"Stop! stop!" roared the great man. "How dare you speak to me in this fashion?"
"How dare you insult my mother? If I had an outside witness, I would prosecute you for libel."
The squire winced. This was an attack he had never once dreamed of. He had thought to bulldoze the widow and her son, but he was getting decidedly the worse of the encounter.
"I know what I am talking about," he began, lamely, but Ralph cut him short.
"So do I know what I am talking about, Squire Paget. You are down on us for some reason; I have not yet found out what, but I will some day; and you are doing your best to make endless trouble for us. But I am not going to stand it. We are poor, but we have our rights as well as the rich."
"You rascal! I'll——"
"I want you to stop calling me a rascal and a vagabond. I might as well call you a wooden-head, a shyster lawyer, and a lot more."
"Oh, Ralph!" pleaded Mrs. Nelson.
"No, mother, he shall not come here to worry and insult you. I will give him fair warning now. If he does it again I'll pitch him out of the house."
"You—you," spluttered the squire.