“Mr. Badger, you’re a fool!” exclaimed his wife sharply.
“It strikes me you’re a little in that way yourself, Mrs. Badger. Did you give him a floggin’? Ho, ho! you were in a great hurry to come away!”
“Mr. Badger, he fired at me with a pistol. I tell you he’s a dangerous boy to have in the house.”
“Oh, no, Mrs. Badger, you can manage him just as easy!”
“Shut up, Mr. Badger! How did I know he had a pistol? I tell you it’s a serious thing! Before morning, you, and Andrew Jackson, and me may be dead corpses!”
At this awful statement Andrew Jackson burst into a terrified howl.
“I’ll tell you what we’d better do, Mr. Badger. We’ll go into our room and lock ourselves in.”
“Let me come in, too,” said Andrew. “He’ll kill me! He hates me!”
“Yes, my darling, you may come, too!” said his mother.
So the valiant three locked themselves up in a chamber and listened nervously.