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OWNEY SULLIVAN 29 and under other circumstances they would have felt the sweetness of the mellow evening, and the increasing breeze which the declining summer's sun seldom fails to call up to refresh, as it were, the living things which his fervour had nearly blasted. The scene, too, was as lovely as ever. Nature is not influenced by the crimes or madness of men; the summer calls forth flowers, whether they bloom to waste their sweetness on the desert air, 'or to gratify mortals, be they good or vicious. All know this, and feel grateful for it; 'tis an evidence of Omnipotent wisdom; and, amidst cares and perils, reminds us of that beneficent Being who has placed us amidst created wonders, lest we should ever forget, insignificant as we may be, that the eye of superintending Providence is always upon us.

As Charley and Mary looked around them, upon the hills above, and the rippling waves of the lake below, they felt, unknown to themselves, the influence of such a scene and such an hour; they regarded each other with the chastened sentiments of virtuous love, and descending from the ruins upon which they were standing, they strolled carelessly along the bank which immediately overhung the water. In that sweet hour they forgot the business upon which they were sent, and the evening darkening around them, warned them in vain of the anxiety of their friends in the cottage; they surrendered themselves to the witchery of the moment, and all forgetting, ' they continued to walk forward, until turning an angle of the strand, the rising moon which had been hid by an intervening hill, burst suddenly upon them. Reminded of home, they turned round to retrace their steps, and, at that instant, a wild shout, and the loud report of fire arms, were heard. It was a moment of terror; their fears told them too truly that their friends had been betrayed, but it was no time for reflection; they hastened to a neighbouring eminence, and saw the sky above the cottage red with the flames that now ascended from its roof. Regardless of their personal safety, they made for the scene of terror; but, as they drew near, they became sensible of the danger, if not of the folly, of proceeding further. With much persuasion Charley prevailed upon Mary to remain where she was, while he went cautiously forward to learn what they both feared to ascertain. The firing had ceased; the shouting subsided, and when he returned, the only answer he made in reply to Mary's inquiries for her parents, was, 'The Hessians are in search of us.' The mention of these martial ruffians acted like an electrical shock upon the nerves of the unhappy girl; she trembled violently; and as their treatment of the female peasantry was notorious, she forgot every consideration but a sense of her own insecurity. Throughout the confusion of the period the insurgents paid manly respect to female honour; there is not a recorded instance of their having forgot the deference due to helplessness or beauty; and, on every occasion, they acted, one and all, like men, conscious of being the husbands and brothers of virtuous wives and sisters. Far different was the conduct of the foreign soldiery; and the horror it excited was a melancholy testimony of the sense in which female purity was held by the Irish peasantry. Amongst the most atrocious in such proceedings were the mercenary troops of Germany; the very mention of their name filled Mary with apprehension; and, in her dread of unmanly violence, she thought of nothing but flight; no time was to be lost a circuitous path led to the margin of the lake; where, in a narrow inlet, screened from the closest observation, was moored a small boat; and, lying near the mouth of the river which communicated with the sea from the lake, a small skiff was moored, belonging to some fishermen in the neighbourhood; who, along with their usual and professed avocation, carried on contraband trade on every favourable occasion. As an only resource Charley thought of this: but they had to cross the lake cre they reached the stream which would convey them to the sea, where the vessel lay. The night had now completely set in, but 'the moon on high, hung like a gem on the brow of the sky,' beamed upon their path; the fastenings of the little boat were soon loosed, and they entered in a state of indescribable agitation; every rustling of the wind through the heather on the hill, or the flags and rushes which flourished on the border of the lake, filled them with apprehension.

The boat was at length pushed from the shore: and now secure in having escaped from his pursuers, who, like blood hounds, would glut their fangs in the gore of any fated victim they might seize on, Charley vigorouly tugged the oar, and the boat rowed swiftly over the waters. The breadth of the lake being more than three miles across, the distance he had to row, unassisted, was considerable: but his situation added new vigour to his frame; nor did he think, for one moment, of fatigue; the innate courage of his Mary began to rekindle upon her lovely countenance, and, for one smile, what would he not undergo? The horror was banished from her mind, but her parents, who were behind, were now the principal objects of her solicitude. What would she not have endured with them? How could she suffer separation? Were they even alive? But, again, there was an all seeing Power who would protect them, she thought, as she was conveyed farther away from them; under the protection of one who loved her, who, although outlawed from his country, was dearer to her than life. The conflict of these different sensations in her mind was, even in the wan light of the moon, visibly pictured on her face, although she endeavoured to conceal her emotion from her lover, who undauntedly and firmly sought for himself and her a place of safety.

But the hopes of happiness are not always realized, and dreams of joy are often dissipated by causes which are the least suspected; they who know the uncertainty of the gusts of wind which occasionally blow on inland lakes are aware of their danger, and unfortunately it was the fate of this faithful pair to encounter one which suddenly