"He's all right!"
Honk! honk! honk! Mr. Simpson had heard this tribute to himself. Then the chugging of a starting car was heard. The noise soon sounded fainter, then died away.
"That's the last of the firm of Dodge and Bayliss for this season!" chuckled Dave Darrin.
In this conclusion, however, it was wholly probable that Darry was wrong. He would have been sure of it, himself, had he been privileged to hear the talk of Bert Dodge and his companion as the enraged and humiliated pair drove swiftly over the rough road on their way back to Gridley.
"I can't think of anything bad enough to call Dick Prescott," growled Bert, who sat at the steering wheel.
"Don't try to," grumbled Bayliss. "It would poison your mind."
"The mucker!"
"The sneak!"
"The coward! He fights only when he has his gang with him."
"I don't see what the high school fellows can find to admire in that crowd," quivered Bayliss, tenderly fingering his damaged eye.