Pretty soon Jones came racing up the stairs and burst into the room.
"Come on, fellows!" he cried. "The sophs are leaving their club, and there's lots of 'em wearing dress suits. We'll have a picnic with 'em!"
Dismal seldom got excited, but now he was quite aroused.
The freshmen caught up their caps and hurried downstairs. They were soon on the street, and they hastened to meet their natural enemies.
The sophomores had formed by twos, with Browning and Emery in advance. It was true that many of them were in dress suits, and they were not a little disturbed when they saw the solid body of freshmen coming swiftly to meet them.
To pass on the right the sophomores were entitled to the inside of the sidewalk, and although they would have given much to avoid the encounter, they formed solidly and prepared to defend their rights.
The freshmen also formed in a compact mass, and came on with a rush, keeping hard up against the wall.
The sophomores uttered the cry as they hugged the wall on the inside.
That was the cry that came from the determined freshmen.
"Hold on! hold on!" ordered Browning. "There is a law for this!"
"Then you will have to produce officers to enforce it," laughed Frank Merriwell.
"But there is a regular time for rushing."
"This is not a regular rush, so we don't mind."
"But you fellows have no right to do it!"
"Is that so?" was the derisive retort. "Hear the sophs squeal fellows! Oh, my! but this is funny!"
"Stop a minute and we will argue this matter, freshies," invited Browning, who was thoroughly disgusted over the prospect.
Then the whole crowd of freshmen roared with laughter.
"Hear the baby cry!" they shouted. "He is begging! Ha! ha! ha!"
Browning's face was crimson with anger and confusion.
"You are an insolent lot of young ruffians!" he snapped, "and Merriwell is the biggest ruffian of you all!"
"What's the matter with this for the right time?"
"No! no! Turn to the right and let us pass now. We will see you again."
"We see you now, and we are going to raise you the limit."
The sophomores held a hurried consultation, and then Browning said:
"If you fellows will wait till we go change our clothes we'll come out and give you as warm a time as you want."
"We'll do that, but you will have to pass on the outside."