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161
'
The
next
case
was
that
of
assault
and
battery
committed
upon
a
money-lender
,
I
believe
;
and
the
defendant
--
a
venerable
villager
with
a
straight
white
beard
--
sat
on
a
mat
just
outside
the
door
with
his
sons
,
daughters
,
sons-in-law
,
their
wives
,
and
,
I
should
think
,
half
the
population
of
his
village
besides
,
squatting
or
standing
around
him
.
A
slim
dark
woman
,
with
part
of
her
back
and
one
black
shoulder
bared
,
and
with
a
thin
gold
ring
in
her
nose
,
suddenly
began
to
talk
in
a
high-pitched
,
shrewish
tone
.
The
man
with
me
instinctively
looked
up
at
her
.
We
were
then
just
through
the
door
,
passing
behind
Jim
's
burly
back
.
162
'
Whether
those
villagers
had
brought
the
yellow
dog
with
them
,
I
do
n't
know
.
Anyhow
,
a
dog
was
there
,
weaving
himself
in
and
out
amongst
people
's
legs
in
that
mute
stealthy
way
native
dogs
have
,
and
my
companion
stumbled
over
him
.
The
dog
leaped
away
without
a
sound
;
the
man
,
raising
his
voice
a
little
,
said
with
a
slow
laugh
,
"
Look
at
that
wretched
cur
,
"
and
directly
afterwards
we
became
separated
by
a
lot
of
people
pushing
in
.
I
stood
back
for
a
moment
against
the
wall
while
the
stranger
managed
to
get
down
the
steps
and
disappeared
.
I
saw
Jim
spin
round
.
He
made
a
step
forward
and
barred
my
way
.
We
were
alone
;
he
glared
at
me
with
an
air
of
stubborn
resolution
.
I
became
aware
I
was
being
held
up
,
so
to
speak
,
as
if
in
a
wood
.
163
The
verandah
was
empty
by
then
,
the
noise
and
movement
in
court
had
ceased
:
a
great
silence
fell
upon
the
building
,
in
which
,
somewhere
far
within
,
an
oriental
voice
began
to
whine
abjectly
.
The
dog
,
in
the
very
act
of
trying
to
sneak
in
at
the
door
,
sat
down
hurriedly
to
hunt
for
fleas
.
Отключить рекламу
164
"'
Did
you
speak
to
me
?
"
asked
Jim
very
low
,
and
bending
forward
,
not
so
much
towards
me
but
at
me
,
if
you
know
what
I
mean
.
I
said
"
No
"
at
once
.
Something
in
the
sound
of
that
quiet
tone
of
his
warned
me
to
be
on
my
defence
.
I
watched
him
.
It
was
very
much
like
a
meeting
in
a
wood
,
only
more
uncertain
in
its
issue
,
since
he
could
possibly
want
neither
my
money
nor
my
life
--
nothing
that
I
could
simply
give
up
or
defend
with
a
clear
conscience
.
"
You
say
you
did
n't
,
"
he
said
,
very
sombre
.
"
But
I
heard
.
"
"
Some
mistake
,
"
I
protested
,
utterly
at
a
loss
,
and
never
taking
my
eyes
off
him
.
To
watch
his
face
was
like
watching
a
darkening
sky
before
a
clap
of
thunder
,
shade
upon
shade
imperceptibly
coming
on
,
the
doom
growing
mysteriously
intense
in
the
calm
of
maturing
violence
.
165
"'
As
far
as
I
know
,
I
have
n't
opened
my
lips
in
your
hearing
,
"
I
affirmed
with
perfect
truth
.
I
was
getting
a
little
angry
,
too
,
at
the
absurdity
of
this
encounter
.
It
strikes
me
now
I
have
never
in
my
life
been
so
near
a
beating
--
I
mean
it
literally
;
a
beating
with
fists
.
I
suppose
I
had
some
hazy
prescience
of
that
eventuality
being
in
the
air
.
Not
that
he
was
actively
threatening
me
.
166
On
the
contrary
,
he
was
strangely
passive
--
do
n't
you
know
?
but
he
was
lowering
,
and
,
though
not
exceptionally
big
,
he
looked
generally
fit
to
demolish
a
wall
.
The
most
reassuring
symptom
I
noticed
was
a
kind
of
slow
and
ponderous
hesitation
,
which
I
took
as
a
tribute
to
the
evident
sincerity
of
my
manner
and
of
my
tone
.
We
faced
each
other
.
In
the
court
the
assault
case
was
proceeding
.
I
caught
the
words
:
"
Well
--
buffalo
--
stick
--
in
the
greatness
of
my
fear
...
"
167
"'
What
did
you
mean
by
staring
at
me
all
the
morning
?
