“Ah, go on insulting me—­don’t spare reproaches.  I’m defenceless now.”

Woman’s last resource, tears, were quickly called up, and under their shadow Mike sneaked towards us, as though about to pay his money and have done with the trouble; but before he could accomplish his good resolution the woman had cleared her eyes, and in a voice that started us, yelled,—­

“Mike, ye divil, come here this instant.”

The hen-pecked husband did not dare to disobey.  He cast an imploring, half-sheepish look towards his wife.

“We have delayed long enough,” Mr. Brown said.  “Sergeant, put on the irons.”

The sergeant dismounted quite coolly, and summoned six men to his assistance.  I noticed that the officers did not display any great alacrity, and acted as though quite ashamed of the duty that they were to enter upon.

“The sergeant means to have assistance enough,” Fred remarked, addressing the inspector.

“You will see,” the latter returned; and we did, sure enough; for no sooner did the officers lay hands upon Michael than the woman dropped her child, and with a wild shout threw herself upon them.  The first poor devil whom she spotted lost a handful of hair—­but as it was as red as fire it was no great sacrifice to the owner—­the second had a piece of skin clawed off his nose, and the third reluctantly parted with a piece of flesh weighing nearly a quarter of an ounce, torn forcibly from his cheek.  The police endeavored to keep her at arms’ length without success—­she broke down their defences, and clawed the hair from their heads in the most scientific manner; and yet she had all the fighting to do, for Michael remained in the custody of two officers without offering to strike a blow for liberty.

The war was at length fiercely contested, for the officers, finding that they were likely to be placed hors du combat, made a rush towards the Amazon; and while two seized her arms, two more grasped her legs, and I am obliged to confess that the police did not display much delicacy in the latter operation.  In spite of her struggles—­in defiance of her imprecations, and calls for Mike to interfere in her behalf—­she was carried bodily towards the hut, and poised in the air for a moment; and then, with a “one, two, three, and away she goes,” was thrown head foremost through the door, and landed in the middle of the hut all in a heap.

“You have kilt me wife,” moaned Mike, who watched the operation With considerable anxiety for his better half.

“Hang her, she’s skinned me from head to foot,” muttered one of the officers, wiping his bleeding face on a handkerchief, and showing his wounds to the inspector.

“Skinned!” echoed another; “if she had only taken skin I shouldn’t mind it much; but, blast her, she has torn flesh and muscle from my face.”

“I’m sorry for your misfortunes, but we will have her arrested on a warrant to-morrow, and fined,” the inspector said.  “Bring Mike along, and set him at work on the roads for a few days.”