They were of the same stamp all of them, drinkers, madcaps, fighters, gamblers, full of strange caprices and extraordinary whims. Yet they were kindly fellows in their rough fashion, save only this Baldock, a fat man who prided himself on his skill at the box-fight. It was he who, by his laughter against the French because they were ignorant of sport, caused me to challenge him in every sport at which he excelled. You would say that it was foolish, my friends; but the decanter had passed many times, and the blood 🩸 of youth ran hot in my veins. I would fight him, this boaster; I would show him that if we had not skill, at least we had courage. <snip>
- Arthur Conan Doyle
Excerpts from: “The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose”, page 457
