Page:Her Benny - Silas K Hocking (Warne, 1890).djvu/122

98 evening came on and Perks still hung round him, he lost all patience, and, doubling his fist in an unmistakable manner, he said, with a gymnastic flourish—

"Look 'ere. Perks, if yer don't walk yer pegs in double-quick time, you'll wish yer had, that's all" "Oh, that's yer game, is it?" said Perks, in a defiant tone, and squaring up in front of Benny.

"It are," was the reply;" an' if yer don't want to see fire, you'd better be off like greased lightnin'."

I shall go when I likes, and not afore," said Perks; an' if yer thinks yer's goin' to bully this little chap, you's got the wrong pig by the ear."

"I wants to bully nobody," said Benny, in a milder tone; "but I won't have yer a-hangin' about me all day."

"I 'spose yer wants to crib somethin' without my knowin' it," said Perks, with a sneer.

"It's a lie," said Benny, colouring painfully, as the event of the previous day crossed his mind.

"'T ain't a lie, neither," was the response, "or you'd not get so red over it."

"D'yer think I's a thief, then?" said Benny.

"No," said Perks scornfully, "but I knows it."

"An' yer shall know some'at else afore yer a minit older," said Benny, springing upon him, and dealing him a blow between the eyes that made him stagger; and, before he could recover himself, a second blow sent him reeling against a wall.

For a moment Perks glared at his antagonist with flaming