They stopped, they cringed, they looked one at the
other, and then back at him, as a whipped dog looks at the master
who rates him. Thirsty Thring, who had drunk the most deeply, and
who was in consequence most filled with Dutch courage, ventured
once to look as though he were about to resist, or to dispute the
mandate of Lord Claud; but no sooner had he provoked that flash of
the eyes, than he too was cringing more humbly than his fellows.
To the great amazement of Tom, they took up their hats, and slunk
from the room like so many whipped curs. He heard them the next
minute chartering a wherry to take them to the shore once more.
Lord Claud had taken up his paper again, but meeting Tom's bashful
glance of mingled gratitude and admiration, he remarked to him with
a quiet smile:
"You are a stranger to London and its sons, lad; take this bit of
advice from one who knows both well: Never let any man badger and
insult you. Take no word from any; but return it with a blow or a
sword thrust. Make your name feared--it is the surest road to
success. Tavern and street brawls are taken little note of by the
administrators of the law; but better a few weeks' discipline in
Newgate, than to be the butt and victim of a set of vulgar street
swaggerers and swashbucklers such as those worthies we have just
seen depart.
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