Kavanagh

“ None of the three sons of Peter Kavanagh had ever before been known to have absented himself from Sunday mass, and their absence on that most holy day was of course a subject of much wonder.
“I could not have thought it possible,” said James Kavanagh gravely, “that they could become so wicked all at once—God forgive them! God help them!”
“Oh, uncle!” cried Alice, as they came in view of the house of guilt once more, “they are not up yet! ”

“ It was a British cavalry picket, and Kavanagh had soon the happiness of pouring into Sir Colin Campbell’s ears the messages and information he brought, while a flag, hoisted at twelve o’clock on the summit of the Alumbagh, told Outram that his messenger had succeeded, and that both the garrison and the relieving force had now a common plan. It is difficult to imagine a higher example of human courage than that supplied by “Lucknow” Kavanagh, as he was afterwards called, and never was the Victoria Cross better won. ”

“ And there is no life like the army if you succeed.”
“If we fail, we fail. ‘But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail,’” quoted Kavanagh.
“Well, it is very tempting; perhaps I shall try,” said Forsyth.
“Look here, then,” said Strachan, “there are two vacancies amongst the sub-lieutenants in the fourth battalion of the Blankshire, and my father is a friend of the Colonel. I am to have one, and I have no doubt you, Kavanagh, will get the other. ”

“ They don’t care much what becomes of us. They take your port wine and flannels as if they were conferring a favor on you, but as for your condition and prospect in this world and the next, they don’t trouble much about that. Now, mamma, just wait a moment.”
“I will not. You are a bad girl,” said Mrs. Kavanagh, severely. “Here has Mr. Ingram been teaching you and making you better for ever so long back, and you pretend to accept his counsel and reform yourself; and then all at once you break out and throw down the tablets of the law and conduct yourself like a heathen.” ”

“ Kavanagh kept judiciously in the shade whilst the guide advanced and answered the questions put to him satisfactorily, and they were allowed to proceed. A little further they passed through a number of Sepoys, but these let them go by without inquiry. Having had the good fortune to get unperceived past a sentry who was closely questioning a native, they came into the principal street of Lucknow, jostling against the armed rebels, who would have killed them in a moment had their suspicion been aroused. ”

“ Father Moran, on his part, hoped that the roof of the bull’s house would turn out to be sounder. In the end the paper was signed, and Kavanagh departed.
‘Now, there,’ said the priest, ‘is a fine young man. Only for him, I don’t know how I’d get on in the parish at all. He’s got a head on his shoulders, and a notion of improving himself and his neighbours, and it would do you good to see him dance a jig. But why need I tell you that when you’ve seen him yourself? He is to be the secretary of the Gaelic League when we get a branch of it started in Carrowkeel. ”

“ Mrs. Clifton and Miss Kavanagh?”
“Yes, Colonel Conyers, and I am as much pleased as surprised to find you here! How comes it that we are fellow travelers?” said the lady, placing her own in his offered hand.
“And how-do-you-do, Miss Kavanagh?—really, I am so overjoyed to find you here! Why, you must know, my dear Mrs. Clifton, that I have been due at White Cliffs for several days. I am, in fact, the laggard of a party—but in truth I could not tear myself from Richmond, while you and Miss Kavanagh remained. ”

“ He also became a fair amateur draughtsman and painter, and wrote more legibly than many who suffer from no physical defect.
Kavanagh was educated under private tutors at Celbridge, co. Kildare, and with his mother at St. Germain-en-Laye, and at Rome. He also travelled with his mother and his tutor, the Rev. David Wood, in Egypt, ascending the Nile as far as the third cataract, and in Asia Minor, visiting Sinai, Jerusalem, and Beyrout, in 1846–8. ”

“ Kavanagh should have created heart burnings in those who had not the ability to reach his plane in the insurance world, and that his position should have been at times jealously envied it is superfluous to mention, for there were many who tried to emulate his success and many who sought to rival his popularity. ”

