ng all the time, till his
ire was roused by Marcus, who, at a word from the old soldier, dashed in
to make a beginning, using his fists upon his enemy so well that, at the
end of two or three minutes, the latter threw himself down, howling
dismally and covering his face with his arms.

"Here, you are not half done!" cried Serge, poking him in the ribs with
the butt end of his crook. "Get up, will you, or I'll make the other
fellows stand you in a corner to be thrashed."

"Oh, let him be, Serge," cried Marcus. "I did give it him well, and hit
him as hard as I could."

"Oh, very well," said the old soldier, hooking the boy again and
dragging him, resisting all he could, to the door.

"Just hold it open, Marcus, my lad. That'll do. No, no, Lupe, we don't
want you. Now then, young fellow, off you go, and if ever I see you
here again I'll set the dog at you, and if he once gets hold he won't
let you off so easily as I do."

One minute the boy was resisting and tugging to get his leg free of the
crook; the next, as soon as he realised that he was being set free, he
dashed off, yelling threats of what he meant to do, till the dog sprang
up with a growl, and the yells gave place to a shriek of fear, uttering
which he disappeared from view.

"Oh, no, you don't!" cried Serge, as, taking advantage of the dog's back
being turned, the others cautiously approached the door, and were about
to make a dash for liberty.

As the old soldier spoke he thrust his crook across the doorway, and, as
the boys fell back again, the dog resumed its watchful position and the
door was closed.

Directly after, to Marcus' great enjoyment, there was a repetition of
the previous proceedings, Serge selecting another victim with his crook
from the five prisoners, dragging him out into the middle, where Marcus,
who now thoroughly enjoyed his task, attacked him as Serge fell back,
and, between him and the other lads, the second prisoner was forced to
fight; but it was a sorry exhibition of cowardice, resulting in a
certain amount of punishment, before he too lay down and howled, and was
then set at liberty.

The proceedings were repeated till the other four had received a
thrashing, and the last had clashed off, shamming terrible injury one
minute till he was outside the door, and yelling defiance the next; and
then, as the footsteps died out, Marcus threw himself upon the ground
under the shady vines.

"Hallo!" cried Serge, anxiously. "Ha