第13章

’Doyouobject，Mr。M’Donough？anduponwhatgrounds，ifyouplease？’saidhe。

’Certainlyhedoesnot，’repliedO’Connor；and，turningtoM’Donough，headded，’praylettherebenounnecessarydelay。’

’Thereisnoobjection，then，’saidFitzgerald。

’_I_object，’saidtheyoungeroftheO’Gradys，’ifnobodyelsewill。’

’Andwhothedevilareyou，thatDARES

toobject？’shoutedFitzgerald；’andwhatd——dpresumptionpromptsyoutoDAREtowagyourtonguehere？’

’IamMr。O’Grady，ofCastleBlake，’

repliedtheyoungman，nowmuchenraged；’andby——，youshallanswerforyourlanguagetome。’

’ShallI，by——？ShallI？’criedhe，withalaughofbrutalscorn；’themorethemerrier，d——nthedoubtofit——sonowholdyourtongue，forIpromiseyouyoushallhavebusinessenoughofyourowntothinkabout，andthatbeforelong。’

Therewasanappallingferocityinhistoneandmannerwhichnowordscouldconvey。

Heseemedtransformed；hewasactuallylikeamanpossessed。Wasitpossible，I

thought，thatIbeheldthecourteousgentleman，thegay，good-humouredretailerofamusinganecdotewithwhom，scarcetwodaysago，Ihadlaughedandchatted，intheblasphemousandmurderousruffianwhoglaredandstormedbeforeme!

O’Connorinterposed，andrequestedthattimeshouldnotbeunnecessarilylost。

’Youhavenotgotasecondcoaton？’

inquiredtheCaptain。’Ibegpardon，butmydutytomyfriendrequiresthatI

shouldascertainthepoint。’

O’Connorrepliedinthenegative。TheCaptainexpressedhimselfassatisfied，adding，inwhathemeanttobeacomplimentarystrain，’thatheknewMr。

O’Connorwouldscorntoemploypaddingoranyunfairmodeofprotection。’

Therewasnowabreathlesssilence。

O’Connorstoodperfectlymotionless；and，exceptingthedeath-likepalenessofhisfeatures，heexhibitednosignofagitation。

Hiseyewassteady——hislipdidnottremble——hisattitudewascalm。TheCaptain，havingre-examinedtheprimingofthepistols，placedoneoftheminthehandofFitzgerald——M’Donoughinquiredwhetherthepartieswereprepared，andhavingbeenansweredintheaffirmative，heproceededtogivetheword，’Ready。’

Fitzgeraldraisedhishand，butalmostinstantlylowereditagain。Thecrowdhadpressedtoomuchforwardasitappeared，andhiseyehadbeenunsteadiedbytheflappingoftheskirtofafriezeriding-coatwornbyoneofthespectators。

’Inthenameofmyprincipal，’saidtheCaptain，’Imustanddoinsistuponthesegentlemenmovingbackalittle。Weaskbutlittle；fairplay，andnofavour。’

Thecrowdmovedasrequested。

M’Donoughrepeatedhisformerquestion，andwasansweredasbefore。Therewasabreathlesssilence。FitzgeraldfixedhiseyeuponO’Connor。Theappointedsignal，’Ready，fire!’wasgiven。Therewasapausewhileonemightslowlyreckonthree——Fitzgeraldfired——andO’Connorfellhelplesslyupontheground。

’Thereisnotimetobelost，’saidM’Creagrh；’for，by——，youhavedoneforhim。’

Sosaying，hethrewhimselfuponhishorse，andwasinstantlyfollowedatahardgallopbyFitzgerald。

’Cold-bloodedmurder，ifevermurderwascommitted，’saidO’Grady。’Heshallhangforit；d——nme，butheshall。’

Ahopelessattemptwasmadetoovertakethefugitives；buttheywerebettermountedthananyoftheirpursuers，andescapedwithease。Cursesandactualyellsofexecrationfollowedtheircourse；andas，incrossingthebrowofaneighbouringhill，theyturnedroundinthesaddletoobserveiftheywerepursued，everygesturewhichcouldexpressfuryanddefiancewasexhaustedbytheenragedanddefeatedmultitude。

’Cleartheway，boys，’saidyoungO’Grady，whowithmewaskneelingbesideO’Connor，whilewesupportedhiminourarms；’donotpresssoclose，andbed——d；can’tyouletthefreshairtohim；don’tyouseehe’sdying？’

Onopeninghiswaistcoatweeasilydetectedthewound：itwasalittlebelowthechest——asmallbluemark，fromwhichoozedasingleheavydropofblood。

