This expulsion was not performed without an obstinate opposition
on the part of the delinquents, who, had they not been surprised,
would have set the whole Fleet at defiance, and, in all probability,
have acted divers tragedies, before they could have been overpowered.
Things being circumstanced as they were, the lieutenant did not part
with his conductor without tweaking his nose, by way of farewell;
and Pipes, in imitation of such a laudable example, communicated
a token of remembrance, in an application to the sole eye of his
attendant, who, scorning to be outdone in this kind of courtesy,
returned the compliment with such good-will, that Tom's organ
performed the office of a multiplying-glass. These were mutual
hints for stripping, and, accordingly, each was naked from the
waist upwards in a trice. A ring of butchers from the market was
immediately formed; a couple of the reverend flamens, who, in morning
gowns, ply for marriages in that quarter of the town, constituted
themselves seconds and umpires of the approaching contest, and
the battle began without further preparation.
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