"
"Have a glass of soda water," said I.
He made a crack at me. "You're afraid of me, Munro.
That's what's the matter with you," he snarled.
This was getting too hot, Bertie. I saw all the
folly of the thing. I believed that I might whip him;
but at the same time I knew that we were so much of a
match that we would both get pretty badly cut up without
any possible object to serve. For all that, I took my
gloves off, and I think perhaps it was the wisest course
after all. If Cullingworth once thought he had the
whiphand of you, you might be sorry for it afterwards.
But, as fate would have it, our little barney was
nipped in the bud. Mrs. Cullingworth came into the room
at that instant, and screamed out when she saw her
husband. His nose was bleeding and his chin was all
slobbered with blood, so that I don't wonder that it gave
her a turn.
"James!" she screamed; and then to me": "What is the
meaning of this, Mr. Munro?"
You should have seen the hatred in her dove's eyes.
I felt an insane impulse to pick her up and kiss her.
"We've only been having a little spar, Mrs.
Cullingworth," said I. "Your husband was complaining
that he never got any exercise."
"It's all right, Hetty," said he, pulling his coat on
again. "Don't be a little stupid. Are the servants gone
to bed? Well, you might bring some water in a basin from
the kitchen. Sit down, Munro, and light your pipe again.
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