e I
wouldn't give in about the toffee."

"Oh, dear! I wish they wouldn't fight at your school, Tom. Didn't it
hurt you?"

"Hurt me? no," said Tom, putting up the hooks again, taking out a large
pocketknife, and slowly opening the largest blade, which he looked at
meditatively as he rubbed his finger along it. Then he added--"I gave
Spouncer a black eye, I know--that's what he got by wanting to leather
me; I wasn't going to go halves because anybody leathered me."

"Oh, how brave you are, Tom! I think you're like Samson. If there came a
lion roaring at me, I think you'd fight him--wouldn't you, Tom?"

"How can a lion come roaring at you, you silly thing? There's no lions,
only in the shows."

"No; but if we were in the lion countries--I mean in Africa, where it's
very hot--the lions eat people there. I can show it to you in the book
where I read it."

"Well, I should get a gun and shoot him."

"But if you hadn't got a gun--we might have gone out, you know, not
thinking just as we go fishing; and then a great lion might run toward
us roaring, and we couldn't get away from him. What should you do, Tom?"
Tom paused, and at last turned away contemptuously, saying, "But the
lion isn't coming. What's the use of talking?"

"But I like to fancy how it would be," said Maggie, following him. "Just
think what you would do, Tom."

"Oh, don't bother, Maggie! you're such a silly--I shall go and see my
rabbits."

II. THE FALLING OUT

Maggie's heart began to flutter with fear. She dared not tell the sad
truth at once, but she walked after Tom in trembling silence as he went
out, thinking how she could tell him the news so as to soften at once
his sorrow and his anger; for Maggie dreaded Tom's anger of all
things--it was quite a different anger from her own. "Tom," she said
timidly, when they were out of doors, "how much money did you give for
your rabbits?"

"Two half crowns and a sixpence," said Tom.

"I think I've got a great deal more than that in my steel purse
upstairs. I'll ask mother to give it to you."

"What for?" said Tom. "I don't want your money, you silly thing. I've
got a great deal more money than you, because I'm a boy. I always have
half sovereigns and sovereigns for my Christmas boxes, because I shall
be a man, and you only have five-shilling pieces, because you're only a
girl."

"Well, but, Tom--if mother would let me give you two half crowns and a
sixpence out of my purse to put into your pocke