The crowd parted as the boy who had been knocked out strode forward. His gait was unsteady and from his eyes there gleamed a wild fire awful to behold.

"Thought you had got rid of me, eh?" he cried. "Well, I am not done for yet!" And with this he struck Dave in the shoulder.

"If you want more you shall have it, Jasniff!" retorted Dave, and struck out in return. Then the blows came as rapidly as before. Dave was hit twice in the chest and came back with a crack on Jasniff's ear and one in the right eye that made the youth see more stars than ever. Then, as they circled around the floor, Dave watched his chance and hit his opponent once more in the nose, causing him to slip and pitch over on his side.

"Another knockdown!"

"Jasniff, you had better give it up."

"Porter has the best of you, Nick."

If ever a boy was mad that boy was Nick Jasniff. Half blinded from the blow in the eye he rolled over and got up on his knees. Then he leaped to his feet and ran to the wall of the gymnasium.

"I'll fix you! I'll fix you!" he snarled, and pulled from its resting place a wooden Indian club weighing at least three pounds. "You shan't crow over Nick Jasniff, not much!"

"Hold up, what are you going to do?" cried Ben, who stood near.

"I'm going to smash his head for him!" answered Jasniff, and before anybody could stop him he made a dash for where Dave was standing. He swung the Indian club around so recklessly that the crowd parted right and left to let him pass.

Dave saw him approach and for the moment hardly knew what to do. He had not dreamed of such unfair play. It was easy to see that Jasniff was in a frame of mind fit for any foul deed.

"Don't!" he cried, as the half-crazed lad leaped before him. "Stop, I tell you!" And then as the Indian club was swung over his head, he leaped to one side and caught the other boy around the waist with both arms. "Drop that club, you brute!"

"Drop the club! Drop the club!" came from all sides, and in a twinkling Ben and Shadow leaped in and wrenched the Indian club from Jasniff's grasp.

"What an outrage!"

"Jasniff, you ought to be lynched for that!"

"This is a young gentlemen's school, not a resort for toughs."

So the cries ran on. Jasniff tried to speak, but nobody would listen to him, and even Plum and Poole knew enough to keep silent. Dave retained his hold a few seconds and then pushed his opponent from him.

"I am done with you, Jasniff," said he, in a clear, hard voice. "Done with you, understand? I'll never dirty my hands on you again. If you dare to molest me in the future, I'll hand you over to the police. They are the only ones to handle such a coward and brute as you."

Everybody heard the words and many applauded them. Plum and Poole fell back and the face of each grew scarlet. Nick Jasniff stood stock still, breathing heavily. He wanted to do something terrible, – but he did not dare. Dave was pale and his jaws were firmly set. The tension all around was extreme.

Then Jasniff moved, turning his back on Dave. He looked at Plum and Poole, but they cast their eyes to the ground. The crowd parted and Jasniff walked away, slowly and unsteadily. In a minute he left the gymnasium, slamming the door after him. There was a long sigh of relief over his departure.

"Dave, I really think he meant to kill you!" said Ben, coming up and clutching his chum by the arm.

"That's what he did!" said Buster Beggs. "His eyes had a terrible look in them."

"Perhaps you are mistaken," answered Dave, in an odd voice that sounded strange even to himself. "But I – well, I don't propose to fight a fellow with Indian clubs."

"He ought to be bounced out of this school," said Luke Watson.

"I'll never speak to him again," asserted Babcock.

"Wonder what Dr. Clay will say when he hears of this fight?" said Roger, who had come in during the wind-up. "I suppose he won't like it at all."

"He can't blame Dave," answered Ben.

"Porter started the quarrel by interfering with me," said Gus Plum.

"What, Gus, do you stand up for Jasniff?" demanded Shadow.

"Well, I – er – "

"I don't see how anybody can stand up for Jasniff," said Messmer. "I used to go with him, but I am glad now that I cut him."

"I am not standing up for that Indian club affair," said Gus Plum, lamely, and walked away, followed by Nat Poole.

"Oh, Dave, you did fight him most beautifully," cried Frank Bond, his delicate face glowing. "Oh, I wish I was as strong as you!"

"Perhaps you will be some day, Frank. Go out in the fresh air all you can, and take plenty of exercise here in the gym. Do you know what made me strong? Working on a farm, – cutting wood and plowing, and things like that."

Dave retired to the washroom and there bathed his face and hands, and combed his hair. The blood soon stopped flowing from his chin and the scratch showed but little. Many wanted to congratulate him on his victory, but he motioned them away.

"Thank you, boys, but I don't want you to do that," he said, quietly. "I want to tell you plainly that I don't believe in fighting any more than Dr. Clay does. It's brutal to fight, and that is all there is to it. But every fellow ought to know how to defend himself, and when he is attacked as I was he has got to do the best he can for himself. If Jasniff hadn't pitched into me roughshod I should never have fought with him."

