“Well, we must hope it will not come to that,” Colonel L’Estrange said.  “I am ready to fight the battles of England on the Continent, but civil war, with all its horrors, sickens me; and civil war here is not like our civil war in England.  There were no race animosities there, no memory of cruel wrongs on one side or the other.  Men fought for a principle, but there were no atrocities committed, on either side, like those which have devastated Germany.  The peasant ploughed the land, and the trader kept open his shop unmolested.  It is true that, towards the end, there were confiscations of the property of those who still continued the strife, and a few executions of individuals; but, taking it as a whole, no war has ever caused so little suffering, to the people at large, as did the civil war in England; but assuredly, a war in Ireland now, like those which have gone before, would be marked by the foulest atrocities, massacres, and destruction on both sides.”

“Yes,” Mr. Davenant said, “I must own that, for downright brutal and bloody ferocity, the wars in Ireland rival those of the Huns.”

Walter had listened in silence to this conversation.  His father now turned to him.

“Have you heard whether Larry has recovered from his adventure of yesterday as well as you have?”

“No, father, I have not heard anything about it.  I came out here directly I finished my breakfast.  How are the people who were brought up here?”

“They are going on well, Walter, but they were all so bruised, as they were being drawn up through the surf, that it will be some days before any of them can leave their beds.

“How many had you on board, colonel?”

“I did not see the list of passengers, but there were twelve or fourteen aft, and, from what I saw, I should think as many more forward.  There were twenty-three men in the crew.  I suppose, altogether, there were some fifty on board.”

“Are you going to make a long stay in Ireland?”

“No; I shall only remain here a week or two.  I am the bearer of some letters from the king to Tyrconnell; and that reminds me that I must be making my way on to Dublin.”

“I will ride in with you,” Mr. Davenant said.  “I must tell my friends this news that you bring.  It seems to me to be most serious.  I will have a horse round for you here, in half an hour, if that will suit you.”

“Perfectly,” Colonel L’Estrange replied.  “That will just give me time to walk round to the village, to see the lad you call Larry, for I could not go without thanking him for the share he had in preserving my life.

“Perhaps you will go down with me, Walter, and show me his house?”

When they reached the shore, they found the whole population of the village engaged in dragging up the spars, planks, and pieces of timber with which the rocks were strewn.

“There is Larry,” Walter said.  “It is evident that there’s nothing the matter with him.”