to have a rope round
your necks than any gal's arms, good or bad. Have your own way. You
always managed to get it, somehow or other, ever since I knowed ye.'

After this father lit his pipe and went into the cave.

By and by he comes out again and catches the old mare.

'I ain't been out of this blessed hole,' he says, 'for a month of
Sundays. I'm dead tired of seeing nothin' and doin' nothin'. I'll crawl
over to old Davy's for our letters and papers. We ain't heard nothing
for a year, seems to me.'

Dad was strong enough to get about in the saddle again, and we weren't
sorry to get shut of him for a bit. He was that cranky at times there
was no living with him. As for ourselves, we were regular wild for some
sort of get away for a bit of a change; so we hadn't talked it over very
long before we made up our minds to take a run over to Jonathan Barnes's
and have a bit of fun, just to take the taste out of our mouths of
Aileen's going away.

We had to dress ourselves very quiet and get fresh horses--nags that had
nothing particular about them to make people look, at the same time with
a bit of go in them in case we were pushed at any time.

No sooner said than done. We went to work and got everything ready, and
by three o'clock we were off--all three of us, and never in better heart
in our lives--for a bit of fun or devilment; it didn't matter which came
first.

When we got to Jonathan's it was latish, but that didn't matter to us or
to the girls neither; they were always ready for a bit of fun, night or
day. However, just at first they pretended to be rather high and mighty
about this business of Hagan's.

'Oh! it's you, is it?' says Bella, after we walked in. 'I don't know as
it's safe for us to be knowing such dangerous characters. There's a new
law against harbouring, father says. He's pretty frightened, I can tell
you, and for two pins we'd be told to shut the door in your faces.'

'You can do that if you like now,' says I; 'we shan't want telling
twice, I daresay. But what makes you so stiff to-night?'

'Why, Hagan's business, of course,' says Maddie; 'four men killed in
cold blood. Only I know you couldn't and wouldn't be in it I'd not know
any of ye from a crow. There now.'

'Quite right, most beauteous Madeline,' says Starlight; 'it was a very
dreadful affair, though I believe there was some reason for old Ben
being angry. Of course, you know we weren't within miles of the place
when it was done. Yo