" I tell ye I hain't got no quar'll with ye,
Uncle Ben," continued Seth, retreating with
a malignant sneer ; " and when you talk of
protectin' other folks' property, mebbe ye 'd
better protect your own — or what ye 'd like
to call so — instead of quar'llin' with the
man that's helpin' ye. I've got yer the
proofs that that sneakin' hound of a Yankee
school-master that Cress McKinstry's hell



CRESS T. 225

bent on, and that the old man and old
woman are just chuckin' into her arms, is a
lyin', black-hearted, hypocritical seducer " —

" Stop ! " said Uncle Ben in a voice that
made the crazy casement rattle.
He strode towards Seth Davis, no longer
with his habitual careful, hesitating step,
but with a tread that seemed to shake the
whole school -room. A single dominant
clutch of his powerful right hand on the
young man's breast forced him backwards
into the vacant chair of the master. His
usually florid face had grown as gray as the
twilight; his menacing form in a moment
filled the little room and darkened the win-
dows. Then in some inexplicable reaction
his figure slightly drooped, he laid one heavy
hand tremblingly on the desk, and with the
other affected to wipe his mouth after his
old embarrassed fashion.
" What 's that you were sayin' o' Cressy? "
he said huskily.
" Wot everybody says," said the fright-
ened Seth, gaining a cowardly confidence un-
der his adversary's emotion. "Wot every
cub that sets yer under bis cantin' teachin',
and sees 'em together, knows. It 's wot
you 'd hev knowed ef he and Boop Filgee



226 CRESBT.
hadn't played ye fer a softy all the time.
