“He is a wise lad, and it will be a wise thing to do as he bids me,” she observed.
“But you must be weary, Kathleen,” said Miss O’Reilly; “you will want some refreshment before you set out again to-night.”
“No, no, when the mind’s at work the body requires no food,” said the mad girl, and she burst forth in a wild song which showed the excitement under which she was labouring.
Chapter Five.
Without waiting for further directions, away went the mad girl over moorland and glen at a speed which, considering the darkness, scarcely a wild deer could have rivalled, and before long she stood at the entrance of the cavern. She waited for some time, in the hopes that the inmates would go to sleep, and that she could more easily find an entrance. Listening, she heard voices within, and that of Father O’Rourke above all the rest.
“Where the priest is, there there’s mischief,” she said to herself. “If he’s going to stay there’s little I shall be able to do.”
She had not waited long, however, concealed behind a rock, when she saw Father O’Rourke issue forth and take his way down the hill. She waited some time longer, then quietly entered the cavern, gliding past the table and up to its further end. The men, who were still awake, gazed at her with astonishment, wondering what had brought her there, but none ventured to speak to her. She was held in a sort of superstitious reverence by the ignorant peasantry; and seeing her fearlessly enter, they fancied that she had authority for coming among them. No one suspected, indeed, that she would not prove faithful to their cause, had she discovered their intention. Silently she passed up the cavern and sat herself down on a chest at the further end, where, concealed by the darkness, she yet could look forth on the objects lighted by the lamp, and make her observations.
She had not been there long before she discovered Dermot resting on his elbow on the bunk where he had been placed. She watched till those around her appeared to be asleep, and she then noiselessly glided up to where he lay.