But the peddler persisted in his
demand, and grew louder and more vociferous in his language, calling
both Peter Jerrold and Hannah liars, and saying he would have his money
if he went to law to get it.
A violent quarrel then ensued, and such epithets as liar, cheat, and
swindler were freely interchanged, and then there was a simultaneous
spring at each other, the chairs were overturned and they were rolling
upon the floor, dealing each other fierce blows and tearing each other's
hair like wild beasts. It was the peddler who struck first, but Peter,
being the stronger of the two, got his antagonist under him, and with a
stick of wood which was lying upon the hearth struck him upon the head,
inflicting a fearful wound from which the blood flowed in torrents,
staining Peter's hands and face as he pushed back his hair, and sobered
him at once. But it was too late, for when Hannah, who, during the
fight, had cowered in the corner with her hands over her eyes, withdrew
them as the struggle ceased, and looked at the white, blood-stained face
over which her father was bending, she knew the man was dead, and with a
cry of horror, ran from the room out into the darkness, where shriek
after shriek of "_Murder! Murder!_" rang out upon the air and was
drowned by the louder scream of the terrible storm which was sweeping
over the hills that Thanksgiving night.
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