“Say, this ain’t none o’ your business, Chet Greene.”
“Andy is my friend.”
“Humph! he better not be!” snarled Josiah Graham. “You ain’t no fit boy fer nobuddy to go with—you the son o’ a thief, an’ mebbe wuss. I want you——Oh!”
What Josiah Graham wanted next was never made known, for just then he landed flat on his back in the gutter, where a well-directed blow from Chet’s fist had sent him.
[CHAPTER XV—THE START OF THE COOK EXPEDITION]
If ever a man was surprised, that man was Josiah Graham. Even Andy was astonished, for he had not dreamed that Chet could be so quick-tempered.
“Oh, Chet, that was a hard blow!”
“He deserved it,” was Chet’s answer. His voice was strained, and his face pale. “I’ll allow nobody to talk that way to me.”
“Yo—you young villain!” spluttered Josiah Graham, as he rolled over in the dirt of the gutter and picked himself up. “I’ll—I’ll——”
“After this you keep a civil tongue in your head!” interrupted Chet. He still had his fists clenched.