The chancellor had turned up a trump and played it skilfully. With smiles on their faces and despair in their hearts, the Dublin belles returned to the dancing-hall. But the innate ruffianism of the yeomanry officers had been let loose by wine and frenzy. The girls fled to their brothers for protection--their excellencies retired to their own apartments m a hurry. A youth with down upon his lip seized the green scarf of pretty Sara, and wrenched it from her neck with a brutal jest. 'What do you hide?' he gibed. 'That lily bosom may not be hidden by the rebel colour--off with it!' The youth sprawled prone at once, felled by a blow between the eyes. Sara shrieked, and clung to a protecting arm. It was Terence who had knocked him down, and who was soon the centre of a _mêlée_. Madam Gillin's feathers were seen tossing in the throng, while her voice added to the hubbub. 'In the days of Brian Buroo,' she wailed, 'bejewelled leedies might walk alone from one end to t'other of Innisfail! Now, faith, we can't be safe even in Pat's hall!' My lady and Doreen made the best of their way to their coach. The soldiers stood in motionless rows upon the stairs, as though there was no brawl above. Their captain had hurried to the chancellor to ask if he should clear the hall. 'No!' was the laughing reply. 'Their blood is hot--a little phlebotomy won't hurt them. Let be! let be! It's not a good omen for the year though, that it should dawn in bloodshed!' CHAPTER V. AWAY TO DONEGAL. The countess was much scandalised at the scene from which she had escaped, and favoured her niece with decided opinions on the subject, as six horses dragged the carriage through the night along the road to Drogheda. 'This will give you a notion, my dear,' she said, 'of the results of letting low people have too much of their own way. I confess that Lord Clare's conduct surprises me. If your friends the United Irishmen were to obtain the upper hand for a few days, they would disgrace themselves and disgust the world. You can't expect wisdom from a Helot-class.' 'It was not my friends who misbehaved themselves to-night,' Doreen retorted, 'but yours; the vulgar squireens and half-mounted gentry, who belong to the dominant party.'