. Terry's beat, and
found the veteran reloading his rifle from the muzzle. "Keep your post,
Mr. Terry," he cried, "while I run and see what it is you have bagged. I
imagine your son-in-law will look after the Captain." Mr. Nash ran down
the hill, closely followed by the lawyer, who had come out to see the
fun. All the bedroom windows were lit up, and eager eyes strained to
learn the cause of the firing, while the remaining sentinels prepared
for action. The animal shot was a large bloodhound, in life a dangerous
brute with horrid, cruel-looking fangs, but now in the agonies of death.
The detective drew his long dagger-like knife, and drove it into the
creature's heart. Then, while Coristine lifted it by the two hind legs,
he took a grasp of its collar, and they carried the trophy of the
veteran's rifle on to the lawn in front of the house. There they learned
that the Captain, being half asleep with no chance of an enemy in sight,
dreamt his ship had been saluted coming into port on a holiday, and, as
in duty bound, returned the salute. The blunderbuss had not exploded; it
always made that grand, booming, rattling, diffusive sort of a report.
The dead hound's collar was examined, and was discovered to bear the
initials A.R. "Who is A.R.?" asked the Squire; and Mr. Nash replied: "He
is no doubt my affianced bridegroom, Haltamont Rawdon."

It was two o'clock in the morning; so the guard was relieved, and the
former sentries returned to their posts; but the Squire noticed, with a
frown, that, just as the relief arrived at Mr. Errol's beat, a female
form clothed in black darted round the stables towards the kitchen door.
Also, he saw that the minister had a most unmilitary muffler, in the
shape of a lady's cloud, round his neck, which he certainly had not when
he went on duty. His high respect for the reverend gentleman hindered
any outward expression of his combined amusement and annoyance. Muggins
came back with Mr. Perrowne, but obstinately refused to go near the dead
hound.

"Do you think he has ever seen it before?" asked the detective.

"I shouldn't be at all surprised," replied the clergyman.

"I lawst Muggins, you know, at Tossorontio, and there was a man there at
the time, a short man in a pea-jacket or cowt, down't you know, who had
a big dawg. When Muggins disappeared, I thought the big dawg might have
killed him. But now I think the man with the pea-cowt saved him from the
big dawg, and that's how Muggins came