“It is well that it was. But it has no application in the present instance. If you are poor I will give you a quarter, but only on condition that you apologize to my son.”
The stranger laughed.
“Why should I apologize to your son?” he asked.
“You pulled him off his wheel. Do you deny it?”
“No, I do not. Do you know what he did?”
“He brushed against you with his wheel, he tells me, accidentally.”
“So that is his version of it? He deliberately ran into me.”
“I gave you warning. I said ‘Out of the way, there!’” interrupted Clarence.
“Yes, but you had no right on the sidewalk.”
“It seems to me, sir, that you are remarkably independent for a man of your rank. Even if it had been as you say, you had no right to assault my son. I might have you arrested on your own confession, but I will forbear doing so on condition that you leave town at once.”