Panama, still not realizing that he was face to face with the topic of his conversation, was somewhat amused over Lefty’s attitude, believing the boy’s motive to be one of school pride.
“You’ll knock my block off?”
“You heard me!” Lefty shot back, still eyeing his antagonist.
“You and who else?”
Lefty stepped back a little, ready to make a lunge at the soldier.
“Just me, do you hear, just me! I’ve been sitting here taking all your dirty insults, and now you’re going to take ’em back!”
Panama moved closer, unable to fathom this boy’s object in flaring up over something that was probably upon the lips of a million other people at that very moment.
“Wait a minute, before I knock you on your ear,” he warned. “What’s eatin’ you, anyway, my boy?”
Lefty was at the end of his rope. He had stood all and more than the average man in his position would have taken, and he was bent upon putting a stop to matters here and now. Besides, he wasn’t cognizant of the fact that the man standing before him was unaware of his true identity.
“That remark you made about me taking money for throwing the game—that’s what’s eating me! Laugh at me for being a bonehead if you want to, but I won’t stand by and let you call me a crook! You’re going to take it back—you hear? Every word of it or I’ll kill you!”