Chapter 3

by William Makepeace Thackeray

　　A FALSE START IN THE GENTEEL WORLD.I rode that night as far as Carlow, where I lay at the best inn; andbeing asked what was my name by the landlord of the house, gave itas Mr. Redmond, according to my cousin's instructions, and said Iwas of the Redmonds of Waterford county, and was on my road toTrinity College, Dublin, to be educated there. Seeing my handsomeappearance, silver-hiked sword, and well-filled valise, my landlordmade free to send up a jug of claret without my asking; and charged,you may be sure, pretty handsomely for it in the bill. No gentlemanin those good old days went to bed without a good share of liquor toset him sleeping, and on this my first day's entrance into theworld, I made a point to act the fine gentleman completely; and, Iassure you, succeeded in my part to admiration. The excitement ofthe events of the day, the quitting my home, the meeting withCaptain Quin, were enough to set my brains in a whirl, without theclaret; which served to finish me completely. I did not dream of thedeath of Quin, as some milksops, perhaps, would have done; indeed, Ihave never had any of that foolish remorse consequent upon any of myaffairs of honour: always considering, from the first, that where agentleman risks his own life in manly combat, he is a fool to beashamed because he wins. I slept at Carlow as sound as man couldsleep; drank a tankard of small beer and a toast to my breakfast;and exchanged the first of my gold pieces to settle the bill, notforgetting to pay all the servants liberally, and as a gentlemanshould. I began so the first day of my life, and so have continued.No man has been at greater straits than I, and has borne morepinching poverty and hardship; but nobody can say of me that, if Ihad a guinea, I was not free-handed with it, and did not spend it aswell as a lord could do.I had no doubts of the future: thinking that a man of my person,parts, and courage, could make his way anywhere. Besides, I hadtwenty gold guineas in my pocket; a sum which (although I wasmistaken) I calculated would last me for four months at least,during which time something would be done towards the making of myfortune. So I rode on, singing to myself, or chatting with thepassers-by; and all the girls along the road said God save me for aclever gentleman! As for Nora and Castle Brady, between to-day andyesterday there seemed to be a gap as of half-a-score of years. Ivowed I would never re-enter the place but as a great man; and Ikept my vow too, as you shall hear in due time.There was much more liveliness and bustle on the king's highroad inthose times, than in these days of stage-coaches, which carry youfrom one end of the kingdom to another in a few score hours. Thegentry rode their own horses or drove in their own coaches, andspent three days on a journey which now occupies ten hours; so thatthere was no lack of company for a person travelling towards Dublin.I made part of the journey from Carlow towards Naas with a well-armed gentleman from Kilkenny, dressed in green and a gold cord,with a patch on his eye, and riding a powerful mare. He asked me thequestion of the day, and whither I was bound, and whether my motherwas not afraid on account of the highwaymen to let one so young asmyself to travel? But I said, pulling out one of them from aholster, that I had a pair of good pistols that had already doneexecution, and were ready to do it again; and here, a pock-markedman coming up, he put spurs into his bay mare and left me. She was amuch more powerful animal than mine; and, besides, I did not wish tofatigue my horse, wishing to enter Dublin that night, and inreputable condition.As I rode towards Kilcullen, I saw a crowd of the peasant-peopleassembled round a one-horse chair, and my friend in green, as Ithought, making off half a mile up the hill. A footman was howling'Stop thief!' at the top of his voice; but the country fellows wereonly laughing at his distress, and making all sorts of jokes at theadventure which had just befallen.'Sure you might have kept him off with your blunderbush!' says onefellow.'Oh, the coward! to let the Captain bait you; and he only one eye!'cries another.'The next time my Lady travels, she'd better lave you at home!' saida third.'What is this noise, fellows?' said I, riding up amongst them, and,seeing a lady in the carriage very pale and frightened, gave a slashof my whip, and bade the red-shanked ruffians keep off. 