THINGS ARE SETTLED MAN-FASHION
For a moment after Ted made his announcement there was a complete
silence as the boys looked from one to the other of them. Plum just
stared at Ted, who looked him levelly in the eyes.
“You’re going to what?” demanded Plum, slowly.
“I’m going to give you a sound thrashing for being a trouble maker
in this camp and for trying to force Tom to go home with you,” Ted
repeated.
His last wish was to stage a fight in front of the small boys, for he
did not wish to set an example of fighting if he could help it. There
was no physical reason why he should not engage Plum in combat, because
the boy, though younger, was broader of shoulder and heavier than he
was, but Ted was determined that he had something definite coming
to him for his actions. He rather hoped that Plum would back down,
so that the smaller boys would not be treated to an exhibition of a
fight between two older boys, but he felt warmly that Plum deserved a
trouncing.
But as it so happened, Plum was in no mood to back down. Eagerly he
welcomed the prospect of a fight and on the previous night he had
purposely pushed Ted rather roughly on the chest with the sole object
of angering him and starting a fight. He knew now that he would have
to prove himself in the eyes of his friends and show his leadership.
Long ago and more than once he had looked Ted over with a calculating
eye and the conclusion that he could “lick” him at any time had been in
his mind for several days. It was with visible joy that he accepted the
invitation for battle.
“You’re going to thrash me, eh?” he sneered, thrusting forward his
chin. “So that’s what you think you are going to do, is it? Why, if I
couldn’t tie you up in a knot I’d go back home and join a kindergarten!”
“Join whatever you please, but take your pack off,” nodded Ted.
The pack was slipped off in a rush and the coat followed. Ted stood
ready and waiting while Plum rolled up his sleeves. The other boys
crowded around, some of the smaller ones looking a bit scared. Tom
Clayton put in a last word.
“You mustn’t fight on account of me,” he said, looking distressed.
Before Ted could reply Plum struck in with: “Don’t worry, we aren’t
going to fight over you, kid. This Thorn has had a trimming coming to
him for a long time and I’m going to give it to him! He’s been the big
boss around here for some time and he has put it on thick. Telling us
when to go to bed and when to get up and when to eat and when to do
everything, like he was the king of the country or something! When we
fellows who are going home do get home we’ll go off on a camping trip
of our own and we’ll do things to suit ourselves. Get on guard, Thorn!”
“Wait a minute!” cried Buck, who was burning to take Ted’s place, but
who kept quiet with some difficulty. “This affair has to be run right.
Two minute rounds, and I’m the boss! You start and finish when I say
so!”
Plum dropped his hands to his side. “Say, this is a fight, not a boxing
match! I want to lick him in a hurry and I don’t want to have to stop
right when I’m going strong.”
“If you want to do it in a hurry, two minutes ought to be plenty of
time,” retorted Buck. He took out his watch. “Here, all the rest of you
get back and form a big circle. When I say time you start and when I
say time again, you stop. Got that clear, Plum?”
“Sure. Let’s get going and stop all the hot air!”
Buck looked at his watch, and then, “Time!” he called.
Ted and Plum faced each other grimly, squared off for the battle.
In his crouching attitude Plum looked bulky and menacing, while Ted
looked cool and alert. Plum began to advance, his steps cautious and
his fists poised in the attitude of a boxer. He had taken lessons in
the art and was no novice at it, while Ted had confined his activities
to neighborhood scraps which had been informal affairs and in which he
had been as often beaten as victorious. But he had no fear of Plum, who
was to be counted on for more in the line of bluster and noise than for
anything else.
They were close now and Ted tried a light shot which was quickly
blocked by the other boy. Plum then jabbed quickly at the camp leader
with his right, stopped the blow halfway and landed with his left on
the shoulder. That tap, light as it was, started the fight off in
earnest, for Ted bored in, disregarding a few shots at close range and
the fight was actually on.
