`` Who beat ? '' It is sometimes a bitter thing to tell the truth , especially to a young lady for whom you have a great admiration . I had a struggle with temptation in which I frankly confess I might have been worsted had it not been for a saving and timely remembrance of a certain resolution made on the day preceding Judgment Sunday . `` The other fellow , '' I said with reluctant honesty . `` Well , '' said the Story Girl , `` I think it does n't matter whether you get whipped or not so long as you fight a good , square fight . '' Her potent voice made me feel that I was quite a hero after all , and the sting went out of my recollection of that old fight . When we arrived behind the granary the others were all there . Cecily was very pale , and Felix and Peter were taking off their coats . There was a pure yellow sunset that evening , and the aisles of the fir wood were flooded with its radiance . A cool , autumnal wind was whistling among the dark boughs and scattering blood red leaves from the maple at the end of the granary . `` Now , '' said Dan , `` I 'll count , and when I say three you pitch in , and hammer each other until one of you has had enough . Cecily , keep quiet . Now , one -- two -- three ! '' Peter and Felix `` pitched in , '' with more zeal than discretion on both sides . As a result , Peter got what later developed into a black eye , and Felix 's nose began to bleed . Cecily gave a shriek and ran out of the wood . We thought she had fled because she could not endure the sight of blood , and we were not sorry , for her manifest disapproval and anxiety were damping the excitement of the occasion . Felix and Peter drew apart after that first onset , and circled about one another warily . Then , just as they had come to grips again , Uncle Alec walked around the corner of the granary , with Cecily behind him . He was not angry .
There was a quizzical look XXXXX his eyes .
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