'What hashappened, madam, to annoy your Ladyship?' I said, pulling off myhat, and bringing my mare up in a prance to the chair window.The lady explained. She was the wife of Captain Fitzsimons, and washastening to join the Captain at Dublin. Her chair had been stoppedby a highway-man: the great oaf of a servant-man had fallen down onhis knees armed as he was; and though there were thirty people inthe next field working when the ruffian attacked her, not one ofthem would help her; but, on the contrary, wished the Captain, asthey called the highwayman, good luck.'Sure he's the friend of the poor,' said one fellow, 'and good luckto him!''Was it any business of ours?' asked another. And another told,grinning, that it was the famous Captain Freny, who, having bribedthe jury to acquit him two days back at Kilkenny assizes, hadmounted his horse at the gaol door, and the very next day had robbedtwo barristers who were going the circuit.I told this pack of rascals to be off to their work, or they shouldtaste of my thong, and proceeded, as well as I could, to comfortMrs. Fitzsimons under her misfortunes. 'Had she lost much?''Everything: her purse, containing upwards of a hundred guineas; herjewels, snuff-boxes, watches, and a pair of diamond shoe-buckles ofthe Captain's.' These mishaps I sincerely commiserated; and knowingher by her accent to be an Englishwoman, deplored the differencethat existed between the two countries, and said that in our country(meaning England) such atrocities were unknown.'You, too, are an Englishman?' said she, with rather a tone ofsurprise. On which I said I was proud to be such: as, in fact, Iwas; and I never knew a true Tory gentleman of Ireland who did notwish he could say as much.I rode by Mrs. Fitzsimon's chair all the way to Naas; and, as shehad been robbed of her purse, asked permission to lend her a coupleof pieces to pay her expenses at the inn: which sum she wasgraciously pleased to accept, and was, at the same time, kind enoughto invite me to share her dinner. To the lady's questions regardingmy birth and parentage, I replied that I was a young gentleman oflarge fortune (this was not true; but what is the use of crying badfish? my dear mother instructed me early in this sort of prudence)and good family in the county of Waterford; that I was going toDublin for my studies, and that my mother allowed me five hundredper annum. Mrs. Fitzsimons was equally communicative. She was thedaughter of General Granby Somerset of Worcestershire, of whom, ofcourse, I had heard (and though I had not, of course I was too well-bred to say so); and had made, as she must confess, a runaway matchwith Ensign Fitzgerald Fitzsimons. Had I been in Donegal?--No! Thatwas a pity. The Captain's father possesses a hundred thousand acresthere, and Fitzsimonsburgh Castle's the finest mansion in Ireland.Captain Fitzsimons is the eldest son; and, though he has quarrelledwith his father, must inherit the vast property. She went on to tellme about the balls at Dublin, the banquets at the Castle, the horse-races at the Phoenix, the ridottos and routs, until I became quiteeager to join in those pleasures; and I only felt grieved to thinkthat my position would render secrecy necessary, and prevent me frombeing presented at the Court, of which the Fitzsimonses were themost elegant ornaments. How different was her lively rattle to thatof the vulgar wenches at the Kilwangan assemblies! In every sentenceshe mentioned a lord or a person of quality. She evidently spokeFrench and Italian, of the former of which languages I have said Iknew a few words; and, as for her English accent, why, perhaps I wasno judge of that, for, to say the truth, she was the first REALEnglish person I had ever met. She recommended me, further, to bevery cautious with regard to the company I should meet at Dublin,where rogues and adventurers of all countries abounded; and mydelight and gratitude to her may be imagined, when, as ourconversation grew more intimate (as we sat over our dessert), shekindly offered to accommodate me with lodgings in her own house,where her Fitzsimons, she said, would welcome with delight hergallant young preserver.'Indeed, madam,' said I, 'I have preserved nothing for you.' Whichwas perfectly true; for had I not come up too late after the robberyto prevent the highwayman from carrying off her money and pearls?'And sure, ma'am, them wasn't much,' said Sullivan, the blunderingservant, who had been so frightened at Freny's approach, and waswaiting on us at dinner. 'Didn't he return you the thirteenpence incopper, and the watch, saying it was only pinch-beck?'But his lady rebuked him for a saucy varlet, and turned him out ofthe room at once, saying to me when he had gone, 'that the fooldidn't know what was the meaning of a hundred-pound bill, which wasin the pocket-book that Freny took from her.'Perhaps had I been a little older in the world's experience, Ishould have begun to see that Madam Fitzsimons was not the person offashion she pretended to be; but, as it was, I took all her storiesfor truth, and, when the landlord brought the bill for dinner, paidit with the air of a lord. Indeed, she made no motion to produce thetwo pieces I had lent to her; and so we rode on slowly towardsDublin, into which city we made our entrance at nightfall. Therattle and splendour of the coaches, the flare of the linkboys, thenumber and magnificence of the houses, struck