, 1876-07-14

and certainly, that alone would not have
got him OF; but b. addition the corporal
ot his room dep0sei that Dillon had
gone to bed nt watch-settng as usual,
and at the cLeck-call, which was called
twice during the night, he was still
there.
And so the case broke down. There
was no witness IN the house when the
deed was committed, as, save the muir
dered man and his wife, it had no other
occupants, Mary being still a child at
home, the daughter Of the woman with
whom Mrs. Brandon had taken refuge
from her husbands violence. She, 1t
was clear, codh have had no part in the
murder, nor was her behavior at all like
that of woman burdened with so guilty
o secret.
With Dillon it was different. There
was no evidence to convict him by, but
people looked suspiciously on him for
all that, and when, short time after
wards, he got kick that broke his leg
while shoeing a horse, and was dis
charged with pension in consequence,
the general verdict was that it was
judgment on him.
However, he didn't seem to care
much what anybody thought, for he
hired a shed in Sturry, and, being
good workman, though very sullen i'll
conditioned one, soon succeeded in get
ting employment. After time, too, he
began to renew his visits to the Bag
O. Nails, which was still carried on by
Mrs. Brandon, and when decent inter
val had gone by proposed marriage to
her.
"But she declined. Not that she be-
lieved in his guilt, she said, but that, in
the first place, what she had said to her
dead husband about caring for him was
not true; and in the second, even if 1t
had been, she was not going to give her
neighbors such handle to their suspi-
cion as marrying him would be. Dillon
took the refusal very quietly, and never
spoke of his wishes again, but from that
time he made point, almost out of bra
vado, it seemed, to be constantly hang
ing about the place, which, as it was a
public house, no one could prevent him
from doing.
However, as he never interfered
with anybody, and his great strength
made everyone careful not to make any
1ll-natured illusions in his presence, as
time passed on the memory of the sus-
picions which were once rife against
him died a natural death, and Phil
Burke made his appearance on the
scene.
"Phil never liked the morose-look-
ing, silent man whose presence in the
bar-parlor always seemed to throw o
sort of gloom over every body else, and
when he heard from Mary tAe story I
have Just told you, he liked him still
less, as was only natural, especially
when Dillon took to saying ugly things
in his hearing, sneering at the service,
and warning the girl not to have any
thing to say to q soldier. The worst Of
it was, Phil dared not resent this as he
would have done, for, generally speak
ing, he was out without leave, having
got over thetw6ll after watch-setting.
There had been . great deal Of that sort
Of work going on, till at last the colonel,
in order to put . stop TO it, doubled
the night sentries, placing one at every
conceivable spot that could be scaled.
But all this, though it banked Phil for
little while, was not sufficient to keep
him in barracks; and after o few days
he found out spot behind the forge, in
the far-away corner Of the barrack yard,
that was left unguarded.
"And we'll it might be, for in addition
to its hight, which was nearly ten feet,
the top Of the wall was thickly covered
with pieces Of broken bottles. How
ever, Phil met this difficulty by carry
ing his bed-rug with him and using it
as q pad to protect him from the sharp
edges of the glass, and, to make . long
story short, got out night after night in
this way, without being suspected, for
he always contrived TO be back again,
and in his bed, before the check-ron
was taken.
"Well, one night Dillon was more
aggressive than usual. He had been
drinking heavily, and said some things
that proved TOO much for PhilB patience.
One word led to another, and the lad
blurted out something about the old
mans murder.
"'I didn't mean it, Jim, said he, to
me, when telling me the story after
wards, and the minute the words were
out Of my mouth I would have recalled
them. But it was too late. You never
saw O man look as Dillon looked at me
when they were spoken. He'd have
murdered me, sure enough, If we had
been alone. His eyes glared at me like
some wild animals as he rose and stag
gered across the room, and I stood
guard, half expecting he was going TO
make Q rush at me. But he didn't, only
muttering something IS he left the room
which I took no notice Of. You know
what he meant
(Which did, for happened to be
sergeant on the main guard that night
and was called to the gate to see the