In a second there would be a free-for-all fight, and he would be robbed of his vengeance.
He was beside himself.
"You guys keep out!" he screamed hoarsely.

"Understand?
Say, d'ye understand ?" They shrank away from him.

They were brutes, but he was the arch-brute, a thing of terror that towered over them and dominated them.
"This is my scrap, an' they ain't goin' to be no buttin' in.

Gimme them knuckles." Cheese-Face, sobered and a bit frightened, surrendered the foul weapon.
"You passed 'em to him, you red-head sneakin' in behind the push there," Martin went on, as he tossed the knuckles into the water.

"I seen you, an' I was wonderin' what you was up to.