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horror has lost its manhood … There are many things more horrible than bloodshed, and slavery is one of them!
    The figure moves away towards the right, and is lost to sight and hearing.
    Rosie    It’s th’ sacred thruth, mind you, what that man’s afther sayin’.
    Barman    If I was only a little younger, I’d be plungin’ mad into th’ middle of it!
    Rosie    ( who is still looking out of the window ) Oh, here’s the two gems runnin’ over again for their oil!
    Peter and Fluther enter tumultuously. They are hot, and full and hasty with the things they have seen and heard. Emotion is bubbling up in them, so that when they drink, and when they speak, they drink and speak with the fullness of emotional passion. Peter leads the way to the counter.
    Peter    ( splutteringly to the Barman ) Two halves … ( To Fluther ) A meetin’ like this always makes me feel as if I could dhrink Loch Erinn dhry!
    Fluther    You couldn’t feel any way else at a time like this when th’ spirit of a man is pulsin’ to be out fightin’ for th’ thruth with his feet thremblin’ on th’ way, maybe to th’ gallows, an’ his ears tinglin’ with th’ faint, far-away sound of burstin’ rifle-shots that’ll maybe whip th’ last little shock o’ life out of him that’s left lingerin’ in his body!
    Peter    I felt a burnin’ lump in me throat when I heard th’ band playin’ ‘The Soldiers’ Song’, rememberin’ last hearin’ it marchin’ in military formation, with th’ people starin’ on both sides at us, carryin’ with us th’ pride an’ resolution o’ Dublin to th’ grave of Wolfe Tone.
    Fluther    Get th’ Dublin men goin’ an’ they’ll go on full force for anything that’s thryin’ to bar them away from what they’re wantin’, where th’ slim thinkin’ counthry boyo ud limp away from th’ first faintest touch of compromisation!
    Peter    ( hurriedly to the Barman ) Two more, Tom! … ( To Fluther ) Th’ memory of all th’ things that was done, an’ all th’ things that was suffered be th’ people, was boomin’ in me brain … Every nerve in me body was quiverin’ to do somethin’ desperate!
    Fluther    Jammed as I was in th’ crowd, I listened to th’ speeches pattherin’ on th’ people’s head, like rain fallin’ on th’ corn; every derogatory thought went out o’ me mind, an’ I said to meself, ‘You can die now, Fluther, for you’ve seen th’ shadow-dhreams of th’ past leppin’ to life in th’ bodies of livin’ men that show, if we were without a titther o’ courage for centuries, we’re vice versa now!’ Looka here. ( He stretches out his arm under Peter’s face and rolls up his sleeve .) The blood was BOILIN’ in me veins!
    The silhouette of the tall figure again moves into the frame of the window speaking to the people.
    Peter    ( unaware, in his enthusiasm, of the speaker’s appearance, to Fluther ) I was burnin’ to dhraw me sword, an’ wave an’ wave it over me –
    Fluther    ( overwhelming Peter ) Will you stop your blatherin’ for a minute, man, an’ let us hear what he’s sayin’!
    Voice of the Man    Comrade soldiers of the Irish Volunteers and of the Citizen Army, we rejoice in this terrible war. The old heart of the earth needed to be warmed with the red wine of the battlefields … Such august homage was never offered to God as this: the homage of millions of lives given gladly for love of country. And we must be ready to pour out the same red wine in the same glorious sacrifice, for without shedding of blood there is no redemption!
    The figure moves out of sight and hearing.
    Fluther    ( gulping down the drink that remains in his glass, and rushing out ) Come on, man; this is too good to be missed!
    Peter finishes his drink less rapidly, and as he is going out wiping his mouth with the back of his hand he runs into the Covey coming in. He immediately erects his body like a young cock, and with his chin thrust