"Oh, he won't get hurt," retorted Noll with cheery assurance.
"Your friend is pretty handy with his fists, I know, but Dowley is a big fellow, an older man, with more fighting judgment; and I miss my guess if Dowley hasn't had a big lot of practice in rough-and-tumble in all the bad spots of life."
"Will you take back and apologize for what you said?" insisted Dowley.
"If I said anything I shouldn't have said," replied Hal quietly.
"You're a liar, a cur and——"
"Stop that!" objected Hal Overton, yet without raising his voice.
"Apologize, then! Do it handsomely, too."
"You've said too much to be entitled to any apology now," Hal assured the scowling soldier.
"Apologize, or I'll——"
"Going to start now?" Hal queried smilingly.