The Convict and the Soldier

by John P F Lynch

  They eventually reached the Keogh properties. He could see Maeve and the puppy at the corn patch. She looked to be busy checking the cobs. Perhaps she was hoping he would ride over eventually — he hoped.

  At noon he decided to stop for a meal. The troopers quickly dismounted and arranged the food and drink, then tendered to their horses. They removed the saddles and watered them before giving them their feed bags.

  John signalled for Miles to go with him as he intended to visit Maeve. After a long hard ride they arrived at the farm. She saw them coming through the window and started to prepare a meal for them. She invited them inside the cottage but Miles declined and sat outside chatting with Aunt Jane.

  Time moved fast and in no time he realised that he should return to the troopers and continue his duty. After bidding farewell they rode back and found that the sergeant had the men ready to move on again. As they moved on, John wondered what he should do; he was genuinely fond of Maeve but their backgrounds were so different. If he pursued her with the object of marriage, what would his family think? And did it really matter what they thought — it was his life! What of his career as an army officer? He was close to his parents and would not want to cause them any unhappiness. The situation needed more thought.

  They rode on but only flushed out hares, not any rebels. When they reached the Burren he sent a report back to the colonel asking for further orders. John received an answer which was scathing and vindictive, accusing him of incompetence and lack of vision. The letter had only criticism and no new orders. He sent his courier to seek the other two field officers to enquire what new orders they had received.

  Lieutenants William Brown and David James both wrote back that they were also out of favour with the colonel and had received no further orders. John decided to return and advised the other officers of his intention. They replied to him that it would be best if the three of them returned together, due to the colonel’s attitude, otherwise the first to return would incur his wrath and possibly have their career ended.

  Two days later they assembled a few miles from the barracks and rode through the gates in formation. They formed their troopers, line abreast, in front of the colonel’s office and then the three officers marched into the building and asked the aide to advise the colonel they were here to report.

  The colonel came out of his office in a rush, panting, his face red. “What are you doing here? You should still be searching.”

  Lieutenant Brown, the senior officer responded, “We are reporting for further orders, sir.”

  “What further orders?” asked the colonel.

  “We each wrote to you requiring further orders,” Lieutenant Brown replied.

  The colonel turned to his aide and looked at him enquiringly.

  “With respect, sir, I told you of their requests,” the aide said.

  The colonel then remembered that the aide had handed him three letters. He had only focused on the lack of success of their searches and he had ignored the main content of the letters. He turned abruptly and went back went into his office, slamming the door behind him. The three officers looked at each other and then the aide, who shrugged his shoulders and returned to his desk.

  The colonel did not attend the mess dinners for several nights. He seemed to have other things on his mind. He was constantly pacing the quadrangle with his arms behind his back, and looking at the ground.

  John was soon to find out why, when a small coach entered the barracks. The coachman went into the colonel’s office and returned, the colonel following him. He opened the door and out stepped Mrs Victoria Lang. She paused, looked around — posing, no doubt — and then offered her hand to the colonel who graciously bowed to her. It seemed totally out of character, compared to the colonel’s normal behaviour. The woman was tall, slim and well dressed, refined perhaps, although her voice had a touch of the Cockney accent. Her dress was expensive but more suited to evening rather than the day time. John’s mother and sisters dressed for dinner so he was aware of the expected standards of the gentry. Her hair was dark while her complexion was pale with red cheeks. Rouge powder perhaps?

  He watched as the colonel and an entourage of troopers carried her luggage to the colonel’s quarters. So this was the dreaded Mrs Lang of whom George had warned him. The evening dinners might now be more interesting. John was glad that he sat at the far end of the mess table.

  Mrs Lang did not appear in the mess until the next night. The colonel arrived on time and stood quietly in the corner talking with his aide. Mrs Lang arrived late much to the embarrassment of the colonel. She seemed oblivious to her lack of protocol. She had been married to him for over twenty years; it appeared to be a deliberate slight on the colonel and indeed the mess. It was not appreciated by the other officers. She sat herself next to the colonel in the seat normally occupied by his aide. After such a bad start to dinner, John expected that things would improve.

  After the Royal Toast she asked why the Regimental Toast was not performed. The colonel was thunderstruck. He sat there for a short time and then stood and proposed the Regimental Toast.

  The meals were being served with a distinct lack of communication at the table, when Mrs Lang said, ”You, there, what is that medal you are wearing? The colonel doesn’t have one.”

  She was looking at Lieutenant Brown who felt quite embarrassed and was reluctant to reply but had little choice. “It was awarded to me during my Indian service.”

  She continued, “Why do you have it?”

  “I would prefer not to say, madam,” he said.

  “Oh, well, it’s only a medal. Maybe they will give one to Colonel Lang one day.” The table went quiet. Mrs Lang sensed that she had said something wrong and turned to her husband. “Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”

  The colonel rose from the table and took his wife’s arm. He nodded to the officers and the colonel and his wife left the mess. The table remained quiet for a few moments.

