He led the way to a door opening upon the main stairway of the building and they paused there, Pollock with his back to the door, facing Balcomb. He carried one glove in his hand and was very trim and erect in his evening clothes.
“Mr. Balcomb, I was so unfortunate as to overhear your conversation of a moment ago—with some one I didn’t know, but that doesn’t matter—in which you referred to a young lady—a young lady who came here to-night under your escort, in terms that a gentleman would not use.”
“As a confessed eavesdropper I don’t believe it is necessary for you to say anything further,” said Balcomb, with heat, and he took a step toward the door of the assembly-room.
Pollock touched him on the shoulder with the tips of his fingers, very lightly. Balcomb was half a head taller and much bulkier, but the tips of Pollock’s fingers seemed to carry a certain insistence, and Balcomb drew back.
“I shall hold you responsible for this, you—”
“I certainly hope you will. As I was saying, you referred to a young lady, who was here under your protection, in terms which no one but a contemptible cur would use of a woman—”
Balcomb’s arm went up and he struck at Pollock with his fist.
The officer stood as he had been, but the glove in his right hand slapped smartly upon Balcomb’s face, and Balcomb took an involuntary step backward down the stairway.
“In the part of the country that I came from, Mr. Balcomb,” Pollock continued in an easy conversational tone, “we do very unpleasant things to bright and captivating people of your stripe”—he took another step forward, and Balcomb, a little white in the face, retreated again—“but in this instance”—Pollock lifted his left hand to his shadowy mustache and gave it a twist; he took another step and Balcomb yielded before him—“I shall let you off with unwarranted leniency.”
Balcomb, forced another step downward, had grown red with fury, and again struck at Pollock, but with the result that Balcomb stumbled and retreated two steps instead of one, reaching a landing. With this more secure footing he gained courage.