THE INFORMER.

Wellington Independent, Issue 2, 5 April 1845, Page 4

THE INFORMER.

BY JOHN NUGENT. Lv the year 1828, there stood, on the road to Ederny, at the distance of about two miles from the base of the Glack mountains, in the county of Fermanagh, in the north of Ireland, a long, low, nondescript sort of building, which, whatever might have been the original purpose for which it wa3 built, was, at the time of which I write, appropriated to the temporary use of a body of police, who were stationed in that neighbourhood for the purpose of overawing the rising faction of the Kibbonmen, who were strongly suspected of holding nightly meetings in the vicinity of the mountains, although, owing to the secrecy of their movements, and the promptitude with which they executed their midnight terrorism or depredation, the government had not'been, as yet, able to arrest a,ny of the members, of

the association ; and notwithstanding that repeated offers of reward had been made to any person who would lodge with the authorities information which would lead to their conviction, yet, whether from adherence to the principles of the party, or from a dread of the; vengeance of their associates, there had not occurred, in that part of the country, a single; instance of desertion or faithlessness on the; part of any member of the association. ~; J On a frosty evening in the month of Ko-- : vember, a party of police were sitting in 'their guard-room, enjoying the comforts of a bogwood fire, which, as it flickered and blazed on the ample hearth, was reflected by their well-burnished arras and accoutrements as they hung on the walls of the apartment. Seated in a corner of the spacious chimney, was a person of a very different aspect from those around him. He was a man of about thirty years of age, tall and well formed. His features, although regular and even strongly defined, wore an expression of simplicity which sometimes amounted to vagueness and even idiotcy. He had suffered his beard to grow long on his upper lip and chin. His hat and beard were black as the raven's wing. He wore a frieze overcoat tightened by a leather belt around his waist; his head and ket were entirely bare in all weathers. Such was Jemmy O'Hara; or, as he was usually called, Jemmy the Pilgrim. His chief delight consisting in reporting the latest-reported miracles (for Jemmy was a devout Catholic), relating anecdotes of his favourite saints, or tracing back the genealogies of the different families around for five generations. Jemmy was generally regarded as a ' half-nat'ral;' but there were many who did not believe him to be so silly as he was commonly accounted.

Many a time had Jemmy sat in that corner amusing the ' Peelers' (as the peasantry loved to call them from the name of the founder of that respectable order) with tales of every variety; among the rest, ghost legends and fairy tales, in most of which, Jeramy himself figured as one of the principal actors. On the night on which my story commences, Jemmy had regaled the police with, many a tale of fairy-land, and he was in "the middle of one of his most interesting ghost stories, when he was interrupted by the entrance of a stranger. The new comer was a man of about six feet in height, slender, but well-knit and active. He wore a long frieze coat, which was buttoned up around his chin, and the lower part of his face was concealed by a woolled shawl, which might have been either as a disguise or against the inclemency of the weather. The rest of his features were not calculated to propossess one in his favour. His nose was long and fiat, somewhat resembling that of a cat or tiger; whilst his grey ey«s had a dogged and yet abject look, which gave a sinister expression to his entire He entered with a shuffling and uneven gait, and throwing a furtive glance around the apartment, he inquired for Capt. Davis. Being told that the captain was in his room, he desired to be forthwith conducted to his presence. The sergeant, distrusting his sinister aspect, did not seem disposed to comply with his request; but the stranger having bent down and whispered a few words in his ear, he immediately ordered a subordinate to conduct him to the apartment of his commanding officer. A few minutes after, two of the party stood up to amuse themselves with cudgel-playing, and Jemmy, who was known to have an aversion to witness the sport, left the room almost unnoticed. List* ening outside the door to try if his absence was remarked, and having ascertained that the attention of the entire party was occupied by the two combatants, he stole noiselessly and with caution through the various passages leading to the captain's Kneeling down and scarely drawing his breath -lest he should attract attention, he applied his ear to the key-hole of tte door, and remained in that position for nearly an hour. At«the*etfdaof that time he arose, and cautiously retracing his steps through the barracks, he let himself out unperceived, and proceeded with a quick pace across the fields towards the neighbouring village.

