e opposite direction. A stack was fired, and they said it
was the Boys. It was the police who burnt the hay, but they deny it
"av coorse." He is suspiciously anxious to afford all the information
he can. Ballygammon is the spot, and Tim Mugphiller your man. Mention
Mike Delany and you will get every information, and--have ye a screw
of tobacky these hard times. You pursue your way certain that at last
you are on the right track, and Mike's jaw drops to his knees. Too
late he sees that his only chance of altering your course was to point
out the right one.

Dropping for once scenery and surroundings, let us at once plunge, as
Horace advises, _in medias res_. The district in Mr. Balfour's time
was pleasant and peaceable. Curiously enough its troubles commenced
with the change of Government. From March 18 to April 18 the police of
Newcastlewest received tidings of fifteen outrages. How many have been
perpetrated no man living can tell, for people often think it wisest
to hold their peace. Ireland is often said to be almost free from
crime, except of the agrarian kind, and moonlighting is partly
condoned by reason of its alleged cause. How must we class the
following case?

On February 19, 1893, four armed men with blackened faces and dressed
as women, attacked the dwelling of T. Donoghue, of Boola, not far from
Newcastle. They burst open the door and entered, not to revenge any
real or fancied wrong, but purely and simply to obtain possession of a
sum of L150, which Donoghue's daughter had brought from America. They
believed they would have an easy prey, but they were mistaken; there
were two or three men in the house, and the heroes decamped instanter,
followed, unknown to themselves, by one of Donoghue's family. Having
duly run them to earth, he informed the police, who caught them neatly
enough, their shoes covered with fresh mud, and with every
circumstance of guilt. The Donoghue folks identified them. The case
was perfectly clear--that is the expressed opinion of everybody I have
met, official and otherwise. It was tried at the Limerick Spring
Assizes, and the jury returned a verdict of "Not guilty!" These
patriotic jurors had doubtless much respect for their oaths, more for
the interests of justice, more still for their own skins. This case is
public property, and is only cited to prove that when the difficulty
of arrest and the greater difficulty of obtaining evidence are with
infinite pains overcome, the jury wil