respectively carried to their quarters by the orderlies in waiting.

When my father reached the gate, he found the subaltern waiting his return. His horse was standing at the guardhouse door, covered with a watch-coat, and a highlander hand-rubbing him carefully.

"He's a bra' beast," said the commander of the gate,

"an'

it would be a pity to neglect him. I feared he might tak' cauld, so I threw a coat about him. I did anither job too; one o' yeir pistels wanted loadin', so I took the leeburty of tightening the flint and sticking in a cartridge. Here, man, tak' a drap-it's right Nantz-better brandy never topped a tongue: 'twill do ye gude, for the dew is rising heavy.'

The kindness of the Scotch soldier struck my father forcibly.

66

Thank you, comrade," he said; "possibly after to-morrow, you and I shall be better acquainted. This is my address;" and he handed him a card.

The Scotch ancient applied the address to a guard-room lantern, and with slow and precise intonation pronounced, "Maajor Cæsar Blake;" then lifting his eyes slowly, he said in an under-voice, "Ha'e ye any news, maajor ?"

"None," said the traveller, as he tightened his girths, and led his horse through the wicket. "But," and he laid his lips to the Highlander's ear, "before six hours you may have an unexpected visiter, and, I fear, but a drunken reception to welcome him with."

Donald paused, and scratched his head; "I ken it a'," he muttered; "aye, troth, it's a like eneugh; I feared as much before it :" and he wrung my father's hand and they parted.

When the major rode from the gate, he began to consider where he was to seek a lodging. Two o'clock pealed from the jail clock, and he remembered that every inn and publichouse was filled to the very garrets, while private residences were crowded with numbers of refugees, who flocked for safety from the adjacent country. In this difficulty he recollected that a female relative still remained at home, and occupied her mansion, while others, less exposed, had been abandoned; and as his horse was untired, he decided upon riding out to his kinswoman's, rather than institute, at this early hour of the morning, a tedious, and perhaps bootless research after a bed and stable. Accordingly, as he had been furnished with the parole and countersign by his Highland

friend, the traveller found no difficulty in passing a few straggling videttes, and in less than an hour, drew bridle before his kinswoman's door.

The late summons of the ex-major occasioned considerable alarm, and he was reconnoitered from divers spy-holes, until his identity was satisfactorily ascertained. Then was he freely admitted; his horse stabled, fed, littered, and left to his repose; while the master, in due honour, was welcomed by his fair relative, and found a supper waiting for him, that after his long ride was highly acceptable.

When the traveller had sufficiently refreshed himself, his hostess urged him to retire, and endeavour to procure a little sleep; but the morning sun was streaming through the curtains of the room, and my father preferred to lie down without undressing for an hour or two on a sofa. It was well that he so determined. In less than half an hour, a horse at speed entered the court-yard; the family rapidly collected; and the rider's communication at once assured my father that the French were actually advancing, and by a very different route from that by which they might have been expected,

The pontoon-road, which skirts the beautiful and picturesque shores of Lough Conn, and connects the towns of Castlebar and Ballina, was not then formed, nor was there a bridge over the confluence of the lakes, the passage being effected by means of a bateau or punt, from which the road appears to have derived its name. At that time there were two routes by which Castlebar could be approached from the north. By the left, the lower, or Foxford one, afforded an easy line of march to an army with cannon and field equipage. On the right of the lakes, the second communication was opened by the old mountain road. But this route was hilly and difficult, and intersected by numerous highland streams, many of which being without bridges, presented fords barely passable by a horseman, but impracticable to every species of carriage. Nearly mid-way, this road cuts the mountain-chain that rises from the shores of the lake, and winds through the romantic pass of Barnagee. Here, for nearly two miles, the line is a succession of defiles, overhung by masses of rock, scarped along the brows of precipices, and every where commanded by heights which enfilade its entire extent. To transport the matériel of an army along this line would be impossible. Hence, the lower road was the only one deemed worth the trouble of observa

tion, and beyond patrolling it for two or three miles without the town, the mountain line was totally neglected.

When Humbert decided to march direct on Castlebar, he was well aware of the great disparity of his own force, compared with that of the royalists. He mustered about nine hundred infantry, and some fifty hussars, with two brass sixpounders; these, from the lightness of their carriages, termed "curricle guns." Upon the guerilla mob that would accompany him, he reckoned little. They were numerous, it is true, and partially clothed and appointed by the republicans; but, out of the field, they were impatient of control and difficult to organize; and in it, nothing but an armed rabble. Opposed to him was a regular force of full three thousand men of all arms, with several hundred irregulars attached, who in discipline might be inferior to troops of the line, but in spirit second to none in the service. The cavalry were numerous and well mounted; the artillery highly efficient; while, confident in numbers, fresh, in position, and well aware of the smallness of the force that threatened them, the loyalists had every advantage. They knew that an immense force was marching to their support, and converging on every point whereon it was possible for the French general to operate. The roads were good, the communications open, and the yeomanry corps perfectly acquainted with the localities of the country, and therefore admirable guides for a commander to depend upon. With such a force opposed, and having these local and contingent advantages, it was a bold and hazardous determination of the French general to become assailant-nothing to rely on but his own abilities, and no resources but in the tried bravery of a handful of veterans.

