The Virginia horse will make the county
too hot to hold us."
"I'll have his blood," muttered the leader, "if I die for it the next
instant."
"Oh, you are very valiant here, in the wood," cried the other, with a
savage laugh. "Why did you, who boast so much of your aim, miss your
man, at thirty yards?"
"'Twas the horseman that disturbed me, or I would have ended this
Captain Lawton on the spot; besides, the cold had set me a-shivering,
and I had no longer a steady hand."
"Say it was fear, and you will tell no lie," said his comrade with a
sneer. "For my part, I think I shall never be cold again; my back burns
as if a thousand gridirons were laid on it."
"And you would tamely submit to such usage, and kiss the rod that beat
you?"
"As for kissing the rod, it would be no easy matter. Mine was broken
into so small pieces, on my own shoulders, that it would be difficult to
find one big enough to kiss; but I would rather submit to lose half my
skin, than to lose the whole of it, with my ears in the bargain. And
such will be our fates, if we tempt this mad Virginian again. God
willing, I would at any time give him enough of my hide to make a pair
of jack boots, to get out of his hands with the remainder. If you had
known when you were well off, you would have stuck to Major Dunwoodie,
who don't know half so much of our evil doings.
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