“Now, listen to me, Dane,” said Chot. “Hoki is under our protection. I brought him to Mortonville as my guest. When you insult him you insult me. I want you to beg his pardon right now, or you’ll have me to settle with.”
“I won’t!”
“Very well.” Chot rolled up his sleeves and leaped quickly over the fence into the road. “You and I had it once before, about two years ago, Dane, and you know what happened. Will you beg his pardon?”
“Aw, I don’t want to fight you,” growled the bully. “I didn’t mean anything. It was only a joke as far as I was concerned.”
“Then let’s call it a joke. It reacted on you, that’s all. Do you beg his pardon?”
“Yes; I beg his pardon.”
“All right. The next time I bring anyone to Mortonville as my guest, you either be civil to him or leave him alone. Understand?”
But Carter Dane’s only response was a growl, as he slunk off down the road.
Hoki rose even in the estimation of the Comrades by his thrashing of the bully, and when a letter arrived the following day from Commandant Cullum, telling them that he would be glad to receive the Jap at Winton, and overlook some deficiencies in his education, everyone was delighted, Hoki most of all.
The same mail brought a letter from Lucy. It was a big official-looking envelope, and when Chot opened it, he saw besides the letter the certificate of stock. The letter read, in part, as follows: