"Charles!" (the third time.)
"Wha'nyewant?"
"They want you to go to bed, where you b'long."
"Gotobed? 'llseeyoudam'f'st! Leave'nofficer'nth'ouse? Guessnot!"
"Young'un, I say, take your hand out of my neckhan'kercher! Hold up!
None o' yer chokin' games! Quit, I say! or, by hokey, I'll settle ye!"
"_Thought_sh'dmakeyesquawk, ol't'bacc'worm! Go'n'tocl'out? Go'n'tovacateprem'scs?"
"Ooo-arr-awkk!" said the man, under the pressure of a tightening cravat, at the same time giving the assailant "a settler," as he had threatened. The two unfortunate women had hitherto looked down upon the conflict, as celestial beings might upon the affairs of men, with no small degree of interest, but clad in robes too ethereal to descend. But when they saw Charles felled to the floor, and a deathlike silence ensued, they forgot their fears, and rushed down the stairs. The officer had already raised Charles up. He was stunned, senseless, and his face was covered with blood.
"You brute! you have murdered him!" exclaimed Marcia.
"Guess not, Ma'am. Wet his head in col' water, put him to bed, an' he'll sleep it off."
"It's useless to talk to such a fellow," whispered Mrs. Sandford; "besides, we want his aid to carry Charles upstairs."