The Tithe-Proctor: The Works of William Carleton, Volume TwoCarleton, William
General
The Tithe-Proctor: The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two
Carleton, William
Ireland -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
About a minute or two before this, a mounted Whitefoot had rode up, and
having heard the words, he replied to Mogue, in a loud voice, “No, sir!
our captain is not shot, but is safe and sound.” And scarcely had the
words proceeded from his lips when the very individual, as it seemed,
who had led them during the night, galloped up to the place of
altercation.
“Who says I am dead,” said he; “I don't look like a dead man, I think.
Meek way there till I speak to this man,” pointing to Mogue. “Why, sir,
did you dare to disobey ordhers by taking this lady to the wrong place?
Answer me that?”
Mogue, seeing that his support was now powerful, looked at them, and
asked aloud--“Am I bringin' the lady the wrong way, boys?”
“No,” they replied; “Go on, and more power!”
At this moment M'Carthy shouted out in loud and powerful tones--“The
Cannie Soogah!” and the words were no sooner uttered than Mogue started,
a rapid stir and murmur pervaded, the multitude, and almost instantly
a most hearty and vociferous cheer awakened the echoes that slept among
the neighboring hills. The moment this had subsided, the same
voice repeated the name with an addition--“The Cannie Soogah to the
rescue--here he is!”
Our facetious friend, for it was he, threw up his hand in a peculiar
manner, that made the act understood by all present, with the exception
of M'Carthy and Alick Purcel.
“Yes, boys,” he exclaimed, “I am here; and I thank you for your
kindness. You have had a full revenge to-night on Purcel and his family;
but, as I have been a long time in search of a good wife, I suppose you
have no objection that I should take charge of the ladies.”
These words were followed by another astounding cheer, and the Cannie,
riding over to the spot where Mrs. Purcel and her daughter stood--for
she and Mary had now joined Julia--was about to speak to them, when the
report of a pistol was heard, and at the same moment a bullet whizzed
past his ear.
“Treachery!” he shouted, “treachery against your commander! Seize upon
that person, in the name of Captain Right.”
His words came late; another report followed the first, with an interval
of less than a quarter of a minute between them, and instantly our pious
friend, who had flattered himself with the prospect of a long and happy
life in the possession of Julia Purcel, fell stone-dead to the earth.
“What!” shouted the Cannie, “is this more treachery? But wait, I'll soon
cure this.”
He put a horn to his lips as he spoke, and having given it a sharp,
quick, and hasty blast, he nodded his head, as much as to say, “Wait a
moment.”
“The last shot wasn't threachery anyhow,” exclaimed Jerry Joyce,
whose voice Alick immediately recognized; “somebody,” he added, with a
significant look, “has ped honest Mogue for his.”
“Is he dead?” asked the Cannie.
“He is dead, captain,” replied several, “and so may every one die that's
a traitor to the Cannie Soogah--our bold Captain Right.'”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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