Mulcahy
must see his way to clear out behind him, or he'd not ha' come so
far, talkin' powers of darkness."
"Did you hear anything of a regimental coortmartial among the
Black Boneens, these days? Half a company of 'em took one of the
new draft an' hanged him by his arms with a tent-rope from a
third-story verandah. They gave no reason for so doin', but he was
half dead. I'm thinking that the Boneens are short-sighted. It was
a friend of Mulcahy's, or a man in the same trade. They'd a deal
better ha' taken his beer," returned Dan reflectively.
"Better still ha' handed him up to the Colonel," said Horse Egan,
"onless - but sure the news wud be all over the counthry an' give
the reg'ment a bad name."
"An' there'd be no reward for that man - he but went about
talkin'," said the Kerry man artlessly.
"You speak by your breed," said Dan, with a laugh. "There was
never a Kerry man yet that wudn't sell his brother for a pipe o'
tobacco an' a pat on the back from a p'liceman."
"Praise God I'm not a bloomin' Orangeman," was the answer.
"No, nor never will be," said Dan. "They breed men in Ulster.
Would you like to thry the taste of one?"
The Kerry man looked and longed, but forbore.
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