our balls!" said the
Modern senior. "Give it me directly."

"It doesn't belong to you," said Wally; "it's my young brother's."

"Do you hear?--give it to me," said Dangle. "He can fetch it if he
wants it. You're not our prefect," retorted Wally.

None of the four were more astounded than Wally himself at the audacity
of this speech. It must have been due to the exhilarating effect of his
tea and essay combined.

Dangle was evidently unprepared for defiance of this sort and became
threatening.

"If you don't give me that ball at once, I'll give the lot of you the
best hiding you ever had in your lives."

"Try it. We're not going to give up the ball. There! If Percy wants
it, let him come for it. Back up, you chaps."

In a tussle between one big boy and four small ones, the odds are
usually in favour of the former, but Dangle on the present occasion did
not find his task quite as easy as he expected. The juniors defended
themselves with great tenacity, and although the senior's blows came
home pretty hard, he could only deal with them one at a time. It got to
be a little humiliating to discover that he would have to fight hard to
gain his end, and his temper evaporated rapidly.

Seizing his opportunity, when Fisher minor, who had been fighting
perhaps the least steadily of the four--yet doggedly enough--was within
reach, he struck out at him wildly, determined to get him disposed of
first. It was a cruel blow even for a fellow in Dangle's plight. The
small boy recoiled half-stunned, and uttered a yell which for an instant
startled the bully.

Before Dangle had time to recover, the three survivors were upon him
tooth and nail; at the same moment the door opened again, and Rollitt,
of all persons, stood in the room.

He took in the situation at a glance--the big boy white with rage, his
three assailants with heads down and lips tight, pounding away, and
Fisher minor leaning against the wall with his handkerchief to his face.

"Stop!" said he in a voice which suspended hostilities at once. Then
turning to Dangle he said--

"Get out."

Bangle glared defiantly, and remained where he was, whereupon Rollitt,
without another word, lifted him in his arms like a child, and slinging
him across his shoulders marched forth.

Wakefield's boys were just trooping up the staircase from the fields,
and at this strange apparition stood still and made a lane for it to
pass. Dangle's struggles were futile. The