“I am sorry, sir, that it has happened as it has, but it does not seem to me that any one is to blame. We have come with honest intentions——”
“It requires honest people to carry out honest intentions. It’s the doing that counts. Come, it is nearly night, and you have barely time in which to get out of town before dark. The walking is good on the railroad track.”
The tone, more than the words, nettled Ragged Rob, and he exclaimed:
“It will be better or worse before I or my friends go that way.”
“Don’t you throw any of your New York sass in my face, you ragged dog. You’ll either get out of town pretty lively of your own account, or we will get help for you in a way you may not like. I give you fair warning, and five minutes of time to get started in.”
A groan came from the suffering man on the settee, while the others of the forlorn little group turned pale with fright. But Little Hickory was made of sterner stuff, and, drawing his slender figure to its full height, making him like a fairy prince in a disguise of rags, he replied, in a tone heard by the most distant of the spectators:
“Sir, you cannot drive us away without making trouble for yourself. We have come here peacefully, and we demand fair treatment. This poor man here”—pointing to the invalid Mr. Little—“cannot take a step to save his life. And this sick woman”—now pointing to Mrs. Willet—“deserves kind treatment at your hands.”
This fearless speech was received with varying effect by the onlookers. It won the respect, if not the admiration of some, while still others thought that perhaps the ’squire had been hasty in his denouncement. Others again looked askance toward the justice, while he, feeling that he had been openly and defiantly humiliated, shook with anger, and he exclaimed, in a voice husky with passion:
“Fool! if you think this high-handed piece of impudence is going through all right you’ll find yourself most —— mistaken.”
’Squire Hardy used a word where I have inserted the dash which I do not care to quote, while he advanced toward Ragged Rob with a look of intense hatred. He seemed about to seize the brave boy in his grasp of iron, when the latter said: