the hill's ridge towards the town, until he gained a path which winding obliquely over its bosom, would tardily usher him upon the road, at a point considerably above the spot he was so anxious to gain.

Before he got half way down, the clashing ceased, as the cries had previously done. He stopped to listen in the bosheen;-horsemen approached him, yet hidden by a turn of the narrow road. Prudence now qualified his first chivalrous ardour, and he secreted himself behind a fence. Presently, two Hessians, belonging to a regiment quartered in the town, came slowly up to his hidingplace. They were conversing in their own language, with which he was acquainted, and their first words strongly interested him. They came close- he held his breath to catch every syllable they uttered, and just as they passed, he ventured, for a reason drawn from their discourse, to glance observantly though cautiously at them. He became satisfied, so far;-the face of one bled profusely; the right arm of the other was bound up, and hung disabled at his side. Soon after clearing his ambush, the Hessians trotted briskly towards the town. He then jumped over the fence, and, greatly excited, ran along the road in the direction they had taken. He arrived at a stile, leading into a pasture-field, which belonged, as he was aware, to a farm-house distant some fields more from it, and skirting a little retired hamlet-almost the only one in the immediate district still free from the visitations of civil war.

The

mark of horses' hoofs on the dust near the fence, recently impressed, made him pause at this spot. He vaulted over the stile, and remarked, even during his quick transit, that it was bloody. At the end of a path running from it, he saw two cows standing together, holding down their heads; a pail, overturned, was near them; and beyond them were some men and women, with eyes bent upon the ground. A few bounds brought him into the midst of the group, and he now saw what he had expected-the poor owner of the pail lying senseless, if not dead on the grass; her head bruised, and a severe wound in her neck. He called on the bystanders for an explanation-one and all, they professed complete ignorance of the accident. They had only heard screams at some distance; and when, after waiting for each other to advance in a body, they arrived on the spot, they saw no one-nothing, in short, but the poor girl lying there, her pail upset, her milk spilled, and the two cows standing over her; and "she could not yet spake for herself, if it was the Lord's will that she was ever to spake agin at all;" but one of the women surmised that Brown Beck, the young cow wi' the sharp horns, that now and then was a giddy, crossgrained cow, might have done the mischief, for as sorry as she now looked on the head of it."

The catechist did not regret the ignorance of the peasants, and with praiseworthy caution resolved not to make them wiser on the subject. He only assisted in conveying the wounded milk-maid to the farm-house, having first

dispatched a messenger for a surgeon.

ness.

The girl moaned

when they stirred her, but gave no sign of consciousHer new friend saw her laid on a bed, and taking the dame of the house aside, soon convinced the good woman's understanding that, till the arrival of a surgeon, she alone ought to sit by the sufferer's couch, and hear her explanation; if, indeed, she should be able to give one by that time.-The next instant he was on the road to the town.

In the suburbs he met the surgeon proceeding to visit his patients. It was most advisable to make a confidant of this gentleman, also; accordingly, our young acquaintance stopped him, repeated much of what he had said to the farmer's wife, obtained the assurances he wished, and walked quietly forward.

It did not surprise him to observe, at the entrance of the town, groups of people looking around, as they conversed in a low tone, and turned their heads and eyes in the direction which the two bleeding Hessians must so very recently have taken. But, he was startledthough expecting something of the kind, too-when, as he gained the main street, drums beat to arms, trumpets sounded to the field, and soldiers of every description, regulars, militia, and the local yeomen, hurried, obeying the summons, to a well-known place of rendezvous.

He was received at the friend's house in which, for many months, he had been a visitor, with a welcome which suggested that his family had expected his return,

in some alarm. His host, and his host's son, stood at the back of the servant who opened the door, and shook his hand warmly. A voice yet gentler than theirs, whispered his name through a half-open door in the hall, and he disappeared into the apartment to answer the summons as became him; nor did he lead Bessie Gordon to the breakfast-parlour until he had made her the exclusive confidant of his morning's adventure, detailing every circumstance very minutely, for her satisfaction and assurance.

Breakfast was nearly over, when he asked- -" and now, my good friends, what is the meaning of the excitement in which I find you all?"

No one has told you, as you came along, Harry?" said Mr. Gordon ;-"No!"-" Then you have yet to hear disagreeable news. Two of the Hessians of our garrison, on their way to General Sir A. D. with dispatches, this morning, have been attacked by a body of rebels, who, unfortunately for me, seem to be composed of my tenantry about Killane."

"Ay?" cried Harry, drily.

Ay, indeed, and the two poor fellows are badly hurt; and Sir A. D. is going to march out almost the whole garrison, to burn every cabin of the hamlet, if he cannot meet with the treacherous rascals."

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Ay!" repeated Harry, his brow knitting and his cheek reddening, to the surprise of his host; " and have the two poor fellows described the appearance of the rebels, sir? Were there any women among them?"

Why, yes, as is almost always the case; one of whom, the men think, they have wounded."

"Ay!" still cried Harry, rising sternly, while a party of horse trotted up to the hall door, and then a loud knocking resounded through the house.

The General," resumed Mr. Gordon-"following up his intimation to me, even sooner than I expected." 'What intimation, sir?"

That, before he proceeded to Killane, he would require my opinion as to those of my tenantry there, most likely, from symptoms of previous disaffection, to have headed the insurrection this morning."

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'Mr. Gordon," resumed Henry, while they heard the General and his party ushered into an adjoining room, 'there is now no time to inform you why I am very anxious to stand by your side during this interview, but I particularly request you to afford me that privilege."

'Henry Lane," answered his host, "your expression, when you came home, just now-the preference I know you have for that morning walk towards Killane-your manner at breakfast—your present request-all convince me you can say something about the matter in question is it so ?"

"It is, Mr. Gordon."

And you do not fear to stand by my side?"

His young guest scouted the notion.

Although your old enemy, Kirk, is at the General's

elbow?"