made him hide the empty bottle
under his jacket to use as a weapon in case he was attacked. Well, we
went on duty again and Toby was put before the ovens to finish his
punishment, but he had only been there a few minutes when the boss came
along with a shovel on his shoulder and made Toby understand that he
was to go to work under the long platform which held the ovens. So he
marched Toby down the stairs and into the darkness under the platform.
Suddenly Toby felt his arms gripped from behind and strong hands pinned
them to his side, while out of the darkness in front loomed up the
burly figure of the manager. He carried a short whip and this he
proceeded to lay on to poor Toby, any place at all that he could hit.
The lad wriggled with all his might, and finally succeeded in getting
his arms free; then grabbing the whip in his left hand, he planted the
manager one between the eyes with his right, and down he went. Then,
quick as a cat, he wheeled on the other German, smashing at him with
his pop bottle. The man tried to protect his face, but Toby's rage
gave him the strength of madness, and the first blow broke the German's
arm. Toby followed this up with another, and this time gave him a
beauty just over the eye. He went down as if he was shot, and Toby
started to walk away. By this time the manager had come to a little,
and he called on Toby to "Halt!" but Toby paid no attention and the
manager fired two shots after him. What he had been through possibly
affected his aim; at any rate, he missed and Toby walked quietly back
to his place and began work again. The Germans were too proud to let
their comrades know how the lad had beaten them up, so they contented
themselves with reporting him privately to the guard and giving him
seven days' close confinement. Next day, as I passed the prison, I
called and asked him how he was, and he said, "Fine! I could beat up
half a dozen more 'square-heads' if I had them here; this is better
than working on a coke oven, anyway." After Toby got out of jail the
boys gave him a great ovation. They cheered him, carried him round on
their arms, and fed him with everything they could lay their hands on.
Nothing could keep down a boy with a spirit like his, and he made his
escape about two months after I did. He was to have come with me, but
had a sore foot, so we had to leave him behind. Poor kid, it's the
only time I ever saw tears in his eyes.

The only redeeming feature