Noll rested a rather friendly though detaining hand on Jud Jeffers's shoulder.
"Lemme at him!" roared Bunny.
"Yes! Let 'em finish it!" urged three or four of the younger boys.
"What's it all about, anyway?" demanded Hal Overton.
"That fellow insulted his country's uniform. It's as bad as insulting the Flag itself!" contended Jud hotly.
"That's right," nodded Hal Overton grimly. "I think I saw the whole thing. You're right to be mad about it, Jud, but this young what-is-it is too mean for you to soil your hands on him. Now, see here, Hepburn—right about face for you!"
Hal's grip on the boy's coat collar tightened as he swung Bunny about and headed him down the street.
"Forward, quick time, march! And don't stop, either, Hepburn, unless you want to hear Jud pattering down the street after you."
Hal's first shove sent Bunny darting along for a few feet. Bunny discreetly went down the street several yards before he halted and lurched into a doorway, from which he peered out with a still hostile look on his face.
"Your view of the uniform, and of the old Flag, is all right, Jud, and I'm mighty glad to find that you have such views," Hal continued. "But you mustn't be too severe on a fellow like Bunny Hepburn. He simply can't rise above his surroundings, and you know what a miserable, egotistical, lying, slanderous fellow his father is. Bunny's father hates the country he lives in, and would set everybody to tearing down the government. That's the kind of a brainless anarchist Hepburn is, and you can't expect his dull-witted son to know any more than the father does. But you keep on, Jud, always respecting the soldier and his uniform, and the Flag that both stand behind."