I will make a gentleman of him and a lady of you.

But if you gainsay me another moment, I'll batter in the door, dash the brains of your brat out against the wall and carry you off by force wherever I please.' "Thereupon Mariora paid no more attention to me but began wringing her hands and I snatched up the child, who had been awakened by the noise and begun to cry.

I drew my pistol from my bosom and planted myself beside the door.

If there's nobody else, I thought, I must bear the brunt of it.
"The robber planted his shoulder against the door and pressed it inwards with tremendous force.

The boards cracked and as the middle of the door was barricaded by a stout beam, there was soon a regular gap between the two folds of the door and the door inclined more and more inwards.
Through the opening thus made, I held the pistol, pointed straight at his temples and only an inch away from him.