Plum knew how to box well and most of the close-in blows which Ted
directed toward him were deftly and completely blocked. In return he
shook Ted up, planting his blows almost at will, though Ted kept his
chin covered up. When Buck called time for the first round they had
just warmed up.
Ted retired to one side of the ring to recover his breath and Plum
walked across to the other. “How many rounds is this thing going to
be?” Ralph demanded.
“It will go on until one of you admits that he is licked,” replied
Buck. He glanced again at his watch. “Time is up. Go to it.”
This time Plum was out to win. He rushed in with his head down and
his heavy fists swung like battering rams. Ted was forced to put all
the strength he had into his footwork, for Plum was on the march and
would not be denied. He had the weight to keep on coming and Ted was
unable to stop him. There was no cautious poking this time, but serious
rushing and stepping aside. To keep his feet at all Ted was forced to
move fast.
During this round, busy as he was, Ted saw that he was making a mistake
by allowing Plum to get the start. With a rushing start and the power
of a heavier body the big boy had everything his own way and it was
impossible for Ted to do more than keep him off. From his football
playing Ted was fast and nimble, but he hadn’t gone into the argument
just to run around the ring. Plum must be punished or he would draw
most of the boys away from the camp and spoil a perfectly good Summer.
When the round was over he thought seriously of the affair in which
he was engaged. It was no good natured argument that didn’t matter
very much whether he won or not. He realized that he must win, or the
breaking up of the camp would be a blow from which he would not recover
in a long time. Most of the boys would desert him and return home with
Plum, he was sure, and the failure would make the trustees of the
club regret their choice of him as the leader. Boys naturally follow
the one who can lead, even if that leadership is attained by the use
of ready fists, and Plum, swaggering in the triumph of the physical
victory, could split the camp so as to spoil its effectiveness. It was
imperative that he win the fight before him, not only for the good of
the camp, but for the effect it would have on the minds of the boys.
He looked across at Plum and saw that he was breathing heavily. Plum
was not an outdoor boy in the strictest sense of the word and he did
not play on any athletic team. He was just naturally strong and he
did enjoy boxing, a subject he knew something about, as a dozen sore
spots, combined with a split lip, led Ted to believe. But his wind was
not good and his chest rose and fell in a way that looked painful.
“My best bet is to make him run around after me this round and then
finish him in the next,” thought Ted, as Buck called time again.
Plum again charged and Ted side-stepped, leading him a chase around the
ring. The boys had been rather silent the first two rounds but now,
gripped with excitement, they called the names of their favorites, and
Plum’s name was as prominent as Ted’s. Just as Plum had calculated his
readiness to fight and his swagger had won the smaller boys to him and
they were loudly shouting for his success.
Ted found difficulty in keeping out of Plum’s way and his movements
annoyed the other. “Come on, fight, and don’t run away!” roared Plum.
“If you are scared, just quit! I’ve got you licked, anyway!”
The speech was an unfortunate one, for in giving it the trouble-maker
had raised his head and carelessly lowered his arms a bit. Most of the
blows so far had been body blows, both boys keeping their faces well
sheltered, but as Plum spoke Ted jabbed a blow at him which Plum was
unable to guard against. It landed with a resounding smack against his
cheek bone and his head jarred. As he hesitated in surprise Ted hooked
one into his ribs.
By this time Plum was on guard again and stung to fury he waded in
while Ted retreated. Around the ring they went, Plum making a furious
attack which was beginning to break down Ted’s guard. Just then Buck
called time and Ted stepped back.
Plum turned to Buck, his eyes furious and his face red. “I don’t care
a hang about time!” he shouted. “I didn’t want to make this a boxing
match, anyway, and I won’t make it one! I’m going to show Thorn that he
can’t boss me and tell me he’ll thrash me and that’s what I’m going to
do. Come on, you, put up your hands!”
“Nothing doing!” snapped Buck, leaping into the circle and thrusting
himself in between them. “You’re going to run this according to rules!”
“Like fun I am! You get out of the way or I’ll take you on!”
“With the greatest of pleasure!” promptly cried Buck, squaring off.
