"Don't you worry, young feller. I'll come at it soon enough," went on Bacon, as he turned up another burr in a very awkward corner. In his nervous excitement the wrench slipped, banging his knuckle. "Ouch! Thunder--m-m-m!" howled and snarled the wounded man. "What's the matter? Bark y'r knuckle?" queried Lime, feeling a mighty impulse to laugh. But when he saw the old savage straighten up and glare at him he sobered. Bacon was now in a frightful temper. The veins in his great, bare, weather-beaten neck swelled dangerously. "Jest let me say right here that I've had enough o' you. You can't live on the same acre with my girl another day." "What makes ye think I can't?" It was now the young man's turn to draw himself up, and as he faced the old man, his arms folded and each vast hand grasping an elbow, he looked like a statue of red granite, and the hands resembled the paws of a crouching lion; but his eyes smiled. "I don't _think_, I know ye won't." "What's the objection to me?" "Objection? Hell! What's the inducement? My hired man, an' not three shirts to yer back!" "That's another; I've got four. Say, old man, did you ever work out for a living?" "That's none o' your business," growled Bacon a little taken down. "I've worked an' scraped, an' got t'gether a little prop'ty here, an' they ain't no sucker like you goun' to come 'long here, an' live off me, an' spend my prop'ty after I'm dead. You can jest bet high on that." "Who's goin' t' live on ye?" "You're aimun' to." "I ain't, neither." "Yes, y'are. You've loafed on me ever since I hired ye." "That's a--" Lime checked himself for Marietta's sake, and the enraged father went on:-- "I hired ye t' cut wood, an' you've gone an' fooled my daughter away from me. Now you just figger up what I owe ye, and git out o' here. Ye can't go too soon t' suit _me_." Bacon was renowned as the hardest man to handle in Cedar County, and though he was getting old, he was still a terror to his neighbors when roused. He was honest, temperate, and a good neighbor until something carried him off his balance; then he became as cruel as a panther and as savage as a grisly. All this Lime knew, but it did not keep his anger down so much as did the thought of Marietta. His silence infuriated Bacon, who yelled hoarsely:-- "Git out o' this!" "Don't be in a rush, ol' man--" Bacon hurled himself upon Lime, who threw out one hand and stopped him, while he said in a low voice:-- "Stay right where you are, ol' man. I'm dangerous. It's for Merry's sake--" The infuriated old man struck at him. Lime warded off the blow, and with a sudden wrench and twist threw him to the ground with frightful force. Before Bacon could rise, Marietta, who had witnessed the scene, came flying from the house. "Lime! Father! What are you doing?" "I--couldn't help it, Merry. It was him 'r me," said Lime, almost sadly. "Dad, ain't you got no sense? What 're you thinking of? You jest stop right now. I won't have it."