"I said I was a pine knot."
"Did you?"
"Did I? Didn't I just say I did?"
"If you did, you did. That's all. But who accused you of not being a
pine knot?"
Bradley chuckled, and William frowned at him; then, addressing himself
to the Judge, the old fellow said: "You did. You disputed it. You call
me a liar every time I open my mouth."
"William, you have often declared that you are not in the plot, but the
first thing you know you may break into it."
"No, I won't!" William exclaimed, shaking his finger. "And I won't
break into your intellectual atmosphere, either." He turned to Bradley.
"Why, sir, John is a regular professor, browbeating his class. He
expects everybody to talk book. I say, damn a book. I beg your pardon.
It is the first time I ever said that in the presence of a preacher."