"Tell 'un to go an' larn hisself to grow whiskers fust!" cried a
second.
"Ay, to be sure, 'e aren't got so much as our old cat!" grinned a
third.
"Stay!" cried the one-eyed man, peering up at me beneath his
hand. "Is they whiskers a-peepin' at me over 'is cravat or do my
eyes deceive me?" Which pleasantry, called forth another roar of
laughter at my expense.
Now, very foolishly perhaps, this nonsense greatly exasperated
me, for I was, at that time, painfully conscious of my bare lips
and chin. It was, therefore, with an effort that I mastered my
quickly rising temper, and once more addressed myself to Cragg.
"I am willing," said I, "to accept your conditions and fight
you--for a guinea--or any other man here for that matter, except
the humorous gentleman with the watery eye, who can name his own
price." The fellow in question stared at me, glanced slowly
round, and, sitting down, buried his face in his tankard.
"Come, Tom Cragg," said I, "a while ago you seemed very anxious
for a man to fight; well--I'm your man," and with the words I
stripped off my coat and laid it across a chairback.
This apparent willingness on my part was but a cloak for my real
feelings, for I will not here disguise the fact that the prospect
before me was anything but agreeable; indeed my heart was thumping
in a most unpleasant manner, and my tongue and lips had become
strangely parched and dry, as I fronted Cragg.
Truly, he looked dangerous enough, with his beetling brow, his
great depth of chest, and massive shoulders; and the possibility
of a black eye or so, and general pounding from the fellow's
knotted fists, was daunting in the extreme. Still, the chance of
earning a guinea, even under such conditions, was not to be lightly
thrown away; therefore I folded my arms and waited with as much
resolution as I could.
"Sir," said Cragg, speaking in a very altered tone, "sir, you
seem oncommon--eager for it."
"I shall be glad to get it over," said I.
"If," he went on slowly, "if I said anything against--you know
who, I'm sorry for it--me 'aving the greatest respec' for--you
know who--you understand me, I think." And herewith he winked,
three separate and distinct times.
"No, I don't understand you in the least," said I, "nor do I
think it at all necessary; all that I care about is the guinea
in question."