“‘Stand out, sir!’ cried M’Manus, in a boiling passion. ‘Sergeant O’Toole, inspect this individual.’ Now, the sergeant was rather a favorite with Mac; for he always pretended to understand his phraseology, and in consequence was pronounced by the colonel a very superior man for his station in life. ‘Sergeant,’ said he, ‘we shall make an exemplary illustration of our system here.’ “‘Yes, sir,’ said the sergeant, sorely puzzled at the meaning of what he spoke. “‘Bear him to the Shannon, and lave him there.’ This he said in a kind of Coriolanus tone, with a toss of his head and a wave of his right arm,--signs, whenever he made them, incontestibly showing that further parley was out of the question, and that he had summed up and charged the jury for good and all. “‘_Lave_ him in the river?’ said O’Toole, his eyes starting from the sockets, and his whole face working in strong anxiety; ‘is it _lave_ him in the river yer honor means?’ “‘I have spoken,’ said the little man, bending an ominous frown upon the sergeant, which, whatever construction he may have put upon his words, there was no mistaking. “‘Well, well, av it’s God’s will he’s drowned, it will not be on my head,’ says O’Toole, as he marched the fellow away between two rank and file. “The parade was nearly over, when Mac happened to see the sergeant coming up all splashed with water and looking quite tired. “‘Have you obeyed my orders?’ said he. “‘Yes, yer honor; and tough work we had of it, for he struggled hard.’ “‘And where is he now?’ “‘Oh, troth, he’s there safe. Divil a fear he’ll get out.’ “‘Where?’ said Mac. “‘In the river, yer honor.’ “‘What have you done, you scoundrel?’ “‘Didn’t I do as you bid me?’ says he; ‘didn’t I throw him in and _lave_ [leave] him there?’ “And faith so they did; and if he wasn’t a good swimmer and got over to Moystown, there’s little doubt but he’d have been drowned, and all because Peter McManus could not express himself like a Christian.”