“You shut your mouth about my father!” roared a voice from behind a dressing-room door.  “My father is just as honest as anybody, and I won’t have you or anybody else running him down!” And then Reff Ritter appeared, minus his coat, vest and collar, and his face distorted with rage.

“I didn’t say your father was dishonest, Reff,” returned Jack, as calmly as he could.  “I was simply going to state——­”

“Oh, you needn’t try to smooth it over, Jack Ruddy,” fumed the bully.  “Don’t imagine that I don’t know all about the mean stories you and others are circulating about my family.  You’d like to make out that my father is the worst swindler that ever lived, and I won’t stand for it.”

“Reff, that isn’t true,” interrupted Pepper.  “Jack hasn’t said a word against your father.”

“Oh, you can’t bluff me, Pep Ditmore.  I know better.”

“What Pepper says is true—­I haven’t said a word, Reff, truly I haven’t.  I heard that you had lost some of your money, and I said I was sorry to hear it—­and I am sorry.  I know how I’d feel if my father lost money.  You——­”

“Don’t smooth it over, I tell you!” roared the bully.  “I know you!  You and your cronies have been down on me ever since I came to this school, and now you think you can crow over me, and maybe get me to leave Putnam Hall.  But I am not going to leave, and if you dare to open your mouth against me I’ll punch your head.”

“You’ll not punch my head, Reff!” answered Jack, and now his tones grew stern.  “If you don’t want to believe me, you needn’t.  But I’ll not let you threaten me.”

“Humph!  You can’t boss me, even if you are major of the battalion.”

“I don’t want to ‘boss’ anybody.  You behave yourself and leave me alone, and I’ll leave you alone.”

The loud talking had attracted the attention of a number of cadets, and they commenced to crowd around Jack and Ritter.  Among the number were Gus Coulter and Nick Paxton.

“Why don’t you fight him, Reff?” suggested Coulter.

“That’s the talk,” added Paxton.  “Show him that he can’t talk about you and your father as he pleases.”

“He won’t fight; he is afraid,” answered Reff Ritter, with a sneer in his tones.

“I am not afraid, Ritter, and you know it,” answered Jack, trying to keep his temper.  “But you know the rules, and I, as major of the cadets, am bound to uphold them.”

“Hit him one!” whispered Coulter, in his crony’s ear.  “I’ll stand by you.”

“So will I,” added Paxton.

“Well, if you won’t fight, take that for your impudence!” cried Reff Ritter, and with a quick step forward, he slapped Jack on the cheek.

The blow was but a light one, yet it seemed to sink deep into Jack’s very heart, and on the instant all thoughts of prudence and rules were cast aside.  His face went white and his eyes flashed fire.  Reff Ritter stepped back to guard himself, but before he could do so, Jack’s arm shot out and a heavy blow landed on the bully’s chin, sending him staggering into Coulter’s arms.