Colonel Buckmill "got a flea in his ear," but his own views of "greasy mechanics" were not very different from those of his pupils. Though he did not say so in so many words, he thought the students of the Chesterfield Collegiate Institution were entitled to a good deal of deference from boys "picked up in the streets." The captain did not see it in this light, and the two principals did not get ahead any better than their pupils.
"While my boys behave themselves like gentlemen, I expect them to be treated as such," replied Captain Gildrock. "I expect them to defend themselves if attacked; but if they go out of their way to invite an attack, I will take the boats away from them, and not allow them to leave the school grounds until they learn better. Your students have been the aggressors in every instance."
"Silence is sometimes more insulting than speech, than even offensive speech," replied the colonel proudly.
"Your views differ very essentially from mine, Colonel Buckmill, and it is hardly worth while to attempt to reconcile them," continued Captain Gildrock. "You are on one side of the lake and I am on the other, and there is not the least occasion for any collision between us, or between our students. If your boys will let mine alone, I will agree to keep the peace."
"But I expect my young gentlemen to be treated with respect, even on the lake," insisted the colonel.
"When one of our barges met your boats, our boys tossed oars, which is the highest token of respect in a boat; but your students did not even know what it meant, and greeted ours with offensive epithets. But not a word in retaliation came from the mouth of a Beech Hill student. After that our boys very carefully avoided yours. The attack last Saturday was entirely unprovoked."
"But it grew out of former occurrences," reasoned Colonel Buckmill.
"I have explained the nature of the first meeting. I have my remedy in the courts if these outrages are repeated," added Captain Gildrock.
"In the courts!" exclaimed the visitor, rising to his feet in astonishment and indignation. "Do I understand you that you intend to prosecute my young gentlemen?"
"If the principal of their school justifies them in their conduct and declines to control them, I shall certainly protect my boys from insult and assault in the best way I can," answered the captain decidedly.