’Doyouobject，Mr。M’Donough？anduponwhatgrounds，ifyouplease？’saidhe。
’Certainlyhedoesnot，’repliedO’Connor；and，turningtoM’Donough，headded，’praylettherebenounnecessarydelay。’
’Thereisnoobjection，then，’saidFitzgerald。
’_I_object，’saidtheyoungeroftheO’Gradys，’ifnobodyelsewill。’
’Andwhothedevilareyou，thatDARES
toobject？’shoutedFitzgerald；’andwhatd——dpresumptionpromptsyoutoDAREtowagyourtonguehere？’
’IamMr。O’Grady，ofCastleBlake，’
repliedtheyoungman，nowmuchenraged；’andby——，youshallanswerforyourlanguagetome。’
’ShallI，by——？ShallI？’criedhe，withalaughofbrutalscorn；’themorethemerrier，d——nthedoubtofit——sonowholdyourtongue，forIpromiseyouyoushallhavebusinessenoughofyourowntothinkabout，andthatbeforelong。’
Therewasanappallingferocityinhistoneandmannerwhichnowordscouldconvey。
Heseemedtransformed；hewasactuallylikeamanpossessed。Wasitpossible，I
thought，thatIbeheldthecourteousgentleman，thegay，good-humouredretailerofamusinganecdotewithwhom，scarcetwodaysago，Ihadlaughedandchatted，intheblasphemousandmurderousruffianwhoglaredandstormedbeforeme!
O’Connorinterposed，andrequestedthattimeshouldnotbeunnecessarilylost。
’Youhavenotgotasecondcoaton？’
inquiredtheCaptain。’Ibegpardon，butmydutytomyfriendrequiresthatI
shouldascertainthepoint。’
O’Connorrepliedinthenegative。TheCaptainexpressedhimselfassatisfied，adding，inwhathemeanttobeacomplimentarystrain，’thatheknewMr。
O’Connorwouldscorntoemploypaddingoranyunfairmodeofprotection。’
Therewasnowabreathlesssilence。
O’Connorstoodperfectlymotionless；and，exceptingthedeath-likepalenessofhisfeatures，heexhibitednosignofagitation。
Hiseyewassteady——hislipdidnottremble——hisattitudewascalm。TheCaptain，havingre-examinedtheprimingofthepistols，placedoneoftheminthehandofFitzgerald——M’Donoughinquiredwhetherthepartieswereprepared，andhavingbeenansweredintheaffirmative，heproceededtogivetheword，’Ready。’
Fitzgeraldraisedhishand，butalmostinstantlylowereditagain。Thecrowdhadpressedtoomuchforwardasitappeared，andhiseyehadbeenunsteadiedbytheflappingoftheskirtofafriezeriding-coatwornbyoneofthespectators。
’Inthenameofmyprincipal，’saidtheCaptain，’Imustanddoinsistuponthesegentlemenmovingbackalittle。Weaskbutlittle；fairplay，andnofavour。’
Thecrowdmovedasrequested。
M’Donoughrepeatedhisformerquestion，andwasansweredasbefore。Therewasabreathlesssilence。FitzgeraldfixedhiseyeuponO’Connor。Theappointedsignal，’Ready，fire!’wasgiven。Therewasapausewhileonemightslowlyreckonthree——Fitzgeraldfired——andO’Connorfellhelplesslyupontheground。
’Thereisnotimetobelost，’saidM’Creagrh；’for，by——，youhavedoneforhim。’
Sosaying，hethrewhimselfuponhishorse，andwasinstantlyfollowedatahardgallopbyFitzgerald。
’Cold-bloodedmurder，ifevermurderwascommitted，’saidO’Grady。’Heshallhangforit；d——nme，butheshall。’
Ahopelessattemptwasmadetoovertakethefugitives；buttheywerebettermountedthananyoftheirpursuers，andescapedwithease。Cursesandactualyellsofexecrationfollowedtheircourse；andas，incrossingthebrowofaneighbouringhill，theyturnedroundinthesaddletoobserveiftheywerepursued，everygesturewhichcouldexpressfuryanddefiancewasexhaustedbytheenragedanddefeatedmultitude。
’Cleartheway，boys，’saidyoungO’Grady，whowithmewaskneelingbesideO’Connor，whilewesupportedhiminourarms；’donotpresssoclose，andbed——d；can’tyouletthefreshairtohim；don’tyouseehe’sdying？’
Onopeninghiswaistcoatweeasilydetectedthewound：itwasalittlebelowthechest——asmallbluemark，fromwhichoozedasingleheavydropofblood。
’Heisbleedingbutlittle——thatisacomfortatallevents，’saidoneofthegentlemenwhosurroundedthewoundedman。
