ere were occasions on which he seemed to show himself capable
of considerable violence and vindictiveness. This side of his nature,
however, appears never to have been turned towards his wife. Another
fact, which had struck Major Murphy and three out of five of the other
officers with whom I conversed, was the singular sort of depression
which came upon him at times. As the major expressed it, the smile had
often been struck from his mouth, as if by some invisible hand, when he
has been joining the gayeties and chaff of the mess-table. For days on
end, when the mood was on him, he has been sunk in the deepest gloom.
This and a certain tinge of superstition were the only unusual traits
in his character which his brother officers had observed. The latter
peculiarity took the form of a dislike to being left alone, especially
after dark. This puerile feature in a nature which was conspicuously
manly had often given rise to comment and conjecture.

"The first battalion of the Royal Munsters (which is the old 117th) has
been stationed at Aldershot for some years. The married officers live
out of barracks, and the Colonel has during all this time occupied a
villa called Lachine, about half a mile from the north camp. The house
stands in its own grounds, but the west side of it is not more than
thirty yards from the high-road. A coachman and two maids form the
staff of servants. These with their master and mistress were the sole
occupants of Lachine, for the Barclays had no children, nor was it usual
for them to have resident visitors.

"Now for the events at Lachine between nine and ten on the evening of
last Monday."

"Mrs. Barclay was, it appears, a member of the Roman Catholic Church,
and had interested herself very much in the establishment of the Guild
of St. George, which was formed in connection with the Watt Street
Chapel for the purpose of supplying the poor with cast-off clothing.
A meeting of the Guild had been held that evening at eight, and Mrs.
Barclay had hurried over her dinner in order to be present at it. When
leaving the house she was heard by the coachman to make some commonplace
remark to her husband, and to assure him that she would be back before
very long. She then called for Miss Morrison, a young lady who lives
in the next villa, and the two went off together to their meeting. It
lasted forty minutes, and at a quarter-past nine Mrs. Barclay returned
home, having left Miss Morrison at her door as she