"Asa," said the father, advancing with a portion of that dignity with
which the hand of Nature seems to have invested the parental
character, "you have struck the brother of your mother!"
"I have struck the abuser of the whole family," returned the angry
youth; "and, unless he teaches his tongue a wiser language, he had
better part with it altogether, as the unruly member. I'm no great
performer with the knife, but, on an occasion, could make out, myself,
to cut off a slande--"
"Boy, twice have you forgotten yourself to-day. Be careful that it
does not happen the third time. When the law of the land is weak, it
is right the law of nature should be strong. You understand me, Asa;
and you know me. As for you, Abiram, the child has done you wrong, and
it is my place to see you righted. Remember; I tell you justice shall
be done; it is enough. But you have said hard things ag'in me and my
family. If the hounds of the law have put their bills on the trees and
stumps of the clearings, it was for no act of dishonesty as you know,
but because we maintain the rule that 'arth is common property.
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