Horrified that the General would approve of such a compromise, Lenihan swears to fight until all of Ireland is declared a fully independent republic. The discovery by the British of Lenihan's involvement in the kidnapping forces the Commandant underground, and when he meets with the General, he learns that British officials are considering a treaty that would guarantee dominion status for Ireland. Lenihan reminds Kerry that there is no room for pity and mercy in their war, whereupon Kerry replies that no war is worth winning if those human qualities are forgotten. Kerry assists in the kidnapping of Jennifer Curtis, the widowed daughter of military adviser Sir Arnold Fielding, but soon after her imprisonment in a nearby lighthouse, he finds himself falling in love with her.

When it is learned that Lady Fitzhugh has been on a hunger strike since her arrest, Lenihan suggests that they take a hostage who may be used to effect an exchange. During his recovery, Kerry deepens his friendship with Noonan and romances Kitty, who willingly accepts his attentions. Kerry is tortured by the Black and Tans, and by the time Lenihan and the others rescue him, he is ready to join the rebellion. When O'Brien's gun falls to the floor, the Black and Tans assume it belongs to Kerry, and he is dragged from the pub and imprisoned. The plan goes awry, and Lady Fitzhugh is arrested just outside a pub near rebel headquarters. He also briefly meets the charming Lady Fitzhugh, an elderly rebel sympathizer who plans to smuggle an injured Irish terrorist named Liam O'Sullivan to safety. There Kerry is introduced to Chris Noonan, a gentle poet who writes in Gaelic Kitty Brady, a feisty barmaid who offers her own brand of comfort to the men, despite Lenihan's orders that she stay away and Terence O'Brien, a swaggering thug who accuses Kerry of cowardice for not committing himself to the Irish cause. Kerry is then taken to a small farm overlooking the ocean, to await the boat that will take him out of the country. Lenihan takes him to 'headquarters,' where he meets 'the General,' who knew his father. Despite Lenihan's best efforts, Paddy dies, and Kerry, having dropped a textbook inscribed with his name at the scene of the shootout, finds himself a wanted man.

There he learns that one of his professors, respected surgeon Sean Lenihan, is 'the Commandant,' the second-in-command of the rebel army. While dragging Kerry out of danger, Paddy is also shot, whereupon Kerry takes him to the home of a rebel sympathizer. In 1921, young American medical student Kerry O'Shea, whose Irish father was killed in an uprising against the British, comes to Dublin, and soon helps weapons smuggler Eileen O'Leary hide from the 'Black and Tans,' an armed force sent by Britain to surpress the Irish rebellion, Kerry tells her that although his heart is with the cause, he does not believe that 'violence ever solved anything,' and later he remarks to his nationalistic roommate, Paddy Nolan, that the rebellion is 'your war.' As the two friends leave a pub one evening, Kerry tries to help a terrorist who has been shot by a Black and Tan soldier.

Doodle devil fame