“Stop that!” cried Jack. “Let up on him!” He had leaped to the front and caught Tommy Flanders by the arm. Almost at the same instant Gif and Spouter grabbed Sands and Halliday.
“Take ’em off! Take ’em off!” cried old Durgin. He was all but winded by his exertions. Evidently the quarrel had been going on for some time.
“Huh! what do you want here, Jack Rover?” demanded Tommy Flanders sullenly. “You keep your hands out of this!”
“You let Durgin alone, Flanders,” answered the young major.
“What’s the meaning of the row, anyhow?” demanded Gif.
“You’re a fine bunch of cadets to pile on an old man three at a time!” sneered Spouter.
The three boys from Longley Academy looked anything but comfortable as they saw themselves surrounded by the crowd from Colby Hall. They stepped back from where Nat Durgin lay, and Randy and Dan Soppinger assisted the old boatman to his feet. Near by was Durgin’s pipe, and Ned Lowe picked this up and gave it to him.
“I’ll have the law on you for this, you see if I don’t!” roared Durgin, now that he saw that friends were at hand. “I’ll teach you young whelps to knock me down!”
“You hit me first,” retorted Flanders. “Don’t forget that! I’ve got my friends to prove it!”