once
told me--how she had defended herself against her brother by striking
him with a chair.

"That is what I will do, I said to myself, trembling with excitement, if
my father tries to beat me again. I am too old to be whipped any more. I
don't care if he kills me, I will do it. Perhaps when I die, and they
see my grave, they'll be sorry.

"When father came home in the evening, he seemed to sense trouble at
once, for suddenly coming down on the table with his fist, he demanded:
'What in hell is the matter? Here you both are going around with faces
as if you were at a funeral. I'm working hard all day, and when I come
home at night, by God, I don't want to see such faces around me. What in
hell is it, now tell me!'

"Mother told him, and he said: 'Very well, just wait till I've had
supper, for I'm damned hungry, then we'll have a little understanding
with my lady, who's so mighty high-toned since she worked for those
swells. I'll soon show her, though, she is no better than we are.'

"When the important task of supper was over he called me to him. I was
trembling in every limb, for I knew that my father was a man of few
words and that he would without delay proceed to action. I managed to
get a chair between him and me. He went to work deliberately, as if he
were a prize-fighter. First, he spat on his hands, and was about to give
me a knock-out-blow, when I, with the courage of desperation, raised the
chair above my head, crying out, 'Father, if you strike me, I'll hit you
with this chair.' He was so astonished at my audacity that his arms fell
to his sides and he gazed at me as if he had lost his senses. I took
advantage of this pause to make for the door, but before I could escape,
he seized me by the arm and hurled me back into the room, and then with
blood-shot eyes and bull-like voice he cursed and cursed. My mother,
fearing the effect of his terrible rage, tried to intercede, but he
pushed her aside, shouting, 'Oh, she's the daughter of her mother all
right, and she'll turn out to be a damned ---- just like you!'

"He then came up to me, where I was standing really expecting my death,
and to my surprise only pressed his fist gently against my head saying:
'See how easily I could crush you. The next time I hear anything about
you, I will.' Cursing me and mother, he left the house and he took him
to a nearby saloon where he drank himself insensible. Toward morning he
was brought home. Poor man, he just couldn'