"Pless me!" said he, staring innocently, "I tought it vas all for shport!"
The furious Mr. Ropes was about to convince him, by some violent act, of his mistake, when cries from the direction of the school-house called his attention.
"See what's there, boys!" said Silas.
"Durn me," said Mr. Pepperill, looking across the field as he brushed the feathers from his clothes, "if it ain't the master himself!"
In fact, Penn had by this time summoned courage to slip back the bolt, throw open the school-house door, and come out.
The gentlemen who were heating the tar and drinking from the bottle were taken by surprise. They had not expected that the fellow would come out at all, but wait to be dragged out. Their natural conclusion was, that he was armed; for he appeared with as calm and determined a front as if he had been perfectly safe from injury himself, while it was in his power to do them some fatal mischief. They could not understand how the mere consciousness of his own uprightness, and a sense of reliance on the arm of eternal justice, could inspire a man with courage to face so many.
"My friends," said Penn, as they beset him with threats and blasphemy, "I have never injured one of you, and you will not harm me."
And as if some deity held an invisible shield above him, he passed by; and they, in their astonishment, durst not even lay their hands upon him.
"I've hearn tell he was a Quaker, and wouldn't fight," muttered one; "but I see a revolver under his coat!"
"Where's Sile? Where's Sile Ropes?" cried others, who, though themselves unwilling to assume the responsibility of seizing the young master, would have been glad to see Silas attempt it.