I had never heard that Isaac was noted for skill with his fists, and believed he was likely to suffer severely, if the landlord should attack him. I therefore entreated Uncle Daniel to stand by with me in order to lend assistance, for I was not minded that one of our company come to grief at that place.
Uncle Daniel grimly said that Isaac Barker could take care of himself, and that he was not fond of interfering, unless it was absolutely necessary in order to save life.
Therefore, instead of appearing concerned, Uncle Daniel quietly took up his station near the door of the stable, where he stood whittling a bit of pine stick, while the innkeeper raged furiously, and Isaac continued to break out the slats until he had completed the task.
Then he came out of the last stall where he had been working, threw the ax on the floor without very much regard as to how it might fall, and began in a businesslike way to roll up his sleeves, keeping an eye meanwhile on the movements of the landlord.
The two came together while I was waiting to see how they might begin the battle, and in a twinkling, as it seemed to me, both were rolling here and there about the stable floor, but in such a manner that one with half an eye could see Isaac was by no means getting the worst of it.
A MUCH NEEDED LESSON
As a matter of fact he flogged that miserly innkeeper severely, never letting up until the fellow cried that he had had enough; then Isaac said that he counted to be back that way in the spring, and if the slats in the hayracks had been replaced, he would give him another flogging compared with which this one would seem like child's play.
