or a stab,
and struck furiously. Quick as was Dick's parry, he only half saved
himself, his hat spun into the road, and the whip whistled within an
inch of his ear. He made a step back, and stopped a second furious
stroke. The whip broke in the old man's hand, and he flung the remaining
fragment from him with a curse.

'I can't strike you, sir,' said Dick. 'You're her father.' Mountain's
choking breath filled in the pause, and Dick went on: 'You know well
enough there's not another man in England I'd take that from.'

'You're a coward, like all your tribe,' said Mountain.

'Not at all, I assure you, sir,' said Dick calmly. 'If you like to send
anybody else with that message, I'll talk to him. Let us talk sensibly.
What harm have I ever done you? Or my father either? Why should two
honest families keep up this ridiculous story, which ought to have been
buried ages back? Why not let bygones be bygones? I love your daughter.
I am a young man yet, sir, with my way to make in the world, and I
am going away to London to study. I met your daughter to-night to say
goodbye to her, and if you had not come I should have gone away and said
nothing until I could come and claim her, with a home worthy of her to
take her to.

But since you know, I speak now. We love each other, and intend to
marry.'

'Oh!' said Mountain. He had gone all on a sudden as cool as Dick, and
nothing but his stertorous breathing hinted of the rage which filled
him. 'That's it, is it? Then, if you're finished, hear me. I ain't got
the gift o' the gab as free as you, but I can mek plain my meanin',
p'raps. I'd rather see her a-layin' theer '(he pointed with a trembling
hand at the ground between them); 'I'd rather lay her there, dead afore
my eyes, an' screw her in her coffin a'terwards, than you or any o' your
kin should as much as look at her, wi' my goodwill. And now you've got
your answer, Mr. Fair an' Fine. Remember it, an' look out for yourself.
For, by the Lord! 'he went on, with a solemn malignity doubly terrible
in a man whose passion was ordinarily so violent, 'if iver I ketch you
round my house again, I'll put a bullet atween thy ribs as sure as my
naame's Samson Mountain.'

With this, he took his horse by the bridle, and passed through the gate,
leaving the young man to his own reflections. He took the beast to the
stable, delivered him into the care of a servant, and made straight
for the parlour, where his wife and Mrs. Rusker were seated