"No, Sir."
"Why not, Sir?"
"I am afraid you'd lay me up with a sprained ankle," said John, "and I should not get back to Doncaster as quickly as I must."
"It is very mean of him," said Gilbert, as John walked away
"I could whip him, I know."
"Who's that?" said Mr. Howard Marshman.
"John Humphreys."
"John Humphreys! You had better not meddle with him, my dear fellow. It would be no particular proof of wisdom."
"Why, he is no such great affair," said Gilbert, "he's tall enough, to be sure, but I don't believe he is heavier than I am."
"You don't know, in the first place, how to judge of the size of a perfectly well-made man; and, in the second place, I was not a match for him a year ago; so you may judge I do not know precisely," he went on to the lady he was walking with, "what it takes to rouse John Humphreys; but when he is roused, he seems to me to have strength enough for twice his bone and muscle. I have seen him do curious things once or twice!"
"That quiet Mr. Humphreys?"