He said he did not doubt but
that he would do the same with one of the archangels. He afterwards sold
Roscoe a watch at cost, but confessed to me that the works of the watch
had been smuggled. He said he was so fond of the parson that he felt he
had to give him a chance of good things. It was not uncommon for him to
discourse of Roscoe's quality in the bar-rooms of Sunburst and Viking, in
which he was ably seconded by Phil Boldrick, an eccentric, warm-hearted
fellow, who was so occupied in the affairs of the villages generally, and
so much an advisory board to the authorities, that he had little time
left to progress industrially himself.
Once when a noted bully came to Viking, and, out of sheer bravado and
meanness, insulted Roscoe in the streets, two or three river-drivers came
forward to avenge the insult. It was quite needless, for the clergyman
had promptly taken the case in his own hands. Waving them back, he said
to the bully: "I have no weapon, and if I had, I could not take your
life, nor try to take it; and you know that very well. But I propose to
meet your insolence--the first shown me in this town.
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