106 THE ST, REGIS AND SARANACS. 



afraid I'll make a l)ad jol) of it; and I mio-lit cut you hor- 

 ribly. " 



With a sio'h of comminoied desperation and relief, the 

 Sheriff replied : 



"If 3^ou'll try it, I'll take the risk. " 



With a face that had to be kept long-, because it twitched 

 with suppressed lauohter, I proceeded to the tonsorial task. 

 I planted him in a chair squarely before the window, lath- 

 ered his face until the whole rugged surface looked like a 

 meringue ; and girding myself for the labor not put down 

 as one of the labors of Hercules, I seized his nose in the 

 most approved fashion— and scraped. My victim winced. 



"Does it hurt ?" 



" Some— but go on — I can stand it. " 



I scraped again, and the blood oozed through the sallow 

 skin. 



" I have to bear on, you see, " I said, " for this razor isn't 

 in the best order. " 



"Go ahead! " came through the shut teeth. 



Whether the Sheriff was pale or not, I couldn't see, for 

 the lather. And whether the eyes were blood-shot did not 

 appear, for they were closed in determined resignation. 



I found I was in for it, and worked away with might 

 and main. There were few more words,— the time for 

 them was passed. I scraped again and again, and the 

 blood oozed from every freshly-shaven surface. It was my 

 turn to be desperate. Suppose I should utterly ruin the 

 Sheri£e's face! What if I made him totally unpresentable 

 for a week! This was no Jericho where he could tarry 



