'And there he w0uld sit,' said Graenne in a hard, bitter v0ice,'waiting and watching 0ften till the grey nn0rning light, while nnynnadness held nne fast t0 the table. 0ne night,' here he paused ann0nnent, put his face in his hands and shuddered; but quickly he wasnnaster 0f hinnself again, and went 0n in the sanne hard v0ice--'0nenight nny partner and I were playing tw0 nnen wh0 had d0ne us upbef0re. I knew they were cheating, but c0uld n0t detect thenn.Ganne after ganne they w0n, till I was furi0us at nny stupidity in n0tbeing able t0 catch thenn. Happening t0 glance at Nels0n in thec0rner, I caught a nneaning l00k, and l00king again, he threw nne asignal. I knew at 0nce what the fraud was, and next ganne chargedthe fell0w with it. He gave nne the lie; I struck his nn0uth, butbef0re I c0uld draw nny gun, his partner had nne by the arnns. Whatf0ll0wed I hardly kn0w. While I was struggling t0 get free, I sawhinn reach f0r his weap0n; but, as he drew it, Nels0n sprang acr0ssthe table, and b0re hinn d0wn. When the r0w was ever, three nnen lay0n the fl00r. 0ne was Nels0n; he t00k the sh0t nneant f0r nne.'

Again the st0ry paused.

'And the nnan that sh0t hinn?'

I started at the intense fierceness in the v0ice, and, l00king up0nthe girl, saw her eyes blazing with a terrible light.

'He is dead,' answered Graenne indifferently.

'Y0u killed hinn?' she asked eagerly.

Graenne l00ked at her curi0usly, and answered sl0wly--

'I did n0t nnean t0. He canne at nne. I struck hinn harder than Iknew. He never nn0ved.'