Mr. Linden, at about this time, met some adventures, which must be described. ————●———— CHAPTER XXXII. LINDEN FORMS AN ACQUAINTANCE. Captain Linden made a flying visit to Shoemaker’s Patch, when once informed of the attempt upon the life of Wm. M. Thomas, where he met the injured man, frescoed and ornamented with plentiful patches and plasters, and bolstered up in bed, loudly proclaiming he was quite well enough to resume his daily work, and that he should do so on the morrow, despite the advice of an army of surgeons and nurses. Considering that he had received four serious gunshot wounds, one disabling the fingers of his right hand, two in the neck, and one penetrating the chest, this might be thought rather rash talk and conduct. Linden so believed, and endeavored to soothe and curb him. It was of no use. The madcap bruiser said he would kill anybody who tried to prevent his going out the next day. And, in defiance of all the laws of physic, pharmacy, surgery, and precedent, he did walk to the stables the second morning subsequent to the shooting. One of the bullets, hitting him in the neck, had plowed a passage, through muscular fibre and cuticle, missing by only half an inch the inner jugular vein and adjacent carotid artery, and, should the coats of any of these large blood-courses slough away, his death would be certain and speedy. Without awaiting this crisis, and with the first plasters still on the hurts, the careless and reckless man resumed his job in the stables. Fortunately the injuries continued healthy, rapidly healed, and in a few weeks Thomas was just as strong as ever, and as anxious to kill a Mollie Maguire as before receiving the shots of his assailants. Linden sought to learn all the particulars of the assault, concealing the knowledge he had already received, and therefore interrogated Thomas closely, generally securing prompt responses to his queries. In answer to the question: “Do you know any of your assailants?” Thomas answered: “No! But shall know some of them if ever I see them again! A feller generally recollects the faces of them what pulls a pistol and shoves it inter his face! Leastways I do!” “That’s true!” assented Linden.