"I'm not!" returned Diamond, instantly.
"He is sure to make it hot for you."
"Let him try it! He was kicking Merry, and Merry was down. If I'd had an iron bar, I should have cracked him with it, after seeing him sink his toe into Frank's ribs."
Merriwell took a long step toward Jack and grasped his hand.
"Thank you, Diamond," he said, soberly and sincerely. "It is a true friend who stands by a man when he is down."
He glanced around at the others a moment after saying this, and the eyes of some of them failed to meet his. They remembered how, a short time before, Frank had been somewhat unpopular because of his refusal to play on the football team, and many of them had turned against him. They knew well enough that Merriwell had not forgotten it, and he thought of it when he spoke. Diamond was one of the few who had stood by him when he was most unpopular.
"The time has come," said Browning, slowly, "when this bully must be shown that he is not cock of the walk."
"Who'll show him?" cried several voices.
"Merriwell didn't hesitate about tackling him to-night—and got the best of him in a fair way. He struck a foul blow, and——"
"A terrible blow it was," confessed Frank, soberly. "I felt as if I had been kicked in the head by a mule."