On the fifth day, the officers had just finished supper, when the sound of a pistol shot was heard.  Walter leaped from his seat, snatched up his sword and pistols, and ran down to the river.  The men were already clustering round the boats.  A minute later these were in the water, and the men jumped on board.  They too were eager for the work, for Larry had whispered among them that, if the signal was made, it would signify that a band of the enemy’s marauders were at Mrs. Conyers’; and all had been so kindly treated there that they were eager to repay the treatment they had received.  Besides, there was not a man in the Irish army whose heart had not been fired at the recitals of the brutality of the enemy, and filled with deep longings for vengeance upon the perpetrators of the deeds.

Walter counted the men as they rowed across, and was pleased to find that not one of them was missing.  He ordered the two men who were at the oars in each boat to return, the instant the rest had landed, to fetch another detachment across.

As they reached the land, the men sprang out.  Pat Ryan was standing at the landing place.

“Well, Pat, what is it?”

“A troop of Hessian horse, your honour.  Half an hour ago they rode up to the doors.  Mrs. Conyers came out to meet them, and told them that she was a loyal Protestant, and wife of a gentleman high in the king’s councils, who was in the camp.  The blackguards only laughed.  The officers, with some of the men, dismounted and pushed their way past her into the house, and the rest of the troop tied their horses up to the trees on the lawn, and shouted to me, and some of the other boys who were looking on, to bring forage.  I suppose we weren’t quick enough for them, for one of them drew his pistol and fired at me.  Fortunately, he only hit the truss of straw I was carrying.  Then I went round to the back door, where I had agreed that Bridget was to come to me, if things were going wrong in the house.  A few minutes afterwards she came out, with a white face, and said:  ’For the sake of the Holy Virgin, run for your life, Pat, and warn the soldiers!’ So I slipped away and ran my hardest.”

All this was told as the party were running at full speed towards the house.

“How strong was the troop?” Walter asked.

“About eighty men, yer honour.”

“We must trust to a surprise,” Walter said.  “We can get round to the back of the house without being seen.  If we burst in there suddenly, we can clear the house and hold it till my father comes up with the whole troop.”

Five minutes after they had left the boat, the party approached the house.  Walter halted his men for a moment in the shrubbery behind it.

“Steady, lads, and take breath.  You will follow me into the house, and keep together.  Give no quarter to the scoundrels.”

Scarcely had he spoken than a piercing scream, accompanied by a pistol shot, was heard within.