’Heisbleedingbutlittle——thatisacomfortatallevents，’saidoneofthegentlemenwhosurroundedthewoundedman。

Anothersuggestedtheexpediencyofhisbeingremovedhomewardwithaslittledelayaspossible，andrecommended，forthispurpose，thatadoorshouldberemovedfromitshinges，andthepatient，laiduponthis，shouldbeconveyedfromthefield。UponthisrudebiermypoorfriendwascarriedfromthatfatalgroundtowardsCastleConnor。Iwalkedclosebyhisside，andobservedeverymotionofhis。Heseldomopenedhiseyes，andwasperfectlystill，exceptinganervousWORKING

ofthefingers，andaslight，almostimperceptibletwitchingofthefeatures，whichtookplace，however，onlyatintervals。Thefirstwordheutteredwasspokenasweapproachedtheentranceofthecastleitself，whenhesaid；repeatedly，’Thebackway，thebackway。’Hefearedlesthismothershouldmeethimabruptlyandwithoutpreparation；butalthoughthisfearwasgroundless，sincesheneverleftherroomuntillateintheday，yetitwasthoughtadvisable，and，indeed，necessary，tocautionalltheservantsmoststronglyagainstbreathingahinttotheirmistressoftheeventswhichhadbefallen。

Twoorthreegentlemenhadriddenfromthefieldoneafteranother，promisingthattheyshouldovertakeourpartybeforeitreachedthecastle，bringingwiththemmedicalaidfromonequarteroranother；

andwedeterminedthatMrs。O’Connorshouldnotknowanythingoftheoccurrenceuntiltheopinionofsomeprofessionalmanshouldhavedeterminedtheextentoftheinjurywhichhersonhadsustained——acourseofconductwhichwouldatleasthavetheeffectofrelievingherfromthehorrorsofsuspense。WhenO’Connorfoundhimselfinhisownroom，andlaiduponhisownbed，heappearedmuchrevived——somuchso，thatIcouldnothelpadmittingastronghopethatallmightyetbewell。

’Afterall，Purcell，’saidhe，withamelancholysmile，andspeakingwithevidentdifficulty，’IbelieveIhavegotoffwithatriflingwound。IamsureitcannotbefatalIfeelsolittlepain——almostnone。’

Icautionedhimagainstfatiguinghimselfbyendeavouringtospeak；andheremainedquietforalittletime。Atlengthhesaid：

’Purcell，Itrustthislessonshallnothavebeengiveninvain。Godhasbeenverymercifultome；Ifeel——IhaveaninternalconfidencethatIamnotwoundedmortally。HadIbeenfatallywounded——

hadIbeenkilleduponthespot，onlythinkonit’——andheclosedhiseyesasiftheverythoughtmadehimdizzy——’struckdownintothegrave，unpreparedasIam，intheveryblossomofmysins，withoutamomentofrepentanceorofreflection；I

musthavebeenlost——lostforeverandever。’

Iprevaileduponhim，withsomedifficulty，toabstainfromsuchagitatingreflections，andatlengthinducedhimtocourtsuchreposeashisconditionadmittedof，byremainingperfectlysilent，andasmuchaspossiblewithoutmotion。

O’ConnorandIonlywereintheroom；

hehadlainforsometimeintolerablequiet，whenIthoughtIdistinguishedthebustleattendantuponthearrivalofsomeoneatthecastle，andwenteagerlytothewindow，believing，oratleasthoping，thatthesoundsmightannouncetheapproachofthemedicalman，whomwealllongedmostimpatientlytosee。

Myconjecturewasright；Ihadthesatisfactionofseeinghimdismountandpreparetoenterthecastle，whenmyobservationswereinterrupted，andmyattentionwasattractedbyasmothered，gurglingsoundproceedingfromthebedinwhichlaythewoundedman。Iinstantlyturnedround，andindoingsothespectaclewhichmetmyeyeswassufficientlyshocking。

IhadleftO’Connorlyinginthebed，supportedbypillows，perfectlycalm，andwithhiseyesclosed：hewasnowlyingnearlyinthesameposition，hiseyesopenandalmoststartingfromtheirsockets，witheveryfeaturepaleanddistortedasdeath，andvomitingbloodinquantitiesthatwerefrightful。Irushedtothedoorandcalledforassistance；theparoxysm，thoughviolent，wasbrief，andO’Connorsankintoaswoonsodeepanddeath-like，thatIfearedheshouldwakennomore。

