I am not the man to cause
differences between persons near akin; I will therefore leave you; we
will have further speech on the subject of our discourse."
He moved away. A moment after, Richard Burke came up in a towering
passion.
"You brave me, do you?" he cried. "Did I not forbid you to converse with
that vagabond?"
"You have no right to dictate to me on such matters," said Desmond hotly,
facing his brother.
"I've no right, haven't I?" shouted Richard. "I've a guardian's right to
thrash you if you disobey me, and by George! I'll keep my promise."
He lifted the riding whip, without which he seldom went abroad, and
struck at Desmond. But the boy's blood was up. He sprang aside as the
thong fell; it missed him, and before the whip could be raised again he
had leaped towards his brother. Wrenching the stock from his grasp,
Desmond flung the whip over the hedge into a green-mantled pool, and
stood, his cheeks pale, his fists clenched, his eyes flaming, before the
astonished man.
"Coward!" he cried, "'tis the last time you lay hands on me."
Recovered from his amazement at Desmond's resistance, Richard, purple
with wrath, advanced to seize the boy. But Desmond, nimbly evading his
clutch, slipped his foot within his brother's, and with a dexterous
movement tripped him up, so that he fell sprawling, with many an oath, on
the miry road. Before he could regain his feet, Desmond had vaulted the
hedge and set off at a run towards home.
Pages:
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56