"No, sah; no, sah," moaned the man again.
"Mr. Haskins," said the woman, brushing aside her husband and coming out, "my husband has been a bad one to me: but he is innocent. Major Rebb went to the Pixy's House on----"
"Hole dat tongue, you beast," yelled Geary furiously.
[CHAPTER XXI.]
MAJOR REBB AT BAY.
But Mrs. Geary would not be silenced. Her meekness seemed to have disappeared, and she faced the negro, as bold as any Amazon. "I shall not hold my tongue, Adonis," she said, drawing a deep breath, "the time has gone by when you could bully me. I have suffered enough at your hands, and a fool I was to marry a black savage such as you are. You----"
How long she would have gone on in that manner it is impossible to say, for the pent-up anger of years appeared to break forth. However, Gerald saw that people were coming out of their houses, and sauntering in the direction of the inn. Unwilling that too much should be made public--for obvious reasons--he pushed his way past Mrs. Geary and into the house, commanding the two to follow him. They did so--the woman willingly enough. But the negro hung back with a snarl and evidently tried his old tricks on his wife. There was a scream as Haskins entered the old sitting-room, which he had occupied with Tod, and then the sounds of slapping and scuffling and swearing. Gerald flung himself into an armchair, and looked towards the open door. It was filled the next moment by Geary being thrust forward by his wife, who had cuffed and thrashed him into a dazed silence. She literally flung him into the room, and following herself closed and locked the door. Standing before this, wrathful and gigantic, she pointed a menacing finger at the black man.
"I was a fool to marry such a black savage as you are," she went on from where she had left off. "You have been a beast and a tyrant and have driven me to drink. The drink is in me now, and that is what makes me so bold."
"Wait till the drink is out of you," breathed Geary, trying to assert himself, and flashed an angry look in her direction. Formerly that look had cowed the woman, but now she simply snapped her fingers in his astonished face.
"It won't do, Adonis, it won't do. The worm has turned at last: you have made me desperate. I'll have no more of these murders and beatings and swearings. I am a Baptist myself, and you have nearly ruined my soul. But now, you black dog, it is my turn. To-morrow I go back to my mother at Barnstaple with my children. I can get work to do, and earn money to keep them and myself. As for you, stay here with your ill-gotten money for doing Major Rebb's dirty work. I could ruin you; but I shall not do that. Still, the truth must be told to this gentleman."