"Bah!" cried Marline, once more. "I presumed I was dealing with a man of honor, and that every person here was a man of honor. In such a case, if one of us should be wounded, he would keep his lips closed, even if he were dying. Not a word of the truth would he disclose, and no amount of investigation would discover the truth. The victor would be safe."
"That is much easier to talk about than it would be to put in practice. I, for one, am against anything of the sort."
"Don't, eh? Well, we'll see about that! Frank Merriwell can't meet you, and that settles it. If you try to force him, I'll report the whole matter to the faculty, and the chances are about ten to one that you will be fired from college. There, Mr. Marline, you have it straight from the shoulder, and I trust you are satisfied."
Thornton was astonished with himself for taking such a stand, as he was, as a rule, a good follower, but no leader. He had a way of thinking of things after others put them into execution, but now he was the one to take the lead.
"Yes, sah, I am satisfied," he said; "I am satisfied that Mr. Merriwell is a coward. He was looking for a loophole to crawl through, and you have provided him with that loophole. He should feel very grateful to you, sah!"
"Marline," said Frank, sharply, "you can make a mistake by heaping this on too thick! I can't stand everything, and you'd better drop it."
"Yes, drop it, Marline!" cried some of the others.
"Oh, I'll drop it for the present," said Rob, with deep significance--"for the present, you understand. But I am not done with Mr. Merriwell. My ankle will be all right in a short time, and then----"
He paused, giving Frank a stare of hatred. Then, without another word, he turned and swung himself away, aided by his crutches.
All felt sure that the affair was not ended.
"Great Scott!" gurgled Old Put, staring after Marline. "But he is a regular fire eater!"
"He's a bad man--a blamed bad man!" fluttered Danny Griswold.
"That's right," nodded Lewis Little. "He really wants to fight with swords, I believe."
"Of course, he does," nodded Andy Emery, who had not said a word during all the talk between Merriwell and Marline. "Jack Diamond was another fellow just like him when he first came to Yale."