"Give him one back, Dandy!"
"Off with your coat; I'll hold it!"
"Who has a spare handkerchief?"
I trust my readers are not thirsting for a description of a fight, because in that case they will be disappointed. In the midst of the hubbub the bell sounded, and the boys went to their places, Simpson leading his friend along, and making a great show of the blood-stained handkerchief.
The injured boy, who was in the same class as Jim and Dick, at once attracted the attention of Mr. Laythorne, who asked what had happened.
"If you please, sir," said Braithwaite, "I was standing just inside the gate when Hartland came along and hit me on the nose."
"Is this correct, Hartland?"
"He called me names, so I hit him, sir," answered Jim sulkily. "And I'll hit him again, too, if he cheeks me."
"I am sorry to hear you talk in that way," said the young master calmly. "Go to your place now, and stay behind during the interval.—Boden, take that boy to the lavatory."
"Yes, sir," responded the Angel cheerfully, taking Braithwaite, not too tenderly, by the arm.