“I say—can’t we be a little more decent to him?” suggested Gordon. “We’ve been sending him to Coventry with a vengeance. I don’t believe a fellow in the class ever speaks to him now, except Freeman.”
“I wouldn’t be hired to come to school if I were cold-shouldered in such a fashion,” said Raleigh.
“If it wasn’t for that Latin business I’d stand by Clark after this,” said Graham.
“I never could get over his taking that blow so meekly from Crawford,” said another.
“Meekly!” echoed Gordon, “Were you there when that thing happened?”
“No, some of the fellows told me about it.”
“Well, if they told you that Clark took that blow meekly, they lied—that’s all! I was standing close by, and I saw the whole thing. When Crawford struck him, Clark’s eyes fairly blazed, and he grabbed Crawford’s wrists, and I thought he was going to lay him out sure. I know he could have done it, but he just held himself in, and the next minute he flung Crawford’s hands away from him and ran up the stairs as if he did not dare to trust himself within reach of that hound.”
“Meaning Crawford?” said a listener.
“Meaning Crawford. He and Henderson are not fit to be among decent fellows, in my opinion.”
“That’s an entirely new version of the fracas between Clark and Henderson,” said the one to whom Gordon had spoken, “and puts another face on that affair; but how about his informing about the algebra keys? Henderson says he heard him talking to Bobby about it.”