“But I will, sir. How dare he? I’ll lay the horsewhip across the scoundrel’s back!”
“Buzz-buzz—buzz-buzz.”
“Law or no law, he shall have the horsewhip first and the fine or imprisonment afterwards. These foreign rowdy ways shall not be tolerated here.”
“Let go, Very. I can’t stand it, I tell you,” said the Doctor. But Veronica threw her arms now about his neck, and laid her head close to his cheek, and clung there.
“Will you let go?”
“No, papa.”
“Do you want me to hit you?”
“Yes, papa dear.”
“Hang it, Very, it’s too bad! You’re a coward. You know I can’t.”
“Yes, papa dear; I know you’d sooner cut off your hand.”