"
The Viscount gasped.
"But--my dear fellow--to leave all that to your--servant! Oh, Gad!"
"But, as the Marquis remarked, Peterby is an inestimable fellow."
The Viscount eyed Barnabas with brows wrinkled in perplexity; then
all at once his expression changed.
"By the way," said he, "talking of Carnaby, he's got the most
beautiful eye you ever saw!"
"Oh?" said Barnabas, beginning to tuck in the ends of his neckerchief.
"And a devil of a split lip!"
"Oh?" said Barnabas again.
"And his coat had been nearly ripped off him; I saw it under his cape!"
"Ah?" said Barnabas, still busy with his neckcloth.
"And naturally enough," pursued the Viscount, "I've been trying to
imagine--yes, Bev, I've been racking my brain most damnably,
wondering why you--did it?
"It was in the wood," said Barnabas.
"So it _was_ you, then?"
"Yes, Dick."
"But--he didn't even mark you?"
"He lost his temper, Dick."
"You thrashed--Carnaby! Gad, Bev, there isn't a milling cove in
England could have done it."
"Yes--there are two--Natty Bell, and Glorious John."
"And I'll warrant he deserved it, Bev."
"I think so," said Barnabas; "it was in the wood, Dick.
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