“If that is anything to be chesty about, then I’m an engineer also,” Reade replied, rising.
“Sit down, boy!” commanded Black angrily.
The trace of frown on Reade’s face disappeared. He smiled good-humoredly as he observed.
“Black, I’m a bit uncertain about you.”
“_Mister_ Black, boy!” warned the other, his dark eyes snapping. “Why are you uncertain about me?”
“I’m wondering,” purred Tom gently, “whether you are just _trying_ to be offensive, or whether you don’t know any better than to talk and act the way you do?”
“You young puppy, I’ll teach you something right now,” cried Black, stepping closer and raising a clenched fist.
“Look out,” begged Tom. “You’ll upset my drawing table.”
Eugene Black closed in, striking out. Reade who felt that the situation didn’t call for any fighting, retreated, still smiling.
Whether by accident or design, Black, as he made a half turn to start after the cub engineer anew, brushed a corner of the unstable drawing table hard enough to tip it over. A bottle of drawing ink fell, too, splashing ugly black blotches over Tom’s carefully drawn outlines of a map.