me with the greatestwonder; though I was careful to disguise this feeling, according tomy dear mother's directions, who told me that it was the mark of aman of fashion never to wonder at anything, and never to admit thatany house, equipage, or company he saw, was more splendid or genteelthan what he had been accustomed to at home.We stopped, at length, at a house of rather mean appearance, andwere let into a passage by no means so clean as that at Barryville,where there was a great smell of supper and punch. A stout red-facedman, without a periwig, and in rather a tattered nightgown and cap,made his appearance from the parlour, and embraced his lady (for itwas Captain Fitzsimons) with a great deal of cordiality. Indeed,when he saw that a stranger accompanied her, he embraced her morerapturously than ever. In introducing me, she persisted in sayingthat I was her preserver, and complimented my gallantry as much asif I had killed Freny, instead of coming up when the robbery wasover. The Captain said he knew the Redmonds of Waterford intimatelywell: which assertion alarmed me, as I knew nothing of the family towhich I was stated to belong. But I posed him, by asking which ofthe Redmonds he knew, for I had never heard his name in our family.He said he knew the Redmonds of Redmondstown. 'Oh,' says I, 'mineare the Redmonds of Castle Redmond;' and so I put him off the scent.I went to see my nag put up at a livery-stable hard by, with theCaptain's horse and chair, and returned to my entertainer.Although there were the relics of some mutton-chops and onions on acracked dish before him, the Captain said, 'My love, I wish I hadknown of your coming, for Bob Moriarty and I just finished the mostdelicious venison pasty, which his Grace the Lord Lieutenant sentus, with a flask of Sillery from his own cellar. You know the wine,my dear? But as bygones are bygones, and no help for them, what sayye to a fine lobster and a bottle of as good claret as any inIreland? Betty, clear these things from the table, and make themistress and our young friend welcome to our home.'Not having small change, Mr. Fitzsimons asked me to lend him atenpenny-piece to purchase the dish of lobsters; but his lady,handing out one of the guineas I had given her, bade the girl getthe change for that, and procure the supper; which she didpresently, bringing back only a very few shillings out of the guineato her mistress, saying that the fishmonger had kept the remainderfor an old account. 'And the more great big blundering fool you, forgiving the gold piece to him,' roared Mr. Fitzsimons. I forget howmany hundred guineas he said he had paid the fellow during the year.Our supper was seasoned, if not by any great elegance, at least by aplentiful store of anecdotes, concerning the highest personages ofthe city; with whom, according to himself, the Captain lived onterms of the utmost intimacy. Not to be behindhand with him, I spokeof my own estates and property as if I was as rich as a duke. I toldall the stories of the nobility I had ever heard from my mother, andsome that, perhaps, I had invented; and ought to have been awarethat my host was an impostor himself, as he did not find out my ownblunders and misstatements. But youth is ever too confident. It wassome time before I knew that I had made no very desirableacquaintance in Captain Fitzsimons and his lady; and, indeed, wentto bed congratulating myself upon my wonderful good luck in having,at the outset of my adventures, fallen in with so distinguished acouple.The appearance of the chamber I occupied might, indeed, have led meto imagine that the heir of Fitzsimonsburgh Castle, county Donegal,was not as yet reconciled with his wealthy parents; and, had I beenan English lad, probably my suspicion and distrust would have beenaroused instantly. But perhaps, as the reader knows, we are not soparticular in Ireland on the score of neatness as people are in thisprecise country; hence the disorder of my bedchamber did not strikeme so much. For were not all the windows broken and stuffed withrags even at Castle Brady, my uncle's superb mansion? Was there evera lock to the doors there, or if a lock, a handle to the lock or ahasp to fasten it to? So, though my bedroom boasted of theseinconveniences, and a few more; though my counterpane was evidentlya greased brocade dress of Mrs. Fitzsimons's, and my cracked toilet-glass not much bigger than a half-crown, yet I was used to this sortof ways in Irish houses, and still thought myself in that of a manof fashion. There was no lock to the drawers, which, when they didopen, were full of my hostess's rouge-pots, shoes, stays, and rags;so I allowed my wardrobe to remain in my valise, but set out mysilver dressing-apparatus upon the ragged cloth on the drawers,where it shone to great advantage.When Sullivan appeared in the morning, I asked him about my mare,which he informed me was doing well. I then bade him bring me hotshaving-water, in a loud dignified tone.'Hot shaving-water!' says he, bursting out laughing (and I confessnot without reason). 