"Well, you don't suppose I'm a-goin' to lick Dave fer defendin' his parents, do you? Besides, I'm not a-goin' to lick you fer fightin', but fer sayin' what you did. I guess you'd hev found out that Dave could wallop you ef he is smaller and younger." "He can't!" snarled Jud. "I didn't have no show. He came at me by surprise." Barnabas reflected a moment. Then he said gravely: "When it's in the blood of two fellers to fight, why thar's got to be a fight, that's all. Thar won't never be no peace until this ere question's settled. Dave, do you still want to fight him?" A fierce aftermath of passion gleamed in David's eyes. "Yes!" he cried, his nostrils quivering. "And you'll fight fair? Jest to punish--with no thought of killin'?" "I'll fight fair," agreed the boy. "I'll see that you do. Come here, Jud." "I don't want to fight," protested Jud sullenly. "He's afraid," said David gleefully, every muscle quivering and straining. "I ain't!" yelled Jud. "Come on, then," challenged David, a fierce joy tugging at his heart. Jud came with deliberate precision and a swing of his left. He was heavier and harder, but David was more agile, and his whole heart was in the fight this time. They clutched and grappled and parried, and finally went down; first one was on top, then the other. It was the wage of brute force against elasticity; bluster against valor. Jud fought in fear; David, in ferocity. At last David bore his oppressor backward and downward. Jud, exhausted, ceased to struggle. "Thar!" exclaimed Barnabas, drawing a relieved breath. "I guess you know how you stand now, and we'll all feel better. You've got all that's comin' to you, Jud, without no more from me. You can both go to the house and wash up." Uncle Larimy had arrived at the finish of the fight. "What's the trouble, Barnabas?" he asked interestedly, as the boys walked away. The explanation was given, but they spoke in tones so low that David could not overhear any part of the conversation from the men following him until, as they neared the house, Uncle Larimy said: "I was afeerd Dave hed his pa's temper snoozin' inside him. Mebby he'd orter be told fer a warnin'." "I don't want to say nuthin' about it less I hev to. I'll wait till the next time he loses his temper." David ducked his head in the wash basin on the bench outside the door. After supper, when Barnabas came out on the back porch for his hour of pipe, he called his young charge to him. Since the fight, David's face had worn a subdued but contented expression. "Looks," thought Barnabas, "kinder eased off, like a dog when he licks his chops arter the taste of blood has been drawed."