The Ned M'Keown Stories: Traits And Stories Of The Irish Peasantry, The Works of; William Carleton, Volume ThreeCarleton, William
General
The Ned M'Keown Stories: Traits And Stories Of The Irish Peasantry, The Works of; William Carleton, Volume Three
Carleton, William
Ireland -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
“But Carty should order in spite of every thing. He kept bawling out,
however, so loud, that John raised his eye to see what he meant, and was
near losing hold of Rose. This was too much for Tracy, who ups with his
fist, and downs him--so they both at it; for no one there could take
themselves off those that were in danger, to interfere between them.
But at all events, no earthly thing can happen among Irishmen without a
fight.
“The father, during this, stood breathless, his hands clasped, and
his eyes turned to heaven, praying in anguish for the delivery of his
darling. The mother's look was still wild and fixed, her eyes glazed,
and her muscles hard and stiff; evidently she was insensible to all that
was going forward; while large drops of paralytic agony hung upon her
cold brow. Neither of the sisters had yet recovered, nor could those
who supported them turn their eyes from the more imminent danger, to pay
them any particular attention. Many, also, of the other females, whose
feelings were too much wound up when the accident occurred, now fainted,
when they saw she was likely to be rescued; but most of them were
weeping with delight and gratitude.
“When John brought her to the surface, he paused for a moment to recover
breath and collectedness; he then caught her by the left arm, near
the shoulder, and cut, in a slanting direction, down the stream, to a
watering place, where a slope had been formed in the bank. But he was
already too far down to be able to work across the stream to this point;
for it was here much stronger and more rapid than under the planks.
Instead, therefore, of reaching the slope, he found himself in spite
of every effort to the contrary, about a perch below it; and, except he
could gain this point, against the strong rush of the flood, there was
very little hope of being able to save either her or himself--for he was
now much exhausted.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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