“I’d just as soon give it to you as to him!” yelled Plum. This was a
well calculated piece of acting, and the boys who stood for Plum felt
him rise heroically in their eyes.
Ted pushed Buck to one side. “This is my fight, Buck, old man. Put
your watch away, because this is a fight to the finish!”
Buck reluctantly allowed himself to be pushed out of the ring, at the
same time pushing his watch back in his pocket. Then Ted advanced
determinedly on Plum and the latter began a crouching advance on him.
There was now no more boxing and no more dodging around. Plum was tired
and his breath came heavily, while Ted was filled with quiet, steady
purpose. He felt that there was but one thing to do, and that was to
wade in and finish up the other boy as rapidly as possible. When they
came together with a shock there was no more boxing and feinting, but
they stormed in close and exchanged punches with determination.
Here Ted found that he was equal at least of the other and they traded
some jarring punches at close range. The breath of the heavier boy was
growing shorter, while Ted was in no way distressed. With a mighty
lunge Plum shot a stiff punch at Ted’s face, and the latter, drawing
his head to one side, countered with a sharp one to Plum’s ribs. Plum
grunted, turned, and Ted found his jaw unguarded for an instant. He
found it a moment later with his left fist, and as Plum staggered Ted
bored in for the finish.
And it was the finish. Fighting blindly, Plum gave ground and lost his
grip on his guard. In bewilderment he raised and lowered his hands and
Ted, keenly alive to what was going on, punished him at will. A left to
the jaw and another right to the cheek sent Plum down in a heap, while
Ted stood panting, waiting for him to get up.
But Plum was through and he knew it. Moaning feebly, he felt of his jaw
and his face, which was beginning to swell. Unsteadily he got to his
feet.
“Ready for more?” Ted asked, quietly.
“No, I’ve had enough,” Plum gasped, wiping a cut lip. “I’m—I’m going
home.”
Ted turned to the others around him. “Plum is going home. Are any of
you fellows going with him?”
There was no reply. They looked from Plum to Ted but no one spoke.
Slowly Plum rolled down his sleeves, put on his coat and slung his pack
on his shoulders.
“Anybody going with me?” he asked, keeping his eyes away from Ted and
Buck.
No one spoke up and the boys who were ready to go looked foolishly at
the ground. Ted spoke to them sharply.
“This is the last call,” he said. “If any of you are going with Plum,
go now! But if you don’t go with him, remember that you are to stay
here, subject to the orders of Buck and myself, and we’re not leaving
this spot until Labor Day unless something happens that we couldn’t
stay to face. So if you want to leave, leave now.”
Still no one moved and Plum put on his hat, his air one of sullen
defiance. He looked around him sneeringly.
“All right, you kids just stay here and hang around Thorn, if you want
to!” he said. “But I’ll fix this camp! I’m going home and tell all over
town what is happening, and I’ll bet your fathers and mothers will come
running for you.”
“You just go ahead and do that, Plum!” advised Buck. “When the parents
come out here we’ll show them that we are still in camp and that you
were the only one who got scared and ran home! You, the biggest boy in
the camp, went home, because you were afraid to stay!”
At once Plum saw his case. He could not possibly remain in camp after
his thrashing from Ted and if he went back to town and told any stories
the result would be as Buck had pictured it. He had lost all around and
the knowledge was a bitter one.
He turned and walked out of the camp without a word or a backward
glance.
They stood and watched him go in silence, the ring still unbroken.
Then first one boy and then another of the ones who had packed to go
with him, shed his knapsack and blanket, tossing them in the tents. The
atmosphere seemed to have cleared magically.
“Well, sir!” enthused Buck, slapping Ted on the back. “That was a
bang-up fight! Now that he is gone things will be a little sweeter
around here. He was the big disturbing element.”
“Except the fellow who has been annoying us all this time,” reminded
Ted.
“Yes, that is so. If we could only get rid of him as you did of Plum.”
“Maybe we can,” said Ted. “I have thought out a plan to trap that
party.”