CHAPTER III. A FALSE START IN THE GENTEEL WORLD
I rode that night as far as Carlow, where I lay at the best inn; andbeing asked what was my name by the landlord of the house, gave it asMr. Redmond, according to my cousin's instructions, and said I was ofthe Redmonds of Waterford county, and was on my road to TrinityCollege, Dublin, to be educated there. Seeing my handsome appearance,silver-hiked sword, and well-filled valise, my landlord made free tosend up a jug of claret without my asking; and charged, you may be sure,pretty handsomely for it in the bill. No gentleman in those good olddays went to bed without a good share of liquor to set him sleeping, andon this my first day's entrance into the world, I made a point to actthe fine gentleman completely; and, I assure you, succeeded in my partto admiration. The excitement of the events of the day, the quitting myhome, the meeting with Captain Quin, were enough to set my brains in awhirl, without the claret; which served to finish me completely. I didnot dream of the death of Quin, as some milksops, perhaps, would havedone; indeed, I have never had any of that foolish remorse consequentupon any of my affairs of honour: always considering, from the first,that where a gentleman risks his own life in manly combat, he is a foolto be ashamed because he wins. I slept at Carlow as sound as man couldsleep; drank a tankard of small beer and a toast to my breakfast; andexchanged the first of my gold pieces to settle the bill, not forgettingto pay all the servants liberally, and as a gentleman should. I beganso the first day of my life, and so have continued. No man has beenat greater straits than I, and has borne more pinching poverty andhardship; but nobody can say of me that, if I had a guinea, I was notfree-handed with it, and did not spend it as well as a lord could do.
I had no doubts of the future: thinking that a man of my person, parts,and courage, could make his way anywhere. Besides, I had twenty goldguineas in my pocket; a sum which (although I was mistaken) I calculatedwould last me for four months at least, during which time somethingwould be done towards the making of my fortune. So I rode on, singingto myself, or chatting with the passers-by; and all the girls along theroad said God save me for a clever gentleman! As for Nora and CastleBrady, between to-day and yesterday there seemed to be a gap as ofhalf-a-score of years. I vowed I would never re-enter the place but as agreat man; and I kept my vow too, as you shall hear in due time.
There was much more liveliness and bustle on the king's highroad inthose times, than in these days of stage-coaches, which carry you fromone end of the kingdom to another in a few score hours. The gentry rodetheir own horses or drove in their own coaches, and spent three dayson a journey which now occupies ten hours; so that there was no lackof company for a person travelling towards Dublin. I made part ofthe journey from Carlow towards Naas with a well-armed gentleman fromKilkenny, dressed in green and a gold cord, with a patch on his eye, andriding a powerful mare. He asked me the question of the day, and whitherI was bound, and whether my mother was not afraid on account of thehighwaymen to let one so young as myself to travel? But I said, pullingout one of them from a holster, that I had a pair of good pistols thathad already done execution, and were ready to do it again; and here, apock-marked man coming up, he put spurs into his bay mare and left me.She was a much more powerful animal than mine; and, besides, I did notwish to fatigue my horse, wishing to enter Dublin that night, and inreputable condition.
As I rode towards Kilcullen, I saw a crowd of the peasant-peopleassembled round a one-horse chair, and my friend in green, as I thought,making off half a mile up the hill. A footman was howling 'Stop thief!'at the top of his voice; but the country fellows were only laughing athis distress, and making all sorts of jokes at the adventure which hadjust befallen.
'Sure you might have kept him off with your blunderBUSH!' says onefellow.
'Oh, the coward! to let the Captain BATE you; and he only one eye!'cries another.
'The next time my Lady travels, she'd better lave you at home!' said athird.
'What is this noise, fellows?' said I, riding up amongst them, and,seeing a lady in the carriage very pale and frightened, gave a slash ofmy whip, and bade the red-shanked ruffians keep off. 'What has happened,madam, to annoy your Ladyship?' I said, pulling off my hat, and bringingmy mare up in a prance to the chair window.
The lady explained. She was the wife of Captain Fitzsimons, and washastening to join the Captain at Dublin. Her chair had been stopped by ahighway-man: the great oaf of a servant-man had fallen down on his kneesarmed as he was; and though there were thirty people in the next fieldworking when the ruffian attacked her, not one of them would help her;but, on the contrary, wished the Captain, as they called the highwayman,good luck.