“ Gray and Jane went out. Rachel remained alone with Mary.
"Why, how merry you are to-day, Miss!" said Mary, looking with wonder at
Rachel, as she busied herself about the house, singing by snatches.
"It is such a fine day," replied Rachel; she opened the parlour window; in poured the joyous sunshine—the blue sky shone above the dull brick street, and the tailor's thrush began to sing in its osier cage. "A day to make one happy," continued Rachel; and she smiled at her own thoughts; for on such a beautiful day, how could she but prosper? ”

“ It is evening, as you know, and three are sitting in the little parlour of Rachel Gray. An autumn evening it is, somewhat chill with a bright fire burning in the grate, and lighting up with flickering flame the brown furniture and narrow room. And of these three who sit there, one is a grey, childish old man in an arm-chair; another, a man who is not old, but whose hair has turned prematurely white with trouble and sorrow; the third is a meek, thoughtful woman with a book on her knees, who sits silently brooding over the words her lips have uttered ”

“ It thrills our pulses now as much as ever it did.
Thomas Henry Kavanagh was an Irishman in the [107] Indian Civil Service. At the time the Mutiny broke out he held the post of Superintendent of the office of the Chief Commissioner of Oudh, and took up his residence in Lucknow. Here with his wife he played no mean part in these fateful months before and after Havelock and Outram had fought their way to the aid of the Residency garrison, taking his share of work in the trenches or at the guns as required. ”

“ The anxiety of Outram for some such personal communication was greater when he learned that Sir Colin was on the point of joining the force between the Álambágh and the Banní bridge, and there can be no doubt that his anxiety on this head became generally known. Amongst others it reached the ears of one Thomas Henry Kavanagh, a clerk in one of the civil offices. Kavanagh at once communicated to Outram his readiness to assume the rôle. To all appearance there were few men less qualified than Kavanagh to escape detection. ”

“ When Kavanagh saw what was going on, he laughed.
“More damage in billets, Dormer!”
“Well, the stuff will be smashed up anyhow, won’t it?”
“Two blacks don’t make a white. I understand why you told Vinyolles the whole army was guilty. You’re doing just what your friend did about his mules.”
“Why will you drag in that beastly business? This has nothing in common with it.”
“To the common all things are common. You tell the owner of the Château that when he finds out.”
Dormer was going to say “He won’t find out!” but refrained. He disliked arguing. ”

“ The news of Kavanagh’s arrival was signalled to Lucknow by means of a flag from the summit of the Alumbagh, and Outram’s mind was set at ease. In due course the plucky Irishman guided Sir Colin into the city, being present through all the fierce fighting at the Secunderabagh and the Moti-Mahal, and further distinguishing himself by saving a wounded soldier’s life. Nor does this close the tale of his adventures, for he passed through many exciting experiences in rebel-hunting ere the Mutiny was suppressed. ”

“ And he unwound it from its wrappings and produced it.
“And because a rascal clerk ran away with that bit of parchment, Kavanagh had to enlist as a private, and you had to go wandering over the world for years, leaving your mother and sister in poverty and anxiety!” said Tom Strachan, meditatively. “People are always talking about red tape in the army ”

“ Dormer’s tidy mind was soon called into action. Some wounded who had died on the way to the dressing station, had been laid out beside the road as the ambulances had enough to do without carrying corpses ten miles. He went to make sure the M.O. had arranged for a burial party, as he had the strongest belief that casualties lying about were bad for the morale of the troops. When he got back to the dug-out, Kavanagh was “going on,” as he bent over a map of the extensions of the divisional cable lines, like a crow on a gate. ”

“ Four days is the longest period they can go without a supply. There are people in India and elsewhere who believe that when they die their souls go into the bodies of animals, and Kavanagh’s acquaintance with his camel enabled him to understand this odd notion, for when he looked in its eyes for some time he almost expected it to speak. ”

“ The swift rush of the river was close at hand, and the whereabouts of the farm could only be guessed by one little faint yellow light that streaked across the distance. Someone was keeping vigil.
Somewhere near this spot Kavanagh had met the end so fitting to his wild adventurous life. Who lives by the sword shall die by the sword! The lawless had fallen victim to the lawless! But he had found his own before the end came, was Carden’s thought.
What did Death matter when one had drunk to the dregs the cup Life holds to the lips of lovers? A good enough way to die too, by God! ”

