“You know well enough that if you ill-treat us there will be a hue and cry after you, and that before many weeks have passed by, one and all of you will be caught and gibbeted.”
“That’s more aisy to say than to do,” answered Hoolan.
“Bring them along, boys; and mind you don’t let them escape you.”
“Sorra’s the chance of that,” cried the men, hanging on tighter to our legs. We were thus led forward, still being allowed to keep our seats in our saddles, but without a chance of effecting our escape, though I observed that my uncle’s eye was ranging round to see what could be done. He looked down on me. I daresay I was paler than usual, though I did my best to imitate his coolness.
“Keep up your spirits, Terence,” he said. “I don’t believe that those fellows intend to carry out their threats. Though why they have made us prisoners is beyond my comprehension.”
Some of our captors growled out something, but what it was I could not understand, though I think it was a hint to the major and me to hold our tongues. The hunchback kept close to me, having released my throat, and merely held on to me by one of my legs. Hoolan himself stalked at our head, with the pistol, which he had reloaded, in his hand. The men talked among themselves in their native Irish, but didn’t address another word to us. They seemed eager to push on, but the character of the road prevented our moving out of a foot’s pace. On and on we went, till we saw a group of large trees ahead. Hoolan pointed to them with a significant gesture. His followers, with loud shouts, hurried us forward. I now observed that two of them had coils of rope under their arms. They were of no great strength, but sufficient to bear the weight of an ordinary man. We quickly reached the trees, when the outlaws made us dismount under one, which, I remarked, had a wide extending bough, about fifteen feet from the ground. My uncle now began to look more serious than before, as if, for the first time, he really believed that our captors would carry out their threats.
“Terence, we must try and free ourselves from these ruffians,” he said. “I have no care for myself, but I don’t want your young life to be taken from you. Keep your eyes about you, and if you can manage to spring into your saddle, don’t pull rein until you have put a good distance between yourself and them.”
“I could not think of going, and leaving you in the hands of the ruffians, Uncle McMahon,” I answered. “I’ll beg them to spare your life, and will promise them any reward they may demand,—a hundred, or two hundred pounds. Surely they would rather have the money than take your life.”
“Don’t promise them anything of the sort,” he said. “If they were to obtain it, they would be seizing every gentleman they could get hold of. Their object is not money, or they would have robbed us before this. Do as I tell you, and be on the watch to escape while they are trying to hang me. I’ll take care to give you a good chance.”
While he was speaking they were throwing the ropes over the bough, and ostentatiously making nooses at the end of each of them. They were not very expert, and failed several times in throwing the other end over the bough. The ends of each of the ropes were grasped by three men, who looked savagely at us, as if they were especially anxious to see our necks in the opposite nooses, and apparently only waiting the order from their chief.