“Have they told you so?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Just now. Two of the boys came to me to ask if I would fight him.”
“What did you say?”
“I told them I wouldn’t do it, unless he forced me to do so in self-defense, and that then I’d use a marline spike on him.”
Sam shook his head thoughtfully.
“It doesn’t seem to surprise you any,” complained Dan.
“No, I can’t say that it does. I had suspected something of the sort was in the wind. Are you afraid of him, Dan?”