'Sure he's the friend of the poor,' said one fellow, 'and good luck tohim!'
'Was it any business of ours?' asked another. And another told,grinning, that it was the famous Captain Freny, who, having bribed thejury to acquit him two days back at Kilkenny assizes, had mounted hishorse at the gaol door, and the very next day had robbed two barristerswho were going the circuit.
I told this pack of rascals to be off to their work, or they shouldtaste of my thong, and proceeded, as well as I could, to comfort Mrs.Fitzsimons under her misfortunes. 'Had she lost much?' 'Everything: herpurse, containing upwards of a hundred guineas; her jewels, snuff-boxes,watches, and a pair of diamond shoe-buckles of the Captain's.' Thesemishaps I sincerely commiserated; and knowing her by her accent to bean Englishwoman, deplored the difference that existed between thetwo countries, and said that in OUR country (meaning England) suchatrocities were unknown.
'You, too, are an Englishman?' said she, with rather a tone of surprise.On which I said I was proud to be such: as, in fact, I was; and I neverknew a true Tory gentleman of Ireland who did not wish he could say asmuch.
I rode by Mrs. Fitzsimon's chair all the way to Naas; and, as she hadbeen robbed of her purse, asked permission to lend her a couple ofpieces to pay her expenses at the inn: which sum she was graciouslypleased to accept, and was, at the same time, kind enough to inviteme to share her dinner. To the lady's questions regarding my birth andparentage, I replied that I was a young gentleman of large fortune (thiswas not true; but what is the use of crying bad fish? my dear motherinstructed me early in this sort of prudence) and good family in thecounty of Waterford; that I was going to Dublin for my studies, and thatmy mother allowed me five hundred per annum. Mrs. Fitzsimons was equallycommunicative. She was the daughter of General Granby Somerset ofWorcestershire, of whom, of course, I had heard (and though I had not,of course I was too well-bred to say so); and had made, as she mustconfess, a runaway match with Ensign Fitzgerald Fitzsimons. Had I beenin Donegal?--No! That was a pity. The Captain's father possesses ahundred thousand acres there, and Fitzsimonsburgh Castle's the finestmansion in Ireland. Captain Fitzsimons is the eldest son; and, though hehas quarrelled with his father, must inherit the vast property. She wenton to tell me about the balls at Dublin, the banquets at the Castle, thehorse-races at the Phoenix, the ridottos and routs, until I became quiteeager to join in those pleasures; and I only felt grieved to think thatmy position would render secrecy necessary, and prevent me from beingpresented at the Court, of which the Fitzsimonses were the most elegantornaments. How different was her lively rattle to that of the vulgarwenches at the Kilwangan assemblies! In every sentence she mentioned alord or a person of quality. She evidently spoke French and Italian, ofthe former of which languages I have said I knew a few words; and, asfor her English accent, why, perhaps I was no judge of that, for, tosay the truth, she was the first REAL English person I had ever met. Sherecommended me, further, to be very cautious with regard to the companyI should meet at Dublin, where rogues and adventurers of all countriesabounded; and my delight and gratitude to her may be imagined, when, asour conversation grew more intimate (as we sat over our dessert), shekindly offered to accommodate me with lodgings in her own house, whereher Fitzsimons, she said, would welcome with delight her gallant youngpreserver.
'Indeed, madam,' said I, 'I have preserved nothing for you.'
Which wasperfectly true; for had I not come up too late after the robbery toprevent the highwayman from carrying off her money and pearls?
'And sure, ma'am, them wasn't much,' said Sullivan, the blunderingservant, who had been so frightened at Freny's approach, and was waitingon us at dinner. 'Didn't he return you the thirteenpence in copper, andthe watch, saying it was only pinch-beck?'
But his lady rebuked him for a saucy varlet, and turned him out of theroom at once, saying to me when he had gone, 'that the fool didn'tknow what was the meaning of a hundred-pound bill, which was in thepocket-book that Freny took from her.'
Perhaps had I been a little older in the world's experience, I shouldhave begun to see that Madam Fitzsimons was not the person of fashionshe pretended to be; but, as it was, I took all her stories for truth,and, when the landlord brought the bill for dinner, paid it with the airof a lord. Indeed, she made no motion to produce the two pieces I hadlent to her; and so we rode on slowly towards Dublin, into which city wemade our entrance at nightfall. The rattle and splendour of the coaches,the flare of the linkboys, the number and magnificence of the houses,struck me with the greatest wonder; though I was careful to disguisethis feeling, according to my dear mother's directions, who told me thatit was the mark of a man of fashion never to wonder at anything, andnever to admit that any house, equipage, or company he saw, was moresplendid or genteel than what he had been accustomed to at home.
