Sir Robert did not lose an hour’s time.  The local barracks were within a few hundred yards of his house.  A party of military were immediately called out, and in a short time they arrived, under the guidance of Hennessy, to the very mouth of the cavern, which he disclosed to them.  It is unnecessary to detail the particulars of the search.  The soldiers entered it one by one, but found that the birds had flown.  The very fires were burning, but not a living soul in the cave; it was completely deserted, and nothing remained but some miserable relics of cold provisions, with which, by the aid of fir splices, that served as torches, they regaled themselves as far as they went.

Sir Robert Whitecraft now felt full confidence in Hennessy; but would have given a trifle to renew his acquaintance with Mr. Rowland Drum, by whose ingenuity he was so completely outwitted.  As it was, they scoured the country in search of the inmates of the cave, but above all things in search of Reilly, for whose capture Whitecraft would have forgiven every man in the cavern.  The search, however, was unsuccessful; not a man of them was caught that day, and gallant Sir Robert and his myrmidons were obliged to return wearied and disappointed men.

CHAPTER XIII.—­Reilly is Taken, but Connived at by the Sheriff

—­The Mountain Mass

Reilly and the bishop traversed a wild and remote part of the country, in which there was nothing to be seen but long barren wastes, over which were studded, here and there, a few solitary huts; upon its extremity, however, there were some houses of a more comfortable description, the habitations of middling farmers, who possessed small farms at a moderate rent.  As they went along, the prelate addressed Reilly in the following-terms: 

“Mr. Reilly,” said he, “I would advise you to get out of this unhappy country as soon as you can.”

“My lord,” replied Reilly, who was all candor and truth, and never could conceal his sentiments, at whatever risk, “I cannot think of leaving the country, let the consequences be what they may.  I will not trouble your lordship with my motives, because they are at variance with your character and religious feelings; but they are not at variance with religion or morality.  It is enough to say that I wish to prevent a beautiful and innocent girl from being sacrificed.  My lord, you know too well that persecution is abroad; and when I tell you that, through the influence which this admirable creature has over her father—­who, by the way, has himself the character of a persecutor—­many Catholics have been protected by him, I am sure you will not blame me for the interest which I feel in her fate.  In addition to this, my lord, she has been a ministering angel to the Catholic poor in general, and has contributed vast sums, privately, to the relief of such of our priesthood as have been brought to distress by the persecution of the times.  Nay, she has so far influenced her father that proscribed priests have found refuge and protection in his house.”