Page:Lady Barbarity; a romance (IA ladybarbarityrom00snai).pdf/213

 *position, ma'am, but 'tis not the disposition of your niece, Bab Gossiter."

"You are the law, then, Barbara?"

"Nine-tenths of it," says I.

"Assertion will be a proof when assumption becomes a claim," says my sententious relative.

"Possession is allowed to be nine-tenths of it," says I; "and certainly I have possession of this most charming prisoner."

"A very temporary one," my aunt says. "'Tis my duty to advise my brother of this matter; and he will hold it his to acquaint Captain Grantley and other interested persons."

"That is as it may be," says I, calmly, "for I think that on reflection, my dearest aunt, you will do nothing of the kind."

"So and indeed!" cries my aunt, in an awful voice. "Barbara, this is gross—this is impertinence."

"It may be both, dear aunt," says I, "or it may be neither, but its truth, I know, and that I'll swear to."

"Defend my virtue!" cried my aunt; "this is beyond all suffering."

The iceberg strove to freeze me with her eye. And perhaps she would have done it, too, only that a bright idea took me at the moment and armed me with new brazenness. My masters of the other sex, if you would bend us to your will, do it with audacity. No palterings, no if-you-pleases, no apostrophes. Big, bullying Coercion does our business.