“It was in the hard winter of the year __99, that we were quartered in Maynooth, as many said, for our sins—­for a more stupid place, the Lord be merciful to it, never were men condemned to.  The people at the college were much better off than us—­they had whatever was to be got in the country, and never were disturbed by mounting guard, or night patrols.  Many of the professors were good fellows, that liked grog fully as well as Greek, and understood short whist, and five and ten quite as intimately as they knew the Vulgate, or the confessions of St. Augustine —­they made no ostentacious display of their pious zeal, but whenever they were not fasting, or praying, or something of that kind, they were always pleasant and agreeable; and to do them justice, never refused, by any chance, an invitation to dinner—­no matter at what inconvenience.  Well, even this little solace in our affliction we soon lost, by an unfortunate mistake of that Orange rogue of the world, Major Jones, that gave a wrong pass one night—­Mr. Lorrequer knows the story, (here he alluded to an adventure detailed in an early chapter of my Confessions) —­and from that day forward we never saw the pleasant faces of the Abbe D’Array, or the Professor of the Humanities, at the mess.  Well, the only thing I could do, was just to take an opportunity to drop in at the College in the evening, where we had a quiet rubber of whist, and a little social and intellectual conversation, with maybe an oyster and a glass of punch, just to season the thing, before we separated; all done discreetly and quietly—­no shouting nor even singing, for the ‘superior’ had a prejudice about profane songs.  Well, one of those nights it was, about the first week in February, I was detained by stress of weather from 11 o’clock, when we usually bade good-night, to past twelve, and then to one o’clock, waiting for a dry moment to get home to the barracks—­a good mile and a half off.  Every time old Father Mahony went to look at the weather, he came back saying, ’It’s worse it’s getting; such a night of rain, glory be to God, never was seen.’  So there was no good in going out to be drenched to the skin, and I sat quietly waiting, taking, between times, a little punch, just not to seem impatient, nor distress their rev’rances.  At last it struck two, and I thought—­’well, the decanter is empty now, and I think, if I mean to walk, I’ve taken enough for the present;’ so, wishing them all manner of happiness, and pleasant dreams, I stumbled by way down stairs, and set out on my journey.  I was always in the habit of taking a short cut on my way home, across the ‘gurt na brocha,’ the priest’s meadows, as they call them, it saved nearly half a mile, although, on the present occasion, it exposed one wofully to the rain, for there was nothing to shelter against the entire way, not even a tree.  Well, out I set in a half trot, for I staid so late I was pressed for time; besides, I felt it easier to run than walk;