wall.
"Don't you be thinking too badly of us now," said Mrs. Makebelieve
with some agitation; "the child is too young altogether to be asking
her to marry. Maybe in a year or two--I said things I know, but I was
vexed, and...."

The big man nodded his head and marched out.

Mary ran to her mother moaning like a sick person, but Mrs.
Makebelieve did not look at her. She lay down on the bed and turned
her face to the wall, and she did not speak to Mary for a long time.

XXXI

When the young man who lodged with Mrs. Cafferty came in on the
following day he presented a deplorable appearance. His clothes were
torn and his face had several large strips of sticking-plaster on it,
but he seemed to be in a mood of extraordinary happiness
notwithstanding, and proclaimed that he had participated in the one
really great fight of his life-time, that he wasn't injured at all,
and that he wouldn't have missed it for a pension.

Mrs. Cafferty was wild with indignation, and marched him into Mrs.
Makebelieve's room, where he had to again tell his story and have his
injuries inspected and commiserated. Even Mr. Cafferty came into the
room on this occasion. He was a large, slow man dressed very
comfortably in a red beard--his beard was so red and so persistent
that it quite overshadowed the rest of his wrappings and did, indeed,
seem to clothe him. As he stood the six children walked in and out of
his legs, and stood on his feet in their proper turns without causing
him any apparent discomfort. During the young man's recital Mr.
Cafferty every now and then solemnly and powerfully smote his left
hand with his right fist, and requested that the aggressor should be
produced to him.

The young man said that as he was coming home the biggest man in the
world walked up to him. He had never set eyes on the man before in his
life, and thought at first he wanted to borrow a match or ask the way
to somewhere, or something like that, and, accordingly, he halted; but
the big man gripped him by the shoulder and said "You damned young
whelp," and then he laughed and hit him a tremendous blow with his
other hand. He twisted himself free at that, and said "What's that
for?" and then the big man made another desperate clout at him. A
fellow wasn't going to stand that kind of thing, so he let out at him
with his left and then jumped in with two short-arm jabs that must
have tickled the chap; that fellow didn't have it all his own way
anyhow