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settle your own quarrel, Captain Quin;' and coming over to me,
whispered, 'At him again, you little fellow.'
'As long as Mr. Quin withdraws his claim,' said I, 'I, of course, do
not interfere.'
'I do, sir--I do,' said Mr. Quin, more and more flustered.
'Then defend yourself like a man, curse you!' cried Mick again.
'Mysie, lead this poor victim away--Redmond and Fagan will see fair
play between us.'
'Well now--I don't--give me time--I'm puzzled--I--I don't know which
way to look.'
'Like the donkey betwixt the two bundles of hay,' said Mr. Fagan
drily, 'and there's pretty pickings on either side.'
CHAPTER II
I SHOW MYSELF TO BE A MAN OF SPIRIT
During this dispute, my cousin Nora did the only thing that a lady,
under such circumstances, could do, and fainted in due form. I was
in hot altercation with Mick at the time, or I should have, of
course, flown to her assistance, but Captain Fagan (a dry sort of
fellow this Fagan was) prevented me, saying, 'I advise you to leave
the young lady to herself, Master Redmond, and be sure she will come
to.' And so indeed, after a while, she did, which has shown me since
that Fagan knew the world pretty well, for many's the lady I've seen
in after times recover in a similar manner. Quin did not offer to
help her, you may be sure, for, in the midst of the diversion,
caused by her screaming, the faithless bully stole away.
'Which of us is Captain Quin to engage?' said I to Mick; for it was
my first affair, and I was as proud of it as of a suit of laced
velvet. 'Is it you or I, Cousin Mick, that is to have the honour of
chastising this insolent Englishman?' And I held out my hand as I
spoke, for my heart melted towards my cousin under the triumph of
the moment.
But he rejected the proffered offer of friendship. 'You--you!' said
he, in a towering passion; 'hang you for a meddling brat: your hand
is in everybody's pie. What business had you to come brawling and
quarrelling here, with a gentleman who has fifteen hundred a year?'
'Oh,' gasped Nora, from the stone bench, 'I shall die: I know I
shall. I shall never leave this spot.'
'The Captain's not gone yet,' whispered Fagan; on which Nora, giving
him an indignant look, jumped up and walked towards the house.
'Meanwhile,' Mick continued, 'what business have you, you meddling
rascal, to interfere with a daughter of this house?'
'Rascal yourself!' roared I: 'call me another such name, Mick Brady,
and I'll drive my hanger into your weasand. Recollect, I stood to
you when I was eleven years old. I'm your match now, and, by Jove,
provoke me, and I'll beat you like--like your younger brother always
did.' That was a home-cut, and I saw Mick turn blue with fury.
'This is a pretty way to recommend yourself to the family,' said
Fagan, in a soothing tone.
'The girl's old enough to be his mother,' growled Mick.
'Old or not,' I replied: 'you listen to this, Mick Brady' (and I
swore a tremendous oath, that need not be put down here): 'the man
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