you hadn't shaved in ten
years!"

He looked at me and smiled.

"I'm older than you think," he said, "and, anyhow, he got a lot off for
good behavior. It's outrageous, the discount that's given to a criminal
for behaving himself. He got--I think I am right when I say--yes, he was
sent up in '07--he got seven years off his sentence."

We all thought that this was a grave mistake, and Tish, whose father was
once warden of the penitentiary, observed that there was nothing like
that in old times, and she would write to the governor about it. Tish
has written to the governor several times, the last occasion being the
rise in price of brooms.

"It's like this," said Mr. Muldoon. "They've got the glen guarded.
There's a man at each end and the rest are covering the hilltops. A
squirrel couldn't get out without their knowledge. I might have before I
got this leg, but now I'm done for."

"Oh, no!" we chorused.

"It amounts to that," he said dejectedly. "They've been watching you
women and they're not afraid of you. As long as I stay in the cave here
I'm safe enough, but let me poke my nose out and I'm gone. It's an awful
thing to have to hide behind a woman's petticoats!"

We could only silently sympathize.

It was bright and clear that day. The sun came out and dried the road
below. It would have been a wonderful day to go on, but none of us
thought of it. As Tish said, here was a chance to assist the law and a
fellow being in peril of his life. Our place was there.

Even had we doubted Mr. Muldoon's story, we had proof of it before noon.
A man with a gun came out on a ledge of rock across the valley and
stood, with his hands to his eyes, peering across at our cave. Tish was
hanging some of our clothing out to dry, and although she saw the outlaw
as well as we did she did not flinch. After a time the man seemed
satisfied and disappeared.

Tish came into the cave then and took a spoonful of blackberry cordial.
As we knew, her intrepid spirit had not quailed; but, as she said, one's
body is never as strong as one's soul. Her knees were shaking.

We put in a quiet and restful afternoon. Mr. Muldoon had a pack of cards
with him and we played whist. He played a very fair game, but he was on
the alert all the time. At every sound he started, and once or twice he
slipped out into the thicket and searched the glen in every direction
with his eyes.

He had asked us, if the outlaws surprised us, to say that he was Tish's