"And which licked?"
Mike was quick to seize the opportunity for which he was waiting. With a downcast expression, he humbly asked:
"Do ye expict me to win ivery time, dad?"
"Av coorse I do; haven't I trained ye up to that shtyle of fightin'?"
"Suppose, dad, the ither chap is bigger and stronger—what do ye ixpict of me?"
"Ye know yoursilf what to expict when ye disgraces the name of Murphy."
Laying his pipe on the table beside which his wife was sitting, the parent grimly rose and moved toward the door on the other side of the room that opened into the small apartment where the firewood was stored from wetting by rain. The three knew the meaning of the movement: he was seeking the heavy strap that was looped over a big spike. He had brought it from Tipperary two years before and must have kept it against the coming of his heir, knowing he would have use for it.
"Have done wid yer supper," he said to Mike, "and after the same, I'll do me dooty by ye."
The grinning lad was still standing in the kitchen door. The action of his father turned his back toward the youth, who winked at Alvin, stepped across the threshold and sat down at the end of the table where he was in sight, but the greater portion of the table itself was hidden.
Although the moonlight had given the visitor a good view of his young friend, the glow of the lamp now showed his face and features with the distinctness of midday. Alvin was sure he had never seen so homely a youth. The countenance was broad and covered with so many freckles that they showed on the tips of his large ears. The nose was an emphatic pug, and the mouth wide and filled with large white teeth, upon which no dentist could have found a pin speck. His short hair was the color of a well burned brick, stood straight up from the crown and projected like quills from the sides of his head, his complexion being of the same hue as the hair.