"I'll be on hand," said Tony, promptly. "He won't find it so easy to whip me as he thinks."
CHAPTER XV. THE BOYS' DUEL.
Sam Payson felt perfectly safe in challenging Tony to single combat. He had measured him with his eye, and seen that he was two inches shorter, and probably twenty pounds lighter. But appearances were deceitful, and he had no idea that Tony had received special training, which he lacked.
This was the way it had happened:
In the course of his extensive wanderings, Tony had attracted the attention of a certain pugilist who was a friend of Rudolph.
"I'll tell you what, Rudolph," said the pugilist, "you can make something of that boy."
"How?" asked the tramp.
"I'll teach him to box, and you can get an engagement for him in a circus."