ic manliness in his composition, which enabled
him to realize that there was no credit in beating an unresisting
opponent. Dandy must do some thing; he must bestow some blows upon his
capricious companion, but he had learned that they must be given with
the utmost care and discretion. In a word, if he did not hit at all,
Master Archy did not like it; and if he hit too hard, or in a
susceptible spot, he was mad.

Our readers who are fond of manly sport will readily perceive that Dandy
was in the position of the frogs,--that what was fun to Archy was death
to him, in a figurative sense. He did not have much fondness for the
manly art. He had no moral views on the subject, but he hated the game
for its own sake.

With the two pairs of gloves in his hands, Dandy followed his young lord
till they came to a smooth piece of ground, under the spreading shade of
a gigantic oak. Master Archy then divested himself of his white linen
sack, which his attentive valet hung upon the trunk of a tree. He then
rolled up his sleeves and put on the gloves. He was assisted in all
these preparations by Dandy.

"Come, Dandy, you are not ready," said he, petulantly, when he was fully
"mounted" for the occasion.

"I am all ready, sir," replied Dandy, as he slipped on the other pair of
gloves.

"No, you are not," snarled Archy, who, for some reason or other, was in
unusually bad humor. "Do you think I will box with you while you have
your jacket on?"

"I can do very well with my jacket on," replied Dandy, meekly.

"No, you can't. I can whip you in your shirt sleeves. I don't want to
take any advantage of you. Off with your jacket, and put yourself in
trim."

Dandy obeyed, and in a few moments he was the counterpart, so far as
dress was concerned, of his master.

"Now stand up to it like a man, for I'm going to give you a hard one
to-day," added Archy, as he flourished with the gloves before his
companion.

There was a faint smile upon his countenance as he uttered these words,
and Dandy saw signs of unusual energy in his eyes. He evidently
intended to do some "big thing," and the sport was therefore more
distasteful than ever to the body-servant, whose hands were, in a
measure, fettered by his position.

Dandy placed himself in the proper attitude, and went through all the
forms incident to the science. At first Master Archy was cool and
self-possessed, and his "plungers" and "left-handers" were adroitly
parried by the other, who,