“Go for him, Carl, and show him how we licked the Tagals!” “Make them fight one at a time, Dutchy! Two to one isn’t fair.” “Form a ring, boys, and let ’em have it out to a finish.” So the talk ran on, and soon the crowd grew larger. Then Jerry Nickerson tried to hit Carl again. The German dodged, struck out swiftly and surely, and in an instant Nickerson measured his length on the deck, and lay there like a log. CHAPTER XIII THE LANDING AT TONGKU “Stummer has knocked his man out! My, but that was a dandy blow!” “The Dutchman ought to go into the prize ring. He would make his fortune at it.” “He has finished his first man. Now let the second come on, if he dares.” So the cries continued; for there is nothing that so delights the heart of a sailor or a soldier as a “scrap,” either on land or at sea. Among sailors especially, boxing is a constant pastime; and the “best man” is always considered something of a leader. The crowd looked to Nuggy Polk to continue the fight; but that young man had no desire to do so, for he could plainly see that his chum had suffered heavy punishment. “You have killed him!” he said in a shaking voice. “Somebody run for a doctor.” “Oh, he’ll come around all right,” put in one of the sailors. “Carl rapped him a bit hard, that’s all. So you ain’t up against it, are you?” he added dryly. “He’s afraid,” came from a voice in the rear of the crowd. “He’s one of the sports that fights with his mouth only.” At this instant the crowd was compelled to part, as the lieutenant-colonel of the regiment pushed his way to the front. His quick eye turned from Nickerson to Carl, and he faced the German soldier sternly. “What’s the meaning of this?” he demanded. “He called me a Dutch idiot, und he vos hit me here,” answered Carl, as he saluted, and then pointed to his breast. “It’s not so,” interposed Nuggy. “He started a quarrel, and he has nearly killed my friend.” “He vos hit me first,” insisted Carl. “It’s false. He knocked Mr. Nickerson down before he said a word.” “I vos slip on der steps, und I rolled into him,” explained Carl. “Den he calls me names, und hits me so hard as he can. Of he vos act like a chentlemans, I vos abologise for rollin’ into him. But he calls me an idiot und a klown, und I vos no stand dot from anypody.” And the German soldier shook his head determinedly. “That’s the truth of it,” came from a corporal standing near. “I saw and overheard the whole transaction, colonel.” By this time Jerry was coming to his senses. He blinked his eyes, and, sitting up, stared around him. “Keep off!” he muttered. “Don’t hit me again!” “You’re all right now,” said the lieutenant-colonel. “I am sorry to see you having a row with one of our men, though.” “He started the row,” answered Nickerson, bound to save himself from trouble, if possible. “It isn’t so,” came from several in the crowd. “He struck the first blow, just as Stummer says.” “But he knocked me down first, and he did it on purpose.”