"You had better show him who is master in the house," said Sylow.
"Or let him stay in school an hour longer," suggested Grieben.
"Or better still: Give him the switch, with which he punishes the poor boys," said Cloten.
"Or punish him with the contempt he deserves," added Breesen.
Oswald turned his eyes from one to the other, like a lion who is undecided whether he shall fall upon the dogs that bark at him or not. He had drawn himself up to his full height. His hand, which he had laid on the table, quivered a little, but surely not from want of courage.
"Are you going, or not?" cried Felix, jumping up and placing himself directly before Oswald.
"Do not carry the impertinence too far," said Oswald, putting the rose-bud, which Helen had given him for Bruno, into his button-hole; "else I must make an example of you for the benefit of the other boys."
Felix extended his arm to seize Oswald. The moment he touched him, Oswald took him in his strong arms, lifted him up bodily and threw him on the ground, so that the glasses and the money on the table shook and trembled.
"Who wants to be the next?" he called out, with a voice of thunder; "Come on, you cowardly wolves, who hunt in packs."
His eyes shone with a wild desire to fight; his breast rose and sank quickly, his hands closed instinctively, and he did not think his life worth a pin at that moment.