"Do you really mean that, Porter?" asked a voice from the other side of the washroom, and Andrew Dale stepped out from behind a high roller-towel rack. The first assistant teacher had come in just as the encounter was ending.

"Oh, is that you, Mr. Dale? Yes, sir, I do mean it," answered Dave. "Did you see the fight, may I ask?"

"I saw Jasniff attack you with the Indian club, but I was too far off to take a hand. You say he attacked you first?"

"He did, and some of those here can prove it."

"That's right," said several of the students.

"What was the quarrel about?"

"It began between Plum and myself. Plum was browbeating Frank Bond and I told him to stop. Then Jasniff put in his say, and I told him it was none of his business. Then he wanted to know if I wanted to fight, and I told him I preferred not to dirty my hands on him. Then he shoved me and struck me two or three times. Then – well, then I sailed in and knocked him down twice. Then he got the Indian club, and you know the rest."

"That's the truth of it, Mr. Dale," said Frank.

"Absolutely," added another student, who had seen the whole affair.

"Well, Porter, you had better come to the doctor's office and we'll investigate further," said the teacher, and a little later Dave found himself confronting the master of Oak Hall. He told his story in a straightforward manner and mentioned the names of several who had witnessed the affair. Then he was told he could go, and Frank was called in, and then Ben, Shadow, Buster, and later still Plum and Poole. The doctor questioned all closely, and finally sent Andrew Dale after Jasniff, but the youth could not be found.

"Has he left the school grounds?" questioned Dr. Clay.

"I could not find that out," answered the assistant. "Nobody seems to have seen him since he left the gymnasium."

"Well, as soon as he shows himself, send him to me."

"I will, sir."

"From what I can learn, he is a thoroughly bad boy," went on the master of Oak Hall, beginning to pace the floor of his office. "I must confess I hardly know what to do with him."

"He is a bad boy, no doubt of that," answered the teacher. "And he has a bad influence on some of the other boys."

"You mean Plum and Poole?"

"I do."

"I believe you are right. Do you think he ought to be sent from the school?"

"Yes, unless he will make an earnest endeavor to mend his ways, Doctor."

"There is one trouble in the way, Mr. Dale. His folks are now in Europe for the benefit of Mrs. Jasniff's health. If I send him off, he will have no place to go to."

"You can write to his father explaining the situation. He may write to his son and that may help matters."

"I have already determined to send a letter. But Mr. Jasniff knows his son is wild – he wanted me to tame him down. But I don't see how I can do it. Supposing he had brained Porter!" Dr. Clay shivered. "I should never have gotten over it, and it would have ruined the school!"

"There is another thing to consider, sir," pursued the assistant. "It may be that Porter will write to his uncle about this, and his relative may be afraid to let the boy remain here while Jasniff stays."

"No, I questioned Porter about that. What do you think he said?" The master of Oak Hall smiled slightly. "He said he could take care of himself and he could make Jasniff keep his distance. He certainly has courage."

"He is the grittiest boy in the school – and one of the best, too," answered Andrew Dale, heartily. And there the conversation came to an end.

The fight between Jasniff and Dave was the sole topic discussed that evening at Oak Hall. The boys who had not witnessed the encounter could scarcely believe that Dave had knocked the other student down twice and blackened his eyes, and they could scarcely credit the fact that Jasniff in his rage and humiliation had attacked Dave with the heavy Indian club. Some went to Jasniff's dormitory, only to learn that the student was missing.

In the dormitory Plum and Poole sat in a warm corner, talking the affair over in a low tone. To do them justice, both were horrified over the club incident. Each had seen that awful look in Jasniff's eyes and each had expected to see Dave stretched lifeless on the gymnasium floor.

"I – I didn't think it of Nick!" whispered Poole. "He certainly went too far."

"He was so wild he didn't know what he was doing," answered Plum. "It doesn't pay to get that way. If he had really killed Porter – "

"Oh, don't say it, Gus! Why, it makes me tremble yet," whined Nat Poole. "If Nick is going to act like that, I'm going to have nothing more to do with him. What if something had happened? He might have dragged us into it somehow – we've been so thick with him."

To this Gus Plum did not answer, but a far-away, thoughtful look came into his eyes.

"It doesn't pay to be too thick with a fellow like that," pursued Nat Poole. "He'll get you into a hole some time or other."

"Maybe you're right, Nat." Gus Plum drew a long breath. "I wish – " The bully of Oak Hall suddenly checked himself.

"What do you wish?"

"I sometimes wish I had never been thick with Nick. But he – " Again Plum checked himself. "By the way," he resumed, "did that new allowance come in yet?"

