"Who will you aim at?"
"Ruddy and Ditmore."
"All right, I'll aim at Snow; and I'll let Ruddy have one, too."
Again came a ringing war-cry, and in a moment more the battle was continued. Back and forth swayed the lines of cadets, first towards one end of the field and then towards the other. It was plainly to be seen that the commands were about evenly matched.
"How long is this battle to last?" questioned Joe Nelson.
"Half an hour," answered Fred Century, who was beside him.
"Time is almost up, then," came from Bert Field, who had been fighting so hard he was almost out of breath.
"Five minutes more!" came from the referee. "Now then, if either side is going to do something, pitch in!"
"Forward!" came simultaneously from both captains, and forward plunged Company A and Company B, and the snowballs commenced to fly as thickly as before. Neither side would give ground, and at last the two lines were within fifteen to twenty feet of each other, right in the center of the field.
The time was almost up, and each command was getting rid of the last of the snowballs, when Jack saw a snowball leave Coulter's hand and sail swiftly towards Pepper. The Imp did not see it until it was quite close to him and failed in his attempt to dodge. The snowball hit him full in the temple and over he went as if struck with a club.