don't you let the pair finish it?"

"Those two fellows," cried Fred, pointing to Slugger Brown and Codfish,
"tripped me up. It wasn't fair--three against one."

"We didn't trip him up at all," came from the two accused ones
simultaneously.

"They did, Jack. First Codfish tried it, and then Brown put out his
foot and I went down, and Martell at once pounced on me."

"That's no way to fight!" broke out Spouter.

"It was certainly a mean trick," was Gif's comment.

"If there is any fighting to be done, I guess we're on hand to see that
it's done fairly," came from Walt Baxter.

A perfect war of words followed, in the midst of which Nappy Martell
seemed to lose complete control of his temper. He rushed at Jack and
hit the youth two quick blows, one in the chest and the other on the
chin. The oldest Rover was not looking for this attack, and he
staggered backward into some bushes, all but losing his balance.

"That's the way to do it, Nappy!" cried Slugger Brown, excitedly. "Give
it to him!"

Jack was as much surprised as Fred had been when first hit, but he was
able to recover much more quickly than his cousin. He leaped forward
from the bushes, doubled up his fists, and the next instant sent in a
crashing blow that landed straight on Martell's nose. He followed up
this blow with another on the other youth's chin which sent Martell
sprawling flat on his back.

"Hurrah! that's the way to do it, Jack!" cried Spouter.

"Say! has he got to fight two of you Rovers?" questioned Slugger Brown.

"No. He's got to fight me only," answered Jack, quickly. He turned to
his cousin. "Fred, you keep out of this."

"But he started on me," pleaded the youngest Rover. "And now that you
are here to see fair play, I'm not afraid of him."

"Never mind. It's my fight, anyway," went on Jack. "I owe him one for
the way he treated me down in Wall Street that day."

While this talk was going on, Nappy Martell had scrambled to his feet.
His nose was swollen and bleeding profusely.

"You imp!" he howled, and lunged another attack at Jack.

He was able to land two blows on Jack's chest, but they were not
powerful enough to do harm. Then, as Martell circled around, the oldest
Rover boy managed to get in another blow, this time on his opponent's
mouth, loosening two of Nappy's teeth.

"That's the way to do it, Jack!"

"Give him a few more like that and he'll soon quit."

"Go for him, Nappy! You can do him up if you'll only try," be