“What?”
“That he finished you off after he put me to sleep!”
Langford tried to spit in disgust, but despite the greatness of his disgust his mouth and salivic glands refused to function.
“Oh, man!––it makes me sick. The big, long-legged, red-haired devil has been learning to box on the quiet. And to think that he had that up his sleeve, and was just waiting for us!”
“Tell me what happened after I got mine, Jim. I haven’t heard it right yet.”
“Everything happened. I went out and picked you up. I got some of the boys to take you home after I knew that you weren’t really booked for ‘The Better Land.’ Then I went back to lick the stuffing out of Rob Roy. He was in there, grinning and throwing out his chest like a pouter pigeon.”
“‘You want the same dose?’ he asked.
“‘That’s what I came for,’ said I. And, Phil, between you and me, that’s just about what I got.
“We fought in the bar-room for three-quarters of an hour. I never hit him worth a rap, for he had a defence like the Rock o’ Gibraltar. He didn’t hit me very often, either, but when he did,––Oh, Lord! Well, to make a short story for a thirsty man, we had to quit, both of us, from sheer exhaustion. When we could hardly stand, the Mayor came in and separated us. He sent McGregor and his gang slap-bang home to Redmans. And after that––well, they filled me up to the neck. Oh, I was quite ready to be filled, Phil, for my pride was sorely humbled. And––I’ve been filled up to the neck ever since.