“Might I be so bould as to have a word with ye, Master Tom?” There was something in the way this request was made that seemed to imply a desire for secrecy,--so, at least, the Frenchman understood it,--and turning hastily rounds he said,-- “Yes, to be sure. I 'll go into my dressing-room; there is nothing to prevent your speaking here.” No sooner was the door closed, than Darby drew a chair close to me, and bending down his head, whispered,-- “Don't trust him,--not from here to that window. They 're going to do it without him; Mahony told me so himself. But my name was not drawn, and I 'm to be off to Kildare this evening. There 's a meeting of the boys at the Curragh, and I want you to come with me.” The state of doubt and uncertainty which had harassed my mind for the last twenty-four hours was no longer tolerable; so I boldly asked M'Keown for an explanation as to the people in whose house I was,--their objects and plans, and how far I was myself involved in their designs. In fewer words than I could convey it. Darby informed me that the house was the meeting place of the United Irishmen, who still cherished the hope of reviving the scenes of '98; that, conscious the failure before was attributable to their having taken the field as an army when they should have merely contented themselves with secret and indirect attacks, they had resolved to adopt a different tactique. It was, in fact, determined that every political opponent to their party should be marked,--himself, his family, and his property; that no opportunity was to be lost of injuring him or his, and, if need be, of taking away his life; that various measures were to be propounded to Parliament by their friends, to the maintenance of which threats were to be freely used to the Government members; and with respect to the great measure of the day,--the Union,--it was decided that on the night of the division a certain number of people should occupy the gallery above the Ministerial benches, armed with hand-grenades and other destructive missiles; that, on a signal given, these were to be thrown amongst them, scattering death and ruin on all sides. “It will be seen, then,” said Darby, with a fiendish grin, “how the enemies of Ireland pay for their hatred of her! Maybe they 'll vote away their country after that!” Whether it was the tone, the look, or the words that suddenly awoke me from my dreamy infatuation, I know not; but coming so soon after the Frenchman's detail of the barbarism of the party, a thorough disgust seized me, and the atrocity of this wholesale murder lost nothing of its blackness from being linked with the cause of liberty. With ready quickness, Darby saw what my impression was, and hastily remarked:--