"Not particularly."

"You looked at me," said the cadet captain angrily.

"Well, a cat may look at a king, I suppose."

"None of your impertinence."

"I'm not impertinent, but I don't propose to have you dictate to me."

"You'll have to, as long as you're a freshman. I say you intimated that I fired that gun and tried to throw the blame on you."

"I can't help what you say."

"Do you believe I did it?"

"I refuse to answer."

"Then I'll make you! Take that!" and before d.i.c.k could step back Dutton had hit him a blow in the face. "You know what that means, I suppose,"

said Dutton with a sneer.

"A fight?" asked d.i.c.k quietly.

"Of course. I'll send a friend to you to-morrow and we'll see if you'll back up your words."

"Don't worry. I'll be on hand," replied d.i.c.k, as he went to his room.

He told Paul of what had happened, and the latter consented to act as second to him in the fight. The matter was quietly arranged, and, the next afternoon d.i.c.k, and the few chums he had, slipped off after the evening parade to a secluded spot, where all the fistic battles of the academy took place. Dutton and a large throng of his supporters were on hand, and the preliminaries were soon settled.

"Time!" called Lieutenant Stiver, who acted as Dutton's second.

The two youths faced each other, but dispensed with the ceremony of shaking hands. The next moment Dutton aimed a blow at d.i.c.k's face, but our hero cleverly dodged and sent a stiff right hander to the cadet captain's jaw.

CHAPTER XI

d.i.c.k GIVES A SPREAD

The shock of the blow made Dutton stagger back, but he quickly regained his balance, and rushed at d.i.c.k, raising his foot to give him a kick.

"Hold on, that's not fair!" cried Paul. "Do you stand for that, Stiver?"

Stiver plainly wanted to side with Dutton, but there were cries of "Shame! That's not fair!" from several in the crowd and Dutton's second was forced to caution his man.

"Don't do that, Dutton," he said. "You can lick him with your fists."

"Yes, and I'll fix him, all right!" exclaimed the angry cadet captain.

d.i.c.k, who had stepped back, out of reach of his opponent's foot, now stood up to meet the rush of Dutton.

"There! I guess that will teach you to make insinuations about me!"

spluttered the angry lad, as he aimed a fierce blow at d.i.c.k. Our hero easily dodged it, however, and countered with a stiff upper cut, which gave Dutton quite a jolt.

d.i.c.k was not quite quick enough in getting away, however, and received a blow on the chest, which he did not mind, much. Then Dutton closed in, and both boys exchanged several severe blows, but d.i.c.k had the best of it, for he had taken boxing lessons from an experienced instructor at home.

"Go in and do him!" called Dutton's friends.

"Stand up to him, d.i.c.k," advised Paul, in low tones at the conclusion of the first round. "You've got him going."

Dutton tried to be calm as he came up the second time, but he speedily lost his temper, as he saw how easily d.i.c.k parried his blows.

"Why don't you stand up and fight?" he asked.

"Why don't you hit me?" retorted d.i.c.k, as he tapped his antagonist on the nose, making it bleed slightly.

"I'll pay you for that!" cried Dutton, rushing forward.

"Not so loud!" cautioned Stiver. "You'll bring some of the professors down on us."

Once more d.i.c.k dodged a straight left hander, and, in return, sent in a terrific right, that caught Dutton on the point of the jaw. The cadet went down like a log, and lay still.

"You've knocked him out, Hamilton," remarked one of the older cadets, who acted as referee. "I congratulate you."

"Yes, he fought well," added another, but there was no heartiness in his tones, and, to d.i.c.k, it seemed almost as if they were sorry he had won.

For won he had, as Dutton did not arise. He had been fairly, but harmlessly, knocked out.

"Do you throw up the sponge?" asked Paul, of Stiver.

"I guess so," was the rather surly response. "Your man wins."

"I hope I didn't hurt him," said d.i.c.k. "I didn't mean to hit so hard, but he rushed right into it."

"You didn't hurt me!" suddenly exclaimed Dutton, as he struggled to his feet. "I'm game yet."

"You've had enough," said his second. "You can have another try later."

"I can do him," mumbled Dutton, but even his friends were forced to admit that he had been well beaten.

"Will you shake hands?" asked d.i.c.k, advancing toward his antagonist.

"No!" exclaimed Dutton, surlily.

A hot flush came to d.i.c.k's face, and he was about to turn away when, the older cadet, who had complimented him said:

"Shake hands, Dutton. Don't be a cad."