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“Time an’ agin whin I was blandandherin’ in the dusk a man wud go past me as quiet as a cat. ‘That’s quare,’ thinks I, ‘for I am, or I should be, the only man in these parts. Now what divilment can Annie be up to?’ Thin I called myself a blayguard for thinkin’ such things; but I thought thim all the same. An’ that, mark you, is the way av a man.

“Wan evenin’ I said:–‘Mrs. Bragin, manin’ no disrespect to you, who is that Corp’ril man’–I had seen the stripes though I cud niver get sight av his face–‘who is that Corp’ril man that comes in always whin I’m goin’ away?’

“‘Mother av God!’ sez she, turnin’ as white as my belt; ‘have you seen him too?’

“‘Seen him!’ sez I; ‘av coorse I have. Did ye want me not to see him, for’–we were standin’ talkin’ in the dhark, outside the veranda av Bragin’s quarters–‘you’d betther tell me to shut me eyes. Onless I’m mistaken, he’s come now.’

“An’, sure enough, the Corp’ril man was walkin’ to us, hangin’ his head down as though he was ashamed av himsilf.

“‘Good-night, Mrs. Bragin,’ sez I, very cool; ”tis not for me to interfere wid your a-moors; but you might manage some things wid more dacincy. I’m off to canteen’, I sez.

“I turned on my heel an’ wint away, swearin’ I wud give that man a dhressin’ that wud shtop him messin’ about the Married Quarters for a month an’ a week. I had not tuk ten paces before Annie Bragin was hangin’ on to my arm, an’ I cud feel that she was shakin’ all over.

“‘Stay wid me, Mister Mulvaney,’ sez she; ‘you’re flesh an’ blood, at the least–are ye not?’

“‘I’m all that,’ sez I, an’ my anger wint away in a flash. ‘Will I want to be asked twice, Annie?’

“Wid that I slipped my arm round her waist, for, begad, I fancied she had surrindered at discretion, an’ the honors av war were mine,

“‘Fwhat nonsinse is this?’ sez she, dhrawin’ hersilf up on the tips av her dear little toes. ‘Wid the mother’s milk not dhry on your impident mouth? Let go!’ she sez,

“Did ye not say just now that I was flesh and blood?’ sez I. ‘I have not changed since,’ I sez; an’ I kep’ my arm where ut was.

“‘Your arms to yoursilf!’ sez she, an’ her eyes sparkild.

“‘Sure, ’tis only human nature,’ sez I, an’ I kep’ my arm where ut was.

“‘Nature or no nature,’ sez she, ‘you take your arm away or I’ll tell Bragin, an’ he’ll alter the nature av your head. Fwhat d’you take me for?’ she sez.

“‘A woman,’ sez I; ‘the prettiest in barricks.’

“‘A wife,’ sez she; ‘the straightest in cantonmints!’

“Wid that I dropped my arm, fell back tu paces, an’ saluted, for I saw that she mint fwhat she said.”

“Then you know something that some men would give a good deal to be certain of. How could you tell?” I demanded in the interests of Science.

“Watch the hand,” said Mulvaney; “av she shut her hand tight, thumb down over the knuckle, take up your hat an’ go. You’ll only make a fool av yoursilf av you shtay. But av the hand lies opin on the lap, or av you see her thryin’ to shut ut, an’ she can’t,–go on! She’s not past reasonin’ wid.

“Well, as I was sayin’, I fell back, saluted, an’ was goin’ away.

“‘Shtay wid me,’ she sez. ‘Look! He’s comin’ again.’

“She pointed to the veranda, an’ by the Hoight av Impart’nince, the Corp’ril man was comin’ out av Bragin’s quarters.

“‘He’s done that these five evenin’s past,’ sez Annie Bragin. ‘Oh, fwhat will I do!’

“‘He’ll not do ut again,’ sez I, for I was fightin’ mad.

“Kape way from a man that has been a thrifle crossed in love till the fever’s died down. He rages like a brute beast.

“I wint up to the man in the veranda, manin’, as sure as I sit, to knock the life out av him. He slipped into the open. ‘Fwhat are you doin’ philanderin’ about here, ye scum av the gutter?’ sez I polite, to give him his warnin’, for I wanted him ready.