"Not in earnest!" returned Mr. Boythorn with unspeakable warmth. "Not in earnest! If I could have hoped to train him, I would have bought a lion instead of that dog and would have turned him loose upon the first intolerable robber who should dare to make an encroachment on my rights. Let Sir Leicester Dedlock consent to come out and decide this question by single combat, and I will meet him with any weapon known to mankind in any age or country. I am that much in earnest. Not more!"
We arrived at his house on a Saturday. On the Sunday morning we all set forth to walk to the little church in the park. Entering the park, almost immediately by the disputed ground, we pursued a pleasant footpath winding among the verdant turf and the beautiful trees until it brought us to the church-porch.

"Let Sir Leicester Dedlock consent to decide this question by single combat," he said, "and I will meet him with any weapon known to mankind!"
We arrived at his house on a Saturday. On the Sunday morning we all walked to the little church in the park. Entering the park near the disputed ground, we followed a pleasant footpath winding among trees until it brought us to the church-porch.
