He told Paul of what had happened, and the latter consented to act as second to him in the fight. The matter was quietly arranged, and, the next afternoon Dick, and the few chums he had, slipped off after the evening parade to a secluded spot, where all the fistic battles of the academy took place. Dutton and a large throng of his supporters were on hand, and the preliminaries were soon settled.
"Time!" called Lieutenant Stiver, who acted as Dutton's second.
The two youths faced each other, but dispensed with the ceremony of shaking hands. The next moment Dutton aimed a blow at Dick's face, but our hero cleverly dodged and sent a stiff right hander to the cadet captain's jaw.
CHAPTER XI
DICK GIVES A SPREAD
The shock of the blow made Dutton stagger back, but he quickly regained his balance, and rushed at Dick, raising his foot to give him a kick.
"Hold on, that's not fair!" cried Paul. "Do you stand for that, Stiver?"
Stiver plainly wanted to side with Dutton, but there were cries of "Shame! That's not fair!" from several in the crowd and Dutton's second was forced to caution his man.
"Don't do that, Dutton," he said. "You can lick him with your fists."
"Yes, and I'll fix him, all right!" exclaimed the angry cadet captain.