CHAPTER XVI

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.”