ain, when he was beginnin' to quarter the ground an' gyard high an'
go large. 'This isn't ridin'-school,' sez I. 'Oh, man, stand up, an'
let me get at ye!' But whin I saw he wud be runnin' about, I grup his
shtock in me left an' his waist-belt in me right, an' swung him clear
to me right front, head undher, he hammerin' me nose till the wind was
knocked out av him on the bare ground. 'Stand up,' sez I, 'or I'll
kick your head into your chest.' An' I wud ha' done ut, too, so ragin'
mad I was.

"'Me collar-bone's bruk,' sez he. 'Help me back to lines. I'll walk
wid her no more.' So I helped him back."

"And was his collar-bone broken?" I asked, for I fancied that only
Learoyd could neatly accomplish that terrible throw.

"He pitched on his left shoulder-point. It was. Next day the news was
in both barracks; an' whin I met Dinah Shadd wid a cheek like all the
reg'mintal tailors' samples, there was no 'Good-mornin', corp'ril,' or
aught else. 'An' what have I done, Miss Shadd,' sez I, very bould,
plantin' mesilf forninst her, 'that ye should not pass the time of day?'

"'Ye've half killed rough-rider Dempsey,' sez she, her dear blue eyes
fillin' up.

"'Maybe,' sez I. 'Was he a friend av yours that saw ye home four times
in a fortnight?'

"'Yes,' sez she, very bould; but her mouth was down at the corners.
'An'--an' what's that to you?'

"'Ask Dempsey,' sez I, purtendin' to go away.

"'Did you fight for me then, ye silly man?' she sez, tho' she knew ut
all along.

"'Who else?' sez I; an' I tuk wan pace to the front.

"'I wasn't worth ut,' sez she, fingerin' her apron.

"'That's for me to say,' sez I. 'Shall I say ut?'

"'Yes,' sez she, in a saint's whisper; an' at that I explained mesilf;
an' she tould me what ivry man that is a man, an' many that is a woman,
hears wanst in his life.

"'But what made ye cry at startin', Dinah, darlin'?' sez I.

"'Your--your bloody cheek,' sez she, duckin' her little head down on my
sash (I was duty for the day), an' whimperin' like a sorrowful angel.

"Now, a man cud take that two ways. I tuk ut as pleased me best, an'
my first kiss wid it. Mother av innocence! but I kissed her on the tip
av the nose an' undher the eye, an' a girl that lets a kiss come
tumbleways like that has never been kissed before. Take note av that,
sorr. Thin we wint, hand in hand, to ould Mother Shadd, like two
little childher, an' she said it was no bad thing; an' ould Shadd
nodded be