"But I order you to stop!" said Buck savagely.
"Oh, you do!" added the intended victim. "Then I must take the liberty to disobey your orders."
"When I order you to stop, I mean to enforce my order," said Buck, with his teeth set fast together.
"I can't stop to jaw with you now; for, as I told you, I am in a hurry," replied Paul, beginning to be a little indignant at the interruption.
"If you move another step, I shall hit you," continued the bully, placing himself in front of the victim, with his fists clinched ready to execute his threat.
Paul dodged back, and attempted to pass the ruffians, but Buck got in front of him again.
CHAPTER XVIII. THE RESULT OF AN UNEQUAL CONFLICT.
Buck Lamb evidently considered himself as more than a match for Paul Bristol, for neither Walk Billcord nor his father had given the students the particulars of the battle at Sandy Point. All the magnate said was that he and his son had been insulted and assaulted by the ungrateful son of the woman he had harbored on his land. Buck was a stout fellow, who had the reputation of possessing scientific skill in the noble art of pugilism, and who was ready for any fellow of his avoirdupois, either with soft gloves or with hard gloves, or with no gloves at all.