"Say, Barney, Thomas Payne's got your girl; did you know it, Barney ?" Barney turned threateningly, but he was helpless before his brother's sickly face, and Ephraim knew it.

That purple hue and that panting breath had gained an armistice for him on many a battle-field, and he had a certain triumph in it.

It was power of a lugubrious sort, certainly, but still it was power, and so to be enjoyed.
"Thomas Payne's got your girl," he repeated; "he was over there a-courtin' of her last night; a-settin' up along of her." Barney took a step forward, and Ephraim fell back a little, still grinning imperturbably.

"You mind your own business," Barney said, between his teeth; and right upon his words followed Ephraim's hoarse chuckle and his "Thomas Payne's got your girl." Barney turned about and went on with his planting.

Ephraim, standing a little aloof, somewhat warily since his brother's threatening advance, kept repeating his one remark, as mocking as the snarl of a mosquito.