Summary

Two men stumble into a barn. One of them tells the other he’s gotten threatening letters from the Irish Republican Army, but that he’s threatened them back and been left alone since. They hear footsteps and Peter checks outside to see what’s happening. Two nuns come in, one old, the other young, and the group discusses others who have joined their cause and gone on to do other things, or have been killed by enemies. The nuns say goodnight to the men who have gathered. The young men extinguish the lights and rest, still thinking of the young nun.

Analysis

This is a brief and fairly mysterious story about the presence of several young men who appear to be hiding, either on their way to some kind of attack or headed away from it. Each wonders what his own fate, along...