“They used to march about all day in the most orderly manner, and at night there were sentries at every street corner who challenged you in Irish. Not knowing the language, I thought it better to stay indoors. But my dad used to wander about. He’s a sporting old bird and likes to know what’s going on. Well, that state of things lasted three days and we all began to settle down comfortably for the summer. Except that there were no newspapers or letters there wasn’t much to complain about. In fact, you’d hardly have known there was a war on. It wasn’t the least like this beastly country where everyone destroys everything he sees, and wretched devils have to live in rabbit-holes. In Ballymahon we lived in houses with beds and chairs and looked after ourselves properly. Then one morning--it must have been Friday--news came in that a lot of soldiers were marching on the town. Some country girls saw them and came running in to tell us. I must say for the Sinn Fein commander that he kept his head. His name was O’Farrelly and he called himself a Colonel. He sent out scouts to see where the soldiers were and how many there were. Quite the proper thing to do. I didn’t hear exactly what the scouts reported; but that evening O’Farrelly came round to our house to talk things over with my dad.” “I thought you said your father was a loyal man.” “So he is. There isn’t a loyaller man in Ireland. You’d know that if you’d ever seen him singing ‘God Save the King.’ He swells out an inch all over when he’s doing it.” “If he’s as loyal as all that,” said Waterhouse, “he wouldn’t consult with rebels.” “My dad, though loyal, has some sense, and so, as it happened, had O’Farrelly. Neither one nor the other of them wanted to see a battle fought in the streets of Ballymahon. You’ve seen battles, Waterhouse, and you know what they’re like. Messy things. You can understand my father’s feelings. O’Farrelly was awfully nice about it. He said that the people of Ballymahon, including my father and even the police, were a decent lot, and he’d hate to see licentious English soldiers rioting through the streets of the town. His idea was that my dad should use his influence with the C.O. of the troops and get him to march his men off somewhere else, so as to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. O’Farrelly promised he wouldn’t go after them or molest them in any way if they left the neighbourhood. My dad said he couldn’t do that and even if he could, he wouldn’t. He suggested that O’Farrelly should take his army away. O’Farrelly said he was out to fight and not to run away. I chipped in at that point and said he could fight just as well in a lonelier place, where there weren’t any houses and no damage would be done. I said I felt pretty sure the soldiers would go after him to any bog he chose to select. O’Farrelly seemed to think there was something in the suggestion and said he’d hold a council of war and consult his officers.”