"I don't think I can come, sir, for I have a place now, with steady work, on the other side of the lake," replied Paul. "All right," added Captain Bleeker, as he broke the seal of the letter, and proceeded to close the door, manifesting no interest in the messenger's new position. Paul put the quarter in his pocket, thinking there had been no time in two years when it was so little needed as at present, thanks to Captain Gildrock. But he did not lose a moment, for he thought that by this time the crew of the Marian might be waiting for him. He walked at his most rapid pace up the street in the direction by which he had come. There was not a person to be seen in the back street, though Buck Lamb and Ham Jackson had reached the corner. Paul saw them approaching him on the same side of the street. If he had seen them in the neighborhood of the institute, he might have known them; as it was, he did not recognize them, though they wore the barge uniform. Being in a hurry, he deserted the sidewalk to cut off the angle at the corner of the street. But the two ruffians promptly placed themselves in front of him in the middle of the highway. "Stop where you are!" said Buck Lamb, in an imperative tone. "What am I to stop for?" asked Paul, with a smile, and with the simplicity of an infant. "You are to stop because I order you to do so," replied Buck, who was of the genus bully, and could not well help manifesting authority, whether he had it or not. "As I am in a hurry to join my boat, I don't think that is a sufficient reason for my stopping," replied Paul, with abundant cheerfulness. "If you will excuse me, I had rather not stop just now." "But I order you to stop!" said Buck savagely. "Oh, you do!" added the intended victim. "Then I must take the liberty to disobey your orders." "When I order you to stop, I mean to enforce my order," said Buck, with his teeth set fast together. "I can't stop to jaw with you now; for, as I told you, I am in a hurry," replied Paul, beginning to be a little indignant at the interruption. "If you move another step, I shall hit you," continued the bully, placing himself in front of the victim, with his fists clinched ready to execute his threat. Paul dodged back, and attempted to pass the ruffians, but Buck got in front of him again. CHAPTER XVIII. THE RESULT OF AN UNEQUAL CONFLICT. Buck Lamb evidently considered himself as more than a match for Paul Bristol, for neither Walk Billcord nor his father had given the students the particulars of the battle at Sandy Point. All the magnate said was that he and his son had been insulted and assaulted by the ungrateful son of the woman he had harbored on his land. Buck was a stout fellow, who had the reputation of possessing scientific skill in the noble art of pugilism, and who was ready for any fellow of his avoirdupois, either with soft gloves or with hard gloves, or with no gloves at all.