We stopped, at length, at a house of rather mean appearance, and werelet into a passage by no means so clean as that at Barryville, wherethere was a great smell of supper and punch. A stout red-faced man,without a periwig, and in rather a tattered nightgown and cap, made hisappearance from the parlour, and embraced his lady (for it was CaptainFitzsimons) with a great deal of cordiality. Indeed, when he saw that astranger accompanied her, he embraced her more rapturously than ever.In introducing me, she persisted in saying that I was her preserver, andcomplimented my gallantry as much as if I had killed Freny, insteadof coming up when the robbery was over. The Captain said he knew theRedmonds of Waterford intimately well: which assertion alarmed me, as Iknew nothing of the family to which I was stated to belong. But I posedhim, by asking WHICH of the Redmonds he knew, for I had never heard hisname in our family. He said he knew the Redmonds of Redmondstown. 'Oh,'says I, 'mine are the Redmonds of Castle Redmond;' and so I put him offthe scent. I went to see my nag put up at a livery-stable hard by, withthe Captain's horse and chair, and returned to my entertainer.
Although there were the relics of some mutton-chops and onions on acracked dish before him, the Captain said, 'My love, I wish I had knownof your coming, for Bob Moriarty and I just finished the most deliciousvenison pasty, which his Grace the Lord Lieutenant sent us, with aflask of Sillery from his own cellar. You know the wine, my dear? But asbygones are bygones, and no help for them, what say ye to a fine lobsterand a bottle of as good claret as any in Ireland? Betty, clear thesethings from the table, and make the mistress and our young friendwelcome to our home.'
Not having small change, Mr. Fitzsimons asked me to lend him atenpenny-piece to purchase the dish of lobsters; but his lady, handingout one of the guineas I had given her, bade the girl get the changefor that, and procure the supper; which she did presently, bringing backonly a very few shillings out of the guinea to her mistress, saying thatthe fishmonger had kept the remainder for an old account. 'And the moregreat big blundering fool you, for giving the gold piece to him,' roaredMr. Fitzsimons. I forget how many hundred guineas he said he had paidthe fellow during the year.
Our supper was seasoned, if not by any great elegance, at least by aplentiful store of anecdotes, concerning the highest personages of thecity; with whom, according to himself, the Captain lived on terms ofthe utmost intimacy. Not to be behindhand with him, I spoke of my ownestates and property as if I was as rich as a duke. I told all thestories of the nobility I had ever heard from my mother, and some that,perhaps, I had invented; and ought to have been aware that my hostwas an impostor himself, as he did not find out my own blunders andmisstatements. But youth is ever too confident. It was some timebefore I knew that I had made no very desirable acquaintance in CaptainFitzsimons and his lady; and, indeed, went to bed congratulating myselfupon my wonderful good luck in having, at the outset of my adventures,fallen in with so distinguished a couple.
The appearance of the chamber I occupied might, indeed, have led me toimagine that the heir of Fitzsimonsburgh Castle, county Donegal, was notas yet reconciled with his wealthy parents; and, had I been an Englishlad, probably my suspicion and distrust would have been arousedinstantly. But perhaps, as the reader knows, we are not so particular inIreland on the score of neatness as people are in this precise country;hence the disorder of my bedchamber did not strike me so much. For werenot all the windows broken and stuffed with rags even at Castle Brady,my uncle's superb mansion? Was there ever a lock to the doors there, orif a lock, a handle to the lock or a hasp to fasten it to? So, thoughmy bedroom boasted of these inconveniences, and a few more; though mycounterpane was evidently a greased brocade dress of Mrs. Fitzsimons's,and my cracked toilet-glass not much bigger than a half-crown, yet I wasused to this sort of ways in Irish houses, and still thought myself inthat of a man of fashion. There was no lock to the drawers, which, whenthey DID open, were full of my hostess's rouge-pots, shoes, stays, andrags; so I allowed my wardrobe to remain in my valise, but set out mysilver dressing-apparatus upon the ragged cloth on the drawers, where itshone to great advantage.
