"He did!"
"Do you mean to tell me that I lie?"
"You do—it don't need telling."
"I won't be called a liar by anybody. I'll make you ache for that!"
"We'll see about that. You may ache yourself before this thing is settled. I've got fists as well as you, and I will not take such words as that from anybody. Come on!"
The two backwoods knights rushed toward each other with a wounded sense of honor in their hearts and with uplifted arms.
Suddenly a form like a giant passed between them. It took one boy under one of its arms and the other under the other, and strode down the timber.
"He called me a liar," said one of the boys. "I won't stand that from any man."
"He sassed me," said the other, "and I won't stand any sassin', not while my fists are alive."
"You wouldn't be called a liar," said the first.