“I’m not to blame,” responded Dirk shortly. “It’s his lookout.”
Brick, a grim smile on his pugnacious face, was secretly sizing up the lad whom he had driven by taunting words to defend himself with his fists. He was not quite so sure, now, that Dirk was the sissy he had proclaimed him to be; those shoulders and arms looked quite husky and muscular, now that he looked closely. Brick decided that the thing to do was to pitch in at once and overpower his opponent from the start.
Jerry Utway was looking around the circle eagerly. The Utway brothers were never far away when a scrap arose; it would seem that they smelled the signs of battle from afar. “Gee, Jake!” he exclaimed, “the Van Horn fellow is going to tackle Brick! I’m going to be his second!”
“And I’ll be Brick’s second,” responded his twin. “Come on, men, form a ring here. Let’s have this scrap with regular rules. Al, you can be referee. It’s a good thing no leaders are around to stop it!”
Al Canning pulled out his watch. “Are you ready?”
“Just a minute more,” answered Jake. “Come on, Brick, strip off your shirt. Gosh, this will be a real fight—bare knuckles to the finish!”
Brick shook him aside. “Aw, I won’t need anything like that. It’ll take me just one good smack to finish this fight. He’s a coward.” But inwardly Brick was not so sure. Dirk Van Horn had said nothing since he had issued his amazing challenge. He had calmly prepared for the fray, and stood waiting quietly with no sign of fear on his set features. He did not cower in fright, or try to bolster up his courage with a string of biting words; and there was nothing amateurish about his pose as he stood with his clenched fists hanging loosely at his sides.
“I am ready,” he said in answer to a question from the eager Jerry.
“Good,” said Al. “When I say ‘Time!’, you can start. All set? Time!”
At the summons, Brick Ryan plunged forward over the grassy ground, fists doubled, head down, and struck a sweeping blow at his enemy. To his surprise, his flailing arm landed on thin air. Dirk had side-stepped easily, and still stood with his arms hanging loosely at his side, his face still calm.