  General chatter soon commenced, without reference to what had happened. John felt sorry for the colonel but not for long. The colonel knew very well the mistake that his wife had made. Lieutenant Brown was known throughout the military for his bravery in India. He had rescued two of his men, after killing five Afghan tribesmen. The Indian Medal was actually an award for bravery. Events such as these were not for idle talk when dining in the officers’ mess — especially by women. His wife should have known better than to discuss military awards. Such was the introduction of Mrs Virginia Lang to the officers of the regiment.

  The officers’ wives felt that it was their duty on behalf of their husbands to organise a luncheon for the colonel’s wife. Little did they know of the faux pas she had committed. The wives had continued on their merry way so as to be seen as supportive of her as the commandant’s wife. They had obtained use of the mess through the colonel’s aide. John was not going to say anything about the events; he was not going to be caught in any non-military politics. If the husbands did not tell their wives of her indiscretions, he wasn’t about to.

  The luncheon started happily enough and all were pleased with the rapport between them all. Mrs Lang drank a wine or two and became somewhat vocal and quite loud. She was critical of her husband accepting a posting in this outlandish place, even though she had yet to venture from the town precincts. Her attitude was one of a pompous overbearing bore, the type of person most officers’ wives avoided.

  She was not the only such person in the British Army. The afternoon then degenerated into, “Please excuse me. I have another appointment.” The colonel’s wife soon decided she ought to leave, as the conversation had become very one sided.

  She walked across the quadrangle and saw Trooper Miles unloading a dray. As it was a warm day he had removed his shirt. She said to him, “Come to my quarters in one hour. I have furniture to be moved.”

  Miles was somewhat surprised but not without caution, as he knew the commandant was in Limerick until the next day. He pondered his situation a
nd thought, Maybe I’m being concerned for no reason.

  He duly went to the door of the commandant’s quarters. Mrs Lang opened the door and greeted him, the smell of alcohol on her breath. She stood back and ushered him in. “I want this bureau to be moved into that room and the chest in there to be brought into this room.” Miles lifted the bureau to the first room and then picked up the chest and carried it into the next room, which he soon realised was a bedroom.

  He placed the chest on the floor and then looked up to see the colonel’s wife leaning against the door, her dress removed. She was wearing only a petticoat, which was completely undone exposing her breasts. She was indeed a magnificent woman.

  She said quite simply, “Roger me or I will have you flogged.” Miles was not completely surprised at this offer as he had guessed that such a situation might happen. She lay down on the bed and opened her legs, looking at him eye to eye.

  He had rehearsed an answer and said, “I was shot in the privates in the Afghan war and I am no more, the doctor knows.”

  She looked at him and went white with rage. She could not threaten to charge him with rape if he didn’t ‘Roger her’, if what he said was true. “Get out!” she shouted.

  Miles’ last vision of her was a set of bouncing breasts, a red face and an arm raised in anger. Much as he would have wanted to ‘Roger her’ he could have been signing his death warrant if he had been found out.

  Miles told John what had happened, as he was worried it might have repercussions at a later date. John decided that Mrs Lang must go. She would be trouble for someone and soon. He had got to know the regimental doctor quite well, and with what the doctor’s wife had already told him of the luncheon and now, with the story from his trooper, he decided to enlist his help.

  The doctor listened as John suggested that perhaps Mrs Lang might become ill and need to return to England quickly. The doctor nodded and said, “Forget what you have said to me; this conversation never happened.” The doctor had served at Waterloo as a youngster and knew army intrigues and how to handle them.

  Within two weeks Mrs Lang was declared ill and the doctor advised her that she must return to England for treatment. She left without fanfare of any description. Indeed the mess celebrated her departure when the colonel was absent.

  However, he was also celebrating, not just because his wife was leaving, but because his son, Frederick, was soon to arrive for a short visit to County Clare.

  John received a letter from his father who said that he had had talks with two local members of Parliament. They stated that Lord Russell had initiated an inquiry into the Kilrush Custom Service and had already sent two members of the Foreign Service to County Clare to investigate the allegations. Whose allegations? Lord Russell’s nephew’s perhaps, Lieutenant George Russell!

  John only became aware of the arrival of the Foreign Service officers when he received a hand delivered letter asking him to meet with a Captain Walker at the Oak Arms Tavern. He went to the tavern dressed in civilian clothes and asked at the bar for Mr Walker, who was sitting in the corner of the bar with another man. Both looked educated and had the appearance of men of action. As it turned out they were both Reserve Navy officers and unknown to army personnel. He accepted their invitation to be seated, with Mr Walker introducing the other man as Lieutenant James. They came straight to the point. They had two missions, first the investigation of the alleged fraud with the local customs service and locating those involved. Secondly, the more contentious case of the evictions of tenant farmers.

  To start, what did he know of the customs fraud? He related what George had said and the standard of the food at the army mess. John explained that he was more familiar with the evictions situation than the fraud allegations. The navy officers said they intended to work backwards with the fraud allegations, starting with the colonel and barracks quartermaster. Then they would investigate the Commissioner of Constables. Mr Walker dismissed John and said that they would be in contact with him at a later date.

