"You heard what I said, freshman," spoke Frank, as coolly as ever.
There was a stir at the fence, for the students there saw all and heard all.
"Jingoes! Merriwell has a nerve!" gasped one.
"Mason will thump him, sure!" said another.
"If he does——"
"Hark!"
"Yes, I heard what you said," flung back the bully; "but what you say chops no frost. If I want to thump this chap I'll thump him, and twenty fellows like you can't stop me."
"You overestimate your ability, freshman," said Frank, and his coolness was most exasperating. "If you thump that chap, one fellow will thump you."
"Jee whiz!" palpitated one of the students at the fence, "Now he's in for it!"
"There'll be gore spilled!" muttered Creighton.