“He will when he's disembarrassed and his adventures are on a dividend-paying adipoise,” said the barber, in a tearful voice.
“I think he is all right,” said the druggist.
Then little Willy Eddy added his pipe. He had been covertly smoothing out Tappan's crumpled newspaper. “He's real nice-spoken,” said he. “I guess he will come right in time.”
Tappan turned on him and snatched back his newspaper. “Here, I ain't done with that,” he said; “I've got to take it home to my wife.” Then he added, “For God's sake, you little fool, he ain't been swipin' anything from you, has he?”
Then the barber arose to the situation. He advanced, razor in hand. He strode up to the milkman and stood dramatically before him, arm raised and head thrown back. “Now, look at here,” he proclaimed, in a high falsetto, “I ain't agoin' to hear no asparagusment of my friends, not here in this tonsorial parlor. No, sir!” There was something at once touching, noble, and absurd about the demonstration. The others chuckled, then sobered, and watched.
Tappan stared at him a second incredulously. Then he grinned, showing his teeth like a dog.
“Lord! then that jailbird is one of your friends, is he?” he said. He had just lit his pipe. He puffed at it, and deliberately blew the smoke into the little barber's face.
Flynn bent over towards him with a sudden motion, and his mild, consequential face in the cloud of smoke changed into something terrible, from its very absurdity. His blue eyes glittered greenly; he lifted the razor and cut the air with it close to the other man's face. Tappan heard the hiss of it, and drew back involuntarily, his expression changing.
“What the devil are you up to?” he growled, with wary eyes on the other's face.
The barber continued to hold the razor like a bayonet in rest, fixed within an inch of the other's nose. “I'm up to kickin' you out of my parlor if you don't stop speakin' individuously disregardin' my friends,” said he, with an emphasis which was ridiculous and yet impressive. The other men chuckled again, then grew grave.