"Why?"
"He tries to bully me."
"And you permit it? Why, you are larger than he."
"Yes, but he knows how to fight."
"How do you know?"
"I had a fight with him this morning," said Nicholas.
"Did he come off best?" asked the lady.
"No," answered Nicholas, with hesitation. "That is, we were only half through the fight when a boy ran up and said you had come. So we had to stop."
"Humph! That is strange," said the lady, in a low voice, more to herself than to her son, "this sudden antagonism."
"What do you know about Kent?" demanded Nicholas, his curiosity aroused.