Page:The Partisan (revised).djvu/36

 trepidation, and placed himself, as he addressed John Davis, between him and the sergeant.

"Yes, I know perfectly what I say, Master Humphries; and I say it's very unmannerly, the way in which the stranger has been pestered with foolish questions. I say it, and I say it again; and I don't care who hears it.  I'm ready to stand up to what I say."

"Bless me, the boy's mad! Now, sergeant, don't mind him&mdash;he's only foolish, you see."

"Mind him&mdash;oh no! Look you, young man, do you see that tree? It won't take much treason to tuck you up there."

"Treason, indeed! I talk no treason, Sergeant Hastings, and I defy you to prove any agin me. I'm not to be frightened this time o' day, I'd have you to know; and though you are a sodger, and wear a red coat, let me tell you there is a tough colt in the woods that your two legs can't straddle.  There is no treason in that, for it only concerns one person, and that one person is your own self, and I'm as good a man as you any day."

"You d&mdash;d rebel, is it so you speak to a sergeant in his majesty's service? Take that"&mdash;and with the words, with his sword drawn at the instant, he made a stroke with the flat of it at the head of the sturdy disputant, which, as the latter somewhat anticipated the assault, he was prepared to elude. This was done adroitly enough, and with a huge club which stood conveniently in the corner, he had prepared himself without fear to guard against a repetition of the attack, when the stranger, about whom the coil had arisen, suddenly made his appearance, and at once interposed between the parties.