VERY EARLY HUNTING DAYS 19 



again, and watched the house by himself. At 

 about the same hour he heard footsteps, but he 

 went flying out with a clatter ; also it might be 

 said with a Winchester repeater, fully loaded. 

 He was quite a mad boy. 



Crack, crack, went the rifle. Yowl ! Mr. Mack 

 and his friends were there, three of them this 

 time. Bow-wow, Mr. Snap, and various Holy 

 Wars and Vo's starting across the old wall for 

 the Conlons, who were sitting up. 



One of the men broke the little green paling in 

 his flight and " then I nearly had him against the 

 light," my wild brother told us calmly, but with 

 manifest regret. When we came back to Clare 

 the old Conlons told us that " Masther Frank had 

 the Divil's gun for it fired without loading and 

 that the Macks had it med up with the Colonel 

 and were goin' payceable." 



Another time driving up to Clare — I was there, 

 but cannot remember it — they were lying out to 

 shoot an agent and my father was whistled safe 

 all the way up. Men jumping out whistling and 

 sHpping back. The agent was shot at an hour 

 later. 



All those days, if I could only remember them, 

 there were stories of evictions and of want. Of 

 houses levelled to the ground, and of victories won 

 too hardly. 



Life was a thing for land agents to carry lightly 

 in their hands. I remember hearing my father 



