"I've given him lines for fighting in the `Big,' and there's really no reason for his going to Bloomfield." "I told him to come to Bloomfield, and he ought to have come." "I don't think you had any right to tell him to go to Bloomfield," replied Riddell, with a boldness which astonished himself.

"I'm responsible for stopping fights." "I don't want you to tell me my business," retorted Game, hotly; "who are you ?" Game could have thrashed the captain as easily as he could Telson, and the thought flashed through Riddell's mind as he paused to reply.

He would much have preferred saying nothing, but somehow the present seemed to be a sort of crisis in his life.

If he gave in now, the chance of asserting himself in Willoughby might never return.
"I'm the captain," he replied, steadily, "and as long as I am captain I'm responsible for the order of the school, and I prefer to do my own work!" There was something in his look and tone as he uttered these inoffensive words which took Game aback and even startled Telson.

It was not at all like what fellows had been used to from Riddell, certainly very unlike the manner he was generally credited with.