‘“Come, come!” said René. “You are not so big fool as you pretend, Dr. Break. No?”
‘Dr. Break backed toward the gate, watching Jerry’s pistol, and René followed him with his trumpet, like a nurse trying to amuse a child, and put the ridiculous thing to his ear to show how it was used, and talked of la Gloire, and la Humanité, and la Science, while Dr. Break watched Jerry’s pistol and swore. I nearly laughed aloud.
‘“Now listen! Now listen!” said René. “This will be moneys in your pockets, my dear confrère. You will become rich.”
‘Then Dr. Break said something about adventurers who could not earn an honest living in their own country creeping into decent houses and taking advantage of gentlemen’s confidence to enrich themselves by base intrigues.
‘René dropped his absurd trumpet and made one of his best bows. I knew he was angry from the way he rolled his “r’s.”
‘“Ver-r-ry good,” said he. “For that I shall have much pleasure to kill you now and here. Monsieur Gamm"—another bow to Jerry—"you will please lend him your pistol, or he shall have mine. I give you my word I know not which is best; and if he will choose a second from his friends over there"—another bow to our drunken yokels at the gate—"we will commence.”
‘“That’s fair enough,” said Jerry. “Tom Dunch, you owe it to the doctor to be his second. Place your man.”
‘“No,” said Tom. “No mixin’ in gentry’s quarrels for me.” And he shook his head and went out, and the others followed him.
‘“Hold on,” said Jerry. “You’ve forgot what you set out to do up at the alehouse just now. You was goin’ to search me for witchmarks; you was goin’ to duck me in the pond; you was goin’ to drag all my bits o’ sticks out o’ my little cottage here. What’s the matter with you? Wouldn’t you like to be with your old woman to-night, Tom?”
‘But they didn’t even look back, much less come. They ran to the village alehouse like hares.