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Henty, G. A. (George Alfred), 1832-1902

"A Tale of the Boyne and Limerick"

Then, sometimes, the dog picks up a rabbit. Sometimes,
when we go down for potatoes, we light on a fowl or two; there's many a
one of them running wild among the ruins. As far as eating and drinking
goes, we never did better; and if I could forget the old cottage, and the
sight that met my eyes when I went back to it, I should do well enough,
but, night and day I am dreaming of it, and my heart is sore with longing
for vengeance."
"Why don't you join the army?" Walter asked. "There's plenty of room for
good men, and yesterday's affair has made some vacancies in my own troop.
"What do you say, lads? You would have a chance of crossing swords with
the Enniskilleners, and you could always come back here when the war is
over."
"What do you say, boys?" the man asked his companions. "I am just
wearying for a fight, and I could die contented, if I could but send a
few of those murdering villains to their place, before I go."
The other two men at once agreed. They talked well into the night, and
Walter heard many tales of the savage butchery of unoffending peasants,
by the men who professed to be fighting for religious liberty, which
shocked and sickened him.
It was arranged that they should start on the following morning.


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