When Sullivan appeared in the morning, I asked him about my mare,which he informed me was doing well. I then bade him bring me hotshaving-water, in a loud dignified tone.
'Hot shaving-water!' says he, bursting out laughing (and I confess notwithout reason). 'Is it yourself you're going to shave?' said he. 'Andmaybe when I bring you up the water I'll bring you up the cat too, andyou can shave her.' I flung a boot at the scoundrel's head in replyto this impertinence, and was soon with my friends in the parlour forbreakfast. There was a hearty welcome, and the same cloth that hadbeen used the night before: as I recognised by the black mark of theIrish-stew dish, and the stain left by a pot of porter at supper.
My host greeted me with great cordiality; Mrs. Fitzsimons said I was anelegant figure for the Phoenix; and indeed, without vanity, I may say ofmyself that there were worse-looking fellows in Dublin than I. I had notthe powerful chest and muscular proportion which I have since attained(to be exchanged, alas! for gouty legs and chalk-stones in my fingers;but 'tis the way of mortality), but I had arrived at near my presentgrowth of six feet, and with my hair in buckle, a handsome lace jabotand wristbands to my shirt, and a red plush waistcoat, barred with gold,looked the gentleman I was born. I wore my drab coat with platebuttons, that was grown too small for me, and quite agreed with CaptainFitzsimons that I must pay a visit to his tailor, in order to procuremyself a coat more fitting my size.
'I needn't ask whether you had a comfortable bed,' said he. 'Young FredPimpleton (Lord Pimpleton's second son) slept in it for seven months,during which he did me the honour to stay with me, and if HE wassatisfied, I don't know who else wouldn't be.'
After breakfast we walked out to see the town, and Mr. Fitzsimonsintroduced me to several of his acquaintances whom we met, as hisparticular young friend Mr. Redmond, of Waterford county; he alsopresented me at his hatter's and tailor's as a gentleman of greatexpectations and large property; and although I told the latter that Ishould not pay him ready cash for more than one coat, which fitted me toa nicety, yet he insisted upon making me several, which I did not careto refuse. The Captain, also, who certainly wanted such a renewal ofraiment, told the tailor to send him home a handsome military frock,which he selected.
Then we went home to Mrs. Fitzsimons, who drove out in her chair to thePhoenix Park, where a review was, and where numbers of the young gentrywere round about her; to all of whom she presented me as her preserverof the day before. Indeed, such was her complimentary account of me,that before half-an-hour I ha
d got to be considered as a young gentlemanof the highest family in the land, related to all the principalnobility, a cousin of Captain Fitzsimons, and heir to L10,000 a year.Fitzsimons said he had ridden over every inch of my estate; and'faith, as he chose to tell these stories for me, I let him have hisway--indeed, was not a little pleased (as youth is) to be made much of,and to pass for a great personage. I had little notion then that Ihad got among a set of impostors--that Captain Fitzsimons was only anadventurer, and his lady a person of no credit; but such are the dangersto which youth is perpetually subject, and hence let young men takewarning by me.
I purposely hurry over the description of my life in which the incidentswere painful, of no great interest except to my unlucky self, and ofwhich my companions were certainly not of a kind befitting my quality.The fact was, a young man could hardly have fallen into worse hands thanthose in which I now found myself. I have been to Donegal since,and have never seen the famous Castle of Fitzsimonsburgh, which is,likewise, unknown to the oldest inhabitants of that county; nor are theGranby Somersets much better known in Worcestershire. The couple intowhose hands I had fallen were of a sort much more common then than atpresent, for the vast wars of later days have rendered it very difficultfor noblemen's footmen or hangers-on to procure commissions; and such,in fact, had been the original station of Captain Fitzsimons. HadI known his origin, of course I would have died rather than haveassociated with him: but in those simple days of youth I took his talesfor truth, and fancied myself in high luck at being, at my outset intolife, introduced into such a family. Alas! we are the sport of destiny.When I consider upon what small circumstances all the great events of mylife have turned, I can hardly believe myself to have been anythingbut a puppet in the hands of Fate; which has played its most fantastictricks upon me.
