Page:Ralph on the Railroad.djvu/876

52 "Don't you mix in a fair fight, then," warned a big fellow in the crowd, threateningly.

"Ah, it's going to be a fair fight, is it?" demanded Clark

"Yes, it is."

"I'll see to it that it is," remarked Clark briefly

The fellow he had dazed with his rapid-fire display of muscle had regained his poise, and was now again facing the young engineer.

"Understand?" he demanded, hunching up his shoulders and staring viciously at Ralph. "I'm Billy Bouncer."

"Are you?" said Ralph simply.

"I am, and don't you forget it. I happen to have got a tip from my uncle, John Evans, of Stanley Junction. I guess you know him."

"I do," announced Ralph bluntly, "and if you are as mean a specimen of a boy as he is of a man, I'm sorry for you."

"What?" roared the young ruffian, raising his fists. "Do you see that?" and he put one out, doubled up.

"I do, and it's mighty dirty, I can tell you."

"Insult me, do you? I guess you don't know who I am. Champion, see?—light-weight champion of this burg, and I wear four medals, and here they are," and Bouncer threw back his coat