Thesurgeon，alittle，fussyman，butI

believewithsomeskilltojustifyhispretensions，nowenteredtheroom，carry-

inghiscaseofinstruments，andfollowedbyservantsbearingbasinsandwaterandbandagesoflinen。Herelievedourdoubtsbyinstantlyassuringusthat’thepatient’wasstillliving；andatthesametimeprofessedhisdeterminationtotakeadvantageofthemuscularrelaxationwhichthefainthadinducedtoexaminethewound——addingthatapatientwasmoreeasily’handled’wheninaswoonthanunderothercircumstances。

Afterexaminingthewoundinfrontwheretheballhadentered，hepassedhishandroundbeneaththeshoulder，andafteralittlepauseheshookhishead，observingthathefearedverymuchthatoneofthevertebraewasfatallyinjured，butthathecouldnotsaydecidedlyuntilhispatientshouldrevivealittle。’Thoughhislanguagewasverytechnical，andconsequentlytomenearlyunintelligible，Icouldperceiveplainlybyhismannerthatheconsideredthecaseasalmosthopeless。

O’Connorgraduallygavesomesignsofreturninganimation，andatlengthwassofarrestoredastobeenabledtospeak。

Aftersomefewgeneralquestionsastohowhefeltaffected，etc。，etc。，thesurgeon，placinghishanduponhislegandpressingitslightly，askedhimifhefeltanypressureuponthelimb？O’Connoransweredinthenegative——hepressedharder，andrepeatedthequestion；stilltheanswerwasthesame，tillatlength，byrepeatedexperiments，heascertainedthatallthatpartofthebodywhichlaybehindthewoundwasparalysed，provingthatthespinemusthavereceivedsomefatalinjury。

’Well，doctor，’saidO’Connor，aftertheexaminationofthewoundwasover；’well，Ishalldo，shan’tI？’

Thephysicianwassilentforamoment，andthen，asifwithaneffort，hereplied：

’Indeed，mydearsir，itwouldnotbehonesttoflatteryouwithmuchhope。’

’Eh？’saidO’ConnorwithmorealacritythanIhadseenhimexhibitsincethemorning；’surelyIdidnothearyouaright；Ispokeofmyrecovery——surelythereisnodoubt；therecanbenone——

speakfrankly，doctor，forGod’ssake——amIdying？’

Thesurgeonwasevidentlynostoic，andhismannerhadextinguishedinmeeveryhope，evenbeforehehadutteredawordinreply。

’Youare——youareindeeddying。Thereisnohope；IshouldbutdeceiveyouifI

heldoutany。’

Asthesurgeonutteredtheseterriblewords，thehandswhichO’Connorhadstretchedtowardshimwhileawaitinghisreplyfellpowerlessbyhisside；hisheadsankforward；itseemedasifhorroranddespairhadunstrungeverynerveandsinew；heappearedtocollapseandshrinktogetherasaplantmightundertheinfluenceofawitheringspell。

Ithasoftenbeenmyfate，sincethen，tovisitthechambersofdeathandofsuffering；

Ihavewitnessedfearfulagoniesofbodyandofsoul；themysteriousshudderingsofthedepartingspirit，andtheheart-

rendingdesolationofthesurvivors；theseveringofthetenderestties，thepiteousyearningsofunavailinglove——ofallthesethingsthesaddutiesofmyprofessionhavemademeawitness。But，generallyspeaking，Ihaveobservedinsuchscenessomethingtomitigate，ifnotthesorrows，atleasttheterrors，ofdeath；thedyingmanseldomseemstofeeltherealityofhissituation；adullconsciousnessofapproachingdissolution，adimanticipationofunconsciousnessandinsensibility，arethefeelingswhichmostnearlyborderuponanappreciationofhisstate；thefilmofdeathseemstohaveoverspreadthemind’seye，objectslosetheirdistinctness，andfloatcloudilybeforeit，andtheapathyandapparentindifferencewithwhichmenrecognisethesureadvancesofimmediatedeath，robthatawfulhourofmuchofitsterrors，andthedeath-bedofitsotherwiseinevitableagonies。

Thisisamercifuldispensation；buttherulehasitsexceptions——itsterribleexceptions。Whenamanisbroughtinaninstant，bysomesuddenaccident，totheveryvergeofthefathomlesspitofdeath，withallhisrecollectionsawake，andhisperceptionskeenlyandvividlyalive，withoutpreviousillnesstosubduethetoneofthemindastodullitsapprehensions——

then，andthenonly，thedeath-bedistrulyterrible。