“Whoop!” cried one. “Whoever is this yere galoot? Whoever is this rambling maverick?” Chester was seized by several hands, but he attempted to break away. “Let me alone!” he cried. “Mind your own business!” “What?” roared the voice of Buckhart. “Chaw me up! I opine I recognize that musical voice. See here, pard, here’s the fine gent you’re looking for.” Then Arlington came near swooning, for, in spite of the darkness, he saw before him Dick Merriwell. And around Dick’s head there was a white bandage. “So it’s you!” exclaimed Dick, confronting his enemy. “And you are the whelp who struck me down in the woods! I am looking for you!” “You’re a liar!” instantly cried Chester. “I haven’t touched you!” “Fighting talk, pard!” said Buckhart. “Oh, yes!” sneered Chester, “you want to force a fight on me, do you? That’s Merriwell’s game, is it? He has a lot of his friends with him, and I am alone. I will fight him, but give me a fair show. Let me have some of my friends with me. I will fight him any time.” “I will meet you in Chadwick’s pasture in an hour,” said Dick. “I will be there!” hotly retorted Chester. “And I will have some friends with me.” “I will bet a bunch of longhorns he won’t come,” said the Texan. “You’re a liar, too!” blazed Chet. “I tell you I’ll be there!” “We will take his word for it,” came quietly from Dick. “If he doesn’t keep the appointment—well, we’ll know what to think of him then.” Before the expiration of an hour Dick and his companions crossed Chadwick’s pasture and descended into the little hollow where so many encounters had taken place. With Merriwell were Buckhart, Smart, Jolliby, and Tubbs. “By Jim!” exclaimed Obediah, “I am hungry! Anybody got a pie in his pocket?” “You don’t mean a pup-pup-pup-pie?” asserted Jolliby. “What you need is a dud-dud-dud-drink. How would some whisky gug-gug-gug-go?” “I don’t drink whisky,” piped the fat boy. “It takes the coat off a fellow’s stomach.” “Worse than that,” chuckled Smart. “It takes the coat off a fellow’s back.” “I think this yere is a fool piece of business, anyhow!” growled the Texan. “I’ll bet Arlington doesn’t show up. He certain knows he is about to get a good trimming if he does, and he is not looking for that.” “I think he will be here,” said Dick quietly. “Well, it’s about time he was here now. Where is he?” “Wait and sus-sus-sus-see,” advised Jolliby. “I didn’t suppose Dick would fuf-fuf-fuf-fight him, anyhow.” “I don’t know what you think I am made of, Jolliby,” said young Merriwell grimly. “I have stood almost everything from Arlington, but the time has passed for me to stand any more. He struck me down in the wood. What could I do about it? If I reported it, it is possible he would be expelled. In that case he would think me afraid of him. Even now, because of his sister’s sake I have stood so much, he seems to fancy I fear him. I have got to get that out of his head.” Buckhart laughed.