“He’s upstairs, thin.”
The padrone would not be restrained any longer. He made a rush forward, and, pushing Mrs. McGuire aside, sprang up the stairs. He would have found greater difficulty in doing this, but Bridget, knowing her husband was upstairs, made little resistance, and contented herself, after the padrone had passed, with intercepting Pietro, and clutching him vigorously by the hair, to his great discomfort, screaming “Murther!” at the top of her lungs.
The padrone heard the cry, but in his impetuosity he did not heed it. He expected to gain an easy victory over Phil, whom he supposed to be alone in the chamber. He sprang toward him, but had barely seized him by the arm, when the gigantic form of the Irishman appeared, and the padrone found himself in his powerful grasp.
“What business have ye here, you bloody villain?” demanded Pat; “breakin’ into an honest man’s house, without lave or license. I’ll teach you manners, you baste!”
“Give me the boy!” gasped the padrone.
“You can’t have him, thin!” said Pat “You want to bate him, you murderin’ ould villain!”
“I’ll have you arrested,” said the padrone, furiously, writhing vainly to get himself free. He was almost beside himself that Phil should be the witness of his humiliation.
“Will you, thin?” demanded Pat. “Thin the sooner you do it the betther. Open the window, Phil!”
Phil obeyed, not knowing why the request was made. He was soon enlightened. The Irishman seized the padrone, and, lifting him from the floor, carried him to the window, despite his struggles, and, thrusting him out, let him drop. It was only the second story, and there was no danger of serious injury. The padrone picked himself up, only to meet with another disaster. A passing policeman had heard Mrs. McGuire’s cries, and on hearing her account had arrested Pietro, and was just in time to arrest the padrone also, on the charge of forcibly entering the house. As the guardian of the peace marched off with Pietro on one side and the padrone on the other, Mrs. McGuire sat down on a chair and laughed till she cried.
“Shure, they won’t come for you again in a hurry, Phil, darlint!” she said. “They’ve got all they want, I’m thinkin’.”