Not another word did Raymond or Vallier say, but they strode stiffly to the door and bowed themselves out. Barney closed the door after them.
Then both the boys turned on Professor Scotch, to find he had collapsed into a chair, and seemed on the point of swooning.
"Professor," cried Frank, "I want to congratulate you! That was the best piece of work you ever did in all your life."
"Profissor," exclaimed Barney, "ye're a jewil! Av inny wan iver says you lack nerve, may Oi be bitten by th' wurrust shnake in Oireland av Oi don't break his head!"
"Boys!" gasped the professor, "fan me! I can't seem to get my breath! How did I do it? It scares me to think of it."
"You were a man, professor, and you showed Colonel Vallier that you were utterly reckless. You seemed eager for a fight."
"Fight!" groaned the little man. "I couldn't fight a child! I never fought in my life. I don't know how to fight."
"Colonel Vallier didn't know that. It was plain, he believed you a desperate slugger, and he wilted immediately."
"But I can't understand how I came to do such a thing. Till their unwarranted intrusion—till I collided with the colonel—I was in terror for my life. The moment we collided I seemed to forget that I was scared, and I remembered only that I was mad."
"And you seemed more than eager for a scrap."