Humbert was aware that he must strike an immediate blow, no matter how much the chances of success might be against him. To attempt to organize his rebel allies would have been absurd; for in a few days an overwhelming force would have been upon him. His only hope, therefore, was in making a powerful impression; and to confirm the disaffected, or maintain himself in the country, turned on the success of a prompt and desperate attempt on Castlebar. Accordingly, at midnight, he marched from Ballina, by the lower road. This movement, as he anticipated, was directly discovered, and intelligence despatched to apprize the English generals. To mask his true route, Humbert kept the Foxford line for several miles; but suddenly wheeling to the right, by a cross road, he turned his face to the hills, and

falling into the mountain-path, advanced on Castlebar by the defiles of Barnagee.

Fortune favours the bold-a single gun, a company of light infantry, could have held him in check, and maintained the pass, until he must have been crushed by superior numbers, or driven back on Ballina; and the latter, in its consequences, would have been as ruinous as the former.

It was a singular chance, that my father was fated to bring confirmation of the tidings which, a few hours before, had been so unceremoniously declared unworthy of belief. The house of his relative was situated at the bottom of the hill through which the pass of Barnagee winds, and from its remote locality, had not been deserted by the occupants, as other mansions were, on the first intelligence of a French descent. A servant had, on the preceding evening, been despatched to see that the cattle on a distant farm were in safety. On his return with the first light, he observed from a high ground, the arms of the advancing troops glittering in the earliest sunbeams that topped the summit of the hills. Without stopping to observe their numbers or appearance, he spurred on to give his mistress notice, and thus enable her to reach the garrison of Castlebar; and a more unexpected and alarming messenger never disturbed a household than honest Bryan, when he announced that "the French, horse and foot, were at his heels at Barnagee."

My father promptly mounted his horse, and rode off to ascertain the fact: none of the domestics had any fancy to lessen the distance between themselves and the invaders, and the gallant major made his reconnaisance alone.

He rode rapidly to the pass: not a human being was visible, and the country was more quiet even than on ordinary occasions; but when he gained the crown of the defile, a large body of men in blue uniforms, was seen moving rapidly on in close column.

It was quite apparent to the practised eye of a soldier, that the regulars were accompanied by a large insurgent mob, and it was difficult to say what part of these allies appeared the most contemptible. The clownish and unsoldierly look of those whom the invaders had clothed, was most ridiculous, and contrasted with the villanous and banditti character, that cross-belts over frieze jackets gave to the remainder of the rabble.

Cæsar Blake pressed forward, and gained a height that commanded an uninterrupted view. At the bottom of this

hill a mountain-torrent had formed a deep ravine across the road, and the soldier suspected, that Humbert would find no inconsiderable difficulty in transporting his cannon over this formidable chasm; nor was he wrong. After a considerable delay, he saw one gun extricated by immense exertion, but the carriage of the other broke down: every attempt to disengage it was useless, and the impatient Frenchman spiked and abandoned it, and continued his march with but a solitary six-pounder.

The reconnaissance of my father had been noticed, and some well-mounted men detached from the main body spurred up the hill; but as Cæsar had already ascertained correctly the number and description of the French force, he had nothing more to learn, and rode off to announce the veritable march of Humbert.

His horse, in fine condition and sufficiently rested, carried him forward at a slapping pace; and within six hours, as he had prophesied, from the period of his first visit, he re-entered the barrack-gates of Castlebar, to herald the rapid advance of the small but formidable corps.

CHAPTER IX.

THE ROUT OF CASTLEBAR.

And there was mounting in hot haste; the steed,
The mustering squadron, and the clattering car,
Went pouring forward with impetuous speed,
And swiftly forming in the ranks of war;
And the deep thunder, peal on peal afar;
And near, the beat of the alarming drum

Roused up the soldier ere the morning star;
While thronged the citizens, with terror dumb,

Whispering with white lips-" The foe! they come! they come !"

Childe Harold.

"Long life to ye'er noble honor! May ye live all yee'r days, an' nobody kill ye!" exclaimed an old beggar-woman, as she trotted down Sackville-street, after General who was reckoned no hero, "Am'int I bound night an' day to pray for ye, since ye saved my son's life at Castlebar ?"-" I save him? I forget the circumstance."-Ogh, but yee'r mimrie 's bad, an' more the pity. Why, Ginirel, you ran first, and Pat ran after you !" JOE MILLER.

Two hours after my father had left the British generals in full carouse, a yeoman brought certain intelligence of Hum