'Is it yourself you're going to shave?' saidhe. 'And maybe when I bring you up the water I'll bring you up thecat too, and you can shave her.' I flung a boot at the scoundrel'shead in reply to this impertinence, and was soon with my friends inthe parlour for breakfast. There was a hearty welcome, and the samecloth that had been used the night before: as I recognised by theblack mark of the Irish-stew dish, and the stain left by a pot ofporter at supper.My host greeted me with great cordiality; Mrs. Fitzsimons said I wasan elegant figure for the Phoenix; and indeed, without vanity, I maysay of myself that there were worse-looking fellows in Dublin thanI. I had not the powerful chest and muscular proportion which I havesince attained (to be exchanged, alas! for gouty legs and chalk-stones in my fingers; but 'tis the way of mortality), but I hadarrived at near my present growth of six feet, and with my hair inbuckle, a handsome lace jabot and wristbands to my shirt, and a redplush waistcoat, barred with gold, looked the gentleman I was born.I wore my drab coat with plate buttons, that was grown too small forme, and quite agreed with Captain Fitzsimons that I must pay a visitto his tailor, in order to procure myself a coat more fitting mysize.'I needn't ask whether you had a comfortable bed,' said he. 'YoungFred Pimpleton (Lord Pimpleton's second son) slept in it for sevenmonths, during which he did me the honour to stay with me, and if hewas satisfied, I don't know who else wouldn't be.'After breakfast we walked out to see the town, and Mr. Fitzsimonsintroduced me to several of his acquaintances whom we met, as hisparticular young friend Mr. Redmond, of Waterford county; he alsopresented me at his hatter's and tailor's as a gentleman of greatexpectations and large property; and although I told the latter thatI should not pay him ready cash for more than one coat, which fittedme to a nicety, yet he insisted upon making me several, which I didnot care to refuse. The Captain, also, who certainly wanted such arenewal of raiment, told the tailor to send him home a handsomemilitary frock, which he selected.Then we went home to Mrs. Fitzsimons, who drove out in her chair tothe Phoenix Park, where a review was, and where numbers of the younggentry were round about her; to all of whom she presented me as herpreserver of the day before. Indeed, such was her complimentaryaccount of me, that before half-an-hour I had got to be consideredas a young gentleman of the highest family in the land, related toall the principal nobility, a cousin of Captain Fitzsimons, and heirto L10,000 a year. Fitzsimons said he had ridden over every inch ofmy estate; and 'faith, as he chose to tell these stories for me, Ilet him have his way--indeed, was not a little pleased (as youth is)to be made much of, and to pass for a great personage. I had littlenotion then that I had got among a set of impostors--that CaptainFitzsimons was only an adventurer, and his lady a person of nocredit; but such are the dangers to which youth is perpetuallysubject, and hence let young men take warning by me.I purposely hurry over the description of my life in which theincidents were painful, of no great interest except to my unluckyself, and of which my companions were certainly not of a kindbefitting my quality. The fact was, a young man could hardly havefallen into worse hands than those in which I now found myself. Ihave been to Donegal since, and have never seen the famous Castle ofFitzsimonsburgh, which is, likewise, unknown to the oldestinhabitants of that county; nor are the Granby Somersets much betterknown in Worcestershire. The couple into whose hands I had fallenwere of a sort much more common then than at present, for the vastwars of later days have rendered it very difficult for noblemen'sfootmen or hangers-on to procure commissions; and such, in fact, hadbeen the original station of Captain Fitzsimons. Had I known hisorigin, of course I would have died rather than have associated withhim: but in those simple days of youth I took his tales for truth,and fancied myself in high luck at being, at my outset into life,introduced into such a family. Alas! we are the sport of destiny.When I consider upon what small circumstances all the great eventsof my life have turned, I can hardly believe myself to have beenanything but a puppet in the hands of Fate; which has played itsmost fantastic tricks upon me.The Captain had been a gentleman's gentleman, and his lady of nohigher rank. The society which this worthy pair kept was at a sortof ordinary which they held, and at which their friends were alwayswelcome on payment of a certain moderate sum for their dinner. Afterdinner, you may be sure that cards were not wanting, and that thecompany who played did not play for love merely. To these