“You might find that you had your hands full if you tried it,” said Dick, coldly. He had taken a dislike to the boastful redcoat, and as he was a brave youth, and also had always found himself a match for any man he had ever engaged in a physical struggle with, he had no fear of this fellow.
“There's good nerve, for you!” remarked a soldier, admiringly. “How do you like it, Coggins?” It was evident that this particular soldier, Coggins, was not very well liked by his comrades.
“Do you think I'm a fool, to get myself laughed at for engaging in a fight with a green country boy?” growled Coggins. “I'll do no such thing.” Rising, he walked away with a swagger, but he gave Dick a look of hatred as he did so.
A number of the soldiers grinned, and two or three chuckled aloud, and unless Coggins was deaf, he must have heard them.
“Would you really have fought him?” queried a soldier, looking at Dick keenly, when Coggins was gone.
“If he attacked me, I should have protected myself,” was the reply.
“But you couldn't have done much against him. You're only a boy.”
“I don't know about that. I am pretty strong and am also rather active, and I have wrestled with a number of grown men, and never found one yet that I couldn't down.”
“Well, you might have held your own with Coggins, but I doubt it a little.”
“Better be a bit careful how you ruffle him, young man,” said another soldier. “He's a vicious chap when his anger is aroused, and he would not hesitate to do you serious injury. He gave you a look I noticed that was not exactly friendly, as he left.”