“ I thought there was an opening; I thought there was room for me. I set up this shop; I did it all up myself, as you know— every inch of it; I painted it; I put the fixtures in; I drove every nail in with my own hand, and what's been the upshot of it all, Miss Gray?"
Rachel raised her soft brown eyes to his:
"It is the will of God," she said, "and God knows best, for He is good."
Richard Jones looked at her and smiled almost sternly, for suffering gives dignity to the meanest, and no man, when he feels deeply, is the same man as when his feelings are unstirred. ”

“ Miss Nellie Rider saw it from her bedroom window and so did her sister. Sir Gordon Snagg is another. He declares it was a man in a flying machine. I shouldn't wonder if he were right."
Kavanagh was of this opinion.
"There are fools in the world who will do anything," he said. "Some idiot out of Hanwell may have brought his aeroplane here to scare the natives; and jolly well he's succeeded. I hope he may break his neck, that's all. He deserves to, that's sure."
He thought that the "little widow" would agree with him as a matter of course, and her answer rather astonished him. ”

“ The reason he did not keep his appointment is evident, for the police wanted him for forgery about a fortnight later, and of course he had found out that he was discovered, and made tracks at once without waiting to come to terms with Philipson. The police have tried to track him everywhere without hitting on a ghost of a clue beyond London, from which place a letter was sent to his employers. But I know the direction in which to look for him.”
“You do?” cried Kavanagh, much interested. ”

“ Outwardly, calm as ever did Rachel seem, but there was a strange sorrow— a strange tumult in her heart.
That day the hope of years had been wrecked, that day she had offered herself, and been finally rejected. In vain she said to herself: "I must submit—it is the will of God, I must submit." A voice within her ever seemed to say: "Father, Father why hast thou forsaken me!" until, at length, Rachel felt as if she could bear no more.
Sorrows endured in silence are ever doubly felt. The nature of Rachel Gray was silent; she had never asked for sympathy ”

“ Miss Kavanagh began by writing tales and essays for periodicals, and published in 1847 her first book, a tale for children, entitled ‘The Three Paths,’ to which, in 1848, succeeded the well-known story of ‘Madeleine,’ founded on the life of a peasant girl of Auvergne. ‘Woman in France during the Eighteenth Century,’ containing cleverly executed pictures of contemporary female celebrities of France, appeared in 2 vols. London, 1850, 8vo; ‘Nathalie: a Tale,’ in 3 vols., the same year; followed by ‘Women of Christianity exemplary for acts of Piety and Charity,’ London, 1852, 8vo ”

“ Sergeant Barton told me, and he has been some time in Egypt, and knows most of the birds and animals,” replied Kavanagh.
“Well, now, it is only natural that the loveliest bird in the country should be called Paddy. Are not the finest men and the prettiest girls at all Irishmen? They call us every bad name there is, but they can’t do without us. Why, the general is an Irishman, and the Goughs and Napiers are Irishmen, and the Duke of Wellington was an Irishman.” ”

“ In vain, thinking of her tyrant, Rachel said to herself, "I forgive that woman—I forgive her freely." She felt that she did not; that anger against this pitiless tormentor of her life smouldered in her heart like the red coal living beneath pale ashes; and Rachel was startled, and justly, to feel that so strange and unusual an emotion, anger against another, had found place in her bosom, and that though she bade it go, it stayed, and would not depart.
To be gentle is not to be passionless. The spirit of Rachel had been early subdued, too much subdued for her happiness ”

“ Our life is twofold; and of that double life, which, like all of us, Rachel bore within her, we have as yet said but little. She was now twenty six; a tall, thin, sallow woman, ungraceful, of shy manners, and but little speech; but with a gentle face, a broad forehead, and large brown eyes. By trade, she was a dress-maker, of small pretensions; her father had forsaken her early, and her step-mother had reared her. This much, knew the little world in which moved Rachel Gray, this much, and no more. We may add, that this some little world had, in its wisdom, pronounced Rachel Gray a fool. ”