ked like hammers. 'Four!' he
said, and then he sprang for the boot, but Faddo's hand went down like
lightnin' too. I couldn't tell exactly how they clinched but once or
twice I saw the light flash on the steel. Then they came down together,
Faddo under, and when I looked again Faddo was lying eyes starin' wide,
and mouth all white with fear, for Lancy was holding the knife-point at
his throat. 'Stir an inch,' says Lancy, 'and aw'll pin ye to the lid o'
hell.'

"Three minutes by the clock he knelt there on Faddo's chest, the
knife-point touching the bone in's throat. Not one of us stirred, but
just stood lookin', and my own heart beat so hard it hurt me, and my
uncle steadyin' himself against the dresser. At last Lancy threw the
knife away into the fire.

"'Coward!' he said. 'A man would ha' taken the knife. Did you think aw
was goin' to gie my neck to the noose just to put your knife to proper
use? But don't stir till aw gie you the word, or aw'll choke the breath
o' life out o' ye.'

"At that Faddo sprung to clinch Laney's arms, but Laney's fingers caught
him in the throat, and I thought surely Faddo was gone, for his tongue
stood out a finger-length, and he was black in the face.

"'For God's sake, Lancy,' said my uncle, steppin' forward, 'let him go.'

"At that Lancy said: 'He's right enough. It's not the first time aw've
choked a coward. Throw cold water on him and gi' 'im brandy.'

"Sure enough, he wasn't dead. Lancy stood there watchin' us while we
fetched Faddo back, and I tell you, that was a narrow squeak for him.
When he got his senses again, and was sittin' there lookin' as if he'd
been hung and brought back to life, Lancy says to him: 'There, Jim
Faddo, aw've done wi' you as a man, and at twelve o'clock aw'll begin
wi' you as King's officer.' And at that, with a good-night to my uncle
and all of us, he turns on his heels and leaves the Book-in-Hand.

"I tell you, Cousin Fanny, though I'd been ripe for quarrel wi' Lancy
Doane myself that night, I could ha' took his hand like a brother, for
I never saw a man deal fairer wi' a scoundrel than he did wi' Jim Faddo.
You see, it wasn't what Faddo said about himself that made Laney wild,
but that about his brother Tom; and a man doesn't like his brother
spoken ill of by dirt like Faddo, be it true or false. And of Laney's
brother I'm goin' to write further on in this letter, for I doubt that
you know all I know about him, and the rest of what happened that ni