A bright and glorious morning succeeded the night on which .occurred tbie events just related. It was the fair cUy tff Enniskillen, and as early as eight o'clock, the.road leading to the town from Portora was thronged with peasants hastening to the fair, eager to be in time to sell the produce of their industry to advantage. Nothing could exceed the beauty of the scene. The sun rising behind the turrets of Portora Castle was reflected from the placid bosom of Loch Erne, and alight purple mist rising from the lake softened down the more rugged portions of the- surrounding scenery ; whilst the various groups of peasants with their variegated costumes, and their fresh healthy faces lit up by exercise and the keen bracing air of the morning, tended not a little to enliven the picture. Many a hearty laugh rang out on the clear racrning ajr from the various parties along

the road, called forth by a passing jest, or by some ludicrous occurrence which provoked their merriment. There, might be seen the peasant girl with her merry blue eye and sprightly step; her crue of yam strapped across her shoulder, trudging along without any sign of fatigue, occasionally responding with a jocund laugh to the gallantries poured into her ear by the young man who walks by her side. There, also, might.be seen the staid farmer, who goes to the fair either for amusement or to make purchases, trudging along on his sure-footed nag, with his wife on a pillion behind him. Others there were on carts, with their kish of pigs or poultry attached, travelling in eager haste in order to be in for the 'iirst money.' On a vehicle of this description might be seen two persons, a young man of about twenty-four years and a girl of nineteen. The 5 oung man was dressed in a blue cloth coat with bright gilt buttons, and white corduroys.; and, from his appearance and the respectful manner in which he was addressed by the country-people, seemed to be a person in easy circumstances. His sister (for the girl that accompanied him stood in that relation to him) was dressed in a light blue cloth cloak and a fawn-coloured beaver bonnet. Her hair and eyebrows were of a jetty black. Her eyes were black and sparkling, with a playful roguishness which threatened mischief to any luckless wight who might have the misfortune to come within their range. Her teeth were faultlessly white and regular, and her complexion was of a soft ruddiness, which set off admirably her long, black, lustrous eyelashes. They were just emerging from the shadow of the trees which overhang the grand gate of Portora Castle, when they were overtaken by a young man on horseback, dressed in a short frock of grey frieze, buttoned up to his throat, which displayed to advantage his handsome person, and in inexpressibles and gaiters of drab-coloured clo h. He came down the road at a handgallop, and it would seem, from the condition of his horse, that he had ridden fast. As soon as he perceived the couple whom I have already described, he pulled up and addressed them.

' A-then the top of the morniu' to ye both; an , how is every inch of you, Mary ?' ' I'm very well, I thank, Pierce ; how is yourself?'

' Troth, I'm bravely, only that I'm tired enough affer ridin , eighteen miles to overtake yees this morniug'. .

' To overtake us, Pierce M'Goveran ! And what did you hurry yourself for V 4 Didn't you hear the news, Hugh V ' No, sorra word ; what news ?'

He that was styled M'Goveran did not reply immediately, but beckoning to the other, they both dismounted, r>nd walked apart out of earshot of Hugh's sister. ' Arrah, then, it's myself that's sorry to tell you, but there's no time to be lost.' And he whispered a kw words into the other's ear.

' Arrah, you're not in arnest, Pierce ; sure its jokin' ye are )'

' That I mayn't have luck or grace, Hugh, but its God's truth I'm tellin' you. , ' So the bloody vilyan has betrayed us V ' Faith he has so, and more betoken, he got his ten golden guineas into his hand for information.'

' And who told you !'

'Jemmy the Pilgrim, from Sligo. He was in the police barracks last night tellin , stories to the peelers, when Noon came in, and asked for Captain Davis. The sargint at first didn't at first want to let him up, but when Noon whispered his business, he let him up at once. Jemmy soon found an excuse to go out, and what does he do but go up to the captain's door and listen, and then he heard the ihief of the world tellin how we met every night in a hayrick ; and how we sarved the notice to quit on Mick O'Brien; and how we swore old Tim Ferrall, anJ twenty other things. And then the captain gey him ten guineas, and said that he must swear to all he told him before a magistrate. He stopped in the barracks last night, for he told the captain that if it was known that he turned informer, his life wasn't worth a thraneen if the boys caught him. Jemmy, after he had hear* all, came three miles across the fields to n? father's, to tell me all about it. I rode over to your house at four o'lock this morning, to stop you fiom goin , to the fair, but they told me you and Mary were gone ; so I rode on, hoping that I would overtake you before you got to Enniskillen, at any rate, an' sure it's as much as I could do, So you had better turn back, Hugh, and go off beyond the mountains till it blows over*'

4 Turn back is it, an' I havin' the pigs in the kish, arrah then is it mad I'd be V < Is is mad you'd be to go to the fair, and you sure of bein' taken V

I may as well be taken now, Pierce, as any other time. I'll g0 to the fair if there was a peeler on every turn of the road. , —- continued in our next,)