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“Mr。Dodd，Iscarcebelieveyoucanbeseriousinthisoffer。”hereplied。“Haveyouforgottenthecircumstancesofthecase？
Doyouknowthesepeoplearethemagnatesofthesection？
Theywerespokenofto-nightinthesaloon；theirwealthmustamounttomanymillionsofdollarsinrealestatealone；theirhouseisoneofthesightsofthelocality，andyouoffermeabribeofafewhundred！”
“Iofferyounobribe，Mr。Bellairs，Igiveyoualms。”Ireturned。
“Iwilldonothingtoforwardyouinyourhatefulbusiness；yetI
wouldnotwillinglyhaveyoustarve。”
“Givemeahundreddollarsthen，andbedonewithit。”hecried。
“IwilldowhatIhavesaid，andneithermorenorless。”saidI。
“Takecare。”hecried。“Youareplayingafool’sgame；youaremakinganenemyfornothing；youwillgainnothingbythis，I
warnyouofit！”Andthenwithoneofhischanges，“Seventydollars——onlyseventy——inmercy，Mr。Dodd，incommoncharity。
Don’tdashthebowlfrommylips！Youhaveakindlyheart。
Thinkofmyposition，remembermyunhappywife。”
“Youshouldhavethoughtofherbefore。”saidI。“Ihavemademyoffer，andIwishtosleep。”
“Isthatyourlastword，sir？Prayconsider；prayweighbothsides：mymisery，yourowndanger。Iwarnyou——Ibeseechyou；measureitwellbeforeyouanswer。”sohehalfpleaded，halfthreatenedme，withclaspedhands。
“Myfirstword，andmylast。”saidI。
Thechangeuponthemanwasshocking。Inthestormofangerthatnowshookhim，theleesofhisintoxicationroseagaintothesurface；hisfacewasdeformed，hiswordsinsanewithfury；
hispantomimeexcessiveinitself，wasdistortedbyanaccessofSt。Vitus。
“Youwillperhapsallowmetoinformyouofmycoldopinion。”
hebegan，apparentlyself-possessed，trulyburstingwithrage：
“whenIamaglorifiedsaint，Ishallseeyouhowlingforadropofwaterandexulttoseeyou。Thatyourlastword！Takeitinyourface，youspy，youfalsefriend，youfathypocrite！Idefy，I
defyanddespiseandspituponyou！I’monthetrail，histrailoryours，Ismellblood，I’llfollowitonmyhandsandknees，I’llstarvetofollowit！I’llhuntyoudown，huntyou，huntyoudown！IfIwerestrong，I’dtearyourvitalsout，hereinthisroom——tearthemout——I’dtearthemout！Damn，damn，damn！
Youthinkmeweak！Icanbite，bitetotheblood，biteyou，hurtyou，disgraceyou。”
Hewasthusincoherentlyraging，whenthescenewasinterruptedbythearrivalofthelandlordandinnservantsinvariousdegreesofdeshabille，andtothemIgavemytemporarylunaticincharge。
“Takehimtohisroom。”Isaid，“he’sonlydrunk。”
Theseweremywords；butIknewbetter。AfterallmystudyofMr。Bellairs，onediscoveryhadbeenreservedforthelastmoment：thatofhislatentandessentialmadness。
LongbeforeIwasawake，theshysterhaddisappeared，leavinghisbillunpaid。Ididnotneedtoinquirewherehewasgone，I
knewtoowell，Iknewtherewasnothingleftmebuttofollow；
andaboutteninthemorning，setforthinagigforStallbridge-le-Carthew。
Theroad，forthefirstquarteroftheway，desertsthevalleyoftheriver，andcrossesthesummitofachalk-down，grazedoverbyflocksofsheepandhauntedbyinnumerablelarks。Itwasapleasantbutavacantscene，arousingbutnotholdingtheattention；andmymindreturnedtotheviolentpassageofthenightbefore。MythoughtofthemanIwaspursuinghadbeengreatlychanged。Iconceivedofhim，somewhereinfrontofme，uponhisdangerouserrand，nottobeturnedaside，nottobestopped，byeitherfearorreason。Ihadcalledhimaferret；I
conceivedhimnowasamaddog。Methoughthewouldrun，notwalk；methought，asheran，thathewouldbarkandfrothatthelips；methought，ifthegreatwallofChinaweretoriseacrosshispath，hewouldattackitwithhisnails。
Presentlytheroadleftthedown，returnedbyaprecipitousdescentintothevalleyoftheStall，andranthenceforwardamongenclosedfieldsandunderthecontinuousshadeoftrees。
IwastoldwehadnowenteredontheCarthewproperty。Byandby，abattlementedwallappearedonthelefthand，andalittleafterIhad
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