blow upon the victim's face and head.

There is hardly the shadow of a doubt but that Eben would have killed
Gabe there and then, so intense was his rage. But at this critical
moment Mrs. Grimsby caught him by the arm and attempted to pull him
away from her husband.

"Don't kill him, don't kill him," she pleaded. "Be careful what you
are doing."

This appeal brought Eben somewhat to his senses, and his hands relaxed.
He hesitated for a few seconds, and then rose slowly to his feet.

"He ought to be killed," he growled. "He's a brute."

"I know, I know," the woman agreed. "But you mustn't do it. It would
be murder, and you would be hung."

A grim smile overspread Eben's face, as he stepped back, and folded his
arms.

"Well, then, s'pose you kill him," he suggested. "He tried to kill
you, so it's better fer you to do it first."

"No, no," the woman protested. "There must be no killing here. Get
up, Gabe," she ordered, touching her husband with her foot. "You must
be thoroughly ashamed of yourself by this time. Maybe this will knock
some sense into your head."

Very reluctantly the defeated man drew himself up to his knees, and
then staggered to his feet. His face was swollen where Eben's fists
had fallen, and his eyes were wild with fear. He edged away from his
antagonist, and kept as close as possible to his wife.

"Don't let him touch me again," he begged. "He's not a human being,
but the devil in the form of a man. I never saw anything like him."

"Don't be such a coward," his wife chided. "If you behave yourself he
won't hurt you."

"Indeed I won't," Eben agreed. "But look here, Gabe Grimsby, if ye
ever lay hands on yer wife agin, an' I hear of it, I'll come an' tear
ye to pieces. D'ye call yerself a man to hit a woman, an' her yer
wife?"

"But she provoked me," Gabe defended.

"What did she do?"

"She stole my money; that's what she did."

"You're a liar," his wife charged. "It wasn't your money, anyway. I
merely took it back to where it belongs."

"Ye did?" Gabe snarled. "So that's where ye were, eh? Why didn't ye
tell me that before?"

"I didn't have to, Gabe Grimsby. If you'd acted like a man when you
came home, I might have told you. But, no, when you got here and found
that I was away, instead of staying with the children you went off to
the store. Then when you did come home and found that supper was not
ready because I just got back, you began to act like a demo