This reminder that the police might balk him of his prey seemed to move
Cashel. He took a step forward. The excitement of the crowd rose to a
climax; and a little man near Lydia cut a frenzied caper and screamed,
“Go it, Cashel Byron.”
At these words Teddy was terror-stricken. He made no attempt to disguise
his condition. “It ain’t fair,” he exclaimed, retreating as far as the
crowd would permit him. “I give in. Cut it, master; you’re too clever
for me.” But his comrades, with a pitiless jeer, pushed him towards
Cashel, who advanced remorselessly. Teddy dropped on both knees.
“Wot can a man say more than that he’s had enough?” he pleaded. “Be a
Englishman, master; and don’t hit a man when he’s down.”
“Down!” said Cashel. “How long will you stay down if I choose to have
you up?” And, suiting the action to the word, he seized Teddy with his
left hand, lifted him to his feet, threw him into a helpless position
across his knee, and poised his right fist like a hammer over his
upturned face. “Now,” he said, “you’re not down. What have you to say
for yourself before I knock your face down your throat?”
“Don’t do it, gov’nor,” gasped Teddy. “I didn’t mean no harm. How was
I to know that the young lady was a pal o’ yourn?” Here he struggled a
little; and his face assumed a darker hue. “Let go, master,” he cried,
almost inarticulately. “You’re ch--choking me.”
“Pray let him go,” said Lydia, disengaging herself from the butcher and
catching Cashel’s arm.
Cashel, with a start, relaxed his grasp; and Teddy rolled on the ground.
He went away thrusting his hands iuto his sleeves, and out-facing his
disgrace by a callous grin. Cashel, without speaking, offered Lydia
his arm; and she, seeing that her best course was to get away from that
place with as few words as possible, accepted it, and then turned and
thanked the butcher, who blushed and became speechless. The little man
whose exclamation had interrupted the combat, now waved his hat, and
cried,
“The British Lion forever! Three cheers for Cashel Byron.”
Cashel turned upon him curtly, and said, “Don’t you make so free with
other people’s names, or perhaps you may get into trouble yourself.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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