Samson's toe touched the pistol which had dropped from Farbish's hand
and he contemptuously kicked it to one side. He came back to his place.
"Now, Mr. Horton," he said to the man who stood looking about with a
dazed expression, "if you're still of the same mind, I can accommodate
you. You lied when you said I was a savage--though just now it sort of
looks like I was, and"--he paused, then added--"and I'm ready either to
fight or shake hands. Either way suits me."
For the moment, Horton did not speak, and Samson slowly went on: "But, whether we fight or not, you've got to shake hands with me when
we're finished. You and me ain't going to start a feud. This is the
first time I've ever refused to let a man be my enemy if he wanted to.
I've got my own reasons. I'm going to make you shake hands with me
whether you like it or not, but if you want to fight first it's
satisfactory. You said awhile ago you would be glad to be more explicit
with me when we were alone--" He paused and looked about the room.
"Shall I throw these damned murderers out of here, or will you go into
another room and talk?"
"Leave them where they are," said Horton, quietly. "We'll go into the
reading-room. Have you killed any of them?"
"I don't know," said the other, curtly, "and I don't care."
When they were alone, Samson went on: "I know what you want to ask me about, and I don't mean to answer you.
You want to question me about Miss Lescott. Whatever she and I have
done doesn't concern you, I will say this much: if I've been ignorant
of New York ways, and my ignorance has embarrassed her, I'm sorry.
"I suppose you know that she's too damned good for you--just like she's
too good for me. But she thinks more of you than she does of me--and
she's yours. As for me, I have nothing to apologize to you for. Maybe, I
have something to ask her pardon about, but she hasn't asked it.
"George Lescott brought me up here, and befriended me. Until a year
ago, I had never known any life except that of the Cumberland
Mountains. Until I met Miss Lescott, I had never known a woman of your
world. She was good to me. She saw that in spite of my roughness and
ignorance I wanted to learn, and she taught me. You chose to
misunderstand, and dislike me. These men saw that, and believed that,
if they could make you insult me, they could make me kill you. As to
your part, they succeeded. I didn't see fit to oblige them, but, now
that I've settled with them, I'm willing to give you satisfaction. Do
we fight now, and shake hands afterward, or do we shake hands without
fighting?"