A GRAVE CHARGE. 283 



them scamper, was uttered more in rollicking fun and merry make- 

 believe than in anything like anger or earnest. Precisely so, 

 answered a host of crook-carrying shepherds from farms five, seven, 

 ten mUes away : " Your dog is too knowing to kill sheep at your 

 own doors; he goes to a considerable distance on his raids, the 

 better to escape detection, slipping away at night or early in the 

 morning unknown to you, and returning as innocent-seeming as 

 the last sheep he has worried, before you appear in your breakfast 

 parlour ! " It was not alleged that he had ever been caught in the 

 act, or actually seen eating forbidden mutton or lamb, minus the 

 " mint sauce ; " but more than one shepherd averred that he had 

 more than once been seen wandering at improper hours on hill- 

 sides, where he had no good right or reason to be, on which 

 occasions, too, he exhibited the stealthy, prowling pace, and all the 

 hang-dog looks and other signs of an evil-doer. Half afraid that 

 it was too true, but irritated by their strenuousness of assertion, 

 and defiant to the last, " Catch him, then ! " we exclaimed, " shoot 

 him, kin him, if he is harming you ; but I am not going to put 

 away or kiU my dog — and such a dog, too ! worth the best Jiirsel 

 in your charge ! — simply to please you." And thus the matter 

 rested for a time, but not for long. Early one Monday morning, 

 about a fortnight afterwards, our good neighbour Mr. Linton, of 

 the farm of Coruanan, seven or eight mUes away, drove up to our 

 door in his gig, and asked to see us. After the usual civilities, 

 " Your big dog is kUling my sheep, Mr. S. ! " was the charge, 

 straightforward and unqualified. We argued, of course, that it 

 couldn't be, &c., as above, but Mr. Linton soon brought the matter 

 to a very practical issue. " What is the value of your dog 'i " We 

 couldn't say; he was very valuable, a great favourite, and we 

 declined to put a price upon him. " Well," continued Mr. Linton, 

 "say that he is worth £5, or £10, or £20. I charge him with 

 k illin g two of my sheep this very morning. I have my gun here 



