the most surprising shot I ever saw. I saw him the other day in the
village snuffing a candle, and cutting a fine cord at twenty paces."

"He'd be an ugly customer in a row," remarked a fourth speaker.

"No doubt," said the first young fellow, "but Donald never was a
disorderly fellow, and I think his pistol shooting and defiant air are a
bit of harmless bravado."

The previous speaker appeared to be a bit of a pessimist. "I only hope,"
he said, significantly, as it seemed, "that nothing will come of this
carrying arms, and riding up and down the country like a page of
Fenimore Cooper."

"By the way," interposed the first speaker, "did you hear that Donald
and his father had a dispute about the money which Donald advanced when
he was away, and that legal proceedings are threatened?"

No, none of the party had heard about it, but the pessimist remarked:
"I hope there won't be any trouble. Donald, I think, is a man with decent
instincts, but passion could carry him to great lengths. Once aroused,
he might prove a dangerous enemy."

The young man said these words earnestly enough, no doubt. He had no
idea he was uttering a prophecy.

How surprised we are sometimes to find that our commonplaces have been
verified by fate, with all the added emphasis of tragedy!