Anothersuggestedtheexpediencyofhisbeingremovedhomewardwithaslittledelayaspossible，andrecommended，forthispurpose，thatadoorshouldberemovedfromitshinges，andthepatient，laiduponthis，shouldbeconveyedfromthefield。UponthisrudebiermypoorfriendwascarriedfromthatfatalgroundtowardsCastleConnor。Iwalkedclosebyhisside，andobservedeverymotionofhis。Heseldomopenedhiseyes，andwasperfectlystill，exceptinganervousWORKING
ofthefingers，andaslight，almostimperceptibletwitchingofthefeatures，whichtookplace，however，onlyatintervals。Thefirstwordheutteredwasspokenasweapproachedtheentranceofthecastleitself，whenhesaid；repeatedly，’Thebackway，thebackway。’Hefearedlesthismothershouldmeethimabruptlyandwithoutpreparation；butalthoughthisfearwasgroundless，sincesheneverleftherroomuntillateintheday，yetitwasthoughtadvisable，and，indeed，necessary，tocautionalltheservantsmoststronglyagainstbreathingahinttotheirmistressoftheeventswhichhadbefallen。
Twoorthreegentlemenhadriddenfromthefieldoneafteranother，promisingthattheyshouldovertakeourpartybeforeitreachedthecastle，bringingwiththemmedicalaidfromonequarteroranother；
andwedeterminedthatMrs。O’Connorshouldnotknowanythingoftheoccurrenceuntiltheopinionofsomeprofessionalmanshouldhavedeterminedtheextentoftheinjurywhichhersonhadsustained——acourseofconductwhichwouldatleasthavetheeffectofrelievingherfromthehorrorsofsuspense。WhenO’Connorfoundhimselfinhisownroom，andlaiduponhisownbed，heappearedmuchrevived——somuchso，thatIcouldnothelpadmittingastronghopethatallmightyetbewell。
’Afterall，Purcell，’saidhe，withamelancholysmile，andspeakingwithevidentdifficulty，’IbelieveIhavegotoffwithatriflingwound。IamsureitcannotbefatalIfeelsolittlepain——almostnone。’
Icautionedhimagainstfatiguinghimselfbyendeavouringtospeak；andheremainedquietforalittletime。Atlengthhesaid：
’Purcell，Itrustthislessonshallnothavebeengiveninvain。Godhasbeenverymercifultome；Ifeel——IhaveaninternalconfidencethatIamnotwoundedmortally。HadIbeenfatallywounded——
hadIbeenkilleduponthespot，onlythinkonit’——andheclosedhiseyesasiftheverythoughtmadehimdizzy——’struckdownintothegrave，unpreparedasIam，intheveryblossomofmysins，withoutamomentofrepentanceorofreflection；I
musthavebeenlost——lostforeverandever。’
Iprevaileduponhim，withsomedifficulty，toabstainfromsuchagitatingreflections，andatlengthinducedhimtocourtsuchreposeashisconditionadmittedof，byremainingperfectlysilent，andasmuchaspossiblewithoutmotion。
O’ConnorandIonlywereintheroom；
hehadlainforsometimeintolerablequiet，whenIthoughtIdistinguishedthebustleattendantuponthearrivalofsomeoneatthecastle，andwenteagerlytothewindow，believing，oratleasthoping，thatthesoundsmightannouncetheapproachofthemedicalman，whomwealllongedmostimpatientlytosee。
Myconjecturewasright；Ihadthesatisfactionofseeinghimdismountandpreparetoenterthecastle，whenmyobservationswereinterrupted，andmyattentionwasattractedbyasmothered，gurglingsoundproceedingfromthebedinwhichlaythewoundedman。Iinstantlyturnedround，andindoingsothespectaclewhichmetmyeyeswassufficientlyshocking。
IhadleftO’Connorlyinginthebed，supportedbypillows，perfectlycalm，andwithhiseyesclosed：hewasnowlyingnearlyinthesameposition，hiseyesopenandalmoststartingfromtheirsockets，witheveryfeaturepaleanddistortedasdeath，andvomitingbloodinquantitiesthatwerefrightful。Irushedtothedoorandcalledforassistance；theparoxysm，thoughviolent，wasbrief，andO’Connorsankintoaswoonsodeepanddeath-like，thatIfearedheshouldwakennomore。
Thesurgeon，alittle，fussyman，butI
believewithsomeskilltojustifyhispretensions，nowenteredtheroom，carry-
