“You have already an account to answer for with me,” said Hume, with his sinister sneer, and as he spoke he was swept by the rush of the crowd into my uncle’s very arms. The two men’s faces were not more than a few inches apart, and Sir Lothian’s bold eyes had to sink before the imperious scorn which gleamed coldly in those of my uncle.
“We will settle our accounts, never fear, though I degrade myself in meeting such a blackleg. What is it, Craven?”
“We shall have to declare a draw, Tregellis.”
“My man has the fight in hand.”
“I cannot help it. I cannot attend to my duties when every moment I am cut over with a whip or a stick.”
Jackson suddenly made a wild dash into the crowd, but returned with empty hands and a rueful face.
“They’ve stolen my timekeeper’s watch,” he cried. “A little cove snatched it out of my hand.”
My uncle clapped his hand to his fob.
“Mine has gone also!” he cried.
“Draw it at once, or your man will get hurt,” said Jackson, and we saw that as the undaunted smith stood up to Wilson for another round, a dozen rough fellows were clustering round him with bludgeons.