"Let me get at him!" Bascomb had snarled. "I will beat the life out of him!"
"Stop! stop!" said Rains, swiftly. "You are making a fool of yourself! You can't fight here!"
"Can't I? Well——"
"No, it is against the rules. If you press this, you will be expelled, for the affair will be investigated, and it will be proved that you bared your hand, and Merriwell was forced to do so to defend himself."
"Oh, I could hammer him!"
"Well, there is plenty of time. Steady, now! Here is the professor. He has scented a row. Can't you play cool, and pretend it was a joke? Quick!"
Then Frank was surprised to see Bascomb come forward, laughing in a sickly way, as he said:
"You're pretty flip with your hands, Merriwell, and that's right. I hope you won't lay up anything against me because I lost my glove. I was so excited that I didn't know it was gone."
It was on Frank's tongue to give Bascomb the lie, but, for once in his life, Hodge was the cooler of the two, and he warned his friend by a soft pressure on the arm.
Then, seeing Professor Rhynas listening, with a dark look on his face, Frank laughed, and retorted: