h, and a few drops of blood were all the damage.
Not so Burke; my ball had entered above the hip, and already his
trousers were stained with blood, and notwithstanding his endeavours he
could not stand up straight.

'Is he hit, Pigott?' cried he, in a voice harsh from agony. 'Is he hit,
I say?'

'Only grazed,' said I tranquilly, as I wiped the stain from my face.

'Another pistol, quick! Do you hear me, Pigott?'

'We are not the arbiters in this case,' replied the Colonel coolly.
'Major Mahon, is your friend satisfied?'

'Perfectly satisfied on our own account,' said the Major; 'but if the
gentleman desires another shot----'

'I do, I do!' screamed Burke, as, writhing with pain, he pressed both
hands to his side, from which the blood, now gushing in torrents, formed
a pool about his feet. 'Be quick there, Pigott! I am getting faint.' He
staggered forward as he spoke, his face pale and his lips parted; then
suddenly clutching his pistol by the barrel, he fixed his eyes steadily
on me, while with a curse he hurled the weapon at my head, and fell
senseless to the earth. His aim was true; for straight between the eyes
the weapon struck me, and felled me to the ground. Although stunned
for the moment, I could hear the cry of horror and indignant shame that
broke from the bystanders; but the next instant a dreamy confusion came
over me, and I became unconscious of what was passing around.

CHAPTER XXX. A COUNTRY DOCTOR

Should my reader feel any interest concerning that portion of my history
which immediately followed the events of my last chapter, I believe I
must refer him to Mrs. Doolan, the amiable hostess of the Bonaveen
Arms. She could probably satisfy any curious inquiry as to the confusion
produced in her establishment by the lively sallies of Tipperary Joe in
one quarter, and the more riotous madness of myself in another. The fact
is, good reader, my head was an English one; and although its contents
were gradually acclimating themselves to the habits of the country, the
external shell had not assumed that proper thickness and due power of
resistance which Irish heads would appear to be gifted with. In plain
words, the injury had brought on delirium.

It was somewhere in the third week after this unlucky morning that I
found myself lying in my bed with a wet cloth upon my temples, while
over my whole frame was spread that depressing sense of great debility
more difficult to bear than acute bodily suff