partiespersons of all sorts would come: young bloods from the regimentsgarrisoned in Dublin: young clerks from the Castle; horse-riding,wine-tippling, watchman-beating men of fashion about town, such asexisted in Dublin in that day more than in any other city with whichI am acquainted in Europe. I never knew young fellows make such ashow, and upon such small means. I never knew young gentlemen withwhat I may call such a genius for idleness; and whereas anEnglishman with fifty guineas a year is not able to do much morethan starve, and toil like a slave in a profession, a young Irishbuck with the same sum will keep his horses, and drink his bottle,and live as lazy as a lord. Here was a doctor who never had apatient, cheek by jowl with an attorney who never had a client:neither had a guinea--each had a good horse to ride in the Park, andthe best of clothes to his back. A sporting clergyman without aliving; several young wine-merchants, who consumed much more liquorthan they had or sold; and men of similar character, formed thesociety at the house into which, by ill luck, I was thrown. Whatcould happen to a man but misfortune from associating with suchcompany?--(I have not mentioned the ladies of the society, who were,perhaps, no better than the males)--and in a very very short time Ibecame their prey.As for my poor twenty guineas, in three days I saw, with terror,that they had dwindled down to eight: theatres and taverns havingalready made such cruel inroads in my purse. At play I had lost, itis true, a couple of pieces; but seeing that every one round aboutme played upon honour and gave their bills, I, of course, preferredthat medium to the payment of ready money, and when I lost paid onaccount.With the tailors, saddlers, and others, I employed similar means;and in so far Mr. Fitzsimons's representation did me good, for thetradesmen took him at his word regarding my fortune (I have sincelearned that the rascal pigeoned several other young men ofproperty), and for a little time supplied me with any goods I mightbe pleased to order. At length, my cash running low, I was compelledto pawn some of the suits with which the tailor had provided me; forI did not like to part with my mare, on which I daily rode in thePark, and which I loved as the gift of my respected uncle. I raisedsome little money, too, on a few trinkets which I had purchased of ajeweller who pressed his credit upon me; and thus was enabled tokeep up appearances for yet a little time.I asked at the post-office repeatedly for letters for Mr. Redmond,but none such had arrived; and, indeed, I always felt ratherrelieved when the answer of 'No' was given to me; for I was not veryanxious that my mother should know my proceedings in the extravagantlife which I was leading at Dublin. It could not last very long,however; for when my cash was quite exhausted, and I paid a secondvisit to the tailor, requesting him to make me more clothes, thefellow hummed and ha'd, and had the impudence to ask payment forthose already supplied: on which, telling him I should withdraw mycustom from him, I abruptly left him. The goldsmith too (a rascalJew) declined to let me take a gold chain to which I had a fancy;and I felt now, for the first time, in some perplexity. To add toit, one of the young gentlemen who frequented Mr. Fitzsimons'sboarding-house had received from me, in the way of play, an IOU foreighteen pounds (which I lost to him at piquet), and which, owingMr. Curbyn, the livery-stable keeper, a bill, he passed into thatperson's hands. Fancy my rage and astonishment, then, on going formy mare, to find that he positively refused to let me have her outof the stable, except under payment of my promissory note! It was invain that I offered him his choice of four notes that I had in mypocket--one of Fitzsimons's for L20, one of Counsellor Mulligan's,and so forth; the dealer, who was a Yorkshireman, shook his head,and laughed at every one of them; and said, 'I tell you what, MasterRedmond, you appear a young fellow of birth and fortune, and let mewhisper in your ear that you have fallen into very bad hands--it's aregular gang of swindlers; and a gentleman of your rank and qualityshould never be seen in such company. Go home: pack up your valise,pay the little trifle to me, mount your mare, and ride back again toyour parents,--it's the very best thing you can do.'In a pretty nest of villains, indeed, was I plunged! It seemed as ifall my misfortunes were to break on me at once; for, on going homeand ascending to my bedroom in a disconsolate way, I found theCaptain and his lady there before me, my valise open, my wardrobelying on the ground, and my keys in the possession of the odiousFitzsimons. 'Whom have I been harbouring in my house?' roared he, asI entered the apartment. 