"The darlin'"--this from Katy the barmaid, who reached him first--"who's
stomped on him?"
"How outrageous to be so cruel!"--this from the two maiden sisters.
"Give him to me, Katy--oh, the brute of a man!"--this from the fair
owner.
The solitary Englishman with his book and his furled umbrella, who in
his absorption had committed the crime, strode on without even raising
his hat in apology.
"D----d little beast!" I heard him mutter as he neared the boat-house
where Fin and I were stowing cargo. "Ought to be worn on a watch-chain
or in her buttonhole."
Fin had his hand on his lips keeping his laughing apparatus in order
until the solitary disappeared down the path to the trees, then he
leaned my way.
"I know him, sor," he whispered. "He's a barrister down in Temple Bar.
He don't remember me, sor, but I know him. He's always treadin' on
something--something alive--always, sor, and wid both feet! He trod on
me once. I thought it was him when I see him fust--but I wasn't sure
till I asked Landlord Hull about him.
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