f it, old sportsman," replied Frederick cheerfully. "The
patent rights are held by 'Enery. I merely mentioned to him that
Elfred possessed a desirable bath-plug that it might be useful to
acquire."

Percival left his seat to confer with the shrinking Elfred.

"'E can 'ave the old bath-plug an' welcome, Sir, as far as I'm
concerned," said the latter.

"Tut, tut!" said Percival. "You must make a fight for it. The honour
of the Army is at stake."

"I ain't all that set on the honour of the Army," said Elfred. "But
'im being the challenger, shouldn't I be justified in putting the plug
in one of my gloves?"

"The rules don't provide for such a contingency. Hurry up now and get
stripped, and I'll give you twenty francs if you win."

Both combatants were warmly received. 'Enery's decorative tattooing
was much admired, and Elfred was urgently requested not to spoil
the pictures. By desire of the referee the stakes were handed to
him--Frederick producing the five francs for 'Enery--and the battle
commenced.

It was early evident that the Navy intended shock tactics, while the
Army favoured a system of elastic defence. A salvo of short-arm jabs
by 'Enery was answered by long-range sniping on the part of Elfred,
no direct hits being recorded. Towards the end of the round 'Enery
attempted to approach under cover of a smoke screen, but action was
broken off at the sound of the gong.

The second round opened sensationally. Elfred, on the advice of his
seconds, was "making use of the ring" when he accidentally collided
with his opponent coming in the reverse direction and gave him a
violent thump without return. There seemed every prospect of trouble,
but clever footwork prevented the incident developing into a _fracas_.
Round two concluded with Elfred leading handsomely by one point to
nothing.

"Two to one on Elfred," said Percival excitedly.

"Take you--in bath plugs," answered Frederick, carefully entering the
bet.

'Enery equalised in the third round, Elfred having incautiously
wandered into the track of a stray upper-cut and bounced off. More
footwork followed, Elfred winning by about two yards. Both were
breathing heavily when time was called, and 'Enery was complaining
about his bronchitis.

Skirmishing tactics in the fourth round resulted in Elfred having
a narrow escape from being torpedoed beneath the belt, and during
several subsequent clinches he was requested to stop studying the
pictures and get on wit