it was not so bad as it might have been, although he still had an uneasy feeling that his offense had been exaggerated, that he might find his punishment to be unduly severe, and that he had been saved from deeper distress and humiliation only by a fortunate accident.

When Hal announced at the dinner table that day that he had seen Mr. Barriscale, and when he had stated the nature of the punishment he was to undergo, he noticed a grim smile on the face of his father. But, beyond a passing comment on the fairness of Ben and on the equality of the sentence as between the two boys, Captain McCormack said little. Whatever his thoughts or opinions were on the subject he kept them judiciously to himself. He made some facetious remark, indeed, about the necessity for having early breakfasts thereafter; but, so far as the deeper aspects of the case were concerned, it was apparent that he had decided to let his son work the matter out for himself.

It was not so with Hal's mother, however. She was emphatic in her protests against the severity and humiliation of his punishment. She could not see why a boy's prank should be treated so seriously, even though it had ended in an unfortunate accident. She feared that early breakfasts would ruin her son's digestion, and that a month of hard labor with no opportunity for play would result in his becoming a confirmed invalid. Her lamentations,

however, did not greatly affect Hal's composure. She had always loved and petted him and tried to shield him from the rough places in life, and it was but natural that she should take a somewhat exaggerated and pessimistic view of the present situation.

On the following Monday morning, at ten minutes before seven, Hal presented himself at the armory, ready for work. Ben Barriscale was already there, but Superintendent McCrae had not yet arrived. The building was practically completed and it was the interior finishing that was now, for the most part, occupying the attention of the workmen.

As Hal entered the large drill-hall he saw Ben standing on the farther side of it, and crossed over to meet him. He greeted him pleasantly, but the ironmaster's son was not responsive, and seemed to be in anything but a cheerful mood.

Well," asked Hal in an effort to be companionable," what do you suppose they'll put us at?"

"I don't know," was the blunt reply. And I don't care much. Whatever the job is I'm sick of it already."

Hal tried to be encouraging. "That isn't the way to look at it," he protested. "We're into it, we've got to make the best of it. Maybe we can find

a little sport in it after all. Let's try."

"You're welcome to work like a common laborer

if you want to, and get what fun out of it you can. I don't fancy the prospect."

Ben turned away and started to cross the hall alone. But he evidently changed his mind, for he wheeled around and came back to where Hal was standing.

"Say," he asked abruptly, was that your gang that put the sign on our gate-post Hallowe'en?" "You mean the sign Puppies for sale'?" "That's what I mean."

Yes; that was our crowd."

"Was it you that wrote on that sign: 'Young Ben is the only puppy left'?"

"No; I didn't write it."

"Who did write it?"

"I don't choose to tell." "Why not?"

"You know why not. Would you give another fellow away if you were in my place?"

"I would if he did as mean and contemptible a trick as that."

"I don't admit that it was mean and contemptible."

"Then you're ready to stand for it, are you?"

The voices of the two boys in controversy had attracted the attention of some workmen who were standing near, awaiting the blowing of the seven o'clock gong, and they moved over to the scene of the quarrel.

"The stout one's Mr. Barriscale's son," said one of the men," and the other one is Captain McCormack's boy. I know 'em both."

"Well," was the response, "they're both bluebloods; let 'em fight it out, an' see who's the best fellow."

By this time both boys were too excited to notice the gathering men or to hear their comments. Ben's voice had grown louder as his anger increased, his face was deeply flushed, and his eyes had a dangerous look in them.

"I'm ready," replied Hal, "to stand for anything my crowd did that night. That's why I'm the only one of 'em here this morning.”

"Then I'll make you sorry you're here."

In a fit of uncontrollable passion Ben made a blind lunge at his companion in punishment, and by the very violence and suddenness of the onset he almost swept him off his feet. But Hal's lightness and agility stood him in good stead, and, after yielding for a moment, he braced himself for the contest and held his ground. He was the taller of the two boys, the more athletic and the more agile. But Ben's greater weight and stockiness gave him the advantage in the first onrush, and, had he been able skilfully to follow up the attack, his quick victory would have been a foregone conclusion. As it was, the combatants were not unequally matched.

The onlookers, augmented in numbers by other

workmen who had been attracted to the scene, gathered now in the conventional ring about the fighters. The primal instinct, only veneered by centuries of civilization, showed itself in the avidity with which they gazed on the combat, and in the calls and cries of encouragement they gave, each to his individual favorite.

The boys were now struggling and writhing in each other's arms. A full minute they wrestled so; then came the fall. It was swift, sudden and disastrous. The crash of it echoed through the great, empty hall. In disentangling himself from the prone figure beneath him Ben met with no resistance. His antagonist lay with closed eyes, limp and insensible, on the armory floor. At this moment Superintendent McCrae came pushing his way through the narrow ring of spectators.

"What's all this about?" he asked. "What's happened?"

"It's a fight," some one answered. "The stout fellow put the other one to sleep."

The superintendent turned his gaze from the swiftly paling countenance of the boy on the floor to the hardly less colorless face of his victorious antagonist.

"A fight, is it!" he exclaimed. "Mayhap and it's a tragedy."

He knelt on the floor at Hal's side, felt of his wrists, and tore open his collar and jacket.