sudden dislike to him."

"It was a snub for Cole as well," replied Rodney, hotly. "He will never
see the inside of Mr. Taylor's house again, for those girls have imposed
upon him a task that is quite beyond his powers. Couldn't you get along
without wagging your jaw so freely?" he demanded, turning fiercely upon
Dick Graham. "For two cents you and I would mix up right here in the
street."

"Why, what in the world did I say?" asked Dick, in reply.

"You disgraced the school by telling those girls, almost as plainly as
you could speak it, that we Southerners are in the minority there."

"If she got that impression, she got a wrong one," said Dick quietly. "I
said that the defenders of the flag were too many and too strong for you
fellows who tried to haul it down, and that's the truth. I stood up for
Marcy because I am his friend, and you ought to be."

"I am a friend to no boy, cousin or no cousin, who talks as he does,"
said Rodney spitefully. "I despise a traitor, and the fellow who sticks
up for him--"

Dick stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, rested his clenched hands
upon his hips, and waited for Rodney to finish the sentence. For a
second or so it looked as though the two boys were going to "mix up"
directly; but Cole and Billings interposed.

"This will never do," said the latter. "If you are determined to have a
fight, hurry and get your mail, and then we'll go back to the academy
and fight the Yankees and their sympathizers. That's what we've got to
do tomorrow, if we run that new flag up on the tower, and we might as
well get our hands in first as last. Cole, you go on with Dick, and
Rodney and I will follow."

Dick laughingly declared that as he was not spoiling for a fight he
could get on very well without an escort, but still he did not raise any
objection when Cole took him by the arm and led him away. Rodney slowly
followed, with Billings for a companion, the latter using his best
arguments to make the stubborn Rodney see that he could not hope to gain
anything by showing so much hostility toward his cousin, who was popular
both at the academy and in the town, and that the Taylor girls, from
whom they had just parted, didn't think any the more of him for what he
had said. Rodney saw that plainly, and it was another thing that made
him angry; but he was careful not to let Billings know it. He took no
little pride in his horsemanship, and was confident that he made a very
fine looking sergeant o