Marcus: the Young Centurion | Page 7

hauled out, as they
believed, to bear the brunt of the expected punishment.
Their whispers were ill received by the selected victim, who, as soon as
his leg was released from the crook, made as if to back away again; but
his companions put a stop to this and began urging him on, trying to
incite him to begin, he reluctant and resisting 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. "Have they hurt you, boy?"
"No," was the reply; "but I hurt myself a good deal against their thick
heads. But I say, Serge, do you think that was fair?"
"Fair? Of course it was!"
"But it seemed so one-sided, and as if I had it all my own way. They
couldn't fight because they were afraid of you."
"Of you, you mean, boy, when it was man to man."
"No," said Marcus; "they'd have fought better if you and the dog hadn't
been here."
"Yes, and they could all have come on you at once. A set of mongrel
young hounds--half savages, that's what they are. You didn't thrash
them half enough."

"Quite as much as I wanted to," cried the boy, "for my knuckles are as
sore as sore. But oh, I say, Serge, it was comic!"
"They didn't think it was, my lad."
"I mean, to see you hooking them out one after another with your old
crook, yelling and squealing like pigs."
"Humph!" grunted the old soldier, with his grim face relaxing. "Well, it
has given them a pretty good scaring, and I don't suppose that they will
come after our grapes again."
"Yah-h-ah!" came in a defiant chorus from a distance, where the young
marauders had gathered together, and the dog sprang upon his feet,
growling fiercely, before bursting into a deep, baying bark.
"Hear that?" cried Marcus.
"Hear it, yes! And it would not take much to make me set old Lupe
after them. He'd soon catch them up, and then--"
"Yah-h-ah!"
"Fetch them down, boy!" shouted the old soldier, and, with a fierce roar,
the dog dashed off in a series of tremendous bounds, but only to be