Those upon whom his pranks were being played turned on him at last, a dozen of them, and backing him up against the wall, amused themselves by running full tilt against him and rebounding from his elastic body.
Finally they dragged him to a corner of the drill-hall, where a large box stood on end, and hoisting him to the top of it with much roughness, they bent before him in mock reverence, hailing him as “His Fatness the King of Hogland.” He beamed down upon them good-naturedly for a moment, and then replied, in his peculiar, falsetto voice,—
“I thank you kindly, my dear little pigs. You shall have an extra allowance of pig-feed to-night to pay you for these marks of high esteem.”
The next moment his round face took on a look of feigned horror; he rolled awkwardly down from his perch, and fled with ludicrous haste across the hall, followed by an increased crowd of tormentors.
Brightly stood in a corner watching the rude play, and laughing listlessly. Captain Brede and Cadet Belcher were walking up and down the south side of the drill-hall, conversing together in low tones.
“I wouldn’t stand it,” said Brede, looking furtively at Brightly as they passed. “I’d let him know he couldn’t insult me if I was in the ranks. And he struck you with his sword; why, I heard the blow myself. It’s an outrage,—it’s a brutal outrage. He wouldn’t use a man that way the second time that belongs to my company, I can tell you; but Harple, your captain, why Harple’d lie down and roll over to let Brightly stamp on him. No, sir! You’ll never get any satisfaction unless you take it yourself.”
Belcher looked across to where Brightly was still standing, as if measuring with his eye the muscular strength of the young adjutant.
“I’ve a mind to tackle him now,” he said. “I can tell him what I think of him, anyway.”
“I would; I’d do it. And if he gives you any of his impudence, slap his face for him. You’ve got a right to; he’s no better than you are, out of ranks. He deserves a good thrashing, anyway, and I’d like to see him get it.”
They were crossing the hall now, toward Brightly. Belcher was working himself into an appropriate frame of mind for the attack on his intended victim.