an' prayin' her for the love av me, an' the love av her husband, an'
the love av the Virgin, to opin her blessed eyes again, an' callin'
mesilf all the names undher the canopy av Hivin for plaguin' her wid
my miserable _a-moors_ whin I ought to ha' stud betune her an' this
Corp'ril man that had lost the number av his mess.

'I misremimber fwhat nonsinse I said, but I was not so far gone that
I cud not hear a fut on the dirt outside. 'Twas Bragin comin' in, an'
by the same token Annie was comin' to. I jumped to the far end av the
veranda an' looked as if butter wudn't melt in my mouth. But Mrs.
Quinn, the Quarter-Master's wife that was, had tould Bragin about my
hangin' round Annie.

'"I'm not pleased wid you, Mulvaney," sez Bragin, unbucklin' his sword,
for he had been on duty.

'"That's bad hearin'," I sez, an' I knew that the pickets were dhriven
in. "What for, Sargint?" sez I.

'"Come outside," sez he, "an' I'll show you why."

'"I'm willin'," I sez; "but my stripes are none so ould that I can
afford to loses him. Tell me now, _who_ do I go out wid?" sez I.

'He was a quick man an' a just, an' saw fwhat I wud be afther. "Wid
Mrs. Bragin's husband," sez he. He might ha' known by me askin' that
favour that I had done him no wrong.

'We wint to the back av the arsenal an' I stripped to him, an' for ten
minutes 'twas all I cud do to prevent him killin' himself against my