"As sure as I shall answer for it on the Last Day," he said, warmly.
"And do you know to whom you are speaking?"
"To a friend, I suppose, and one of my own name."
"No, you damned rascal!" I roared, and caught him by the throat with my left hand, twitching out my dirk in my right, and throwing him on his back. "I am that very McDowell you stood ready to murder!" And I was within an ace of running him through the heart, when I suddenly reflected that I was quite alone, in a place where I was in a manner a stranger, and among people whom I had every reason to distrust. I got up, thrust my dirk into its sheath, and walked off without a word, leaving the fellow lying where I had thrown him.
I met Mr. McKenzie in the entry, who asked me where I had been.
"Taking a turn," said I.
"Have you met with anything to vex you?"
"No," said I, smiling.
"Sir," said he, "I ask your pardon, but you went out with an innocent and harmless countenance, and you come in with a complexion fierce beyond description."
"Come, come, Mr. McKenzie," said I, laughing, "none of your scrutinizing remarks; let us have our morning."