The great day—the seventeenth of March—came at last, and ended without any great disturbance. The members of Shenandoah Division combined with those from Loss Creek, and mustered nearly one hundred men for the procession. There were four hundred Mollies in line at Mahanoy City. After organizing at a hall in that place, Jack Kehoe made an extempore oration, in the course of which he said that the parade was looked upon by some of the inhabitants of the town as a direct and open threat to overpower them, or a signal for the resumption of a reign of carnage; and, if any of the Mollies got drunk while in the neighborhood, he would, in person, strip off their regalia, then, if necessary, get an officer, have them arrested and sent to prison. “Let us show the clergy,” he concluded, “that, although we bear a bad name, we are very far from deserving it! There is no truth in what they say, exceptin’ when we meet a party opposed to us—then we do as well as we can. Let us all act as men—not as boys!” Kehoe’s remarks were loudly applauded. He was followed by a man named Love, who spoke in a similar vein, but without the County Delegate’s vehemence. As before stated, the day passed off quietly, and the Mollies returned to their homes in their usual condition. [Illustration: “_They shot a young girl, named McHale, sending a bullet through her arm, narrowly missing a vital part._”] The same remark does not apply to Number Three Hill, where, at 10 P.M., there was a savage battle fought between John Thompson and Martin Deane, on the part of the Mollies, and a crowd of Sheet Irons, headed by a man named Welch. The Iron Clads, in trying to kill Thompson, shot a young girl named McHale, sending a bullet through her arm, narrowly missing a vital part. Some of the Shenandoah men, when they heard this news, promptly started to find Welch, who wisely kept out of their way. Had the crowd encountered him, doubtless his blood would have been shed. McKenna was so ill as to be confined to the house after the procession, hence did not join in the search. [Illustration: “_The scene at Number Three Hill._”] Sunday, the twenty-first of March, Father O’Reilly read out in church, almost complete, a list of the Mollie Maguires who had attended the parade, McKenna among the rest, asking the prayers of the congregation for the salvation of their souls. The Mollies merely laughed at the proceeding, when outside the church, where some still persisted in going, and said such exhibitions of spleen would do them no harm.