"No, I ain't, either, but you're a liar."
"You're another," retorted Willie.
"Don't you dare tell me I'm a liar, or I'll smack your mouth for you," said the Hedge boy.
"Well, I did, didn't I?" barked Willie. "An' whatche goin' to do about it?"
"I'm goin' to lam you," said the Hedge boy.
He approached to attack warily, and the other boys held their breaths. Willie Dalzel winced back a pace. "Hol' on a minute," he cried, raising his palm. "I'm not—"
"ONE APPROACHING FROM BEHIND LAID HOLD OF HIS EAR"
But the comic windmill was again in motion, and between gasps from his exertions Johnnie Hedge remarked, "I'll show—you—whether—you kin—lick me—or not."
The first blows did not reach home on Willie, for he backed away with expedition, keeping up his futile cry, "Hol' on a minute." Soon enough a swinging fist landed on his cheek. It did not knock him down, but it hurt him a little and frightened him a great deal. He suddenly opened his mouth to an amazing and startling extent, tilted back his head, and howled, while his eyes, glittering with tears, were fixed upon this scowling butcher of a Johnnie Hedge. The latter was making slow and vicious circles, evidently intending to renew the massacre.