下载辰思小说免费APP
’O？Yousurpriseme。Whichactressisit？’
’ThatMissJohnson。Annetellsmethathelovesherhopelessly。’
Festusarose。MissJohnsonseemedsuddenlytoacquirehighvalueasasweetheartatthisannouncement。Hehadhimselffeltanamelessattractivenessinher，andJohnhaddonelikewise。Johncrossedhispathinallpossibleways。
Beforetheyeomanhadrepliedsomebodyopenedthedoor，andthefirelightshoneupontheuniformofthepersontheydiscussed。
Festusnoddedonrecognizinghim，wishedMrs。Lovedaygoodevening，andwentoutprecipitately。
’SoBobtoldyouhemeanttobreakoffwithmyAnnewhenhewentaway？’Mrs。Lovedayremarkedtothetrumpet-major。’IwishIhadknownofitbefore。’
Johnappeareddisturbedatthesuddencharge。Hemurmuredthathecouldnotdenyit，andthenhastilyturnedfromherandfollowedDerriman，whomhesawbeforehimonthebridge。
’Derriman！’heshouted。
Festusstartedandlookedround。’Well，trumpet-major，’hesaidblandly。
’Whenwillyouhavesenseenoughtomindyourownbusiness，andnotcomeheretellingthingsyouhaveheardbysneakingbehindpeople’sbacks？’demandedJohnhotly。’Ifyoucan’tlearninanyotherway，Ishallhavetopullyourearsagain，asIdidtheotherday！’
’YOUpullmyears？Howcanyoutellthatlie，whenyouknow’twassomebodyelsepulled’em？’
’Ono，no。Ipulledyourears，andthrashedyouinamildway。’
’You’llsweartoit？Surely’twasanotherman？’
’Itwasintheparlouratthepublic-house；youwerealmostinthedark。’AndJohnaddedafewdetailsastotheparticularblows，whichamountedtoproofitself。
’ThenIheartilyaskyourpardonforsaying’twasalie！’criedFestus，advancingwithextendedhandandagenialsmile。’Sure，ifIhadknown’TWASyou，Iwouldn’thaveinsultedyoubydenyingit。’
’Thatwaswhyyoudidn’tchallengeme，then？’
’Thatwasit！Iwouldn’tfortheworldhavehurtyournicesenseofhonourbyletting’eegounchallenged，ifIhadknown！Andnow，yousee，unfortunatelyIcan’tmendthemistake。Solongatimehaspassedsinceithappenedthattheheatofmytemperisgoneoff。I
couldn’toblige’ee，tryhowImight，forIamnotaman，trumpet-major，thatcanbutcherincoldblood——no，notI，noryouneither，fromwhatIknowof’ee。So，willy-nilly，wemustfainletitpass，eh？’
’Wemust，Isuppose，’saidJohn，smilinggrimly。’WhodidyouthinkIwas，then，thatnightwhenIboxedyouallround？’
’No，don’tpressme，’repliedtheyeoman。’Ican’treveal；itwouldbedisgracingmyselftoshowhowverywideofthetruththemockeryofwinewasabletoleadmysenses。Wewillletitbeburiedineternalmixensofforgetfulness。’
’Asyouwish，’saidthetrumpet-majorloftily。’ButifyoueverSHOULDthinkyouknewitwasme，why，youknowwheretofindme？’
AndLovedaywalkedaway。
TheinstantthathewasgoneFestusshookhisfistattheeveningstar，whichhappenedtolieinthesamedirectionasthattakenbythedragoon。
’Nowformyrevenge！Duels？LifelongdisgracetomeifeverI
fightwithamanofbloodbelowmyown！Thereareotherremediesforupper-classsouls！……Matilda——that’smyway。’
FestusstrodealongtillhereachedtheHall，whereCripplestrawappearedgazingathimfromunderthearchoftheporter’slodge。
Derrimandashedopentheentrance-hurdlewithsuchviolencethatthewholerowofthemfellflatinthemud。
’Mercy，MaisterFestus！’saidCripplestraw。’“Surely，“IsaystomyselfwhenIseeyea-coming，“surelyMaisterFestusisfuminglikethatbecausethere’snochanceoftheenemycomingthisyearafterall。“’
’Cr-r-ripplestraw！Ihavebeenwoundedtotheheart，’repliedDerriman，withaluridbrow。
’Andthemanyetlives，andyouwantsyerhorse-pistolsinstantly？
Certainly，MaisterF——’
’No，Cripplestraw，notmypistols，butmynew-cutclothes，myheavygoldseals，mysilver-toppedcane，andmybucklesthatcostmoremoneythanheeversaw！Yes，Imusttellsomebody，andI’lltellyou，becausethere’snootherfoolnear。Helovesherheartandsoul。He’spoor；she’stip-topgenteel，andnotrich。Iamrich
