“Oh, Tom,” I whispered, with my heart beating, “I wish I could fight like you!”
“So you can,” he replied; “better. Look out, he’s ready. Take it coolly; never mind his show. I wish I was going at him instead of you. I’m nice and warm now.”
“I wish you were,” I said.
“No, you don’t.”
The next minute I was facing my tall adversary, who looked down at me contemptuously, after a smiling glance round at the boys, which seemed to say,—“Now you shall see.”
There was a faint cheer at this, followed by a smothered howl, which drew attention to Dicksee, who was now rocking himself to and fro as if in pain.
Then there was what seemed to me a peculiarly ominous kind of silence, and I felt shocked and frightened, not so much of my adversary as at myself. The feeling was mingled with shame, for I began to think that I must be a terrible coward, and I found myself wondering what my uncle would say if he knew how unfit I was to be trained to become a soldier.
These thoughts were momentary, long as they take to describe, and I began to wonder whether it would be best to apologise to Burr major, and ask him to let me off, but as I thought that, I felt that I could not, and that I would sooner he half killed me. This brought up thoughts of my mother’s sweet, gentle face, and how she would suffer if she knew what was going on.
Lastly, I began to think I must fight, and that I had better prepare to take care of myself, for Burr major deliberately threw himself into a graceful attitude and addressed me.
“Now, you young sniveller,” he said haughtily, “you have brought this on yourself. I am going to give you a lesson that will teach you to behave yourself in future, and you too, Senna Tea. You’re fond of physic; you shall have such a dose. Mind, you boys, that old Jollop doesn’t sneak off.”