“I think thou wert scarcely of that mind just now. There will be bad
blood until it is over.”
To this I replied, “It is Alloway I am to fight.”
To my surprise, he went on to say, “Then take off thy jacket and stand
up, and no kicking.”
I asked nothing better, and began to laugh. At this my foe, who was
bigger and older than I, cried out that I would laugh on the other side
of my mouth--a queer boy phrase of which I could never discover the
meaning.
“And now, fair play,” said Friend Forest. “Keep cool, Hugh, and watch
his eyes.”
I felt glad that he was on my side, and we fell to with no more words.
I was no match for the practised fists of my antagonist; but I was the
stronger, and I kept my wits better than might have been expected.
At last I got his head under my arm with a grip on his gullet, and so
mauled him with my right fist that Friend Forest pulled me away, and my
man staggered back, bloody, and white too, while I was held like a dog
in leash.
“He hath enough, I think. Ask him.”