He has his own pistols--not made for this purpose--but
a substantial pair of traveller's babes--big of mouth, long of
throat, thick of jaw, keen of sight, quick of speech, strong of
wind, and weighty of argument. They are rifled bores also, and,
in the hands of the owner, have done clever things at bottle and
sapling. Stevens would prefer to have the legitimate things, but
these babes are trustworthy; and he has no reason to suppose that
the young rustic whom he goes to meet can produce anything more
efficient. He had no idea of those ancient bull-pups, those solemn
ante-revolutionary barkers, which our grandsire used upon harder
heads than his, at Camden and the Eutaws. He is scarcely so confident
in his own weapons when his eye rests on the rusty tools of his
enemy.
But it was not destined that this fight should take place without
witnesses. In spite of all the precautions of the parties, and they
were honest in taking them, our little village had its inklings
of what was going on. There were certain signs of commotion and
explosion which made themselves understood.
Pages:
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393