This second round closed the battle. The Koh-i-noor had got
enough, which in such cases is more than as good as a feast. The young
fellow asked him if he was satisfied, and held out his hand. But the
other sulked, and muttered something about revenge.--Jest as y'
like,--said the young man John.--Clap a slice o' raw beefsteak on to
that mouse o' yours 'n' 't'll take down the swellin'. (_Mouse_ is a
technical term for a bluish, oblong, rounded elevation occasioned by
running one's forehead or eyebrow against another's knuckles.) The
young fellow was particularly pleased that he had had an opportunity of
trying his proficiency in the art of self-defence without the gloves.
The Koh-i-noor did not favor us with his company for a day or two,
being confined to his chamber, _it was said_, by a _slight feverish
attack_. He was chop-fallen always after this, and got negligent in his
person. The impression must have been a deep one; for it was observed,
that, when he came down again, his moustache and whiskers had turned
visibly white--_about the roots_. In short, it disgraced him, and
rendered still more conspicuous a tendency to drinking, of which he had
been for some time suspected. This, and the disgust which a young lady
naturally feels at hearing that her lover has been "licked by a fellah
not half his size," induced the landlady's daughter to take that
decided step which produced a change in the programme of her career I
may hereafter allude to.
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