Suddenly there came a whirlwind forward rush which easily broke through the boy’s unsteady guard. Garrity had no science. His was merely the superiority of bull strength and a total disregard for the principles of fair fighting. McBride, still shaky from that knock against the curb, managed to partly parry a blow at his chest. Then came a smothering clinch and a blow on the face which turned the boy limp and sent him to the ground again.
Garrity stepped back, his breath coming a little unevenly. For a moment he stood motionless, eyes fixed on the limp figure at his feet. McBride’s hat was gone, his coat was torn and muddied. There was a smear of grime across one cheek and a cut from which the blood oozed slowly. As Red stared at the white face and the sprawling body, so much slimmer and smaller than his own, a curious, unwonted sense of shame swept over him. An instant later the scout’s eyes opened and he looked dazedly at the fellow standing over him.
“You—you coward!” he muttered. “You beastly coward!”
Garrity gave a loud, raucous laugh which somehow held no note of mirth in it.
“Talk’s cheap,” he sneered, hitching up his suspender. “I guess you won’t get fresh again with me.” He turned and swaggered off. “Come ahead, fellows,” he said over one shoulder. “This poor prune’s finished. Let’s be getting down town.”
McGowan slouched along beside him. Chick Conners took a step or two after them and then stopped short.
“I ain’t coming,” he stated briefly.
Garrity turned his head and for a moment stared steadily into the other fellow’s face. What he saw there brought a faint flush into his freckled cheeks and set his forehead in a scowl.
“You ain’t?” he repeated harshly. “All right. Only don’t you come belly-aching around me to-morrow or any other time. I’m through with you.”
Without waiting for a reply, he went on his way with Shrimp, his lips pursed in a strident whistle. At the corner, however, he glanced back for an instant. McBride was on his feet and Conners stood beside him. Indeed, one ragged sleeve encircled the khaki shoulders supportingly and their heads were close together.