All at once he became aware that some one was speaking to him.
"How"s your red-headed friend this morning?"
Dan glanced up quickly, to find himself face to face with Bill Kester.
He eyed the bully with a steady gaze.
"Don"t want to speak to me, eh?"
"No. I shall be very much obliged if you will keep away from me. If you don"t, I am afraid I shall forget myself."
Kester laughed long and loud.
"Forget yourself! Ho, ho, ho! That"s a joke-the funniest thing I ever heard. You think you can bluff Bill Kester, do you?"
"I never bluff."
"You"d better not."
Dan clenched his fists, but started to move away. He dared trust himself no further, for his wrath was rising to the danger point, yet there was nothing in his calm manner to indicate that such was the case.
Kester stepped in front of him.
"See here, you landlubber, them high and mighty airs don"t go down with me, and you"ll find they don"t. You"ve got a few things to learn on shipboard--"
"I shall have to find some one else to teach me, if I have," retorted Dan sharply.
By this time other eyes had been attracted to them.
"I reckon Bill is trying to pick a row with Davis," said one.
"Let them go. It will do the boy good to get a tr.i.m.m.i.n.g."
Kester"s eyes narrowed.
"Oh, you will, eh?"
"That is what I said. Do you wish me to repeat it? I will do so, if your hearing is not good."
"I said, how"s your red-headed friend this morning?" growled the bully, his chin protruding pugnaciously.
"Ask the master-at-arms if you wish to know. I am not obliged to answer your questions. There is no use in trying to be courteous with you. You wouldn"t understand it at all."
"You take that back, or--"
"Look here, Kester," hinted Dan, a new light appearing in his eyes.
"Red-head, as you call him, may be easy, but don"t monkey with DYNAMITE.
That"s all I"ve got to say to you."
"You throw it at me, do you? What you need is a good licking, and that"s what you"re going to get. I"ll run both you landlubbers out of the service. I"ll trim your jib right now and make the job complete."
Dan gazed at him calmly, and as he stood there facing the big man the Battleship Boy appeared almost frail beside the other and more powerfully built man.
"What is it that you propose to do? Don"t keep me waiting. I have things of more importance to attend to."
Kester took one step forward, making a sudden, vicious pa.s.s at Dan Davis"s head. He followed it quickly with another blow with the left hand.
By this time several jackies had started up.
"Quit it, Bill. Can"t you pick somebody of your own size to fight with?
If you can"t we"ll do the job for you. We"ll--"
The speaker paused suddenly. All at once things began to happen that caused them to pause in open-mouthed wonder.
Both the bully"s blows had landed on thin air. Davis had deftly side-stepped out of harm"s way. The lad paused for one brief instant, poising on his toes, then he leaped straight at the husky sailor.
The men said afterwards that they could not tell which was Bill and which was Dan Davis. The air was full of flying fists, and above the shouts of the sailors was heard the sound of heavy blows.
The jackies yelled and shouted their appreciation. Such a lively set-to they had not seen in many a day.
At at once Bill Kester sat down on the deck with a resounding b.u.mp, while Dan Davis stood with a calm smile on his face, gazing down at the astonished bully.
Then the sailors discovered that which set them wild with enthusiasm.
Both of Kester"s eyes were blackened and rapidly swelling, and were almost shut. His lips were puffed out to twice their natural size and on the right side of his head he wore a "beautiful" cauliflower ear.
Bill was dazed. He had been through many hard-fought battles, but never had he quite met with as sure and quick disaster as in the present instance.
"I-I"ll fix you for this," he snarled, getting to his feet, groping for the companionway, which he could not see, for by this time his eyes were shut by the swelling.
"Why not do it now!" suggested Dan. "There is no time like the present, and besides we may not get another chance."
"I can"t see, or I"d--"
"Let me help you."
To the amazement of the delighted jackies, Dan took the bully by the arm and courteously a.s.sisted him to the gun deck.
"Here, you men," he said. "Help Bill down to the sick bay. He"s just b.u.mped into something hard."
Dan returned to the deck, where the sailors crowded about him to congratulate him, but Dan would have none of it. He got at his work as soon thereafter as possible, but he felt sure there would be trouble-that he would be disciplined for his action.
"Anyway, I"ve got even for that blow he gave Sam," muttered the lad.
He was right in his surmise. Trouble did follow. Both Bill Kester and Dan Davis were called before the mast at one o"clock that afternoon.
This time there were several witnesses, all of whom had volunteered to testify in behalf of the Battleship Boy. There were three petty officers among the number, and, to Dan"s surprise, two commissioned officers who had chanced to see the whole thing. Each a.s.sured the captain that Davis had acted purely in self-defense.
The captain consulted Kester"s record and nodded his head.