"No. My dad wrote he wouldn't allow me a cent until next month. Why?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter." The bully drew another long breath. "I thought perhaps you'd lend me a little."

"Why, I thought you had what you wanted!" cried Poole, in astonishment.

"I did have, but I – Well, it doesn't matter, Nat. I'll get along somehow." And then Gus Plum heaved a deeper sigh than ever. Evidently there was something on his mind which worried him considerably.

CHAPTER XXVII
WHAT HAPPENED AT ROCKVILLE

"Boys, how is this for weather!" called out Roger, the following morning. "Isn't it cold enough to freeze the hind leg off a wooden horse?"

"I guess the bottom has dropped out of the thermometer," answered Dave, as he followed Roger in rising.

"How do you feel, Dave?"

"Oh, pretty good. My chin is a little swollen and my shoulder is somewhat stiff, that's all."

"Wonder if Jasniff is back yet," said Ben.

All the boys wondered that, and Luke Watson took it upon himself to dress in a hurry and go out for information.

"Nothing seen of him yet," announced Luke, on returning.

"Perhaps he has run away for good!" cried Buster.

"He's afraid the doctor will punish him severely," said Polly Vane. "It was such a – er – outrageous thing to do, don't you know."

"He's a tough boy," was Roger's comment.

"Oh, say, speaking of a tough boy puts me in mind of a story I heard yesterday," said Shadow, who sat on the edge of his bed, lacing his shoes. "A young married lady – "

"Gracious, Shadow, how can you tell stories on a cold morning like this?" interrupted Dave.

"Shadow would rather tell stories than keep warm," said Roger, with a smile.

"Maybe this is a hot one," said Ben, grinning.

"Now you just listen," pursued Shadow. "A young married lady went and bought a barrel of best flour – "

"Four X or Not At Home brand?" questioned Buster, innocently.

"If you interrupt me I'll throw the soap at you, Buster. This was a barrel of guaranteed flour. Two days later she came back to the grocer with a very indignant look on her face. 'That flour is no good,' says she to Mr. Grocer. 'Why not?' says the grocer. 'Because it is tough,' says the lady. 'I made doughnuts with it yesterday and my husband thought they were paperweights!'"

"No well-bred lady would say that," came softly from Dave.

"O my! what a pun!" cried Roger. "Well, she wasn't well-bred, she was poor-bread." And then a general laugh went up.

It was indeed cold, with the sun hiding behind a gray sky and a keen north wind blowing. When they went below they ran into Babcock, who had been down to the river.

"The ice is coming along finely," said Babcock. "I think we'll be able to skate by to-morrow."

All the boys hoped so, and as soon as they could went down to the river to look at the ice. It was moderately firm and some lads were already sliding on a stretch of meadow. But Dr. Clay would not let them go on the river proper until it was safe.

That day the master of Oak Hall sent out Andrew Dale and Swingly the janitor to look for Nick Jasniff. But the search proved of no avail. Wherever the student was, he managed to cover up his tracks completely.

By Monday of the following week skating was at its best, and many hours were spent by Dave and the others on the ice. They skated for miles, and also had half a dozen races, including one between Dave, Roger, and Messmer, in which the two chums came out even, with Messmer not far behind.

During those days came word that Phil was slowly but steadily improving. This news was greeted with satisfaction by all his friends, who hoped that he would soon be able to come to school again.

"We can't get along without him," said Dave, and Roger echoed the sentiment.

The senator's son had received word from two of his friends, who were now students at one of the leading colleges. Both belonged to a glee club which was to give an entertainment at Rockville Hall on Tuesday night.

"I'd like to go to that entertainment and hear Jack and Joe sing," said Roger. "I wonder if the doctor will let me off?"

The matter was explained, and in the end it was agreed to let the senator's son go to the entertainment, taking Dave and Shadow with him for company. As skating was so good, the students decided to go by way of the river, walking the distance from Rockville Landing to the hall where the entertainment was to take place.

It was a bright moonlight night when the three started and all were in the best of spirits. There were a few skaters out, mostly grown folk, so the way was by no means lonely. They had plenty of time, so did not hurry.

"We don't want to overheat ourselves," said Roger. "Perhaps the hall will be warm, and then we won't be able to stand it."

Arriving at Rockville Landing, they took off their skates and left them at one of the boathouses. Then they walked through the town, past the brightly lighted shops, and stopped at one place for some candy and glasses of hot chocolate.

"Well, I never!" cried Dave, suddenly, as they were leaving the shop.

"What's up?" queried Shadow.

"Did you know that Gus Plum was coming here?"

"I certainly did not," answered the senator's son. "Where is he?"

"I just saw him over there. He passed around that corner."

"Maybe you were mistaken in the person," ventured Shadow.

"I think not."

"He may have come over, – to go to the entertainment, just as we are doing."

"He doesn't care for music."

