"He"ll give you a thrashing."
"Does his uncle allow that?"
"Yes; I think he rather likes it."
"Don"t the boys resist?"
"It won"t do any good. You see, Jim"s bigger than any of us."
Hector took a good look at this redoubtable Jim Smith.
He was rather loosely made, painfully homely, and about five feet nine inches in height. Nothing more need be said, as, in appearance, he closely resembled his uncle.
Jim Smith soon gave Hector an opportunity of verifying the description given of him by Wilkins.
The boy at the bat had struck a ball to the extreme boundary of the field. The fielder at that point didn"t go so fast as Jim, who was pitcher, thought satisfactory, and he called out in a rough, brutal tone:
"If you don"t go quicker, Archer, I"ll kick you all round the field."
Hector looked at Wilkins inquiringly.
"Does he mean that?" he asked.
"Yes, he does."
"Does he ever make such a brute of himself?"
"Often."
"And the boys allow it?"
"They can"t help it."
"So, it seems, you have a tyrant of the school?"
"That"s just it."
"Isn"t there any boy among you to teach the fellow better manners? You must be cowards to submit."
"Oh, you"ll find out soon that you must submit, too," said Wilkins.
Hector smiled.
"You don"t know me yet," he said.
"What could you do against Jim? He"s three or four inches taller than you. How old are you?"
"I shall be sixteen next month."
"And he is nineteen."
"That may be; but he"d better not try to order me round."
"You"ll sing a different tune in a day or two," said Wilkins.
By this time Jim Smith had observed the new arrival.
"What"s that you"ve got with you, Wilkins?" he demanded, pausing in his play.
"The new boy."
"Who"s he?"
"His name is Roscoe."
"Ho! Hasn"t he got any other name?" asked Jim, meaningly.
Wilkins had forgotten the new arrival"s first name, and said so.
"What"s your name, Roscoe?" asked Jim, in the tone of a superior.
Hector resented this tone, and, though he had no objection, under ordinary circ.u.mstances, to answering the question, he did not choose to gratify his present questioner.
"I don"t happen to have a card with me," he answered, coldly.
"Oh, that"s your answer, is it?" retorted Jim, scenting insubordination with undisguised pleasure, for he always liked the task of subduing a new boy.
"Yes."
"I guess you don"t know who I am," said Jim, bl.u.s.tering.
"Oh, yes, I do."
"Well, who am I, then?"
"The bully of the school, I should suppose, from your style of behavior."
"Do you hear that, boys?" demanded Jim, in a theatrical tone, turning to the other boys.
There was a little murmur in response, but whether of approval or reprobation, it was not easy to judge.
"That boy calls me a bully! He actually has the audacity to insult me!
What do you say to that?"
The boys looked uneasy. Possibly, in their secret hearts, they admired the audacity that Jim complained of; but, seeing the difference between the two boys in size and apparent strength, it did not seem to them prudent to espouse the side of Hector.
"Don"t you think I ought to teach him a lesson?"
"Yes!" cried several of the smaller boys, who stood in awe of the bully.