I'll leave it to you.' Skepsey declared his intention to be the first to depart.

He tried the temper of the stick, bent it a bit, and admired the prompt straightening.
'It would give a good blow, sir.' 'Does its business without braining.' Perhaps for the reason, that it was not a handsome instrument for display on fashionable promenades, Dartrey chose it among his collection by preference; as ugly dogs of a known fidelity are chosen for companions.

The Demerara supple-jack surpasses bull-dogs in its fashion of assisting the master; for when once at it, the clownish-looking thing reflects upon him creditably, by developing a refined courtliness of style, while in no way showing a diminution of jolly ardour for the fray.

It will deal you the stroke of a bludgeon with the playfulness of a cane.

It bears resemblance to those accomplished natural actors, who conversationally present a dramatic situation in two or three spontaneous flourishes, and are themselves again, men of the world, the next minute.
Skepsey handed it back.