Still holding Phil by the shoulder with one hand, with the other
he took a glass which had just been filled with brandy; he was
about to pour it down his throat, when the glass was suddenly
dashed from his hand and broke upon the floor.
With a fresh oath Jack released his hold on Phil, and, maddened
with rage, threw himself upon the other. Instantly there was a
general melee. Phil did not wait to see the result. He ran to
the door, and, emerging into the street, ran away till he had
placed a considerable distance between himself and the disorderly
and drunken party in the barroom. The fight there continued
until the police, attracted by the noise, forced an entrance and
carried away the whole party to the station-house, where they had
a chance to sleep off their potations.
Freed from immediate danger, the young fiddler kept on his way.
He had witnessed such scenes before, as he had often been into
barrooms to play in the evening. He had not been paid for his
trouble, but he cared little for that, as the money would have
done him no good. He would only have been compelled to pass it
over to the padrone. These boys, even at a tender age, are
necessarily made familiar with the darker side of metropolitan
life.
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