write your opinion about the man and the sergeant
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Answer:
The Sergeant sent his two younger assistants with the only lantern to post more leaflets around town while, uneasily, he kept watch at the water's edge.
A man in rags tried to slip past the Sergeant, explaining that he merely wanted to sell some songs to incoming sailors. The Ragged Man identified himself as "Jimmy Walsh", a ballad singer. When the man headed toward the steps to the water, the Sergeant stopped him, insisting that "Jimmy" leave by way of town. Trying to interest the officer in his songs, the man sang a few ballads to the protesting Sergeant, who wanted only to keep the area clear so he could catch the fleeing prisoner if he appeared. He ordered the man to leave the area immediately.
The Ragged Man pretended to start toward town but stopped to comment on the face on the poster, saying that he knew the man well. Interested, the Sergeant's changed his mind about sending the Ragged man away, and insisted that the stranger stay to furnish more information about the fugitive. The Ragged Man described a dark, dangerous, muscular man who was an expert with many weapons, then he hinted at previous murders of policemen on moonlit nights exactly like the present one.
Frightened, the Sergeant gladly accepted the Ragged Man's offer to stay with him on the wharf to help look for the escaped murderer. Sitting back-to-back on a barrel in order to have full view of the dock area, the two men smoked pipes together to calm the Sergeant's nerves. The Sergeant confessed that police work was difficult, especially for family men, because the officers spent long hours on dangerous missions. Accompanying the Sergeant's lament, the Ragged Man started to sing a traditional, sentimental song about lovers and the beautiful Irish countryside. Then he began a nationalistic ballad about a legend, oppressed old Irishwoman named Granuaile. The Sergeant stopped him, protesting that it was inappropriate to sing about Irish oppression when political tempers were flaring between Ireland and England. His ragged companion replied that he was only singing the song to keep up his spirits on their dangerous and lonely watch.
Then the Ragged Man grabbed his chest as if the forbidden singing was necessary to calm his frightened heart, so the pitying Sergeant allowed him to continue his ballad. Again, the man sang about the fabled Irish martyr, Granuaile, but this time he inserted the wrong lyrics. Immediately, the Sergeant corrected the man and sang the proper line, revealing his knowledge of a rebel song, even though he was supposed to be loyal to the English rulers.
The ballad-man slyly began to probe the Sergeant's memories of former days when, as a young man, the Sergeant lovingly sang several traditional Irish ballads, including "Granuaile". Confidentially, the Sergeant admitted that he had sung every patriotic ballad the Ragged Man named. The man suggested that the Sergeant and the fugitive perhaps shared the same youthful memories; in fact, the escaped prisoner might even have been among the Sergeant's close friends in their younger days. When the Sergeant admitted the possibility, the ballad-man described a hypothetical scene in which the Sergeant joined in with those former singing friends to free Ireland. Therefore, the Ragged Man, concluded, it might have been fated that the Sergeant would be the pursued instead of the pursuer.
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