John Wentley Takes Charge 7

I know you're on the edge of your seats, so here it is:

“What can you do about it?” he asked. “You don’t stand a chance of getting any satisfaction.” 

“Don’t I?” was the retort. “You’ll see this afternoon! The jolly old Council is holding a meeting. We’re going there, my son, and they’re jolly well going to hand me back my letter and write and sign an apology to me and deliver it into my hands!” 

“Stuff!” scoffed John. “You’ll be kicked out before you know you’re in – if you ever get in the place.” 

“Don’t you believe it!” replied Bill. “Anyway, we’re going and, I tell you what, if I don’t get what I want, I’ll give you this house and grounds as a free gift. Will you take it on? Mind, I want you to come as a witness!” 

“Right,” agreed John. “This place is worth a thick ear, at any rate! When do we start?” 

“Almost at once,” answered his brother. “Finish your coffee and get your bus out; I’d like to see how she runs.” 

I've come across a lot of exclamations in my reading time. 'Pshaw!'. 'Hrrumph!' 'Bah!', f'rinstance. Even 'Egad!'. But 'Stuff!' has me beat. I've never come across it before, not in that context. Just in case we readers may have thought that John was pointing to something - i.e. 'Look, there's some stuff!' JFC Westerman helpfuly lets us know that John was scoffing. Whew!

Dialogue Attribution Checklist: non-said - 6 ('asked', 'retorted', 'scoffed', 'replied', 'agreed', 'answered'). Said - nil. Cumulative 'said' count for entire chapter so far - nil. Go, you good thing, JFC Westerman.