Читать книгу A Battle for Right; Or, A Clash of Wits онлайн

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But, to the intense astonishment of Mackenzie Douglas, as well as of everybody else who had been watching the fracas, Bob Gordon turned away.

“I won’t fight him,” said Gordon, in a low voice.

“What?” howled Douglas. “Why not?”

“I don’t want to fight!”

“But what for? This Dan Mosely tried to hit ye, an’ you knocked him down just now. There was the lassie, too. Ye’ll hae to fight for her sake.”

“I won’t fight,” replied Bob Gordon steadily.

For a few moments it seemed as if Mackenzie Douglas could not comprehend. His mouth fell open, and he stared at Bob Gordon as if he were some strange animal, that he never had seen before.

Dan Mosely laughed raucously. His companion, who had helped him in annoying the girl on the stage, joined in his coarse mirth.

“He knows better than to tackle me!” snarled Dan Mosely. “I’d break him in two in the first round.”

“Bob Gordon, lad, what does it mean?”

The big Scot appealed to Gordon almost piteously. He could not make out why Gordon was backing down. He had never come across a case of this kind before, where a full-grown man, young and active, backed out of a combat that it was his actual duty to enter. It was too much for Douglas.