inghiscaseofinstruments，andfollowedbyservantsbearingbasinsandwaterandbandagesoflinen。Herelievedourdoubtsbyinstantlyassuringusthat’thepatient’wasstillliving；andatthesametimeprofessedhisdeterminationtotakeadvantageofthemuscularrelaxationwhichthefainthadinducedtoexaminethewound——addingthatapatientwasmoreeasily’handled’wheninaswoonthanunderothercircumstances。
Afterexaminingthewoundinfrontwheretheballhadentered，hepassedhishandroundbeneaththeshoulder，andafteralittlepauseheshookhishead，observingthathefearedverymuchthatoneofthevertebraewasfatallyinjured，butthathecouldnotsaydecidedlyuntilhispatientshouldrevivealittle。’Thoughhislanguagewasverytechnical，andconsequentlytomenearlyunintelligible，Icouldperceiveplainlybyhismannerthatheconsideredthecaseasalmosthopeless。
O’Connorgraduallygavesomesignsofreturninganimation，andatlengthwassofarrestoredastobeenabledtospeak。
Aftersomefewgeneralquestionsastohowhefeltaffected，etc。，etc。，thesurgeon，placinghishanduponhislegandpressingitslightly，askedhimifhefeltanypressureuponthelimb？O’Connoransweredinthenegative——hepressedharder，andrepeatedthequestion；stilltheanswerwasthesame，tillatlength，byrepeatedexperiments，heascertainedthatallthatpartofthebodywhichlaybehindthewoundwasparalysed，provingthatthespinemusthavereceivedsomefatalinjury。
’Well，doctor，’saidO’Connor，aftertheexaminationofthewoundwasover；’well，Ishalldo，shan’tI？’
Thephysicianwassilentforamoment，andthen，asifwithaneffort，hereplied：
’Indeed，mydearsir，itwouldnotbehonesttoflatteryouwithmuchhope。’
’Eh？’saidO’ConnorwithmorealacritythanIhadseenhimexhibitsincethemorning；’surelyIdidnothearyouaright；Ispokeofmyrecovery——surelythereisnodoubt；therecanbenone——
speakfrankly，doctor，forGod’ssake——amIdying？’
Thesurgeonwasevidentlynostoic，andhismannerhadextinguishedinmeeveryhope，evenbeforehehadutteredawordinreply。
’Youare——youareindeeddying。Thereisnohope；IshouldbutdeceiveyouifI
heldoutany。’
Asthesurgeonutteredtheseterriblewords，thehandswhichO’Connorhadstretchedtowardshimwhileawaitinghisreplyfellpowerlessbyhisside；hisheadsankforward；itseemedasifhorroranddespairhadunstrungeverynerveandsinew；heappearedtocollapseandshrinktogetherasaplantmightundertheinfluenceofawitheringspell。
Ithasoftenbeenmyfate，sincethen，tovisitthechambersofdeathandofsuffering；
Ihavewitnessedfearfulagoniesofbodyandofsoul；themysteriousshudderingsofthedepartingspirit，andtheheart-
rendingdesolationofthesurvivors；theseveringofthetenderestties，thepiteousyearningsofunavailinglove——ofallthesethingsthesaddutiesofmyprofessionhavemademeawitness。But，generallyspeaking，Ihaveobservedinsuchscenessomethingtomitigate，ifnotthesorrows，atleasttheterrors，ofdeath；thedyingmanseldomseemstofeeltherealityofhissituation；adullconsciousnessofapproachingdissolution，adimanticipationofunconsciousnessandinsensibility，arethefeelingswhichmostnearlyborderuponanappreciationofhisstate；thefilmofdeathseemstohaveoverspreadthemind’seye，objectslosetheirdistinctness，andfloatcloudilybeforeit，andtheapathyandapparentindifferencewithwhichmenrecognisethesureadvancesofimmediatedeath，robthatawfulhourofmuchofitsterrors，andthedeath-bedofitsotherwiseinevitableagonies。
Thisisamercifuldispensation；buttherulehasitsexceptions——itsterribleexceptions。Whenamanisbroughtinaninstant，bysomesuddenaccident，totheveryvergeofthefathomlesspitofdeath，withallhisrecollectionsawake，andhisperceptionskeenlyandvividlyalive，withoutpreviousillnesstosubduethetoneofthemindastodullitsapprehensions——
then，andthenonly，thedeath-bedistrulyterrible。