If a party are wanted for
still-hunting send Sergeant Morris with them. I shall dispatch my
report to-night, and no doubt the colonel will send an officer out to
help you as soon as he gets it."
The boat now pushed off. A corporal and four men were told off to
occupy the cave until relieved by the revenue men, and then, with the
prisoners in their center, the party climbed the cliff, and again,
having been joined at the top by the rest of the company, marched to
Ballyporrit. They found the village in a state of excitement. The
soldier who had gone to fetch the doctor had brought the news that a
fight had take place down on the face of the cliff, but he could not
say whether any had been killed. As soon as the detachment returned
with the prisoners in their midst many women flocked round with cries
and lamentations, and exchanged greetings with the prisoners.
Ralph at once took possession of the stables at the inn, and saw that
the prisoners were all handcuffed, the Red ruffian's legs being also
securely bound. Then he placed two sentries inside and two out. The
news that some of the men had been killed soon spread, and many of the
villagers who did not see their relations among the prisoners hurried
off toward the scene of action. Ralph informed the landlord that the
dead had all been placed together on the seashore, and that their
friends were at liberty to remove and bury them without any questions
being asked.
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