The Captain had been a gentleman's gentleman, and his lady of no higherrank. The society which this worthy pair kept was at a sort of ordinarywhich they held, and at which their friends were always welcome onpayment of a certain moderate sum for their dinner. After dinner, youmay be sure that cards were not wanting, and that the company who playeddid not play for love merely. To these parties persons of all sortswould come: young bloods from the regiments garrisoned in Dublin: youngclerks from the Castle; horse-riding, wine-tippling, watchman-beatingmen of fashion about town, such as existed in Dublin in that day morethan in any other city with which I am acquainted in Europe. I neverknew young fellows make such a show, and upon such small means. I neverknew young gentlemen with what I may call such a genius for idleness;and whereas an Englishman with fifty guineas a year is not able to domuch more than starve, and toil like a slave in a profession, a youngIrish buck with the same sum will keep his horses, and drink his bottle,and live as lazy as a lord. Here was a doctor who never had a patient,cheek by jowl with an attorney who never had a client: neither hada guinea--each had a good horse to ride in the Park, and the best ofclothes to his back. A sporting clergyman without a living; severalyoung wine-merchants, who consumed much more liquor than they had orsold; and men of similar character, formed the society at the houseinto which, by ill luck, I was thrown. What could happen to a man butmisfortune from associating with such company?--(I have not mentionedthe ladies of the society, who were, perhaps, no better than themales)--and in a very very short time I became their prey.
As for my poor twenty guineas, in three days I saw, with terror, thatthey had dwindled down to eight: theatres and taverns having alreadymade such cruel inroads in my purse. At play I had lost, it is true, acouple of pieces; but seeing that every one round about me played uponhonour and gave their bills, I, of course, preferred that medium to thepayment of ready money, and when I lost paid on account.
With the tailors, saddlers, and others, I employed similar means; andin so far Mr. Fitzsimons's representation did me good, for the tradesmentook him at his word regarding my fortune (I have since learned that therascal pigeoned several other young men of property), and for a littletime supplied me with any goods I might be pleased to order. At length,my cash running low, I was compelled to pawn some of the suits withwhich the tailor had provided me; for I did not like to part with mymare, on which I daily rode in the Park, and which I loved as thegift of my respected uncle. I raised some little money, too, on a fewtrinkets which I had purchased of a jeweller who pressed his credit uponme; and thus was enabled to keep up appearances for yet a little time.
I asked at the post-office repeatedly for letters for Mr. Redmond, butnone such had arrived; and, indeed, I always felt rather relieved whenthe answer of 'No' was given to me; for I was not very anxious that mymother should know my proceedings in the extravagant life which I wasleading at Dublin. It could not last very long, however; for when mycash was quite exhausted, and I paid a second visit to the tailor,requesting him to make me more clothes, the fellow hummed and ha'd, andhad the impudence to ask payment for those already supplied: on which,telling him I should withdraw my custom from him, I abruptly left him.The goldsmith too (a rascal Jew) declined to let me take a gold chainto which I had a fancy; and I felt now, for the first time, in someperplexity. To add to it, one of the young gentlemen who frequented Mr.Fitzsimons's boarding-house had received from me, in the way of play,an IOU for eighteen pounds (which I lost to him at piquet), and which,owing Mr. Curbyn, the livery-stable keeper, a bill, he passed into thatperson's hands. Fancy my rage and astonishment, then, on going for mymare, to find that he positively refused to let me have her out of thestable, except under payment of my promissory note! It was in vain thatI offered him his choice of four notes that I had in my pocket--one ofFitzsimons's for L20, one of Counsellor Mulligan's, and so forth; thedealer, who was a Yorkshireman, shook his head, and laughed at every oneof them; and said, 'I tell you what, Master Redmond, you appear a youngfellow of birth and fortune, and let me whisper in your ear that youhave fallen into very bad hands--it's a regular gang of swindlers; and agentleman of your rank and quality should never be seen in such company.Go home: pack up your valise, pay the little trifle to me, mount yourmare, and ride back again to your parents,--it's the very best thing youcan do.'
In a pretty nest of villains, indeed, was I plunged! It seemed as ifall my misfortunes were to break on me at once; for, on going home andascending to my bedroom in a disconsolate way, I found the Captainand his lady there before me, my valise open, my wardrobe lying on theground, and my keys in the possession of the odious Fitzsimons. 'Whomhave I been harbouring in my house?' roared he, as I entered theapartment. 'Who are you, sirrah?'
'SIRRAH! Sir,' said I, 'I am as good a gentleman as any in Ireland.'
'You're an impostor, young man: a schemer, a deceiver!' shouted theCaptain.
'Repeat the words again, and I will run you through the body,' repliedI.
