'I was a betther recruity than you iver was or will be, but that's
neither here nor there. Thin I became a man, an' the divil of a man
I was fifteen years ago. They called me Buck Mulvaney in thim days,
an', begad, I tuk a woman's eye. I did that! Ortheris, ye scrub, fwhat
are ye sniggerin' at? Do you misdoubt me?'

'Devil a doubt!' said Ortheris; 'but I've 'eard summat like that
before!'

Mulvaney dismissed the impertinence with a lofty wave of his hand and
continued--

'An' the orf'cers av the rig'mint I was in in thim days _was_
orf'cers--gran' men, wid a manner on 'em, an' a way wid 'em such as
is not made these days--all but wan--wan o' the capt'ns. A bad dhrill,
a wake voice, an' a limp leg--thim three things are the signs av a bad
man. You bear that in your mind, Orth'ris, me son.

'An' the Colonel av the rig'mint had a daughter--wan av thim lamblike,
bleatin', pick-me-up-an'-carry-me-or-I'll-die gurls such as was made
for the natural prey av men like the Capt'n, who was iverlastin' payin'
coort to her, though the Colonel he said time an' over, "Kape out av
the brute's way, my dear." But he niver had the heart for to send her
away from the throuble, bein' as he was a widower, an' she their wan
child.'

'Stop a minute, Mulvaney,' said I; 'how in the world did you come to
know these things?'

'How did I come?' said Mulvaney, with a scornful grunt; 'bekase I'm