Rennick.
Rennick chanced to overhear. Being aggressively in love with his
wife, he did not content himself with discharging Schwartz.
Instead, he thrashed the stalwart gardener, then and there; and
ended the drastic performance by pitching the beaten man, bodily,
out of the grounds.
Schwartz collected his battered anatomy and limped away to his
home in the hills just above. And, that night, he called into
council his two farmhand brothers and his wife.
Several characteristic plans of revenge were discussed in solemn
detail. These included the burning of the Rennick house or barn,
or both; the shooting of Rennick from among the hillside boulders
as the artist sketched; of waylaying him on his walk to the
post-office, by night, and crippling him for life; and other
suggestions equally dear to the hearts of rural malefactors.
But one plan after another was vetoed. To burn any of the
property would cause Rennick nothing worse than temporary
annoyance; as he merely rented the farm. Daylight shooting was a
dangerous and uncertain job; especially since automobiles had
opened up the district to constantly passing outsiders.
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