  John continued with his normal duties of evictions and seeing to the safety of the government officials and the constables.

  The new senior constable was as bad as the previous one with his excessive brutal treatment of the Irish tenants. John had to accept the situation and, indeed, be seen to be supportive of these evictions. Maybe one day he could do something to correct the injustice. He heeded the colonel’s warning and was careful of his relationship with the constabulary.

  He had heard Michael had fallen foul of the constables and he made sure that his troopers were ready if the constables were heading for the Keogh’s property. That day soon arrived. He had been advised by Lieutenant Brown, who had seen the list for the week. John reported to Colonel Lang and advised him of the day’s mission.

  The colonel said, “Wait, my son and I will join you. He loves riding and needs to see the country.” The colonel’s son was a college youth, eighteen years old and an avid horseman. He had brought his own pony with him and exercised him daily. He had shown he was a capable young rider.

  The colonel’s son used one of the jail cells to stow his ample supply of riding equipment. The youth ran to the cell and quickly collected his saddle and bridle and soon had the horse saddled and bridled. They rode out up the north road. When they reached the crest of the road down to the Keogh’s property they dismounted and waited for the government officials and the constables to arrive. The day was slightly overcast, light wind with a mild temperature. Within a few hours events would occur that would change the lives of three families forever.

  The government officials arrived first and the constables a few minutes later.

  Colonel Lang approached the government officials and the constables and asked, “What is to happen here today?”

  The senior constable replied, “We are here to arrest a dangerous Irish agitator who is suspected of aiding a rebel to escape. He also struck a constable, sir.”

  The colonel drew himself up and said, “These people must be taught a lesson. Follow me.”

  The cavalcade rode to the Keogh cottage and virtually surrounded it, such was their numbers.

  Michael came out and looked at the group. The colonel immediately went into a tirade against the Irish tenants, their children and that they were a blot on human society. He went on and on until the senior constable asked if he could now arrest the man.

  Michael asked him, “Why am I being arrested?”

  The colonel asked in surprise, “Don’t you know?” He looked at the constable. “I thought that you said this man was dangerous. All I can see is a man with a dog asleep at his feet.”

  The senior constable pulled out a sheet of paper and read, “Michael Keogh, you are charged with interfering with a constable in the performance of his duty in so far as you grabbed his horse’s bridle causing the constable to be dislodged.” He then placed handcuffs on Michael’s wrists and tied him to his saddle pommel.

  John watched in silence.

  The constables were then ordered to search the cottage. They returned with a long box with a hasp lock; this was easily broken with a bayonet. They lifted out the oilskin bundle and laid it on the ground. The oilskin was slowly unfolded, revealing a cape wrapped around the cap and the magnificent sword of Colonel Monroe.

  The colonel could not believe his eyes. He asked for it to be handed to him and withdrew the sword from its scabbard. The excellence of the engraving was obvious to all. Colonel Lang ordered them rewrapped and to be placed back in the box. “I am claiming these articles for, and on behalf of, the Crown. Lieutenant Hall, take charge of them, if you please.” Colonel Lang was going to have the treasures to keep by fair means or foul. The colonel rode away with the troopers, except for two who stayed with John.

  John dismounted and walked over to collect the box, just in time to hear the senior constable ask for a torch to fire the cottage.

  He was shocked and immediately walked over to him and whispered, “See those two troopers over there? They ar
e marksmen and if you torch this cottage they will shoot you dead within the week. Do you understand?” He looked directly into the constable’s eyes for several seconds then turned and picked up the treasure box.

  The constable stood riveted to the spot. He had just heard his potential death warrant; the officer meant what he said. He took the torch and plunged it deeply into a water cask.

  John’s troopers tied the box to the back of a spare horse and then headed back to the barracks. The box was placed in the steel cage which was in the middle of jail. It took three keys to access the two jail doors and the cage.

  The jail’s inner section had a guard in attendance day and night. It contained arms, ammunition and unclaimed valuables, together with the barrack’s cash holdings.

  Colonel Lang wondered how he could get the treasure from under the guards’ watchful eyes. To rob the steel cage was impossible. Lieutenant Hall had chosen well.

  The investigation had progressed without alerting the ring leaders. The colonel and his quartermaster both admitted to obtaining cheap foodstuffs but they denied wrong doing in anyway. However, the colonel was unaware that the roster of patrols around town was being given to the customs officers, as was the constables’ roster. The customs officers would only smuggle illegal or tax free goods ashore at times when there was no patrol in the area.

  The foreign service officers had instructed both the colonel and the commissioner to keep to the roster system but also to secretly send out random patrols without notice. On the third night the patrols nabbed ten people, three of them customs officers, bringing goods ashore from a vessel in harbour. The colonel and the commissioner were disciplined for their lack of supervision and ignoring suspect goods. The quartermaster was dismissed from the service. The experience of the navy officers with the way smugglers operated had paid off. One matter was now cleared up.