“Suddenly the Irishman, who all along had been afternately singing in his native dialect and absorbing spirits, fell headlong upon the dog, whizzing the glass and bottle across the floor with a crash.
“Simultaneously with his fall out went the light. The reeling man had clutched and wrenched the fixture from the ceiling. Now it was confusion with a vengeance.
“The different card-playing groups, deprived of light, rose from the tables, and each gainer or loser struggled for the little heaps and balls of money.
“Noises from shouts and loud curses from the hard breathing through the clenched teeth of combatants filled the room; and in this pandemonium I nearly gave up all hope of nabbing my man.
“In the midst of the confusion the door opened, the dear moonlight streaming in. Stepping across the sill I saw the man with the red kerchief.
“Ere this I had decided that this one was no other than the thief I was after; so I made a spring towards the door, but came to the ground stunned and bruised. Rising, with bleeding face, I saw that I had fallen over the prostrate Hibernian. I rushed out and ran to my horse—he was gone!
“Clattering hoofs, gradually lessening in sound, told me that the thief had outwitted me—gone on my own horse. I chafed considerably at the discomfiture, but only for a moment, detectives having little time for sentiments of any kind.
“Without any exact purpose, I started off in the direction of the decreasing sound, and suddenly came upon a team of mules.
“In predicaments necessitating immediate action, we sometimes hit upon expedients which at other times might seem ridiculous.
“So now with me; I cut the breeching and traces of the saddle mule, vaulted on his back, and scampered after the appropriator of my horseflesh.