Page:Oruddy Romance - Crane and Barr.djvu/345

Rh This cheered me greatly, and after a while we had our dinner in peace. The long afternoon passed slowly away, and there was no rally in the village, and no sign of a further advance; so night came on and nothing had been done. After supper I said good-night to Father Donovan, threw myself, dressed as I was, on the bed, and fell into a doze. It was toward midnight when Tom Peel woke me up; that man seemed to sleep neither night nor day; and there he stood by my bed, looking like a giant in the flicker of the candle-light.

"Your honour," he said, "I think there 's something going on at the mouth of the tunnel. Twice I 've caught the glimpse of a light there, although they 're evidently trying to conceal it."

I sat up in bed and said:

"What do you propose to do?"

"Well, there 's a man inside here that knows the tunnel just as well as I do,—every inch of it,—and he 's up near the other end now. If a company begins coming in, my man will run back without being seen and let us know. Now, sir, shall I timber this end, or shall we deal with them at the top of the stair one by one as they come up. One good swordsman at the top of the stair will prevent a thousand getting into the house."

"Peel," said I, "are there any stones outside, at the other end of the tunnel?"

"Plenty. There 's a dyke of loose stones fronting it."

"Very well; if your man reports that any have entered the tunnel, they 'll have left one or two at the other end on guard; take you five of your most trusted men, and go you cautiously a roundabout way