'Who are you, sirrah?''Sirrah! Sir,' said I, 'I am as good a gentleman as any in Ireland.''You're an impostor, young man: a schemer, a deceiver!' shouted theCaptain.'Repeat the words again, and I will run you through the body,'replied I.'Tut, tut! I can play at fencing as well as you, Mr. Redmond Barry.Ah! you change colour, do you--your secret is known, is it? You comelike a viper into the bosom of innocent families; you representyourself as the heir of my friends the Redmonds of Castle Redmond; Iinthrojuice you to the nobility and genthry of this methropolis'(the Captain's brogue was large, and his words, by preference,long); 'I take you to my tradesmen, who give you credit, and what doI find? That you have pawned the goods which you took up at theirhouses.''I have given them my acceptances, sir,' said I with a dignifiedair.'Under what name, unhappy boy--under what name?' screamed Mrs.Fitzsimons; and then, indeed, I remembered that I had signed thedocuments Barry Redmond instead of Redmond Barry: but what elsecould I do? Had not my mother desired me to take no otherdesignation? After uttering a furious tirade against me, in which hespoke of the fatal discovery of my real name on my linen--of hismisplaced confidence of affection, and the shame with which heshould be obliged to meet his fashionable friends and confess thathe had harboured a swindler, he gathered up the linen, clothes,silver toilet articles, and the rest of my gear, saying that heshould step out that moment for an officer and give me up to thejust revenge of the law.During the first part of his speech, the thought of the imprudenceof which I had been guilty, and the predicament in which I wasplunged, had so puzzled and confounded me, that I had not uttered aword in reply to the fellow's abuse, but had stood quite dumb beforehim. The sense of danger, however, at once roused me to action.'Hark ye, Mr. Fitzsimons,' said I; 'I will tell you why I wasobliged to alter my name: which is Barry, and the best name inIreland. I changed it, sir, because, on the day before I came toDublin, I killed a man in deadly combat--an Englishman, sir, and acaptain in His Majesty's service; and if you offer to let or hinderme in the slightest way, the same arm which destroyed him is readyto punish you; and by Heaven, sir, you or I don't leave this roomalive!'So saying, I drew my sword like lightning, and giving a 'ha! ha!'and a stamp with my foot, lunged within an inch of Fitzsimons'sheart, who started back and turned deadly pale, while his wife, witha scream, flung herself between us.'Dearest Redmond,' she cried, 'be pacified. Fitzsimons, you don'twant the poor child's blood. Let him escape--in Heaven's name lethim go.''He may go hang for me,' said Fitzsimons sulkily; 'and he'd betterbe off quickly, too, for the jeweller and the tailor have calledonce, and will be here again before long. It was Moses thepawnbroker that peached: I had the news from him myself.' By which Iconclude that Mr. Fitzsimons had been with the new laced frock-coatwhich he procured from the merchant tailor on the day when thelatter first gave me credit.What was the end of our conversation? Where was now a home for thedescendant of the Barrys? Home was shut to me by my misfortune inthe duel. I was expelled from Dublin by a persecution occasioned, Imust confess, by my own imprudence. I had no time to wait andchoose: no place of refuge to fly to. Fitzsimons, after his abuse ofme, left the room growling, but not hostile; his wife insisted thatwe should shake hands, and he promised not to molest me. Indeed, Iowed the fellow nothing; and, on the contrary, had his acceptanceactually in my pocket for money lost at play. As for my friend Mrs.Fitzsimons, she sat down on the bed and fairly burst out crying. Shehad her faults, but her heart was kind; and though she possessed butthree shillings in the world, and fourpence in copper, the poor soulmade me take it before I left her--to go--whither? My mind was madeup: there was a score of recruiting-parties in the town beating upfor men to join our gallant armies in America and Germany; I knewwhere to find one of these, having stood by the sergeant at a reviewin the Phoenix Park, where he pointed out to me characters on thefield, for which I treated him to drink.I gave one of my shillings to Sullivan the butler of theFitzsimonses, and, running into the street, hastened to the littlealehouse at which my acquaintance was quartered, and before tenminutes had accepted His Majesty's shilling. I told him frankly thatI was a young gentleman in difficulties; that I had killed anofficer in a duel, and was anxious to get out of the country. But Ineed not have troubled myself with any explanations; King George wastoo much in want of men then to heed from whence they came, and afellow of my inches, the sergeant said, was always welcome. Indeed,I could not, he said, have chosen my time better. A transport waslying at Dunleary, waiting for a wind, and on board that ship, towhich I marched that night, I made some surprising discoveries,which shall be told in the next chapter.