“You are a brute!” put in Pepper.  “No fair-minded chap would kick a fellow when he was down.”

“Ditmore, you keep out of this,” grumbled the bully.

“I’m going to see that Andy has fair play,” returned Pepper.

The encounter had occurred after Captain Putnam and the teachers had disappeared, so there was little chance of an interruption by the Hall authorities.

Andy stood up and tried to collect himself.  He was “boiling mad,” for the attack had been a dastardly one.

“Had enough?” demanded the bully, coming closer, and with his fists clenched.

“No, I haven’t!” answered the acrobatic youth, and then, of a sudden, he sprang high in the air, to come down on Ritter’s shoulder.  Then he caught the bully around the neck with one arm.

“Hi! hi! let up——­” began Ritter.  “I—­I——­”

“I’ll not let up!” retorted Andy.  “You brought this on yourself, Reff Ritter, and now you can take the consequences.  How do you like that, and that, and that?”

Each “that” was accompanied by a stinging blow, one on the ear, one on the eye and one on the nose.  The second made the bully’s left optic black, and the third caused the blood to spurt freely.  Then Andy landed another blow on Ritter’s mouth, leaped to the ground, and shoved the fellow from him.

“I’ll give you those for an opener,” he said, breathing heavily.  “You can have some more in another minute.”

“You—­you rat!” hissed the bully and came at Andy with a rush.  But the acrobatic youth dodged, and Ritter ran full tilt into Dan Baxter.

“Hi, keep your distance, Ritter!” growled Baxter.

“I’ll fix him!” yelled Ritter, and made another lunge for Andy.  This time he hit Andy on the shoulder.  But the acrobatic youth came back at him in double-quick order, and Ritter received a blow in the chin that bowled him over into the arms of Nick Paxton.  As he went over his eyes closed, and then he slid in a heap to the ground.

“A knockout for Snow!”

“Say, that was a smashing blow!”

“It served Ritter right; he kicked Andy when he was down.”

“Yes, and he hit him before he was ready.”

Paxton, Coulter and several others gathered around the fallen bully and rubbed his face with some snow.  In a few minutes he opened his eyes and stared around.

“Don’t—­don’t hit me again!” he mumbled, between his bleeding teeth.

“Have you had enough?” demanded Andy.  “If you haven’t, stand up and get some more.”

“Don’t—­don’t hit me again!”

“Then you have had enough?”

“I’ll—­I’ll meet you another time.”

“No, you won’t, Ritter, you’ll meet me now.”

“That’s the talk!” cried several.  “Finish the fight.”

“I don’t want to fight any more,” answered the bully, and his words came in almost a whine.

“Then you have had enough?  Yes or no?”