"Well, you are polite," laughed Winnie, while Murtagh replied, with an angry tone in his voice:
"Don't talk about my friends, if you please, unless you can talk more civilly."
"Friends!" returned Mr. Plunkett. "They are certainly charming friends for a young gentleman of your position! But till you learn to choose your society from a different rank you must hold your entertainments somewhere else. I give you all fair warning," he continued, turning to the group of children, "that the next time I catch one of you hanging about here, I send you off to prison for trespassing."
"You shall do nothing of the sort," retorted Murtagh. "They are my friends; real, true friends, who love me, and who would do anything I told them to. Aren't you?" he added, appealing to the followers.
"That are we so!" they cried with one voice, while Murtagh continued:
"I am proud of them; they are honest and real. They love me, and I love them. What do we care about positions? They shall come here when they please, and you are not to insult them."
He drew his figure up to its full height, and delivered the last words with authority. They were received with a hearty shout by the excited followers; and as soon as Mr. Plunkett's voice could be heard above the noise, he replied with some irritation:
"Don't talk to me in such a ridiculous manner, sir. I shall do whatever seems to me to be proper; and I am not joking about this matter. If I ever again find such a dirty, disreputable crowd assembled on your uncle's premises, every member of it shall be taken up for trespassing. Whether you are invited by Mr. Murtagh or not," he added, turning again to the crowd. "And further, unless you wish me to call a policeman now, you had better go away to your homes as fast as you can."
The followers huddled silently together, not knowing what to do, but Murtagh burst out angrily:
"How dare you? Do you know what you are doing? Do you know that if I chose to tell them, they would take you and duck you in the stable pond?"