'Tut, tut! I can play at fencing as well as you, Mr. REDMOND BARRY. Ah!you change colour, do you--your secret is known, is it? You come like aviper into the bosom of innocent families; you represent yourself as theheir of my friends the Redmonds of Castle Redmond; I inthrojuice you tothe nobility and genthry of this methropolis' (the Captain's brogue waslarge, and his words, by preference, long); 'I take you to my tradesmen,who give you credit, and what do I find? That you have pawned the goodswhich you took up at their houses.'
'I have given them my acceptances, sir,' said I with a dignified air.
'UNDER WHAT NAME, unhappy boy--under what name?' screamed Mrs.Fitzsimons; and then, indeed, I remembered that I had signed thedocuments Barry Redmond instead of Redmond Barry: but what else couldI do? Had not my mother desired me to take no other designation? Afteruttering a furious tirade against me, in which he spoke of the fataldiscovery of my real name on my linen--of his misplaced confidence ofaffection, and the shame with which he should be obliged to meet hisfashionable friends and confess that he had harboured a swindler, hegathered up the linen, clothes, silver toilet articles, and the rest ofmy gear, saying that he should step out that moment for an officer andgive me up to the just revenge of the law.
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bsp; During the first part of his speech, the thought of the imprudence ofwhich I had been guilty, and the predicament in which I was plunged, hadso puzzled and confounded me, that I had not uttered a word in reply tothe fellow's abuse, but had stood quite dumb before him. The sense ofdanger, however, at once roused me to action. 'Hark ye, Mr. Fitzsimons,'said I; 'I will tell you why I was obliged to alter my name: which isBarry, and the best name in Ireland. I changed it, sir, because, onthe day before I came to Dublin, I killed a man in deadly combat--anEnglishman, sir, and a captain in His Majesty's service; and if youoffer to let or hinder me in the slightest way, the same arm whichdestroyed him is ready to punish you; and by Heaven, sir, you or I don'tleave this room alive!'
So saying, I drew my sword like lightning, and giving a 'ha! ha!' anda stamp with my foot, lunged within an inch of Fitzsimons's heart, whostarted back and turned deadly pale, while his wife, with a scream,flung herself between us.
'Dearest Redmond,' she cried, 'be pacified. Fitzsimons, you don't wantthe poor child's blood. Let him escape--in Heaven's name let him go.'
'He may go hang for me,' said Fitzsimons sulkily; 'and he'd better beoff quickly, too, for the jeweller and the tailor have called once,and will be here again before long. It was Moses the pawnbroker thatpeached: I had the news from him myself.' By which I conclude that Mr.Fitzsimons had been with the new laced frock-coat which he procured fromthe merchant tailor on the day when the latter first gave me credit.
What was the end of our conversation? Where was now a home for thedescendant of the Barrys? Home was shut to me by my misfortune in theduel. I was expelled from Dublin by a persecution occasioned, I mustconfess, by my own imprudence. I had no time to wait and choose: noplace of refuge to fly to. Fitzsimons, after his abuse of me, left theroom growling, but not hostile; his wife insisted that we should shakehands, and he promised not to molest me. Indeed, I owed the fellownothing; and, on the contrary, had his acceptance actually in my pocketfor money lost at play. As for my friend Mrs. Fitzsimons, she sat downon the bed and fairly burst out crying. She had her faults, but herheart was kind; and though she possessed but three shillings in theworld, and fourpence in copper, the poor soul made me take it beforeI left her--to go--whither? My mind was made up: there was a score ofrecruiting-parties in the town beating up for men to join our gallantarmies in America and Germany; I knew where to find one of these, havingstood by the sergeant at a review in the Phoenix Park, where he pointedout to me characters on the field, for which I treated him to drink.
I gave one of my shillings to Sullivan the butler of the Fitzsimonses,and, running into the street, hastened to the little alehouse at whichmy acquaintance was quartered, and before ten minutes had accepted HisMajesty's shilling. I told him frankly that I was a young gentleman indifficulties; that I had killed an officer in a duel, and was anxiousto get out of the country. But I need not have troubled myself with anyexplanations; King George was too much in want of men then to heed fromwhence they came, and a fellow of my inches, the sergeant said, wasalways welcome. Indeed, I could not, he said, have chosen my timebetter. A transport was lying at Dunleary, waiting for a wind, and onboard that ship, to which I marched that night, I made some surprisingdiscoveries, which shall be told in the next chapter.