I won't
gratify him by going up there even to give him his orders. Demmed cad,
blowhard! Five o'clock, confound him! I daresay he's seen me and has
crawled off into the underbrush. He's afraid of me; he's a coward. It
is as I feared. I can't see the rascal. There's only one thing left
for me to do. I'll pin a note to this tree. Confound him, he shall
hear from me; he'll _have_ to read it."
Whereupon his lordship drew forth a large envelope from his pocket and
proceeded to fasten it to the trunk of a big tree which grew in the
middle of the road, an act of premeditation which showed strange
powers of prophecy. How could he, except by means of clairvoyance,
have known before leaving home that he was not to meet his enemy face
to face?
As Mr. Shaw afterward read the note and tossed it into the river, it
is only fair that the world should know its contents while it hung
unfolded to the bark of the tall tree. It said, in a very scrawling
hand: "Mr. Shaw, I have looked all over this end of your land for you
this afternoon. You doubtless choose to avoid me. So be it. Let me
state, once and for all, that your conduct is despicable. I came here
personally to tell you to keep off my land, henceforth and forever. I
will not repeat this warning, but will instead, if you persist, take
such summary measures as would befit a person of your instincts.
I trust you will feel the importance of keeping off." To this his
lordship bravely signed himself.
"There," he muttered, again holding his watch and fob up for close
inspection.
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