"I know that."

The three boys walked to the corner and looked down the side street. Nobody resembling the bully of Oak Hall was in sight.

Five minutes later found them at the place where the entertainment was to take place. Roger took his chums around to the stage door and in, and introduced Dave and Shadow to his friends, and then the students from Oak Hall went around to the front and secured seats near one of the boxes.

The programme was a light and varied one – such as are usually given by college glee clubs – and Dave and his chums enjoyed it thoroughly. One bass singer rendered a topical song, the glee club joining in the chorus. This was wildly applauded, and the singer had to give at least a dozen verses of the effusion.

"This is all right!" whispered Dave. "I wish our glee club could do as well."

"Maybe it will – when the boys are as old as these fellows," answered Shadow.

"These fellows are the best singers at the college," said Roger. "They can't get into the club unless they have first-class voices."

The concert came to an end about half-past ten o'clock, and Roger waited for a while, in order to talk to his friends again. Then he, Dave, and Shadow started on the return to Oak Hall.

Their course took them past the railroad station and a row of small dwellings. Just as they were between the station and the dwellings a light from a street lamp fell full upon two persons standing some distance away.

"Look! there is Gus Plum again!" cried Dave.

"Yes, and that is Nick Jasniff with him!" said the senator's son, in a tone of great surprise.

"Let us go over and make sure," suggested Shadow.

The three started across the street, and as they did so Plum and Jasniff moved away in the direction of one of the dwelling houses. Before they could be stopped they had mounted the porch, opened the door, and gone inside. Those outside heard the door locked, and then all became quiet.

"Well, I never!" came from Dave. "This is certainly a mystery."

There was good cause for his words. The front of the dwelling was entirely dark and the lower windows had the solid wooden shutters tightly closed.

"Shall I ring the bell?" asked Roger, after a pause in perplexity.

"There is no bell to ring," answered Shadow.

"I wouldn't knock," advised Dave. "What's the use? We may only get into a row."

"The doctor ought to know that Jasniff is here," said Roger.

"We can tell him that, even if Plum won't," added Shadow. "I agree with Dave, it will do no good to knock."

"I'd like to know if they saw us," said Dave, as he and his chums continued on their way up the street.

"If they didn't it's queer why they should get out of sight in such a hurry," replied the senator's son.

"Perhaps Jasniff is going to get Plum to smooth matters over with the doctor," was Dave's comment. "He may be sick of staying away from the Hall."

"Dave, what are you going to do if he does come back?" asked Shadow, curiously.

"Do? Nothing."

"Aren't you afraid of him in the least?"

"Oh, I shall keep on my guard, for fear he may play me some foul trick."

"I'd rather he'd go away for good."

"So would I," added Shadow.

"Oh, I don't know. He may reform. If he wants to reform, I'd like to give him the chance."

"He'll never reform," said Roger, decidedly. "He is a bad egg through and through."

"Just what I think," said Shadow. "To my mind, he is much worse than Plum or Poole."

"Oh, I know that," returned Dave.

Arriving at the boathouse, they got out their skates and put them on. While they were doing this, two men, wrapped up in heavy overcoats, walked up over the ice and passed down the street in the direction from whence the students had come.

"There's the long and the short of it," said Roger, with a laugh. He had noticed that one man was unusually tall and the other unusually short.

"Well, men can't all be of a size," laughed Dave. "That little man had all he could do to keep up with the big fellow," he added.

The skate to the school was a fine one and they arrived at Oak Hall just as the silvery moon was sinking behind the distant hills. Swingly let them in, and inside of quarter of an hour the boys were in bed and in the land of dreams.

The next day was a busy one for Dave. He had some extra hard lessons, to which he applied himself with vigor. An examination was soon to take place and he was determined to come out at the top if it could possibly be accomplished.

"Gracious, I can't grind like that," said Roger, but half in admiration.

"Dave has his eye on that medal of honor," said Ben. "Well, it is certainly well worth working for."

The weather had changed and by noontime it was snowing furiously. Dave had not seen Gus Plum in the morning, but the bully was at the dinner table as usual. Shadow had reported seeing Nick Jasniff in Rockville to the doctor, but had given no particulars. Dr. Clay had said he would look into the matter, and sent Andrew Dale to Rockville for that purpose.

It was not until evening that the assistant teacher returned from the neighboring town. He had seen nothing of Nick Jasniff, although he had hunted thoroughly and even visited the house Shadow had mentioned.

"The house was locked up, and when I knocked on the door nobody came to answer my summons."

This was as much as Andrew Dale could tell concerning the missing student. But he brought other news, which was flying over the country-side like wildfire. During the night thieves had broken into the railroad station at Rockville, opened the old-fashioned safe, and stolen nearly three hundred dollars in money, some checks, and several bundles of railroad tickets.