e greatly excited, and not a few of them declared it
was the most gamey fight they had ever witnessed.

The front of Diamond's shirt was stained with blood, and he presented a
sorry aspect. His chest was heaving, but his uninjured eye glared with
unabated fury and determination.

"Will he never give up?" muttered Harry Rattleton. "He's a regular hog!
The fellow doesn't know when he has enough."

It was true Southern grit. It was the unyielding Southern spirit--the
spirit that led the soldiers of the South to make one of the pluckiest
struggles known in history.

While the fellow's grit had won Frank's admiration, still Merriwell had
learned that it would not do to let up. The only way out of the fight
was to end it, and he set about trying to accomplish that with as little
delay as possible.

Once Diamond succeeded in getting in another blow, and it left a slight
swelling over one of the other lad's eyes.

But Merriwell did not seem to know that he had been hit. He soon cracked
the Virginian upon the uninjured eye, and that began to swell. In a few
seconds it seemed that Diamond must soon go blind.

"Finish him, old man--finish him!" urged Harry.

Frank was looking for the chance, but it was some time before he found
it. It came at last, and his left landed on the jaw beneath Diamond's
ear.

Over went the Southerner, and he lay like a log where he fell.

At a glance, it was evident to all that he was knocked out.

The boys crowded around Merriwell, eager to congratulate him, but he
thrust them back, saying:

"It's the first time in my life I ever did a thing of which I was
ashamed! Look after him. I'm all right."

"Say!" exploded Harry Rattleton, "you make me sick! Didn't you have to
do it?"

"I suppose so."

"Didn't he strike you foul twice?"

"He knows nothing of rules, and we were fighting by no rules, so there
could be no foul."

"Oh, no! If he'd soaked you with a brick you'd said it was all right! I
say, you make me sick! Wait till he gets a good chance to do you, and
see how quick he will take it."

"He'll not be to blame if he tries to get square."

"Oh, go hoke your sed--I mean soak your head! I'll catch you some time
when you are asleep and try to pound a little sense into you."

"Well, take care of Diamond," ordered Merriwell. "That last one I gave
him was a beastly thump."

"Let the other fellows take care of him," said Harry. "We'll rub you
down. You need it. Got any towels, Mr. H