"HOLD on, Hooper!"
"Don't act like a dog!"
"He's only a kid—can't you see?"
Then something happened like lightning.
Private Hal Overton had meant to take all his hazing good-humoredly. But a blow struck in anger, and without just cause, was more than he was prepared to brook.
"Sergeant Gray told me I was not expected to stand abuse," flashed through his mind.
So, instead of cringing away from a repetition of the blow, Hal took a sudden bound forward.
Whack!
"I have no use for a box on the ear," smiled Hal grimly. "So you can have it back!"
Private Bill Hooper let out a roar, then sprang for the boy, intending to pulverize the young rookie with his fists. But five or six of the men sprang between them, forming an effective human wall.