"Only three days ago, Ginckle issued another proclamation guaranteeing that no provisions, or other goods, should be taken by his soldiers without payment.
"To horse, lads! We will ride out and give the peasants a helping hand, if they really mean to attack the enemy." Kilcowan was two miles away and, having learned from the peasant that the people intended to attack at a point where the road passed between two hills, a mile and a half beyond the village, he galloped on at full speed.

He arrived, however, too late to take any part in the fight.

The peasants had rushed suddenly down the hillsides, armed with scythes and pikes, upon the convoy as it passed below them.

Several of the cavalry had been killed, and the rest were riding off, when Walter with his troopers dashed up.

They continued the pursuit for a mile, cutting off a few stragglers, less well mounted than the rest, and then returned to Kilcowan, where the peasants had just arrived in triumph with the rescued carts of potatoes.
"What are you going to do ?" he asked, when the excitement of the welcome, accorded by the women to the captors, had subsided a little.