he abhorred. Possibly his sodden brain
was stirred by an envy which the Colonials round him were powerless to
excite. For he also was British-born. And he still bore traces, albeit
they were not very apparent at that moment, of the breed from which he
had sprung.

Whatever the cause of his animosity, he had given it full and ready vent.
A few coarse expressions aimed in the direction of the young stranger had
done their work. The boy had risen to go, with disgust written openly
upon his face, and instantly the action had been seized upon by the older
man as a cause for offence.

He had not found his victim slow to respond. In fact his challenge had
been flung back with an alacrity that had somewhat astonished the
bystanders and rendered interference a matter of some difficulty.

But one of them did at this juncture make his voice heard in a word of
admonition to the half-tipsy aggressor.

"You had better mind what you do, Samson. There will be a row if that
young chap gets hurt."

"Yes, he'd better get out of it," said one or two.

But the young chap in question turned on them with a flash of his white
teeth. "Don't you worry yourselves!" he said. "If he wants to
fight--let him!"

They muttered uneasily in answer. It was plain that Samson's
bull-strength was no allegory to them. But the boy's confidence
remained quite unimpaired. He faced his adversary with the lust of
battle in his eyes.

"Come on, you slacker!" he said. "I like a good fight. Don't keep
me waiting!"

The bystanders began to laugh, and the man they called Samson turned
purple with rage. He flung round furiously. "There's a yard at the back,"
he cried. "We'll settle it there. I'll teach you to use your spurs on me,
my young game-cock!"

"Come on then!" said the stranger. "P'r'aps I shall teach you something
too! You'll probably be killed, as I said before; but if you'll take the
risk I have no objection."

Again the onlookers raised a laugh. They pressed round to see the face of
the English boy who was so supremely unafraid. It was a very handsome
face, but it was not wholly English. The eyes were too dark and too
passionate, the straight brows too black, the features too finely
regular. The mouth was mobile, and wayward as a woman's, but the chin
might have been modelled in stone--a fighting chin, aggressive,
indomitable. There was something of the ancient Roman about the whole
cast of his face which, combined with that high British bear