"
said
Jim
at
last
.
He
looked
up
and
looked
down
again
.
"
Did
you
expect
us
all
to
sit
with
downcast
eyes
out
of
regard
for
your
susceptibilities
?
"
I
retorted
sharply
.
I
was
not
going
to
submit
meekly
to
any
of
his
nonsense
.
He
raised
his
eyes
again
,
and
this
time
continued
to
look
me
straight
in
the
face
.
"
No
.
That
's
all
right
,
"
he
pronounced
with
an
air
of
deliberating
with
himself
upon
the
truth
of
this
statement
--
"
that
's
all
right
.
I
am
going
through
with
that
.
Only
"
--
and
there
he
spoke
a
little
faster
--
"
I
wo
n't
let
any
man
call
me
names
outside
this
court
.
There
was
a
fellow
with
you
.
You
spoke
to
him
--
oh
yes
--
I
know
;
'
tis
all
very
fine
.
You
spoke
to
him
,
but
you
meant
me
to
hear
...
"
Отключить рекламу
168
'
I
assured
him
he
was
under
some
extraordinary
delusion
.
I
had
no
conception
how
it
came
about
.
"
You
thought
I
would
be
afraid
to
resent
this
,
"
he
said
,
with
just
a
faint
tinge
of
bitterness
.
169
I
was
interested
enough
to
discern
the
slightest
shades
of
expression
,
but
I
was
not
in
the
least
enlightened
;
yet
I
do
n't
know
what
in
these
words
,
or
perhaps
just
the
intonation
of
that
phrase
,
induced
me
suddenly
to
make
all
possible
allowances
for
him
.
I
ceased
to
be
annoyed
at
my
unexpected
predicament
.
It
was
some
mistake
on
his
part
;
he
was
blundering
,
and
I
had
an
intuition
that
the
blunder
was
of
an
odious
,
of
an
unfortunate
nature
.
I
was
anxious
to
end
this
scene
on
grounds
of
decency
,
just
as
one
is
anxious
to
cut
short
some
unprovoked
and
abominable
confidence
.
The
funniest
part
was
,
that
in
the
midst
of
all
these
considerations
of
the
higher
order
I
was
conscious
of
a
certain
trepidation
as
to
the
possibility
--
nay
,
likelihood
--
of
this
encounter
ending
in
some
disreputable
brawl
which
could
not
possibly
be
explained
,
and
would
make
me
ridiculous
.
I
did
not
hanker
after
a
three
days
'
celebrity
as
the
man
who
got
a
black
eye
or
something
of
the
sort
from
the
mate
of
the
Patna
.
He
,
in
all
probability
,
did
not
care
what
he
did
,
or
at
any
rate
would
be
fully
justified
in
his
own
eyes
.
It
took
no
magician
to
see
he
was
amazingly
angry
about
something
,
for
all
his
quiet
and
even
torpid
demeanour
.
I
do
n't
deny
I
was
extremely
desirous
to
pacify
him
at
all
costs
,
had
I
only
known
what
to
do
.
But
I
did
n't
know
,
as
you
may
well
imagine
.
It
was
a
blackness
without
a
single
gleam
.
We
confronted
each
other
in
silence
.
He
hung
fire
for
about
fifteen
seconds
,
then
made
a
step
nearer
,
and
I
made
ready
to
ward
off
a
blow
,
though
I
do
n't
think
I
moved
a
muscle
.
170
"
If
you
were
as
big
as
two
men
and
as
strong
as
six
,
"
he
said
very
softly
,
"
I
would
tell
you
what
I
think
of
you
.
You
...
"
"
Stop
!
"
I
exclaimed
.
This
checked
him
for
a
second
.
"
Before
you
tell
me
what
you
think
of
me
,
"
I
went
on
quickly
,
"
will
you
kindly
tell
me
what
it
is
I
've
said
or
done
?
"
During
the
pause
that
ensued
he
surveyed
me
with
indignation
,
while
I
made
supernatural
efforts
of
memory
,
in
which
I
was
hindered
by
the
oriental
voice
within
the
court-room
expostulating
with
impassioned
volubility
against
a
charge
of
falsehood
.
Then
we
spoke
almost
together
.
"
I
will
soon
show
you
I
am
not
,
"
he
said
,
in
a
tone
suggestive
of
a
crisis
.
"
I
declare
I
do
n't
know
,
"
I
protested
earnestly
at
the
same
time
.
He
tried
to
crush
me
by
the
scorn
of
his
glance
.
"
Now
that
you
see
I
am
not
afraid
you
try
to
crawl
out
of
it
,
"
he
said
.
"
Who
's
a
cur
now
--
hey
?
"
Then
,
at
last
,
I
understood
.