I Therefore Rose Quietly From My Seat,
And, Approaching Him To Within A Convenient Distance For
Striking, If Necessary, I Begged Him Very Politely To Leave My
People To Themselves, As We Should Depart On The Following
Morning.
He replied with great impertinence, and insisted upon
fighting one or all of our party.
I accommodated him without a
moment's delay, as, stepping half a pace backwards, I came in
with a left and right as fast as a rapid double-hit could be
delivered, with both blows upon his impudent mouth. In an instant
he was on his back, with his heels in the air; and, as I prepared
to operate upon his backer, or upon any bystander who might have
a penchant for fighting, the crowd gave way, and immediately
devoted themselves to their companion, who lay upon the ground in
stupid astonishment, with his fingers down his throat searching
for a tooth; his eyes were fixed upon my hands to discover the
weapon with which he had been wounded. His friends began to wipe
the blood from his face and clothes, and at this juncture the
sheik of the village appeared for the first time.
To my astonishment he was extremely civil; a sudden reaction had
taken place, the Tokrooris had had their row, and were apparently
satisfied. The sheik begged me not to kill his people by hitting
them, "as they were mere chickens, who would at once die if I
were to strike them with my fist." I begged him to keep his
"chickens" in better order, and at once to order them away from
our immediate neighbourhood.
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