'
'She is not a pauper, and she is not going to the poor-house either,'
Harold exclaimed, while Jerry came in with her _nein, nein, nein_, which
made the bystanders laugh, as Peterkin went on, addressing himself to
Harold:
'You are her champion, hey, and intend to take care of her. Mighty fine,
I'm sure, but hadn't you better fetch back May Jane's pin that you took
at the party.'
'It is false,' Harold cried. 'I never saw the pin, never!' and the hot
tears sprang to his eyes at this unmanly assault.
By this time Peterkin, who felt that everybody was against him, was
swelling with rage, and seizing Harold by the collar, roared out:
'Do you tell me I lie! You rascal! I'll teach you what belongs to
manners!' and he would have struck the boy but for Jerry, who had been
watching him as a cat watches a mouse, and who, raising her war-cry of
'_nein, nein, nein_,' sprang at him like a little tiger, and by the
fierceness of her gestures and the volubility of her German jargon
actually compelled him to retreat step by step until she had him outside
the door, which she barred with her diminutive person. No one could help
laughing at the discomfited giant and the mite of a child facing him so
bravely, while she scolded at the top of her voice.
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