in this county, a very uncommon thing to find
that one man has killed another. Can you tell the jury why you were
not surprised at such an event as that?"

"Becase I knowed there war ill-blood betwixt the two."

"But men do not kill one another whenever they quarrel, do they?"

"Faix, they do sometimes."

"Did you ever, of your own knowledge, know a man before who killed
another?"

"Oh dear! yes; shure I did."

"Well, tell us an instance."

"Why there war ould Paddy Rafferty, who war in the Cavan Militia in
the Rabellion--av he didn't kill scores of the French at Ballinamuck,
he's the biggest liar I ever heard; but he's dead now, yer honour."

"Supposing that the death of Captain Ussher had happened a fortnight
before--that the prisoner had killed him a fortnight before the day
on which he did kill him, would you not have been surprised then?"

"Why I don't know that a fortnight makes much difference."

"Answer my question. In such a case as that, would you not have felt
more surprise than you did when the affair did occur?"

"Why, yer honour, I can't answer that--becase, you see, it didn't
happen then, and I couldn't exactly be saying what my feelings might
be."

"At any rate, you were not surprised?"

"Oh yes, I war surprised; in course it war a surprise to me when I
kicked the dead body; but when I come to think over all about the
Captain, I warn't that much surprised."

"After what had taken place at Mrs. Mehan's, you did not expect
Captain Ussher would be very long lived?"

"Faix, he lived longer than I expected--seeing the way he war going
on through the counthry."

"Do you remember telling me some time ago, speaking of Captain
Ussher's death, that the thing had been talked over?"

"I b'lieve I said as much."

"What did you mean by that?"

"Why just that the job had been talked about."

"What job?"

"Why this job."

"What job? Tell the jury what job."

"Faix, they all know well enough by this time," and the witness
looked up to the jury, "--or else they oughtn't to be there, any
way."

"Tell them what job you mean--never mind what they know."

"'Deed thin, you're bothering me so entirely with yer jobs, I don't
rightly know myself which I'm maning."

"Think a little then, for you must tell them; you said the job had
been talked over; what was it that had been talked over?"

The witness gave a stolid look at the counsel, but answered nothing.

"Come," continued Mr. Allewinde, "w