"No," answered Arrah Neil, "for when I got back to the cottage it had been stripped of everything, and I, too, had been robbed of all I had taken with me by the soldiers on the road. One of them said that my gown was pretty, and he would have it for his wife; so I gave it to him for fear he should take it by force." The good hostess had mused, paying little attention to the last few words, but at length she exclaimed, "He has got them, young lady. He has got those letters, depend upon it; ay, and he knows more of you than any of us. You must find means to get them back again; that is the only thing to be done." "Alas! how can I?" cried poor Arrah Neil. "I am a mere prisoner, and unable to do anything for myself. Oh, if I could but escape, I should be content!" "Nay, nay, be not so impatient!" said Mrs. White; "you shall escape in good time--I give you my word for that; but let us first find out all that we can, for I have a notion that your fortunes are better than they look, or else this man would not be so eager to keep you in his hands. You were no grand-daughter of old Sergeant Neil's--that I can tell you, and you may turn out a great lady after all. I am sure your poor mother looked and spoke like one of the best of the land, and I do not see why you should not have your rights as well as another." "A great lady!" said Arrah Neil, in a musing tone, and with a melancholy shake of the head: "there is but one reason why I should like to be a great lady, and that is--to show my gratitude to those who have been kind to me." "And a good reason, too," replied the landlady. "So you must not miss your chance, my dear." "Dame White! Dame White!" cried a voice from below. "Hark! they are calling me," said the hostess; and opening the door, she exclaimed, "Here am I; what do you want with me, Nancy?" "Here are a heap of folks want to see you directly," screamed Nancy from the bottom of the stairs. "I must go, my dear," said the widow, turning to Arrah Neil, "but I will be back with you directly;" and thus saying she left her. But poor Arrah was disappointed in regard to the length of her absence, for more than an hour passed, and the door gave admission to no friendly face. CHAPTER XV. We must now, dear reader, turn to other scenes and personages, and pause, somewhat long perhaps, ere we resume the actual history Of poor Arrah Neil; for those voices that were heard below, as we mentioned at the end of the first volume, and the long absence of the landlady, though they may seem simple enough, yet require some longer comment than appears necessary at first sight, and are not unconnected either with the past or future portions of this history.