"_Mister_ Black, boy!" warned the other, his dark eyes snapping.
"Why are you uncertain about me?"

"I'm wondering," purred Tom gently, "whether you are just _trying_
to be offensive, or whether you don't know any better than to talk
and act the way you do?"

"You young puppy, I'll teach you something right now," cried Black,
stepping closer and raising a clenched fist.

"Look out," begged Tom. "You'll upset my drawing table."

Eugene Black closed in, striking out. Reade who felt that the
situation didn't call for any fighting, retreated, still smiling.

Whether by accident or design, Black, as he made a half turn to
start after the cub engineer anew, brushed a corner of the unstable
drawing table hard enough to tip it over. A bottle of drawing
ink fell, too, splashing ugly black blotches over Tom's carefully
drawn outlines of a map.

"Now, you've done it!" exclaimed Tom.

"I haven't quite finished," snapped the stranger, rushing after Reade.

"I'm going to box your ears soundly, boy!"

"Are you, indeed?" demanded Tom, halting. He was still smiling,
but there was a stern look in his eyes. Tom no longer retreated,