"I will, and God bless you, sir."
"Good-bye, sir," said Mrs M'Shane, "you have no time to lose."
"God bless you, sir," said Kathleen, who now put her arms round me and
kissed me. We mounted our horses and set off.
We pressed our horses, or rather ponies, for they were very small, till
we had gained about six miles, when we considered that we were,
comparatively speaking, safe, and then drew up, to allow them to recover
their wind. I was very much exhausted myself, and hardly spoke one word
until we arrived at the next post town, when we found everybody in bed.
We contrived, however, to knock them up, and Timothy having seen that
our horses were put into the stable, we lay down till the next morning
upon a bed which happened to be unoccupied. Sorry as were the
accommodations, I never slept so soundly, and woke quite refreshed. The
next morning I stated my intention of posting to Dublin, and asked Tim
what we should do with the horses.
"They belong to the castle," replied he.
"Then in God's name, let the castle have them, for I wish for nothing
from that horrid place."
We stated to the landlord that the horses were to be sent back, and that
the man who took them would be paid for his trouble; and then it occurred
to me, that it would be a good opportunity of writing to Melchior,
_alias_ Sir Henry. I do not know why, but certainly my animosity against
him had subsided, and I did not think of taking legal measures against
him. I thought it, however, right to frighten him. I wrote, therefore,
as follows:--
SIR HENRY,--I send you back your horses with thanks, as they have
enabled Timothy and me to escape from your clutches. Your
reputation and your life now are in my power, and I will have
ample revenge. The fact of your intending murder, will be fully
proved by my friend Timothy, who was employed by you in disguise,
and accompanied your gipsy. You cannot escape the sentence of the
law. Prepare yourself, then, for the worst, as it is not my
intention that you shall escape the disgraceful punishment due to
your crimes.
Yours, JAPHET NEWLAND.
Having sealed this, and given it to the lad who was to return with the
horses, we finished our breakfast, and took a post-chaise on for Dublin,
where we arrived late in the evening. During our journey I requested
Timothy to narrate what had passed, and by what fortunate chance he had
been able to come so opportunely to my rescue.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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