An naow, ye've got tew be cap'n, whether or no."
"Well," said Perez, "If I can do anything for you, I will. We're all
in the same boat, I suppose. But if I'm captain, you two must be
lieutenants."
"Yes, we're a gonter be," replied Abner. "Ye kin depend on us in a
scrimmage, but ye muss sass the silk stockins."
Meanwhile the men, as they marched along the road in some semblance of
military order, were eagerly discussing the recent passage between the
dreaded Squire and their new champion. Their feeling about Perez
seemed to be a certain odd mingling of respect, with an exultant sense
of proprietorship in him as a representative of their own class, a
farmer's son who had made himself as fine a gentleman as any of the
silk stockings, and could face down the Squire himself.
"Did ye see haow Squire looked at Perez wen Pete begun tew drum?"
observed Peleg. "I reckoned he wuz a gonter lay hans ontew him."
"Ef he had, by jimmeny, I b'leeve Cap'n would a hit him a crack ez
would a knocked him inter the middle o' nex week," said Meshech.
"Oh, gosh, I ony wisht he hed," cried Obadiah, quite carried away at
the wild thought of the mighty Squire rolling on the grass with a
bloody nose.
Pages:
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123