ill-natured soldier. "You had no business talking as you did."

"Bah!" sneered Coggins. "I meant what I said, but as the young fellow
is not yet out of his teens, I'll pay no attention to his words. It
wouldn't look well for me to thrash a boy."

"You might find that you had your hands full if you tried it," said
Dick, coldly. He had taken a dislike to the boastful redcoat, and as
he was a brave youth, and also had always found himself a match for
any man he had ever engaged in a physical struggle with, he had no fear
of this fellow.

"There's good nerve, for you!" remarked a soldier, admiringly. "How do
you like it, Coggins?" It was evident that this particular soldier,
Coggins, was not very well liked by his comrades.

"Do you think I'm a fool, to get myself laughed at for engaging in a
fight with a green country boy?" growled Coggins. "I'll do no such
thing." Rising, he walked away with a swagger, but he gave Dick a look
of hatred as he did so.

A number of the soldiers grinned, and two or three chuckled aloud, and
unless Coggins was deaf, he must have heard them.

"Would you really have fought him?" queried a soldier, looking at Dick
keenly, when Coggins was gone.

"If he attacked me, I should have protected myself," was the reply.

"But you couldn't have done much against him. You're only a boy."