Myron obeyed and faced the other awkwardly. Joe groaned.
"Gee, ain't you the poor fish? Stick that foot out so you can move about. That's it. Now I'm going to tap you on the shoulder, the left shoulder. Don't let me!" But Myron did let him, although he thrashed both his arms about fearsomely. "Rotten! Watch me, not my hands. Now look out for your face!"
A minute later Joe dropped his hands, shook his head and leaned dejectedly against a corner of the table. "It's no use, kiddo, it's no use! You'll be the lamb going to the slaughter tomorrow. Ain't any one ever taken the least interest in your education? What are you going to do when that Eldredge guy comes at you?"
Myron smiled wanly. "I guess I'll just have to do the best I can," he said. "Maybe he isn't much better than I am."
"Don't kid yourself. When a guy picks a quarrel the way he did it means he knows a bit. Still, at that----" Joe stopped and stared thoughtfully at the wall. Then: "What's his full name?" he asked.
"That'll do. I'll be back in a few minutes." Joe picked up his cap and made for the door. "Nothing like knowing what you're up against," he said. "Sit tight, Brother, and leave this to me. If I was you I'd do a bit of studying, eh?"
Myron followed the advice. Just at first it was hard to get his mind on lessons, for his thoughts kept recurring to the coming encounter and when they did he squirmed uneasily in his chair and felt a kind of tingling sensation at the end of his spine. On the football field Myron had often taken blows and given them in the excitement of the game. He had had some hard knocks and had seen plenty of rough playing. He couldn't remember ever having been afraid of an opponent, although he had more than once entered a contest with the knowledge that the enemy was "laying for him." But, somehow, this was different. What resentment he had felt against Paul Eldredge had passed, and so even the spur of anger was lacking. He would have to stand up there tomorrow morning and be knocked around at Eldredge's pleasure, it seemed, for no very good reason that he could think of. It was rather silly, when you came to consider it calmly. Eldredge had been rude to him, he had been rude to Eldredge, Eldredge had struck him, he had struck Eldredge. Now when things were nicely evened up he must take a licking! Well, he supposed there was no way out of it short of acting like a coward. He would have to take what was coming to him, getting off as easily as he could, and try to like it! Well, he had taken punishment before and could again. Having reached that conclusion, he managed to get his thoughts back to his studies and was going very well when Joe returned.