Don took a step forward. Eph, unable to ignore the implied challenge, wheeled about.
"Don't bother with the fellow, Eph," muttered Jack, gripping his bellicose chum by the arm.
"'Fellow'?" cried Don, hotly. "Do you mean that for me?"
"Well," demanded Jack, dryly, "you're not a girl, are you?"
At that Don Melville lost his temper hopelessly. Burning at a white heat, he hissed:
"I'll show you whether I am, or not, you cur!"
That word "cur" went far toward shattering Jack Benson's good resolutions.
Letting go of Eph's arm he turned to glare at his tormentor.
"You need a lesson, mucker," added Don, hotly.
"Don't soil your hands on the fellow, Don," cried his father, sharply.
"I must, sir, after he has insulted me," cried Don, in a rage. "I must kick him, anyway."