"It was he who assaulted me, Mr. Kenyon," answered Oliver quietly.
"Do you deny that you felled him to the earth twice?"
"I threw him over twice, if that is what you mean, sir."
"If that is what I mean! Don't be impertinent, sir."
"I have not been—thus far."
"Do you think I shall allow you to make a brutal assault upon my son, you young reprobate?"
"If you call me by that name again I shall refuse to answer you," said Oliver with spirit.
"Do you hear that, father?" interrupted Roland, anxious to prejudice his father against his young enemy.
"I hear it," said Mr. Kenyon; "and you may rely upon it that I shall take notice of it, too. So you have no defence to make, then?"
This last question was, of course, addressed to Oliver.