Dick was shorter, and weighed much less than did the sophomore who was waiting back there under the trees.

Ripley had had a good deal of training in boxing, and was not a coward when he thought the odds on his own side.

What none of the fellows knew, though, was that the lawyer's son, ever since that scene in the school yard, had been at his boxing lessons again with renewed energy.
"Play him for delay, at first, Dick," whispered Dan.

"If Ripley can rush you, and get you excited, he'll have a better chance to win out.

If you hold him off, hinder him and delay him, before long he'll lose some of his nerve.