"What things?" asked Phil.
"Well," Jim hesitated for words, "he worried a lot because all the real Americans are dying off or going, somehow, and he always said it was us kids" business to find out why. That"s the chief job."
"I don"t see what you can do about it," said Phil. "That"s a foolish thing to worry about. Why----"
A boy screamed on the opposite side of the pond. It was so different from the shouts and laughter of the moment before that Jim and Phil jumped to their feet. Across the swimming hole a naked boy was dancing up and down, screaming hysterically,
"Take "em off! Take "em off! Take "em off!"
"It"s the new minister"s kid, Charlie," laughed Phil. "The fellows have got the bloodsuckers on him. Ain"t he the b.o.o.by? Told me he was fifteen and he"s bigger"n you are. Screams like a girl."
Jim stood staring, his hand shielding his gray eyes from the sun. Across the pond, the boys were doubled up with laughter, watching the minister"s son writhe and tear at his naked body. Suddenly, Jim shot round the edge of the pond, followed by Phil. A dozen naked boys hopped joyfully around the twisting Charlie. They were of all ages, from eight to sixteen.
When Jim ran up to the new boy, his mates shouted: "Don"t b.u.t.t in, now, Jim. Don"t b.u.t.t in. He"s a darned sissy."
Jim did not reply. Charlie was considerably larger than he. He had a finely muscled pink and white body, liberally dotted now with wriggling brown suckers. This was a familiar form of hazing with the Exham boys.
There was a horror in a first experience with the little brown pests that usually resulted in a mild form of hysteria very pleasing to the young spectators. But Charlie was in an agony of loathing, far ahead of anything the boys had seen.
As Jim ran up, Charlie struck at him madly and the boys yelled in delight. Jim turned on them.
"Shut up!" he shouted. "Shut up _now_!"
Thin and tall, his boyish ribs showing, his damp hair tossed back from his beautiful gray eyes that were now black with anger, Jim dominated the crowd. There was immediate silence, broken only by Charlie"s wild sobs.
"Take "em off! Take "em off!"
"He"s going to have a fit!" exclaimed Phil.
Charlie"s lips were blue and foam flecked. Again as Jim approached him, the minister"s boy planted a blow on his ribs that made Jim spin.
"Charlie!" cried Jim. "_Shut up!_"
The same peculiarly commanding note that had silenced his mates pierced through Charlie"s hysteria. He paused for a moment, and in that moment Jim said, "Hold your breath and they can"t draw blood. I"ll have "em off you in a second."
"C-c-can"t they?" sobbed Charlie.
"Hold your breath and I"ll show you," said Jim. "Here, Phil, take hold."
As they stripped the squirming suckers, Jim kept a hand on Charlie"s arm. "Can you fight, kid?" he asked. "You"ve got muscle. You"d better lick the fellow that started this on you or you"ll never hear the end of it."
The blue receded from the older boy"s lips. He had a fine, sensitive face. "I can fight," he replied. "But I fight fellows and not snakes or worms."
Jim nodded as he pulled off the last sucker. Then he turned to the boys, his hand still on Charlie"s arm. He spoke in his usual drawl:
"They"s a difference between hazing a fellow and torturing him. Some mighty gritty people can"t stand snakes or suckers. You kids ought to use sense. Who started this?"
The biggest boy in the crowd, Fatty Allen, answered: "I did. And if your father hadn"t just died I"d lick the stuffing out of you, Still, for b.u.t.ting in."
A shout of derision went up from the boys. Jim"s lips tightened. "You lick the new kid first," he answered, "then tackle me. Get after him, Charlie!"
Charlie, quite himself again, leaped toward Fatty and the battle was on.
There had been, unknown to the boys, an interested spectator to this entire scene. Just as Charlie"s screams had begun, a heavy set man, ruddy and well dressed, with iron gray hair and black lashed, blue eyes, had paused beside a pine tree. It was a vividly beautiful picture that he saw; the pine set pool, rush and pad fringed, and the naked boys, now gathered about the struggling two near the ancient springboard. One of the smaller boys, moving about to get a better view of the battle, came within arm reach of the stranger, who clutched him.
"Who"s this boy they call Still?" he asked. "Stand up here on this stump. I"ll brace you."
The small boy heaved a sigh of ecstasy at his un.o.bstructed view. "It"s Still Jim Manning. His father just got killed. He"s boss of our gang."
"But he"s not the biggest," said the stranger.
"Naw, he ain"t the biggest, but he can make the fellows mind. He don"t talk much but what he says goes."
"Can he lick the big fellow?"
"Who? Fatty Allen? Bet your life! Still"s built like steel wire."
"What did he start this fight for?" asked the man.
"Aw, can"t you see they"d never let up on this new kid after he bellered so, unless he licked Fatty? Gee! What a wallop! That Charlie kid is going to lick whey out of Fatty."
"So Still is boss?" mused the stranger. "Could he stop that fight, now?"
"Sure," answered the child, "but he wouldn"t."
"We"ll see," said the stranger. He crossed over to the ring of boys and touched Jim on the shoulder. "I want to speak to you, Manning."
Jim looked at the stranger in astonishment, then answered awkwardly, "Can you wait? I"ve got to referee this fight."
"You will have to come now," said the man. "Your mother said to come back at once, with me."
Jim walked into the ring, between the two combatants. "Drop it, fellows.
I"ve got to go home. We"ll finish this fight tomorrow. Fatty can tackle me then, too."
There were several protests but Fatty had had enough. He was glad of the opportunity to dive into the pond. One after the other the boys ran up the springboard until only Jim and the stranger were left. The man walked back into the grove and in a moment Jim, in his knickerbockers and blouse, joined him.
"I"m glad to see you can obey, as well as boss, me boy," said the man.
"Your mother says you don"t know that a few days ago she advertised in the N. Y. _Sun_ for a position as housekeeper. I liked the ad and came up to see her. I"m a lawyer in New York, a widower. I like your mother.
She"s a lady to the center of her. But when she told me she had a boy your age, I felt dubious. She wanted to send for you but I insisted on coming meself. I wanted to see you among boys. Me name is Michael Dennis."
Jim flushed painfully. "I don"t want my mother to work like that. I can support her."
"I"m glad that you feel that way, me boy. But on the other hand, you"re not old enough to support her the way she can support herself and you, too."
"I"ll never let my mother support me!" cried Jim.
"What can you do to prevent it?" asked Mr. Dennis. "Wouldn"t you like to live in New York?"
Jim hesitated. Dennis put his hand on Jim"s shoulder. "I like you, me boy. I never thought to want another child about me house. Come, we"ll talk it over with your mother."