d man a
push that would have sent him headlong into the gutter had Alfred not
caught him. Alfred stood Gideon on his feet.

Palmer backed off a pace or two, bowing and feinting as if to fight. He
cried mockingly: "Who, who art thou? What kind of meat does this, our
Caesar feed upon that he should thus command us?" Putting up his hands
prize-fighter fashion, he sparred towards Alfred. He made pass after
pass as if to strike the boy who stood motionless, permitting Palmer's
fists to fly by his face without moving or dodging.

Whether through Alfred's passiveness or by mistake, one of Palmer's
fists landed square on the nose of Alfred. The red blood spurted over
his shirt front. Before Jake or Gideon could interfere, Alfred had the
man by the coat collar raining open handed slaps on his face, slaps that
so resounded they could be heard above the confusion and bustle of the
encounter.

Palmer had become as a madman. Seizing Alfred's arm in his teeth,
sinking them into the flesh, he held on like a bulldog. The blows Alfred
rained on the man's face had no effect on him and it was only when
beaten into insensibility that the jaws relaxed.

The light was dim on the outside and those near by did not realize that
Palmer was biting the boy. The severe punishment he meted out to Palmer
did not meet with the approval of many. However, after they were
separated and Alfred exposed his lacerated arm the talk turned the other
way: "He did not give him half enough."

The landlord sent for a doctor; the arm was treated. Mrs. Palmer
assisted in binding up the wound. Alfred felt so humiliated he scarcely
knew how to thank her. He requested the doctor to go up and see Palmer,
but the good wife had attended to his injuries.

Palmer, his wife and Gideon, decided to travel to the next stop by
train. All day on the road Jake and Alfred were debating as to the
course they would pursue. Jake was inclined to demand a settlement at
once. Alfred persuaded him to hold off until he heard from home, then he
would endeavor to collect the amount due his father, and if Jake desired
to travel, he, Alfred, would organize a minstrel show and they would go
on the road right.

The panorama was set. Gideon was at the church but Mrs. Palmer and her
husband had not put in an appearance. Alfred ran out to the door to
inquire of Gideon as to whether Palmer would be on hand. Gideon assured
him that the husband and wife had left their lodgings with him and
sh