Martin Rattler | Page 5

run down,--perhaps faster.
It would have required sharper eyes than yours or mine to have
observed how Martin got on his legs again, but he did it in a twinkling,
and was half across the field almost before you could wink, and panting
on the heels of Bob Croaker. Bob saw him coming and instantly started
off at a hard run, followed by the whole school. A few minutes brought
them to the banks of the stream, where Bob Croaker halted, and,
turning round, held the white kitten up by the nape of the neck.
"O spare it! spare it, Bob!--don't do it--please don't, don't do it!" gasped
Martin, as he strove in vain to run faster.
"There you go!" shouted Bob, with a coarse laugh, sending the kitten
high into the air, whence it fell with a loud splash into the water.
It was a dreadful shock to feline nerves, no doubt, but that white kitten
was no ordinary animal. Its little heart beat bravely when it rose to the
surface, and, before its young master came up, it had regained the bank.
But, alas! what a change! It went into the stream a fat, round,
comfortable ball of eider-down. It came out--a scraggy blotch of white
paint, with its black eyes glaring like two great glass beads! No sooner
did it crawl out of the water than Bob Croaker seized it, and whirled it
round his head, amid suppressed cries of "Shame!" intending to throw
it in again; but at that instant Martin Rattler seized Bob by the collar of
his coat with both hands, and, letting himself drop suddenly, dragged
the cruel boy to the ground, while the kitten crept humbly away and hid
itself in a thick tuft of grass.
A moment sufficed to enable Bob Croaker, who was nearly twice
Martin's weight, to free himself from the grasp of his panting antagonist,
whom he threw on his back, and doubled his fist, intending to strike
Martin on the face; but a general rush of the boys prevented this.
"Shame, shame, fair play!" cried several; "don't hit him when he's
down!"
"Then let him rise up and come on!" cried Bob, fiercely, as he sprang

up and released Martin.
"Ay, that's fair. Now then, Martin, remember the kitten!"
"Strike men of your own size!" cried several of the bigger boys, as they
interposed to prevent Martin from rushing into the unequal contest.
"So I will," cried Bob Croaker, glaring round with passion. "Come on
any of you that likes. I don't care a button for the biggest of you."
No one accepted this challenge, for Bob was the oldest and the
strongest boy in the school, although, as is usually the case with bullies,
by no means the bravest.
Seeing that no one intended to fight with him, and that a crowd of boys
strove to hold Martin Rattler back, while they assured him that he had
not the smallest chance in the world, Bob turned towards the kitten,
which was quietly and busily employed in licking itself dry, and said,
"Now, Martin, you coward, I'll give it another swim for your
impudence."
"Stop, stop!" cried Martin earnestly. "Bob Croaker, I would rather do
anything than fight. I would give you everything I have to save my
kitten; but if you won't spare it unless I fight, I'll do it. If you throw it in
before you fight me, you're the greatest coward that ever walked. Just
give me five minutes to breathe and a drink of water, and I'll fight you
as long as I can stand."
Bob looked at his little foe in surprise. "Well, that's fair. I'm your man;
but if you don't lick me I'll drown the kitten, that's all." Having said this,
he quietly divested himself of his jacket and neckcloth, while several
boys assisted Martin to do the same, and brought him a draught of
water in the crown of one of their caps. In five minutes all was ready,
and the two boys stood face to face and foot to foot, with their fists
doubled and revolving, and a ring of boys around them.
Just at this moment the kitten, having found the process of licking itself
dry more fatiguing than it had expected, gave vent to a faint mew of

distress. It was all that was wanting to set Martin's indignant heart into
a blaze of inexpressible fury. Bob Croaker's visage instantly received a
shower of sharp, stinging blows, that had the double effect of taking
that youth by surprise and throwing him down upon the green sward.
But Martin could not hope to do this a second time. Bob now knew the
vigour of his assailant, and braced himself warily to the combat,
commencing operations by giving Martin a